Daily Headlines: July 11, 2016

* Haiti: The State Department pledged support by the United States to Haiti despite suspending financial help to the Caribbean country’s troublesome election process.

* Latin America: The quality of higher education in Latin America has been unable to meet the growing demand for a university education, according to new research.

* El Salvador: Ten people including five police officers were arrested over allegedly participating in a death squad linked to the deaths of forty suspected gang members in El Salvador.

* Mexico: Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto called the North American Free Trade Agreement a “win-win mechanism” for job creation and economic growth for his country, the United States and Canada.

YouTube Source – AJ+ (From January 20, 2016: “Protesters calling for fresh elections clashed with riot police in Haiti as the presidential run-off vote looms.”)
 
Online Sources – The Washington Post, Fox News Latino, The Hill, Times Higher Education

Venezuela Charges U.S. Filmmaker with Conspiracy

Is Timothy Tracy a U.S. spy who tried to promote violence Venezuela’s recent presidential election or does the government unfairly target him a scapegoat?  This is the question in the middle of the latest diplomatic disagreement between Venezuela and the U.S.

On Saturday night, a judge in Caracas charged Tracy with conspiracy, falsifying public documents
and other crimes.   

The 35-year-old has remained behind bars since Wednesday when he was arrested at the Simon Bolivar International Airport.  The next day, newly inaugurated President Nicolás Maduro accused Tracy of “creating violence in the cities of this country.”  Furthermore, interior minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres alleged to have over 500 videos demonstrating Tracy’s guilt including his meeting with members of the Venezuelan student protest movement.

“We have no doubt that he is an intelligence operative based on his training.  He knows how to infiltrate, recruit others and manage security information,” declared Rodriguez at a press conference.

“The documentaries he makes have nothing to do with national security.  They’re individual histories that try to understand the polarizing political climate of this country,” declared Gloria Stifano, Timothy Tracy’s attorney in Venezuela.  “He met with the Women With Chávez group, received authorization from several mayors and was approved by the national electoral council to act as an observer,” added Stifano.

Student protest activist Gaby Arellano denied the charges by the state against her cohorts and claimed that the Tracy affair is “like a big farce on the part of the government to distract attention.”  Tuki Jencquel, a Venezuelan filmmaker who reportedly became friends with Tracy, said that Tracy “seemed to be very evenhanded in his work and neutral in relation to what was happening in Venezuela”.

According to imdb.com, Tracy worked as a producer on several documentaries and television shows such as “Angry White Man,” “Madhouse” and “American Harmony.” 

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell neglected to comment on whether Tracy had any connection with any U.S. government agency and he also rejected allegations that the U.S. is involved in any efforts to destabilize Venezuela. 

Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the U.S. has been uneasy over the past fifteen years.  Last month, for instance, Venezuelan officials expelled a pair of U.S. diplomats charged with plotting against the government of then-President Hugo Chávez.

Daily Headlines: January 2, 2013

* Peru: Over thirty people died in Peru in 2012 as a result of a dengue outbreak that infected approximately 21,000 people last year.

* U.S.: Is the naming of a new California school after bandido Tiburcio Vasquez a fair recognition of a historic Latino or the unnecessary glorification of a criminal?

* Colombia: While peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebels are on hold at least thirteen guerillas died in a military assault.

* Haiti: The U.S. State Department upgraded its travel warning to Haiti including advising visitors “medical facilities are particularly weak.”

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English 

Online Sources- Huffington Post, The Global Dispatch, LAHT, CBS Miami

Daily Headlines: December 4, 2012 (Updated)

* Honduras: At least 149 people were murdered by Honduras’ National Police over the past 23 months according to a report presented yesterday.

Update: Police spokesman Héctor Iván Mejía criticized the report as inaccurately "generalizing" the police as "criminals".  But in his remarks to the website of Honduran daily La Tribuna, Mejía did not touch on the data presented in the report blaming the police for 149 murders in nearly two years.   

* Cuba: The U.S. State Department urged Cuban officials to release ill, imprisoned contractor Alan Gross and “return him to his family where he belongs.”

* Mexico: Doctors in Mexico confirmed that retired Colombian soccer goalkeeper Miguel Calero is brain dead and on life support machines.

Update: Miguel Calero was declared clinically dead by doctors overseeing him according to a statement from Mexican soccer club Pachuca.  The forty-one-year-old Calero appeared in fifty games for the Colombian national team, and won three CONCACAF Champions Cup and a Copa Sudamericana in his eleven years as Pachuca goalkeeper. 

