Daily Headlines: November 7, 2016

* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega easily won a third straight term during an election marred by the lack of international observers and accusations of fraud by the opposition.

* Puerto Rico: Ricardo Rossello, the odds-on favorite to become Puerto Rico’s next governor, has pushed for statehood in order to pull the commonwealth out of its economic crisis and “finally finish the 500-year debacle that has been colonialism.”

* Bolivia: The presidents of Bolivia and Peru agreed on a comprehensive plan that would provide landlocked Bolivia access to the ocean.

* Ecuador: Diplomatic authorities gave Swedish investigators permission to question Wikilieaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London next week.

YouTube Source – France 24 English (“Former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega is expected to easily clinch a third consecutive term as president of Nicaragua on Sunday, buoyed by steady economic growth that has trumped fears he is trying to install autocratic family rule.”)

Online Sources – Los Angeles Times, Fox News Latino, UPI, Mashable

Daily Headlines: November 4, 2016

* Venezuela: A fragile truce between the Venezuelan government and opposition may be in jeopardy after President Nicolas Maduro rejected what he called “ultimatums” such as early elections.

* South America: A recent poll showed “journalist turned anti-establishment senator” Alejandro Guillier as the favorite for next year’s Chilean presidential election, while outside candidates made major gains during local elections last Sunday in Brazil.

* Panama: Scientists studying ant genomes believe the union of the North and South American landmasses may have occurred millions of years earlier than previously believed.

* Latin America: Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Cuba are the best-ranked Latin American states in a gender gap study issued by the World Economic Forum.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV

Online Sources – Tico Times, BBC News, Nature, AS/COA Online, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: November 3, 2016

* United States: The latest Latino Decision tracking poll estimates that as many as 14.7 million Latinos will vote in elections this month, which would represent a 5% jump compared to the turnout rate for the prior presidential election in 2012.

* Argentina: Representatives at the recent Ibero-American summit backed Argentina’s claim to the Falklands Islands while also supporting a United Nations resolution for dialogue with Britain over the disputed archipelago.

* Nicaragua: The final national survey prior to this Sunday’s presidential election indicates that incumbent Daniel Ortega and his running mate, first lady Rosario Murillo, will easily triumph.

* Brazil: Volkswagen appointed a German university professor to look into claims of torture and human rights abuses against the automaker’s employees in Brazil during military rule from 1964 to 1985.

YouTube Source – CBS Sunday Morning (Video uploaded on October 2016). 

Online Sources – Huffington Post, MercoPress, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: October 26, 2016

* Brazil: Tributes from the soccer world have poured in for Carlos Alberto, the captain of Brazil's World Cup-winning men’s national team in 1970, who died on Tuesday at the age of 72.

* South America: The Vatican announced it will soon released records linked to the infamous “Dirty War” era, while political tensions remain high in Venezuela days prior to Church-led negotiations between the government and opposition.

* Honduras: Some member of the United States Congress are not seeing eye-to-eye with the State Department over around $55 million in aid to Honduras despite the country’s dismal human rights record.

* Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan government accepted observers from the Organization of American States to monitor elections on November 6th where polls indicate President Daniel Ortega will easily win another term in office.

YouTube Source – Classic Football 

Online Sources – Los Angeles Times, Yahoo Sports, Reuters, CBC, The Washington Post

Daily Headlines: September 23, 2016

* United States: A new report estimated that one million Latinos are expected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease by 2030, which could lead to a cash crunch for families who “are among the least resourced to deal with the financial demand Alzheimer's places on households and on family caregivers.”

* Brazil: Brazilian officials unveiled a controversial education reform that would ironically drop physical education as an obligatory subject in high school despite the national fervor caused by the recent Olympics and Paralympics competitions in Rio de Janeiro.

* Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan government strongly rejected a proposal being considered by the United States (US) Congress that would prevent the Central American country from receiving international loans unless political reforms are made.

* Cuba: Several Latin American leaders at the United Nations General Assembly including the business-friendly presidents of Mexico and Peru called for the elimination of the US trade embargo. 

YouTube Source – National Council of La Raza

Online Sources – NBC News, Xinhua, Retuers, The Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2016

* Nicaragua: A new poll published weeks before the November 6th presidential election showed that incumbent Daniel Ortega continues with a massive lead ahead of his rivals.

* Venezuela: Human rights activists claimed extrajudicial killings in Venezuela have been on the rise since a government-backed crackdown on crime began fourteen months ago.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee claimed that more than 1.9 million tickets have been sold for the Rio Paralympics, and the 170,000 plus attendees last Sunday surpassed any single day of the recently held Olympics.

* Argentina: Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner received a subpoena to testify as part of a corruption probe focused on her time in office.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (From August 3, 2016: “Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has picked his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for November's election.”)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Voice of America, CBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: September 7, 2016

* Chile: A Chilean Senate panel approved a controversial proposal to relax a total ban on abortion and allow it under certain cases including when the pregnancy is caused by rape.

* Brazil: Much like his predecessor, interim President Michel Temer faces his own corruption scandal that could taint his rule less than a week after taking office.

