Daily Headlines: July 24, 2012

* Argentina: Former dictator Jorge Videla, who was convicted weeks ago for the kidnapping and illegal adoptions of over thirty kids, said that the Catholic hierarchy “advised” him on how to deal with the disappearing of “Dirty War” dissidents.

* El Salvador: A truce between the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha street gangs has led to a plummeting murder rate as well as renewed optimism in the Salvadoran economy.

* Colombia: Four suspected FARC rebels were convicted by an indigenous tribunal and will be punished via public flogging.

* Ecuador: President Rafael Correa claimed that he would make a decision regarding Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s asylum request “according to humanist principles.”

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English (In 2010 ex-dictator Jorge Videla was sentenced by an Argentine court to life in prison for human rights abuses during his rule between 1976 and 1983.)

Online Sources- Irish Times, The Latin Americanist, Businessweek, Fox News Latino, Bernama

Daily Headlines: June 28, 2012

* Haiti: A United Nations report found that rape cases in Port-au-Prince are rarely prosecuted partly due to the destruction of records after a major earthquake in 2010.

* Puerto Rico: The American Civil Liberties Union will take Puerto Rico's beleaguered police department to court over allegations of abuse and excessive force against protesters.

* Argentina: Former strongman Jorge Videla brazenly accused the mothers of babies who disappeared during the “Dirty War” era of acting as “active militants in the machinery of terrorism” and denied accusations that he was behind over thirty forced adoptions.

* South America: Plaintiffs in Ecuador have filed a lawsuit against Chevron in Brazil in order to try to enforce a multibillion-dollar verdict against the oil firm.

Video Source – YouTube via Channel 4 News (From June 2011 – “Human rights groups estimate many hundreds of women have been raped since the earthquake struck and with Haiti's justice system in pieces, men are rarely punished.”)

Online Sources- Time, France24, Boston.com, Reuters

Weekend Headlines: April 14-15, 2012

* Argentina: Ex-military strongman Jorge Videla admitted that as many as 8000 people were killed by the state during the “Dirty War” era and coldheartedly justified such deaths as “the price we had to pay to win the war against subversion.”

* Haiti: A former Dominican military officer has been accused of being involved in an alleged plot to overthrow Haitian President Michel Martelly.

* Cuba: Ten former Cuban political prisoners currently residing in Spain have gone on a hunger strike in order to seek additional government assistance.

Nuestro Cine: Innocence lost

Trial proceedings commenced this week in the “baby theft” trial against ex-Argentine strongmen Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone. Both of the former Dirty War-era leaders stand accused of masterminding a “systematic plan” where at least 34 babies were removed from mothers of dissidents detained by authorities at the infamous ESMA military base. Some of these mothers would be tortured and either killed or disappeared while the children were placed under illegal adoption. It is estimated that hundreds of Argentine children grew up not knowing the identities of their biological parents.

The trial against Videla and Bignone comes in the wake of several recent court decisions against former officials behind the horrors of the Dirty War period. (Videla, for instance, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for the deaths of 31 dissidents).

In the twenty-seven years since the end of the Dirty War ended Argentina’s film industry has tackled the abuses of the era. 1985 Best Foreign Film Oscar winner “The Official Story” (“La historia oficial”) was an emotional drama that focused on the illegal adoptions during the Dirty War. Another movie, “The Prize” (“El Premio”), reflects on childhood during the military junta’s rule yet does so mainly from the perspective of a seven-year-old girl, Cecilia. This film, which won the Silver Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, is set during the Dirty War and shows how the innocence of a small child clashes with the harsh authoritarianism of the era. In one scene, for instance:

The teacher’s sense of how to get along in a state-controlled society is tested when the class has to write essays in praise of the army but Cecilia writes things such as “the army is bad”, “soldiers are crazy”, “they killed my cousin”. (Her mother) Lucia is mortified when Cecilia shows her a copy and she knows she must try to get the essay back before the army sees it.

