Daily Headlines: June 8, 2016

* Brazil: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice could allow for the arrest of four members of interim President Michel Temer’s political party over their alleged obstruction in the “Lava Jato” corruption probe.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan electoral officials approved a petition with 1.3 million signatures seeking a referendum for the possible removal of President Nicolás Maduro, while police and National Guard troops fired tear gas at anti-government protesters yesterday.

* Mexico: A new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative and Mexican human rights groups admitted that an “immense majority of violent crimes have been committed by criminal organizations” but accused government security forces of purportedly committing crimes against humanity.

* Peru: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski leads with tens of thousands of votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori in the presidential runoff that continues to be much too close to call.

YouTube Source – France 24 English

Online Sources – BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Voice of America, ABC News, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: June 6, 2016

* Peru: As hinted it by several exit polls, the presidential runoff in Peru is much too close to call as Pedro Pablo Kuczynski holds a less than 1% advantage over Keiko Fujimori with at least 90% of votes officially counted.

* Haiti: Haitian interim president Jocelerme Privert claimed that the country’s presidential elections will be rerun this October, which is nearly one year since the apparently fraudulent first round was held.

* Venezuela: Spain’s foreign minister called on the Venezuelan government and opposition to engage in dialogue one day after it was reported that ex-President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met with jailed dissident leader Leopoldo Lopez.

* Mexico: Mexico’s ruling political party is expected to lose in seven of the twelve gubernatorial elections held yesterday including traditional strongholds Veracruz, Tamaulipas, and Quintana Roo.

YouTube Source – CCTV News

Online Sources – euronews, Fox News Latino, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, teleSUR English

Exit Polls Show Dead Heat in Peru’s Presidential Election

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Keiko Fujimori are locked in a neck-and-neck battle to decide who will be Peru’s next president according to exit polls taken during today’s runoff election.

Two of the three exit polls revealed a slight lead but within the margin of error for the ex-economics minister ahead of the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori. GfK gave Kuczynski a 51.2% to 48.8% advantage, while Ipsos Perú reveled a tighter margin of 50.4% versus 49.6%. In contrast, pollster CPI claimed that Keiko would be ahead by a slim 2.3% margin with 51.1% support against 48.8% for Kuczynski.

Keiko easily won the first round of elections on April 10th with nearly double the percentage of the second-place Kuczynski. Neither candidate established a significant advantage in the polls in the nearly two months of additional campaigning. Although a CPI survey carried out on May 23rd and 24th gave her 7.1% lead, polls taken over the past week showed a virtual draw between the two. 

In the run up to today’s runoff, Keiko has been the target of accusations alleging her campaign and Fuerza Popular political party has been tainted by corruption. For example, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allegedly investigated Fuerza Popular chairman Joaquin Ramirez for purportedly laundering $15 million and for possible ties to suspected drug trafficker Miguel Arévalo Ramírez. Keiko defended Ramirez and accused her detractors of mounting a “dirty war” against him, which may not have been seen so favorably by Peruvians wary of corruption.

Daily Headlines: May 24, 2016

* Guatemala: Guatemalan prosecutors are considering a inaugurating a new office specializing in dealing with femicides in response to the 222 gender-based murders of women in the first four months of 2016.

* Puerto Rico: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders railed against a bipartisan congressional plan backed by the White House to help restructure Puerto Rico’s $70 billion public debt.

* Peru: Polls indicate that Keiko Fujimori has widened her lead ahead of the June 5th presidential runoff despite corruption allegations within her campaign and concerns over the relation to her imprisoned father, ex-president Alberto Fujimori.

* Venezuela: Brazil’s acting foreign minister said his country and Argentina reportedly agreed to help mediate in Venezuela’s worsening political crisis.

YouTube Source – DW (English)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Politico, Reuters, ABC News

Daily Headlines: May 17, 2016

* Peru: Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori has come under fire roughly three weeks prior to a runoff over allegations that a close ally of hers is under investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

* Brazil: Beleaguered Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras, which last week reported a first quarter loss of $358 million, has dropped from having been a “major player” in the floating production systems market.

* Haiti: The African Union next month will admit Haiti as the bloc’s first non-African member in a move expected to boost the economy of the Caribbean nation.

