Daily Headlines: March 24, 2016

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales of Bolivia claimed his country will file a new lawsuit with   the “appropriate international bodies” over the landlocked state’s desire for access to the ocean.

* South America: World Cup qualifiers resume today in South America with matches including Luis Suárez returning to the Uruguay lineup, and a Copa America finals rematch between Chile and Argentina.

* Mexico: For all the talk on the U.S. presidential campaign race on building a wail along the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities announced yesterday the discovery of the twelfth drug smuggling tunnel between Mexico and California since 2006.

* Venezuela: Five men including thee officials with PDVSA pled guilty in a U.S. federal court over their involvement in a bribery scheme between U.S. energy companies and the Venezuelan state-run oil firm.

YouTube Source – AFP (Footage from May 2015. The International Court of Justice last September rejected a Chilean appeal to drop analyzing Bolivia's decades-long dispute for ocean access.)
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, ESPN FC, Goal.com, ABC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 19, 2014

* Mexico: Environmental officials filed a criminal complaint against a company responsible for spilling ten million gallons of acids from a copper mine into two rivers.

* Uruguay: “I say to all the fans: don’t worry, I won’t do that again,” said Luis Suarez as he pledged not to repeat actions such as his infamous biting of an opponent at this year’s World Cup.

* Argentina: A Vatican spokesman said that Pope Francis was “deeply pained” over the deaths of three of the pontiff’s relatives in a car crash in Argentina.

* Colombia: A group of victims of Colombia’s armed conflict met with government representatives and FARC guerrilla envoys, and gave their full support to peace talks being held in Cuba.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources – ABC News; The Guardian; The Latin Americanist; Al Jazeera; GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: August 15, 2014

* Mexico: Several politicos allied to Mexico’s ruling National Action Party have come under fire after they were shown on video partying with alleged escorts.

* Uruguay: The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld most of the punishment against Luis Suarez for biting an opponent at the World Cup but allowed him to train and play in friendly matches with new club F.C. Barcelona.

* Brazil: The board of banana giant Chiquita rejected a $611 million takeover bid from a pair of Brazilian firms and found it to be “inadequate.”

* Haiti: U.N. peacekeepers clashed with supporters of ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide upset that the former leader could be arrested on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking,

Video Source – YouTube user Reporte Indigo

Online Sources – ABC News; SBS; The Latin Americanist; LAHT; BBC Sport

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2014

* Cuba: Cuban lawyer Ernesto Vera claimed that he worked for the state security agency and pretended to be an opposition activist in order to “discredit the dissidents.”

* Uruguay: Luis Suárez may be serving a harsh suspension for biting an Italian player at a World Cup match but that hasn’t stopped the Uruguayan from reportedly being transferred from to F.C. Barcelona as part of a $129 million deal.
  
* Latin America: A new U.N. report found that Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil are in the top five of the world’s most populated cities though their ranking is expected to fall by 2030.

* Chile: President Michelle Bachelet of Chile criticized landlocked Bolivia’s appeal to the International Court of Justice seeking access to the sea.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube (Ernesto Vera alleged that he infiltrated the Ladies in White protest movement, seen here during a 2010 march, as part of his work as a Cuban state security agent).
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino; Bernama; The Latin Americanist; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: June 26, 2014

* South America: According to the U.N., the growing of coca is stable in Colombia and has decreased in Bolivia and Peru though cocaine production is not expected to diminish.

* Uruguay: FIFA suspended star striker Luis Suárez for nine games and fined him about $112,000 for biting an Italian player during a World Cup match this week.

* Costa Rica: President Luis Guillermo Solís has barred his name from public work projects and his image in government offices since “the worship of the image of the president is over.”

* Cuba: Six Cuban baseball players were taken off the national team due to “attempts to leave the country illegally.”

Video Source – NTDTV via YouTube

Online Sources – BBC News; USA TODAY; The Latin Americanist; Tico Times; ABC News

Suárez Allegedly Bites Opponent in World Cup Win

Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez is one of the world’s best soccer players and he demonstrates this often such as his two goals in his country’s win over England at the World Cup.  Occasionally, however, his dark side can get the better of him as he apparently showed in this afternoon’s victory by Uruguay over Italy.

In the eightieth minute of the deadlocked, must-win match for the Celeste, Suárez collided with Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini and both players went down.  Initially it seemed that Suárez head butted Chiellini who may have responded by elbowing the Uruguayan.  But TV replays and images the incident apparently showed that Suárez appeared to have bitten his opponent on or near the left shoulder.

Chiellini pulled down his jersey sleeve to show the apparent injury to match referee Marco Rodríguez of Mexico.  Yet Rodriguez, who had previously sent off Italian Claudio Marchisio for a dangerous tackle, did not foul Suárez or Chiellini.

