Daily Headlines: September 8, 2016

* Ecuador: Oil drilling began yesterday in an area near the Yasuni National Park despite opposition from indigenous communities in the Amazon and environmentalists.

* Venezuela: In one of the latest struggles between the government and opposition politicians, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro “sent armed groups” to harass him at an airport.

* Brazil: Acting president Michel Temer was drowned out by a cacophony of jeering and whistling as the Rio Paralympics was inaugurated last night during an otherwise festive opening ceremony.

* Bolivia: LGBT activists in Bolivia celebrated the arrival of government-issued identification cards to transgender citizens based on a law approved last May.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV 

Online Sources – BBC News, UPI, Voice of America, ABC News

Daily Headlines: March 1, 2016

* Venezuela: Defeated presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed that an investigation into alleged improprieties when he was Miranda state governor are part of a government plot against a possible referendum seeking the dismissal of President Nicolás Maduro.

* U.S.: A new poll found that 78% of Latino voters believe women should have the right to an abortion if respondents disagree with such an action.

* Argentina: Former Argentine intelligence chief Antonio Stiuso testified as part of the probe into the apparent murder of crusading prosecutor Alberto Nisman in January 2014.

* Colombia: Santiago Uribe, the younger brother of ex-President Alvaro Uribe, was arrested over supposedly creating a paramilitary force known as the “Twelve Apostles.”

YouTube Source – AFP (Henrique Capriles lost in a tight presidential election to current President Nicolás Maduro in 2013).

Online Sources – GlobalPost, NBC News, Yahoo News, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2015

* Guatemala: The genocide retrial of ex-Guatemalan strongman Efrain Rios Montt was once again suspended after he skipped attending a court hearing this week.

* Venezuela: Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles called on the Venezuelan opposition to unite and protest against the government amid a worsening economic crisis.

* Mexico: At least twenty Mexican state officials including prosecutors, forensic investigators and state police are being investigated for allegedly helping cover up the extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members in June 2014.

* Colombia: Colombia will become the first Latin American country to use a new cell phone app aimed at providing free internet nationwide and championed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Video Source – YouTube user WochitGeneralNews (The genocide retrial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was initially suspended last week following the intervention of his lawyers).

Online Sources – BBC News; Bloomberg; ABC News; Voice of America

Daily Headlines: February 24, 2014 (Updated)

* Venezuela: Will a planned meeting today between President Nicolás Maduro and opposition figure Henrique Capriles help quell some of the unrest in major Venezuelan cities?

Update: "I will not attend the Federal Council meeting and wash Maduro's face while he's repressing (the people)", declared Capriles regarding his decision on Monday afternoon to skip the meeting with Maduro.  

* Bolivia: At least fifty-nine people have died and tens of thousands of families are homeless due to heavy rains and flooding that have affected Bolivia over the last few weeks.

* Mexico: Mexico is expected to surpass Japan and Canada in order to become the largest exporter of cars to the U.S. by the end of this year.

* Haiti: A Haitian appeals court reversed a 2012 ruling and found that ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier can be tried on charges of crimes against humanity.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources including Update - El Universal; Bloomberg; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; LAHT; USA TODAY

Venezuela: Student Protesters Rally Against Violence

Several hundred university students in Venezuela took to the streets on Thursday after three people were killed after demonstrations yesterday.

In the capital city of Caracas, traffic on the Francisco Fajardo highway was halted for several hours as scores of protesters called for an investigation into the death of university student Bassil Da Costa on Wednesday.  Amateur videos uploaded to social networks showed Da Costa shot dead in downtown Caracas amid the chaos following an anti-government protest that was attended by an estimated ten thousand people.  

“We urge the government to guarantee us our freedom as students, said Marcos Mata, a Humboldt University student present with 300 other demonstrators at Altamira Plaza earlier today.  “We repudiate the violence that occurred yesterday.  Our march was peaceful,” added Mata.

Mata also called on the authorities to free two students reportedly detained by the police after Wednesday’s march and whose whereabouts are unknown.

In the meantime, scores of Da Costa’s classmates gathered in the outskirts of Caracas to protest in memory of the slain student.

Students in other parts of Venezuela were also protesting in repudiation of the violence yesterday that left among the dead Da Costa and pro-government activist Juan Montoya. Such was the case in Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city, where several downtown streets were blocked off and classes were canceled at Zulia University.  Additionally, student demonstrators in Anzoátegui state held signs blasting the government and blamed Venezuela’s main intelligence agency for trying to stifle democracy.

