Pope Francis Urges Youth, Migrants to “Dream”

During his speech at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Pope Francis urged political leaders to view migrants in a more benevolent manner and help youth "not to turn their back on our neighbors." Francis continued to speak favorably on immigrants during a visit to a catholic school in New York City earlier today.

The pontiff acknowledged the difficulties recently arrived migrants may have to be in a different country including learning "a new language...a new culture." Yet he praised those who open their arms to migrants and help accommodate them amid new surroundings.

"We find new friends...who open doors for us and show us their care and understanding," he said to an of some 150 refugees helped by Catholic Charities in New York.

"(They) help us not feel like strangers, like foreigners. They make us feel at home though our imagination may sometimes lead us to recall our homeland."

The Pope cited the late Rev. Martin Luther King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech  and urged the audience at the Lady Queen of Angels in Harlem  to strive for their goals.

"All of you here, big and small, have a right to dream. I’m pleased that you find in your fellow students and teachers the ability to do so".

Francis, who was no stranger to celebrating with children when he served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was overjoyed as he encouraged a student chorus to sing louder for him. he viewed with an apparent wide-eyed curiosity at other pupils who showed him various school projects. The Pope even joked that he was sorry to take away time from teachers and gave students "homework": "pray for me so I can help spread the joy of Jesus' love."

Daily Headlines: November 13, 2014

* Brazil: A new report from the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety accused the police of killing on average about six people each day over the past five years.

* U.S.: Family members of some of the 265 victims of the Flight 587 crash commemorated yesterday the thirteenth anniversary of the accident that occurred as the plane was en route to the Dominican Republic.

* Panama: Researchers believe that more than two million migrating raptors including hawks, eagles and falcons flew above Panama City this past Sunday.

* Venezuela: The start of the trial against Maria Lourdes Afiuni, a Venezuelan judge seen by the opposition as “among the country's highest-profile political prisoners,” continues to be delayed.

Video Source – InSight Crime via YouTube

Online Sources – UPI; NY1; BBC News; ABC News

Daily Headlines: September 23, 2013

* Latin America: Prolific Colombian poet Alvaro Mutis died at the age of 90 in Mexico City while 73-year-old dissident Cuban economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe passed away in Spain.

* Vatican: Pope Francis, whose ancestors left Italy for Argentina roughly a century ago, called for "the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions" against migrants and refugees.

* South America: Scientists in Paraguay and Uruguay are said to be working on the development of $1 early detection test for congenital syphilis, which is a disease that affects some three million people in Latin America.

* U.S.: Were the visits made by New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio to Cuba and Nicaragua in his youth a cause for alarm or much ado about nothing?

Video Source – YouTube via user Cadena3Noticias
 
Online Sources- The Guardian; LAHT; NBC News; Reuters AlertNet; NY1

Daily Headlines: May 30, 2012

* Cuba: Spanish firm Repsol will cease looking for oil off the Cuban coast weeks after their first attempt ended up dry.

* Brazil: A coalition of indigenous groups have “blocked roads and occupied government buildings” and called for better healthcare for their communities.

* Venezuela: With five months to go in the race for the Venezuelan presidency a recent poll showed that current leader Hugo Chavez has a five-point lead over rival Henrique Capriles.

* U.S.: According to a WNYC analysis of New York Police Department data 86% of teens stopped by officers last year were either black or Latino.

Video Source – CNNMoney.com (This video report from July 2010 describes how Repsol hoped to successfully drill for oil off the Cuban coast. Alas it was not to be).

Online Sources- WNYC, Miami Herald, LAHT, BBC News

Daily Headlines: November 21, 2011

* Mexico: Authorities are on alert after the Popocatepetl volcano spewed ash and steam from its crater.

* U.S.: A Dominican-born, U.S. citizen was accused of planning to detonate several bombs in the New York City area.

* Brazil: Chevron was forced to accept “full responsibility” for an oil spill several miles off the Brazilian coast.

