Daily Headlines: September 22, 2014

* Cuba: Officials in Cuba announced that approximately 9000 state-run restaurants have permission to be privatized though the government will still own the land under these establishments.

* Mexico: At least 42 children were freed from a pair of Mexican drug treatment facilities where abuses may have taken place in a scandal that occurred over two months after some 600 people were rescued from suffering mistreatment in another shelter. 

* Venezuela: Ivan Simonovis, an ex-Venezuelan police commander the opposition claims is a political prisoner, was granted a “humanitarian” house arrest “so he can be cured of his illnesses and can receive medical treatment.”

* Argentina: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez alleged that she receive threats from the Islamic State extremist militants due to her friendship with compatriot Pope Francis.

Video Source – NTN24 News via YouTube (Video uploaded in 2011).

Online Sources – CNN; The Latin Americanist; LAHT; Fox News Latino; Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 22, 2014

* Venezuela: Is President Nicolás Maduro’s plan to implement a mandatory fingerprinting system in supermarkets a useful tool to combat food shortages and smuggling or a desperate attempt to reverse his tumbling approval rating?

* Argentina: In the latest chapter of the legal tug-of-war between Argentina and holdout creditors, the U.S. judge overseeing the dispute declared as “illegal” a debt swap plan proposed by President Cristina Fernandez.

* Chile: Police in Santiago clashed with a handful of the tens of thousands of protesters calling on President Michelle Bachelet to accelerate education reforms.

* Bolivia: Bolivian officials claimed that the country’s main state oil firm was Latin America's second most profitable oil company ahead of the likes of PDVSA, Petrobras and YPF.

Video Source – NTDTV via YouTube
 
Online Sources – BBC News; Bloomberg; Globalpost; Reuters; The State

Daily Headlines: August 20, 2014

* El Salvador: “For me Romero is a man of God,” declared Pope Francis who eased the process for a possible beatification of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez proposed legislation for a debt swap that would prevent a U.S. court ruling forcing Argentina into default.

* Venezuela: Police in Venezuela arrested at least thirteen people accused of smuggling goods across the closed border into Colombia.

* Puerto Rico: A recent Pew Research Center report found that Puerto Rico’s population fell between 2010 and 2013 with most residents leaving the island in order to “search for economic opportunity.”

Video Source – YouTube user interestmedia (“Oscar Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980 while celebrating the Eucharist” during the Salvadoran civil war.)

Online Sources – USA TODAY; El Universal; The Independent; BBC News

Argentina on the Edge of Massive Debt Default (Updated)

Argentina is very close to defaulting on its debt to foreign creditors unless a deal is reached some time today.
Representatives for the Argentine government and creditors are currently meeting in New York City in the hope of averting what would be the country’s second default in 13 years. The envoys are together with a mediator assigned by Thomas Griesa, a U.S. judge who ordered that the Argentine government pay holdouts some $1.5 billion in unpaid debts including interest.  The purchased Argentine bonds for a low price and rejected the government's restructuring offers after its record $100 billion default in 2001.

Up until today, negotiations between both sides have been sporadic and yielded very little progress. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is at the Mercosur trading bloc summit in Venezuela trying to gain support against the creditors that she deemed as “vulture funds” for spending years litigating for payment in full.  Fernandez and at least one of the holdouts have separately pushed for a delay on the repayment but Griesa has so far refused.

Update (July 30, 2014): Despite hours of last-minute negotiations on Tuesday between creditors and the Argentine government, the country will likely fall into default.  

"There was a frank exchange of views and concerns," said appointed mediator Daniel A. Pollack though he admitted that it was unclear if both sides will meet again on Wednesday.

Paraguay: Thousands Protest in General Strike

Several thousand Paraguayans took to the streets on Wednesday as part of a general strike against the government’s economic and social policies. 

The nationwide protests were organized by labor unions and were held on the twentieth anniversary of the country’s previous general strike in 1994.  Social groups, peasants and teachers were among the scores of participants in the general strike and called for a variety of demands including better education, reducing the fare on public transportation and agrarian reform.  Labor unions, for example, have sought a 25% across-the-board salary increase and are upset over a law permitting private companies to invest in government infrastructure in exchange for owning concessions and charging fees. 

