Daily Headlines: August 27, 2015

* Latin America: Economic experts and environmental analysts warned that Latin American and Caribbean states must lower water consumption for agricultural needs in order to ensure water security throughout the region.

* U.S.: A Texas court issued a reprieve against the execution of a convicted Nicaraguan national, while the mother of an Argentine on death row in Texas for 19 years is hoping that Pope Francis will intervene during his U.S. visit next month.

* Ecuador: For the second straight year an InterNations survey named Ecuador as the best country for expats including the highest scores in areas like “feeling welcome,” “personal finance” and “cost of living”.

* Colombia: A coalition of Colombian women’s rights groups called for the government to take a more active role in investigating sexual violence by “state security forces, paramilitaries and other private actors.”

YouTube Source – CCTV Americas Now

Online Sources – Economic Times, Fox News Latino, The Guardian, U.S. News & World Report, NBC News

Indonesia Executes Convicted Brazilian National

Indonesian authorities today executed eight convicted drug smugglers including Rodrigo Gularte of Brazil despite an outcry from international governments and human rights groups.

The 42-year-old was shot by a firing squad at around midnight local time along with seven other convicts from Nigeria, Australia, Brazil and Indonesia. A Philippine woman was reportedly the only inmate spared from the execution that was scheduled last Saturday and confirmed by prison officials earlier today.

Gularte was one of three men detained in July 2004 at a Jakarta airport with approximately thirteen pounds of cocaine hidden inside of surfboards. He took the blame for the incident and was subsequently sentenced to death while his companions were let free.

Angelita Muxfeldt, Gularte’s cousin, believe that his mental state has been hammered by drug addiction and depression. She feels criminals exploited this and led him to commit what she called “his biggest mistake.”

Gularte was in a weakened state of health in the days leading to his execution while a last-minute appeal from Gularte’s lawyers was rebuffed. Attorneys argued in 2014 that their client suffered from schizophrenia and were hoping that his sentence would be commuted since its illegal to apply the depth penalty to prisoners with mental disorders in Indonesia. Meanwhile, an evaluation in March requested by Indonesia's prosecutor-general has purportedly not been released.

“The Brazilian is in a very deteriorated psychiatric state. He keeps affirming that it will not happen. At the same time he asks for the procedures to be sped up, that everything happens quickly,” said an anonymous Brazilian diplomatic official.

Mexican on Death Row Executed in Texas (Update)

Update (11:55 PM): Edgar Tamayo was executed via lethal injection on Wednesday night.

According to a report from the Associated Press:

Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled "no" and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 17 minutes after the drug was administered, at 9:32 p.m. CST.

Tamayo never looked toward (murdered policeman Guy) Gaddis' mother, two brothers and two other relatives who watched through a window. He selected no witnesses of his own.

There were several dozen police officers and supporters of the slain patrolman were revving their motorcycles outside of the prison before witnesses were let inside the death chamber.

Afterwords, Gaddis' mother admitted that "my broken heart is feeling better" while one of the slain officer's brothers deemed Tamayo as a "coward who shot my brother in his back."

Meanwhile, Tamayo's  father claimed that he was innocent and that members of his family had been praying for him. 

Update (10:20 PM): The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Mexican national and death row inmate Edgar Tamayo.  As a result, it's expected that Tamayo will be executed via lethal injection sometime tonight.

"Twenty years have been long enough.  I'm ready," said part of a statement issued by Tamayo on Wednesday.  Prison officials claimed that he has been calm in anticipation of his execution.
 Update (9:00 PM): Authorities in Texas have temporarily delayed the execution of convicted murderer Edgar Tamayo while the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal appeal.

The high tribunal has until midnight to make a decision on the fate of Tamayo though if no ruling is made a new date for execution may need to be set.

As mentioned in our original text below, the Mexican government called for Tamayo's execution to be suspended since it violates international law while the U.S. State Department expressed its concern that the punishment could impact the way U.S. citizens are treated in other countries.  Yet Texas state officials had been vehemently opposed to either postponing the execution or commuting Tamayo's sentence.

Original Post: A Mexican national sitting on death row in Texas is only a few hours away from being executed. 

Barring a last-second reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Rick Perry, Edgar Tamayo is scheduled to die via lethal injection at approximately 6:00 pm local time.  The odds that he will avoid being executed at the appointed hour are very slim as he faces decreasing legal options.  The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request this morning while a U.S. federal court denied an appeal contending that Tamayo is mentally impaired.

