Daily Headlines: March 28, 2016 (Updated)

* El Salvador: “We have ordered all of our people . . . to halt all types of homicides nationwide,” said a masked figure purportedly representing the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs in a video claiming that both groups will renew an anti-murder truce.

Update: El Salvador's police chief and a spokesman for President Salvador Sánchez Cerén each rejected the possibility of negotiating with the gangs.
 
* U.S.: Santiago Erevia, a former U.S. Army sergeant who in 2014 received the Medal of Honor after decades of racial discrimination, passed away last week at the age of 69.

* Cuba: Ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the island last week even though Obama held multiple talks with current Fidel’s brother and current Cuban President Raul Castro.

* Mexico: Authorities have reportedly arrested a man nicknamed “King Midas” who allegedly laundered up to $400 million yearly for Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.

YouTube Source – Vice News (Video uploaded on December 2015).
 
Online Sources including Update – The Toronto Star, Fox News Latino, BBC News, CNN, ABC News

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2015

* El Salvador: At least ten suspected MS-13 members were killed on Saturday amid a surge of gang-related violence that has led to 481 murders in March 2015 alone.

* Cuba: Cuban President Raul Castro met with Pope Francis yesterday, thanked the pontiff for brokering the diplomatic thaw between his country and the U.S., and “promised” to attend all the Pope’s masses during his September visit to the Caribbean island.

* Peru: The Peruvian military has been deployed to the southern Arequipa region where police have clashed with residents opposed to the $1.4 billion Tia Maria copper project.

* Mexico: Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez beat James Kirkland in an electrifying bout that was the polar opposite of the dull and overhyped Mayweather-Pacquaio match one week prior.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, The Latin Americanist, ESPN, UPI

Cuban Bishops Back Reconciliation, Greater Political Freedoms

Days after Chilean Catholic bishops urged for a national reconciliation on the fortieth anniversary of the military coup d’état that ousted President Salvador Allende, their Cuban counterparts issued their own call for unity.

A letter issued by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (CCBC) to reporters earlier today advocated for dialogue between Cubans of differing opinions.

“The geographic proximity and family ties between the two peoples are unavoidable realities that should be taken into account in order to encourage an inclusive policy, through respect for differences”, read part of the CCBC’s communiqué that was entitled “Hope Does Not Disappoint.”

The letter included quoted remarks made by Pope John Paul II during a 1998 visit to support the CCBC’s view against the decades-old U.S. embargo against Cuba.  

“The forced isolation impacts the population indiscriminately … the measures imposed from outside on the country are unjust and ethically unacceptable,” the letter quoted the late pontiff as stating.

The document praised economic reforms enacted under President Raul Castro but noted that more needs to be done to remedy problems such as the low salaries of professional and government workers in health and education.

The group also criticized the lack of political liberalization that would allow for greater freedom of expression on the island.

“Cuba is called upon to be a plural society … there must be a right to diversity in terms of thought, creativity and the search for truth,” the letter mentioned.

CCBC secretary Jose Felix Perez said that copies of the letter to government authorities though an official response was not immediately provided.

Latin American Press Under Fire

Today is World Press Freedom Day and, as we mentioned briefly yesterday, Freedom House report found that there is a decline in media freedom throughout Latin America.  Several recent incidents in the region appear to prove Freedom House’s assertion.

• Mexico

Radio and TV announcer Jose Gerardo Padilla Blanquet has gone missing since Tuesday in Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila state.  Padilla Blanquet works for Radio Grande de Coahuila, a radio station whose director was assaulted months ago after receiving numerous threats.

The disappearances come days after photographer Daniel Martinez Bazaldua was murdered and dismembered in Saltillo.  An editorial in Vanguardia, the newspaper Martinez Bazaldua worked for, subsequently blasted local authorities for implying that the victims worked for one of Mexico’s drug gangs.

• Colombia

Semana reporter Ricardo Calderón was attacked by gunfire while driving on a Colombian highway yesterday.  The veteran investigative journalist, who helped uncover an illegal and massive wiretapping operation in 2007, may have been targeted in a possible assassination attempt.