* Latin America: While World Cup 2018 qualifiers were held through the Americas, the bigger news may be that FIFA president Gianni Infantino would be open to a possible joint United States-Mexico bid for the 2026 version of the tournament.

* El Salvador: the Nicaraguan government conceded asylum to former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes who is under investigation in his home country for purportedly not declaring $700,000 of his personal income.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (The 2013 rape and impregnation of an eleven-year-old girl in Chile helped reopen the debate on abortion, which is illegal under all circumstances in that country.)

Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, Reuters, teleSUR English, Vanguard, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: August 17, 2016

* Bolivia: Landlocked Bolivia took a big step towards being the world’s largest exporter of lithium following its first shipment of the metal to China.

* Brazil: Suspended President Dilma Rousseff proposed early elections though that may not be enough to prevent her from possibly being removed from office by the Brazilian Senate later this month.

* Puerto Rico: At least 500 passengers were evacuated from a ferry that caught fire off the Puerto Rican coast this morning.

* Nicaragua: Opposition parties have called for a boycott of Nicaragua’s upcoming presidential elections that critics claim are rigged to create a “dynastic dictatorship” for current leader Daniel Ortega.

* Mexico: Is the kidnapping of six people including the son of imprisoned capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman a sign of increased violence between Mexican drug gangs?

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2016

* Poland: Pope Francis spent several days in Poland that included a visit to the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and also declaring Panama as the site of the next World Youth Day.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed into a law a proposal allowing municipalities to share administrative services in order to cut costs at the heavily indebted commonwealth.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan electoral officials unseated twenty-eight opposition members of the federal legislature in a move critics view as consolidating the power of President Daniel Ortega.

* Cuba: JetBlue could become the first air carrier to regular schedule commercial flights to Cuba but the move first requires permission from the island’s government.

YouTube Source – France 24 English 
 
Online Sources – Refinery29, NPR, Vatican Radio, Business Insider, Yahoo7 News

Daily Headlines: July 14, 2016

* Chile: Survivors of Colonia Dignidad, a German enclave in Chile where dissidents where executed during the rule of strongman Augusto Pinochet, called on the area to become a memorial site instead of its current status as a tourist attraction.

* Brazil: The Brazilian government boosted security funding for the upcoming Rio Games by $24 million and added 3000 troops for the event, while French intelligence claimed they were informed of a planned attack against that country’s Olympics team.

* Nicaragua: The Contras and Sandinistas are about to battle each other again though this time it will be in the voting booths for president instead of the military battlefields.

* Colombia: Atletico Nacional is another step closer to capturing their first Copa Libertadores title in twenty-seven years after easily eliminating Sao Paulo of Brazil in the semifinals.

YouTube Source – Al Jazeera English (Video posted on November 2013).

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, UPI, BBC News, teleSUR English, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2016

* Brazil: The Brazilian Senate later today will likely approve holding an impeachment trial against embattled President Dilma Rousseff where she would be suspended from her post for 180 days.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos claimed that a peace deal with FARC rebels can be reached “in the very near future” hours after his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, called for a “civil resistance” against such an agreement. 

* Nicaragua: A new study blasted planned construction of an interoceanic canal though Nicaragua, which would be disastrous for a number of endangered wildlife species.

* Peru: Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, continues to post a slight lead in the polls ahead of next month’s runoff.

* U.S.: At least 875,000 eligible Latino voters could face difficulties voting in the upcoming presidential election according to an analysis by National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials.

* El Salvador: The murder rate for El Salvador in the first four months of this year has reportedly surpassed the rates in other Central American countries for 2015.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Colombia Reports, CNN, Reuters, The Tico Times, NBC News

Daily Headlines: May 2, 2016 (Updated)

 
* Vatican: During his Sunday Angelus prayer from the Vatican yesterday, Pope Francis condemned pedophilia by Catholic priests, called on a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria, and suggested a “model of development that takes into account human dignity.”

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla affirmed that Puerto Rico will fall into default today by being unable to make a $422 million payment on its approximately $70 billion public debt.

Update: Padilla and White House officials have urged the U.S. Congress to promptly approve a debt restructuring plan, especially prior to a July 1st deadline for payment of some $2 billion.
 
* Peru: Suspected Peruvian drug cartel leader Gerson “Caracol” Galvez was deported back to his home country following his arrest in Medellin, Colombia on Saturday.

* Nicaragua: The first twenty of fifty military tanks sold by Russia to Nicaragua were sent to the Central American country last week.
YouTube Source – teleSUR English (May Day rallies to honor workers were held worldwide last Sunday and Latin America was no exception). 

Online Sources including Update – Buenos Aires Herald, The Tico Times, Business Insider, Deutsche Welle, ABC News

Daily Headlines: April 25, 2016

* Puerto Rico: A bipartisan bill to help restructure Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt continues to be stuck in the U.S. Congress even though a lack of legislative action prior to a May 1st payment deadline would compound the commonwealth’s already dire economic crisis.

* Argentina: On a related note, the Argentine government last Friday paid $9.3 billion to bondholders who were owed over the country’s $100 billion debt default in 2002.

