Daily Headlines: August 15, 2016

* Argentina: Human rights group the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo held their 2000th weekly march in Buenos Aires days after the United States (US) declassified hundreds of documents related to actions during the “Dirty War” era.

* Cuba: Former Cuban president Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance to celebrate his 90th birthday and also penned a letter thanking his compatriots “for the signs of respect, greetings, and gifts” he has recently received.

* Puerto Rico: The US government declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to the spread of the Zika virus that has infected at least 10,000 people there.

* Guatemala: A Canadian legal aid group has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to probe a local mining firm accused of allegedly using legal chicanery to prevent a referendum over a Guatemalan mine.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – BBC News, The Bubble, Vice News, The Toronto Star, The Atlantic

Daily Headlines: March 28, 2016 (Updated)

* El Salvador: “We have ordered all of our people . . . to halt all types of homicides nationwide,” said a masked figure purportedly representing the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs in a video claiming that both groups will renew an anti-murder truce.

Update: El Salvador's police chief and a spokesman for President Salvador Sánchez Cerén each rejected the possibility of negotiating with the gangs.
 
* U.S.: Santiago Erevia, a former U.S. Army sergeant who in 2014 received the Medal of Honor after decades of racial discrimination, passed away last week at the age of 69.

* Cuba: Ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the island last week even though Obama held multiple talks with current Fidel’s brother and current Cuban President Raul Castro.

* Mexico: Authorities have reportedly arrested a man nicknamed “King Midas” who allegedly laundered up to $400 million yearly for Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.

YouTube Source – Vice News (Video uploaded on December 2015).
 
Online Sources including Update – The Toronto Star, Fox News Latino, BBC News, CNN, ABC News

Daily Headlines: February 15, 2016

* Cuba: Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill met with ex-Cuban President Fidel Castro days after the religious figure held historic discussions with Pope Francis in Havana.

* Haiti: Ex-legislative leader Jocelerme Privert was selected as interim president, while elections delayed since last December have once again been rescheduled for April 24th.

* U.S.: Dominican pitcher Jenrry Mejia became the first player to receive a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball following a third positive test for performance enhancing drugs.

* Colombia: Colombian flower growers are hoping to reap profits from the high Valentine’s Day demand abroad coupled with a weakened peso. 

YouTube Source – Rome Reports (Pope Francis met for the first time with the chief of the Russian Orthodox Church last Friday prior to the Argentine-born pontiff’s trip to Mexico).
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Reuters, Fox News Latino, USA Today, CNN

Daily Headlines: June 22, 2015

* Venezuela: Approximately 400 people protested in Caracas on Saturday and called for the liberation of imprisoned Venezuelan opposition activists such as Leopoldo Lopez.

* Argentina: Outgoing president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ruled out running for a seat in the Argentine legislature but “she has set up supporters in key candidacies for the primaries in which 13 presidential hopefuls are participating.”

* Brazil: Corruption scandals and a floundering economy could explain why poll results published on Sunday showed Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s approval rating has reached a record low of 10%.

* Cuba: Venezuelan National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello revealed photos purportedly of him and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro at a meeting in Havana over the weekend.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Yahoo News, Fox News Latino, NASDAQ, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: February 3, 2015

* Mexico: New doubts have been raised in the government’s findings of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students after a Mexican magazine claimed detained suspects were tortured into confessing.

* Argentina: In one of the latest twists in the Nisman murder case, an Argentine judge refused to handle allegations of a cover-up by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in the investigation of the 1994 AMIA bombing.

* Cuba: Cuban state media published the first photos of former president Fidel Castro to appear publicly since August of last year.

* Venezuela: The already weakened diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Venezuela have worsened following the expansion of travel bans against members of the Maduro administration.

Video Source – YouTube user teleSUR English (“Family members of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students are in Geneva, Switzerland, taking their case to the UN Committee on Forced Disappearances.”)