* Colombia: A lawsuit was filed in a U.S. federal court accusing an extradited paramilitary commander of “committing violent acts” in Colombia.

Image – Via Flickr user platibolo (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Herald Sun, Reuters, Miami Herald, CNN

Daily Headlines: November 16, 2011

* Mexico: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will run again for the Mexican presidency after losing in a very close election in 2006.

* Colombia: A “hardliner” known as Timochenko was selected as the new head of the FARC guerillas nearly two weeks after alias Alfonso Cano was killed in a military operation.

* U.S.: Latino New York City councilman Ydanis Rodriguez will reportedly be released from police custody today after being arrested and possibly assaulted by officers during Monday’s actions against Occupy Wall Street protesters.

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom gave permission for the extradition of former leader Alfonso Portillo to the U.S. where he awaits trial on supposed money laundering.

Image Source – Flickr via user Eneas (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- CBS News, Reuters, Huffington Post, CNN, The Latin Americanist,

Today’s Video: Ricas pupusas!

Perhaps the best-known street food vendors in New York City are the hot dog carts that dot hundreds of locations in Manhattan. Yet New York street food purveyors can be found throughout the five boroughs selling all types of wonderful delicacies including dishes from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Brooklyn-based Solber Pupusas won top honors at the latest edition of the Vendy Awards held last weekend. "Representing anyone who has tried hard and started from, I guess, the very bottom, literally with an old van, with a table with second, third-hand wares," said Cesar Fuentes of Solber Pupusas to NY1.

So what are pupusas? They are the national dish of El Salvador and they appear similar to the stuffed arepas one might find in Colombian/Venezuelan cuisine. In the right hands and with the right cooking, however, pupusas are an absolute delight as one can see in this video of Solber Pupusas:

Video Source – Vendy Awards via YouTube

Online Sources- NY1, The Latin Americanist

Ads Nauseam: To air or not to air?

There is an age-old question that asks “does the ends justify the means?” This comes to mind after ad that aired at one of the world’s most famous intersections was removed.

The Times Square Jumbotron’s owner, CBS Outdoor, pulled a video ad from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) calling for a halt to deportations to Haiti. The video, which you can see below, shows the slogan: "The cholera epidemic in Haiti is killing thousands. Why is the USA still deporting people to Haiti?"

The company did not publish an explanation as to why it removed the fifteen-second video that aired once every hour at the so-called “crossroads of the world.” According to a CCR petition supporting the ad, however, the video was yanked because it was “too controversial.”

As was written in a post in the New York-centric blog Gothamist (no relation to this blog), the video shows an image of one Haitian deportee who died after leaving the U.S.:

The ad features 34-year-old Wildrick Guerrier, who was among the first to be deported since the earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010. Almost all the deportees in the first round were convicted criminals; Guerrier, who came to the U.S. as a teenager in 1993, was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm while working as a private security guard. After being deported in January of this year, he was incarcerated in a dirty Haitian jail, where he later died of an apparent case of cholera.

Thus, we pose the question at the top of this post to you: “does the ends justify the means?” Was the decision to remove the ad justifiable or not? Was it fair to pull the ad from the Jumbortron while other politically-charged ads have been allowed to run?

Let us know what you think by respectfully leaving a comment to this post.

Video Source - Center for Constitutional Rights via Blip.tv
Online Sources- Gothamist, New York Daily News, Salon.com, Center for Constitutional Rights

Decades in jail for Jose Sucuzhañay killers

Two men will face several decades in prison in the hate crime death of an Ecuadorian immigrant in New York City.

Keith Phoenix and Hakim Scott were sentenced to 37 years in prison for the December 2008 killing of Jose Sucuzhañay in Brooklyn. Both men were accused of launching a tirade of anti-gay and Latino slurs while Sucuzhañay was walking with his brother Diego before repeatedly hitting him with an aluminum baseball bat.

“I think the system has sent a clear message and whoever acts irresponsibly has to be held accountable," said Diego to the press after the verdict that found Phoenix guilty of murder and hate crimes charges. (Scott was convicted of manslaughter and attempted assault, instead).