The Colombian International Press Association condemned the attack on Calderón and expressed their worry over “the security of all journalists nationwide, especially those in high conflict zones.”

• Argentina

The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA, in Spanish) denounced the firing of tear gas and rubber bullets by police on media members covering a protest one week ago.  FOPEA alleged that at least seven journalists were injured while covering the demonstration and authorities prevented some of them from receiving medical attention.

Meanwhile, an editorial in Diario Los Andes yesterday blasted the suggestion of Chaco province governor Jorge Capitanich to enact a “press ethics law” on the same day several newspapers reported money-laundering allegations against him.

• Guatemala

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) yesterday highlighted a series of cyberattacks against the website of major news outlet elPeriódico.  According to the CPJ, the hacking had been occurring for the past several months but had intensified after elPeriódico published an April 8th article that “alleged corruption, embezzlement, and abuse of authority by President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti”.

• Latin America

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) issued today its list of thirty-nine “predators of freedom of information” and it includes four figures from Latin America and the Caribbean.  The heads of Colombia’s rightwing paramilitaries, Mexico’s Zetas drug gang and Cuban President Raul Castro are among those criticized by RWB.

RWB said the following on Honduran businessman and political figure M. Facussé Barcum as if he were the one mentioning it:

Daily Headlines: February 25, 2013

* Cuba: President Raul Castro announced that he would step down in 2018 and declared several political reforms allegedly aimed at attracting younger leaders to the Cuban Communist Party.

* Venezuela: The supposed return of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to his homeland one week ago has apparently done little to calm Venezuelans who are worried over the future of their country.
    
* Argentina: More than fifty African countries pledged their support of Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the disputed Falklands.

* Brazil: A Brazilian court last week dropped all the charges filed last year against Chevron and Transocean regarding a 2011 offshore oil spill.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- Bloomberg, NBC News, NPR, The Latin Americanist, Mercopress

Daily Headlines: February 21, 2013

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales helped kick off the U.N.’s Year of Quinoa and praised the grain’s nutritional properties though the popularity of the food may be hurting Bolivian farmers.

* U.S.: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected applying retroactively a 2010 ruling that obligates lawyers to tell immigrant clients that they can be deported if they plead guilty to certain crimes.

* Cuba: A group of U.S. legislators returned to the U.S. from Cuba but not before having separate meetings with President Raul Castro and imprisoned contractor Alan Gross.

* Puerto Rico: In a 5-4 decision, Puerto Rico’s top court upheld a law banning gay couples from adopting as well as barring “second-parent adoptions.”

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish (Video uploaded in December 2012).

Online Sources- VOXXI, ABC News, Voice of America, New York Times

Pope Calls for Change During Havana Mass

During an outdoor mass held in Havana this morning Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the need for change worldwide as well greater religious freedom in Cuba.

“The right to freedom of religion, both in its private and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person, who is at once a citizen and a believer,” the pope said in his homily. He added that while the Cuban government has granted greater liberties to the Catholic Church, the pontiff called on “authorities to strengthen what has already been achieved and advance along this path of genuine service to the true good of Cuban society as a whole”.

Daily Headlines: April 20, 2011

* Cuba: While Fidel Castro made a surprise appearance deemed by blogger Yoani Sanchez as “a great public requiem”, U.S. officials urged more freedoms for Cubans.

* Peru: Conservative presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori tried to appeal to moderate Peruvians by “swearing to God” that she would not grant a pardon to her disgraced father, ex-president Alberto Fujimori.

* Argentina: Fuel shortages could hit Argentines this Easter weekend due to a twenty-day strike haling output of the country’s largest oil producer.

* Haiti: President-elect Michel Martelly is expected to meet with World Bank and IMF officials as well as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during his visit this week to Washington.

Image – Javier Galeano/AP via The Guardian (“Fidel and Raúl Castro at the Cuban communist party congress in Havana”. Fidel’s unannounced appearance included his relinquishing of all party and state posts for the first time in decades.)
Online Sources- Huffington Post, AFP, ABC-CBN News, MarketWatch, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: April 19, 2011

* Costa Rica: Researchers working off Costa Rica's Pacific coast will extract rocks over one mile below the surface in order to study tectonic plate movements and perhaps gain a better understanding of the effects of climate change.

