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 3, 2016 (Updated)

* Mexico: Some 40% of drivers in Mexico City are barred from using their vehicles today after smog levels of the already polluted air of the metropolis spiked yesterday.

* Brazil: A 72-hour ban on the use of WhatsApp in Brazil affecting some 100 million users has reportedly led to a surge in registration for rival messaging app Telegram.

Update: A Brazilian appellate judge on Tuesday lifted the restrictions against using WhatsApp. 

* U.S.: Broadway musical “Hamilton”, created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, received a record sixteen Tony Award nominations.

* Cuba: For the first time in decades a U.S. cruise ship docked in Havana though not without controversy over a former ban on Cubans barred from returning to the island by sea.
YouTube Source – DW (English) (Video uploaded on July 2014).

Online Sources including Update – ABC News, USA TODAY, Quartz, CBS News, Ars Technica

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: March 17, 2016

* Honduras: A member of Honduran indigenous rights group Copinh was killed nearly two weeks after acclaimed environmentalist Berta Cáceres was murdered.

* Guatemala: For the fourth time former Guatemalan strongman Efrain Rios Montt faces a trial on charges of genocide while a judge tossed out separate attempts by defense attorneys and lawyers for civil war victims to delay proceedings.

* Mexico: Restrictions go into place barring the use of thousands of autos in Mexico City on Thursday days after the megalopolis issued its first air pollution alert since 2005.

* Colombia: Colombia’s main labor unions as well as student activist and social organizations will mobilize today to protest against the government.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – The Guardian, ABC News, NBC Latino, Colombia Reports

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: February 17, 2014

* Argentina: Emiliano Lasalvia won a World Press Photo award in the Sports category for his image of a polo player falling underneath his horse.

* Latin America: Mexico City could become the latest Latin American area to decriminalize marijuana use while the Colombian government and FARC guerrilla might soon reach an agreement on drug trafficking.

* Haiti: Officials in Haiti will start an investigation into the deaths of human rights activist Daniel Dorsinvil and his wife who were gunned down on February 8th.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff met with Brazilian land rights campaigners and pledged to make a new push for agrarian reform.

Video Source – Vimeo user elasalvia

Online Sources- LAHT; Reuters; Al Jazeera America; thesundaily; World Press Photo

Daily Headlines: October 4, 2013

* Mexico: Mexico City police clashed with several of the thousands of people who marched on the 45th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre to protest against President Enrique Peña Nieto’s economic plans.

* Ecuador: The Ecuadorian legislature overwhelming approved a controversial proposal made in August by President Rafael Correa to allow oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park.

* Brazil: Ten members of a Brazilian police unit aimed at addressing crime before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games have been accused of torturing and killing a construction worker.

* Colombia: Representatives of the FARC rebels claimed that peace talks with the Colombian government have achieved “modest progress.”

Video Source – YouTube via Univision Noticias

Online Sources- Deutsche Welle; CNN; The Latin Americanist; Bloomberg; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: September 25, 2013

* Puerto Rico: A petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the U.S. government regarding the health problems of Puerto Ricans residing on the island of Vieques.

* Mexico: Authorities arrested three police officers suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and deaths of twelve Mexico City bar patrons.

* Uruguay: A new 70 megawatt wind farm expected to meet the annual energy demands of approximately 100,000 people will be built in Palomas, Uruguay.

* Bolivia: At least thirteen people are dead as a result of a mudslide in Bolivia’s Yungas region.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- The Australian; UPI; BBC News; Huffington Post; The Latin Americanist

Dozens Dead in Storm-Ravaged Mexico

Hurricane Manuel made landfall yesterday in northwestern Mexico while other parts of the country are trying to emerge from the death and damage caused by it and Tropical Storm Ingrid.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted that up to fifteen inches of rain are expected to fall in Sinaloa and wind gusts could reach as high as 100 miles per hour.  As a result of possible landslides and flash flooding, officials in that state closed schools and also evacuated the residents of the fishing village of Yameto.

Days of heavy rains and flooding by Ingrid and Manuel have led to the deaths of at least ninety-seven people in southwestern Mexico as well as the Yucatan peninsula.  The death toll increased Thursday night after rescue workers found the corpses of fifteen villagers in La Pintada, Guerrero who were buried by a massive mudslide.  The number of fatalities is expected to soon hit the triple digits since dozens of La Pintada residents are still missing. 

“It was like an explosion shook the mountains and in seconds the land moved and the houses looked like they were running down the mountainside,” said Amelia Saldaña Gregorio who survived the mudslide but lost four of her children along with her mother.

