Daily Headlines: March 22, 2016

* Latin America: The U.N. concluded that the poverty rate in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by seven million people in roughly one year, while a report found that the region is very vulnerable to cyber attacks.

* Ecuador: The Ecuadoran government announced the creation of a new marine sanctuary that will protect some 18,000 square miles around the Galapagos Islands.

* Mexico: Some 200,000 residents in Mexico have been displaced as a result of dam construction nationwide according to a new study.

* U.S.: The Latino electorate in Arizona could be key in deciding who will win today's Democratic presidential primary in that state.

YouTube Source – DW

Online Sources – Andina, Nearshore Americas, National Geographic, teleSUR English, The Hill

Daily Headlines: October 23, 2015 (Updated)

* Mexico: A state of emergency has been declared in three Mexican states in anticipation of the expected landfall today of the category five Hurricane Patricia.

Update (October 24th, 12:30 AM): The storm was downgraded to a category four hurricane hours after it reached Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday night. As of this update, some material damage was reported but no fatalities.  Civil defense chief Luis Felipe Puente nevertheless warned that Patricia could still cause flash floods, landslides and infrastructural damage to states like Colima and Jalisco. (Link in Spanish).


Update (October 24th, 5:15 PM): 

So far, there are no reports of major damage from #Patricia. Our gratitude to all for your thoughts, prayers and actions #PrayForMexico.

— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) October 24, 2015

Nevertheless, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto traveled to Colima to oversee the aftermath of Patricia, which was downgraded to a tropical storm and is now drenching the northern border state of Nuevo Leon. (Link in Spanish).

* Paraguay: Former Paraguayan President Federico Franco could become the latest Latin American leader to be investigated for alleged corruption during his rule.

* Cuba: Will the U.S. reverse its historic vote in the U.N. General Assembly next week and opt to condemn the decades-long trade embargo against Cuba?

* Ecuador: Scientists have discovered a new species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands and named them after the longtime caretaker of the late emblematic tortoise George.

YouTube Source – Reuters
 
Online Sources including Updates – BBC News, Xinhua, The Guardian, InSight Crime, Milenio.com, Twitter, El Economista

Daily Headlines: November 16, 2012

* Venezuela: Miguel Cabrera thanked the “support from God, my family, and my teammates" for helping him become the first Venezuelan to win the American League MVP.

* Latin America: Trade and investment opportunities are some of the main economic issues to be discussed at the Ibero-American summit that starts today in the Spanish city of Cadiz.

* Ecuador: The Ecuadorian government along with a coalition of conservation groups is behind a project to poison millions of rats on the Galapagos Islands.

* Mexico: Jose Cuitlahuac Salinas, the head of the Mexican organized crime unit, resigned due to “personal reasons” yesterday.

Video Source – YouTube via Ultimas Noticias (Miguel Cabrera’s family in Venezuela celebrated his American League MVP victory.)
 
Online Sources- Fox News Latino, The Guardian, MSNBC, Reuters

Daily Headlines: June 26, 2012

* Bolivia: Despite calls by the government to “avoid any bloodshed” scores of police on strike clashed with supporters of President Evo Morales in La Paz yesterday.

* U.S.: Hours after the Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law the Justice Department set up a hotline to report "potential civil rights concerns" related to that law.

* Ecuador: The last surviving member of the Pinta Island subspecies of giant tortoises died on the Galapagos Islands on Sunday.

* Argentina: China is seeking to deepen its economic ties to Latin America by signing a series of agricultural agreements with Argentina.

Video Source – YouTube via CNN

Online Sources- BBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bernama, The Latin Americanist

Tsunami waves graze Latin America's Pacific coast

The above video slideshow from Ecuador’s El Universo provides a glimpse at some of the damage from yesterday’s tidal wave on the Galapagos Islands.

Approximately 1000 people are dead and at least 10,000 missing in Japan as a result of Friday’s massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami. While the tidal wave caused a heartbreaking amount of death and destruction in that Asian country, Latin American states along the Pacific Ocean dodged a major bullet.

