Colombian Court Overturns Bullfighting Ban

Colombia’s high court ruled against a prohibition on bullfighting in Bogota that was in effect since 2012.

According to the Constitutional Court, the ban violated the “administrative rights and freedom of artistic expression” against the Corporacion Taurina de Bogota (CTB), which is the entity that organized bullfights at the Plaza La Santamaria ring. 

“(The court rules in favor of the) “immediate restitution of bullfights to La Santamaria…without prejudice against other recreational or cultural destinations,” read part of the decision by the tribunal.  Hence, the judges gave city officials six months to prepare the Plaza for upcoming bullfights.

It’s unknown, however, how the ruling will affect educational projects planned at the Plaza in lieu of bullfighting. The company claimed it has the right to hold bullfights there at least through the end of its contract in March of next year.

The decision has not sat well with those in favor of the bullfighting ban like Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro. 

“It’s unfortunate that there are still parts of our society entertained by death.  A fundamental right to kill is nonexistent,” tweeted the former guerilla turned mayor.

“At the end of the day, stabbing an animal for entertainment is wrong,” said Shely Bryan, campaigns director at Humane Society International.

“I think that where cruelty starts, then culture ends,” added the animal rights activist in reaction to the court’s move.

Daily Headlines: April 23, 2014

* El Salvador: Salvadoran church leaders have called on the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 street gangs to agree to a second truce in order to combat an uptick in violence following the end of a previous peace pact.
 
* Colombia: A Colombian court ordered that Gustavo Petro should be restored as mayor of the capital city of Bogota over a month after he was ousted over alleged mismanagement.
 
* Puerto Rico: Unemployment in Puerto Rico continues to fall though at 14.7% it’s more than double the latest U.S. unemployment rate.

* Cuba: According to the Costa Rican press, U.S. diplomatic officials in the Central American country ran a now-defunct “Cuban Twitter” social network aimed at creating unrest against the island's government.
 
Video Source– Voice of America via YouTube
 
Online Sources – Reuters; GlobalPost; LAHT; Tico Times

Daily Headlines: March 20, 2014

* U.S.: Officials in Texas found 109 migrants mostly from Central America and Mexico crammed into a dilapidated house and who may have been victims of a human smuggling operation.

* South America: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos gave final approval to the dismissal of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro while Venezuelan authorities arrested San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos and charged him with inciting “civil rebellion.”

* Argentina: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez blasted last week’s referendum in Crimea as “worthless” and compared it to a March 2013 vote where most residents of the disputed Falklands Islands opted to remain under British rule.

* Brazil: Lawmakers dropped a controversial provision from a major Internet bill that would’ve permitted online data to be locally collected in order to bypass U.S. intelligence surveillance.

Video Source – Associated Press via YouTube

Online Sources- The Guardian; Reuters; ZDNet; Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: March 19, 2014

* Venezuela: Federal legislators called for an investigation against opposition congresswoman Maria Corina Machado while anti-government demonstrators rallied on the one-month anniversary of the arrest of protest leader Leopoldo Lopez.

* Central America: A new study concluded that state recognition of indigenous land rights could serve as a vital deterrent for drug trafficking in Central America. 

* Mexico: Jorge Arvizu, the veteran Mexican voice actor who was the Spanish-speaking world’s Mel Blanc, died yesterday at the age of 81.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos will likely finalize the dismissal and fifteen-year suspension of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro sometime this week.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- The Guardian; Tico Times; LAHT; Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: January 14, 2014

* Mexico: Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong announced that federal troops would be sent to an area of Michoacán state where vigilante “self-defense” groups have been combating drug traffickers.

* Central America: While trouble continues to plague the expansion of the Panama Canal, Nicaraguan officials said that construction would commence in December of a “mega-waterway” connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

* U.S.: Technical problems, grammatical mistakes and erroneous translations have reportedly plagued the Spanish version of the federal government’s Obamacare/Affordable Care Act website.