Tamayo, who was convicted of murdering Houston police officer Guy Gaddis in 1994, would be the first execution this year in Texas.  (Texas was the most active capital punishment state last year with sixteen people were put to death in 2013).

Tamayo’s planned execution comes amidst protests from Mexican officials such as the country’s Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to the U.S.

“If Edgar Tamayo's execution were to go ahead without his trial being reviewed and his sentence reconsidered ... it would be a clear violation of the United States' international obligations,” read a recent statement issued by the Mexican foreign ministry.  The ministry also argued that Tamayo was never advised under an international treaty that he could get legal help from his home nation after his arrest.

Yesterday the U.S. State Department reiterated the stance of Secretary of State John Kerry alleged that the possible death of Tamayo “could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries”.  In an article written last week, ex-Texas Gov. and self-professed capital punishment backer Mark White said, “This case is not about whether we support or oppose the death penalty. It’s about fairness and having the courts hear all the key facts”.

Despite these objections and others including an appeal from Tamayo’s father, it appears as if Gov. Perry will not delay the 46-year-old’s execution.

Daily Headlines: September 30, 2011

* Chile: Student protest leaders and government officials met yesterday in order to find a peaceful solution to nearly five months of demonstrations in support of meaningful educational reform.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez appeared on live television yesterday and blasted media reports alleging that the ailing leader was hospitalized and may’ve suffered kidney failure.

* U.S.: Activists opposed to the death penalty decried the execution via lethal injection of Cuban-born Manuel Valle in Florida.

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom will reportedly apologize to the family of Jacobo Arbenz, a former president who was controversially deposed in a 1954 coup.

Video Source – Al Jazeera English via YouTube (This video focuses on Giorgio Jackson, one of the leaders of Chile’s student protest movement who met with government officials at a negotiating table on Thursday).

Online Sources - Bloomberg, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, The Guardian, Reuters AlertNet

Weekend Headlines: July 9-10, 2011

* Honduras: According to the Honduras Truth and Reconciliation Commission the 2009 ouster of ex-president Manuel Zelaya was an illegal coup though he previously “defied court orders” by seeking a referendum for a constitutional assembly.

* Mexico: The United Nations human rights chief added to mounting global criticism of Thursday’s execution in Texas of a Mexican national who did not receive immediate consular help as stipulated in international law.

* Cuba: The country’s Supreme Court has approved an appeal filed by imprisoned U.S. contractor and accused spy Alan Gross.

* Caribbean: Manuel Galban, a Cuban guitarist who was a member of the Buena Vista Social Club died on Thursday at the age of 80 while esteemed Puerto Rican historian Ricardo Alegria also passed away on that day.

* Chile: President Sebastian Pinera’s approval rating last month (31%) marked a new low for the man whose favorability has nosedived since the rescue of 33 miners last October.

* Latin America: The Under-17 men’s World Cup final on Sunday will be an all-Latin America affair with Uruguay facing host nation Mexico.

Image – AFP via BBC News (“The Truth Commission says Mr. Zelaya and those who ousted him bear responsibility for the coup.”)
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg, CBC News, CBC Sports, CBS News, CNN, LAHT, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Execution (Update)

Should the state of Texas go through with the planned execution of Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia? The main issue is not over the death penalty, per se, but regarding the likelihood that his legal rights were not met. Federal officials determined that Texas authorities did not tell Leal Garcia of his right to immediate help from Mexican consular officials as they are required to under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

In recent weeks numerous figures including the governments of several Latin American countries have tried to intercede on behalf of Leal Garcia who is scheduled to die by lethal injection today. As was the case under the Bush administration with death row inmate Jose Medellin, the Obama administration has sought to suspend the execution of Leal Garcia.

For one diplomat, the possibility that the state will kill Leal Garcia could have serious consequences for U.S. citizens residing abroad:

“If we do not comply with our obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the U.N. Charter,” said John B. Bellinger III, who was the State Department’s top lawyer in the administration of President George W. Bush, “we put at risk Americans, including Texans, who travel and may be arrested overseas. It is surprising that Texas does not recognize the risks it may be creating for its own citizens.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has presidential aspirations and could run next year, is expected to go through with the execution. Regardless of the outcome, the Leal Garcia case will likely not quell the controversy over the application of the death penalty on foreign nationals:


Update: Humberto Leal Garcia was executed via lethal injection on Thursday night. In a 5-4 vote that ran along ideological lines the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal seeking a stay of execution for the Mexican national who was convicted in 1994 of raping and murdering a minor.