Both men apologized to Sucuzhanay's family before being sentenced with Phoenix claiming that he was “not a monster like the prosecutors and the media make me out to be.” Yet Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango found it “beyond…comprehension” that both men took “another human being's life in such a cruel and wanton manner."

Today’s sentencing comes amidst a rash of bias attacks targeting Latinos in the New York borough of Staten Island. According to BBC News there has been at least ten reported cases of attacks against Latinos since April with the latest assault taking place over the weekend. Despite increased community involvement and a greater police presence some Staten Island youth expressed their misgivings to the New York Times:

“It used to be nice,” said Farad Montalvo, 17, a Staten Island native of part-Puerto Rican heritage who will be a senior at Port Richmond High School in the fall. “Now kids are getting scared. They can’t walk down the street now”…

“It’s a war between Mexicans and blacks,” said Dream Rogers, 11, who was walking with her sister, Kim, 10, on Tuesday. “When the cops leave, it’s going to start again.”

Image- New York Daily News (“A business card belonging to Jose Oswald Sucuzhanay.”)
Online Sources- Gothamist, NY1, New York Daily News, New York Times, BBC News

”Abusive” actor steps down from Boricua parade

New York's annual Puerto Rican Day parade is one of the city’s most famous and festive parades, and usually gathers hundreds of thousands of revelers enjoying Boricua pride. At the same time the parade has gotten a bad rap over the actions of a few rabble-rousers like in 2000 when some women were groped and harassed. Hence, one would guess that it would not be in the parade organizer’s best interest to choose an actor accused of domestic violence as the event’s “godfather”. Think again.

Puerto Rican telenovela actor Osvaldo Rios was convicted on a domestic violence charge in 2003, stemming from the 1996 assault of his girlfriend. He would eventually serve a three-month jail sentence and the incident nearly finished his career. Yet parade chiefs decided that he would serve as “padrino internacional” at this Sunday’s parade.

The stunning and insensitive selection of Rios to the parade created a firestorm; anti-domestic violence activists blasted the move while Verizon pulled its sponsorship of the event. A group of local councilwomen threatened to boycott the parade and Rep. Luis Gutierrez resigned from being one of the event’s marshals.

The backlash became very strong and on Tuesday Rios publicly dropped out from the parade. Yet the damage may have already been done as seen by one of his detractors in the video below:

Online Sources- YouTube, NBC New York, New York Times, New York Daily News, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune

Guatemalan Good Samaritan dies ignored by passersby

A Guatemalan Good Samaritan has been hailed as a hero who senselessly died after trying to help an attack victim.

New York police alleged that on April 18 at least twenty people in Jamaica, Queens passed by Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax after he came to the aid of a female attacked by an unknown assailant. A surveillance video showed that for over an hour the homeless Tale-Yax laid bloody and struggling for life on the sidewalk while pedestrians ignored him. One person lifted Tale-Yax’s head momentarily before moving on while another took a photo of him of the dying man with a cell phone. It took almost ninety minutes until someone called emergency services where called yet Tale-Yax was found dead from multiple stab wounds.

The death of Tale-Yax has been compared to that of Kitty Genovese in 1964, which led to increased analysis into the bystander effect. That phenomena- which claims that the more the bystanders the less the chance of help- may’ve manifested itself two Sundays ago. In the end, the body of Tale-Yax is off to Central America for burial:

The Post reports that Tale-Yax was a "Guatemalan immigrant [who] eked out a living working odd jobs, but he was recently out of work and lost his home in Queens." His body is being sent back to Guatemala where his parents live. (Tale-Yax’s cousin Edwin) Tacam said, "He lost his life trying to help someone else — that’s brave. I guess you could say he was a hero."

Anyone with tips into the death of the 31-year-old is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

Image- Sky News
Online Sources- Gothamist, NY1, ABC News, Wikipedia, Listverse, Village Voice

Daily Headlines: April 23, 2010

* Haiti: 125,000 tons of counterfeit clothing confiscated in New York City will be donated to Haitian earthquake victims.