“(The government) claims that there has been development, that funds are distributed across the nation.  But that money doesn’t flow to the workers or the peasants, nor does it arrive to the hospitals or the schools,” declared labor leader Teodolina Villalba.

The largest demonstration took part in the capital of Asunción where traffic reportedly came to a standstill and most businesses and schools were closed. Marches were also organized in the country’s interior cities and for the most part were peaceful aside from minor tensions resulting from the temporary shutdown of the Friendship Bridge connecting Ciudad del Este to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.

Prior to the strike, president Horacio Cartes gave in by permitting the establishment of dialogues in order to hear the demands from the protesters.  Otherwise it appears unlikely that he will provide any more concessions such as the public-private investment plan that Public Works Minister Ramon Jimenez defended as necessary to improve government infrastructure.

Daily Headlines: October 28, 2013

* Argentina: Opposition factions made big gains in yesterday’s local elections and may have “snuffed out” any chance of amending the constitution to allow President Cristina Fernandez to run for a third term.

* U.S.: St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltrán was named as the recipient of this year’s Roberto Clemente Award in recognition of his charitable efforts.

* Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan government issued a “red alert” for a dengue epidemic that has killed at least twelve people this year.

* Colombia: The FARC guerillas “quietly” released a former U.S. army private to Red Cross representatives over four months after he was detained in southeastern Colombia.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- Reuters; Fox News Latino; Nicaragua Dispatch; USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: October 9, 2013

* Argentina: The spokesman for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said that she is “in good spirits” and recovering at a Buenos Aires hospital after undergoing a surgery yesterday to remove a blood clot from her brain.

* Brazil: “Anarchist groups” were blamed for causing violence during a mass protest in Rio de Janeiro that was one of the biggest since nationwide demonstrations were held in June.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro said that he would seek decree powers from the legislature in order to combat “corrupt people and saboteurs of the national economy.”

* Haiti: Attorneys for victims of a major cholera epidemic that first hit Haiti three years ago have filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from the U.N.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews (Supporters of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez gathered outside of a Buenos Aires hospital prior to undergoing brain surgery yesterday).
 
Online Sources- Reuters; The Latin Americanst; The Guardian; Huffington Post; BBC News

Daily Headlines: October 7, 2013 (Updated)

* Argentina: Doctors for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez have ordered her to take a month off after she was diagnosed with a brain hematoma.

Update: According to the Favaloro Foundation clinic in Buenos Aires where Fernandez is being treated, the sixty-year-old will undergo an emergency surgery on Tuesday to remove an accumulation of blood in her skull. 

* Latin America: At least eight people died in Mexico when a monster truck lost control and careened into the stands while about nineteen people died in a bus crash in Peru.

* Guatemala: A U.S. court last week found ex-Guatemalan solider Jorge Sosa guilty of lying on his citizenship application regarding the role he played in the Dos Erres massacre of 1982.

* Cuba: A study from rights group Freedom House concluded that Cuba “has long ranked as one of the world’s most repressive environments for information and communication technologies.”

Video Source – YouTube via user BBCWorldNewsWatch

Online Sources including Update - The Guardian; Miami Herald; Huffington Post; GlobalPost; 3News NZ, Businessweek

Daily Headlines: October 23, 2012

* Latin America: Aside from a brief mention on trade, the third and final U.S. presidential debate on Monday ignored issues pertaining to Latin America such as immigration, so-called "war on drugs" and the embargo on Cuba.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez condemned the seizure of an Argentine naval vessel at the request of private creditors as a form of “blackmail by vulture funds.”

* Cuba: Lawyers for a Guantanamo prison detainee argued that their client shouldn’t have to face war crimes charges since they were approved by a Pentagon-appointed legal official.

* Colombia: Officials with the UN Human Rights Council blasted a proposed constitutional reform that would “undermine justice” by “expanding the jurisdiction of military or police tribunals.”

Video Source – YouTube via PBS


Online Sources- VOXXI, BBC News, Houston Chronicle, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2011

* U.S.: A Pew Hispanic Center released yesterday found that births and not newly arrived immigrants are boosting growth in the burgeoning Mexican-American population.

