Daily Headlines: April 8, 2016

* Guatemala: Five men were convicted and received prison sentences of up to fifty years for the 2011 homicide of Argentine singer Facundo Cabral and the attempted murder of his manager who they were trying to kill.

* Argentina: Federal prosecutor Federico Delgado has called for an investigation into President Mauricio Macri prior involvement with several offshore firms that was revealed by the recent “Panama Papers” leak.

* U.S.: A new poll of Latino registered voters found a virtual split in support for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders as well as an 83% unfavorability rating for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree that would allow public workers to take a three-day weekend in order to save energy in the oil-rich country.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in 2011).
 
Online Sources – Billboard, The Latin Americanist, Vice News, NBC News, CBC

Daily Headlines: February 19, 2014

* Venezuela: Famed Venezuelan composer, actor and musician Simón Díaz died on Wednesday at the age of 85 according to a Tweet from his daughter.

* Brazil: A British court ruled that the nine-hour detention of Brazilian David Miranda - the partner of the journalist at the center of the Edward Snowden intel leaks – at Heathrow airport last year was legal.
   
* U.S.: A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man near the U.S.-Mexico boundary line in California after he was allegedly struck in the face with a rock.

* Guatemala: Authorities in Guatemala arrested three people believed to be linked to the 2011 murder of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral.

Video Source – YouTube user GJRFLAMERICH (Simón Díaz performs arguably his most well-known song, “Caballo Viejo”, in this clip from a 1998 concert).

Online Sources- El Universal; Huffington Post; UPI; GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: August 27, 2012

* Central America: A tsunami alert affecting Mexico and several Central American countries was lifted hours after a 7.3-magnnitude earthquake shook off the coast of El Salvador.

* Ecuador: Could Latin American support behind Ecuador’s approval of asylum for Julian Assange help push for the start of negotiations between the South American country and Britain?

* Cuba: Prominent dissident Guillermo Fariñas was released from police custody over the weekend after having been detained for approximately forty hours.

* Nicaragua: Police last week confiscated over $7 million from eighteen people who were arrested and posing as false journalists.

Video Source – YouTube via CNN Chile (Thus far there have been no reports of serious damage or injuries after the tremor occurred in the overnight hours into Monday).

Online Sources- Herald Sun, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AFP, GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2012

* Venezuela: Will Venezuela’s official entry yesterday as a full member of the Mercosur bloc help or hurt the country’s economy?

* Latin America: Spanish imports of oil from Latin America have doubled this year partly due to a European Union ban on Iranian oil that started exactly one month ago.

* Costa Rica: Fired Deputy Minister for Youth Karina Bolanos apologized but defended herself after a racy personal video made in 2007 was stolen and released on YouTube.

* Nicaragua: The criminal gang linked to the murder last year of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral has been accused of laundering over $1 billion.

Video Source – YouTube via Cosa Rosada (In this video from the Argentine government the leaders of Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina posed for a photo at the Mercosur conference yesterday).

Online Sources- Bloomberg, Reuters, InSight Crime, CNN

Daily Headlines: March 14, 2012

* Mexico: The members of Los Tigres Del Norte were declared persona non grata by officials in the capital of Chihuahua state due to their narcocorrido songs.

* Cuba: Reporters Without Borders named Cuba one of its “Enemies of the Internet” for several reasons including police harassment of bloggers and limited access to online resources.

* Haiti: A Pakistani military court sentenced two U.N. troops to one year in prison for the rape of a Haitian boy.

* Latin America: A Costa Rican man accused of masterminding the 2011 attack that killed Argentine singer Facundo Cabral was deported last night to Guatemala.

Video Source – YouTube via LosTigresNorteVEVO

Online Sources- CBC News, Voice of America, BBC News, NPR

Daily Headlines: March 13, 2012

* U.S.: The Justice Department on Monday blocked enforcement of a Texas voter identification law due to the potential disenfranchisement of Latino voters.

* Latin America: Colombian police nabbed the suspected mastermind behind the murder of Argentine singer and composer Facundo Cabral in Guatemala last year.

* Bolivia: At a United Nations anti-drugs meeting in Vienna, President Evo Morales defended coca chewing as an “ancestral right” for Bolivians.

* Brazil: Corruption allegations may’ve finally got the better of Ricardo Teixeira who resigned as the head of Brazil's soccer federation and the 2014 World Cup organizing committee.

Image Source – Flickr via Vox Efx (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Fort Worth Star-Telegram, CNN, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: August 2, 2011

* Cuba: Russian oil firm Gazprom purchased a larger stake in a number of Cuban offshore oil blocks.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez backed embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and called anti-government rebels "terrorists."

* Mexico: Twenty-one federal prosecutors resigned en masse in an action that may be connected to an internal purge by the Attorney General’s office.

* Haiti: Several dozen protesters upset with the lack of housing for earthquake survivors blocked access on one of Port-au-Prince's busiest streets.

* Guatemala: Police apprehended a third suspect allegedly connected to last month’s murder of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral.

* Caribbean: The U.S. Coast Guard recovered roughly 7.5 tons of cocaine from a sinking narco-submarine in the Caribbean.

Image – Reuters (“An oil pump is seen on the shore near Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba June 5, 2008.”)
Online Sources- UPI, MSNBC, The Guardian, GlobalPost, Sacramento Bee, CBS News

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2011

* Argentina: Singer and songwriter Facundo Cabral may not have been the target of an ambush that killed him in Guatemala on Saturday but that hasn’t stopped the immense mourning throughout the Americas.

* Latin America: Mexico won its second U-17 men’s soccer title in six years with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay while the U.S. eliminated Brazil from the Women’s World Cup in a thrilling quarterfinal match.

* Venezuela: Ailing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is doing “very well, very well” according to his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales.

* Costa Rica: The Central American country could emulate states like Uruguay and enact tough anti-smoking laws.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube (Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral was tragically gunned down over the weekend while visiting Guatemala).
Online Sources- LAHT, CBC, USA TODAY, MSNBC, insidecostarica.com

Today’s Video: Adios Facundo

We'll discuss in more detail on Monday the untimely and tragic death of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral. For now, we will let his music speak for itself:

Video Source - YouTube
Online Source - The Huffington Post