* U.S.: Two suspected Mexican drug smugglers were accused of killing a U.S. Coast Guard officer on California's seas.

Video Source – YouTube via user Vox Populi (Honduran police officers were accused of abuse while trying to break up a teachers’ occupation of a Tegucigalpa school in 2010).

Online Sources including Updates - CNN, The Huffington Post, ESPN Soccernet, Fox News Latino, LaTribuna.hn, RCN Radio

Daily Headlines: November 22, 2012

* Brazil: 176 people in Sao Paulo were killed in October according to new data revealed hours after the city's security chief resigned from his post.

* Latin America: The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning to nationals visiting Honduras and updated its warning on traveling to Mexico.

* Peru: Indonesian law enforcement officials claimed that hundreds of women from that country work as “drug mules” in Peru.

* Argentina: A U.S. federal judge ordered the Argentine government to immediately pay over $1 billion owed to foreign creditors since the country defaulted a decade ago.

Video Source – YouTube via user ABCOfficialNews
 
Online Sources- BBC News, Times of India, USA TODAY, Bernama, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: June 14, 2012

* Peru: Authorities released the mayor of Espinar, Oscar Mollohuanca, who was jailed after being accused of inciting anti-mining riots two weeks ago.

* South America: Bolivian President Evo Morales said that a 108-year old territorial treaty with neighboring Chile is “dead because Chile has failed.”

* Mexico: The U.S. State Department issued a warning regarding traveling to Mexico due to the recent arrests of several people linked to the Zetas drug gang.

* Cuba: A lawyer for U.S. contractor Alan Gross claimed that his client’s health has greatly deteriorated in the two years he has been imprisoned in Cuba.

Video Source – YouTube via telesurenglish (The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency in Espinar last month after two people were killed during anti-mining protests.)

Online Sources- CBS News, ABC News, Bernama, BBC News

The Larry Palmer Saga

It's the story that doesn't seem to want to end. Back in August, President Obama nominated Larry Palmer to be the US ambassador to Caracas.

During Palmer's Senate confirmation hearings, he got put in between a rock and a hard place. To secure his nomination he needed to talk a little tough on Hugo Chavez (nothing wins political points like bashing Chavez, after all). So in response to questions from Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Palmer noted that there was dissatisfaction among the Venezuelan military and that Colombian guerrilla movements operated out of Venezuela.

It didn't come as too much of a surprise then that Chavez refused to accept Palmer, saying, "How can you think I'd accept this gentleman coming here?...You'd best withdraw him, Obama. Don't insist, I'm asking you."

Obama (well, State) did insist. And so did Chavez. In return, the US revoked the visa of Venezuela Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez.

And then Palmer's nomination expired and it seemed like the US was ready to move on. But then State decided to stick to its guns (after pressure to not let Chavez dictate anything), and said they still wanted Palmer to head to Caracas.

Chavez has his favorites for the job: Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, Noam Chomsky or Bill Clinton. (Bill Clinton?)

Never one to miss an opportunity for a joke, Chavez mentioned his recent meeting with Hillary Clinton at the inauguration of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff: "I said to Mrs. Clinton 'How is your husband?' But I was wrong because I speak very bad English and I said ‘How is your wife?’"

And still no ambassadors in Washington or Caracas.

Image Source: New York Magazine

Online Sources: AFP, Google News, Wall St. Journal, El Universal, Washington Post, Americas Quarterly

Daily Headlines: October 6, 2010

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales lost his cool at a friendly soccer match and gave new meaning to the idea of politicians “hitting below the belt”.

* Haiti: International charity group Oxfam alleged that post-earthquake foreign food aid has devastated the Haitian agriculture sector.

* Canada: Have “anti-terrorism laws” unfairly stacked the odds against a Salvadoran man living in Canada since 1996 and seeking refugee status?

* Cuba: According to reports State Department officials are working to repatriate most former Cuban political prisoners from Spain to the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube
Online Sources- CBC, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Voice of America

Cuba denies terrorism “sponsor” status

Yesterday we mentioned that a U.S. Department of State labeled Cuba as a “state sponsor” of terrorism along with countries like Sudan and Syria. The agency’s terrorism report claimed that "no evidence of direct financial support for terrorist organizations by Cuba in 2009" yet said that the island’s government has provided safe haven to Colombian rebels and members of Basque separatist group ETA.

