Daily Headlines: February 10, 2010

* Central America: Last year it was Honduras. Could the next Central American coup occur this year in Nicaragua?

* U.S.: New York State Sen. Hiram Monserrate will be expelled from office roughly three months since being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.

* Chile: The country’s future finance minister has pledged the daunting task of doubling Chile’s annual growth rate.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez declared a 60-day electricity emergency that will include rewards to individuals and businesses that conserve energy.

Image – El Espectador (2007 image of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Bloomberg, CNN

Will Monserrate, Espada affect NY gay marriage bill?

On Monday, New York State Senators Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada, Jr. defected to the GOP and ousted Democratic control of the chamber. It’s unknown as to how exactly the new Republican control of the NYS Senate will affect several issues like gay marriage.

Espada became the new acting state Senate President as a result of his defection and in the past he has supported the gay marriage initiative. Espada recently said that he would allow the Senate to vote on the gay marriage proposal even though he was unsure if there are sufficient legislators to approve the bill.

Joining Espada on the gay marriage issue is Joe Bruno- the Republican former Senate leader who still has plenty of influence in Albany. "It's time. Now. For the government to back off, let people make their own life decisions...." said Bruno in a sudden about-face from his past views on the issue.

But could the proposal be doomed due to the Senate coup? Espada’s predecessor- Sen. Malcolm Smith- had put the vote on hold citing insufficient support and he has been unwilling to handover the reins to Espada. Both Monserrate and Espada are mired in controversy; the former for awaits trial for supposedly beating-up his girlfriend and the latter for allegedly using a nonprofit health-care as his personal piggy bank. One of the top Latino politicos in the state senate- Rubén Díaz Sr.- is an evangelical preacher who is vehemently against the bill.

In the meantime, the Senate has been literally deadlocked while they continue with their political power struggle. Hopefully they’ll figure something out soon (ha!) and get on with the business of leading the state.

Image- New York Daily News
Online Sources- Towleroad, New York Daily News, AP, NPR, Reuters, newsday.com, Gothamist

Bloggers of the World Unite: Copycats

• Should bloggers be peeved or proud if their work is plagiarized by others?
• Apparently illegal narcotics are holding up the world’s financial system.
• Today’s edition of “Latino politicos caught in scandal” is sponsored by Hiram Monserrate and Eddie A. Perez.
• Robinho's off-the-field behavior has gone from bad to a lot worse.
• Lastly, Guanabee informs us of a new Spanish TV program combining voyeurism with child psychology:
  

Online Sources- Guanabee, Gothamist, Lotería Chicana, borev.net, Latinopundit, Gothamist