Daily Headlines: October 11, 2016

* Latin America: A new report alleges that surveillance laws in twelve Latin American states are outdated and can be easily exploited by authoritarian regimes.

* United States: The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments today on the secrecy of jury deliberations based on the case of a Latino man convicted after some jurors used ethnic slurs.

* Brazil: New corruption charges were raised against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who along with ten other suspects were believed to have allowed some $9.3 million in kickbacks for a construction projects in Angola.

* Mexico: The World Health Organization called for strict measures against consumption of sugary drinks such as those taken in Mexico where a tax was levied against those types of beverages.

YouTube Source – BBC News (A Brazilian judge last May suspended access to WhatsApp for 72 hours over the messaging service’s owner, Facebook, not handing over information requested in a criminal probe).

Online Sources – The Intercept, Fox News Latino, Latin American Herald Tribune, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 6, 2016

* Mexico: The Mexican government has offered to hold negotiations with representatives of teachers on a strike that has expanded beyond Oaxaca and into Mexico City.

* Ecuador: Ecuadorian Finance Minister Fausto Herrera admitted that officials are looking into creating a framework to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order to pay Chevron $96 million.

* Brazil: U.S. and Brazilian authorities are looking for a former Guantanamo military prison detainee who resettled in Uruguay nearly two years ago but whose current whereabouts are unknown.

* Spain: A Spanish court sentenced Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi and his father to twenty-one months in prison for tax fraud but both men could escape jail time.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (From July 1, 2016: “The situation in Oaxaca still remains tense after clashes between teachers unions and the police. Blockades remain, while shortages of basic products are affecting the region.”)

Online Sources – teleSUR English, Fox News Latino, Marca, CNN

Daily Headlines: June 10, 2016

* Brazil: Prosecutors in Brazil might press criminal charges against eight employees of Samarco, Vale, and VogBR in relation to a dam collapse that killed at least seventeen people last November.

* Puerto Rico: The Supreme Court in a 6-2 decision ruled that charging a suspect with a crime in the U.S. and Puerto Rico is “double jeopardy” and, thus, unconstitutional.

* Colombia: Colombian health officials are expected to break Novartis’ monopoly over popular leukemia drug Gleevec by forcing the firm to lower prices but might stop short of permitting generic production.

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan government’s new food distribution program is not settling well with some consumers seeking basic items and critics who believe the plan is unfairly rewarding ruling party loyalists.

YouTube Source – Associated Press

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, The Washington Post, The Hill, Reuters

Daily Headlines: June 7, 2016

* Panama: Suez Canal operators are offering discounts to container lines in an attempt to stem an expected increase of traffic on the soon to be reopened and expanded Panama Canal.

* Puerto Rico: A bill to provide relief for Puerto Rico’s $70 billion public debt moves gradually through the U.S. House of Representatives but that didn’t stop Boricuas from selecting an opponent of the proposal as the gubernatorial candidate representing the pro-statehood party.

* South America: In the latest chapter of the decades-long dispute between Chile and Bolivia over coastal access, the former sued the landlocked state over rights to the Silala River.

* Ecuador: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected hearing an appeal by the Ecuadoran government to avoid paying $96 million in arbitration to Chevron.

YouTube Source – Financial Times (Video uploaded in March 2015).
 
Online Sources – GlobalPost, The Street, Reuters, JOC.com, NBC News

Daily Headlines: April 4, 2016

* Peru: Poll frontrunner Keiko Fujimori flip-flopped and pledged to not pardon her father, imprisoned former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori, if she wins the presidency in elections scheduled for next week.

* Venezuela: A Human Rights Watch report assailed Venezuelan law enforcement for extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members as part of a crackdown against crime.

* Haiti: Several hundred protesters including disabled rights activists and human rights advocates marched in Port-au-Prince last Friday to condemn the murders of three deaf Haitian women.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the current “one person, one vote” rule to decide voting districts in a decision that prevented shifting “political power away from fast-growing communities of immigrants”.

YouTube Source – NTDTV (Ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in 2009 for human rights abuses during his decade as Peru’s president).
 
Online Sources – Reuters, InSight Crime, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times

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: February 25, 2016 (Updated)

* Brazil: Police have sought the arrest of six executives of a mining firm run by Vale and BHP Billiton over the collapse of a dam that killed seventeen people in Minas Gerais last November.