Meanwhile, a few dozen supporters of President Nicolás Maduro and several government ministers congregated in front of the Attorney General’s office in an event deemed as “Venezuelans against fascism.”

Venezuela: President To Decree Economic Reforms

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced a pair of economic changes that will be set forth via controversial decree powers granted to him this week.

One of the new laws will place a limit on the profits gained by businesses to 15-30% while another law will create a new government body to help reorganize the distribution of foreign currency.

Maduro said that he will sign the decrees into law later today and claimed that public inspectors will visit businesses this weekend that he accused of grossly inflating prices.

“Enough is enough, loan sharks and thieves!” exclaimed Maduro at a march of pro-government student groups in Caracas this afternoon. 

Earlier this month, Maduro launched what he deemed as an “economic offensive” against “bourgeois parasites” that included sending soldiers to occupy the Daka electronics chain.  Thousands of people flocked to the stores hoping to take advantage of reduced prices on goods though looters were seen in at least one location.

Opposition politicos have expressed their displeasure with Maduro’s recent actions and have called on Venezuelans to take part in nationwide protests this Saturday.

“Maduro, we're going to show you the power the Venzuelan people have,” declared former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.  “Milk, paper, chicken and meat won’t suddenly appear,” added Capriles in reference to shortages of basic food items in groceries and markets.

Additionally, the U.S. State Department also criticized Maduro for pushing through the Enabling Law that will permit him to pass laws without legislative approval during the next twelve months.

Daily Headlines: November 7, 2013

* Vatican: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles asked Pope Francis to help mediate in the politically fractured country, while several photos were released showing the Argentine-born pontiff embracing a severely disfigured man. 

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega is pushing a proposal through the Nicaraguan legislature that would eliminate term limits for presidents.

* Ecuador: A former judge behind a $19 billion environment damages ruling against Chevron rejected allegations of fraud against him and claimed that another magistrate did not ghostwrite his decision.

* U.S.: Latino voters played a key role in several elections on Tuesday including reportedly backing Terry McAuliffe by a 2-to-1 margin in a close Virginian gubernatorial race.

Video Source – YouTube via Rome Reports

Online Sources- The Huffington Post; Reuters; Al Jazeera English

Blackout Hits Most of Venezuela

At least nineteen of Venezuela’s twenty-four states and several major cities have been affected by a blackout on Tuesday.

“The blackout started at approximately 12:30 PM on one of the main transmission lines, which caused a disruption in electric service to a good part of the country’s western and central areas,” said Franco Silva, the deputy minister for the government’s energy department.

“It will take several hours for the generator plants to restart and reestablish electric service nationwide,” added Silva in remarks made this afternoon to the state-run VTV network.

Residents of the capital city of Caracas reportedly tweeted that subway service had been partially disrupted while traffic has ground to a halt due to nonworking streetlights.

”All day without light.  What a joke,” opined one Venezuelan Twitter user while another user posted a photo of a darkened Venezuela with the caption “We’re not in mourning.  We’re without light!”

Authorities in the Chacao neighborhood of Caracas ordered a “preventative evacuation” of shopping malls and offices while the area’s police chief told the local press that heavy traffic has congested streets and avenues.

According to the Venezuelan press, the situation in the blacked out city of San Cristóbal is one of “chaos” with massive traffic jams, closed businesses and disruptions in the cell phone and banking services.

Though transportation nationwide has allegedly been normal, delays hit the main international airport in Puerto La Cruz after it experienced thirty minutes without power.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez claimed that the Venezuelan oil industry is performing “absolutely normal” and, thus, there is a “guaranteed domestic market supply” of crude oil.  Furthermore, Health Minister Isabel Iturria said that hospitals are functioning normally since their “vital areas are running on generator power.”

While investigators are looking into the causes of the blackout, several senior officials have publicly blamed the opposition for causing the interruption in electrical service.

Daily Headlines: August 19, 2013

* Brazil: The Brazilian government criticized as “unjustifiable” the nine-hour detention in Britain of the partner of a journalist who received leaks from ex-U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

* Latin America: The Venezuelan opposition criticized a legislator who used a homophobic slur against ex-presidential candidate Henrique Capriles while human rights groups denounced dozens of recent attacks against gays in Haiti.

* U.S.: According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the number of “credible fear” asylum requests from migrants along the southwest border with Mexico has more than doubled over the past three years.

