Daily Headlines: February 10, 2016

* Brazil: Brazil’s annual inflation rate rose to 10.7% and, thus, climbed to its highest point in over twelve years.

* Dominican Republic: Much like Pulitzer Prize-wining author Junot Diaz, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa has come under fire in the Dominican Republic for criticizing the controversial elimination of citizenship to tens of thousands of people with Haitian background.

* Haiti: The World Health Organization warned that at least 1.5 million Haitians could suffer from malnutrition caused by a drought made worse by El Niño.

* Cuba: Analysts believe the number of Cubans migrating to the U.S. is on the rise over worries that the "wet foot, dry foot" immigration policy could soon be scrapped.

YouTube Source – CCTV America
 
Online Sources – MercoPress, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, CNBC

Daily Headlines: November 3, 2015

* Dominican Republic: The Dominican government seemingly overreacted by stripping acclaimed author Junot Diaz of national honors over his criticism of the mistreatment of Haitian migrants.

* Venezuela: Venezuela will provide additional crude to nations of the Petrocaribe oil alliance according to remarks by President Nicolás Maduro.

* Latin America: The Day of the Dead may be closely associated with Mexico but nationals residing in Peru and Honduras also observed commemorations.

* Chile: Nine of the thirty-three Chilean miners trapped underground for sixty-nine days in 2010 have sued their lawyers over allegations of fraud.

YouTube Source – Big Think

Online Sources – The Guardian, Yahoo News, The Globe and Mail, teleSUR English

Dominicans Rally For Controversial Court Ruling

Several hundred Dominicans rallied in support of a recent high court decision that would strip the citizenship of tens of thousands of individuals.

“Get out illegal Haitians,” “Them there and us here”, “We will not negotiate our sovereignty” where just some of the signs reportedly seen by the demonstrators who gathered in Santo Domingo’s Independence Park on Monday. 

Several speakers at the event, which was organized by a group calling themselves The National Sovereignty Defense Network, backed the Dominican government’s crackdown on undocumented Haitians. (For example, the organization called for the construction of a wall along the entire Dominican border with Haiti).

Emil Santana, one of the speakers at the rally, told the crowd that Haitian children have overrun schools in San Juan de la Maguana while residents in the town are allegedly without work due to migrants from the neighboring country.

Other presenters blasted the international response against the September 25th ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court that voided automatic citizenship to the descendants of migrants who came to work in the country after 1929.

“The Dominican people will not accept that their rights will be squashed in order to resolve the Haitian problem”, declared legislator Pelegrín Castillo.

Meanwhile, journalist Consuelo Despradel blasted renowned Peruvian author and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa for recently comparing the ruling of the high court to the stripping of citizenship of Jews living in Nazi-era Germany.

While the rally took place in the Dominican capita city, a protest against the court’s decision was held in the southern Baoruco province.  Hundreds of demonstrators including members of at least twenty community groups participated in the march that rejected the tribunal’s “arbitrary” actions.

Roberto Bolaño wins major literary award

Chilean author Roberto Bolaño died in 2003 though he has received plenty of posthumous praise. The English-language translation of “2666” has wowed the world of literature and high expectations continue over the recent discovery of several “lost” manuscripts.

Before passing away, Bolaño wrote in one of his journals that “I am sure I will die unpublished.” Surely he would’ve never imagined that his work would receive major awards but that was the case last week:

Death is proving no barrier to the late Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, who…added the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction to his roster of prizes.

The esteemed American award was given to Bolaño for his epic final novel 2666, which NBCC board member Marcela Valdes described as a "sexy, apocalyptic vision of history", a "work so rich and dazzling that it will surely draw readers and scholars for ages". Accepting the posthumous award on Bolaño's behalf, his translator Natasha Wimmer recalled he had once said that "posthumous" sounded like a Roman gladiator, the Associated Press reported.

Aside from Bolaño, Mexican-American writer Juan Felipe Herrera shared best poetry honors for his work praising Chicano identity.

The awards carry no cash prize yet are very prestigious and are the top literary honor in the U.S. Dominican author Junot Diaz won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction in 2008.

Image- LAHT
Online Sources- Guardian UK, The Telegraph, Latina, Bloomberg, CBC, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: October 2, 2008

* U.S.: Could Nobel prize for literature judge Horace Engdahl’s rant against U.S. authors hurt Junot Diaz’ odds of winning the prestigious prize?

* Ecuador: Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht has reached a deal with the Ecuadorian government over the state of a hydroelectric plant.

* Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo talks land reform, foreign policy, and liberation theology in this great interview last week on “Democracy Now!”

* Costa Rica: Costa Rica could join the Central American Free Trade Agreement before the end of the year now that their deadline got extended.

Image- Time Out New York

Sources- Democracy Now, Voice of America, Guardian UK, IHT, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Junot Diaz humbles Stephen Colbert

We’ll continue posting a few items this weekend. Why? Because we care! (The real reason: I have no life).

In the meantime, the below video is of author Junot Diaz’s appearance on “The Colbert Report” earlier this week. In the interview, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Diaz explains his family roots, looks at immigration, and “outgeeks” Colbert by mentioning about triffids.

(Video link):

According to Wikipedia, triffids are “a highly venomous plant species” first mentioned in the fictional 1951 novel “The Day of the Triffids.”

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Comedy Central, YouTube

Daily Headlines: May 5, 2008

* U.S.: Good news - Pulitzer-prize winning novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" will be turned into a movie.

Bad news - Author Junot Diaz (image) worries over how the book will be portrayed in the film and whether Dominican actors will be used.

* Honduras: At least 18 prisoners died during fights on Saturday at the main jail in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

* Puerto Rico: Chelsea Clinton visited university students on the island last week in order to drum up support for her mother's presidential campaign.

* Colombia: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is "the main hope" for the liberation of kidnapped politician Ingrid Betancourt, according to remarks made by her husband.

Image- Guardian UK
Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, New York Daily News, USA TODAY, Reuters

Daily Headlines: April 8, 2008

* Dominican Republic: Congratulations to Junot Diaz; the Dominican-American author was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his debut novel, The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

* Chile: “Leave your suffering in the past” said a government official after the country received 39 Palestinian refugees.

* Brazil: Support for the death penalty has diminished but people are still divided on the subject based on a poll published on Sunday.

* Bolivia: The Interior Minister said that government will prosecute opposition leaders in Santa Cruz who are organizing a referendum on autonomy.

Image- newsweek.com

Sources- New York Daily News, International Herald Tribune, AFP, Xinhua

Today’s Video: Junot Diaz discussion tonight!

Dominican-American author/ literary darling Junot Diaz will be speaking at a free event tonight at the New York’s CUNY Graduate Center. (Click here for more information on the discussion).

In case you cannot make it here’s a video of Diaz speaking about his critically-acclaimed 2007 novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

(Video link):

Sources- YouTube, New York Magazine, Flavorpill New York, junotdiaz.com