Daily Headlines: November 6, 2015 (Updated)

* Brazil: At least one person is dead and fifteen others are missing after a dam holding mine waste burst in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.

Update (October 8): Minas Gerais Gov. Fernando Pimentel claimed that the 28 people missing after the dam burst are unlikely to be found alive.

* Central America: A program introduced last December to curtail the influx of unaccompanied Central American children in 2014 has yet to accept a single minor according to a report originally published in The New York Times.

* Puerto Rico: Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of San Juan to demonstrate against U.S. government cuts to federal health programs.

* Chile: The Chilean government called that it was “possible and highly probable” that acclaimed poet Pablo Neruda was killed days after a 1973 military coup.

YouTube Source – ODN

Online Sources including Update – Business Insider, ABC News, Latin American Herald Tribune, Flavorwire

Daily Headlines: October 21, 2015

* Cuba: Cuban graffiti artist Danilo “El Sexto” Maldonado was freed from jail following a ten-month detention over an “attempted piece of protest performance art.”

* Uruguay: The repatriation of six former Guantanamo Bay prisoners to Uruguay has allegedly served as an obstacle to the White House’s push to close the military facility in eastern Cuba.

* Brazil: Attorneys have filed a new petition to bring up impeachment charges against President Dilma Rousseff over accusations of doctoring government data.

* Vatican: Vatican officials rejected unconfirmed Italian news reports claiming that Argentine-born Pope Francis was sick and diagnosed with a curable brain tumor.

YouTube Source – Oslo Freedom Forum (“Lia Villares accepts the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent on behalf of imprisoned Cuban artist El Sexto at the 2015 Oslo Freedom Forum.”)

Online Sources – The Guardian, Bloomberg, Reuters, CBS News

Brazilian President Postpones State Visit to U.S.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff postponed a planned state visit to the U.S. amid allegations of surveillance by U.S. intelligence.

“Given the proximity of the scheduled state visit to Washington and in the absence of a timely investigation … there aren't conditions for this trip to be made,” according to a statement issued by Rousseff's office today.

“Illegal surveillance practices intercepting the communication and data of citizens, companies and members of the Brazilian government constitute a serious affront to national sovereignty and individual rights, and are incompatible with democratic cooperation between friendly nations,” the letter also mentioned.

White House spokesman Jay Carney replied by claiming that the postponement was a move mutually agreed upon by Rousseff and her U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama.  

The decision was reportedly reached despite a twenty-minute phone call from Obama to Rousseff on Monday night in an attempt to salvage the trip that was scheduled for October 23rd.

“As the President previously stated, he has directed a broad review of U.S. intelligence posture, but the process will take several months to complete,” Carney said. 

Brazilian officials have not masked their ire over the accusations of spying, which were supposedly obtained from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.  The allegations that have been reported by Brazilian TV over the past two months included:

• a “data-collection base” run by the National Security Agency (NSA) that gathered information from telephone calls and e-mails of Brazilian residents and companies.
• NSA monitoring of communications between Rousseff’s aides and employing software to access all Internet content that Rousseff visited online.
• NSA infiltration of the private networks of several firms including Brazil’s state-run Petrobras oil company.

Daily Headlines: September 17, 2013

Note: This video might Not Be Safe for Work

* Honduras: The Honduran government filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization against Australia’s anti-tobacco laws that include selling cigarettes in plain packaging.

* Venezuela: Officials in Venezuela strongly rejected a recent White House report claiming that the Latin American country had "failed demonstrably" to combat the illegal drug trade for a fifth consecutive year.
 
* Haiti: Forty-one recruits will be working alongside Ecuadorean military engineers and could possibly become the first members of a potential new Haitian army.

* Mexico: The death toll from inclement weather caused by two converging tropical storms has increased to a minimum of forty-one fatalities.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (Video uploaded in August 2012).

Online Sources- news.com.au; ABC News; The Guardian; NBC News

White House Urges Venezuelan Presidential Election Recount (Updated)

The U.S. government has called on Venezuelan authorities to recount the country’s presidential election that was apparently won by interim leader Nicolás Maduro.
"Given the tightness of the result - around 1 percent of the votes cast separate the candidates - the opposition candidate and at least one member of the electoral council have called for a 100 percent audit of the results," said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday.

"This appears an important, prudent and necessary step to ensure that all Venezuelans have confidence in these results," mentioned Carney. "In our view rushing to a decision in these circumstances would be inconsistent with the expectations of Venezuelans for a clear and democratic outcome."