* Cuba: The attorney for Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor jailed in Cuba after bringing banned communications equipment to the island, said that his client recently received his first visit by U.S. doctors.

Video Source – YouTube via user BBCWorldNews225
 
Online Sources- Defend Haiti; Fox News Latino; Reuters; CNN

Daily Headlines: June 18, 2013

* Brazil: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil’s main cities on Monday in the latest round of protests over several gripes including public transit price hikes and the use of state funds in the building of World Cup venues.
 
* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro reportedly discussed crime and hunger at a Vatican meeting with Pope Francis, while opposition figure Henrique Capriles sent a letter to the Pope that highlighted human rights abuses in Venezuela.

* U.S.: In a 7-2 vote the U.S. Supreme court struck down an Arizona voting registration law that opponents claimed discouraged Latinos from voting.

* Peru: “What we are trying to do is defend and keep the lake, so that is why we will be camping at the site indefinitely,” said one of the organizers of a march opposed to a planned $4.8 billion gold and copper mine in northern Peru.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- ABC News; The Latin Americanist; Fox News Latino; Gulf Times; Reuters; France24

Daily Headlines: June 13, 2013

* Argentina: At least three people died in a train accident this morning near Buenos Aires that occurred over a year after fifty-two people were killed in a train crash in the Argentine capital.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro claims to have received Wednesday a tweet from the late leader Hugo Chávez in the form of a bird, while opposition rival Henrique Capriles started a weekly webcast.

* Brazil: Newspaper editor Jose Roberto Ornelas de Lemos was killed in what investigators believe was a “murder-for-hire” related to his work.

* Colombia: The Colombian Senate approved an animal rights bill that would ban the exhibition of wild animals like bears and lions at circuses.

Video Source – YouTube via user TVPublicaArgentina

Online Sources- Latin Times; Fox News Latino; CNN; LAHT; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: June 12, 2013

* Venezuela: Electoral authorities confirmed the victory of President Nicolás Maduro in April’s presidential elections though runner-up Henrique Capriles pledged to keep contesting the results.

* Mexico: Officials in the western state of Jalisco said that they rescued some 275 workers who were being held in slave-like conditions at tomato processing facility.

* Vatican: In remarks to the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious, Argentine-born Pope Francis claimed that a “gay lobby” exists within the Vatican.

* Cuba: Cuba is expected to join the annual Caribbean Series of baseball next year for the first time since 1960.

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish

Online Sources- MLB.com; Herald Sun; NPR; Bernama; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: May 31, 2013

* South America: The Venezuelan government threatened with not meditating in peace talks between Colombian officials and FARC rebels after opposition figure Henrique Capriles met with Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos in Bogotá.

* Brazil: A judge controversially granted bail to four defendants accused of homicide related to a nightclub fire last January that killed 242 people.

* Mexico: Family members of eleven young adults gone missing and possibly kidnapped from a Mexico City bar blocked traffic along the metropolis’ main boulevard in a sign of protest.

* Chile: President Sebastián Piñera has given the green light to the Pascua Lama mining project, which has been strongly opposed by environmentalists and indigenous groups.

Video Source – YouTube via NTN24 (Last February, then-Vice President Nicolas Maduro blasted Henrique Capriles’ visit to Colombia as part of a “conspiracy” against the Venezuelan government.  Capriles replied by accusing Maduro of being a “mediocre loudmouth.”)
 
Online Sources- GlobalPost; USA TODAY; france24.com; CNN

Daily Headlines: May 3, 2013

* Venezuela: Henrique Capriles said that he will not “throw in the towel” as he filed a lawsuit protesting the results of last month’s presidential election.

* South America: Peru and Ecuador temporarily recalled their main diplomatic envoys after the Ecuadorian ambassador to Peru got into a fight with customers at a Lima supermarket.

* Chile: Renowned poet Pablo Neruda may have died of cancer and was not poisoned according to preliminary results conducted on his exhumed remains.

* Cuba: The FBI added Joanne Chesimard, a fugitive living in Cuba who was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper, to its list of “most wanted terrorists.”

Video Source – Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- GlobalPost; Reuters; PhysOrg; Huffington Post

Venezuela: Government, Opposition Trade Blame Over Legislative Brawl (Updated)

A group of Venezuelan legislators brawled on Tuesday night as political tensions remain high over April’s presidential election.

Amateur video of the incident taken by an opposition legislators showed lawmakers punching, kicking and shoving each other during a session of the National Assembly.