* Colombia: Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez confirmed the ouster of Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro though it remains to be seen if the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will intercede on his behalf.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- Miami Herald; Fox News Latino; Prensa Latina; The Telegraph; Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: December 10, 2013

* Brazil: A Sao Paulo-based truth commission concluded that ex-president Juscelino Kubitschek was murdered as part of a “conspiracy, a plot and a political crime.”

* Honduras: The Committee to Protect Journalists and Journalists Without Borders called on a full investigation into the recent death of a Honduran member of the media.

* Colombia: Thousands of people gathered in the main square of Bogota, Colombia to support the city’s mayor after he was controversially removed from his post by the country’s inspector general.

* Argentina: At least seven people died in the overnight hours in northern Argentina as disgruntled police in ten provinces have gone on strike.

Video Source – YouTube user jornaldobrasil (Former Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek died under mysterious in an auto accident in 1976).

Online Sources- BBC News; ABC News; Latin Times; AFP

#TwitterFail

Politicians have increasingly turned to social networking sites in order to advice their agendas or to reach out to prospective voters during the election season. At times, however, sites like Twitter and Facebook have hurt politicos such as the cases of the following four Latin American figures:

• Andrés Chadwick

The Chilean government spokesman adamantly denied that one of his daughters used her Facebook account to insult student protest leaders. He claimed that none of his daughters has the name of Ignacia Carolina Chadwick after a recent post under that account referred to protesters as “filthy shits.”

Giorgio Jackson, the head of the student protest movement, Tweeted in response to the Facebook message that “it seems like the majority in Chile are #MugrientosDeMierda due to our concern over education or not?” Meanwhile, the ex-senator was very upset in a TV interview this morning when he was asked about the allegedly false Facebook account.

• Gustavo Petro

Police have offered to provide additional protection to the recently inaugurated mayor of Bogota after he received numerous threats via Twitter. “We completely guarantee the security” of Petro, declared Bogota police chief Luis Eduardo Martinez.

“You will not live past this year guerilla” and “your actions reflect the passion…of a guerilla” were just two of the Tweets sent to Petro’s Twitter account. “Your words reflect the quality of your mind and heart,” replied Petro who used to be a member of the M-19 rebel army before laying down his arms and entering politics.

• Fidel Castro
  

The former Cuban leader published a lengthy column on nuclear war and climate change days after rumors of his death spread across the web. The 3,121-word piece entitled “The march toward the abyss,” was published in Cuban media outlets last Thursday and reportedly took almost thirty minutes by a TV news anchor.

Cuban state media blamed Twitter users for spreading the hoax of Castro’s death including “necrophilia counter-revolutionaries, aided by some media, (who) immediately started to party”. Yet the Spanish Twitter user who was accused of starting the death rumor rejected that claim and said that the Cuban press “should double-check their 'information' before blaming someone for no reason.”

• Carlos Talavera Leal

The ex-official at Mexico’s social development agency was let go from his post after making a series of offensive comments last month on his Facebook page. “Wow they stink,” said Talavera in reference to a meeting he previously had with a group of indigenous women. After several commenters disagreed with him Talavera added, “The poor things smell shockingly bad. Theirs is not a case of hygiene.”

Talavera took to Twitter and gave his “deepest apologies” though that will not prevent Mexico’s National Council Against Discrimination from opening an investigation against him.

Image Source – Flickr via michperu

Online Sources – Milenio, Univision, CNN, Sydney Morning Herald, Miami Herald, RCN Radio, El Espectador, CBS News, Terra Chile, La Nacion

Colombia: Key Anti-Uribe politico reveals supposed plot to kill him

Leading opposition senator Gustavo Petro (image) claimed that there was an assassination plot against him led by ex-Colombian army colonel Julian Villarte. Petro has been a constant target of death threats due to his strong accusations against paramilitary infiltration in the government. Yet what makes Petro’s claims unique is that Villarte had provided security for U.S. coal company Drummond, which has been accused of hiring paramilitaries to kill labor union leaders. (Sounds like the case against Chiquita, no?)

The “para-politics” scandal in Colombia has deepened over the past few months as evidence mounts against the administration of President Alvaro Uribe.

Links- CNN, Bloomberg, Gannett News Service, The Latin Americanist, The Economist

Image- CNN