• Mexico

As we mentioned yesterday, waves measuring 70 centimeters (27.6 inches) reached the Baja California peninsula. Officials in other states removed their tsunami alerts despite waves of 1 meter (3 feet) reaching areas such as Guerrero and Oaxaca.

• Central America

Several countries such as Panama and Honduras suspended their tsunami wave alerts last night after small tidal waves of reached the region’s coast. In El Salvador, for instance, the wave increase was “almost null” though most residents in coastal areas heeded warnings to say away from beaches and ports.

• Peru

The country’s coast was hit last night with tidal waves measuring between 20 and 40 centimeters (7.9 to 15.8 inches) tall. They caused little material damage though there was one fatality after a man fell to his death at a beach south of Lima.

• Chile

Waves measuring no higher than 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) hit Easter Island last night though this morning President Sebastian Pinera ordered that the tsunami alert is lifted for that area. The alert remains for the Chilean mainland; thus, delaying the return of tens of thousands of residents evacuated from low-lying coastal areas hours before the tsunami reached land.

• Ecuador
  

The lone area that appeared to be hit hard by the tsunami was the Galapagos Islands. A “train of waves” hit the coastline of the islands and flooded several piers and nearby streets. In one instance according to local officials the bottom of the sea could be seen after the surf retreated 30 meters (9.8 feet) and then washed onto the coast. No major damage or fatalities were reported and President Rafael Correa removed the emergency “state of exception” originally declared Friday morning.

The effect of the tidal wave in the Americas paled in comparison to the devastation in Japan. Yet people in the Americas such did not take any chances as governments issued warnings and alerts while most residents in coastal areas heeded them. As the saying goes: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Video Source – El Universo via YouTube
Online Sources- Too many to individually list.

Daily Headlines: July 29, 2010

* Ecuador: UNESCO removed the Galapagos Islands from its list of endangered sites after citing “strong action” by the Ecuadorian government to fix environmental problems.

* Puerto Rico: Several hundred supporters of “independence militant” Carlos Alberto Torres celebrated his release on parole after spending thirty years in prison.

* Paraguay: Police gunned down one of country’s most wanted fugitives - Paraguayan People's Army leader Severiano Martinez.

* Colombia: The State Department reversed its previous decision and will grant Colombian journalist Hollman Morris a visa to come to the U.S.

Image – The Telegraph (“Marine iguanas are unique to the Galapagos.”)
Online Sources- Boston Globe, LAHT, MSNBC, Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: June 23, 2010

* Haiti: According to Foreign Policy’s Failed States Index Haiti is the weakest country in the Western Hemisphere, 35 spots ahead of the region’s second-weakest state (Colombia).

* Jamaica: Wanted drug gang leader Christopher "Dudus" Coke was reportedly arrested last night and may soon be extradited to the U.S.

* Chile: Researchers claimed that Chile’s important salmon industry is causing major damage to the flora and fauna on the southern part of the country.

* Ecuador: The population of giant tortoises and albatrosses on the Galapagos Islands has rebounded as a result of a major recovery effort.

Image – Canadian Press (“A woman walks past earthquake damaged buildings in downtown Port-au-Prince, Monday, June 21, 2010. Haiti has made little progress in rebuilding in the five months since its Jan. 12 earthquake, because of an absence of leadership, disagreements among donors and general disorganization, a U.S. Senate report says.”)
Online Sources- Foreign Policy, Physorg.com, LAHT, ABC News

Weekend Headlines: August 15-16, 2009

* Honduras: De facto Honduran president Roberto Micheletti continues his tiff with Organization of American States secretary general Jose Miguel Insulza while ousted president Manuel Zelaya continues his tour of regional leaders.

* Mexico: Gang violence has been blamed for a prison riot that killed at least nineteen prisoners.