The video, which can be viewed above, occurred after the unicameral chamber passed a resolution stripping opposition congressmen of most legislative powers unless they recognize the April 14 election victory of current President Nicolás Maduro.

 “Without a word, like cowards, they came at us from behind," said opposition lawmaker Ismael García who accused members of the ruling coalition of starting the fight.

One of García’s colleagues, Julio Borges, appeared on local TV after the brawl with bruises and blood covering part of his face.

"They can beat us, jail us, kill us, but we will not sell out our principles," said a defiant Borges. "These blows give us more strength."

Opposition congresswoman María Corina Machado alleged that National Assembly chief Diosdado Cabello “smiled” while witnessing a legislator being “savagely beaten.”

Henrique Capriles, the opposition figure who lost last month’s election to Maduro by less than two percent, blasted the government for promoting violence in Venezuela.

“The disaster of this government and those who run it try to cover it up with violence,” tweeted Capriles.  “Maduro wants to convert his country into a circus and (I don’t mean) Du soleil!” mentioned Capriles in reference to Maduro recently attending a performance by Cirque du Soleil.

Pro-government politicos rejected the opposition’s accusations and blamed them for starting the clash.

“Today again I had to defend (the late president Hugo Chávez') legacy," said lawmaker Odalis Monzon.  Meanwhile, Cabello accused Borges and García of “staging” the brawl and added, “just because (Borges) was assaulted does not mean that he was not an aggressor.”

At an event this morning, Maduro condemned the fistfight and claimed that he “disagrees with violence.”  He also instructed Cabello to “take whatever measures of authority and discipline necessary” in order to prevent future brawls.

Daily Headlines: April 30, 2013

* Peru: President Ollanta Humala indicated that he might pardon Alberto Fujimori, a disgraced former leader who is serving prison sentences for corruption and human rights abuses.

* Venezuela: A political ally of opposition leader Henrique Capriles was charged with promoting post-electoral violence days after U.S. filmmaker Timothy Tracy with conspiracy, falsifying public documents and other crimes.

* Bolivia: The Bolivian constitutional court gave the green light for President Evo Morales to run for a third term in elections scheduled for December 2014.

* Puerto Rico: Several Puerto Rican politicians backed presenting a resolution to the Congress aimed at “achieving the admission of Puerto Rico as a (U.S.) state”.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (In 2009, “a special tribunal convicted former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori of murder and kidnapping on Tuesday and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for death squad activities during his autocratic 10-year rule”.)
 
Online Sources- Businessweek; Huffington Post; Al Jazeera English; The Latin Americanist; AFP

Venezuela Charges U.S. Filmmaker with Conspiracy

Is Timothy Tracy a U.S. spy who tried to promote violence Venezuela’s recent presidential election or does the government unfairly target him a scapegoat?  This is the question in the middle of the latest diplomatic disagreement between Venezuela and the U.S.

On Saturday night, a judge in Caracas charged Tracy with conspiracy, falsifying public documents
and other crimes.   

The 35-year-old has remained behind bars since Wednesday when he was arrested at the Simon Bolivar International Airport.  The next day, newly inaugurated President Nicolás Maduro accused Tracy of “creating violence in the cities of this country.”  Furthermore, interior minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres alleged to have over 500 videos demonstrating Tracy’s guilt including his meeting with members of the Venezuelan student protest movement.

“We have no doubt that he is an intelligence operative based on his training.  He knows how to infiltrate, recruit others and manage security information,” declared Rodriguez at a press conference.

“The documentaries he makes have nothing to do with national security.  They’re individual histories that try to understand the polarizing political climate of this country,” declared Gloria Stifano, Timothy Tracy’s attorney in Venezuela.  “He met with the Women With Chávez group, received authorization from several mayors and was approved by the national electoral council to act as an observer,” added Stifano.

Student protest activist Gaby Arellano denied the charges by the state against her cohorts and claimed that the Tracy affair is “like a big farce on the part of the government to distract attention.”  Tuki Jencquel, a Venezuelan filmmaker who reportedly became friends with Tracy, said that Tracy “seemed to be very evenhanded in his work and neutral in relation to what was happening in Venezuela”.

According to imdb.com, Tracy worked as a producer on several documentaries and television shows such as “Angry White Man,” “Madhouse” and “American Harmony.” 

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell neglected to comment on whether Tracy had any connection with any U.S. government agency and he also rejected allegations that the U.S. is involved in any efforts to destabilize Venezuela. 

Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the U.S. has been uneasy over the past fifteen years.  Last month, for instance, Venezuelan officials expelled a pair of U.S. diplomats charged with plotting against the government of then-President Hugo Chávez.

Venezuela: Spectator Interrupts Presidential Inauguration (Updated)

Update (10:05 PM): The man who briefly interrupted the inauguration of Veneuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Friday is allegedly no stranger to barging into pubic events.

Twenty-eight-year-old Yendrick Sánchez will reportedly be charged with "crimes established within the Venezuelan judicial code" after he leaped onto the stage where Maduro was giving his inaugural address.  

Sánchez has been described by several Venezuelan media sources as a "spontaneous man" who, along with his cousin Juan Salas, are infamous for intruding in high profile events.  Sánchez interrupted Spanish musician Alejandro Sanz in a 2008 peace concert along the Venezuela-Colombia border while at the 2007 Miss Venezuela pageant he took the tiara as the winner was being crowned.

On April 10th, Sánchez targeted opposition figure Henrique Capriles during a campaign event by taking away his microphone and proclaiming him as "the next president of Venezuela" before being led away by security.

Following the inauguration ceremony, Maduro presided over a military parade and then affirmed that he will serve as a "commander of the armed forces...with the legacy of the commander Hugo Chávez". 
 
Capriles, meanwhile, tweeted that Maduro did not provide "a single proposal or solution to the problems of our country" in his inauguration speech.
 
Update (5:55 PM): Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated was sworn in as Venezuelan president in a ceremony marked by an apparent lapse in security.

A man clad rushed the stage and grabbed the microphone where Maduro was speaking and momentarily interrupted the proceedings.

"Nicolas, my name is Yohendri.  Please help me," exclaimed the man clad in a red shirt (a color popular among followers of the late President Hugo Chávez) before he was taken away by security personnel.

"He could have shot me here," said an irate Maduro who later mentioned that he will "talk with the youth" regarding "whatever desperation he has."

Venezuela: Maduro and Capriles Continue Post-Election Accusations

Political tensions remain high in Venezuela as government officials and Henrique Capriles continued their post-electoral war of words.

Capriles accused the government of plotting to infiltrate an opposition rally that was supposed to take place later today.

“I have made the decision: we will not mobilize tomorrow, and I ask all my supporters to accept that,” Capriles said Tuesday. “He who goes out (on the streets) is on the side of violence and is playing the government’s game.”

the runner-up of Sunday’s presidential election mentioned at a press conference that the opposition was “disposed to open a dialogue so this crisis can be resolved in the coming hours.”

Capriles also reiterated his demands of a full recount of the election, which was won by Nicolás Maduro by roughly 265,000 votes, and presented evidence of alleged voter fraud perpetrated by the Maduro regime.

Senior government officials replied by accusing Capriles of instigating violent incidents that left at least seven people dead and over sixty injured.

“These tragic events where caused by the irresponsible attitude of the ex-candidate representing the extreme right who lost and refuses to accept reality,” declared Information Minister Ernesto Villegas.

Foreign Affairs Minister Elias Jaua said that Capriles is “generating baseless chaos” and has not provided a “single concrete element” proving voter fraud.

Venezuela: Violence Erupts After Contentious Election

Tensions remain high in Venezuela less than 48 hours since Nicolás Maduro was declared winner of a contested presidential election.

Authorities claimed that at least seven people died and sixty-one were on Monday after violence erupted in several major cities.  Officials added that 135 people were arrested as thousands of people took to the streets banging pots and pans in protest against Sunday’s electoral results.  

This afternoon an estimated 2000 protesters clashed with riot police shooting tear gas and rubber bullets in Barinas, the home state of the late President Hugo Chávez.

Senior government figures have raised the possibility of legal action against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, while Maduro accused him of trying to orchestrate a coup d’état.

“I won’t allow (the opposition) to march to downtown Caracas (which is) filled with death and blood…Do whatever you want.  There will be a strong hand against fascism and intolerance,” declared Maduro in televised remarks.

Capriles responded by blaming the “illegitimate” government for having “ordered violence to prevent the counting of votes” after the election.

"Those who are with me stand for peace!  Nobody should leave that path!  The government wants violence!” Capriles mentioned via his Twitter account.

Pro-Capriles protesters continued their demonstrations today in areas such as Carabobo state where hundreds of people accompanied local opposition leaders seeking to file a complaint of widespread fraud at the electoral council (CNE, in Spanish) offices.