Daily Headlines: July 17, 2014

* Latin America: According to the U.N., the Caribbean has seen the biggest decline in new HIV infections while every hour ten people in Latin America are infected with the disease.

* Costa Rica: Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas, whose superb play helped guide Los Ticos to the World Cup quarterfinals, could be headed to one of soccer’s most prestigious clubs.

* Panama: imprisoned former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega is none too pleased over his depiction in the “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” video game.

* Mexico: The government of Mexico City enacted legislation approved last month banning the use of animals in circuses.

Video Source – YouTube user David Mercer (“Originally Published by Al Jazeera English on May 16, 2014.”)

Online Sources – euronews; MARCA.com; The Latin Americanist; The Guardian; LAHT

Daily Headlines: June 18, 2014

* Brazil: Following a meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden expressed his confidence that both countries can improve diplomatic relations weakened by revelations last year of U.S. intelligence surveillance on the South American state.

* Cuba: Health officials have confirmed the first six cases of the mosquito-born chikungunya virus, which has ravaged through the Caribbean and recently reached South America.

* Chile: A Spanish firm will release a volume of previously unpublished poems by Pablo Neruda that were found in a library named after the late Chilean Nobel laureate.

* Bolivia: Animal rights activists in Bolivia are up in arms after a military instructor killed a live dog and smeared its blood on students’ faces.

Video Source – PBS NewsHour via YouTube (Uploaded in September 2013).
 
Online Sources – Reuters; ABC News; Latin Times; The New York Times; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: June 13, 2013

* Argentina: At least three people died in a train accident this morning near Buenos Aires that occurred over a year after fifty-two people were killed in a train crash in the Argentine capital.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro claims to have received Wednesday a tweet from the late leader Hugo Chávez in the form of a bird, while opposition rival Henrique Capriles started a weekly webcast.

* Brazil: Newspaper editor Jose Roberto Ornelas de Lemos was killed in what investigators believe was a “murder-for-hire” related to his work.

* Colombia: The Colombian Senate approved an animal rights bill that would ban the exhibition of wild animals like bears and lions at circuses.

Video Source – YouTube via user TVPublicaArgentina

Online Sources- Latin Times; Fox News Latino; CNN; LAHT; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: December 31, 2012

* Brazil: Economic growth has trickled to less than one percent this year but will one of the world’s emerging markets rebound in 2013?

* Latin America: U.S. President Barack Obama enacted a law aimed at curtailing Iranian influence in Latin America that also includes beefing up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

* Mexico: Legislators in Mexico City unanimously approved prison terms for people convicted of animal cruelty.

* Chile: International arrest warrants were issued against eight former military officers accused of involvement in the 1973 death of singer Victor Jara.
 
Video Source – YouTube via user ASCOAonline (November 2012 panel discussion at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas on the expectations of Brazil’s economy and political climate in 2013). 

Online Sources- MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, CNN

Daily Headlines: July 23, 2012 (Updated)

* Cuba: Oswaldo Payá, a leading Cuban dissident and supporter of the Varela Project, died in a car crash on Sunday.

Update: Representatives of several foreign governments on Monday expressed their condolences over Payá's death.

A White House statement, for example, praised the late dissident as "a tireless champion for greater civic and human rights in Cuba."

Meanwhile, anti-Castro activists in Cuba and exile groups in the U.S. have urged for a thorough investigation into the circumstances behind Payá's death.

"According to information we've obtained from people traveling with him, there was a vehicle trying to force him off the road... We don't think it was an accident," Payá's daughter reportedly claimed.

* Mexico: A rally organized by the YoSoy132 student movement in Mexico City yesterday was the latest protest against the results of the July 1st general elections.

* Puerto Rico: Will the commonwealth’s sagging economy lead to the end of legalized cockfighting?

* U.S.: Proceedings began last week in a civil lawsuit alleging that deputies under controversial anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio engaged in racial profiling against Latinos in Arizona.

Video Source – YouTube via NDI Public Affairs (Circa 2003 documentary on Oswaldo Payá and the Varela Project).

Online Sources including Update - Fox News Latino, MSNBC, Bernama, Huffington Post, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, AFP

Daily Headlines: July 5, 2012

* Latin America: Representatives at the International Whaling Commission meeting this week in Panama approved the expansion of whaling quotas to St Vincent & the Grenadines and rejected a South American-backed plan to create a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary.

* Cuba: At least three people died in Cuba due to a recent cholera outbreak allegedly caused by contaminated well water.

* U.S.: The League of United Latin American Citizens backed a resolution supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage.