* Latin America: The foreign ministers of Peru and Brazil met and affirmed the “strategic alliance” between both countries.

* Ecuador: Researchers believe that too much tourism and mosquitoes brought in by visitors could cause an “ecological disaster” on the Galapagos Islands.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner unveiled a $391 million public works and jobs project designed to alleviate unemployment and poverty.

* Brazil: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is making a hard push so that Rio de Janeiro can be awarded the 2016 Olympics.

Image- AP (“Police and army soldiers stand guard on the sidelines of a march by supporters of Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya in Tegucigalpa, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009.”)
Online Sources- LAHT, AP, Xinhua, New York Times, Bloomberg

Darwin and the Galapagos

Today is Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. The British naturalist is best-known for creating the basis of modern evolutionary theory via his 1858 book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection".

A Gallup poll conducted earlier this month found that 39% of people in the U.S. believe in evolution while 36% have no opinion on evolution. Meanwhile, recent scientific work has put into doubt Darwin’s theory of an evolutionary tree of life. Yet Darwin’s work over 150 years ago was vital in the advancement of science and no other scientific theory has come close in explaining evolutionary descent.

Darwin’s scientific theories may have never come about had it not been for his stop on the Galapagos Islands off the Ecuadorian coast. As Sir David Attenborough describes, the islands served as the laboratory for Darwin’s observations:

The Galapagos are the classic example of the spark that lit the fuse, the one that natural selection. The evidence that is so transparently and dramatically and obviously clear in the Galapagos, you can also see in the Seychelles, you can see in Hawaii; you can see it wherever there is a group of small islands. Nonetheless, the Galapagos planted the seed that flowered, and so we revere them.

Conservationists warn that the islands’ rich diversity may soon disappear unless tourism is significantly curbed. The Ecuadorian government has established stiffer laws to protect the animals and plants on the islands. But with all the revenue tourism brings to the country it may prove to be a losing battle.

It would be a pity if in a decade’s time all that Darwin viewed over 150 years ago would disappear forever.

Image- National Geographic ("The largest of the tortoises, the endangered Galápagos tortoise is incredibly long-lived. One captive tortoise lived over 150 years.")
Online Sources- The Telegraph, Wikipedia, New York Times, Gallup

Daily Headlines: February 21, 2008

* Barack Obama’s primary winning streak continues as reports claim that he won the Democrats Abroad primary. (Democrats Abroad is the official organization representing Democratic Party members outside of the U.S. in countries such as Guatemala, Panama, and Mexico.)

* Venezuela’s government wants ExxonMobil to drop its legal cases and negotiate while the price of a barrel of oil crossed the $100 threshold on Wednesday.

* Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa promoted conservation as he toured a new wind-energy park on the Galapagos Islands.

* Police and peasants clashed in Colombia over a plan to manually eradicate coca plants.

Sources- Reuters, Houston Chronicle, AFP, Guardian UK, Wikipedia

Image- Economist.com

News briefs - Tourism

With the New Year fast approaching perhaps one of your resolutions may be to take a vacation in the Americas. Here are some options you may want to consider:

* With the increased anxiety over global warming, more and more tourists have opted to visit locations endangered by climate change such as the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. According to the International Herald Tribune, one visitor went to the Amazon “before it was turned into a cattle ranch or logged or burned to the ground.”

* Perhaps eco-tourism isn’t your cup of tea and you would much rather do something a little more selfish. Then why not travel to Colombia and get cheap plastic surgery; one procedure that cost as much as $40,000 in the U.S. only cost a quarter as much way south of the border, for instance.

* Are you a television writer sick of being on strike for over a month? Then maybe take a trip to Argentina where unionized extras received an 18% to 20% pay increase earlier this month.

* With all the press coverage of Hugo Chavez you might want to visit Venezuela and check out the situation for yourself. According to Bloomberg, Venezuela has experienced a travel boom partially based on favorable exchange rates for visitors.