Diego Godin scored the lone goal one minute later that would send Uruguay to the next round and eliminate the Azzuri.

“It was ridiculous not to send Suarez off. It is clear, clear-cut,” said an irate Chiellini after the final whistle.

“Then there was the obvious dive afterwards because he knew very well that he did something that he shouldn't have done,” he added.

Suárez did not mention the incident with Chiellini but his coach did speak out.

“I would like to see it again”, admitted Óscar Washington Tabárez following the match.

“If something would’ve happened then the referee would’ve observed it.  Thus, there are no further comments that can be made,” mentioned El Profesor Tabárez.

Daily Headlines: May 22, 2014

* Brazil: Uruguay striker Luis Suarez could join Matias Fernandez of Chile and (possibly) Radamel Falcao of Colombia on the list of South American soccer stars that will miss the World Cup due to injury.

* Argentina: Joaquín Salvador Lavado, known by the pen name of “Quino” and creator of the Mafalda comic character, was named as this year’s recipient of Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.

* Cuba: The Cuban government is believed to be behind the hacking of the new website launched yesterday by dissident blogger and activist Yoani Sanchez.

* Venezuela: The diplomatic tug-of-war between the U.S. and Venezuela hasn’t stopped state-run oil firm PDVSA from receiving a “$2 billion credit line” from several companies including Halliburton and Schlumberger.

Video Source – YouTube user David Peradze

Online Sources – BBC News; SI.com; LAHT; ABC News

Daily Headlines: April 25, 2013

* Argentina: Pope Francis told that the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo that he's "at the disposal" of the group that helps find hundreds of Argentines missing during the "Dirty War" period.

* Uruguay: Troubled striker Luis Suarez has been banned for ten games by English soccer officials after biting a rival player on the arm.

* Mexico: No, U.S. legislator Louie Gohmert, Al Qaeda has not established "terrorist camps" in Mexico.

* U.S.: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit alleging that some 20,000 students in California who need to learn English are receiving inadequate language instruction.

Video Source - YouTube via romereports.com

Online Sources - Huffington Post; SI.com; GlobalPost; PolitiFact.com

Bend It Like Suárez

Luis Suárez may have his detractors who detest him based on his infamous handball in Uruguay’s 2010 World Cup match against Ghana and his alleged racist insults against a rival player last year.  Yet the 26-year-old striker is capable of playing brilliant on the field such as the following goal scored for Liverpool in its Europa League match on Thursday:

Daily Headlines: October 12, 2012

* Peru: Human rights activists in Peru rejected the formal request made this week of a full pardon for disgraced and imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori.

* Guatemala: Nine members of the military were arrested yesterday and charged with the  "extrajudicial execution" of several indigenous protesters last week.

* Uruguay: The Uruguay Soccer Federation blasted FIFA vice president Jim Boyce who referred to Luis Suarez as a “cancer within the game.”

* Argentina: A Ghana court rejected Argentina's appeal of an order regarding the detention of a naval ship due to a dispute with creditors.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- CNN, Los Angeles Times, ESPN, Bernama

Daily Headlines: December 21, 2011

* Uruguay: The English Football Association suspended striker Luis Suarez over alleged racial abuse against an opposing player during a match last October.

* Peru: Julio Galindo, Peru’s “anti-terrorist attorney general”, was none too pleased that paroled activist Lori Berenson was allowed to leave the country in order to spend the holidays with her family.

* U.S.: The number of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico will be reduced starting next month in order to put a greater emphasis on “aerial surveillance missions.”

* Argentina: The political tensions between the government and the Clarin media group are expected to worsen after police raided the offices of a Clarin-owned cable TV firm.

Image Source – Flickr via jikatu (#9 Luis Suarez celebrates with his teammates after scoring all four goals in Uruguay’s victory over Chile in World Cup qualifiers last month). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- USA TODAY, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: January 31, 2011

* Bolivia: Thousands of people marched outside of the U.S. embassy in La Paz last week in protest against a global ban on coca chewing.

* Uruguay: Striker Luis Suarez may be best known for his infamous handball in last year's World Cup yet his blinding speed and knack for scoring helped him secure a $36 million deal to play for English club Liverpool.

* Haiti: The country's electoral council announced that on Wednesday it would declare the winners of the first round of the presidential election that international observers claimed was rigged.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez denied that the government has any plans to takeover Spanish-owned Banco Provincial.

Online Sources - MSNBC, BBC News, Reuters, Democracy Now, The Latin Americanist
Image - AP Photo/Juan Karita via Boston.com ("Indigenous gather in front of the U.S. embassy to inaugurate the national day of coca leaf-chewing in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011. Bolivia has petitioned the U.N. to end an international ban on coca leaf-chewing. A mild stimulant, the leaves have deep cultural and religious value in the region. The U.S. will file a formal objection...to Bolivia’s proposal, according to a senior U.S. government official.")