Daily Headlines: August 11, 2010

* Cuba: Jury selection began yesterday in the military trial of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr of Canada.

* Latin America: Mexico's top tribunal ruled that same-sex marriages in Mexico City must be recognized nationwide while Costa Rica's Constitutional Court blocked holding a referendum on gay civil unions.

* Dominican Republic: Over 30,000 truck drivers staged a 24-hour strike in order to protest the proposed increase to the fuel tax.

* Haiti: Former U.S. President George W. Bush traveled to Haiti and touted a $500,000 grant for thousands of mango farmers.

Image – CBC (“This courtroom sketch shows Canadian Omar Khadr sitting through jury selection at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday. The sketch was reviewed by the U.S. military”).
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, ABC News, BusinessWeek, BBC News, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: March 23, 2010

* Haiti: Former U.S. Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton visited earthquake-ravaged Haiti while the E.U. approved a $1.36 billion “development aid” plan.

* Brazil: Good news for Brazil’s economy – inflation has slowed down.

* Venezuela: The country’s domestic energy woes are likely to worsen as hydroelectric output is expected to decrease.

* Argentina: The government is one step closer to going through with an exchange of about $20 billion of defaulted bonds.

Image – Christian Science Monitor (“A man looks from inside his tent at a homeless earthquake survivors camp ahead of rainy season in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, BusinessWeek, MSNBC, Bloomberg, UPI

Clinton, Bush to help Obama for Haiti relief

President Barack Obama has sought help from his predecessor- George W. Bush- to help in the relief efforts for Haiti.

According to AFP, an anonymous White House official claimed that Bush "will join (ex-president Bill) Clinton in helping with disaster relief" for the country still reeling from Tuesday's massive earthquake. Furthermore, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that Obama spoke with Bush last night to create an alliance similar to one made by Clinton and George H.W. Bush in the aftermath of 2005’s deadly tsunami in the Pacific.

Earlier today Obama announced that at least $100 million would be allocated in humanitarian and rescue aid to Haiti where the Haitian Red Cross estimated the death toll between 45,000 and 50,000 people.

Clinton already has ties to Haiti after being named U.N. special envoy to Haiti in 2008, and he recently called on all Americans to help in the relief efforts. Meanwhile, the alliance with Obama comes as the White House has tried to avoid the mistakes made by the Bush administration after other natural disasters:

The administration urgently sought to show it had learned from the mistakes of Obama's predecessor, who was criticized for the initial U.S. response to a tsunami disaster in south Asia in 2004 and for his handling of Hurricane Katrina's onslaught on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.

The White House also took pains to show Obama was staying on top of events, in contrast to Bush, widely seen as detached as Katrina battered New Orleans for days more than five years ago…

That attitude could boost Obama's earlier promise to devote more attention to Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that felt neglected under the Bush administration and had not been high on the current president's policy agenda either.

Image- ABC News (January 2009 image of Barack Obama and George W. Bush).
Online Sources- FOX News, New York Times, AFP, ABC News

No clemency for Justin Volpe

In his waning days in the Oval Office, George W. Bush rejected granting clemency to several high-profile felons. Ex-media mogul Conrad Black, former White House official "Scooter" Libby, and ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were among those who came up empty-handed.

One of those whose clemency request was rejected was former New York City cop Justin Volpe. In 1999, Volpe was convicted to thirty years in jail over the police brutality case of Abner Louima. Louima had been on the receiving end of an ugly beating at the hand of several cops including being sodomized by a plunger.

A Gothamist post last month observed that, “family, friends, and a priest” pushed for a reduced sentence for Volpe. Ultimately (and thankfully) it was all for naught.

On Monday, Bush did commute the sentences of a pair of ex-Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler and trying to cover it up. An editorial in yesterday’s Dallas Morning News had this to say over Bush’s decision:

Perhaps the commutation will end the undeserved celebrity status that had erupted around these two former agents. [ed. Just ask Glenn Beck]. Anti-immigration organizations have used them as poster boys to perpetuate a myth that they were in prison for doing their jobs while drug smugglers were allowed to go free.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ramos and Compean committed felonies and were rightly brought to justice. Perhaps now the Obama administration can have a comprehensive immigration discussion without this distraction clouding the conversation.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Dallas Morning News, Fox News, New York Times, MSNBC, Gothamist

Today’s Video: Shoe-gazing

Remember the impromptu shoe-throwing attack at President George W. Bush during his weekend visit to Iraq?