* Mexico: A second Mexican judge approved the extradition request from U.S. prosecutors to possibly extradite imprisoned drug cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded last April).
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, MercoPress, The Latin Americanist, GlobalPost, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2016

* Brazil: The Brazilian Senate later today will likely approve holding an impeachment trial against embattled President Dilma Rousseff where she would be suspended from her post for 180 days.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos claimed that a peace deal with FARC rebels can be reached “in the very near future” hours after his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, called for a “civil resistance” against such an agreement. 

* Nicaragua: A new study blasted planned construction of an interoceanic canal though Nicaragua, which would be disastrous for a number of endangered wildlife species.

* Peru: Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, continues to post a slight lead in the polls ahead of next month’s runoff.

* U.S.: At least 875,000 eligible Latino voters could face difficulties voting in the upcoming presidential election according to an analysis by National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials.

* El Salvador: The murder rate for El Salvador in the first four months of this year has reportedly surpassed the rates in other Central American countries for 2015.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Colombia Reports, CNN, Reuters, The Tico Times, NBC News

Daily Headlines: April 29, 2016

* Colombia: Colombia became the fourth Latin American state to legalize same-sex marriage following a series of recent rulings by the country’s Constitutional Court.

* Peru: Polls have placed Keiko Fujimori back as the favorite in June’s presidential race even though she faces stiff competition from rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, controversy over the authorities rule of her ex-president father and a new spat with her congressman brother.

* Mexico: A Mexican general received the stiffest punishment against a senior military official after a court sentenced him to 52.5 years in prison for torture.

* Cuba: The Cuban government ruled out eliminating a ban on defectors from playing with the national baseball team despite improving ties between the island and the U.S.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, ABC News

Daily Headlines: April 20, 2016

* Ecuador: At least 400 aftershocks have hit Ecuador since a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake Saturday night including a 6.1-magnitude tremor in the predawn hours today.

* Peru: Polls have shown Keiko Fujimori, who easily won the first round of Peru’s presidential election, has a slight advantage over Pedro Pablo Kuczynski ahead of the June 5th runoff.

* Chile: Patricio Aylwin, the former Chilean president who was key in the transition following the infamous military regime led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, died at the age of 97.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino blamed the U.S. for failed oil talks in Doha last weekend and warned that negotiations must resume soon in order to avoid a collapse in crude prices.

YouTube Source – France 24 English

Online Sources – Bloomberg, Reuters, NBC News, The Latin Americanist, euronews

Daily Headlines: April 12, 2016

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan Supreme Court overturned a law approved weeks ago by the opposition-controlled legislature that would’ve granted amnesty to political prisoners including anti-government activists.

* Peru: Keiko Fujimori may have won in the first round of Peru’s presidential election but will surely face a very stiff challenge from runoff rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and voters wary over the controversial legacy of imprisoned ex-leader Alberto Fujimori.

* Honduras: “We demand the investigation and trial of those responsible for the deaths of those journalists,” said a protester at a demonstration in Tegucigalpa to call attention to the twenty-two members of the press killed since 2014.

* Brazil: The impeachment process against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff continues after a Congressional committee recommended the process head to a vote by the lower chamber.

YouTube Source – France 24 English (Last month “Venezuela's opposition-led legislature approved an amnesty bill for political prisoners, setting up an epic political clash with embattled President Nicolas Maduro, who opposes the move.)

Online Sources – NBC News, Fusion, The Latin Americanist, Fox News Latino, BBC News

Peru: Unofficial Results Show Keiko Forced Into Presidential Runoff (Updated)

Unofficial quick counts of the votes in Sunday’s Peruvian presidential election shows gave Keiko Fujimori the advantage but not enough to prevent a runoff on June 5th.

According to Ipsos, the daughter of imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori received 39.1% of the vote with 71.1% of the vote tabulated. Keiko got 38.5% backing with 77% of ballots counted based on an analysis from GfK. As a result, she would gain a plurality but not the majority required to be rewarded with an outright win.

