Daily Headlines: October 7, 2016

* Colombia: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in recognition of “his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”, and underlined that the recent electoral defeat of an accord with the FARC rebels “does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead”.

* Mexico: The National Human Rights Commission called on officials in the central Mexican state of Morelos to offer an official apology over their botched handling of 119 victims located in mass graves in 2014.

* United States: Polling firm Latino Decisions believes Hillary Clinton will win the Latino vote in next month’s United States presidential election by the widest margin in recorded history.

* Haiti: Authorities in Haiti claimed the death toll from Hurricane Matthew has reached at least 280 lives but worry that there may be more fatalities in communities isolated by the storm.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV (An estimated 60,000 people in Colombia’s major cities on Wednesday night marched silently in rallies organized by university students calling for an end to the decades-long armed conflict.)

Online Sources – The Indian Express, The Guardian, Business Insider, Nobel Prize

US, EU to Remove Terrorism Status from FARC?

United States (US) and European Union  (EU) diplomats have given indications that the FARC might be rescinded of its status as a terrorist group for both entities as Colombia’s president and the leader of the rebels will soon sign a historic peace agreement.

EU Special Envoy for the Peace Process in Colombia Eamon Gilmore confirmed that the bloc will soon commence actions to eliminate the status of the FARC as a terrorist organization and claimed it was an action “that had been considered for a long time.”

“The peace process is on its journey. We hope the process ends with the signing of the (peace) agreement,” affirmed Gilmore in an interview earlier to Colombian media outlet RCN.

The comprehensive pact gives the FARC a 180-day deadline to disarm and move to disarmament zones monitored by the United Nations. A judicial mechanism was established in order to place rebels on trial for crimes against humanity, torture, and rape, while the guerillas must also provide reparations to victims of an armed conflict that over a fifty-two year period claimed an estimated 260,000 lives and led to seven million displaced people.

As part of the accord, the rebels may be allowed to form their own political party, will receive aid to return into civil society, and cannot be put on trial for "political crimes". 

US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, listed numerous conditions the guerillas must meet as part of the peace deal before they’re removed from the terrorist blacklist.

Colombia, FARC Reach Historic Peace Deal

One of the bloodiest and most violent chapters in Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict could soon come to a close after the government and the FARC rebels reached a historic final peace agreement on Wednesday.

“Today we have reached the finish line,” declared lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle who also claimed the agreement will “open doors” to a more open and inclusive Colombian society.

“We can proclaim that the war of arms is over and the debate of ideas begins,” proclaimed alias “Ivan Marquez,” top FARC envoy.

The agreement was announced in the Cuban capital city of Havana following nearly four years of often-tense negotiations between government envoys and representatives of Colombia’s largest and oldest guerilla faction. Thus far, both sides have agreed on subjects including land reform, justice for the victims of conflict, and disarmament.

According to RCN Radio of Colombia, the final details of the deal bar the FARC from any form of amnesty unless they lay down their arms and a strategy to reincorporate guerillas into civil society. Another point purportedly grants the FARC judicial guarantees while the deal goes to a plebiscite and subsequently for congressional review. Speaking of the federal legislature, the deal allegedly allow for the rebels to have up to seven Congressional seats as part of their potential political participation.

“There will be no impunity!” thundered Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos regarding doubts over justice against the rebels and following the historic announcement in Cuba.

Daily Headlines: April 21, 2016 (Updated)

* Latin America: The presidents of Mexico and Colombia each called out for reforming global antidrug efforts at the U.N. Drug Policy Summit though they face opposition from other leaders more satisfied with the status quo.

Update: Bolivian President Evo Morales also criticized the contemporary "war on drugs" efforts and urged states to take an approach that "respects human rights and national sovereignty."
 

respects human rights and national sovereignty

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respects human rights and national sovereignty

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* El Salvador: Salvadoran authorities unveiled a new special unit containing “600 army commandos and 400 specially trained elite police officers” aimed at combating rampant gang violence.

* Puerto Rico: Time is not on Puerto Rico’s side as the U.S. Congress continues to delay discussion on a plan to help restructure a $70 billion debt.

