Weekend Headlines: May 21-22, 2011

* Chile: Police fired tear gas on protesters in Santiago yesterday and Valparaiso today after the government lifted a suspension on its use due to possible adverse health effects.

* Uruguay: A deadlocked Senate was unable to pass a measure that would've removed an amnesty for former military leaders under the 1973-1985 dictatorship.

* Venezuela: The price of a barrel of crude oil on Friday closed below $100 for the first time in about eight weeks.

* Peru: Jorge Trelles was fired as spokesman for the presidential campaign of Keiko Fujimori after he claimed that under the rule of her father, ex-president Alberto Fujimori, “we killed less [people] than the two previous governments.”

* Mexico: Police captured Gilberto Barragan Balderas, who is considered as “one of the main leaders of the Gulf Cartel.”

* Cuba: The mother of the late dissident Orlando Zapata said that thirteen of his relatives would leave the island next month to legally travel to the U.S.

Video Source – teleSUR via YouTube (Chilean police fired tear gas and water cannons against protesters opposed to government policies).
Online Sources- La Tercera, The Latin Americanist, CNN, MarketWatch, El Comercio, Living in Peru, MSNBC, LAHT

Cuba: Dissidents caught in crackdown

The Cuban government allegedly agreed to free eight additional political prisoners aside from a group of 52 who have slowly been released since last year. Dissidents on the island, however, have accused authorities of targeting them as part of a crackdown.

Roughly 100 dissidents were either arrested or put under house arrest in the same week that activists commemorated the one-year anniversary of the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata. The most notable of these detentions was the brief arrest of former hunger striker Guillermo Farinas who “shouted anti-government slogans” from the rooftop of his house. “I believe that the best tribute we can give to Zapata was for the government to be forced to mobilize its repressors,” Farinas said to the press after his 27-hour arrest.

The tense atmosphere continued over the weekend when state television showed a documentary critical of the Ladies in White dissident group. The film accused them of receiving funds from the U.S. government to fund their activities. Hence, it should come as no surprise that pro-government demonstrators confronted the Ladies in White as they marched through Havana yesterday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that the February 2010 death of Zapata after a lengthy hunger strike brought attention to "the ongoing mistreatment of those unjustly held by Cuban authorities". Cuban state newspaper Granma would subsequently bash Obama by claiming he was being manipulated by Cuban-American exile organizations.

Human rights groups tried to bring additional attention to the crackdown on the Cuban opposition. Amnesty International denounced the harassment of Zapata’s relatives including “preventing his family from properly celebrating his life.” According to Human Rights Watch:

"A year after Zapata's tragic death, this latest wave of arrests shows the Cuban government continues to deny its citizens the basic freedoms of assembly and speech," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch…

"Through arbitrary detentions, physical abuse, and threats, the Cuban government has once again shown its willingness to repress its citizens who participate in the most basic civic activities," Vivanco said.

Image- AP via BBC News (“Pro- and anti-government protesters clashed in Havana on the anniversary of Mr. Zapata's death.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, ABC News, LAHT, AFP, Gulf Times, CBS News, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch

Daily Headlines: February 21, 2011

* Cuba: Family members of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a Cuban political prisoner who died a year ago this month, were granted visas to emigrate to the U.S.

* U.S.: Could planned federal budget cuts to financial aid programs lead to fewer Latino university graduates?

* Panama: Police clashed with indigenous protesters upset with a planned mining reform that they claim will cause environmental damage and force them to relocate.

* Brazil: A group of Roman Catholic bishops bashed reality TV shows as an "attack on the human dignity of participants, who are fascinated with monetary prizes and a short-lived status as a celebrity."

Image Source - AFP/Getty Images via CNN ("Reina Luisa Tamayo marches February 13 on behalf of her son, who died a year ago after a prolonged hunger strike.")
Online Sources - BBC News, France24, AFP, Texas Observer