Daily Headlines: June 29, 2010

* Guatemala: Two brothers were arrested in the unusual murder case of Rodrigo Rosenberg- a Guatemalan lawyer who staged his own death that he tried to falsely implicate on president Alvaro Colom.

* Panama: Former leader Manuel Noriega appeared in a French court yesterday where he stands trial for money laundering.

* Venezuela: At least six people died in a riot on Sunday at the Los Toques prison near the capital city of Caracas.

* Colombia: Did Colombia’s beleaguered intelligence agency illegally wiretap the phones of Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa?

Image – Sydney Morning Herald (Image of Guatemalan lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg from a video publicized after his 2009 murder where he claimed that Alvaro Colom tried to kill him.)
Online Sources- MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, UPI, BBC News

Daily Headlines: March 31, 2010

* U.S.: Rest in peace Jaime Escalante; the Bolivian-born former Los Angeles teacher who strove to educate inner-city students died of bladder cancer yesterday. (The above video comes via UPI).

* Guatemala: A man was convicted for the 2009 murder of a lawyer who previously taped a video accusing President Alvaro Colom of killing him.

* Latin America: The World Meteorological Organization claimed that the El Nino weather phenomena that affects the Americas and the world is expected to die out after the middle of this year.

* Mexico: According to KPMG Mexico beat out nine other nations including Japan, the U.S. and Britain as the most efficient country to do business.

Online Sources- UPI, Los Angeles Times, YouTube, Vancouver Sun, Reuters, AP, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2010

* Guatemala: A UN investigator cleared president Alvaro Colom in the unusual murder case of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg and claimed that Rosenberg himself ordered his own assassination.

* Ecuador: Was the disagreement with president Rafael Correa over an Amazon rain forest protection project the reason behind Foreign Minister Fander Falconi’s abrupt resignation?

* Cuba: Spanish officials claimed that they worked out a deal in order to receive a pair of Guantanamo detainees.

* Peru: Yale University wants to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of stealing thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchu.

Image – CNN (“Rodrigo Rosenberg left a video blaming Guatemala's president after his death last year.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Voice of America, Xinhua, Science Magazine

Daily Headlines: December 11, 2009

* Venezuela: Hundreds of protestors including university students marched on Wednesday in honor of an undergraduate killed during a recent demonstration.

* Guatemala: Authorities are looking into how documents relating to the murder investigation of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg were secretly leaked to the local press.

* Brazil: One of the men sentenced for the murder of nun and rain forest activist Dorothy Stang waived his right to a new trial.

* Cuba: A U.S. federal judge reduced the sentences of two members of the “Cuban Five” – a group of Cubans sentenced in 2001 for spying.

Image – CNN (“Students demonstrate against the death of Jesus Ramirez in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, AP, LAHT, Kansas City Star

Guatemala on the brink

Days after the murder of Guatemala lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg and his client, former government official Khalil Musa, Guatemala finds itself in a serious test of its fortitude.

As noted here recently, Guatemala's president stands accused of a Shakespearean murder plot, which he vehemently (yet coldly) denies. His political opposition demands his resignation despite only accusations from a dead man to substantiate the claim. Guatemalans on both sides are staging protests and rallies. Some fear that the country's civil rights and democracy, a tender 13 years of age, may be at stake. All the while, rampant criminality in Guatemala roils on, causing some analysts to question whether the government or the criminals have the upper hand.

The coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether Guatemala can get a grip on its current problems or whether dire measures will be needed. The UN and FBI have offered their assistance in investigating the murder. Still, as his political coalition now sees daily defections, some suspect that President Colom's ability to govern in the wake of this scandal will be terminally weakened. Once the investigation's dust settles, the hope must be that Colom -- whether guilty or innocent or somewhere in between -- will be able to gauge whether or not stepping down or staying on ultimately makes sense for the good of the country.

Sources: The Economist, El Periodico, Siglo XXI, The Guardian