* Then again, not everything is rosy for certain tourism sectors; though Jamaica is one of the most sought after Caribbean destinations, the island’s tourism has diminished in quality according to a recent survey.

Sources- International Herald Tribune, Houston Chronicle, BBC News, Bloomberg, Variety, radiojamaica.com, Jamaica Gleaner

Image- BBC News (Carnival revelers in Colombia)

Daily Headlines: August 30, 2007

* 2005: Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona traveled to Colombia for gastric bypass surgery. Friday: Maradona will arrive in Colombia for cosmetic dental surgery.

* Brazil’s government issued a text detailing the crimes and human rights abuses committed under military rule from 1964 to 1985.

* A volcano erupted yesterday on an uninhabited area of the Galapagos Islands.

* Could the use of nuclear power spread across Latin America?

* One of Costa Rica’s most vital reefs is being decimated by algae caused by untreated sewage and other trash dumped into the sea.

Sources- BBC Sport, Xinhua, MarketWatch, Reuters AlertNet, People’s Daily Online, BBC News

Image- SI.com (Diego Maradona cheering from the stands during the 2006 World Cup)

Daily Headlines: August 16, 2007

* A recently released poll showed that most people in the U.S. feel that their country should negotiate with Cuba’s government and only 25% approve of the Bush administration’s policies towards Latin America.

* Mexico’s government agreed to extend a price freeze on tortillas- a culinary staple of the country’s poor.

* Argentine first lady and presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner picked an opposition politician as her running mate.

* The governor of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands wants to expel 6000 residents living illegally there.

* Follow-up: Radio executives confirmed speculation that a DJ accused of racism against Latino immigrants will co-host Don Imus’ previous radio show.

Sources (Spanish)- El Diario/La Prensa

Sources (English)- The Latin Americanist, International Herald Tribune, People’s Daily Online, Reuters

Image- World Council of Credit Unions

Daily Headlines: July 05, 2007

* Venezuela agreed to sell gasoline to Iran after the heads of state for both countries met in Tehran earlier this week.

* “In terms of a short term response, it is quite remarkable how Cuba, under its economic conditions, managed to solve (their energy) crisis,” declared a U.N. official yesterday.

* Poachers are believed to be behind the deaths of eight endangered tortoises on the Galapagos Islands.

* U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said that he will not quit his post to run for governor of Texas.

* Striking Bolivian miners refused to negotiate with the government.

* Follow-up: In a close final vote in Guatemala City yesterday, Sochi, Russia was selected as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Sources- CNN, International Herald Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Reuters AlertNet, The Latin Americanist, Canada.com

Image- BBC News (Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez meets with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, earlier this week)

Daily Headlines: June 28, 2007

* Increased tourism and immigration led the U.N. to place the Galapagos Islands on a list of endangered locations.

* The U.S. Senate turned down two amendments to a bipartisan bill on immigration reform.

* Researchers analyzing fossils fund in 2005 believe that a prehistoric “giant penguin” may have lived n present-day Peru and Argentina.

* Three plotters in a 1983 coup against Grenada’s head of state were freed from prison amidst cheers and protests.

* Follow-up: A Brazilian man has been accused in the alleged attempt to murder Colombian songwriter Estefano.

Sources (English)- Sydney Morning Herald, Yahoo! News, CNN, ABC News

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo

Image- BBC News

Daily Headlines: June 22, 2007

* The ex-governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo (image) sits behind bars after being accused of helping smuggle over 200 tons of cocaine into the U.S.

* Baltasar Garzon- the Spanish judge that issued an arrest warrant against Augusto Pinochet- faces accusations by Venezuela’s government after criticizing them for the RCTV affair.

* Hollywood has maps of the stars. Santiago, Chile has maps of torture centers during the Pinochet era.

* Ecuador’s government has requested the U.N. to place the Galapagos Islands on its list of endangered locations.

Sources- Yahoo! News, Reuters AlertNet, Guardian UK, CNN

Image- BBC News