In the clip below from Argentine television, “El Premio” director Paula Markovitch reflected on how the attacks against intellectuals and artists during the Dirty War served as “an own-goal” against Argentine society:

Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Clarin.com, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, The Hollywood Reporter
Video Source – YouTube

Suspected Guatemalan war criminal arrested

In the twentieth century some Latin American political leaders and military officials abused their power and were behind terrible human rights atrocities. In recent years, however, the long arm of the law caught up with several of these figures and they’ve been forced to pay for their crimes. In the last month alone, for instance:

• Ex-Argentine president Jorge Videla, who ruled for several years during the infamous “Dirty War” era, was sentenced to life in prison.
• The former head of Chile’s secret police under dictator Augusto Pinochet was convicted for the murders of six political prisoners.
• Corruption and misappropriation of public funds charges were raised against former Haitian president Jean-Claude Baby Doc” Duvalier. (Quick aside: where does ex-Congressman Bob Barr get the cojones to serve as Duvalier’s “advisor”?)
  

Jorge Sosa was a former military commander for several years in his native Guatemala during that country’s bloody civil war. He is accused of numerous war crimes including 1982’s Dos Erres massacre where he supposedly ordered troops to kill over 250 villagers. (A “United Nations-backed Truth Commission” found that soldiers killed babies by bashing their heads with hammers while women were repeatedly raped before being murdered).

Since fleeing Guatemala in the mid-1980s Sosa emigrated legally to the U.S. and Canada. While thousands of victims of Guatemala’s war nursed their physical wounds and psychological trauma, Sosa lived in impunity and even managed a martial arts training school in Calgary.

After one too many years living as a free man, Sosa was finally arrested in Canada last week. According to the Calgary Herald, Sosa “was retrained by heavy chains visible from his hands, which were closed and held up by his chest” during his first court appearance on Thursday.

Though he is wanted in Guatemala for his suspected war crimes, Sosa may face extradition to the U.S. where he’s accused of lying on his immigration papers. His son, who left Guatemala with Sosa for the U.S told the Canadian media that his father was innocent of the immigration charges against him. For one Guatemalan human rights activist whose bother died in the massacre, however, Sosa must be punished for the suffering his callousness caused:

"We're not looking for revenge, but we want justice to be applied and for these men to own up for what they've done -- to own up for the lives they took and give some peace to the families that continue to live with voids in their lives that can never be filled," (Aura Elena Farfan) said.

"They destroyed people's humanities, killed the innocent, and we're looking for a way for them to acknowledge the innocents, the lives they destroyed."

The Sosa case has raised serious questions over the Canadian immigration process. (He currently holds U.S. and Canadian citizenship). "I was astounded that war criminals always find a way to get into Canada and people who come in through the legal procedures have to wait like nine years to get all their papers" said Carmen Aguilera, Guatemala's former honorary consul to Canada, to the press.

Image- YouTube via CBC (“Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa, 52, seen in a karate demonstration, is wanted in Guatemala on war crimes. He was arrested in Lethbridge, Alta., on Tuesday.”).
Online Sources- Herald Sun, Gawker, The Latin Americanist, EPA, Reuters, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun, Toronto Sun, CTV News

Argentina: Ex-strongman Videla justifies “cruelty”

Ex-Argentine leader Jorge Videla defended the Dirty War regime during his time in power as he took to the stand in the human rights trial against him.

Videla is accused along with twenty other former military officers of the deaths of 31 political prisoners in the central Argentine city of Cordoba. Last Thursday he testified that while the dictatorship was “cruel” it did not take pleasure in repressing political opponents. “We were not sadists or involved in any illicit activity,” said the 84-year-old who also defended the role of the military during his time in office from 1976 to 1981. “There is no good or bad military,” said Videla and added that army personnel did not take part in the torture against prisoners of Cordoba’s Penitentiary Unit #1.

Earlier in the week Videla tried to paint himself as a victim of a conspiracy against him as well as the Army itself. He reportedly felt “intimidated” and “threatened” by the testimony of former members of the Montoneros guerillas. Yet they are only a handful of the minimum 120 witnesses who have or will testify to the malice under Videla’s watch. Their testimony seriously undermines Videla’s claims and brings to light some of the repression during the Dirty War:

David Andenmatten, a survivor who lives in Switzerland, told how the guards raped detained women and didn’t even have “doubts about torturing the disabled”.

Another witness, Daniel Eduardo Bozano, confirmed that torture did take place in (Penitentiary Unit #1).

Tens of thousands of Argentines were killed or "disappeared" during Videla’s reign, which came after a military coup deposed of President Isabela Peron. He has been in prison since 2008 after the Supreme Court nullified a 1990 presidential pardon granted by then-leader Carlos Menem.