* U.S.: Puerto Rican pugilist McWilliams Arroyo was able to last the distance with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez but the Nicaraguan boxer easily retained his flyweight title and a perfect 44-0 record.

* Honduras: The daughter of murdered environmentalist Berta Cáceres called on European financial interests to halt funding several Honduran hydroelectric projects.

YouTube Source – Last Week Tonight

Online Sources – Bloomberg, Financial Express, ESPN, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: April 13, 2016

* Nicaragua: Nicaragua legislators rejected a “citizens bill” based on a petition with some 28,000 signatories seeking to stop a planned interoceanic canal. 

* Cuba: The Cuban government loosened restrictions on some cooperatives as part of a “cautiously implemented market reform program” but stopped short of granting more flexibility to private restaurants.

* Latin America: The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean believes Latin America’s economy will shrink by 0.6% this year in a report published days after the Inter-American Development Bank revised their outlook to a 0.3% contraction.

* Mexico: Mexico is allegedly preparing a plan to bid for the 2026 soccer World Cup, which could affect the chances of the U.S. hosting the event and might impact the joint invite for the 2030 tournament by Argentina and Uruguay.

YouTube Source – AFP

Online Sources – The Guardian, Reuters, Nearshore Americas, Fox Sports

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: March 18, 2016

* Chile: Chile’s Chamber of Deputies approved a proposal backed by President Michelle Bachelet to partially legalize the total ban on abortion put in place during the Pinochet military rule in 1990.

* Nicaragua: Nicaragua officials welcomed the International Court of Justice ruling in favor of taking on the Central American country’s decades-long maritime border dispute with Colombia.

* Cuba: The Cuba government dropped a 10% tax on the U.S. dollar ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic state visit to the island starting on Sunday.

* Mexico: A new report conclude that attacks against members of the press suffered an increase of 21.8% between 2014 and 2015 with incidents occurring on average nearly every twenty-three hours.

YouTube Source – Channel 4 News (Video uploaded on August 2015).
 
Online Sources – Vice News, Yahoo News, Reuters, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: February 23, 2016

* Honduras: An international mission to combat widespread corruption in Honduras began its work though protesters believe the group lacks the strength of a similar investigative panel in nearby Guatemala.

* Peru: NASA scientists are conducting an experiment in Peru using potatoes in order to figure out the viability of growing crops on Mars.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials paroled 8149 inmates and repatriated nearly 100 foreign convicts as part of a plan to ease severe prison overcrowding.

* U.S.: A new study found that 71% of Latinos believe speaking Spanish is not a prerequisite to being considered as Hispanic though roughly three in four respondents speak the language at home.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Thousands of people (last August) hold a march with torches in the Honduran capital to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and a UN probe into impunity”.)

Online Sources – ABC News, Popular Science, Yahoo News, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: February 9, 2016

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials still plan to go ahead with the construction of an interoceanic canal despite construction delays, financing issues, and strong opposition from residents.

* Latin America: The Vatican presented a more detailed agenda of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Cuba and Mexico, while Catholics in Chile have urged the pontiff to fire a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse cases.

* Argentina: The Argentine government offered $6.5 billion to settle with some creditors holding on to $80 billion in defaulted debt but may face pushback from bondholders seeking full repayment.

* Puerto Rico: More bad news for debt-ridden Puerto Rico as economic activity suffered a 0.5% yearly drop last December.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (Video uploaded on April 2015).

Online Sources – The Australian, Catholic News Service, teleSUR English, Bloomberg, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2016 (Updated)

* U.S.: President Barack Obama’s call to eliminate the trade embargo against Cuba in his State of the Union speech might not sit well with Cuban-American legislators but perhaps they could agree to reform policy for migrants coming from the island.

* Puerto Rico: The Puerto Rican government will allegedly begin discussions today with creditors over the restructuring of approximately $70 million in public debt.

Update: On a related note, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday on a case that could have serious consequences for the island's future sovereignty. 

* Nicaragua: Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean community leaders claimed that officials are obligating them to allow for the building of a controversial interoceanic canal through their lands.

* Guatemala: In one of the latest chapters in the “FIFA-gate” corruption scandal, former Guatemala soccer federation president Brayan Jimenez was detained and accused of bribery.

YouTube Source – AFP

Online Sources including Update – The Hill, The Guardian, Al Jazeera America, Bloomberg, Reuters, ABC News

Daily Headlines: December 22, 2015

* Central America: The Nicaraguan and Costa Rican governments welcomed Pope Francis’ appeal for both states to improve their relations following an International Court of Justice ruling last week.

* Puerto Rico: Legislation has been introduced to the U.S. Senate that would provide short-term help for debt-ridden Puerto Rico.

* Venezuela: According to U.S. investigators, five unnamed PDVSA employees received more than $1 billion in bribes from two Venezuelan businessmen.

* Paraguay: Several thousand Paraguayan workers protested as part of the second general strike to occur in the country since 2013.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – International Court of Justice, teleSUR English, Yahoo News, Reuters, SBS