After the court's decision Texas Gov. Rick Perry allowed the application of the death penalty to go ahead. According to The Guardian the office of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "argued that Leal Garcia was guilty of a heinous crime and deserved to die." While that may be the case, such reasoning detracts from "Obama administration lawyers and a broad cross-section of legal and foreign policy experts" who argued that Texan officials violated international law. (As we mentioned in the original post, he was denied their right to immediate legal help from the Mexican consulate).

A bill proposed last month by Sen. Patrick Leahy would provide federal courts the "jurisdiction to review cases of foreign nationals awaiting execution who were denied consular access".

Leal Garcia became the 26th person to be executed in the U.S. so far this year and the 18th in Texas. According to Human Rights Research (via AFP) there are"at least 132 foreign nationals
from 34 countries on US death rows."

Video Source - RT via YouTube
Online Sources - The Latin Americanist, Monsters & Critics, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, The Independent. (Huntington Post, New York Times, AFP, chicagotribune.com and The Guardian in the update).

Daily Headlines: November 9, 2010

* Mexico: A crackdown on money laundering may hurt the interests of drug gangs but it has also been inconvenient to the growing number of foreign tourists visiting Mexico.

* Latin America: According to the U.N. inequality throughout Latin America and the Caribbean continues to grow despite the region being “the most unequal in the world”.

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom vetoed a proposal that would’ve ended a ten-year moratorium on the death penalty.

* Paraguay: Could a British-led expedition into Paraguay lead to the “genocide” of certain isolated indigenous tribes?

Image – SFGate.com
Online Sources- Bloomberg, MercoPress, The Guardian, The Latin Americanist, LAHT

Death penalty sought for jailed Peruvian in Japan

Perhaps by now you’ve heard that Joran van der Sloot- the Dutch teen who was the main suspect in the 2005 Natalie Holloway disappearance- confessed to killing a 21-year-old Peruvian last month. While the murder of Stephany Flores continues to make headlines worldwide, it's worth noting the fate of a Peruvian convicted of murder half a world away.

In 2006, thirty-eight-year-old Jose Manuel Torres Yagi was convicted in a Japanese court for violating and murdering a young girl in Hiroshima. Originally sentenced to life in jail, Yagi’s case was sent to a retrial in 2008 on the grounds that prosecutors withheld key evidence.

During the retrial the defense argued that Yagi was mentally unstable and that he did not kill the girl premeditatedly. Prosecutors, meanwhile, submitted his criminal past against minors in Peru as evidence and argued that Yagi should be punished with the death penalty.

Yagi’s fate will be decided next month at a sentencing hearing. If the prosecutors have their way, Yagi would be the first Latin American to be sentenced to death in Japan.

For his part, Van der Sloot could face a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison if convicted of the killing of Flores in a Lima hotel room.

Image- Christian Science Monitor (“In this May 27, 2008 file photo, the gurney used to restrain condemned prisoners during the lethal injection process is shown in Huntsville, Texas.”)
Online Sources- Mainichi Daily News, 24 Horas Peru, La Republica

Sotomayor: Executing mentally ill inmate “not unreasonable”

Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) decision to greatly ease campaign spending restrictions has been the main focus of the mainstream press. Mostly ignored was another verdict by the high court that could have strong implications on the sensitive death penalty debate.

In a 7-2 vote, the USSC upheld a lower court ruling against a mentally ill inmate on death row. Attorneys for Holly Wood- an Alabaman with the IQ of a seven-year-old child- argued that the lawyers at his sentencing erred by not presenting evidence to the jury of his diminished mental state. They argued that this supposed mistake led to Wood being sentenced to death, not life imprisonment, for the 1993 murder of his ex-girlfriend.

Sonia Sotomayor wrote the top tribunal’s majority opinion; her viewpoint may calm some of the conservative backlash against her that came to the forefront during her nomination process:

The 7 to 2 ruling was notable because it was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her first full opinion on capital punishment since she joined the court. She said that while the wisdom of the lawyer's decision might be "debatable," it was not unreasonable to think he had made a strategic decision that kept out more damaging evidence about his client…

"Even if it is debatable, it is not unreasonable to conclude that . . . counsel made a strategic decision not to inquire further into the information contained in the report about Wood's mental deficiencies and not to present to the jury such information," Sotomayor wrote…

Sotomayor's extensive record as a judge is scant on capital punishment. The pro-death-penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation said it was encouraged by Sotomayor's decision to uphold the appeals court ruling.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- AFP, Washington Post, CNN

Daily Headlines: November 11, 2009

* Costa Rica: Former vice president Laura Chinchilla is the odds-on favorite to become Costa Rica’s next president and one of the few female head of states in Latin America.

