Daily Headlines: August 16, 2012

Note: Due to our coverage of Ecuador's approval of Julian Assange's asylum today's "Daily Headlines" are being published later than usual. We apologize for the delay.

* U.S.: Venezuelan-born pitcher Felix Hernandez threw the 23rd perfect game in Major League history and the first ever for the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

* Latin America: According to the World Bank the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 3.7%-3.8% this year, which is less than 2011 but higher than was initially estimated.
* Brazil: “Human rights and environmental protection cannot be subordinated to narrow business interests,” said a Brazilian judge who ordered construction to be suspended on the Belo Monte dam project.

* Colombia: A group of former General Motors workers in Colombia have entered the third week of a hunger strike that includes sewing their lips shut.

Video Source – YouTube via ESPN

Online Sources- SI.com, The Guardian, Reuters, New York Daily News

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2010

* Puerto Rico: On Tuesday the island entered a second day of a general strike against Gov. Luis Fortuño’s budget cuts including firing public workers and raising university tuition.

* Haiti: Days after about 2000 people in Port-au-Prince protested against President Rene Preval’s supposed abuse of power the leader vowed that he would step down at the end of his term in February 2011.

* Chile: A Pakistani man who was detained for five days after traces amounts of explosives were found on him claimed that his case results from "a big misunderstanding stemming from a mistaken identity."

* Latin America: Auto manufacturer General Motors posted its first profit in three years partly due to strong sales from Latin America.

Image – EPA (“Labor unions activists and students are united in an anti-government strike”.)
Online Sources- The Telegraph, AFP, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Global Voices Online

Daily Headlines: July 16, 2009

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Luis Fortuño- who’s allied to the Republican Party- has urged the GOP to stop “going in the wrong direction” especially on immigration.

* Colombia: Amnesty International has called on Colombia’s government to do more to help the country’s roughly 380,000 displaced people.

* Brazil: Auto giant General Motors may be going through a hard time but that hasn’t stopped the firm from investing $1 billion to develop two car models in Brazil.

* Chile: The country’s government workers' union is continuing its two-day strike seeking better job security and work conditions.

Image- Politico.com
Online Sources- WSJ.com, Reuters, BBC News, The Hill

Weekend Headlines: June 20-21, 2009

* Peru: The UN's Special Rapporteur for Indigenous People has called for an independent investigation into suspected abuses during recent clashes between police and indigenous protesters.

* Brazil: The government issued an amnesty against dozens of peasants who were jailed and tortured during a Dirty War-era uprising.

* Venezuela: General Motors suspend its Venezuelan operations until September after blaming the government for not helping pay its $1.2 billion debt.

* U.S.: After being criticized for belonging in the Belizean Grove, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor quit from the all-female club.

* Latin America: Several countries throughout the region reported at least 87 new cases of the swine flu on Friday.

* Colombia: This editorial in the Los Angeles Times supports the Colombian Supreme Court’s recent decision not to extradite FARC rebel Martin Sombra.

Image- New York Times (“Ashaninkas and Machiguengas, indigenous peoples of Peru, protested against the government's plans to open large parts of the Amazon for drilling, logging and dam building.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, UPI, BBC News, Los Angeles Times, LAHT, Reuters, Xinhua

GM LatAm divisions untouched by bankruptcy

This week’s bankruptcy filing by auto giant General Motors (GM) sent shockwaves throughout the U.S. economy. Yet the troubled automaker’s Latin American divisions may weather the storm.

Despite the troubles GM has had in the U.S., its auto sales in Latin America have gone well such as the 10% increase in Brazil last year. Therefore, GM will not sell off its branches in Brazil and Argentina and may expand its operations there:

“There are no plans to sell GM operations in Brazil, or anywhere else in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East," said Jaime Ardila, the chief executive officer of General Motors do Brasil Ltda. and chief financial officer of GM's Latin America, Africa and Middle East division, or GM LAAM.

After months of uncertainty, the Detroit automaker sold a majority stake to the U.S. government in order to keep itself in business. Its LAAM division is one of its most profitable. GM LAAM, of which Brazil is the largest subsidiary, saw 2008 sales rise around 3% compared with a 20% decline in GM's North American car sales…

"We had a great 2008 and will have a lucrative 2009," Ardila said.

In terms of Brazil, GM has $2.5 billion invested there through 2012 with at least $1.5 billion of that secured. (The other $1 billion is expected to soon be financed partly via local banks).

Despite decreased sales in Argentina, a statement by GM Argentina said that the division “is economically and financially solvent thanks to our healthy balance in the region.” Additionally, the Argentine government is expected to soon provide some $55 million with the goal of developing a new car line for GM.

