Daily Headlines: March 18, 2015

* Peru: Protesters and police clashed this week during demonstrations in southern Peru against a sharp hike in local electricity fees.

* U.S.: News magazine The Economist has come under fire for using “chili peppers to depict the stripes in the American flag” in its cover image highlighting an article on the Latino community.

* Dominican Republic: At least twenty minors were among the twenty-nine women rescued in a sex trafficking sting in the Dominican town of Sosua.

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan government in an open letter published in The New York Times denied that the country is a national security threat to the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube via EFE

Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune; Fusion; Fox News Latino; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 3, 2013

* Honduras: The Honduran Congress accepted the resignation of Attorney General Luis Ruby who quit after admitting that his office had trouble trying to stem rampant violence.

* Mexico: Forty-six women were rescued in a human trafficking bust at a Mexico City nightclub over the weekend.

* Cuba: Officials on Monday announced that the first non-farm cooperatives since the 1959 revolution were functioning and approval was granted for the establishment of an extra 71 cooperatives.
  
* Colombia: Negotiators for the FARC rebels have urged the Colombian government to include the ELN guerillas in peace talks being held in Cuba.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English (“Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world - and gangs are the main perpetrators of the violence. But now two of the largest and most dangerous street gangs have agreed to end all violence,” according to the description provided to this video that was uploaded roughly five weeks ago).

Online Sources- GlobalPost; CNN; Reuters; NBC News

Argentina: Judges in Sex Slave Trial Hit by Hackers

Argentine hackers infiltrated the personal information oof a grop of juges involved in a controversial verdict related to sex slavery.

The hackers, who claimed to have been allied with the Argentine arm of the Anonymous collective, released a statement on Wednesday with personal data belonging to magistrates Alberto Piedrabuena, Emilio Herrera Molina and Eduardo Romero Lascano.

Among the information released by the hackers were the judges’ addresses, cell phone numbers and bank account statuses.

“One by one they will fall.  We are Anonymous and we never forget.  We want a country free of corruption,” said the statement from the hackers.

On Tuesday, the court in the city of Tucumán absolved thirteen defendants accused of kidnapping and forcing into prostitution Maria de los Angeles “Marita” Veron. 

Over 130 witnesses were called to trial including a dozen women rescued from brothels by Marita’s mother, Susana Trimarco.  But the judges claimed there was no evidence linking the defendants to Marita, who has been missing for over a decade.

The court’s decision has not sat well with the Argentine public including several hundred people who participated in peaceful protests in several major cities.   In Buenos Aires demonstrators clashed with police and caused damages to the Casa de Tucumán.

The Argentine government joined the chorus of critiques against the court’s decision.  President Cristina Fernandez personally called Trimarco to express her ire with the verdict and called for a “democratization” of the judicial system.

Trimarco, who started a foundation in 2007 to combat human trafficking, was calm when the verdict was read.  Outside of the courtroom, however, she did not mince words:

Cuba rejects U.S. human trafficking list

The Cuban government has expressed their displeasure at being named to a U.S. list of the world’s worst countries involved in human trafficking. In a communiqué issued today, the Cuba’s Foreign Relations Ministry accused Washington of hypocrisy and promoting a distorted view of life on the island:

"Cuba does not see any value in the State Department's report," the Foreign Ministry's statement said. "The government of the United States has a lot to do in its own country to combat the rampant phenomenon there of prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labor and the trafficking of people."

"The government of the United States has a lot to learn about Cuba and is not in a position to judge anyone," it said.

According to one Cuban media source, the “Trafficking in Persons Report” makes “unfounded” accusations in naming Cuba as a center of sexual tourism and of not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of minors.

Sources- PRESS TV, Associated Press, Cuba News

Image- American Bar Association (Anti-trafficking sign in Ecuador)

Ricky Martin Proving Again That He is Close to the Perfect Rican Male

He's got the look. He's got the talent and he certainly has the corazon. Ricky Martin is going to participate next week in the United Nation's Global Initiative Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking. This is an issue that Ricky has been working on through his namesake foundation. He will be in good company. Also expected at the forum are Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt and Emma Thompson, the Oscar-winning actress.

Source : Press Release