* Mexico: At least thirteen people died and 130 are injured following an explosion at a Pemex facility located in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

YouTube Source – The National

Online Sources including Update – Reuters, The Guardian, NBC News, Voice of America, Fox News Latino, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: November 23, 2015 (Updated)

* Argentina: At a press conference this morning, Argentine President-elect Mauricio Macri pledged that his government would overhaul the economic policies of outgoing President Cristina Fernandez.

* Update: More from Macri who said that he would push for Venezuela to get suspended from the Mercosur trade bloc.

* Guatemala: Legislators in Guatemala approved an "anti-coyote" law aimed at punishing smugglers who exploit migrants attempting to journey to the U.S.

* Colombia: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos issued a pardon for thirty FARC rebels who were reportedly imprisoned for non-violent crimes.

* U.S.: Undefeated Gennady Golovkin will likely be the next opponent for Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez after he beat Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in an exciting bout on Saturday.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Argentina’s conservative new president Mauricio Macri may come from a privileged background but he has managed to rally voices from different parts of the political spectrum to advocate for change.”)

Online Sources including Update – SI.com, Voice of America, Reuters, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: November 9, 2015

* South America: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos apologized the military’s role during the deadly 1985 Palace of Justice siege, while Ecuador will start its first trial for crimes against humanity relating to state actions some three decades ago.

* Peru: Diplomatic tensions have heightened between Peru and Chile over a disputed border area that has a population of approximately 15,000 people.

* Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan government gave permission for an environmental impact assessment on a planned interoceanic canal that critics claim will damage land and displace thousands of people.

* Mexico: Were remains of some of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students missing since September 2014 located in a shallow grave in Guerrero state?

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – The Guardian, Fox News Latino, The Yucan Times, BBC News, teleSUR English

Colombian Government, FARC Agree to Deadline for Peace Deal

The bloody and brutal decades-long armed conflict in Colombia could soon come to an end after the country’s government and FARC rebels set the date for a final peace agreement.

“The head of the FARC secretariat and I have agree that negotiations must end and a final accord must be signed in six months at the latest,” declared Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos from Havana at a press conference where he appeared with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, and FARC top commander Rodrigo Londoño, alias Timochenko.

On top of the March 23, 2016 deadline Santos announced that Colombia’s oldest guerilla army has until May 23rd of next year to lay down their arms.

“It will not be a simple task because there are still points that need to be agreed upon,” noted Santos though he optimistically emphasized, “the hour peace is at hand.”

The representatives from the guarantor countries of the peace talks, Dag Nylander of Norway and Rodolfo Benitez of Cuba, also noted that the government and FARC agreed to a partial accord on a transitional justice scheme if a peace deal becomes a reality.

A special court will be created where FARC members as well as Colombian state security agents, military and civilian collaborators can be put on trial for war-related crimes.  Among the charges to be considered by the tribunal are crimes against humanity, genocide, rape, extrajudicial killings, forced displacement and recruitment of child soldiers. Those accused who accept their charges can receive punishments of between five to eight years in prison under special conditions and arrange for reparations to the victims of their crimes.

For those who reject the charges against them, however, the deal established a prosecution phase where they could be imprisoned for up to twenty years without any judicial concessions.

Daily Headlines: April 15, 2015 (Updated)

* Colombia: Could the deadly clashes this morning that killed at least ten Colombian soldiers derail the peace process between the government and the FARC guerillas? 

Update: President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed that peace talks will continue though he ordered the renewal of military bombings against FARC camps.

* Cuba: Cuba could be one step closer to being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism though it could set up yet another battle between President Barack Obama and Congress.

* Brazil: The treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party we detained by police over her potential role in a major Petrobras corruption scandal.

* Argentina: The low prices of crude, not the diplomatic tug-of-war between Argentina and the U.K., has reportedly caused delays in the drilling of oil near the disputed Falkland Islands.

YouTube Source – The New York Times (Video uploaded in January 2015).
 
Online Sources including Update – Colombia Reports, NBC News, The Latin Americanist, CNN, The Telegraph

Daily Headlines: March 11, 2015

* Venezuela: An irate President Nicolás Maduro said that he will lead a Venezuelan defensive military exercise this weekend in light of the diplomatic crisis between his country and the U.S.

