Daily Headlines: February 27, 2013

* El Salvador: A Salvadoran human rights group uncovered numerous cases of children stolen from their parents during the country’s bloody twelve-year civil war.

* South America: Diplomatic relations between Bolivia and Chile have become tenser as a result of a pair of recent border incidents.

* U.S.: Seventy-five Republicans including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez signed a letter supporting gay marriage.    

* Mexico: Police arrested Mexican teachers' union chief Elba Esther Gordillo on corruption charges days after the government passed a major educational reform law.

Video Source – YouTube via user WAVPfilms (” A documentary about the children abducted by the Salvadorian Army during the civil war, who were later sold to or adopted by parents all over the world”.)

Online Sources- GlobalPost, Newser, The Santiago Times, Huffington Post

Weekend Headlines: December 11-12, 2010

* Peru: In recognition of Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, Culture Minister Juan Ossio announced that the writer’s childhood home will be transformed into “an historic site” and tourist attraction.

* Puerto Rico: University student activists are planning a strike scheduled for next Tuesday in protest against government plans to institute new fees.

* Mexico: Retired pugilist Julio Cesar Chavez was announced as one of seven people who will be inducted next year into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

* Latin America: U.S. legislator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, echoed the Israeli government’s criticism of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Image – Fernando Llano/Associated Press via CBC (“Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa made a name for himself in the 1960s with several novels, which he now admits were altered to appease censors in Spain.”)
Online Sources- AHN, The Latin Americanist, AFP, Global Voices,

More U.S. tourists to Cuba say Reuters

Is Cuba’s tourism industry on the up-and-up? According to a Reuters article published today the answer is “yes.”

The article cites several “travel industry and diplomatic sources” in claiming that visitors from the U.S. have jumped over the past year. "Through October around 265,000 have traveled. November and December are the peak months, so we expect 330,000 will go to Cuba on direct flights from the United States this year," said airline charter company president Armando Garcia. Furthermore, an unnamed “U.S. State Department source” claimed that the estimated number of tourists from the U.S. to Cuba in 2010 would be over 400,000. Of these visitors the article claimed that most are of Cuban origin; thus implying that the easing of travel restrictions under the Obama administration has had a notable effect on travel.

Tourism is a key portion of a Cuban economy that has been hit hard by the global financial slowdown. Despite the U.S. embargo on Cuba being blamed for decimating the country’s cruise industry, the government has recently allowed foreign cruise ships to dock on the island. Furthermore, Cuban officials claimed that tourism revenue increased in the first nine months of this year by 3.5% with revenues reaching $1.35 billion.

In the meantime, existing U.S. travel restrictions on Cuba might not change any time soon; staunch anti-Castro critic Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee after the Republican majority to that chamber gets sworn in next month. She may have to butt heads with incoming libertarian-leaning members, however, according to The Hill:

Although many conservatives have traditionally supported the ban as a way of pressuring Cuba's communist dictatorship, the incoming class of Republicans brings with it a libertarian streak that favors individual freedoms above government intrusion, many observers note.



That position could place them at odds with GOP incumbents — notably Ros-Lehtinen — who have fought for years to keep U.S. restrictions on Cuba in place.

Image- Tampabay.com (“A British-style double-decker offers free sightseeing tours at Varadero beach in Cuba.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, FT.com, The Hill, Canadian Press

Daily Headlines: November 23, 2010

* U.S.: Approximately 5000 people protested outside the gates of Fort Benning last weekend against the military training center formerly known as the School of the Americas.

* Bolivia: "Democracy, peace and security can only be guaranteed without interventionism, without hegemony," Bolivian President Evo Morales said at a defense conference attended by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

* Venezuela: The owner of “pro-opposition” TV station Globovision, Guillermo Zuloaga, denied government accusations that he’s behind an assassination plot against President Hugo Chavez.

* Cuba: Did Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen quash a “recent diplomatic opening” between Cuba and Israel?

* Haiti: Gunmen reportedly attacked the convoy of leading presidential candidate Jude Celestin on Monday night.

* Peru: The Peruvian government reached a tentative agreement with Yale University for the return of thousands of Incan artifacts taken from Machu Picchu.

