Daily Headlines: June 22, 2016

* Colombia: The Colombian government and FARC rebels will reportedly agree to a bilateral ceasefire, which could serve as a precursor to a final peace deal that might be reached in about one month from now.

* U.S.: Lionel Messi broke the record of most goals for a player on the Argentine men’s national team as the albiceleste had little trouble beating the U.S. by a score of 4-0 in a Copa America Centenario semifinal.

* Mexico: Tensions continue in the Mexican state of Oaxaca following clashes between striking teachers and police that left at least eight people dead.

* Puerto Rico: Debt negotiations between Puerto Rican officials and bondholders ended without a resolution despite a July 1st deadline to avoid falling into a major default.

YouTube Source – euronews (Last month “the Colombian government agreed on a plan to reintegrate child soldiers from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, into society”.)
 
Online Sources – BBC News, UPI, Bloomberg, CNN, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 29, 2010

* Mexico: After initially claiming that as many as 1000 people could be buried as a result of a massive landslide officials in Oaxaca subsequently said that only eleven villagers are missing.

* Chile: Over thirty miners trapped underground since early August could be freed weeks ahead of the December deadline.

* South America: November 22nd was announced as the first day of operations for the integrated Peruvian, Chilean and Colombian stock markets.

* Cuba: In an interview with Cuban TV a Salvadoran man claimed that Luis Posada Carriles hired him to plant bombs at several Havana locations during the 1990s.

Image – The Telegraph (“A landslide in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.”)
Online Sources- NASDAQ, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, AP, BBC News

Hundreds buried in Oaxaca landslide (Updated)

In a piece of breaking news hundreds of people are feared to be trapped in the Mexican state of Oaxaca as a result of a massive landslide during the overnight hours.

According to Mexican news daily Milenio local rescue officials believe that at least 100 families living in about 300 homes were buried after a hill gave way in the town of Santa Maria de Tlahuitoltepec. Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz told Televisa that as many as 1000 people could be dead due to the landslide resulting after nearly two weeks of heavy rainfall. Ruiz added that rescue efforts could be hampered by local rivers overflowing and flooding roads. Nevertheless emergency personnel including the military has been sent from Mexico City to the town located roughly fifty miles from Oaxaca City.

Yesterday Mexican authorities declared a state of emergency for several Oaxacan municipalities that are under high alert due to the wild weather. Other Mexican regions including Chiapas and Veracruz have been hit hard in the past few weeks by storms that have also affected parts of Central America.

Update: The official death toll thus far from the Oaxacan landslide is seven though some authorities worry that it could be much higher. Meanwhile at least twenty people are believed to be buried in another landslide that occurred this morning in Colombia.

Online Sources - El Universal, Milenio, MSNBC, CNN, The Guardian
Image - The Telegraph ("Parts of Mexico are enduring their worst rainy season on record, which has triggered heavy flooding and forced thousands of people from their homes." )

Who killed Bradley Will?

In 2006 U.S. freelance journalist Bradley Will was killed along with two others while covering massive unrest in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Since then it’s unknown who shot him and the Mexican government has been accused of mishandling of his case.

Yesterday Mexican authorities due to a lack of evidence released the man suspected of Will’s death. Juan Manuel Martinez- a protestor and member of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca Peoples (APPO)- claimed that he was a “political prisoner” after having spent sixteen months behind bars. Moreover, human rights groups and Will’s family have argued that Martinez was innocent and a scapegoat. “This was a distraction,” said Will’s mother to the New York Times while Reporters Without Borders accused authorities of framing Martinez:

The Will family lawyer, Miguel Ángel de los Santos, told Reporters Without Borders: “We are now waiting for the investigation to resume, but this time in an objective manner.” De los Santos never thought Martínez had anything to do with Will’s murder and nor did Reporters Without Borders. Martínez was scapegoat. To protect the governor’s bodyguards, the Oaxaca authorities used the local judicial authorities to try to pin the murder on the APPO.

This episode has highlighted the incompetence or complicity of both the local and federal authorities at a time when press freedom is seriously threatened in Mexico, now the hemisphere’s most dangerous country for journalists. A recent study by Article 19 and the National Centre for Social Communication (Cencos), a Mexican NGO, blamed 65 per cent of the attacks on the press on the authorities, and only 6.15 per cent on organised crime.

The Oaxaca attorney general’s office has yet to bring charges against officials or police possibly involved in the death of Will. Last year, the Mexican Supreme Court in a non-binding ruling signaled Martinez as the lone gunman.

In the end the question still remains over who killed Bradley Will? One clue could be found via the Not Safe For Work video shot by Will as he was killed. Judge for yourself:

Online Sources- Reporters Without Borders, LAHT, YouTube, Canadian Press, The Latin Americanist

Attorney for Bradley Will claims harassment

The attorney for slain journalist Bradley Will claimed that he has endured harassment from Mexican authorities.