According to the AP, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez couldn’t help but publicly joke about the incident:

Chavez laughed heartily when asked about the incident on state television and called the incident "funny." Referring to the shoe-tosser, he said, "What courage!"
The leftist Venezuelan leader hedged those remarks, however, adding: "At least it didn't hit him, and it's not that one goes around supporting shoe-throwing or anything."

Sources- IHT, Reuters Video

Dubya’s regrets include immigration

In a televised interview last night George W. Bush expressed numerous regrets that he has had over his two terms in the presidency. He cited that his biggest regret was “the intelligence failure in Iraq” though he waffled when asked if he would take back the decision to invade the Middle Eastern country.
In addition, Bush expressed how “sorry” he felt over the current financial crisis as well as his regrets over a lack of immigration reform:

The failure to enact immigration reform was another disappointment, Bush said.

"I firmly believe that the immigration debate really didn't show the true nature of America as a welcoming society. I fully understand we need to enforce law and enforce borders," Bush told ABC News. "But the debate took on a tone that undermined the true greatness of America, which is that we welcome people who want to work hard and support their families."

Pity that part of the reason that the debate took on such an ugly tone was through his lack of being an effective party leader. The GOP’s hard-line stance on immigration was a key factor in the Latino vote shying away from John McCain’s presidential bid, for example. When strong leadership was needed to enact meaningful reform Bush turned his back and tacitly permitted a deeply flawed system to continue. He had the chance to do something great on immigration yet he permitted the opportunity slip out of his hands.

During the interview Bush declared that he “will leave the presidency with my head held high.” Yet he may be weighed down with the burden of his numerous fallacies while in office like his dropping the ball on immigration. Such is the stigma he must live with.

Image- AFP
Sources- The Latin Americanist, UPI, Guardian UK, Reuters, Bloomberg

Former hostage wants to meet with Pres. Bush

A Colombian politician who was freed last month from his guerilla captors has requested to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush. Luis Eladio Perez has traveled to the U.S. in order to gather support for a “humanitarian exchange” between captives and jailed guerillas. According to one source, Perez’ plan would free high-profile hostages like Ingrid Betancourt as well as three U.S. contractors:

The new plan involves the release of 39 hostages for some 500 members of FARC, which stands for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The exchange would be made in French territories overseas such as Martinique or French Guiana, according to Argentinian newspaper Clarin…

The deal would involve France removing FARC from its list of terrorist organizations, while Washington would have to free two rebels imprisoned in the US: Ricardo Palmera - alias Simon Trinidad - and Anayibe Rojas, known as Sonia. The two would be granted asylum in France under the proposal.

FARC would in turn release three US contractors - Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Mark Gonsalves - who were kidnapped in February 2003.

After being freed, Perez said that the three kidnapped contractors were in bad health and they had requested prompt help from the U.S. government.

Sources (English)- Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist, Associated Press

Sources (Spanish)- RCN

Image- Caracol Radio

Ex-Mex prez bashes Bush in book

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox’s upcoming autobiography attacks the attitude and policies of U.S. President George W. Bush. According to several reports Fox’s book pulls no punches on someone who had been portrayed as friends while both where in office:

· On Bush’s attitude – He’s stubborn and "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life."
· On U.S. foreign policy – Can the U.S. can afford "invading every nation with which it does not agree?"
· On Bush’s stab at multilingualism – His Spanish is at "grade-school level".
· On U.S. immigration policy (via an interview with the Chicago Tribune) – “Walls don't work. Walls didn't work in China. Walls didn't work in Berlin. President Reagan went (to Berlin) and said ‘Tear down this wall.’ And now the United States is building a wall.”

Aside from harshly criticizing Bush, Fox’s book also condemned Hugo Chavez by calling him “a dictator” who has “increased poverty” in the name of “21^st-century socialism.”

In a speech earlier this month, Fox called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and emphasized the need for immigration reform.

Sources (English)- CBS News, Chicago Tribune, AHN, The Latin Americanist, San Jose Mercury News

Sources (Spanish)- El Universal

Image- BBC News (George W. Bush and Vicente Fox during supposedly friendlier times in 2001)

Poll: Brazilians want Lula to play nice with Chavez & Bush

An opinion poll released yesterday showed that a majority of Brazilians want president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to have cordial relations with Hugo Chavez and George W. Bush. However, the poll conducted by Instituto Datafolha showed that nearly 1 in 5 respondents support Lula keeping a distance relationship from the leaders of Venezuela and the U.S.

Since being elected as Brazil’s president in October 2002, Lula has conducted close relations with both Chavez and Bush. It’s no wonder that Lula is one of the most popular leaders when compared to others.

Links- Monsters & Critics, BBC News, The Latin Americanist

Image- The Epoch Times