Image – Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times via the New York Times (“The crosses placed at the fence represent people who are missing or who are believed to have been killed by death squads.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Democracy Now, JTA, CNN, Independent

What the Pending Republican Sweep Means for Latin America

It's becoming more and more likely that the Republicans will take over the US House of Representatives, and may even grab the Senate. Domestic economic issues are the primary reason Republicans are poised to make big gains, and hence will take up most of the time and focus when the newbies arrive on Capitol Hill.

But lots of important work still gets done outside the glaring eye of cable news. Foreign Policy has highlighted some of these changes, and there are indeed some important potential shakeups with regard to US policy towards Latin America.

Cuba:
One of the Obama administration's most prominent diversions from Bush-era policy has come on Cuba. Though any further thawing is made very difficult by Cuba's continued detention of USAID contractor Alan Gross, the Obama admin has reversed the Bush administration's tightened restrictions on travel to the island by Cuban-Americans as well as cultural and educational groups. Despite international and elite public opinion against the sustained isolation of Cuba, the US' Cuba policy is driven by a large by a critical political constituency in a swing state: Cuban-Americans in Miami/Dade County, Florida.

So it's very interesting that Cuban-born Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is poised to take over the House Foreign Affairs Committee should the Republicans re-take the house. Ros-Lehtinen is a prominent advocate of the hard-line Cuban exiles and is unlikely to budge an inch towards any gestures made by anyone in Cuba with the Castro surname.

Trade:
On the trade issue, the US still has pending free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia. The Colombia deal has been subject to more Congressional scrutiny, with many union-backed Democrats pushing for deeper environmental or labor rights protections before signing off. Especially given the current economic climate, there will likely be a push by pro-trade conservatives to get the treaties through on the grounds of boosting the economy. Trade may be one of the areas the Obama admin can tout bi-partisan success with the new Republican majority.

Drugs:
Colombia has received heaps of money over the years to support its fight against drug production and trafficking. The Plan Colombia era is definitely drawing to a close, as concerns about drugs and violence in Mexico take center stage in most Americans' minds. Expect a shift of resources and attention, as well as finger-pointing, towards Mexico and to a lesser extent Central America.

Venezuela:
Sen. Jim DeMint, staunch opponent of the Obama admin's reaction to the Honduras coup last year, is poised to become significantly more important as Congress' resident Tea Party leader (assuming he can beat out Alvin Greene). DeMint doesn't like Chavez and has used his position in the minority to block confirmation of nominations to key Latin American-related posts in the admin. With Venezuela increasingly cozying up to Iran, expect some fun hearings and zingers, at the very least.

Immigration:
Lastly, though a domestic policy issue, immigration reform will also be significantly affected. Whether the new Republicans can or will make any more progress than the last time their colleagues took up immigration will be a huge issue (that will not escape the eye of cable news) remains to be seen.

Image: Washington Post ("Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) holds a copy of the constitution of Honduras during a press conference with interim President Roberto Micheletti at the presidential house in Tegucigalpa.")

Online Sources: Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, NOLA.com, Just the Facts

Daily Headlines: October 1, 2009

* Honduras: Several business and political leaders are trying to push a compromise plan to break the Honduran stalemate, while U.S. Congresswoman and pro-Micheletti backer Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will travel to Honduras next week.

* Peru: No deaths or major damage have been reported from a magnitude 5.9 quake that shook southeastern Peru and part of Bolivia.

* Cuba: Fewer Cuban migrants are said to be leaving the island to the U.S. not only through the traditional route via Caribbean waters but also by land via Mexico.

* Brazil: Famed 101-year-old architect Oscar Niemeyer is in delicate heath after undergoing his second colon surgery in a week.

Image- AP (“Riot police walk toward supporters of Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya during a protest in Tegucigalpa, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009.”)
Online Sources- ABC News, Reuters, Miami Herald, AFP, csmonitor.com

Today’s Video: Ros-Lehtinen can work a pole

Remember the tidbit last week regarding Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hanging up twice on President-elect Barack Obama? Monday evening’s “The Colbert Report” poked fun at the incident. The video below is 04:45 long but it’s best to skip ahead to the final 45 seconds to view Ros-Lehtinen’s recent stunt on a Miami vacilon radio show.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Barry & the Stump

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Sources- The Latin Americanist, colbertnation.com

Today’s Video: The prank that wasn’t

Some stories speak for themselves:

A Florida congresswoman, certain she was the victim of a joke, hung up on President-elect Barack Obama -- not once, but twice.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., told that Obama wanted to speak with her, cut the caller off, telling the person on the other end she thought "this is a joke" by a radio station known for pulling pranks, CNN reported Thursday….