Online Sources – The Huffington Post; Voice of America; CNN; MercoPress; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: August 14, 2013

* Latin America: At a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota blasted a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program monitoring Latin America that “runs the risk of casting a shadow of distrust over our work.”

* Ecuador: Human Rights Watch urged President Rafael Correa to revoke a decree that “grants far-reaching powers to the government to oversee and dissolve nongovernmental organizations.”

* Cuba: Numerous Cuban media outlets commemorated former leader, Fidel Castro’s 87th birthday yesterday though he continues to keep a low profile since stepping down in 2006.

* Chile: Researchers believe that the deaths of twenty condors can be blamed on “poisoning after they were exposed to insecticides used for agriculture.”

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish (“The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (on Monday)…and defended the U.S. spying program as defense against attacks like that which happened on September 11th.”)

Online Sources- The Latin Americanist; Bloomberg; GlobalPost; Huffington Post; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 29, 2013

* Chile: The main cathedral in the Chilean capital of Santiago was temporarily closed after a small group of abortion rights protesters clashed with police last week.

* Mexico: Mexican Vice Admiral Carlos Salazar Ramonet was ambushed and killed in one of the latest acts of violence in the state of Michoacán.

* Cuba: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro at a public event commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution. 

* Colombia: A recent report concluded that at least 220,000 people died in Colombia’s armed conflict since 1958 and that roughly four out of every five victims were civilian noncombatants.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- The Guardian; UPI; BBC News; Al Jazeera English; CNN

Daily Headlines: February 4, 2013 (UPDATED)

* Paraguay: Presidential candidate Lino Oviedo died in an accident that occurred on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the coup d’état that he took part in against ex-dictator Alfredo Stroessner. 

* Mexico: Funerals were held over the weekend for some of the thirty-six people killed as a result of an explosion at the PEMEX complex on Thursday.

Update: According to PEMEX a 37th dead body was found on Monday amid the rubble from last week's explosion. 

* Cuba: Former Cuban ruler Fidel Castro voted in Sunday’s general elections and, thus, made his first extended public appearance since 2010.

* Uruguay: Should the Falkands Islands really belong to Uruguay instead of Argentina or Britain?

Video Source – YouTube via user canalNTN24

Online Sources including Update- Bloomberg, euronews, The Latin Americanist, The Guardian, The Telegraph, ABC News

Daily Headlines: October 22, 2012

* Cuba: A former Venezuelan vice president and a Havana hotel manager tried to refute rumors alleging that 86-year-old ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro is on his deathbed.
 
* Central America: A nine-year-old boy in Panama died during violent protests over the selling of state-owned land in a duty-free zone, while Honduras’ Supreme Court blocked plans for the creation of privately-run cities.
 
* Colombia: At least five soldiers were killed in an attack by the FARC that took place days after the Colombian government and the rebels formally began peace talks in Norway.

* Peru: A 33-day strike by thousands of Peruvian doctors came to an end after the government pledged to increase pay.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP Videos – Español (Former Venezuelan vice president Elias Jaua showed a photo of him taken over the weekend reportedly with Fidel Castro and several members of his family).

Online Sources- CNN, TVNZ, BBC News, Huffington Post, Edmonton Journal

Daily Headlines: October 18, 2012

* Chile: The Supreme Court allegedly approved the extradition an ex-U.S. Navy Captain accused of the 1973 deaths of journalist Charles Horman and student Frank Teruggi,
 
* Cuba: Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro congratulated a Cuban medical clinic in his first public statement in almost four months.

* Brazil: 104-year-old architect Oscar Niemeyer, renown for his designs of several futuristic buildings in Brasilia, was hospitalized and is reportedly in stable condition.
 
* Argentina: The Senate passed a bill supported by President Cristina Fernandez to lower the age of voting from 18 to 16.

Video Source – YouTube via user Antoniopost (Clip from “Missing,” a 1981 film on the 1973 disappearance of U.S. journalist Charles Horman during the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet).
 