* Brazil: Brazil will head a security operation next month that will boost the number of unmanned aircraft above the country and several of its neighbors.

* Guatemala: Pedro Pimentel Rios, a former Guatemalan military member suspected of participating in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre, was deported from California.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez decreed a ban on prostitution ads in various forms of media including newspapers.

Image – AP via CBS News (“A Spanish version of a Nevada voter registration form is seen in Las Vegas Aug. 22, 2008.” Mexican-Americans make up nearly 60% of the U.S. Latino population.)
Online Sources- UPI, ABC News, USA TODAY, Pew Hispanic Center

Venezuela’s Chavez blasts intervention in Libya

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has appeared in plenty of headlines over the past 24 hours regarding his receiving of a journalism award from an Argentine university. Yet Chavez continues to be involved in a news story that has dominated the global news headlines for several weeks: the unrest in Libya.

Accompanied by his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez, Chavez yesterday continued his staunch criticism of the U.S.-led military strikes against the Libyan government. “We don’t want outside strange elements in the region that come to alter the peace we need” said Chavez regarding the role the UNASUR bloc should play in preventing interventions similar to those in Libya.

His criticisms continued today during his visit to Uruguay where he claimed that the “imperial march for oil” was the reason behind the actions against Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. “Why don’t you ask Obama where he stands: beyond Gaddafi or no Gaddafi?” Chavez said to a Uruguayan journalist.

On Monday the Venezuelan president claimed that there was a conspiracy to associate him and Gadhafi as “cruel dictators who go after their countrymen.” But despite the close ties between both leaders Chavez rejected today the notion that Venezuela could grant asylum to the embattled Libyan leader.

While Fernandez critiqued the military intervention in Libya as trying to “solve problems by dropping bombs”, one of their South American compatriots seemed to hesitate in backing Gadhafi:

President Evo Morales of Bolivia has called for human rights abuses in Libya to be 'judged' as he appeared to step back from his support for Gaddafi…

Morales said he still 'condemns' the international intervention in the north African nation but also maintained that 'those who violate human rights to defend their government must be judged (and) condemned.'

Coincidentally, Morales’ point seems to have been shared by Africa's highest court that have raised charges against Gadhafi for "massive violations of human rights."

Image- TRT/AP via CSMonitor.com (“This video image taken from Turkish television Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is seen during an interview with the TV channel TRT, in Tripoli, Libya, on March 8.”)
Online Sources- Press TV, El Universal, El Tiempo, Monsters and Critics, Two Weeks Notice, Sky News, The Guardian, Venezuela Analysis

Daily Headlines: March 22, 2011

* Guatemala: First Lady Sandra Torres de Colom will allegedly divorce from her husband, President Alvaro Colom, in order to legally run in this September’s presidential election.

* Venezuela: The Chavez administration inked several economic deals with China including “a $4 billion line of credit for Caracas' housing investments.”

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez may have her back against he wall over a money laundering investigation that led to calls of a general strike.

* Colombia: Author Juan Gabriel Vasquez won the prestigious Alfaguara Spanish literary prize for his novel on the "dark balance of an age of terror and violence" in Bogota.

Image – AP via BBC News
Online Sources- ABC News, Sify, AFP, The Telegraph

Daily Headlines: July 13, 2010

* Latin America: The sky above parts of Latin America including Easter Island briefly plunged into darkness due to a rare solar eclipse.

* Mexico: Does a boost in Mexican car sales mean that the country’s economy is improving?

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez has singed several multibillion-dollar bilateral cooperation contracts during her visit to China.

* Guatemala: At least 23 people were killed during a 24-hour period including an armed attack on a minibus allegedly by gang members.

Image – CBS News (“The sun is covered by the moon during the solar eclipse, in Easter Island, Chile, Sunday, July 11, 2010.”)
Online Sources- Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, LAHT

Daily Headlines: October 13, 2009

* Argentina: Opposition is mobilizing against President Cristina Fernandez after Congress passed a media reform bill which the government claims will open the “airwaves to new players.”

* Honduras: On a related note, human rights groups have denounced numerous violations by the de facto regime under Roberto Micheletti including a crackdown on the press.

* Mexico: Tensions have heightened in Mexico City after officials decided to shutdown a local energy distribution company.

* El Salvador: Remittances to El Salvador plummeted by 10.3% in September according to recently released data.

Image- AP (“Government's supporters celebrate outside the National Congress building in Buenos Aires, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Argentina's Senate overwhelmingly approved a law that will transform the nation's media landscape on Saturday, and President Cristina Kirchner said she would sign it immediately. (AP Photo/Alberto Raggio,DyN)”)
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, LAHT

Argie prez talks politics, energy in Russia

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez signed several agreements with her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev earlier today.

As part of her official visit to Moscow, Kirchner was able to secure Russian support for Spanish-Argentine oil firm Repsol. In addition, both countries agreed to allow Russia’s largest private oil company- Lukoil- to invest in Argentine energy projects.

Medvedev and Kirchner also commented on their belief that the world cannot be dominated by “powerful states”:

Both leaders agreed that international financial institutions should be reformed so that they can act more promptly and efficiently, according to a joint statement issued after the talks…

"Both Argentina and Russia are convinced that the world should be built on the basis of multi-polarity. The unipolar world that emerged in 1989 did not lead many countries to positive solutions either in the economic or security areas," she said.

(Ironically, Medvedev ended his tour of Latin America last week where he tried to expand Russian influence in the region).

Both leaders also expressed their support of a peaceful resolution to the dispute between Argentina and the U.K. over the Falkland Islands. “The call said the resolution should take place "in accordance with a U.N. mandate" — referring to a 1965 U.N. resolution that called for negotiations between the two countries,” according to an AP report.

Image- AP (“Argentine President Cristina Fernandez wears a silver fox fur hat presented by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, ITAR-TASS, AFP, IHT, Xinhua

Ingrid Betancourt meets Madonna in Argentina

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt continued her tour of Latin America with a stop yesterday in Argentina. It was there that she met with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner at the official palace along with an unexpected guest (image):

Madonna met with a president and a former guerrilla-held hostage Tuesday at Argentina's presidential palace, where she filmed "Evita" 12 years ago.

The pop star, in Buenos Aires on the Latin America leg of her "Sticky & Sweet" world tour, showed up early for a visit Argentine President Cristina Fernandez — who was then meeting with one of the world's best-known ex-hostages.

Earlier today, Chilean president Michele Bachelet met with Betancourt in Santiago. “When I come here I feel Chilean since so much pain has passed between us”, said Betancourt who also thanked Bachelet for nominating her for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Betancourt’s anti-kidnapping campaign has so far included stops in her native land and Ecuador where President Rafael Correa vowed to do “everything in our power to ensure these people are freed.”

Betancourt will continue her tour by traveling to Brazil and Venezuela; rumor has it that she will personally meet with Hugo Chavez and discuss a possible humanitarian exchange.

Image- AP
Sources (English)- The Latin Americanist, AFP, AP, Al Jazeera English
Sources (Spanish)- La Nacion

Daily Headlines: October 22, 2008

* Latin America: Currencies throughout the region fell in value yesterday partly over anxiety from the global financial crisis.

* Bolivia: More deals were made between Congress and President Evo Morales over land reform and the control of indigenous courts.

* U.S.: According to a study 58% of children and adolescents in the U.S. without health care are more likely to be Hispanic than white, non-Hispanic.

* Argentina: Ten private pension funds will be nationalized to the price tag of $30 billion in a plan pushed by President Cristina Fernandez.

Image- ABC News
Sources- BBC News, washingtonpost.com, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: January 14, 2008

* U.S. First Daughter Jenna Bush traveled to Peru “to work with U.N. children's assistance programs”, according to one source.

* Puerto Rico’s pro-independence movement is not pleased at subpoenas handed down against three activists.

* Italian prosecutors are seeking 139 people involved with several South American dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s.

* Follow-up: First it was Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Now roving reporter/supermodel Naomi Campbell talked politics with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez.

Sources- International Herald Tribune, newsday.com, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist

Image- MSNBC (“Jenna Bush reads from her recently published book "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope," before a book signing”)