* Cuba: One of president Raul Castro’s key economic reforms will come to fruition after the Communist Party congress approved permitting Cubans to buy and sell their homes.

* Mexico: The country’s antitrust agency hit the Carlos Slim-owned America Movil telecom firm with a record $1 billion fine.

* Latin America: The presidents of Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico are expected to meet later this month in order to sign a multilateral trade pact.

Image – Reuters/Juan Carlos Ulate via Reuters (“The JOIDES Resolution, a U.S. scientific vessel, is docked at Costa Rica's Pacific port of Puntarenas April 15, 2011.”)
Online Sources- Huffington Post, Bloomberg, BBC News, UPI

Cuba: Castro pledges political, economic reforms

This weekend marked the fiftieth anniversary of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and it was commemorated with a military parade in Havana. The future was also a very important theme this weekend among Cuban leaders, however, as president Raul Castro introduced reforms including ten-year term limits for the country’s politicos:

Castro’s term-limits were one of over 300 proposals introduced by the 79-year-old president during the Communist Party conference. He suggested the elimination of the island’s ubiquitous rationing books, which he deemed “a disincentive for work.” He also proposed introducing supply and demand to some areas of the economy and also claimed that the government is analyzing whether to legalize the sale of cars and homes.

In his lengthy speech at the summit Castro said that he stopped short of backing some changes including the concentration of property in private hands. He emphasized that "there will never be room for shock therapy" in Cuba.

Castro’s proposed reforms, which are expected to be backed by 1000 delegates at the congress, have received mixed reactions from Cubans. “What they are doing is this -- winning time to stay in power. This is a cancer that is now in its final stages,” said Laura Pollan, leader of the Ladies in White dissidents group, to Reuters.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube
Online Sources- Ahora.cu, The Guardian, Reuters, USA TODAY

Freed dissident blasts “totalitarian” Cuba

Days after leaving prison Cuban dissident (and Nobel Prize nominee) Oscar Elias Biscet blasted the Castro regime.

The Cuban government is a “totalitarian dictatorship akin to Hitler or Stalin” said the physician in an Internet-based press conference from his Havana home. Biscet denounced the government as “anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-black” and he called for the resignation of president Raul Castro.

Biscet also discussed the Cuban opposition movement and claimed that it’s “strong” yet “scattered”. He praised his fellow dissidents for advocating what he viewed as “advances” such as “slowing down” the use of death penalty and the number of abortions.

Biscet was allowed to leave prison on Friday after having served eight years of a 25-year prison sentence for "counter-revolutionary activities." He was the last of a group of 52 prisoners freed by Cuban authorities under an agreement reached with the Catholic Church last July.

Biscet was freed one day before a Cuban court sentenced U.S. contractor Alan Gross to 15 years in prison for allegedly supplying the opposition with computer equipment.

Image- AFP via BBC News (“Oscar Biscet said he would continue fighting for human rights.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, El Nuevo herald, ABC.es, Al Jazeera English, CNN

What on Earth is Going on in Cuba?

First Fidel Castro told Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic that the Cuban economic model didn't work, not even for Cuba. Then he said he didn't say that, instead that capitalism didn't work and the whole episode didn't really make any sense at all. I mean, if that was a translation error that's a pretty huge translation error...

José Cárdenas (former a Latin American policy official in the Bush administration) tried to explain it on Foreign Policy by suggesting Raul Castro had failed and Fidel was stepping back up to the plate to right the ship:

The hapless Raul also displayed a marked incapacity to institute any meaningful economic reforms to save the Cuban economy from its current tailspin. In addition, the hoped-for salvation -- that the Obama administration would open the gates to U.S. tourist travel to Cuba -- shows no sign of happening anytime soon.

But then today, Cuba announced it would cut one million public sector jobs and that "those laid off will be encouraged to become self-employed or join new private enterprises, on which some of the current restrictions will be eased."

WHOA!

There are around 11 million Cubans in total and the state employs 85% of the workforce. So this is what you might call a major shift.