* Mexico: U.S. officers handed over to Mexican authorities suspected La Familia drug gang operative Anel Violeta Noriega Rios "La Bonita".

Video Source – YouTube via teleSUR English

Online Sources- CNN, BBC News, Reuters, Jamaica Observer, Fox News Latino

World Watch: Persona Non Grata

* Sudan: Kenya’s ambassador to Sudan was expelled as a possible retaliation for a Kenyan high court decision ordering the arrest of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

* Africa: Thousands of Egyptians peacefully participated in parliamentary elections on Tuesday while opposition presidential candidates in Congo called for the annulment of Monday’s elections.

* Iran: Protestors allegedly “ransacked offices” at the British embassy in Tehran as part of their opposition to additional financial sanctions placed on Iran by the U.K.

* U.S.: The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus agreed to pay a $270,000 fine as part of a settlement in an animal rights case.

Image Source – Flickr user Al Jazeera English (Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, seen here in this January 2011 photo, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for alleged war crimes in Darfur). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- CNN, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC News

Chileans protest dog euthanasia plan

A move to euthanize Chile’s stray dogs has generated plenty of controversy and ire among lovers of “man’s best friend.”

Chile’s legislature is currently debating the bill whose proponents claim will remove the health hazard that are stray and lost dogs. “Euthanasia will only apply to sick dogs and those abused by people” claimed the head of the Senate health panel that's arguing the government-supported proposal. The bill also provides funds for provinces to carry out euthanasia against dogs and grants police wider authority to decide which dogs need to be exterminated.

Chilean animal rights organizations have vehemently denounced the proposal and made their voices heard:

Thirty protestors rallied in front of the La Moneda presidential palace and carried out mock dog euthanasia while covered in plastic bags and red paint.

For Proanimal Chile president Patricia Cocas, the proposal contradicts a measure passed earlier this month for the protection of animals…

“The Health Ministry wants to dump their duties on municipalities without the funds to carry out such a responsibility and pretend that they can go on with the mass extermination of animals” assured Cocas.

According to the government there are over three million dogs in Chile and most of them live in the streets.

Image- El Martutino
Online Sources- El Mercurio Online, EFE, CNN Chile

Ana Ortiz to La Raza: lay off the Big Macs

“Ugly Betty” actress and recent mother Ana Ortiz is campaigning with PETA for animal rights. According to PETA, the award-winning actress has urged the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to drop McDonald's as partner for future events. Ortiz cited several reasons against the fast food giant in a letter to NCLR president Janet Murguia:

In the letter, Ortiz points out that poorly paid slaughterhouse workers—many of whom are Hispanic immigrants—face dismal working conditions that result from handling live, terrified birds. Many workers also receive few or no medical benefits.

"McDonald's has no regard for animals or for the people who are paid an unfair wage to kill them," writes Ortiz. "We urge you to avoid partnering with McDonald's for any future NCLR events …."

Animal rights isn’t the only cause Ortiz has been working on; “Ugly Betty” has joined the United Nations as part of an anti-malaria campaign. The upcoming season (which will begin on Friday the 16th) will promote the U.N.’s “Nothing But Nets” program to raise awareness about malaria.

Image- Latina
Online Sources- UN.org, Kiddicare, PETA, theatermania.com
E-Mail Source - Message from PETA

Daily Headlines: May 10, 2008

* Mexico: Esteban Robles became the second senior law enforcement official shot and killed this week in Mexico City.

* Latin America: Foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean reached record highs in 2007 according to the United Nations.

* Chile: Some animal rights groups are upset that hundreds of pets have been left behind by evacuating residents of villages surrounding the erupting Chaiten volcano.

* Brazil: Contrary to remarks made by a senior U.S. diplomat, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim doesn’t believe that Iran is using Latin America to threaten U.S. security.

Image- MSNBC (“A Mexican Federal Police officer pauses during a ceremony to honor officers recently killed in Mexico City, Friday, May 9, 2008.”)

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Caribbean Net News, International Herald Tribune, BBC News, Bloomberg

Pedro Martinez Caught With a Cock in DR

Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean rooster people. NY Mets Pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal was caught on video cock fighting while in the Dominican Republic .

Cockfighting is both legal and popular in the Dominican Republic.
The pair took part as honorary "soltadores" - the word used to describe the person who throws the animal into the ring.

When Martinez was questioned about his participation in what many consider an act of cruelty he responded by saying in a statement released by his team:

"I understand that people are upset, but this is part of our Dominican culture and is legal in the Dominican Republic. I was invited by my idol, Juan Marichal, to attend the event as a spectator, not as a participant."

The video released on You Tube is said to be at least two years old.

Source : NY Post