* U.S.: Lost among the hullabaloo over the execution of the “D.C. Sniper” was that of ex-gang leader and convicted murderer Yosvanis “El Cubano” Valle.

* Paraguay: Who was behind the suspected poisoning with pesticide of over 200 indigenous Paraguayans?

* Puerto Rico: Tensions could once again come to a boil in Puerto Rico after an additional 2000 public workers were laid off on top of the 12,000 dismissed earlier this year.

Image – nacion.com
Online Sources- CNN, USA TODAY, Houston Chronicle, Angus Reid Consultants, Forbes.com

Daily Headlines: May 21, 2009

* Haiti: A man accused of captaining a boat which capsized and killed nine Haitian migrants could face the death penalty.

* Mexico: Authorities nabbed who they claim is a “top lieutenant” in the Beltran Leyva drug cartel.

* U.S.: President Barack Obama has set June 8 as the day in which he and Congressional leaders will discuss immigration reform.

* Bolivia: U.S. Undersecretary of State for Latin America Thomas Shannon traveled to Bolivia in order to patch up rocky bilateral relations.

Image- AFP
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, politico.com, AFP, CNN, miamiherald.com

Notable Quotables: Adios death penalty

"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime"...

"Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe."

---Governor Bill Richardson signed a law on Wednesday repealing the death penalty in his home state of New Mexico.

New Mexico thus becomes the fifteenth state to abolish the death penalty.

Image- AFP (Governor Bill Richardsonat the 2008 Democratic National Convention).
Online Source- CNN

Daily Headlines: January 23, 2009

* Latin America: The presidents of Venezuela and Argentina- Hugo Chavez and Cristina Kirchner, respectively- signed 21 agreements yesterday in areas such as energy and transportation.

* Mexico: Mexico’s Congress has agreed to hold debates over whether or not to reinstate the death penalty.

* U.S.: According to a pair of studies released earlier this month, Latinas tend to use “questionable homemade potions” in order to end unwanted pregnancies.

* Honduras: Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios is set to be transferred between English clubs Wigan Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth nearly $20 million.

Image- AP (“Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, left, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sing the Argentine anthem during a welcome ceremony for Fernandez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Thursday Jan. 22, 2009.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, CNN, UPI, Xinhua

Daily Headlines: November 26, 2008

* Argentina: Argentina lost the Davis Cup finals against Spain despite playing in front of an excited home crowd and the absence of Spanish ace Rafael Nadal.

* Caribbean: The death penalty will return to Jamaica after a twenty year moratorium.

* Brazil: Troops have been sent to calm tensions in a remote Amazonian town where residents are tired of excessive logging.

* Colombia: Osama bin Laden has been found…as a Colombian policeman’s disguise.

Image- AFP (“Fernando Verdasco celebrates his win” for Spain in the Davis Cup finals.)
Sources- Christian Science Monitor, Guardian UK, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: September 29, 2008

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez’ trip abroad continued with a deal for 1 million laptops from Portugal and then chatting with Fidel Castro in Havana.

* Mexico: In response to rampant crime several legislators have suggested restoring the death penalty.

* Nicaragua: The stepdaughter of President Daniel Ortega dropped her case against him accusing him of child abuse and rape.

* Brazil: Could the G8 be expanded to include Brazil? One Italian official hopes so.

Image- Guardian UK (“Hugo Chavez visits Fidel Castro in hospital, August 2006. Photograph: AFP-Getty.”)

Sources- MSNBC, IHT, El Universal, Reuters India, Monsters & Critics

Death row Mexican to be executed

Update (11:45pm): Despite the Supreme Court's intervention, Medillin was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday night.

Update (10:00pm): Medillin's execution was halted at the last minute as the U.S. Supreme Court considers his appeal.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted yesterday against a reprieve for José Medellin- a Mexican national whose death row case has complicated U.S.-Mexico relations. Medellin is scheduled to be executed tonight despite appeals from his lawyers and a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) request to halt the executions of Mexican nationals on death row.