I have no insight into who makes decisions in Cuba, but assuming that Fidel is indeed more front and center and in charge now that he's healthy again, this strikes me as an attempt to shore up his legacy before he dies. Potentially, the father of the Cuban Revolution could now also go down as the one who opened the doors to a second fundamental change in the Cuban state.

There had been rumblings previously that Cuba, inspired by the success of China, would look to move towards more market-based reforms. The Obama admin will reaction shortly, but the most interesting changes will happen organically by Cubans moving into the private economy. The next few years in Cuba will likely be very interesting indeed.

Image Source: WNTH.com/AP

Online Sources: BBC News, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, CNN

Daily Headlines: August 13, 2010

* Cuba: Fidel Castro marks his 84th birthday after having made several recent public appearances and amidst a rumored rift with his brother/Cuban president Raul.

* Colombia: Investigators are examining who was behind a car bomb that was detonated near a major radio station in Bogotá.

* Argentina: Legislators approved a proposal that would ban mining and oil drilling on the country’s Arctic glaciers.

* U.S.: Congress officially passed a $600 million bill deigned to reinforce security along the Mexican border.

Image – ABC News (“Former Cuban President Fidel Castro waves upon his arrival for a special session of the Cuban Parliament, on August 7, 2010 in Havana.”)
Online Sources- Miami Herald, The Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: May 21, 2010

* Cuba: President Raul Castro and two leading Cuban Catholic Church officials met on Wednesday and discussed “the sensitive issue of imprisoned political dissidents.”

* Chile: President Sebastian Pinera’s first state-of-the-nation speech delivered today focused on post-earthquake recuperation and improving the Chilean economy.

* Central America: Did a Costa Rican website go too far in claiming that the “Panama Canal is controlled by Israelis” or is the Panamanian government overreacting?

* Latin America: SABMiller may’ve had strong sales in Latin America yet the major brewer posted less-than-expected earnings.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- FT.com, Tico Times, Bloomberg, New York Times

Castro, cartels, criminals among press “predators”

In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) identified forty global “predators” who are dangers against the media. "These predators of press freedom have the power to censor, imprison, kidnap, torture and, in the worst cases, murder journalists" according to an RSF statement. RSF named to its list of shame leaders such as China's Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as well as criminal organizations like the Italian mafia and Spain’s ETA.

The Americas were not spared of RSF’s anger; Cuban president Raul Castro “has behaved little better than his brother as regards human rights”. Mexican drug gangs were also blacklisted as RSF deemed Mexico as the “most dangerous country for journalists”. Further south, RSF signaled Colombia’s armed groups with threatening the country’s media:

According to RSF, The Black Eagles a paramilitary structure that "continues to spread terror, forcing journalists to self-censorship or exile, when they resort to murder"…

"The death threats directed at journalists, well-known and sometimes at odds with the government of Alvaro Uribe, often bear the signature of the Black Eagles," the group adds.


Regarding the FARC, the organization made the list of "predators" for several reasons including being “behind the abduction of fifty journalists since 1997 and (for making) it practically impossible to work the press in the regions they control. " – [ed. Translated text]

Image- Time (“Monterrey police investigating a 2009 attack on the local offices of Televisa).
Online Sources- AP, Semana.com, BBC News, Reporters Without Borders, New York Daily News

Raul Castro Hands Over Barbershops and Beauty Salons

Raul Castro has taken increasing steps toward more capitalistic ideas since assuming power over Cuba, following his brother Fidel. Changes have included the allowance of electronic devices such as cell phones and computers to be purchased, removing restrictions on Cubans who were previously barred from certain hotels and beaches reserved only for tourists, and removing caps on workers' salaries. Other changes have occurred in the agricultural and housing sectors. State land was given to peasant farmers, and a new housing policy reform allows state workers to eventually gain legal title to properties so they may be passed on as inheritance or rented out.

In a first attempt to deal with changes in the retail and service sector, Raul Castro is turning state-run barbershops and beauty salons over to its employees. Instead of receiving a monthly wage from the government, hair salon owners with three chairs and under will be able to rent out seats. All businesses were nationalized in Cuba in 1968, and have remained that way ever since. So far, no official statement has been released announcing the changes to barber shops and beauty salons.