Earlier in the evening, exit polls from both Ipsos and GfK showed economist and ex-Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in a statistical dead heat for second place with legislator Verónika Mendoza. Yet the quick count results have given Kuczynski a thin but widening margin of roughly 3% over Mendoza.

Update (April 11th): A Keiko-Kuczynski runoff will surely be held in about two months following an official count of nearly 83% of votes.
 
Polls in the weeks prior to today’s election have demonstrated rising support for Mendoza, the 35-year-old leftist candidate of the Frente Amplio who has pledged to “tighten environmental supervision of mining companies and…proposed ditching Peru's constitution for one that enshrines access to water as a right, protects the environment and weakens a ‘corrupt’ business elite.” Yet a CPI study conducted from March 25-27 demonstrated that the former energy and economics minister commonly known as PPK would be the only hopeful able to beat Keiko in a one-on-one electoral matchup.

Daily Headlines: April 6, 2016

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s state-owned Petroamazonas signed $1 billion in deals with Chinese firms amid controversy over the beginning of oil drilling near the Yasuni national park.

* Central America: According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, gang violence is to blame for the exodus of tens of thousands of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to other Central America states and the U.S.

* Peru: An estimated 30,000 people marched in Lima to protest against presidential frontrunner Keiko Fujimori on the 23rd anniversary of the infamous “self-coup” by her father, then-leader Alberto Fujimori.

* Mexico: Some 40% of cars in Mexico City were left off the road while the public transit system was oversaturated after the first “Hoy No Circula” vehicle restriction day on Wednesday.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (Video uploaded in August 2013).
 
Online Sources – Xinhua, The Guardian, euronews, ABC News, CBC

Daily Headlines: April 4, 2016

* Peru: Poll frontrunner Keiko Fujimori flip-flopped and pledged to not pardon her father, imprisoned former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori, if she wins the presidency in elections scheduled for next week.

* Venezuela: A Human Rights Watch report assailed Venezuelan law enforcement for extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members as part of a crackdown against crime.

* Haiti: Several hundred protesters including disabled rights activists and human rights advocates marched in Port-au-Prince last Friday to condemn the murders of three deaf Haitian women.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the current “one person, one vote” rule to decide voting districts in a decision that prevented shifting “political power away from fast-growing communities of immigrants”.

YouTube Source – NTDTV (Ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in 2009 for human rights abuses during his decade as Peru’s president).
 
Online Sources – Reuters, InSight Crime, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2016

* Cuba: Cuban authorities reportedly began releasing this morning some of the approximately sixty dissidents arrested on Sunday hours prior to U.S. President Barack Obama’s arrival to the island.

* Peru: Peru’s electoral body, which has already barred two presidential candidates, opened an investigation against poll frontrunner Keiko Fujimori over allegations of distributing cash to supporters.

* Haiti: In the latest chapter of Haiti’s political crisis, legislators rejected Interim President Jocelerme Priver’s choice for prime minister.

* U.S.: “It’s like wearing a condom to protect against head lice,” said comedian John Oliver on the latest edition of “Last Week Tonight” as he assailed the notion of erecting a barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

YouTube Source – Associated Press

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, The Independent, Bloomberg, ABC News

Daily Headlines: March 14, 2016

* Cuba: The Cuban Tourism Ministry said that some one million foreign visitors traveled to the country in the first three months of 2016, which represents a 14.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

* Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico’s “brain drain” of skilled workers leaving the island has hit the health care sector hard as an average of one doctor immigrates away from the commonwealth each day.

* Peru: A new poll showed greater support for Keiko Fujimori ahead of next month’s presidential election but not enough to avoid a runoff.

* Uruguay: “There could be an elephant out there,” claimed an optimistic executive at French company Total regarding exploration of what could be a very promising Uruguayan offshore oil field.

YouTube Source – AJ+

Online Sources – Xinhua, NPR, Reuters, MercoPress

Daily Headlines: March 10, 2016 (Updated)

* Peru: Keiko Fujimori’s path to the Peruvian presidency (and possibly pardoning her imprisoned ex-presidential father, Alberto) became a lot easier after electoral officials disqualified her main rival.

Update: The Organization of American States expressed concern over the ruling against Julio Guzman and will send an observer mission ahead of the April 10th election.

