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

Nuestro Cine: Cesar Chavez on the Silver Screen (Take Two)

Last October we linked to the trailer of a feature film on Latino labor rights and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez that will be released in March. Entitled “Cesar Chavez: An American Hero,” the movie is directed by Mexican actor Diego Luna and stars Michael Peña, America Ferrera, John Malkovich and Rosario Dawson.

Several days ago a second theatrical trailer of the Chavez biopic was released and can be viewed below the page break:

World Watch: Eyes on the prize

* U.S.: Rest in peace Dorothy Height; the civil rights pioneer whose world spanned about seven decades died Tuesday at the age 98.

* Spain: Ex-International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch is in a Barcelona hospital and in “very serious” condition.

* Iran: A Pentagon report claimed that Iranian officials sold weapons to Hezbollah and views the rebels as “an essential partner for advancing its regional policy objectives''.

* World: The havoc wrecked on European travel by the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano has had effects around the world including tourism in South Asia.

Image – Washington Post
Online Sources- NPR, NBC Sports, The Age, BBC News

Today’s Video: Feliz cumpleaños Cesar Chavez!

As a pair of our favorite blogs observed, Tuesday would’ve been Cesar Chavez’s 82nd birthday.

The Mexican-American labor activist and environmentalist devoted his life to improving the conditions of farm workers by campaigning for equal pay and fair working conditions. His slogan of “Si se puede” (“Yes we can”) was co-opted by a certain U.S. president who you've probably heard of.

Chavez co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW); it’s this organization that made the below video highlighting Chavez’ noble efforts:

Online Sources- Vivirlatino, Guanabee, washingtonpost.com, examiner.com, YouTube

Controversy over Obama’s civil rights pick

President Barack Obama’s choice to head a key Justice Department (DOJ) post may be Latino yet some Latino activists are disappointed with his pick.

Maryland labor secretary Thomas Perez is the state’s highest-ranking Latino politico and was recently named as chief of the DOJ's civil rights division. Yet backers of Thomas Saenz- counsel to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa- believe that he was unfairly overlooked due to his strong work for immigrants’ rights:

Conservatives have criticized Saenz’s work, according to the Daily Journal and the Los Angeles Times. An editorial in Investor's Business Daily called him "a man who has dedicated his life to promoting illegal immigrant 'rights.' "

Law professor Maria Blanco of UC Berkeley told the Daily Journal that she has learned the White House had offered the position to Saenz but withdrew it because of expected opposition by anti-immigrant groups. Blanco was a member of the presidential transition team for Barack Obama and is executive director of UC Berkeley’s Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity & Diversity.

The National Council of La Raza has issued a statement expressing "profound disappointment" that Saenz didn’t get the job.

Saenz’ backers have refrained from critiquing Perez’ numerous qualifications. Yet as the Los Angeles Times noted, Perez “appears to have little if any public record on hot-button immigration issues". Some politicos are even worried that picking Perez signals a low priority by the White House towards immigration reform.

On the other hand, supporters of Saenz may be overreacting and overlooking Perez’ potential. As the LA Daily blog observed, perhaps Obama decided that the “ potentially volatile mix of California identity politics with the potential revival of acrimony over immigration reform was not worth spending political capital now needed elsewhere.”

Image- Baltimore Sun (“Maryland Labor Secretary Tom Perez has been selected by the Obama administration to head the Justice Department's civil rights division”).
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, LA Daily, ABA Journal

Today’s Video: “A Class Apart”

Tonight’s episode of the PBS series “American Experience” will focus on the landmark yet little-known case of Hernandez v. Texas.

The 1954 civil rights case was ruled upon by the Supreme Court two weeks before Brown v. Board of Education. The unanimously ruling by the court found that the 14th Amendment protects all racial classes including Mexican-Americans in this case.

In case you miss the episode- entitled “A Class Apart”- you can also view it online. The following video is a brief trailer of the episode.

Online Sources- PBS, Oyez, YouTube

Today’s Video: R.I.P. Dionicio Morales

Latino activist Dionicio Morales recently died at the age of 89. Described by publisher of the Hispanic Link news service as “the most consistent Mexican American civil rights leader that I've been associated with”, Morales opened the doors to many of his peers and to future generations of Latinos:

He was organizing garment workers in the early 1960s when he decided to do something to help residents of the largely Hispanic neighborhoods east of downtown Los Angeles who lacked health care, job training, child care and other services.

He created the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in 1963 and called the White House for help. He was referred to the Mexican Embassy, where by chance then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson was meeting with Mexico's ambassador about the same issue...

The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation has since grown to serve more than 100,000 people. It provides a variety of services, including English classes and immigration assistance, mainly to people with low and moderate incomes.

In the clip below from 2005, Morales reflected on his work but also tried to inspire his audience to keep striving to overcome the obstacles still facing the Latino community. (Part 2 here).

(Hat tip: Guanabee).

Sources- Guanabee, YouTube, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News

Video of the Day: Dreaming of a better future

Some food for thought in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: