Daily Headlines: November 7, 2016

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega easily won a third straight term during an election marred by the lack of international observers and accusations of fraud by the opposition.

* Puerto Rico: Ricardo Rossello, the odds-on favorite to become Puerto Rico’s next governor, has pushed for statehood in order to pull the commonwealth out of its economic crisis and “finally finish the 500-year debacle that has been colonialism.”

* Bolivia: The presidents of Bolivia and Peru agreed on a comprehensive plan that would provide landlocked Bolivia access to the ocean.

* Ecuador: Diplomatic authorities gave Swedish investigators permission to question Wikilieaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London next week.

YouTube Source – France 24 English (“Former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega is expected to easily clinch a third consecutive term as president of Nicaragua on Sunday, buoyed by steady economic growth that has trumped fears he is trying to install autocratic family rule.”)

Online Sources – Los Angeles Times, Fox News Latino, UPI, Mashable

Daily Headlines: November 3, 2016

* United States: The latest Latino Decision tracking poll estimates that as many as 14.7 million Latinos will vote in elections this month, which would represent a 5% jump compared to the turnout rate for the prior presidential election in 2012.

* Argentina: Representatives at the recent Ibero-American summit backed Argentina’s claim to the Falklands Islands while also supporting a United Nations resolution for dialogue with Britain over the disputed archipelago.

* Nicaragua: The final national survey prior to this Sunday’s presidential election indicates that incumbent Daniel Ortega and his running mate, first lady Rosario Murillo, will easily triumph.

* Brazil: Volkswagen appointed a German university professor to look into claims of torture and human rights abuses against the automaker’s employees in Brazil during military rule from 1964 to 1985.

YouTube Source – CBS Sunday Morning (Video uploaded on October 2016). 

Online Sources – Huffington Post, MercoPress, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: October 21, 2016

* Brazil: Twenty-one mining executives were charged with homicide in relation to the November 2015 collapse of a Brazilian dam that killed nineteen people and polluted miles of waterways.

* Latin America: A Mexican judge rejected an appeal to prevent the extradition of imprisoned Sinaloa drug cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, while Argentine officials requested the extradition of an ex-Iranian foreign minister potentially involved in the deadly 1994 AMIA bombing.

* Nicaragua: A recent poll gave President Daniel Ortega a commanding lead in a presidential race marred by controversy over the removal of opposition politicos from the legislature.

* United States: The Organization of American States for the first time will send observers to monitor the United States presidential election in fifteen states including Georgia and Ohio.

YouTube Source – CCTV News 

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, teleSUR English, Business Insider, Yahoo News, UPI

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2016

* Nicaragua: A new poll published weeks before the November 6th presidential election showed that incumbent Daniel Ortega continues with a massive lead ahead of his rivals.

* Venezuela: Human rights activists claimed extrajudicial killings in Venezuela have been on the rise since a government-backed crackdown on crime began fourteen months ago.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee claimed that more than 1.9 million tickets have been sold for the Rio Paralympics, and the 170,000 plus attendees last Sunday surpassed any single day of the recently held Olympics.

* Argentina: Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner received a subpoena to testify as part of a corruption probe focused on her time in office.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (From August 3, 2016: “Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has picked his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for November's election.”)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Voice of America, CBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: August 17, 2016

* Bolivia: Landlocked Bolivia took a big step towards being the world’s largest exporter of lithium following its first shipment of the metal to China.

* Brazil: Suspended President Dilma Rousseff proposed early elections though that may not be enough to prevent her from possibly being removed from office by the Brazilian Senate later this month.

* Puerto Rico: At least 500 passengers were evacuated from a ferry that caught fire off the Puerto Rican coast this morning.

* Nicaragua: Opposition parties have called for a boycott of Nicaragua’s upcoming presidential elections that critics claim are rigged to create a “dynastic dictatorship” for current leader Daniel Ortega.

* Mexico: Is the kidnapping of six people including the son of imprisoned capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman a sign of increased violence between Mexican drug gangs?

Daily Headlines: August 9, 2016

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega and First Lady Rosario Murillo are the odds-on favorites of winning in November’s elections according to a survey of 2000 likely voters.

* Ecuador: A United States court upheld a lower tribunal ruling barring the payment of an $8.6 billion environmental damages fine against Chevron to plaintiffs in Ecuador.

* Peru: Interior Minister Carlos Basombrio said prosecutors are looking into allegations of police officers running “death squads” from 2011 to 2015.

* United States: A poll of Millennials found that 89% of Latino respondents are concerned over “terrorism committed by U.S. residents inspired by group like ISIS,” while 55% are “very concerned about terrorism committed by White American citizens.”

YouTube Source – CCTV News (Earlier this month “Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega picked his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for November's election”.)
 
Online Sources – Yahoo News, The Washington Post, NBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2016

* Poland: Pope Francis spent several days in Poland that included a visit to the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and also declaring Panama as the site of the next World Youth Day.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed into a law a proposal allowing municipalities to share administrative services in order to cut costs at the heavily indebted commonwealth.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan electoral officials unseated twenty-eight opposition members of the federal legislature in a move critics view as consolidating the power of President Daniel Ortega.

* Cuba: JetBlue could become the first air carrier to regular schedule commercial flights to Cuba but the move first requires permission from the island’s government.

YouTube Source – France 24 English 
 
Online Sources – Refinery29, NPR, Vatican Radio, Business Insider, Yahoo7 News

Remembering an Ex-Pope's Anger in Nicaragua

Pope Francis today ended his latest to a Latin American country earlier today when he left Cuba following a four-day visit. During his time on the island, the Argentine pontiff emphasized messages of reconciliation and brotherhood among residents regardless of their ideological or political beliefs. His choice to steer away from commenting on the persecution of political dissidents and jailing of political prisoners was criticized by some members of the Cuban-American and Cuban exile community. (Though it remains to be seen if Francis during his first-ever visit to the U.S. will be more vocal on issues relating to human rights abuses in Cuba.)

Francis exercised caution in not blatantly speaking out against the Cuban government while on the island, but that stood in contrast to Pope John Paul II’s visit to Nicaragua in 1983. The Central American country was in the early years of a bloody armed conflict between the ruling Sandinista government and the rebel Contras. The war took its toll on the Nicaraguan Catholic Church that split between the hierarchy opposed to the Sandinista rulers and factions in favor of the government’s social and economic reforms.

Tensions between the sides was high in the days prior to the Pope’s visit but it was expected, as was written by one article at the time, that “the Pope will talk in relatively vague terms that both sides will try to use to best advantage.” As seen in the brief video clip below, that notion was put to rest upon his arrival when he publicly admonished Catholic priest and Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal:

Daily Headlines: January 30, 2014

* Venezuela: Exports of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. are expected to reach its lowest level in twenty-eight years partly due to decreased production and increased demand from China.

* Central America: Nicaraguan legislators backed a constitutional reform that could permit President Daniel Ortega to seek a third straight term, while Panamanian first lady Marta Linares was chosen by the country’s ruling party to run for vice president.

* Argentina: A pair of new studies concluded that climate change is hindering the growth of penguin populations in Antarctica and Argentina.

* Ecuador: Edgar Vaca, the former police chief of Ecuador who was recently arrested in the U.S., will be extradited to his native land and formally charged with crimes against humanity.

Video Source – Press TV via YouTube

Online Sources- Bloomberg; The Guardian; Voice of America; Reuters; GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: November 26, 2013

* Nicaragua: The U.S. State Department and the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua have criticized a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove presidential term limits and could allow President Daniel Ortega to run for reelection.
 
* Mexico: At least forty-two bodies have been uncovered in twenty-two mass graves in an area of western Mexico that “has become the site of a turf war between the Knights Templar and the New Generation cartels.”

* U.S.: The first public memorial honoring Puerto Rican veterans in the continental U.S. was unveiled last week in Boston, Massachusetts.

* Argentina: The Argentine government and Repsol reached a preliminary deal that would compensate the Spanish firm for the 2012 expropriation of the YPF energy company.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews (Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega easily won reelection in 2011 but has yet to say publicly whether he wants to run again in 2016.)

Online Sources- Reuters; Catholic Culture; Miami Herald; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: November 7, 2013

* Vatican: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles asked Pope Francis to help mediate in the politically fractured country, while several photos were released showing the Argentine-born pontiff embracing a severely disfigured man. 