Online Sources- Huston Chronicle, Businessweek, Huffington Post, euronews

Daily Headlines: August 14, 2012

* El Salvador: This week marks the fifth month of a truce between the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs that has reportedly led to a sharp decline in homicides.

* U.S.: Security workers at Logan International Airport in Boston engage in racial profiling of numerous groups including “Hispanics traveling to Miami” according to the New York Times.

* Argentina: Workers of the Buenos Aires metro announced a temporary halt to a ten-day strike that pitted the capital city’s mayor against Argentine President Cristina Kirchner.

* Cuba: Former President Fidel Castro apparently did not make a public appearance on the occasion of his 86th birthday yesterday.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP (Video posted in June 2012).

Online Sources- New York Times, France 24, Huffington Post, Time

Today’s Video: Fidel and the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI departed Cuba on Wednesday afternoon, which ended his six-day visit of Latin America that also included Mexico.

Before leaving for Rome, the pontiff thanked the Cuban people for their hospitality, reiterated calls for greater religious freedom on the island and criticized the decades-long U.S. trade embargo.

After speaking in front of an estimated 300,000 in Havana's Revoultionary Square, the Pope held a private meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro:

Castro, who ceded the presidency to his brother Raul in 2006, reportedly asked many questions to the pontiff including "What does a Pope do?" He also allegedly expressed to Benedict his joy over the beatification of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, and requested that the pontiff send him books.

Video Source - YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources - Voice of America, ABC News, ABC.es

Pope Calls for Change During Havana Mass

During an outdoor mass held in Havana this morning Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the need for change worldwide as well greater religious freedom in Cuba.

“The right to freedom of religion, both in its private and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person, who is at once a citizen and a believer,” the pope said in his homily. He added that while the Cuban government has granted greater liberties to the Catholic Church, the pontiff called on “authorities to strengthen what has already been achieved and advance along this path of genuine service to the true good of Cuban society as a whole”.

Daily Headlines: February 7, 2012

* Brazil: Authorities filed a lawsuit seeking to block Twitter accounts and messages warning about “radar locations, speed traps, and DUI checkpoints.”

* Mexico: Josefina Vasquez Mota became the first female presidential candidate from a major political party after winning the primary for the ruling PAN on Sunday.

* Dominican Republic: At least eighteen migrants died after the boat they where traveling in capsized off the Dominican coast.

* Cuba: Former president Fidel Castro made a “rare appearance” in Havana in order to promote his new memoir.

Image Source – Flickr via xioubin low (CC BY 2.0)

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

#TwitterFail

Politicians have increasingly turned to social networking sites in order to advice their agendas or to reach out to prospective voters during the election season. At times, however, sites like Twitter and Facebook have hurt politicos such as the cases of the following four Latin American figures:

• Andrés Chadwick

The Chilean government spokesman adamantly denied that one of his daughters used her Facebook account to insult student protest leaders. He claimed that none of his daughters has the name of Ignacia Carolina Chadwick after a recent post under that account referred to protesters as “filthy shits.”

Giorgio Jackson, the head of the student protest movement, Tweeted in response to the Facebook message that “it seems like the majority in Chile are #MugrientosDeMierda due to our concern over education or not?” Meanwhile, the ex-senator was very upset in a TV interview this morning when he was asked about the allegedly false Facebook account.

• Gustavo Petro

Police have offered to provide additional protection to the recently inaugurated mayor of Bogota after he received numerous threats via Twitter. “We completely guarantee the security” of Petro, declared Bogota police chief Luis Eduardo Martinez.

“You will not live past this year guerilla” and “your actions reflect the passion…of a guerilla” were just two of the Tweets sent to Petro’s Twitter account. “Your words reflect the quality of your mind and heart,” replied Petro who used to be a member of the M-19 rebel army before laying down his arms and entering politics.

