Weekend Headlines: July 11-12, 2009

* Brazil: Brazilian officials blasted the Group of Eight (G8) compromise to combat climate change by moderately lowering global emissions rates.

* Panama: A European consortium led by a Spanish construction firm won the multibillion dollar bid to expand the Panama Canal.

* U.S.: Texan authorities arrested two men charged with holding 25 immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras hostage as part of a smuggling operation.

* Chile: The Chilean peso fell to its lowest point in three weeks as the country’s economy tries to weather the international financial storm.

* Guatemala: An appeals court dropped conspiracy charges against a man who was accused of using Twitter to create a run on a local bank.

* Haiti: Is the United Nations covering up the violence during the recent funeral of activist and priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste?

Image- AP (“A view of a round table session, at the G8 summit, in L'Aquila, Italy, Friday, July 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)”)
Online Sources- UPI, Xinhua, BBC News, Bloomberg, Guardian UK, Upside Down World

Daily Headlines: June 19, 2009

* Brazil: Brazil virtually assured themselves of a semifinal spot in the Confederations Cup after embarrassing the U.S. by a score of 3-0.

* Haiti: Did U.N. troops act too harshly when they killed one person after firing into a crowd of protesters who were mourning the death of activist Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste?

* U.S.: Three illegal immigrants- two from Mexico and one from Ecuador- will receive $3.85 million in settlements after being injured in separate construction accidents.

* Guatemala: A group of about 100 parents marched in Washington to bring attention to the problems related to adopting Guatemalan children.

Image- New York Times (“Felipe Melo, right, and Brazil, defeated an undermannned and overmatched U.S. team on Thursday in the Confederations Cup in Pretoria, South Africa.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, New York Daily News, Reuters, Miami Herald, CNN

Thousands mourn dead Haitian priest, activist

An estimated 3000 people gathered in Miami’s Little Haiti and paid their last respects to Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a tireless immigrant rights activist.

Jean-Juste passed away last week at the age of 62 after decades of acting as “the spokesperson” for South Florida’s growing Haitian community. He was a strong advocate for immigrant rights ever since he founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami. He was also vocal in seeking justice in his homeland after he returned to Haiti in the 1990s to protest the coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. His outspokenness would land him in jail in 2005 though he was soon allowed to return to the U.S. due to health problems.

The struggle for just and fair immigration continues to this day for those Haitians seeking a better life in the U.S. Nevertheless, Jean-Juste was instrumental in organizing and leading Haitian refugees:

''It's not a question of which man is going to replace Jean-Juste; he played his role,'' said Bishop Thomas Wenski, who served as pastor at Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church in Miami from 1984 to 1997. ``You have a community that is very diverse and is showing success in different areas, in business and also politics and civic life. Jean-Juste played a role for the time that he was in Miami: He laid a foundation''…

‘‘He was perhaps one of the original of what they would call the sidewalk diplomats," said Wenski, now head of the nine-county Orlando Diocese. "He was a community organizer and a community agitator, in the best sense of the word."

Image- South Florida Sun-Sentinel (The late Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste was jailed in Haiti on allegedly politically motivated charges).
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CBS4.com, Miami Herald, Miami New Times