* U.S.: Could Brian Sandoval, the Latino Republican governor of Colorado, be chosen as the Supreme Court successor to recently deceased judge Antonin Scalia? (Update: Nope).

* Guatemala: The brother of former Vice President Roxana Baldetti is the latest figure to be detained as part of a probe into widespread corruption in Guatemala.

* Cuba: The Cuban government gave permission for seven “high profile” dissidents to travel abroad in a move that comes about one month prior to U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to to the island.

YouTube Source – CCTV (Last November, the U.N. found that “Brazil's Doce River contains high levels of heavy metals and other toxic chemicals following the country's worst-ever environmental disaster.”)
 
Online Sources including Update– Sydney Morning Herald, CBS News, BBC News, The Tico Times, CNN

Daily Headlines: February 19, 2016

* Latin America: According to the World Bank, Latin America could lose approximately $3.5 billion due to the Zika virus outbreak with some tourism-dependent countries losing over 1% of gross domestic product.

* Peru: The Peruvian government declared a water quality emergency after a pair of oil spills contaminated water supplies in the Amazonas and Loreto regions.

* U.S.: An estimated 14,000 gathered at the Wisconsin state Capitol building as part of the “Day Without Latinos” protest against strong anti-immigrant measures.

* Puerto Rico: The untimely death of Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia might improve the odds of the high court ruling in favor of a debt restructuring program for Puerto Rico.

YouTube Source – CCTV America

Online Sources – Peru This Week, NASDAQ, Fusion, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 19, 2016

* Latin America: Colombia enacted a law imposing harsher punishments against those convicted of attacking women with acid, while the Dominican opposition accused the government of doing little to combat femicides.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court accepted listening to arguments later this year over the legality of the DACA and DAPA immigration relief programs.

* Chile: Chilean prosecutors will reportedly reopen an investigation into the origins of the late dictator Augusto Pinochet's multimillion dollar fortune.

* Brazil: Another negative sign for Brazil’s economy as economists believe that inflation will rise by 7% this year.

YouTube Source – Thomson Reuters Foundation (Video uploaded on April 2015).
 
Online Sources – BBC News, Dominican Today, Fox News Latino, Bloomberg, NBC News

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: June 17, 2014

* Venezuela: American Airlines has become the latest air carrier to slash capacity, sales or routes to Venezuela due to “an unresolved dispute over cash trapped there”.

* U.S.: A new poll released today found that most Cuban-Americans in south Florida, especially younger generations and recent arrivals from Cuba, oppose continuing the U.S. embargo on the Caribbean island.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez said that her country would be unable to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order to repay billions of dollars to creditors within the next two weeks.

* Colombia: Roughly twenty-four hours after being elected to a second straight term, president Juan Manuel Santos proposed changing the constitution in order to bar presidential reelection.

Video Source – CCTV America via YouTube

Online Sources – Miami Herald; Bloomberg; USA TODAY; Xinhua

Daily Headlines: April 22, 2014

* Mexico: Could Mexico’s new food labeling rules aimed at reversing an obesity epidemic backfire and lead to an increased consumption of items with sugar?

* Uruguay: Uruguayan President Jose Mujica may have given the green light to a U.S. deal that would allow the repatriation of five Guantanamo detainees but he rejected the possibility of a free trade pact with the U.S.
  
* Argentina: U.S. Supreme Court justices listened to arguments yesterday regarding a lawsuit from creditors seeking payment of Argentina's $82 billion default in 2001.
  
* Peru: A new poll found that two in three Peruvians oppose a proposal that would permit civil unions though most people back specific components of the bill.

Video Source– AFP via YouTube
 
Online Sources – NBC News; Businessweek; Xinhua; GlobalPost; Gayopolis

Daily Headlines: April 16, 2014

Note: The following video contains graphic images and is Not Safe for Work (NSFW).

* Caribbean: Cuba and the Dominican Republic joined three other nations including Honduras in their World Trade Organization dispute against Australia’s strong anti-tobacco laws.

* Bolivia: Bolivian President Evo Morales personally handed over documents to the International Court of Justice as part of the landlocked country’s case seeking to regain a coastline from Chile.
  
* Argentina: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear a case next Monday regarding unpaid debts from the Argentine government’s massive $82 billion default in 2001.

* Haiti: According to Amnesty International, “leading human rights activist” Pierre Esperance received a threat implying that he “won’t escape” the next assassination attempt against him.
    