“I ran to see if I could save my sons and I couldn’t…Dear God, my children and mother are buried up there and I couldn’t do anything!” exclaimed the distraught Saldaña to Mexico’s El Universal.

Recovery efforts in La Pintada as well as other parts of Guerrero have been hindered by thunderstorms that keep falling over flood-hit areas.

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2013

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is reportedly looking into creating its own network equipment in order to protect information privacy and prevent alleged surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency.

* Mexico: Thousands of striking teachers took to the streets of Mexico City as part of their protests against government-backed educational reforms.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials rejected a recent World Bank arbitration panel decision claiming that the South American country had “failed to act in good faith or properly compensate” ConocoPhillips for the 2007 nationalization of oil projects.

* Colombia: John Leguizamo was selected to play the late Medellin Cartel boss Pablo Escobar in a Hollywood biopic set to begin shooting this January.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- The Guardian; USA TODAY; Reuters; Bloomberg; The Latin Americanist

Missing Mexican Bar Patrons Found in Mass Grave (Updated)

Mexican authorities positively identified on Friday five of the thirteen corpses in a mass grave as belonging to a group of young bar patrons missing since May 26th.

Update (08/26/13): Officials on Sunday afternoon allegedly identified ten of the bodies in the mass grave as belonging to the missing patrons.      

According to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, (PGR in Spanish) the badly decomposed bodies were located at a site roughly thirty miles away from the “Heaven” bar in Mexico City where twelve people were possibly kidnapped nearly three months ago.

“Various scientific techniques were used to identify the bodies including examining dental records and previous x-rays since some of the bodies had prosthetic devices,” said senior PGR investigator Sara Mónica Medina Alegría at a press conference on Friday.

Thus far it’s unknown who might be behind the mass grave at a ranch that was first found by police on Thursday, yet coincidentally four corpses were reportedly found at the same ranch in 2011.

The disappearances of the “Heaven” patrons have been shrouded in mystery since the incident occurred in broad daylight and with no obvious sign of force on the surveillance footage.

In addition, there is strong disagreement behind the possible motive behind the disappearances.  Local prosecutors last June claimed that the incident was linked to a rivalry between two street gangs based in the rough and violent Tepito neighborhood.  (Update (08/27/13): Mexico City's top prosecutor said on Monday that the missing patrons were kidnapped as part of a "reprisal" for the murder of a local drug dealer).

Yet relatives of the disappeared rejected the gang voilence hypothesis and accused investigators of scapegoating the missing since they were all Tepito residents.  For them, the entire “Heaven” ordeal has been a living hell with more questions than answers:

Mexico: Deadly Blast Rocks PEMEX Complex

At last fourteen people are dead after an explosion rocked the administrative headquarters of state-owned firm PEMEX in Mexico City.

According to government officials the blast injured over 100 people and the death toll is expected to rise. Rescuers are attempting to reach some thirty people who are trapped in the basement level.

At around 3:55 PM local time the explosion shook the building adjacent to the 52-storey PEMEX tower. A large plume of smoke rose into the air while three of the floors received extensive damage.

Approximately 3500 people were evacuated from the PEMEX complex and hundreds of police have cordoned off the area.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Mexican TV, according to The Guardian.

The cause of the explosion is unknown though initial reports allege that it may have been an overheated air conditioning unit or a buildup of natural gas.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong and Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebard surveyed the damage in the evening. Peña Nieto had previously tweeted that he “deeply regrets the deaths of Pemex workers and colleagues.”

Thursday’s blast comes about four months after thirty people died due to an explosion at a PEMEX natural gas plant in northern Mexico.   Such incidents are a black eye against PEMEX according to a security analyst interviews by Reuters:

Daily Headlines: December 31, 2012

* Brazil: Economic growth has trickled to less than one percent this year but will one of the world’s emerging markets rebound in 2013?

* Latin America: U.S. President Barack Obama enacted a law aimed at curtailing Iranian influence in Latin America that also includes beefing up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

* Mexico: Legislators in Mexico City unanimously approved prison terms for people convicted of animal cruelty.

* Chile: International arrest warrants were issued against eight former military officers accused of involvement in the 1973 death of singer Victor Jara.
 
Video Source – YouTube via user ASCOAonline (November 2012 panel discussion at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas on the expectations of Brazil’s economy and political climate in 2013). 

Online Sources- MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, CNN

Daily Headlines: August 20, 2012

* Venezuela: At least twenty people died in a prison riot on Sunday night and which occurred over a week after a local rights group warned about an increase in prison violence.

