Daily Headlines: May 27, 2013

* U.S.: “Finally, they're going to put my ugly face on this trophy,” joked Brazilian-born Tony Kanaan after he won the Indianapolis 500 yesterday for the first time in twelve attempts.

* Guatemala: Alfonso Portillo, the ex-Guatemalan president who on Friday became the first former Latin American leader ever to be extradited to the U.S., is due in a federal court tomorrow.

* Haiti: A “group of black-rights associations” filed a lawsuit seeking reparations from payments made to France after Haiti gained its independence.

* Venezuela: A U.S. State Department report on religious freedom accused the Venezuelan government of attempting “to limit the influence of religious groups in certain geographic, societal, and political areas.”

Video Source – YouTube via ESPN

Online Sources- USA TODAY; AFP; Bloomberg; El Universal

Daily Headlines: November 14, 2011

* Mexico: Authorities claimed that gunmen murdered narcocorrido singer Diego Rivas in the early morning hours on Sunday.

* Venezuela: Opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado blamed “criminal gangs” for a supposed attack against her during a campaign appearance over the weekend.

* Argentina: Race car driver Guido Falschi died shortly after being involved in a multiple car crash at a competition in Buenos Aires province yesterday.

* Haiti: Attorneys representing thousands of Haitian cholera victims are seeking millions of dollars in compensation from the United Nations.

Video Source – Via YouTube user corridosHD

Online Sources- BBC News, CNN, Buenos Aires Herald, Voice of America

Three’s a charm for Castroneves at Indy

A few weeks ago he was staring at a possible six-year jail sentence for tax evasion. Today he celebrated an emotional victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Brazil’s Helio Castroneves won his third Indy 500 race today after having been victorious in 2001 and 2002. Castroneves was drowning in tears after his Indy 500 triumph where he captured the pole and lead for most of the race. The Brazilian celebrated his win with his trademark climbing of the safety fence before chugging the ceremonial bottle of milk at Victory Lane.

Castroneves was targeted by prosecutors who accused him and one of his sisters of trying to evade about $2.3 million in taxes via a shell company in Panama. The last of the charges was dropped on Friday after a jury exonerated him in April. The ordeal reportedly left him drained but not enough for him to lose control in today’s race:

"You guys don't understand," Castroneves roared from the winner's circle as a 250,000-strong crowd roared back just as loudly. "You guys kept me strong"…

"Towards the end," Castroneves said. "I didn't touch anything on the car. When I got in the front, it was, 'Never look back.'"

He paused one more time to choke back tears.

"This race is magical. It was a tough beginning," he added, "but this is the best month of May ever."

Image- AP
Online Sources- AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

2010 Dakar Rally to be held again in Chile, Argentina

Organizers of the famed Dakar Rally will again hold the race in Chile and Argentina next January:

"Based on the success and popularity of the 2009 Dakar held for the first time in Argentina and Chile, A.S.O. (Amaury Sports Organization) and the two countries have decided together to renew the organization of the rally in 2010 in South America," they said in a statement on www.dakar.com.

The decision was met with approval from government officials in both Southern Cone countries. Chilean Minster Francisco Vidal praised the rally for promoting his country “to hundreds of millions of people in the world.” "Argentina welcomes again the Dakar Rally," Sports Minister Claudio Morresi said hours after ASO made their decision.

After a year off, this year’s race was held away from Africa for the first time due to the increasingly dangerous West African region.

Last month’s race crossed through diverse areas like the Argentine pampas and the Chilean desert and was considered one of the most difficult ever. South African driver Giniel de Villiers won the competition which was marred by the death of French motorcyclist Pascal Terry.

Image- AP
Online Sources- IHT, Wikipedia, AP, Canadian Press, Xinhua, El Mercurio

NASCAR looks for extra exposure in Latin America

The U.S.’ primer auto racing league is continuing its plans for additional exposure in Latin America. One of the first steps in that direction was Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya’s move from Formula 1 to NASCAR last year. Thus far Montoya (image) has an outside chance at qualifying for the pseudo-playoff Chase after placing second in last week’s Allstate 400.

Several other drivers from the Americas are racing in NASCAR’s minor series; for example, the NASCAR Busch East Series includes three Mexican-born drivers and one Mexican-American racer.

NASCAR’s expansion also included signing a major licensing deal that would allow for NASCAR products to be directly marketed in Latin America. The deal with Licensing & Promotions Latin America would open the way for notebooks, backpacks, and other products to be splashed with the images of NASCAR drivers, cars, etc.

Whether this will eventually lead to more popularity for NASCAR remains to be seen. According to their statistics only 9% of all NASCAR fans identify themselves as Hispanic.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, SI.com, Kentucky.com, Boston Globe, Sporting News, inRich.com

Image- USA TODAY