(Update: Venezuelan electoral board chief Tibisay Lucena rejected calls by the Venezuelan opposition and international diplomats to recall all the votes from Sunday's presidential election.

She warned that a manual recall would be "vulnerable" and cited the results of the contested U.S. presidential election of 2000 to reject the suggestion of an electoral audit). 

The CNE on Sunday night declared Maduro as the victor with 50.66% of the votes compared to the 49.07% obtained by main opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.  The razor-thin margin of victory represented approximately 250,000 of the roughly 15 million total votes according to CNE president Tibisay Lucena.

Capriles replied yesterday that he would not accept the results until all the votes are recounted “one-by-one.”  Moments ago he reiterated his call for a recount and he urged electoral authorities to halt the planned confirmation of Maduro as President-elect later this afternoon.

“If you (Maduro) accept the presidency then you are illegitimate,” declared Capriles at a press conference from his campaign headquarters.  He who also called on his backers to protest in the streets tonight and mass demonstrations in front of local CNE offices on Tuesday if a recall is not done.

Other international diplomats echoed Carney’s remarks and supported the notion of an electoral recount in Venezuela.

Daily Headlines: April 12, 2013

* Cuba: “I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury,” quipped White House press secretary Jay Carney who denied Jay-Z’s insinuation that U.S. President Barack Obama approved the musician’s recent trip with Beyoncé to Cuba.

* Chile: An estimated 100,000 protesters took to the streets of Santiago yesterday in one of the largest demonstrations for education reform in Chile.

* U.S.: Roughly two out of three respondents to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll back creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that currently have jobs in the U.S.

* Brazil: Rio de Janeiro’s government banned public transport vans in touristy neighborhoods after a visitor from the U.S. was gang raped in such a vehicle last month.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources- The Guardian, CBS News, ABC News, Businessweek

Daily Headlines: September 17, 2012

* South America: The Bolivian and Venezuela governments rejected being placed on a White House drug trafficking "black list" released last Friday.

* Brazil: According to a Brazilian media report former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the “chief” in the alleged “mensalao” corruption network implicating over thirty politicians and publicists.

* Mexico: At least two Mexico state legislators allied with the PRI political party were murdered over the weekend.

* Argentina: Juan Martin del Potro’s decision to drop out of his second Davis Cup semifinal match due to injury may have cost Argentina the chance to reach the finals.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP

Online Sources- ABC News, Mercopress, Fox News Latino, CBC

Mexicans end White House hunger strike

Last week we looked at thirteen women from the U.S.-Mexico border area who took part in a hunger strike near the White House. On Wednesday the women representing La Mujer Obrera (The Working Women) organization ended their fast that lasted ten days.

According to Gina Cardenas in Global Voices:

La Mujer Obrera is critical of the Obama administration's border initiatives which they claim do not address the needs of the community or working women, and instead favor construction and security industries.

In their campaign against poverty and violence along the border, the women use social networking tools such as a campaign blog, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to share their message and generate support for their demonstration. Their efforts have been noticed by bloggers from the U.S. and Mexico.

A statement from the group said that the protest ended after receiving word that a federal commission would soon visit the border area. "The concerns of border women are not invisible anymore thanks to our efforts" said part of the letter according to the website of Mexican daily El Universal.

Image - Milenio
Online Sources - The Latin Americanist, El Universal, Global Voices

World Watch: Playing with fire

* Africa: Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir could be arrested over charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during to his visit to International Criminal Court member state Chad.

* U.S.: The White House apologized for hastily dismissing an Agriculture Department employee over her racial remarks that were lifted out of context by a political website.

* Romania: The body of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was exhumed today and will be examined by doctors to ensure that the corpse is really his.

* China: Over 700 people are dead and hundreds are still missing as a result of massive flooding throughout China.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Houston Chronicle, CBC, CNN

Still waiting for reform

If the White House were to place as much effort into passing comprehensive immigration reform as they have in constantly delaying it then perhaps our current system wouldn’t be so problematic. Yet according to one report President Obama has spoken to a pair of Senators with the intent of creating a “blueprint” towards reform.

As originally reported on Friday in the Los Angeles Times, the president will meet with Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Monday. During the meeting they will discus the “basis” for a bipartisan proposal that could legalize the status of some of the near 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. Conditions for citizenship would be pretty tough, according to the article, with applicants having “to register, pay taxes and pay a penalty for violating the law. Failure to comply might result in deportation.”