Shortly after the report was published the Castro regime responded to the claims made by the Department of State. Unsurprisingly Cuban officials were not too happy:

A statement issued by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, director of North American affairs at the Foreign Ministry in Havana, said Cuba ``categorically rejects'' the island's inclusion on the list.

``Once again, the United States casts doubts on the (island's) seriousness and commitment in the fight against international terrorism,'' the statement said, adding that the list shows a U.S. ``double standard.''

While five Cuban ``anti-terrorists are unjustly jailed'' in the United States -- they were convicted of spying charges -- Miami exile Luis Posada Carriles ``and others who have confessed to horrendous acts of terrorism against Cuba remain in complete freedom,'' it said.

The Salvadoran press last month cited local and Cuban intelligence reports claiming that that there are active “terrorist cells” founded by Posada Carriles functioning in El Salvador.

On a related note, Havana Roman Catholic Archbishop Jaime Ortega was in Washington this week where he received the Knights of Columbus’ highest honor and met with State Department and national Security Council officials. (Ortega was instrumental in brokering the planned freeing of 52 political prisoners by the Cuban government).

Image- New York Times (“A billboard in Havana bears a likeness of Luis Posada Carriles and reads, “Cuba declares him guilty” in the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in 1976.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald, EFE

Cuba “sponsors” terrorism says State Dept.

On Thursday the U.S. Department of State, (DOS), issued its annual list on global terrorism and the Americas were not exempt from the agency’s analysis.

Once again the DOS designated Cuba as a “state sponsor” of terrorism alongside countries like Syria and Sudan. According to the Washington Post the report mentioned that Cuba has provided sanctuary to several U.S. fugitives; one example that we mentioned last year was Joanne Chesimard who was convicted in the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper. Furthermore, the report also said that Cuba has given refuge to Colombian rebels and Basque separatists yet there was "no evidence of direct financial support for terrorist organizations by Cuba in 2009."

The DOS also pointed out that the Shining Path rebels “remain a threat” in Peru while also praising U.S.-Mexico efforts to try to control money laundering and crime. The report also mentioned the “concern” by the U.S. government of “Hezbollah and HAMAS sympathizers” in South America’s Tri-Border area but said that they lack “an operational presence in the region.”

The report also waded into Colombian allegations that some rebels from that country were safely living in Venezuela. U.S. ambassador-designate to Venezuela Larry Palmer said last week that he was "keenly aware of the clear ties" between Colombian guerillas and some members of the Venezuelan government. The DOS report took a more neutral stance, however:

It remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan government provided support to Colombian groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). The FARC and ELN reportedly regularly crossed into Venezuelan territory to rest and regroup as well as to extort protection money and kidnap Venezuelans to finance their operations. Colombia on various occasions has accused the Venezuelan Government of harboring and aiding top FARC leaders in Venezuelan territory.

Image- EPA (Peruvian soldiers recently fought against the resurgent Shining Path rebels).
Online Sources- state.gov, Reuters, CNN, Washington Post, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: June 2, 2010

* Mexico: Cancun mayor Gregorio Sanchez has been barred from running for governor of Quintana Roo after a judge charged him with ties to powerful drug gangs.

* U.S.: Univision emitted a public apology after airing a racially insensitive skit supposedly meant to promote the upcoming World Cup.

* Venezuela: For the fourth year in a row the Department of State has placed Venezuela on its list of countries “which do not fully cooperate with US anti-terrorist efforts.”

* Cuba: Officials have started to move some political prisoners to jails closer to their homes though dissident groups still continue to campaign for their prompt liberation.

Image –BBC News (“Gregorio Sanchez denies the charges against him.”)
Online Sources – BBC News, MSNBC, El Universal, Los Angeles Times

State Dept. issues extra Mexico travel warnings

The weekend murders of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez have alarmed officials north of the border. Part of the U.S. response has been to send FBI agents to collaborate with Mexican investigators as well as issuing several State Department travel warnings.

Yesterday the State Department gave the approval for family members of employees in six northern Mexican cities to be sent elsewhere. A spokesman for the agency said that that decision was made before the weekend shootings yet coincided with a renewed travel warning cautioning prospective visitors to areas like Juarez and Tijuana.

