Daily Headlines: June 14, 2016 (Updated)

* Argentina: The quarrel between Argentina and Monsanto could soon come to an end with both sides purportedly on the cusp of reaching a deal over inspecting shipments of genetically modified soybeans.

* Paraguay: The speaker of Paraguay’s lower legislative chamber will urge the Attorney General’s Office to commence a probe into the deaths of eleven peasants killed in a 2012 massacre that was used by the opposition to impeach then-President Fernando Lugo.

* Mexico: Mexico's Immigration Institute claimed that human traffickers have adopted using luxury tour buses in order to smuggle migrants from Central and South America.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials appealed to the country’s Supreme Court in order to halt a referendum process that could lead to the recall of President Nicolás Maduro.

Update: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today announced the start of "high-level talks" with Venezuela but also supports having the planned referendum and pushed for the liberation of all political prisoners.

YouTube Source – AFP (From October 2014: “In Cordoba, Argentina, a group of environmentalists decided a year ago to block the construction of a corn processing plant of US seed giant Monsanto, in opposition of its use of genetically modified crops.”)

Online Sources including Update – Reuters, BBC News, ABC News, Latin American Herald Tribune

Daily Headlines: May 18, 2016

* Dominican Republic: Luis Abinader conceded Sunday’s president election to Danilo Medina but not before blasting the policies of the incumbent and denouncing problems at voting stations.

* South America: The Paraguayan Congress is considering a bill to help combat a recent surge in femicides, while lawyers for the Bogota, Colombia government have come under fire for blaming the female victim of having been raped and killed in a 2012 murder.

* Argentina: Monsanto will reportedly “suspend future soybean technologies” as part of a dispute with the Argentine government and framers of genetically modified soybeans.

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto proposed expanding the legalization of same-sex marriages from a few locations like Mexico City to the entire Mexican nation.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – ABC News, teleSUR English, Colombia Reports, Reuters, The Huffington Post

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: September 10, 2014

* Guatemala: The Guatemalan Constitutional Court recently suspended the “Monsanto Law,” which would have forced farmers to obtain permission from firms like Monsanto, DuPont or Bayer in order to grow certain crops.

* Chile: President Michelle Bachelet announced a series of legal reforms including strengthening a Pinochet-era anti-terrorism law in response to a bombing in Santiago, Chile on Monday.

* Peru: Four indigenous environmental activists were murdered in a remote area of Peru allegedly at the hands of illegal loggers.

* Haiti: At least twenty-three people died and thirty-two were injured when a bus fell into a ravine in southern Haiti yesterday.

Video Source – teleSUR English via YouTube

Online Sources –VOXXI; Fox News Latino; The Latin Americanist; Voice of America; Reuters

Daily Headlines: October 24, 2013

* Argentina: A spokesman for Monsanto denied allegations made in an Associated Press published Monday claiming that the firm’s Roundup line of pesticides is harming the health of Argentinians.

* Latin America: The Inter-American Press Association denounced numerous dangers against media freedoms in Latin America including the killing of journalists, a new censorship law in Ecuador and restrictions on advertising in Argentina.

* Haiti: Protests took place in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in order to support recently arrested lawyer and government critic André Michel.

* Mexico: 26-year-old Mexican boxer Francisco "Frankie" Leal died of brain trauma three days after he was knocked out by countryman Raul Hirales in a televised bout.

Video Source – YouTube via user Latinoamerica Teamo (In September 2012, protesters gathered in the Argentine city of Cordoba to march against Monsanto).

Online Sources- ESPN; Huffington Post; Miami Herald; MercoPress

Weekend Headlines: April 7-8, 2012

* Colombia: Authorities are on high alert over the possibility that renewed activity in the Nevado de Ruiz volcano could soon lead to an eruption.

* Mexico: Three men pleaded guilty to charges related to the botched gun-smuggling operation from the U.S. to Mexico known as “Operation Fast and Furious.”

* Latin America: Monsanto reported a boost in its latest quarterly profits in part due to increased sales of genetically modified seeds in Latin America.

Daily Headlines: June 20, 2008

* Mexico: The government has appealed to the World Court to intercede in the cases of five Mexicans who face execution in the U.S.

* Venezuela: Cement firms have 60 days to negotiate a deal with the government or face being expropriated according to a decree issued yesterday.

* Peru: Federal and local officials reached a deal to stop a 10-day protest over taxing mining income.

* Guatemala: Chemical giant Monsanto will purchase a Guatemalan-based corn seed company.

Image- Javno

Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, Forbes.com, Reuters UK

Brazil OKs GMO corn

The Brazilian government gave its stamp of approval to the selling of genetically modified corn (GMC). The country’s National Biosafety Council would permit the usage of two forms of GMC produced by Monsanto and Bayer called MON810 and LibertyLink, respectively.

The decision was met with resistance from environmental groups which claimed that the accepted GMCs are unsafe:

A Brazilian rural group, Via Campesina, reacted with fury to the announcement, saying it went against the advice of two governmental agencies: the health ministry's ANVISA health vigilance unit, and the environmental ministry's Ibama institute.

Via Campesina said in a statement that the companies behind the engineered corn had presented studies that were "completely inadequate and insufficient to guarantee the safety of these products in terms of human health."

It said it also feared the man-made seeds would contaminate natural crops, with unpredictable results for the environment.

Via Campesina may have a point; last week French officials banned MON810 after a watchdog group said it had “serious doubts” over the GMC's safety.

Image- SciDev.net

Sources- Bloomberg, AFP, Reuters, CNNMoney.com

Daily Headlines: January 4, 2008

* According to an article in Spanish newspaper La Razón, 80% of the cocaine coming into Spain comes from Venezuela.

* Guatemalan police arrested the suspected mastermind in the murders of three Salvadoran politicians last February.

* Health officials in the Dominican Republic were on alert after noticing a strain of bird flu last month.

* At least six people died in Mexico and Central America possibly due to frigid weather this week.

* Profits for chemical firm Monsanto more than doubled in the latest quarter partly due to increased Latin American seed sales.

Sources- Voice of America, International Herald Tribune, El Universal, Reuters, the Latin Americanist, Bloomberg

Image- BBC News