* Mexico: Authorities have replaced all 348 policemen working as security at the Mexico City International Airport roughly two months after three officers were killed in a shootout.

* Puerto Rico: A majority of voters rejected a pair of proposed constitutional changes that Gov. Luis Fortuño claimed would’ve been “great tools to fight crime.”

* Argentina: The government will reportedly file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against E.U. restrictions on biodiesel imports.

Video Source – YouTube via user Noticias Internacionales (Excerpt from a July 2012 Venezuelan TV news report highlighting the problems with the country’s prison system.)

Online Sources- Bloomberg, The Australian, Huffington Post, CNN, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: March 5, 2012

* Mexico: Mexico City’s government decided that the cab licenses of the metropolis’ unique Volkswagen Beetle taxis, known locally by the nickname of “vochos”, would expire at the end of this year.

* Venezuela: Both the government and opposition have accused each other of being responsible of being behind an attack during a rally for presidential challenger Henrique Capriles.

* Peru: Authorities captured the suspected head of the Shining Path guerillas that succeeded the recently captured Comrade Artemio.

* Haiti: According to a new study there has been a dramatic spike in major crimes in Haiti’s major cities but “there is no single factor to explain the rise in violent crime.”

Image Source – Flickr via Fredo in (((Stereo))) (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- The Telegraph, LAHT, BBC News, ABC News

Today’s Video: Dessert Fit for "Kings"

We hope to be back over the weekend to check out headlines and news stories from around the Americas.

For now we'll leave you with a unique celebration in Mexico City in honor of Three Kings Day that was observed on January 6th:

Video Source - YouTube via NDTV

Daily Headlines: December 30, 2011

* Mexico: A court ordered that five Mexico City policemen stand trial after amateur video footage caught them torturing a suspect last month.

* Argentina: Former Dirty War-era dictator Reynaldo Bignone was sentenced to another fifteen years in prison for rights abuses committed under his repressive rule.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Luis Fortuño gave his approval to a nonbinding referendum that will be held next year on Puerto Rico’s political status.

* Chile: Universidad de Chile’s annus mirabilis included capturing the Copa Sudamericana last month and winning the Chilean soccer championship yesterday.

Video Source – YouTube user MYUH10 (The alleged abuse occurred after a shootout between police and suspects last November 19th).

Online Sources- MSNBC, Monsters and Critics, New America Media, Yahoo! Eurosport

Today’s Video: Occupy Paseo de la Reforma

The Occupy Wall Street movement spread to other areas of the world on October 15th, which was selected as an international day of protest. Marches were held on Saturday in Latin America and the Caribbean including events in the capital cities of Costa Rica, Peru and the Dominican Republic.

The protests throughout the region were mostly peaceful, and participants expressed their displeasure with the global economic system as well as calling attention to domestic economic problems. “We believe that economic benefits should be better distributed because it cannot be that a small group takes the best part,” sad the organizer of the solidarity protest in Asuncion, Paraguay according to the Associated Press.

Approximately 500 people protested on Saturday in Mexico City, as shown in the following video from the YouTube channel of Mexican daily El Universal. Several protesters interviewed gave different reasons for appearing at the event including the need to combat corruption, promoting greater participation of civil society in politics, and curiosity over the movement’s message. The video concludes by asking a very prescient question: will the “indignados” movement in Mexico have the “same repercussions and importance” as in the U.S. and Europe?

Video Source – YouTube user ElUniversalTV

Online Sources – Univision, Tico Times, Voice of America, EFE

Today's Video: Fighting back

Last week we looked at several recent cases of violence and harassment against journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean. Some members of the media have fought back against those intent in trying to stifle them.

On Sunday approximately 250 protesters marched in Mexico City to call attention to the eighty journalists slain in Mexico since 2000. The protest was organized by Contralinea, an investigative magazine that employed one of two female journalists killed (and possibly tortured) in Mexico City last month.

The video below from YouTube user "PeriodismoIDN" provides footage of the demonstration such as posters with messages like "The worst crime is being silenced".

Video Source - PeriodismoIDN via YouTube

Online Sources - The Latin Americanist, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2011

* Mexico: A survey of 8,000 drivers concluded that Mexico City has the world’s worst traffic.

* Panama: According to the U.N. Population Fund there continues to be an in increase in the number of female AIDS patients in Panama.

* Argentina: “Los Pumas” lost to England 13-9 in their inaugural match at the Rugby World Cup.

* Honduras: President Porfirio Lobo sacked four key Cabinet members including the Ministers of Security and Foreign Relations.

Image – BBC News

Online Sources- BBC Sport, Honduras Weekly, Inside Costa Rica, Reuters