Daily Headlines: October 3, 2016

* Argentina: “This is a government that governs for the rich and only responds to corporations and multinationals,” proclaimed the head of a Buenos Aires teachers’ union amid growing social unrest that threatens the rule of President Mauricio Macri.

* Caribbean: Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic today with sustained winds as high as 130 miles per hour and potential rainfall of up to forty inches.

* El Salvador: A Salvadoran judge ordered accepted reopening the investigation into the El Mozote massacre of at least 500 villagers by the army during the civil war in 1981.

* Brazil: Political outsiders were among the big winners in local elections on Sunday as voters punished candidates of major parties tainted by corruption scandals.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Argentine farmers give away 10 tons of apples and pears (last August) in Buenos Aires in a protest to denounce a crisis in the fruit growing sector and demand help from the government”).

Online Sources – Financial Times, Voice of America, Reuters, USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: September 20, 2016

* Mexico: A drill of Mexico City’s earthquake alert system, which was installed following a deadly 8.1-magnitude tremor in 1985, was conducted yesterday on the 31st-annoversary of the quake.

* Argentina: Argentine President Mauricio Macri affirmed his state’s sovereignty claim regarding the Falklands as “standing and non-negotiable” despite improved relations between Argentina and Britain over the disputed islands.

* Haiti: Some 130 Organization of American States observers began arriving in Haiti this week in anticipation of the controversial presidential election rerun scheduled on October 9th.

* Cuba: Iranian and Cuban officials signed several pacts in areas of health, education and science after the heads of government for both countries met in Havana.

YouTube Source – ITN Source (“Mexico City was struck by an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale followed by an aftershock of 7.5 the next day. Thousands of people were killed with many more made homeless in the three minute quake which caused major damage.”)
 
Online Sources – MercoPress, Xinhua, The Guardian, Reuters, The Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: May 20, 2016

* Brazil: Jose Dirceu, a former aid to ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was among ten people sentenced to prison for their role in the “Lava Jato” corruption scandal.

* Colombia: Will drug maker Novartis accede to a Colombian government request to lower the price of imatinib in order to keep its monopoly on the cancer medication in the South American country?

* Chile: Chile’s Supreme Court urged that the U.S. extradite three former security agents believed to have been involved in the 1976 kidnapping, torture and murder of a U.N. official.

* Argentina: Argentina’s opposition-led legislature handed President Mauricio Macri a defeat by approving a proposal to prevent mass layoffs.

YouTube Source – France 24 (Then-President Dilma Rousseff last March failed in her attempt to install her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as her chief of staff.)
 
Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, Vice News, Reuters, Nasdaq

Daily Headlines: May 16, 2016

* Venezuela: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that his country, which has given Venezuela about $50 billion in financing since 2007, views the South American state’s economic crisis as a domestic matter but did not specifically mention if more aid will be provided.

* Argentina: President Mauricio Macri may be seen as “business-friendly” but that hasn’t stopped him from siding with farmers in a dispute that could lead to Monsanto removing its biotech soybean seeds from Argentina.

* Colombia: The Colombian government and FARC took a big step towards a final, full peace deal after the rebels pledged to free all solders under the age of 15 years.

* Dominican Republic: Danilo Medina is expected to easily win a second straight term as president of the Dominican Republic following an election marred by problems with new technology at voting stations.

YouTube Source – euronews (“Opposition protesters have rallied in Caracas. Their calls to remove the Venezuelan president are taking on a more urgent tone.”)
 
Online Sources – New York Daily News, euronews, Buenos Aires Herald, ABC Online, Reuters

Daily Headlines: May 5, 2016 (Updated)

* Brazil: A Brazilian top court judge ordered Eduardo Cunha, the chief of the Chamber of Deputies chief and strong advocate for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, to step down from his post over corruption charges.

Update: The Supreme Court subsequently issued a unanimous ruling suspending Cunha as lower House leader.
 
* Argentina: President Mauricio Macri, who was one of the figures named in the recent “Panama Papers” leak, claimed that he is willing to collaborate with investigators regarding his alleged links to two offshore firms.

* Guatemala: The genocide retrial of ex-strongman Efrain Rios Montt was suspended indefinitely after attorneys for indigenous victims succeeded in separating his case from that of former intelligence head Jose Rodriguez.

* South America: For the fifteenth straight year the Copa Libertadores will not have a repeat champion after reigning titleholders River Plate of Argentina were ousted in the round of 16 by modest Ecuadoran side Independiente del Valle.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Street artist Luiz Bueno paints a mural on Paulista Avenue, in the financial heart of Sao Paulo, depicting Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, Vice President Michel Temer, the lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha and the head of the opposition PSDB party Aécio Neves "conspiring" with each other, to bring awareness to the current political crisis.”)
 
Online Sources including Update – Time, The Latin Americanist, Buenos Aires Herald, Business Standard, ESPN FC, ABC News

Daily Headlines: April 8, 2016

* Guatemala: Five men were convicted and received prison sentences of up to fifty years for the 2011 homicide of Argentine singer Facundo Cabral and the attempted murder of his manager who they were trying to kill.