At the heart of the matter is the argument that the executions of Mexican nationals in Texas violates international law; even U.S. president George W. Bush attempted to intervene by using executive privilege. However, that claim has been denied by Texan officials as well as by a March Supreme Court decision.

One of the biggest Spanish-language dailies in the U.S.- La Opinion- gave its two cents on the issue:

The execution in Texas of Mexican national José Medellín scheduled for today violates international treaties…

The core issue is the violation of a treaty that has been in effect for decades, under which, when a foreigner is arrested, the authorities are obligated to notify the consul of that person’s country. The idea behind this process is to prevent local authorities from committing procedural abuses against a detainee…

Federalism is important, but international treaties ratified cannot be ignored. Other states of the Union have respected the ICJ’s decision. Texas should do likewise and cease acting as if it were independent. Its refusal to review the case is an aberration and affects the credibility of the United States as a country.

Image- Wall Street Journal

Sources- The Latin Americanist, La Opinion, AFP, Guardian UK, DentonRC.com

ICJ orders U.S. to halt executions of Mexicans

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a temporary injunction against the executions of five Mexican nationals on death row in Texas. The ruling by the United Nations' highest court said that the U.S. should "take all measures necessary" to ensure that the Mexicans do not get executed.

Despite the decision Texan authorities claimed that the executions will go on as scheduled such as that of Jose Medellin on August 5^th:

"This court ruling does not change anything," said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman in Gov. Rick Perry's office. "Those who come to Texas and commit crimes will have to pay the consequences"…

"(Mexico) hopes for proper enforcement of the injunction because of its legally binding nature," the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said in a statement written in Spanish.

The ICJ’s decision was the latest in a five-year dispute between the U.S. and its southern neighbor with Mexico arguing that nationals on death row have been denied their right to consular access.

The international court’s ruling contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled in March that states did not have to abide by a previous ICJ ruling in favor of Mexicans waiting execution.

Image- Javno

Sources- Voice of America, TheMonitor.com, El Paso Times, The Latin Americanist, CBC.ca

Supreme Court rules against death row Mexicans

The U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) has ruled that states do not have to provide hearings to Mexican nationals who are on death row. By a 6-3 vote, the court’s verdict found that U.S. President George W. Bush overstepped his authority by trying to force Texas to abide by a 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision.

As the New York Times noted:

Writing for the majority, (USSC) Chief Justice John Roberts said that neither the defendant nor his supporters “have identified a single nation that treats I.C.J. judgments as binding in domestic courts”… (and that) “the president’s authority to act, as with the exercise of any governmental power, ‘must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself.’ ”

Mexico’s government had previously advocated in favor of the ICJ’s decision since Mexico is opposed to capital punishment.

Sources- Bloomberg, New York Times, Associated Press, BBC News

Image- Gizmodo

Daily Headlines: March 17, 2008

* Rest in peace Rafael Tufiño; one of Puerto Rico’s most well-known artists died last Thursday at the age of 85.

* Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom vetoed a bill that would’ve ended a six-year moratorium on the death penalty.

* Argentina and Brazil will start a new bilateral payment system that would use their own currencies rather than U.S. dollars.

* Former Venezuelan President Jaime Lusinchi was called to court next month to face accusations in the 1986 deaths of nine people.

Sources- New York Daily News, JURIST, The Latin Americanist, Xinhua, Associated Press

Image- prdream.com (“Goyita”, painted in 1953 by Rafael Tufiño)

Guatemala: Death penalty to be restored

Guatemala’s federal legislature overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would end a six-year moratorium on executions. The bill would allow the president to decide on the fate of thirty “death row” prisoners by either commuting their sentences or by giving the green light to execution via lethal injection.

President Alvaro Colom- who was inaugurated last month- is expected to sign the bill into law despite his opposition to the death penalty. In the meantime, human rights groups like Amnesty International are unhappy with the proposal’s approval:

In an open letter sent [on Wednesday], Amnesty International urged Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom not to reinstate the death penalty and instead to look for more effective and lasting solutions to the public security crisis affecting the country.

Just two months ago, Guatemala voted for a global moratorium on executions at the United Nations. "President Álvaro Colom must now respect this commitment," said Sebastian Elgueta, researcher for Guatemala at Amnesty International. “Guatemala must turn its back to this archaic practice and join the overwhelming majority of countries that have already done so.”

Sources- Amnesty International, AHN, BBC News, IPS, FOX News, JURIST

Image- MSNBC