Image- EPA
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, TeleSur, Diario Los Andes, Terra Argentina, EPA, Los Angeles Times, BBC News

Argentine “Dirty War” dictator defends regime

One of the worst Latin American dictators of all time took to the stand on Monday to defend his brutal regime.

Ex-Argentine president Jorge Videla has been accused of the murders of 32 political prisoners during his time in office from 1976 to 1981. He admitted to taking “full responsibility” for the actions of the military during the “Dirty War” period, which he deemed as an “internal war against subversive forces.” Nonetheless, he said that he could not be tried twice for human rights abuses and that a military tribunal should hear his case. Despite his claims, prosecutors in the Cordoba court accused Videla of directing a “clandestine plan to exterminate political dissidents”.

Videla was originally sentence to life in jail after Argentina returned to civilian rule in 1985 but that was later overturned on a pardon from then-president Carlos Menem. That action was declared unconstitutional in 2007 and the Supreme Court confirmed that decision in April.

Much like the Mexican government during the 1968 Olympics, Videla and his cohorts tried to use sport to cover up state crimes. In Argentina’s case, it was one of the world’s most famous sporting tournaments:

During his five-year administration, Videla organized the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

Argentina's victory was used to try to clean the international reputation of the military government at a time when reports of massive human rights violations had been seeping out, our correspondent says.

Videla also faces charges in Italy, Spain France and Germany for the murder of some of their citizens in Argentina.

Image- BBC Mundo
Online Sources- EPA, Clarin, ABC.net.au, The Latin Americanist, BBC News

Argentina: More charges against ex-Dirty War strongman

Argentina’s justice system has been sending strong messages to former “Dirty War” officials: you can run but you can’t hide.

Ex-president Jorge Videla will face trial after a federal judge presented him with 49 charges of torture, kidnapping, and murder. Videla is currently serving a life sentence for human rights abuses yet new forensic evidence led to the widening of the case against him.

The new charges issued on Monday are on top of 32 charges of murder and torture of political prisoners as well as a court hearing in September over the illegal kidnappings of 33 babies.

Videla’s court appearances in Mendoza and Buenos Aires will be the first since he was originally convicted in 1985. That sentence had been quashed by a pardon from then-President Carlos Menem yet the Supreme Court last week overturned that decision.

The latest allegations against Videla could lead to him to be tried abroad:

The remains of most of the 40 victims were unearthed by forensic experts last year in Buenos Aires. Among them was Argentina-born German citizen Rolf Stawowiok, who was 20 at the time of his death in 1978…

After the remains were discovered, Germany issued an international arrest warrant for Videla, who is currently serving a life term at an Argentine barracks on multiple charges of human rights violations while at the head of the country's military junta from 1976 to 1981.

The new charges against Videla come weeks after another former “Dirty War” ruler- Gen. Reynaldo Bignone- was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Image- BBC Mundo
Online Sources- BBC News, AP, Sydney Morning Herald, New York Times

Argentine Court Upholds Junta Members' Sentences

This week Argentina's highest court upheld a lower court's ruling to let the life sentences of General Jorge Videla and Admiral Emilio Massera stand.

Videla and Massera, part of Argentina's repressive military regime that ruled from 1976 to 1983, were charged with crimes against humanity in 1985. However, President Carlos Menem issued them a pardon in 1990. The new ruling declares those pardons unconstitutional.

Online sources: Página 12, EFE

Image: Página 12

Daily Headlines: October 11, 2008

* Mexico: Hurricane Norbert hit the Baja California peninsula today with 105 mile-per-hour winds and torrential rainfall.

* Latin America: Currencies throughout the region dropped in value yesterday with the Chilean peso hitting its lowest point in over 16 years.

* Argentina: Former “Dirty War” ruler Jorge Videla has been transferred to from house arrest to jail where he will serve his life sentence for human rights abuses.

* Puerto Rico: A magnitude 6.1 quake shook Puerto Rico this morning as reports claim that there were “no immediate reports of damages.”

Image- AP (“Maria Espinoza covers himself from the rain at a local shelter during Hurricane Norbert in Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008…(AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)”)
Sources- Bloomberg, CBC, IHT, BBC News