Miguel Angel de los Santos said that he has faced “intimidation” due to his criticism of the investigation of Will’s death. De los Santos said that he had been called to the Attorney General's Office several times after being accused of leaking material to the press yet he hasn’t been charged with any crime.

The 36-year-old Will was killed in 2006 while covering unrest in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It was initially reportedly that he was shot by “plainclothes paramilitaries” though his family doubts that assessment:

In September, the Mexican National Human Rights Commission ruled that state and federal police failed to interview witnesses, collect relevant evidence or complete an autopsy when investigating the shooting. It also urged prosecutors to re-examine their findings that Will was shot by an anti-government protester. Will's family believes pro-government forces were behind his death, AP reports.

Image- NYC Indymedia
Online Sources – Journalism in the Americas, The Latin Americanist, WTOP, Gothamist

Oaxaca Violence Against Female Activist Journalist

There has been relative silence in the mainstream media concerning the politics of Oaxaca, Mexico. This would give the impression that things are a-ok, however nothing could be further from the truth.

On April 7, two radio reporters from a community radio were ambushed in Putla de Guerrero, Oaxaca, and shot to death. Teresa Bautista Flores, 24, and Felicitas Martínez, 20, two women journalists working for La Voz que Rompe el Silencio (The Voice that Breaks the Silence), were murdered allegedly by paramilitary forces. Three other people were wounded in the shooting: Jaciel Vázquez, aged 3, and his parents.
In an interview with Radio Bemba in Sonora, Mexico, Jorge Albino, coordinator of La Voz que Rompe el Silencio said that the radio station had been receiving death threats since its inception. The station was inagurated on January 20 to serve the Trique indigenous community in San Juan Copala, a year after the locality was granted administrative autonomy.

The women of Oaxaca have been at the forefront of activism in the Mexican region, making them more targeted than they already are.

Source : NYC Indymedia

Daily Headlines: January 29, 2008

* The Los Angeles Times looks at Latin Americans hired to serve as private security in Iraq and Afghanistan.

* Tourists are returning to Oaxaca nearly two years after chaotic violent protests.

* Unemployment in Latin America dropped for a fifth straight year in 2007 according to the International Labor Organization.

* Much like last year, the Brazilian Catholic Church is adamantly opposed to free condom distribution during the Carnival season.

Sources- Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, the Latin Americanist, Reuters, Canadian Press

Image- Journal Peru (“Latin American mercenaries in Iraq.”)

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2007

* A U.N. report concluded that the lack of potable water is damaging the health of youngsters throughout Latin America, particularly these that are poor and of indigenous or African backgrounds.

* Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled against the publishing of “bloody photos” depicting crime victims in two newspapers.

* Multinational brewer SABMiller sales rose by 13% over the past quarter partly due to more demand in Latin America.

* Workers at Chile’s Codelco copper mine voted to end a strike that has lasted for over a month.

* Follow-up: Human rights group Amnesty International joined calls by Human Rights Watch to investigate possible police abuse during confrontations in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Image- BBC News (Water is delivered via tankers to rural areas of Peru)

Sources- BBC News, International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg, Reuters AlertNet, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: July 24, 2007

* U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales affirmed that he would not quit his post before he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee later today.

* Fidel Castro blamed the lure of wealth from U.S. professional boxing as the impetus behind the possible defection of two top Cuban boxers from the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

* Thousands of people marched in Oaxaca, Mexico demanding that the state governor resign.

* The Chinese government is investigating how a batch of toothpaste exported to Panama became tainted and killed nearly a hundred people.

* Follow-up: In the aftermath of the TAM Flight 3054 accident, the president of an international air controllers' group urged that Brazil allow foreign experts to oversee the country’s air traffic system.

Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, USA TODAY, Houston Chronicle, SI.com

Image- MSNBC

Daily Headlines: June 20, 2007

* Less than two weeks after the Senate didn’t agree to a compromise bill on immigration, House Republicans introduced their own tough anti-immigrant proposal that includes making English the official language of the U.S. and barring illegal immigrants from legalizing their status.

* Popular video sharing website YouTube launched its Spanish-language portal which can be accessed here.

* Conservative legislators in Colombia helped defeat a landmark bill that would have granted full rights to health insurance and social security for gay couples.

* Mexico’s Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge by the governor of Oaxaca to impede an investigation against his government.

Sources (English)- Yahoo! News, YouTube Español, The Latin Americanist, amNY

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, Clarin, El Universal

Image- ABC News (According to the photo’s caption: “People visit friends and family through the international border fence on Father's Day in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 17, 2007”)