* Brazil: The office of the comptroller general opened a case against ten construction firms connected to the scandal-ridden oil giant Petrobras.

* Guatemala: Two members of the media and local journalist rights activists were murdered in southern Guatemala.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the one-month suspension of military bombings on FARC camps in recognition of the progress made in peace talks with the government.

Video Source – YouTube user Reuters (“Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares support in a letter to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro following U.S. measures against Venezuela.”)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English; NBC News; Reuters; BBC News; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: June 17, 2014

* Venezuela: American Airlines has become the latest air carrier to slash capacity, sales or routes to Venezuela due to “an unresolved dispute over cash trapped there”.

* U.S.: A new poll released today found that most Cuban-Americans in south Florida, especially younger generations and recent arrivals from Cuba, oppose continuing the U.S. embargo on the Caribbean island.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez said that her country would be unable to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order to repay billions of dollars to creditors within the next two weeks.

* Colombia: Roughly twenty-four hours after being elected to a second straight term, president Juan Manuel Santos proposed changing the constitution in order to bar presidential reelection.

Video Source – CCTV America via YouTube

Online Sources – Miami Herald; Bloomberg; USA TODAY; Xinhua

Daily Headlines: June 16, 2014

Note: We will be posting several articles during the next month on the World Cup in Brazil.  As a result, our “Daily Headlines” entries over the next few weeks will focus primarily on non-World Cup news.


* Colombia: Conservative president Juan Manuel Santos turned around a first round loss and won reelection as most Colombian voters opted to continue the current direction of peace talks with leftist rebels.

* South America: Diplomatic tensions between Argentina and Uruguay have flared up again over a Finnish-owned pulp mill built in 2007 near the border of both countries.

* Mexico: Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission condemned the attacks on five journalists covering a recent march remembering the victims of the 1971 El Halconazo massacre.

* U.S.: Escaping from gang violence and poor economic conditions are some of the reasons behind the influx of thousands of unaccompanied minors mostly from Central American countries crossing into the U.S. 

Video Source – euronews via YouTube

Online Sources – MercoPress; LAHT; The Latin Americanist; CNN; Reuters

Colombian Gov’t, ELN Rebels Agree to Peace Talks

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the Colombian government and the country’s number two rebel army announced that they would go undergo preliminary peace discussions.

The communiqué from the government and ELN guerillas mentioned six points including that both parties agreed to an “exploratory phase” of talks with the goal of “finding a viable end to the armed conflict and construct a stable and strong peace for Colombia.”  Among the topics agreed upon for discussion are the victims of the country’s decades-long civil conflict and “participation of civil society.”

“We express to Colombia and the international community the shared will to continue with the exploratory phase that will allows us to agree on an agenda and establish talks until reaching a final agreement,” read one of the points on the statement. 

The communiqué expressed gratitude to the governments of Brazil, Chile, Cuba Ecuador, Norway and Venezuela for their “good faith” in cooperating with the process.  

The statement neglected to mention exactly where or when the discussions would take place and also omitted providing the names of who would participate for both sides in the negotiations.  Yet President Juan Manuel Santos said this afternoon that the talks would be held under the same conditions as with the FARC, Colombia’s oldest and largest guerillas, and would include no laying down of arms or a ceasefire.  (This would also mean that the Colombian military’s offensive against both rebel factions would continue).

“An integral peace process that includes the FARC and the ELN is the best guarantee for the victims and for the country that this conflict will end forever and never be repeated,” Santos told reporters.

Negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC have been under way since November 2012.  Both sides have thus far reached partial agreements on how to deal with the drug trade, land reform, and political participation.

Daily Headlines: June 4, 2014

* Chile: Scientists have discovered the fossils and rare soft tissue of forty-six “dolphin-like” ichthyosaurs in southern Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park.

* El Salvador: Salvador Sanchez Ceren was sworn in as Salvadoran president and vowed to tackle major problems hurting the country such as corruption and gang violence.