Video Source– AFP via YouTube

Online Sources – GlobalPost; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; USA TODAY; The Washington Post

Daily Headlines: March 5, 2014

* Vatican: Despite helping shepherd increased interest in Catholicism and being named as a finalist to the next Nobel Peace prize, Argentine-born Pope Francis insisted in an interview that he is a “normal person.”

* U.S.: The head of the National Council of La Raza Latino rights group blasted U.S. President Barack Obama over his immigration policy, while the Supreme Court declined hearing appeals in two cases regarding controversial local immigration ordinances.

* Mexico: Hundreds of members of a “self-defense group” entered the city of Apatzingan in Michoacán and ordered the mayor to resign due to his supposed ties to the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.

* Haiti: Gustavo Gallon, the U.N.-appointed expert on human rights in Haiti, said that “full compensation” should be paid to the thousands of victims of a cholera epidemic.

Video Source – Catholic News Service via YouTube
 
Online Sources- The Guardian; Politico.com; Reuters; BBC News; LAHT

Daily Headlines: October 2, 2013

* Haiti: Police in Port-au-Prince clashed with some of the thousands of backers of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide who protested against the government led by Michel Martelly.

* Colombia: Gen. Flavio Buitrago became the second chief of security for former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to have been arrested over the past year due to alleged ties to drug traffickers.

* U.S.: Could Latino consumers play a decisive role in the potential success of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare?

* Argentina: The U.S. Supreme Court opted not to listen to an appeal from the Argentine government to avoid possibly paying the holders of billions of dollars of defaulted bonds.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews
 
Online Sources- LAHT; CNN; The Guardian; Bloomberg; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: June 18, 2013

* Brazil: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil’s main cities on Monday in the latest round of protests over several gripes including public transit price hikes and the use of state funds in the building of World Cup venues.
 
* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro reportedly discussed crime and hunger at a Vatican meeting with Pope Francis, while opposition figure Henrique Capriles sent a letter to the Pope that highlighted human rights abuses in Venezuela.

* U.S.: In a 7-2 vote the U.S. Supreme court struck down an Arizona voting registration law that opponents claimed discouraged Latinos from voting.

* Peru: “What we are trying to do is defend and keep the lake, so that is why we will be camping at the site indefinitely,” said one of the organizers of a march opposed to a planned $4.8 billion gold and copper mine in northern Peru.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- ABC News; The Latin Americanist; Fox News Latino; Gulf Times; Reuters; France24

Daily Headlines: March 15, 2013

* Mexico: Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission called for an investigation of twenty-one current and former law enforcement officials over possible abuses in the Florence Cassez case.

* Latin America: Helen Clark, the head of the U. N. Development Program, praised the “very useful” debate in Latin America regarding changes to the “war on drugs.”

* Puerto Rico: U.S. Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer hinted that they would consider the possibility that a “natural-born” Puerto Rican could legally run for president.

* Peru: Susana Villaran, the mayor of the Peruvian capital city of mayor, risks being ousted in a recall vote set to take place on Sunday.

Video Source – YouTube via user JewishNewsOne

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Reuters, NBC News, LAHT

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

Daily Headlines: December 13, 2012

* Mexico: Mexicans worldwide including millions of pilgrims who traveled to the Basilica of Tepeyac in Mexico City celebrated the annual Virgin of Guadalupe festivities on Wednesday.

* Haiti: The U.N. launched a $2.2 billion plan aimed at curbing a cholera outbreak that has killed over 7700 people since October 2010.

* Honduras: Four Supreme Court judges were dismissed in a “judicial coup” by a legislature controlled by political parties allied with President Porfirio Lobo.

* Colombia: Human rights groups blasted Congress for approving a proposal that would reportedly “give military courts greater jurisdiction over crimes committed by armed forces members.”

Video Source – YouTube via user Cadena3Noticias

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Businessweek, Bloomberg, ABC News

Daily Headlines: June 26, 2012

* Bolivia: Despite calls by the government to “avoid any bloodshed” scores of police on strike clashed with supporters of President Evo Morales in La Paz yesterday.

* U.S.: Hours after the Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law the Justice Department set up a hotline to report "potential civil rights concerns" related to that law.

* Ecuador: The last surviving member of the Pinta Island subspecies of giant tortoises died on the Galapagos Islands on Sunday.

* Argentina: China is seeking to deepen its economic ties to Latin America by signing a series of agricultural agreements with Argentina.

Video Source – YouTube via CNN

Online Sources- BBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bernama, The Latin Americanist