These advisories come as Spring Break revelers have been warned of violence and crime in popular destinations such as Cancun. “Drug-related violence has been increasing in Acapulco,” reads part of the State Department travel warning for Spring Breakers. A particularly ugly example of such violence occurred over the weekend:

To the south, along the Pacific in the popular tourist resort of Acapulco, an even more gruesome weekend. Early on Saturday, 13 people were killed, including five police officers. Four of the victims were beheaded. All, undoubtedly, the dirty work of Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.

According to the Mexican press 7600 Mexicans died in 2009 as a result of drug-related violence, a figure expected to be topped this year.

Image- CBC (“Soldiers stand guard at a crime scene where the crashed car of a U.S. Consulate employee sits in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday.”)
Online Sources- National Post, U.S. State Department, AP, CBS News, Seattle Times, CNN

Please help Haiti! - Text Messaging

Aside from donating to major charity groups you can also send text messages in order to help Haitian earthquake relief efforts:

• U.S. State Department - Texting "HAITI" to "90999" and a $10 donation will be made to the Red Cross.
• Yele Haiti - Texting "YELE" to "501501" and a $5 donation will be made.
  

Please note that your cell phone bill will be automatically billed if you make a text message donation and that it may not be possible to make a donation outside of the U.S. Still, we beg of you to help our Haitian brothers and sisters in need, and if you have any tips please let us know via e-mail at ourlatinamerica@yahoo.com

Image- New York Daily News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, U.S. State Department, Yele Haiti, CBC

U.S., Costa Rica urges mediation in Honduras crisis

Diplomats in the U.S. and Costa Rica have called on rival sides in Honduras to enter a new chapter of negotiations.

Both elected Honduran president Manuel Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti need to be "patient" and renew discussions, said Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. Even though talks last week between the rival heads failed to reach a breakthrough, chief negotiator Arias emphasized that “it is not easy to get results in 24 hours."

The U.S. State Department agreed with Arias in remarks made by a spokesman today. "All parties in the talks should give this process some time. Don't set any artificial deadlines," Ian Kelly told reporters.

Arias and Kelly spoke out after Zelaya threatened Micheletti with an ultimatum yesterday: should future talks not restore him to power he “will proceed with other measures.” At the time he did not elaborate on the alternatives though he said today that Hondurans "have the right to insurrection" against the interim government.

Meanwhile, the mainstream press has been accused of falsifying the results of a recent poll to show that most Hondurans backed the June 27th coup against Zelaya. The Christian Science Monitor claimed that is not necessarily the case:

Did we get it wrong?

Yes, and no. We inadvertently got only half of the survey, according to the only blogger (bloggingsbyboz.com) who seems to have figured out what happened.

Apparently, CID-Gallup asked two related questions in the poll…

The first question: Was President Zelaya removal justified? Forty-one percent of those surveyed said that the removal was justified, while 28 percent disagreed. Thirty-one percent did not know or did not answer.

La Prensa published only this first question and these figures. So did The Christian Science Monitor and various other outlets.

The second question in the poll was: Did those surveyed agree with the actions to remove him? This time, 46 percent said they disagreed, and 41 percent agreed. Some news organizations, such as the New York Times, published these figures.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- Christian Science Monitor, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AFP, CBC, Huffington Post

HRW: Withhold Security Aid to Mexico

In a letter sent yesterday to Secretary Clinton, Human Rights Watch called on the State Department to withhold tens of millions of dollars in security aid to Mexico unless it agrees to allow recent human rights abuse allegations to be tried in civilian courts.

Human Rights Watch states in the letter a finding from its recent report on Mexican military abuses that, "Mexican military courts-which routinely take over the investigation of military abuses against civilians-have not produced over the past 10 years a single conviction against a member of the military accused of committing a serious human rights violation."

Under the $1.4 billion aid package that is known as the Mérida Initiative, the US must withhold a 15% portion of the funds until the secretary of State reports that Mexico is meeting specific human rights conditions. Those conditions include prosecuting human rights abuses in accordance with Mexican and international law.

Online sources-Los Angeles Times, Human Rights Watch

Image-MSNBC

Weekend Headlines: June 6, 2009

* Cuba: A retired State Department official and his wife were arrested on Friday and accused of spying for Cuba during almost 30 years.

* Mexico: Tragedy in Mexico where at least 29 children died when a fire blazed through a daycare center.

* Venezuela: In the latest action taken against anti-government news channel Globovision, Venezuelan authorities ordered the network pay $2.3 million in back taxes.

* Guatemala: Much like in Peru (but without the violence), hundreds of protestors in Guatemala have blocked roads and demanded more social aid from the government.