* Argentina: Federal prosecutor Federico Delgado has called for an investigation into President Mauricio Macri prior involvement with several offshore firms that was revealed by the recent “Panama Papers” leak.

* U.S.: A new poll of Latino registered voters found a virtual split in support for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders as well as an 83% unfavorability rating for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree that would allow public workers to take a three-day weekend in order to save energy in the oil-rich country.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in 2011).
 
Online Sources – Billboard, The Latin Americanist, Vice News, NBC News, CBC

Daily Headlines: March 23, 2016

* Argentina: Following his historic three-day visit to Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Argentina to meet with his counterpart, Mauricio Macri, though one excluded issue from the official agenda will be the sovereignty battle over the Falkland Islands.

* Panama: The $5.3 billion Panama Canal expansion will be completed in late June to early July after two years of delays, while construction on an interoceanic waterway in Nicaragua will reportedly begin this August despite being originally planned for December 2014.

* Guatemala: President Jimmy Morales admitted that his country is facing a “serious insecurity problem” and accused organized crime groups of trying to “destabilize” the government. 

* Puerto Rico: The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments yesterday over whether Puerto Rico should be allowed to restructure its debt in a manner similar to Chapter 9 bankruptcy laws on the mainland.

YouTube Source – C5N

Online Sources – MercoPress, Bloomberg, Global Construction Review, InSight Crime, Business Insider

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 16, 2015

* Argentina: Mauricio Macri and Daniel Scioli sparred in a head-to-head televised debate held one week before the November 22nd presidential runoff.

* Latin America: At least five Mexican and Chilean nationals were among the 129 fatalities from last Friday’s attacks in Paris, while security was reinforced at the Panama Canal following the incidents in France.

* Brazil: Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha could be the next head to roll as part of the investigations into corruption among Brazil’s political elite.

* Mexico: Mexican officials extradited suspected Sinaloa drug gang trafficker Gastelum Serrano to the U.S. though the cartel’s chief, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, continues to be on the lam.

YouTube Source – AFP 

Online Sources – Reuters, The Inquisitr, Fox News Latino, Deutsche Welle

Daily Headlines: November 11, 2015

* South America: Polls this week have given Argentine opposition candidate Mauricio Macri a minimum six-point lead ahead of the November 22nd runoff, while Organization of American States chief Luis Almagro blasted Venezuelan officials for failing to guarantee the December 6th legislative elections.

* El Salvador: A media probe found that authorities have not looked into the murders of fourteen people by death squads despite El Salvador’s high homicide rates.

* Honduras: Indigenous people living on the Caribbean coast of Honduras claimed that their land is being illegally seized by squatters and narcotraffickers.

* Latin America: Leaders at the Summit of South American-Arab Countries called for a political settlement in Syria and condemned Iranian interference in the Middle East.

YouTube Source – Financial Times
 
Online Sources – Reuters, Gulf News, NBC News, InSight Crime, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: November 4, 2015

* Mexico: According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, about 150 journalists were murdered in Latin America since 2010 while roughly one in three cases occurring in Mexico.

* Brazil: Brent crude futures jumped by 3.6% to $50.70 on Tuesday partly due to worries over decreased oil production from Brazilian state-run film Petrobras.

* Argentina: Credit agency Moody’s improved Argentina’s credit rating in an apparent sign that the national economy will improve regardless of who wins the presidential runoff later this month.

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s government received another legal victory over the oil industry after arbitrators reduced from $1.77 billion to $1 billion a compensation owed to Occidental Petroleum.

YouTube Source – AJ+ (“Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa was found dead in his Mexico City apartment (last July), along with 4 women”).

Online Sources – Benzinga, Reuters, teleSUR English, NBC News

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2011

* Argentina: In a reverse for President Cristina Fernandez, Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri easily won reelection on Sunday.

* Mexico: The number of Mexicans living in poverty grew in 2010 according to a recently released report while the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June reached its highest point in nearly two years.

* Cuba: Rest in peace Eliseo Alberto; the Cuban-born writer died yesterday while living in exile in Mexico.

* Guatemala: By a 12-1 vote the Supreme Court rejected recently divorced former first lady Sandra Torres’ bid for the presidency.

Image – Telam via Diario Los Andes (“The Macri-Vidal ticket swept the ballots.”)
Online Sources- CBS News, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, CNN, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: June 25, 2007

* Less than a week after Boca Juniors captured the Copa Libertadores title, its owner Mauricio Macri was elected as Buenos Aires’ next mayor.

* Last Monday we congratulated Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton. Today we give kudos to Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa for their respective victories on Sunday.

* “If the young people fail, everything will fail” wrote Fidel Castro in a letter to a Cuban communist youth group.

* Peru’s legislature overwhelmingly approved a law lowering the age of consensual sex to 14-years.

* To move or not to move Bolivia’s capital, that is the question.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News, BBC News, CTV.ca, CBS News

Image- BBC News (Mauricio Macri at a Buenos Aires polling station on Sunday, only a few hours before exit polls indicated he would be the next mayor of Buenos Aires)