* Cuba: U.S. book publishing industry representatives signed a petition urging the White House to eliminate the Cuba trade embargo for texts and educational materials.

* Puerto Rico: A U.S. District Court judge upheld Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage and claimed that the 2015 Supreme Court ruling overturning gay marriage prohibition does not apply to the commonwealth.

* El Salvador: Salvadoran officials are considering declaring a “state of exception” in order to combat violence though critics believe such a measure is illegal and an abuse of authority.

YouTube Source – CCTV English

Online Sources including Update – ABC News, Publishers Weekly, NBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: February 5, 2016

* Colombia: U.S. President Barack Obama proposed increasing foreign aid to Colombia by more than 50% to around $450 million in order to help end “half a century of wrenching conflict” in the Latin American country.

* Peru: The odds of Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former leader Alberto Fujimori, winning Peru’s presidential election in April could become stronger with the possible disqualification of two campaign rivals.

* Brazil: The first Palestinian Authority embassy in the Americas was inaugurated this week in the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia.

* Venezuela: A congressional plan to free political dissidents has become the newest battleground issue in the acrimonious relations between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – Reuters, Forward, Yahoo News

Daily Headlines: November 30, 2015

* Nicaragua: Construction on a controversial $50 billion interoceanic canal in Nicaragua that was supposed to begin this December will be postponed for up to a year.

* Argentina: “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters,” declared Pope Francis at a mosque in the Central African Republic as he nears the end of a six-day trip to Africa.

* Peru: The son of former military leader Juan Velasco Alvarado cold join the daughter of imprisoned ex-President Alberto Fujimori in the race for Peru’s next president.

* Mexico: Mexico could be barred from participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro due to the government probing possible corruption in national sports federations.

YouTube Source – France 24 English (Video uploaded on June 2015).
 
Online Sources – Yahoo News, Peru Reports, Voice of America, Newsweek

Peru: Imprisoned Ex-President Cancer Free Says Doctors

The odds that imprisoned former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori could receive a pardon may have gotten a lot slimmer after the results of a medical report were published yesterday.

According to a study conducted by twelve specialists, the ex-president “was suffering from tongue cancer…although no current evidence of the disease exists.”

The report on Fujimori, who is serving prison sentences on charges ranging from bribery to human rights abuses, also concluded that he was going through various ailments such as chronic gastritis and hypertension.

Furthermore, three of the five psychiatrists who examined Fujimori found that he is suffering from a “deep depression with suicidal tendencies.”  The psychiatry team was nevertheless divided as to whether Fujimori’s mental state is “recurring but moderate” or requiring “constant surveillance” over him.

The report was revealed by the local Cuarto Poder television newsmagazine program days before the Commission on Presidential Pardons is expected to emit its recommendation over the imprisonment of the former president.

The Fujimori family claimed they would not provide a public comment to the report even though last year they filed the request for a pardon.  Yet congressman Kenji Fujimori insisted in an interview that his father does have cancer and that the combination of maladies affecting him justifies a presidential pardon.

As to be expected regarding such a divisive figure like Fujimori, getting him to undergo a comprehensive medical exam was not without its controversy.  The ex-president failed to convince prison authorities to allow his personal physicians to take part in the group of doctors examining him.

Unsurprisingly, the results of the medical report have had its share of supporters and detractors in Peru.  Among the former is Fujimori’s personal doctor, Alejandro Aguinaga:

Peru: Keiko concedes presidential election to Humala

With Ollanta Humala's lead in the Peruvian presidential elections remaining steady and few votes left to be counted, Keiko Fujimori conceded defeat this afternoon:

Fujimori, speaking to reporters in Lima, said she will lead a responsible opposition and “build bridges” with Humula’s government. She said she will offer him her personal congratulations in a meeting later today.

“I recognize his triumph,” said the 36-year-old congresswoman. “It’s important that the country continues its economic course and that it has clear rules.”

Fujimori threw in the towel nearly 24 hours after the voting booths closed on Sunday. Exit polls indicated that Ollanta would win over the congresswoman though official preliminary results only gave him a razor-thin 0.18% lead. In the overnight and morning hours, however, the Humala's lead gradually grew as the remaining votes came from rural areas that have generally backed the ex-army general.