"This was pretty embarrassing," Ros-Lehtinen said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America.

Ros-Lehtinen may have seemed a little too paranoid by rejecting Obama’s call. Yet the Miami-based radio station she cited has had a history of prank calling leaders like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

One of the best-known pranks played by the aforementioned radio station was on Chavez a few years ago. The prank itself is funny though it takes an ugly turn in the end when the DJs berate Chavez by calling him a “terrorist” and a “dickhead.”

Sources- YouTube, BBC News, UPI

Cuban-American Reps. win in Florida

The Republican Party lost big on Election Day aside from the presidential race; the Democrats majority in the House of Representatives was strengthened and they are close to having a filibuster-proof Senate. Yet after suffering their “worst electoral drubbing in more than three decades” one of the few victories for the GOP occurred in Florida.

A trio of Cuban-American politicos- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Mario Diaz-Balart- faced difficult battles against Democratic opponents. At times the campaigns got heated with ugly accusations and for a while it seemed iffy that the three representatives would all be reelected.

The Latino electorate in Florida may’ve leaned towards the Democrats in the presidential race yet Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balart brothers (image) held on to their seats:

With nearly all of the votes counted in Miami-Dade, and all of the precincts reporting in Collier County, Mario Diaz-Balart emerged with a 52 to 48 percent victory…

Lincoln Diaz-Balart scored a remarkably large double-digit win over former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez to win his ninth term on Capitol Hill...

Ros-Lehtinen cruised to her 11th term with 58 percent of the vote to vanquish her challenger, Colombian-American businesswoman Annette Taddeo…

''It had all the makings of me going down,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``If I can make it in this election, I can make it in any election.''

Image- Time
Sources- The Latin Americanist, MarketWatch, Los Angeles Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, miamiherald.com

SoFla congressional races heat up

Aside from the U.S. presidency, several legislative seats are up for grabs and will be decided on November 4th. An increasingly heated race has developed in Southern Florida where the Latino electorate will be a decisive factor.

Republican Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart has been in Congress since 1992 and has easily won reelection, sometimes uncontested. Yet he faces a strong challenge from another Cuban-born politico- former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez.

The campaign between both Latinos has gotten ugly with allegations and insinuations flying between both campaigns. For instance, Diaz-Balart’s campaign recently aired a TV ad implying that Martinez was involved in the 1980s drug trade. Martinez, meanwhile, accused his GOP rival of being connected to a Puerto Rican bribery scandal.

Diaz-Balart is not the only legislator of Cuban background facing a tough campaign from Latino challengers. His brother, Mario, is running neck-and-neck with Joe Garcia while Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is facing tough competition from Colombian-American businesswoman Annette Taddeo.

Why is the trio of staunch anti-Castro Republicans in danger of losing their seats? As Time magazine mentioned in an August article:

Florida Democrats are drawing new strength from a growing number of non-Cuban Latinos…(Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s) 18th District is still 65% Latino, but it is less than 30% Cuban today. That has emboldened Democrats like her challenger…whose constituents worry less about Havana than about immigration, health care and U.S. indifference toward the rest of Latin America.

Still, a likely decisive issue in these races involves Cuba. In 2004, as a gift to conservatives, President Bush tightened restrictions on travel and remittances to the island…The move backfired: most Miami Cubans oppose the new rules, according to an FIU poll, and they have been particularly unpopular among younger Cuban Americans…What would have worked in 1985 to deepen GOP support had the opposite effect in today's more diverse Miami. Says Garcia, sipping a café cubano in Little Havana: "Bush succeeded in dividing what was once a monolithic vote for his party."

Image- Miami New Times (From the upper left corner clockwise: Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia, Mario Diaz-Balart)
Sources- Time, miamiherald.com, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Swing States Project, local10.com