Daily Headlines: August 31, 2016

* Cuba: Direct commercial flights from the United States to Cuba will resume on Wednesday for the first time since 1961 and could soon reach as many as 110 per day.

* Haiti: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former Haitian president ousted on two separate occasions, made a rare public appearance to back Maryse Narcisse in the race for the country’s next president.

* Colombia: “Today we have a slogan that ... we will not forget the disappeared during peacetime,” said a human rights campaigner calling attention to the more than 45,000 missing people during Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict.

* Venezuela: Several opposition activists have been detained and three journalists were expelled from Venezuela on the eve of what is expected to be a massive anti-government protest in Caracas on Thursday.

YouTube Source – AFP (“US secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx will travel to Cuba August 31, 2016, on the occasion of the first regular flight between the two countries after more than 50 years of suspension, according to local authorities.”)

Online Sources – ABC News, Fox News Latino, Reuters, CNN

Daily Headlines: March 2, 2012

* Guatemala: A court ruled that former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt is not exempt from prosecution on charges of genocide related to his time in power thirty years ago.

* Haiti: Days after rallying on the anniversary of the 2004 coup against ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide, one of his key supporters said that more anti-government protests will be held next week.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner rejected calling for the nationalization of Argentina’s biggest energy firm, which is owned by Spain’s Repsol.

* Brazil: Air accidents in Brazil increased by over forty percent last year according to new figures published by the air force.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews (Video from last January showed ex-Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt in court facing genocide charges).

Online Sources- CNBC.com, Bloomberg, MSNBC, CNN, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Coup in Haiti

February 29th is a date that appears every four years in order to compensate for the discrepancy between the 365 days of the yearly calendar and the slightly longer time it takes the Earth to make one trip around the sun. For Haitians, this unique date on the calendar has a major significance.

On this date two leap years ago Jean Bertrand Aristide was ousted for the second time from the Haitian presidency. The coup d’état against him came after three weeks of attacks by a rebel army formed by armed gangs and dissident military troops.

The role of several international actors in the coup such as the French and Canadian governments continues to be a source of controversy since Aristede left Haiti in 2004. For instance, the U.S. State Department claimed that his ouster was “facilitated” by Marines based on his request. Days after he left Haiti Aristede alleged that he was forced to leave in order to “avoid bloodshed.”

Aristede’s many detractors including “business leaders (and) landowners” claimed that he was an authoritarian ruler who allowed corruption to run rampant under his administration. Yet for his supporters, such as several hundred protesters who rallied today in Port-Au-Prince, Aristede’s successors have done little to calm political tensions or improve the economy of the Western Hemisphere’s most impoverished country.

The following video is the trailer to a 2005 documentary entitled Aristide and The Endless Revolution. Directed by Nicolas Rossier, the film examined the events leading up to the 2004 coup as well as the consequences of that event in Haiti:

Aristede lived in exile in South Africa for seven years before retuning to Haiti in March 2011.

Earlier this week the Haitian government denied rumors that a judicial investigation was opened against Aristede.

Video Source – YouTube via Baraka Productions

Online Sources- BBC News, CNN, USA TODAY, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, Haiti Libre

Aristede arrives in Haiti after exile (Updated)

Update (12:00 pm): From the AP (via NPR):

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home from seven years in exile to a celebrity welcome Friday, mobbed by close allies and journalists outside his private plane before being hustled into an airport VIP lounge as crowds of supporters rallied in the streets outside the terminal.

Aristide waved and blew a kiss to the small crowd at the runway, then began to deliver a speech in which he thanked his chanting, jubilant supporters. His wife, Mildred, wept.

"This man is our father, without him we haven't lived,'" said 31-year-old Sainvil Petit-Frere, one of about 3,000 cheering and chanting supporters in a quickly growing crowd. "This is the doctor who will heal the country.'"

Update (10:30 am): According to the AP a plane carrying ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristede and has family landed safely minutes ago in Haiti.

Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is on his way back to the Caribbean country according to several news reports.

Aristide, who was exiled after a 2004 uprising, boarded a plane in the South African city of Johannesburg along with "his wife, Mildred, their two daughters and U.S. actor and political activist Danny Glover, The Associated Press reported." He departed on Thursday night and is scheduled to arrive in Haiti around noon local time.

As we mentioned on Tuesday, Aristide's return to Haiti was opposed by U.S. diplomats who worry that his arrival could destabilize Sunday's presidential runoff election. Indeed, it has been reported that U.S. President Barack Obama called his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, and urged him to prevent Aristide from leaving. (South African officials previously said that they could not stop him from returning to Haiti).

Despite being out of power for nearly seven years Aristide still has some popular support in Haiti. (Thousands of his backers last month marched in Port-au-Prince and called for his return). Yet he may suffer a similar fate as recently returned ex-strongman Jean-Claude Duvalier who may be formally charged with human rights abuses. Aristide could face criminal charges according to the Miami Herald's website:

Following his ouster, Haiti’s U.S.-backed interim government issued four blistering reports from two government investigative commissions, including one led by Haiti’s current Minister of Justice Paul Denis. The reports alleged that Aristide had embezzled more than $20 million of his country’s meager public funds for the benefit of his private charities, his political party and several private firms that existed only on paper. But the investigations stalled. His lawyers have always denied the allegations.

In a news conference shortly before he left, Aristide wished "a prosperous life and all the best" to his South African followers. It remains to be seen if "prosperity" awaits Aristide after he arrives in Haiti on Friday.

Online Sources - Seattle Times, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, MiamiHerald.com, BBC News, CBC News, Democracy Now
Image Source - Ramon Espinosa/AP via The Guardian ("Jean-Bertrand Aristide's picture is held up by a demonstrator protesting against Haiti's President René Préval.")

Daily Headlines: February 10, 2010 (Updated)

* Latin America: A number of soccer friendlies were played on Wednesday including Brazil losing to France, Spain surviving a scare against Colombia, and a game-winner for Lio Messi.

* Peru: A “red alert” was declared by health officials for northern Peru as a result of an outbreak of dengue fever. (Update: Authorities in Brazil claimed that the number of dengue cases in Rio de Janeiro doubled last month compared to January 2010).

* Mexico: U.S. Army Undersecretary Joseph Westphal backtracked from remarks where he deemed Mexican drug gangs as “insurgents.”

* Haiti: The U.S. State Department would prefer that former President Jean Bertrand Aristide not return from exile though it's unclear if he will try to do so.

Image – Denis Balibouse/REUTERS via The Guardian (“Lionel Messi celebrates his goal during Argentina's friendly win over Portugal in Geneva.”)
Online Sources- ESPN, Bloomberg, France24, Reuters, CSMonitor.com

Daily Headlines: July 17, 2008

* Venezuela: On Wednesday we asked if a Barack “Obama presidency could hurt Venezuela’s (Hugo) Chavez?” The answer seems to be “yes” according to remarks made yesterday by Chavez.

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega claimed that he would be “fully willing to contribute to the peace process” with Colombian guerillas.

* Mexico: Should domestic brewer Modelo be worried over the recent takeover of its U.S. partner Anheuser-Busch?

* Haiti: Supporters of ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide rallied in the capital Port-au-Prince on the occasion of his birthday.

Image- TIME

Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, Al Jazeera English, MSNBC