* Uruguay: Uruguay’s foreign minster claimed that his country is ready to possibly receive six Guantanamo detainees and some 120 Syrian child refugees.

* Colombia: Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels resumed amidst a tense and ugly presidential race between incumbent leader Juan Manuel Santos and rightwing opponent Oscar Ivan Zuluaga.

Video Source – ITN via YouTube

Online Sources – Vatican Radio; Bloomberg; MercoPress; CBC News; Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2014

* Colombia: In news that could boost the chances of President Juan Manuel Santos winning next Sunday's presidential election, opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga was videotaped meeting with suspected hacker Andrés Sepulveda while the Colombian government reached a partial agreement with the FARC rebels.

* Argentina: Paleontologists in the Patagonia region of Argentina believed they have found the remains of what may have been the biggest dinosaur in history.

* U.S.: Victor Espinoza of Mexico is two-thirds of the way through to becoming the first Latin American jockey to guide a horse to the Triple Crown.

* Brazil: Inmates at a maximum security prison in northeastern Brazil freed 127 people held hostage following a riot over the weekend.

Online Sources - New York Daily News; Reuters; ABC News; GlobalPost; The Epoch Times

Video Source - euronews via YouTube

Daily Headlines: May 16, 2014

* Brazil: With less than one month to go until the start of the World Cup, anti-government protests were held in several major Brazilian cities including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan opposition members are expected to meet this weekend with foreign ministers of the UNASUR bloc days after they suspended talks with the Maduro regime.

* Argentina: The Argentine government is expected to appeal a federal tribunal’s ruling that a pact between the South American country and Iran to investigate the 1994 AMIA bombing was unconstitutional.

* Colombia: Several recent polls indicated that staunch Uribista presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga is in a statistical tie or leading President Juan Manuel Santos ahead of the May 25th election.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube (Brazil “is in the grip of unrest with teachers, civil servants, police officers, bus drivers and the homeless furious at the cost of hosting the upcoming football World Cup.”)

Online Sources – SI.com; The Economist; Reuters; Bloomberg

Crooked Colombian Campaign Contractor Caught

For the second time this year, Colombian authorities uncovered an illicit spying operation that may have included surveillance of government peace talks with the FARC rebels.

Agents representing the Colombian prosecutors office raided an office used by the social media team of Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, the presidential candidate representing the political party loyal to former President Alvaro Uribe.  Andrés Sepulveda was arrested during the raid, and suspected with spying over the peace negotiations held in Cuba and also trying to hack the e-mail account of President Juan Manuel Santos.

"The aim of the people who are connected to that criminal enterprise, was to sabotage and interfere with the peace process in Havana," Eduardo Montealegre said at a press conference yesterday.

In a radio interview this morning, Montealegre added that Sepulveda attempted to infiltrate the e-mail accounts of one of the top negotiators for the FARC, foreign journalists and ex-congresswoman Piedad Córdoba.

Sepulveda also claimed that the campaign activist sold his information for at least $100 million pesos (over $51,000) to unknown parties as part of a “black market of information.”

Zuluaga, who could force a runoff against Santos in the May 25th election, condemned Sepulveda’s actions and claimed that he was “surprised” over the allegations.  Nevertheless, he acknowledged that his campaign did hire the services of the firm Sepulveda belonged to that was run by the hacker’s sister-in-law.

According to the Colombian press, Sepulveda presents him in social media networks as a “senior developer and ethical hacker.”  Among the messages he wrote on his Twitter account in recent weeks includes “the worst thing a strategist can do is to be without principles and sell himself to the highest bidder.  That double morality is shameful.”

Daily Headlines: April 29, 2014

* Brazil: A social media campaign has grown in support of Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves who responded to the racist taunt of having a banana thrown at him in the middle of a match in Spain by nonchalantly gobbling up the fruit.

* Mexico: Acclaimed film director Alfonso Cuarón published a full-page advertisement in Mexican newspapers yesterday of a list of questions for President Enrique Peña Nieto to answer regarding a controversial energy reform proposal.

* Peru: Indigenous leader Ruth Buendia was named as a co-recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts to halt construction of the Paquitzapango hydroelectric project.