Image Source: World of Stock

Online Source: The New York Times, Newser, World Socialist Website

Castro callously criticizes Cuban dissidents

In a speech yesterday Cuban president Raul Castro blasted dissidents on the island. "We will never give in to blackmail,” said Castro against political protestors he claimed where being manipulated by foreign countries. Castro also blamed the U.S. and Europe of "hypocritically holding up the flag of human rights" and declared that the Cuban human rights situation has slowly improved.

Castro’s comments echo those made last month by parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon who said that a foreign-led “media campaign” was being run against the Castro regime.

The Cuban government has faced increased international pressure over a series of actions regarding political prisoners. Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in late February after going on hunger strike while the Ladies in White have accused authorities of heavy-handedness in breaking up a recent march. Dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas has been in frail health while enduring his own hunger strike. Castro alluded to his condition in Sunday’s discourse:

"Everything possible is being done to save his life, but if he does not change his self-destructive attitude, he will be responsible, together with his backers, for the outcome we don't want," Castro said in a speech to a Union of Communist Youth convention.

"More than a half century of permanent combat has taught our people that vacillation is synonymous with defeat," he said.

Despite the Castro regime’s repression and staunch coercion against just about any opposition, the government denied that there are any political prisoners on the island.

Image- Guardian UK (Guillermo Fariñas has been on a hunger strike for over a month and has refused to leave Cuba in order to seek treatment).
Online Sources- CNN, MSNBC, LAHT, ABC News, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, Reuters, BBC News

War Games!

Fidel Castro dies, Raul is assassinated in coup, and thousands of would-be refugees make their way for Guantanamo. No, it's not a late April Fools joke, but rather a post-Castro simulation carried out by the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American studies.

The Miami Herald laid out some of the potential actions and reactions that the simulation produced, and all seemed to underscore the point that when things change in Cuba, they may change extremely fast and have huge a impact on whichever US administration has to deal with them.

Though the stakes might not be as high as a recent war game simulation carried out by the Brookings Institution in the case of an Israeli strike against Iran nuclear facilities, the Cuba case shed some interesting light on how a rapid change in Cuba would ripple across the Florida straight.

Online Sources: Miami Herald, New York Times

Image Source: US News

Lincoln Diaz-Balart Will Not Seek Re-election

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the Cuban-American representative of the heavily Cuban 21st district in South Florida, announced today that he will not seek re-election later this year.

Diaz-Balart, a stalwart of the anti-Castro resistance and father of the legislated Cuban embargo said in a statement:

"I am convinced that in the upcoming chapter of the struggle, I can be more useful to the inevitable change that will soon come to Cuba, to Cuba's freedom, as a private citizen."

Generally this means that he's either really passionate about what he can do in post-Castro Cuba (and probably thinks post-Castro Cuba is a very near-term proposition), or there's an impending scandal.

Although I live in D.C., I'm an eternal optimist, so I reckon it's the former.

The video below, although of a Cuban-American, has nothing at all to do with Rep. Diaz-Balart or his decision to not seek re-election. It certainly is funny though.

Online Source: Washington Post
Video Sources: YouTube

Cubans May Seek A Free Sex-Change

If you are seeking a sex-change, Cuba just might be your place to go! Under the country's universal health care system, sex-changes are being performed for free. Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul Castro and therefore niece of Fidel, runs the National Center for Sex Education in Cuba. The sexologist and gay-rights advocate successfully fought to have sex-change operations accessible to Cuban citizens, all free of charge, as part of the wave of new policies implemented by Raul Castro after assuming leadership. Mariela has been a voice for the LGBT community and has worked to educate on issues of HIV/AIDS. She has also been a major contributor to the discussion of homosexuals being barred from the Communist Party, and is working to fight the issue.

A number of sex change operations have been performed since 2008, but the issue is controversial to some because of the high cost of the operation for a struggling developing country. Because of financial constraints, operations are only available to Cuban citizens, not foreigners/tourists.

Online Sources: The Washington Post, Canada.com

Online Image: Despertando a Lilith