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega is pushing a proposal through the Nicaraguan legislature that would eliminate term limits for presidents.

* Ecuador: A former judge behind a $19 billion environment damages ruling against Chevron rejected allegations of fraud against him and claimed that another magistrate did not ghostwrite his decision.

* U.S.: Latino voters played a key role in several elections on Tuesday including reportedly backing Terry McAuliffe by a 2-to-1 margin in a close Virginian gubernatorial race.

Video Source – YouTube via Rome Reports

Online Sources- The Huffington Post; Reuters; Al Jazeera English

Venezuelan “Amigos” Upset Over Chavez Ad

With Venezuela’s presidential elections less than a month away both incumbent Hugo Chavez and rival Henrique Capriles are seeking any advantage they can get.  Yet the use of music to support the current president has raised the ire of one well-known Venezuelan band.

Members of Los Amigos Invisibles have asked a state-run radio station to quit running pro-Chavez campaign ads that use their 2004 song “Majunche.” 

"They've expropriated Majunche.  Just what we needed," tweeted bass player Jose Rafael Torres after the group found out that the YVKE station used their song. Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the band's management claimed to Reuters that the song was utilized without the band’s permission.

The instrumental tune, whose title is roughly translated as “Loser,” was played behind a speech where Chavez declared that “The loser won't win elections in Venezuela ... this year, or even in 2,000 years!”

Several members of “Los Amigos” have not been shy in admitting that they support the former governor of Miranda state.  “I would like to be an oligarch but I don’t have any lands…I’ve been forced to be on the opposition by conviction,” Torres tweeted.  Percussionist Marco Arias composed a song for the Capriles campaign entitled “Algo bueno está pasando” (“Something good is happening”).  Lyrics for the upbeat tune include “We’re all going to celebrate” and “Something good is happening, change is coming.”

Daily Headlines: February 15, 2012

* Peru: Hundreds of women forcibly sterilized in the 1990s under a program created by then-President Alberto Fujimori continue to wait for to justice to be served.

* Nicaragua: The head of the central bank quit after a disagreement with President Daniel Ortega over how to pay for a regional bank for the ALBA bloc.
* Venezuela: Political opposition groups cried foul after the Supreme Court ruled against the destruction of lists of voters who participated in Sunday’s primary election.

* South America: Chilean president Sebastian Pinera received a “surprise phone call” from British Prime Minister David Cameron and they reportedly discussed the dispute between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falklands.

Video Source – YouTube via telesurenglish

Online Sources- Fox News, Bloomberg, News24, Mercopress

Daily Headlines: January 26, 2012

* Ecuador: The government might shut down “underground clinics” that allegedly abuse their clients in order to “cure” their homosexuality.

* Argentina: In the latest war of words over the sovereignty of the Falklands/Malvinas, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner blasted British Prime Minister David Cameron for “trying to paint us as bad guys.”

* Nicaragua: A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Nicaragua's recent elections were “a setback to democracy” and added that President Daniel Ortega must be held accountable.

* Venezuela: With just over two weeks until the opposition presidential primary election, Miranda governor Henrique Capriles got a major endorsement from former candidate Leopoldo Lopez.

Video Source – CNN

Online Sources- MSNBC, BBC News, Voice of America, Reuters

Nicaraguan president to be sworn in for a third time

This afternoon Daniel Ortega will be sworn in for a third term as president of Nicaragua.

Several thousand people are expected to attend the ceremony including leaders from the Americas and, most controversially, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yet it's worth noting that members of Nicaragua's second-biggest political party and representatives of the U.S. government will skip the event.

Ortega easily won reelection to the presidency last year amidst controversial circumstances. Detractors to the former Sandinista leader claimed that his bid to remain in the presidency was unconstitutional and a sham. In the following video via teleSUR, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Managua last month to reject Ortega and call for new elections to take place:

Ortega reportedly pledged that he will be a "profile of moderation" and will not push for constitutional reforms that would consolidate his power. It remains to be seen if he goes through with his promises during his third term in the presidency.

Online Sources - CBS News, Mercopress, BBC News

Video Source - YouTube via teleSUR

Daily Headlines: December 5, 2011

* Mexico: President Felipe Calderon defended his anti-crime policies despite an estimated 43,000 deaths related to drug violence since he took office.