Image- BBC News (“Chevrolet's Brazilian range consists mainly of re-badged Opel models.”)
Online Sources- WSJ, CNNMoney.com, AP, New York Times

Daily Headlines: May 18, 2009

* Venezuela: General Motors’ woes have hit Venezuela where the troubled automaker will close assembly plants there for three months.

* U.S.: Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a guest-worker bill last week that would legalize the status of about two million illegal immigrant farmworkers and their families.

* Cuba: The White House should press for Cuba to return to economic bodies like the International Monetary Fund according to the personal views of one senior IMF official.

* Uruguay: Now it’s official – the Uruguayan government lifted the ban on gays joining the military.

Image- AP (“A flag flies over a General Motors dealership, Friday, May 15, 2009, in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, AFP, New York Times, miamiherald.com

GM’s LatAm woes continue

Auto giant General Motors has seen better days as the firm is close to collapsing. In recent years the company was able to rely on record sales in Latin America yet as we recently noted that trend has sharply reversed.

Yesterday GM’s regional woes continued:

General Motors Corp. (GM) will idle three plants in Mexico in coming weeks and will suspend production of two assembly lines until February, the company's Mexican unit said Monday…

"These idles allow for preventive maintenance on equipment and a more adequate balance of production," GM de Mexico said, adding that the company will continue reviewing its production levels in light of changing market conditions.

The work stoppages will affect over 10,000 employees whose jobs may be lost if the economic situation worsens.

Mexico was the world's 10th-biggest car producer last year and “is heavily dependent on the U.S. economy.”

Image- ABC News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AP, CNNMoney.com

Brazil slump hurts ailing GM

General Motors (GM) has been feeling the pinch lately as a result of the global economic slowdown and decreasing auto sales. It’s a dire situation which has led its CEO to beg for a multibillion dollar government bailout.

One of GM’s few bright spots has been its sales in Latin America which have reached record highs. Yet it appears as if that gravy train may soon come to a screeching halt:

New automobile sales in Brazil slumped for the second straight month in November, falling 25.7 percent from October as a nagging credit crunch and a slowing economy kept many consumers out of showrooms, the national automakers' association said on Thursday…

Exports also fell sharply in November, dropping 23.1 percent from the previous month to $1 billion.

With Brazil serving as GM's largest market outside the U.S., today’s news is another pothole in the road for a firm desperate to stay afloat.

Other auto companies have had recent troubles in Brazil; according to AFP, firms like “Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, Volkswagen and General Motors have put many of their workers on mandatory vacation to idle assembly lines.”

Image- AFP (“Hundreds of new cars of US carmaker General Motors remain at the GM car park in Sao Paulo.”)
Sources- boston.com, AFP, Fox News, Latin Business Chronicle, Reuters, CNNMOney.com

Daily Headlines: November 14, 2008

* Argentina: Diego Maradona denied rumors that he would quit before his first game as coach of the men’s national soccer team.

* Latin America: Floundering auto giant General Motors may have set profit records in Latin America but that could soon change.

* Brazil: Congress has approved a measure that would toughen penalties for child pornography.

* Cuba: Stephen Soderbergh’s epic film on Ché Guevara is expected to be shown at Havana's New Latin American Film Festival next month.

Image- BBC Sport
Sources- The Independent, Latin Business Chronicle, AFP, IHT, Reuters

GM’s silver lining in LatAm

Auto giant General Motors (GM) has fallen on hard times; yesterday it was announced that they will be suspending its dividend for the first time in over eighty years, withhold bonuses, and will lay off white collar workers. The overall goal is to save $15 billion by the end of the year as plummeting auto sales domestically have led to heavy losses for the largest U.S. automaker.

Despite the grim picture at GM there has been a bit of good news; sales in foreign markets such as Latin America grew:

GM reported that second-quarter sales generated by its Latin America, Africa and Middle East division surged 18% and that its market share in the regions rose almost a full percentage point, to 17.5%.

Total division sales for the latest quarter reached 346,100 units, up from 294,000 a year ago, with sales in Egypt doubling in that time. Brazil, Chile and the North Africa markets also hit all-time quarterly sales records.

It may not be enough to pull GM out of its deep financial crisis, but at least there’s some silver lining that can be taken advantage of.

Image- RTE

Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, AFP, MarketWatch

Daily Headlines: February 14, 2008

* “The choice is between a future of integration and success for both, or a future of distrust and resentment between us” said Mexican president Felipe Calderon yesterday at a speech in front of California legislators [image].

* France and Brazil came to an arms agreement that would allow French fighter planes to be built in the South American country.

* General Motors may have posted strong sales in Latin America but that hasn’t stopped the company from suffering a $39 billion loss in the last quarter.

* Nearly 200 people were arrested in Panama after police clashed with protestors upset over unsafe construction site conditions.

Sources- Associated Press, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters

Image- CNN