We'll have more on Tuesday on the Peruvian presidential elections; possible topics for discussion may include a focus on Peruvians voting abroad and how a Humala presidency could affect landlocked Bolivia's desire for accessing the ocean.

Online Sources - BusinessWeek, The Latin Americanist
Image - Marco del Rio/LatinContent/Getty Images via The Guardian ("Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala after voting at Ricardo Palma University in Lima" on Sunday.)

Growing lead for Humala in Peruvian presidential election (Updated)

Update (6:00 am): Ollanta Humala appears to have won the race for the Peruvian presidency.

The latest figures from Peru's electoral office show that Humala's lead over Keiko Fujimori has gradually increased. With 90.07% of votes counted the former army general is ahead 51.18% to the congresswoman's 48.82%, a margin of nearly 324,000 votes.

Fujimori has yet to make a public pronunciation since late last night when she said that she might concede "if the official results coincide with the exit polls." (Several exit polls gave Humala the win by a margin of up to 3%).

Humala's possible victory could be chalked up to fear in the Peruvian electorate that electing Fujimori would be a return to the corruption and authoritarianism of the presidency of herAnother factor as mentioned in BBC Mundo may be current president Alan Garcia who beat Humala in the previous election. "Garcia's government maintained the path of economic growth but without more socially inclusive policies," according to the article.

Update (1:00 am): According to the Peruvian electoral office Ollanta Humala's lead over Keiko Fujimori has grown but continues to be slim. With 84.449% of votes counted Humala is ahead 50.7% to 49.3%, a margin of roughly 181,000 votes.

"We will continue what has been good and fix what has gone wrong," said Humala moments ago as he spoke to hundreds of supporters in one of Lima's main plazas. He added that as president he will fulfill his campaign pledge of giving more economic opportunities to the Peruvian people. "The country will go forward only if the Peruvian family can go forward" said Humala in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Update (12:30 am): "Everything indicates that we won the elections," declared Ollanta Humala at a press conference that ended moments ago. Humala added that "on July 28th I will assume the presidency of the Peruvian people."

Earlier this evening Peruvian electoral officials announced that with 78.3% of votes counted Humala led rival Keiko Fujimori 50.087 % to 49.913%. Thus, he held a lead of 0.18% (equaling 20,672 votes) of the over eleven million votes counted.

Election agency chief Magdalena Chú added that most of the counted votes come from Lima and urban centers. This may serve as an advantage to Humala since the remaining votes to be tallied are from rural areas that have mostly supported the former army general.

Update (10:45 pm): Neither of the political parties represented by Humala or Fujimori have a Congressional majority. Regardless of who wins, passing legislation could be problematic unless they woo legislators backed by moderate parties. Assuming Humala wins the presidential election, however, he may have a legislative alliance between his party and the faction led by ex-President Alejandro Toledo.

Original Post: Today Peruvian voters headed to the ballot box in order to choose whether Ollanta Humala or Keiko Fujimori would be the country's next president. Neither the leftist former army general or the conservative congresswoman had a clear advantage in the polls leading up to today's elections. As reported by the website for Peruvian daily La Republica, however, several exit polls have hinted that Humala may be the next successor to current leader Alan Garcia:

• Asociacion Civil Transparencia: Humala - 51.5%, Fujimori - 48.5%
• Ipsos Apoyo: Humala - 51.4%, Fujimori - 48.6%
• Datum: Humala - 51.0%, Fujimori - 49.0%
  

Official results should be published over the next few hours, though that hasn't stopped some of Humala's supporters from celebrating his possible victory.

In the weeks leading to today's elections both Humala and Fujimori ran campaigns filled with attacks and scare-mongering. Humala tried to remind Peruvians of the mass corruption and human rights abuses under the presidency of Keiko's father, Alberto. Fujimori tried to link Humala to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and also claimed that his policies would halt Peru's exceptional economic growth. (That last point was debunked by several financial analysts according to Xinhua).

Image Source - Reuters via BBC News ("On the left and right of the political spectrum - presidential hopefuls Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori.")
Online Sources - The Latin Americanist, La Republica, MSNBC, MiamiHerald.com, Xinhua