* Peru: President Ollanta Humala declared a state of emergency in areas of northern Peru where police have clashed with protesters opposed to a controversial mining project.

* Haiti: Rest in peace Sonia Pierre; the human rights activist who defended the rights of Dominican-born Haitians died yesterday at the age of 48.

* Brazil: Brazil’s chief ambassador at global climate talks in South Africa defended a government-backed proposal that would overhaul the country’s forest laws.

* Nicaragua: Thousands of people marched in Managua on Saturday to call attention to alleged “massive electoral fraud” in the reelection of President Daniel Ortega.

* Argentina: For the third time since 2006, Argentina lost in the finals of the Davis Cup tennis competition.

Image Source – Flickr via Knight Foundation (“Hundreds of Mexican journalists silently marched in downtown Mexico City (last year) in protest of the kidnappings, murder and violence against their peers throughout the country.”) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources - Bloomberg, Miami Herald, Reuters, insidecostarica.com, ABC News, BBC Sport

Daily Headlines: December 2, 2011

* Nicaragua: The White House may soon provide an official reaction discussing suspected voting irregularities in the Nicaragua’s presidential election held last month.

* Mexico: Controversial Peruvian talk show host Laura Bozzo has come fire after calling a guest a “little bitch” who should be “in jail as a prostitute.”

* Cuba: The wife of imprisoned contractor Alan Gross urged U.S. and Cuban authorities to "work something out" for his prompt release.

* Uruguay: Officials identified a corpse found at a military base in October as that of a labor union activist missing since 1977.

Image Source – Flickr via jorgemejia (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Miami Herald, LAHT, Voice of America, BBC News

Daily Headlines: November 18, 2011

* Venezuela: Thousands of troops under a new command known as the People's Guard will be deployed throughout the country in order to combat a spike in violent crimes.

* Haiti: Vaccinations will soon be administered in order to stop a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 7000 people since October 2010.

* Puerto Rico: The yearly record for murders is expected to be surpassed in the next few days with the 1000th murder.

* Nicaragua: Recently reelected President Daniel Ortega will surely be seeking to take advantage of a two-thirds majority of his political party in the Nicaraguan legislature.

Video Source – YouTube user teleSUR

Online Sources – BBC News, Voice of America, Fox News Latino, Reuters

Daily Headlines: November 10, 2011

* Nicaragua: Electoral officials declared Daniel Ortega the winner of Sunday’s presidential elections though international observers noted numerous voting irregularities.

* Argentina: Does a recent major oil find in the Patagonia region mean that Argentina will become a “new energy hub” in the Americas?

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales said that U.S. antidrug agents would not be allowed back in Bolivia despite the resumption of diplomatic affairs between both states.

* Brazil: Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned that the European financial crisis is hurting emerging market countries such as Brazil.

Video Source – YouTube user euronews

Online Sources – Americas Quarterly, UPI, Reuters, Huffington Post

Sony to Nicaraguan president: “Stand” away from copycat song

The use of music in presidential campaigns can sometimes be a tricky situation pitting musicians against politicos. The likes of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty have butted heads with U.S. presidential hopefuls while last year Colombian artist Juanes denounced the use of one of his hit songs for the reelection campaign of president Juan Manuel Santos.

According to the latest polls incumbent Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega has a solid chance of winning in the first round of elections on November 6th. Nevertheless Ortega and his main rivals have been running very intense campaigns seeking any advantage possible including catchy jingles. Music fans will surely be familiar with the song copied in Ortega’s jingle entitled “Nicaragua Will Triumph”:

The use of “Stand by Me” in Ortega’s campaign song did not sit well with Sony Music, which reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to the head of Ortega’s party in the legislature. “We don’t allow our songs to be used by political campaigns,” said Sony/ATV Music spokesman Jimmy Asci to Bloomberg. The statement also claimed that the use of the classic Ben E. King song was a “serious infringement” of Sony’s copyright and that the company could take legal action to prevent its future use.

Thus far there has been no response from Ortega or any of his campaign organizers to Sony’s letter. In addition, King has yet to make a public declaration on the song controversy.

Video Source - YouTube
Online Sources – The Latin Americanist, theweek.com, El Nuevo Herald AFP, ABC News, Bloomberg