* Venezuela: Police confiscated over four tons of cocaine from a series of drug labs near the border with Colombia.

* Brazil: Toyota’s auto safety problems have extended into Brazil where the state of Minas Gerais suspended sales of all Corolla sedans.

* Chile: According to Chilean police a teen was arrested in an alleged hate crime assault of an Afro-Cuban man.

Image – The Telegraph (“Earthquake survivors unload food from a UN helicopter.”)
Sources- Bloomberg, LAHT, CNN, MSNBC

All-immigrant high school among U.S. best

The latest U.S. News and World Report on the top high schools in the U.S. named an all-immigrant school as one of the best in the country.

New York City’s Newcomers High School was ranked in sixth by the magazine ahead of better-known private institutes in the metropolis. Newcomers specializes in assisting youth have arrived in New York in the past year and teaches not only the usual academics but also aspects of U.S. culture. Of the roughly 1000 students enrolled from 30 countries, about 90 % of pupils move on to a four-year college.

The school’s principal knows all too well what it’s like to try to assimilate to life in the U.S.; a quality much appreciated by his students:

"For many students, they were at JFK [airport] Wednesday, and today they are here," said Principal Orlando Sarmiento, a native of Colombia. "This is a little Ellis Island"…

"From the very beginning, we stress that we have very high expectations and then we work hard to meet the needs of the whole child," said Sarmiento, a founding teacher at the school, which is making its debut on the list…

"It's really cool," said Eric Leon, 18, who emigrated from Ecuador. "The people are great. I understand better these cultures. I feel more like home."

Image- New York Daily News (“Newcomers High is one of 12 NYC public school among U.S. News & World Report's best 100 high schools. Above, Newcomers teacher Catherine Del Frate with students.”)
Online Sources- New York Daily News, NY1, NBC New York

Latin American Film Exhibition in NY

If you are in New York this week, make your way over to the Musuem of Modern Art (MoMA) for the Ibermedia film exhibition. The exhibition Iberoamerica:Our Way(s) lasts from November 5-13 and will feature Latin American films. Ibermedia is an intergovernmental organization facilitating film projects, helping to finance coproductions, and providing grant money for the distribution and promotion of Spanish and Portuguese language films.

"Ibermedia encourages cinematic innovation and supports cinema with something to say...With no strings attached, the filmmakers' personal visions are protected and the projects retain their national and/or personal-historical character."

Check out the film descriptions, dates, and times here.

Online Sources: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Ibermedia, The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York

Image: MoMA, from the film Partes Usadas

Maegan’s thoughts on 9/11

Note: The events of September 11th have caused us to feel a wide wave of emotions from anger and sadness to hope and remembrance. Earlier today, former contributor Maegan la Mala expressed her viewpoint on the 9/11 anniversaries here in the U.S. and in Chile. Her thought-provoking post was originally published in VivirLatino and reproduced here with her permission.

I almost feel like I’m obligated to write something today about 9-11 and frankly, I’m tired of the date. It’s exhausting on so many levels since the combination of numbers can be multiplied, added, subtracted and divided in so many ways. It’s a date that carries real physical weight and reaction in my muscles and bones. I can feel it settling, heavy in my gut.

I survived 9-11-01. Not in some abstract way but in a real sitting in a subway car underground in downtown Manhattan for hours as smoke and fire rose above. My mother survived 9-11-01, feeling the World Trade Center reverberate from the impact of a plane, she managed to lead all of her employees to safety. It was the second time she survived an attack on the WTC.

Pero I also have to sit down with my hijas, half Chilenas, and talk about their relatives that did not survive 9-11-73 or the 17 years of U.S. sponsored military dictatorship that followed. It is why the family of my younger daughter came to the United States. It is why the family of my older daughter remain active in Chilean politics in the southern part of that country.

Pero given the current political climate, with undocumented immigrants used as throwaway compromises in health care reform and with comprehensive immigration reform played as a waiting games while people are killed because of what they look like, how they speak, and where they are assumed to come from, I think of the undocumented today.