Image- CNN
Online Sources- LAHT, BBC News, New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK

Notable Quotables: Human rights hypocrisy?

"There is no Guantanamo in Chile".

---Chilean government spokesman Francisco Vidal responds to a global human rights report released this week by the U.S. State Department. Vidal also "questioned the moral authority" of the U.S. in criticizing the human rights problems of other countries.

The 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was particularly harsh on Cuba and Venezuela though it pointed out problems that persist in Chile. The report coincided with Amnesty International in noting that Chile's indigenous peoples "suffered discrimination."

Image- ABC Online
Online Sources- China Daily, The Latin Americanist, State Department

State Department study blasts Cuba, Venezuela

The State Department’s annual report on human rights claimed that there has been some progress in Latin America yet has deeply criticized the situation in Cuba and Venezuela.

Regarding Cuba, the report says that the Castro administration denies “its citizens their basic human rights and committed numerous, serious abuses.” Over 200 political prisoners remained detained and the report highlighted a litany of human rights abuses from “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, including denial of medical care” to “denial of peaceful assembly and association”.

The State Department’s assessment of Venezuela was not as harsh as Cuba but still pretty critical nevertheless. Though U.S. diplomats recently expressed cautious optimism over the recent term limits referendum, the report said that referendums pursued “policies that threatened to undermine freedoms and democratic institutions."

The Venezuelan government replied this morning:

The report's allegations are "false, bad-intentioned and meddling," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. It also said the U.S. government has "the darkest record of violations ... of human dignity in modern history."

According to Voice of America, the report praised several Latin American countries such as Argentina for going after suspected Dirty War criminals and Colombia for “improving” a still-deteriorated human rights environment. (Really? “Improving”?)

Image- The telegraph (The State Department’s annual report on human rights critiqued the referendum process in Venezuela)
Online Sources- Voice of America, State Department, AP, El Universal, The Latin Americanist

U.S. “cautiously optimistic” of Venezuelan vote

The State Department is cautiously optimistic over the results of Venezuela’s national referendum on term limits according to several news reports.

"We congratulate the civic and participatory spirit” of the voters State Department spokesman Noel Clay said to AFP regarding Sunday’s referendum. Yet Clay added that the Venezuelan government must “now focus on governing democratically” and addressing issues that most affect Venezuelans.

The State Department’s satisfaction was not shared by anti-Chavista Venezuelan expats living in south Florida:

''I'm very disappointed,'' Javier Quintero said of Chávez's win to abolish term limits. ``Unfortunately, there is not too much to do. I don't know what is going to happen with my country''…

''They have hope in the original idea he had, like helping the poor,'' (Florida International University student Che) Guerra said of her pro-Chávez relatives. ``My aunt in Venezuela, she's pro-Chávez. I tell her poor people never had anything. You give a little bread, water, they're going to be happy, but it doesn't mean it's good.''

Approximately 54% of voters chose to drop term limits from the Venezuelan presidency and other elected positions in a referendum characterized by electoral observers as “free and fair.” The election was a victory for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez but will have to face several challenges such as a slumping global economy if he wishes to win a third term in 2013.

Image- AFP (“"SI" (YES) reports a newspaper after Hugo Chavez won a referendum.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Al Jazeera English, miamiherald.com, AFP, Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Venezuela, U.S. agree over consular mishap

It’s not every day that one finds Hugo Chavez agreeing with the White House yet that occurred regarding the Venezuelan consulate in Houston.

Last week, the U.S. State Department ordered that consulate to be closed and revoked the visas and diplomatic privileges of a dozen Venezuelan diplomats. The sudden action came since the consulate moved its offices within Houston but did not receive State Department approval. Doing so violated international protocol, claimed a State Department spokeswoman.

Normally, such an action would lead to an annoying and often childish tit-for-tat between U.S. and Venezuelan officials. That was not to be the case, thankfully.

"Our lead diplomat in Houston moved the consulate without approval from the US authorities or Venezuela's Embassy in Washington," (President Hugo) Chavez said explaining the removal of the Venezuelan official.

"We have to accept that there was a mistake. There was no coordination with the authorities of that country. Then, all this has been used by some Venezuelans here, particularly some media and, of course, by some sectors in the United States," Chavez said.

Pardon me while I breathe a sigh of relief.

Image- AFP (“The embassy of Venezuela in Washington, DC.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, El Universal, AP, Houston Chronicle, AHN