* Colombia: Thousands of farmers are protesting against the Colombian government’s agrarian polices in a demonstration that could affect the May 26 general election and President Juan Manuel Santos’ chances of winning reelection.
  
Video Source – YouTube user Love Football

Online Sources – GlobalPost; The Guardian; Reuters; The Telegraph

Daily Headlines: March 28, 2014

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis and U.S President Barack Obama met for the first time on Thursday and reportedly discussed topics like “the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform.”

* Venezuela: Colombia’s president claimed that the Venezuelan government accepted holding a dialogue with opposition activists, while the U.S. State Department warned that sanctions could be imposed against Venezuelan officials “if there's no democratic space for the opposition.”

* Mexico: Latin America's largest solar power plant was inaugurated in Mexico on Wednesday and is expected to provide electricity to some 164,000 people.

* Brazil: A new poll found that Brazilian President Dilma Roussef’s approval rating slipped but 51% of respondents still support her.

Video Source – Univision Noticias via YouTube (On Wednesday, Pope Francis greeted several U.S. immigrant’s rights activists as well as a ten-year-old girl whose father is in the process of being deported).

Online Sources- News.va; ABC News; AFP; Fox News Latino; Reuters

Daily Headlines: March 19, 2014

* Venezuela: Federal legislators called for an investigation against opposition congresswoman Maria Corina Machado while anti-government demonstrators rallied on the one-month anniversary of the arrest of protest leader Leopoldo Lopez.

* Central America: A new study concluded that state recognition of indigenous land rights could serve as a vital deterrent for drug trafficking in Central America. 

* Mexico: Jorge Arvizu, the veteran Mexican voice actor who was the Spanish-speaking world’s Mel Blanc, died yesterday at the age of 81.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos will likely finalize the dismissal and fifteen-year suspension of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro sometime this week.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- The Guardian; Tico Times; LAHT; Al Jazeera English

Report Investigates Election of Crooked Colombian Congressmen (Updated)

The recent legislative elections in Colombia were marked by high abstentions and a greater than expected number of blank votes.  Yet the most troublesome part of the election may have to do with the shady connections amongst some of the legislators.

According to the Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, at least 70 candidates that will join the next Colombian legislature have either direct or indirect links to criminal organizations.   As a result the NGO believes that roughly 35% of the next Congress to be sworn in on July 20th will have questionable ties to criminal groups, especially right-wing paramilitaries and neo-paramilitaries.

“The para-politics phenomena is still alive,” said León Valencia, the foundation’s president, in reference to the scandalous revelations first made in 2006 regarding politicians financed and supported by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and their successors. 

“We engaged in a serous investigation from November until February of this year and we received plenty of evidence explaining how this phenomena was going to influence the election,” added Valencia.

President Juan Manuel Santos last month kicked out five senior military officers including the chief of the armed forces amidst major allegations of corruption and illegal wiretapping.  Yet Paz y Reconciliación claimed that 41 of the supposedly “dirty” candidates belonged to political parties allied to the government that retained a majority of the legislature.

For example, Senator Musa Besaile of the Partido de la U received the third-most votes nationwide even though demobilized AUC commanders claimed that he received campaign funds from them in 2006. Luis Eduardo Diaz Granados Torres of Cambio Radical won a seat in the Chamber of Representatives with help from the corrupt Char political clan in Atlántico state.

Other Congressional Santistas are family members of former politicians convicted in the para-politics scandal such as Andres Felipe Garcia Zucardi, son of a pair of ex-legislators that are currently in prison, and Sandra Villadiego whose husband is parapolítico Miguel Ángel Rangel.

The recently formed Centro Democratico may have captured twenty Senate spots and become the main opposition party but some of their legislators have shady connections according to Paz y Reconciliación.  Such is the case of Alfredo Ramos Maya who is the son of Luis Alfredo Ramos Botero, a former Antioquia governor currently jailed and under investigation for possible ties to the AUC.  Electoral officials may have barred Pedro Jesus Orjuela Gomez for running for mayor of Arauca due to his links to another governor accused of being helped by the AUC but that didn’t stop him from capturing a seat in the Chamber.