It wasn’t too long ago that the undocumented were blamed for 9-11-01 while denying that I wonder what happened to those families, the families of the undocumented that once had a bill introduced to help them stay in the U.S. . Have they been detained, deported? Do we remember them today?

Image- 911-911movie.com (The sites of violence – the World Trade Center in New York City 9-11-2001 and Palacio de La Moneda in Santiago, Chile – 9-11-1973. From the animated short film 9-11/9-11.”)
Online Sources- VivirLatino, GovTrack.us

Daily Headlines: August 26, 2009

* Cuba: A Maine woman a $21 million default judgment against the Cuban government for the death of her dad during a 1963 “covert mission.”

* Brazil: Have you seen presumably missing Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes Belchior?

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Luis G. Fortuño publicly backed New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s bid for a third straight term.

* Bolivia: Sergio Jauregui faces a maximum ban of up to three years after walloping an opponent with a Bruce Lee-style flying kick at a Bolivian league soccer match:

Online Sources- Guardian UK, AP, New York Daily News, YouTube, Canadian Press

Daily Headlines: August 3, 2009

* U.S.: Family of Jose Sucuzhañay was present at the dedication of the Brooklyn street corner where he was murdered in a suspected hate crime.

* Argentina: Representatives of President Cristina Kirchner’s government will meet with farm leaders threatening to go on strike over Argentina’s weakened economy.

* Cuba: "We are ready to talk about everything, but ... not to negotiate our political and social system," declared Cuban President Raul Castro in a speech to the country’s legislature.

* Colombia: A symbol of Colombia’s continued armed conflict- the roughly 2000 displaced people in Bogota’s Tercer Milenio Park- agreed to leave the site after four months of peaceful occupation.

Image- New York Daily News (“A business card belonging to Jose Oswald Sucuzhanay” who was slain in December 2008.)
Online Sources- AFP, Colombia Reports, NY1, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Weekend Headlines: July 25-26, 2009

* Brazil: Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa remains in intensive care due to a "life-threatening" skull injury received in a crash during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying today.

* Caribbean: Scientists warned that Caribbean coral reefs are in danger of dying due to sustained warm ocean temperatures.

* Colombia: What’s Colombia’s latest strategy to push through a stalled free trade pact with the U.S.? An $800,000 tourism campaign in Washington, D.C.

* Mexico: Mexican officials have laid claim to dozens of figurines that are at least 2000 years old and were found abandoned in a New York City apartment.

Image- CBC
Online Sources- FOX Sports, MSNBC, Bloomberg, New York Daily News

Daily Headlines: July 20, 2009

* Spain: Cyclist Alberto Contador may’ve clinched the Tour de France after a win in Stage 15 earned him the yellow jersey and a 1:37 lead over teammate Lance Armstrong.

* U.S.: A second suspect was arrested in connection with the assault and bias attack of a Latino man in the New York borough of Staten Island.

* Brazil: According to the local press, an autopsy exam found that former boxing champion Arturo Gatti may've committed suicide but didn’t rule out murder.

* Latin America: The International Court of Justice will hold hearings in two months regarding a tense border dispute between Argentina and Uruguay.

Image- Guardian UK
Online Sources- AP, AFP, BBC Sport, New York Daily News

Weekend Headlines: July 18, 2009

* Honduras: Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is hosting a second round of negotiations with the hope of finding a peaceful solution to the quagmire in Honduras.

* U.S.: Eridania Rodriguez’ body was buried in her native Dominican Republic while New York City police arrested a man accused of killing her in the office building where she worked.

* Mexico: Police nabbed two people suspected in the shocking kidnap and murder of a 14-year-old boy last year.

* Venezuela: A former defense minister as been charged for his supposed role in the 1989 Caracazo riots that left over 3000 dead.

Image- AFP (“Soldiers are deployed as supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya block the Inter-American highway.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, LAHT, New York Daily News