• Fidel Castro
  

The former Cuban leader published a lengthy column on nuclear war and climate change days after rumors of his death spread across the web. The 3,121-word piece entitled “The march toward the abyss,” was published in Cuban media outlets last Thursday and reportedly took almost thirty minutes by a TV news anchor.

Cuban state media blamed Twitter users for spreading the hoax of Castro’s death including “necrophilia counter-revolutionaries, aided by some media, (who) immediately started to party”. Yet the Spanish Twitter user who was accused of starting the death rumor rejected that claim and said that the Cuban press “should double-check their 'information' before blaming someone for no reason.”

• Carlos Talavera Leal

The ex-official at Mexico’s social development agency was let go from his post after making a series of offensive comments last month on his Facebook page. “Wow they stink,” said Talavera in reference to a meeting he previously had with a group of indigenous women. After several commenters disagreed with him Talavera added, “The poor things smell shockingly bad. Theirs is not a case of hygiene.”

Talavera took to Twitter and gave his “deepest apologies” though that will not prevent Mexico’s National Council Against Discrimination from opening an investigation against him.

Image Source – Flickr via michperu

Online Sources – Milenio, Univision, CNN, Sydney Morning Herald, Miami Herald, RCN Radio, El Espectador, CBS News, Terra Chile, La Nacion

Daily Headlines: June 1, 2011

* Cuba: According to a 2006 document unearthed by WikiLeaks, the U.S. government made plans for a “mass exodus” of Cubans in the event of Fidel Castro’s death.

* Central America: A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that he was “extremely concerned” over an increase in violence against public prosecutors.

* Brazil: The Senate approved a bill that would allow for the distribution of food to countries hurt by natural disasters and social unrest such as Bolivia and Haiti.

* Guatemala: A Spanish court approved the extradition of ex-Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann where he awaits trial on charges of murder.

Image – AP via BBC News (Fidel Castro, seated on the left, ruled Cuba for several decades until ceding the presidency to his brother, Raul, in 2008).
Online Sources- Press TV, AHN, People’s Daily Online, CNN

Daily Headlines: May 5, 2011

* Latin America: According to a U.N. study foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean jumped by 40% last year while China serving as the region’s fastest growing investor.

* Cuba: Ex-President Fidel Castro criticized the late Osama bin Laden for "international terrorism" but also blasted the U.S. for “the assassination of an unarmed human being surrounded by his family.”

* Brazil: Four Brazilian soccer teams were surprisingly eliminated in the Copa Libertadores round of 16 last night including defending champs Internacional and heavy favorites Cruzeiro.

* Caribbean: Dominican President Leonel Fernandez met yesterday with Haiti's President-elect Michel Martelly in order to “strengthen the relations between both Caribbean countries.”

Image – BBC News (“Natural resources in Latin American countries such as Brazil are a key attraction for Chinese investment.”)
Online Sources- CNN, Reuters, People’s Daily Online, BusninessWeek

Daily Headlines: April 20, 2011

* Cuba: While Fidel Castro made a surprise appearance deemed by blogger Yoani Sanchez as “a great public requiem”, U.S. officials urged more freedoms for Cubans.

* Peru: Conservative presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori tried to appeal to moderate Peruvians by “swearing to God” that she would not grant a pardon to her disgraced father, ex-president Alberto Fujimori.

* Argentina: Fuel shortages could hit Argentines this Easter weekend due to a twenty-day strike haling output of the country’s largest oil producer.

* Haiti: President-elect Michel Martelly is expected to meet with World Bank and IMF officials as well as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during his visit this week to Washington.