The possible bill would be a good start for a necessary and long overdue reform. Yet Democrats too cowardly to confront reform and Republicans too obstinate in the role as opposition would endanger any proposal:

"Right now we have a little problem with the 'Chicken Little' mentality: The sky is falling and consequently we can't do anything," Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., told the newspaper.

Republicans also said they weren't inclined to cooperate, particularly since Obama signaled this week he would push ahead with passage of a healthcare bill with or without GOP support, the newspaper said.

"The things you hear from the administration won't be well received," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking and the pressure is mounting against those in power to dig their heads out of the sand.

How much longer must we wait?

Image- CNN (Naturalized U.S. citizens take the oath at a 2009 ceremony).
Online Sources- Vivirlatino, UPI, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist

Bolivia proposes thawing icy relations with U.S.

Political relations between the U.S. and Bolivia have been pretty low since Evo Morales became president of the Andean country. In September, U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg was expelled from La Paz; in return, the White House suspended key trade benefits with Bolivia.

Yesterday the Bolivian government proposed normalizing relations with the U.S. despite the disagreements between both countries. There’s just one teeny-tiny catch:

Bolivia is ready to normalize relations with the United States but only if the US government is willing to recognize the new place the coca leaf has in Bolivia's constitution, a top official said…

"We're ready to resume and redirect our relations, and from State Department information we have we know they are also ready," Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez told a press conference in La Paz…

"Our constitution doesn't allow any disdain for the coca leaf, and if the United States can't accept this, it’s difficult to see how we can reach an agreement."

Fernandez’ gesture is certainly a welcome one and ideally should be taken seriously. Realistically, however, it will most likely be rejected by the White House since the U.S. and Bolivia don’t see eye-to-eye on counternarcotics efforts.

A better move would be for both the Morales administration and the White House to engage in bilateral discussions on drugs, trade, etc. Admittedly it may be difficult to get officials from both countries to sit at the same table, but it's possible with Congress pushing for improved relations between both countries.

Image- daylife.com
Online Sources- LAHT, AFP, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, The Latin Americanist

Bolivia: Gov’t suspends U.S. anti-drugs ops

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday that his government will take over all counternarcotics operations run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in the Andean country. "Personnel from the DEA supported activities of the unsuccessful coup d’état in Bolivia," said Morales in reference to disturbances in September. It’s unknown if Morales will boot DEA staff from Bolivia, while one “senior U.S. State Department official” called Morales’ claims "false and absurd."

Diplomatic relations between Bolivia and the U.S. have slowly deteriorated, especially after the ambassadors to both countries were recalled in September.

Morales’ move could be viewed as retaliation for the U.S. removing trade benefits to Bolivia last month. White House officials claimed that they suspended the trade preferences due to Bolivia’s “failure to cooperate” with U.S. anti-drug efforts, though according to an article from the CBC:

Despite its recent conflicts with the U.S., Bolivia has been more successful at controlling cocaine than the U.S. ally in the region, Colombia.

The UN has estimated that Bolivia's coca crop — coca is chewed or used in tea in Bolivia, but can be refined into cocaine — increased five per cent in 2007, a fraction of the 27-per-cent jump in Colombia.

Bolivian police working with the DEA agents seized much more cocaine after Morales became president in 2006.

Image- CNN
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, BBC News, CBC

U.S. suspends trade deal with Bolivia

During a White House ceremony last week, President George W. Bush threatened with cutting off trade benefits to Bolivia. “Bolivia has failed to cooperate with the United States on important efforts to fight drug trafficking” said Bush after Bolivia was placed on a counternarcotics blacklist.

Yesterday, those threats became reality:

The United States is suspending a trade deal with Bolivia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday. She called it unfortunate but necessary because Bolivian President Evo Morales had failed to improve anti-drug efforts.

Morales, in response, blasted the suspension as “an economic blockade” and claimed that the trade cuts will cause over 20,000 workers to lose their jobs. (The U.S. is the third-largest trading partner to Bolivia).

Bolivian foreign minister Luis Alberto Arce has traveled to Washington to meet with legislators and convince them to reinstate the trade benefits. “We will present statistics that show that this decision was unjust” said Arce.

Image- Al Jazeera English
Sources (English)- Al Jazeera English, The Latin Americanist, New York Times
Sources (Spanish)- Reuters America Latina