LatAm speaks out against Arizona immigration law

Last week we mentioned that the Mexican government expressed their disappointment with Arizona’s new law that requires immigrants to carry documents verifying their status. Mexican president Felipe Calderon described the measure as a gateway to “intolerance, hate, and discrimination” while a travel advisory was issued for Mexicans in Arizona.

Other governments and figures throughout Latin America have also criticized the Arizona decree. The Colombian government warned that "the mutual trust between citizens and authorities should not be damaged by exclusionary measures." The Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that the law violates the “rights of millions of foreigners who peacefully live and work in the United States.” In a declaration issued today by the UNASUR at their summit in Argentina, the bloc emphatically rejected the “criminalizing of immigrants” under the Arizonan law. Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza said that the law has caused a “terrifying affect among the Hispanic population and the rest of the U.S.”

Meanwhile, several Latino celebs have joined the backlash against the controversial measure. Comedian Carlos Mencia blasted the law as a potential “violation of civil rights” while Shakira called the law “unjust” and “inhuman”. Ricky Martin criticized the edict at last week’s Billboard Latin Music Awards and Gloria Estefan was one of the estimated 50,000 marchers at a Los Angeles May Day rally.

The debate over the law even led to a minor Twitter “spat” last week among Canadian rockers:

Montreal indie group Stars turned to Twitter to voice their alarm and threatened to boycott the state. Damian Abraham, the formidable lead singer for the Toronto punk outfit F---ed Up, responded by saying, "Don't get me wrong, I think the AZ immigration bill is horrible and must be repealed but I also think that indie bands boycotting the state is inane."

Image- CBS News (“Marchers for immigrants' and workers' rights pause in front of the Minneapolis Convention Center where the State Republican Party had their convention over the weekend, in Minneapolis Saturday, May 1, 2010.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Colombia Reports, Straits Times, Telam, ABC.es, examiner.com, Digital Spy, AP, LAHT, CBC

Estafans target Obama over Cuban human rights

Cuba’s deplorable human rights situation was one of the main topics expressed by singer Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio to President Barack Obama last week. “Hope and freedom are a part of (Cuban) history,” said Gloria at a Democratic Party fundraiser hosted at the couple’s Miami Beach mansion. The couple showed the president pictures of the repression suffered by the Ladies in White and also gave him a letter from the mother of recently deceased dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

The Estefans have subsequently come under fire from some in the Cuban exile community who have accused the couple of shilling for the Democratic Party. A recent post on Babalu Blog asked what would the reaction be had the event been “a Tea Party event with Sarah Palin as the guest of honor.” (Actually the better comparison would be if it was a Republican fundraiser with Mitch McConnell or John Boehner as the guest of honor but that’s beside the point).

In response Gloria said on a TV interview that she found the chance to talk directly to the president too hard to resist:

"The bottom line is that if the White House calls and says, 'We're coming to Miami', what more of an honor for a Cuban-American immigrant that came here when I was two years old, than to have the president of the United States in my home and to be able to speak to him about some of the things we have been doing?" Estefan said on Larry King Live.

Back in Cuba, meanwhile, police continued harassing the Ladies in White and broke up their march on Sunday. In an article published today Fidel Castro echoed the recent rants of his brother and claimed that Cuba will never give in to the alleged “media blackmail and terror” from the U.S. and Europe.

Image- Reuters (“Recording artist Gloria Estefan (front) and her husband, record producer Emilio Estefan look towards the crowd as they lead a protest in support of Cuba's Las Damas de Blanco, or the Ladies in White, on Calle Ocho in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida March 25, 2010.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Sydney Morning Herald, Miami Herald, Babalu Blog, dnaindia.com, MSNBC, Milenio

Daily Headlines: March 25, 2010

* Cuba: Singer Gloria Estefan will help organize a march tonight in solidarity with Cuban dissident group the Ladies in White.

* U.S.: An immigration board decided not to deport to Mexico a former federal drug informant who argued that he would be “tortured” if he were to return to his native country.

* Latin America: Chile and Argentina received permission to run the prestigious Dakar Rally for the third straight year in 2011.

* Brazil: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to “maintain” economic stability ahead of October’s national elections.

Image – CNN
Online Sources- Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, AFP, Reuters