Image – Javier Galeano/AP via The Guardian (“Fidel and Raúl Castro at the Cuban communist party congress in Havana”. Fidel’s unannounced appearance included his relinquishing of all party and state posts for the first time in decades.)
Online Sources- Huffington Post, AFP, ABC-CBN News, MarketWatch, Voice of America

Gadhafi gets support from Nicaragua’s Ortega (Updated)

Heads of state from around the world have condemned Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for ordering a heavy-handed crackdown against protesters. Though Gadhafi vowed to remain in power the domestic and international criticism against his authoritarian rule has grown to a fever pitch. Thus, it’s unusual to see that he has the backing of at least one president thousands of miles away from Libya.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said on Monday that he communicated several times with Gadhafi to express his support. According to Ortega Gadhafi "is again waging a great battle" to keep his country intact and added that "it's at difficult times that loyalty and resolve are put to the test."

His Costa Rican counterpart, Laura Chinchilla, blasted Ortega’s remarks when she said that his gesture represented the “way in which decisions are made in Nicaragua”. She also claimed that his backing of the Libyan leader helped explain his actions regarding the controversial border dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica over Calero Island.

Aside from worsening relations with Costa Rica Ortega’s support of Gadhafi could cause other problems:

A source within hacker activist group Anonymous told Antiwar.com that media and government targets within Nicaragua and Venezuela may be hit within days, due to rhetorical support for Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi…

The Anonymous source said this could leave both Latin American states’ governments open to DDoS attacks, which would shut them down for a period of time. They may even be hacked.

Other governments throughout Latin America do not share the same views as Ortega and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. (Castro wrote in his column yesterday that it’s too premature to criticize Gadhafi). For instance:

• The Peruvian government cut off all diplomatic ties with the North African state “until all violence ceases against the people (of Libya)”.
• In a statement similar to those sent to Egypt and Tunisia, the Brazilian foreign ministry called for Libyan authorities to “protect the right of free expression of the protestors.”
• Argentina’s foreign ministry urged a “peaceful solution within a constructive democratic dialogue” and the respecting human rights of all Libyans.
• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said via Twitter “what is happening in Libya is unacceptable.”
  

(Update: Cuba's foreign minister stopped short of backing Gadhafi yet issued a statement alleging that "some North American politicians and media groups are inciting violence, military aggression and foreign intervention" in Libya.)

Image- CBC (“Anti-government protesters rally in Benghazi, Libya, in recent days as Canada on Monday condemned the violent crackdown by security forces.”)
Online Sources- El Nuevo Diario, Al Jazeera English, BBC News, Washington Post, The Latin Americanist, Canadian Press, Antiwar.com, Clarin.com, La Republica, Al Jazeera English

What on Earth is Going on in Cuba?

First Fidel Castro told Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic that the Cuban economic model didn't work, not even for Cuba. Then he said he didn't say that, instead that capitalism didn't work and the whole episode didn't really make any sense at all. I mean, if that was a translation error that's a pretty huge translation error...

José Cárdenas (former a Latin American policy official in the Bush administration) tried to explain it on Foreign Policy by suggesting Raul Castro had failed and Fidel was stepping back up to the plate to right the ship:

The hapless Raul also displayed a marked incapacity to institute any meaningful economic reforms to save the Cuban economy from its current tailspin. In addition, the hoped-for salvation -- that the Obama administration would open the gates to U.S. tourist travel to Cuba -- shows no sign of happening anytime soon.

But then today, Cuba announced it would cut one million public sector jobs and that "those laid off will be encouraged to become self-employed or join new private enterprises, on which some of the current restrictions will be eased."

WHOA!

There are around 11 million Cubans in total and the state employs 85% of the workforce. So this is what you might call a major shift.

I have no insight into who makes decisions in Cuba, but assuming that Fidel is indeed more front and center and in charge now that he's healthy again, this strikes me as an attempt to shore up his legacy before he dies. Potentially, the father of the Cuban Revolution could now also go down as the one who opened the doors to a second fundamental change in the Cuban state.

There had been rumblings previously that Cuba, inspired by the success of China, would look to move towards more market-based reforms. The Obama admin will reaction shortly, but the most interesting changes will happen organically by Cubans moving into the private economy. The next few years in Cuba will likely be very interesting indeed.

Image Source: WNTH.com/AP

Online Sources: BBC News, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, CNN