Daily Headlines: August 18, 2014

* U.S.: A recent study concluded that Latino characters were represented in a scant 4.9% of movies released between 2007 and 2013 and “Latinos are the most likely to be sexualized on screen, with both male and female actors more apt to be asked to be partially or fully naked.”

* Brazil: The first poll since the death last Wednesday of presidential candidate Eduardo Campos showed incumbent Dilma Rousseff in a statistical tie in a hypothetical runoff against Campos' probable replacement, environmentalist Marina Silva.

* Ecuador: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced today that he plans to “soon” leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has resided in for the past two years.

* Chile: Ricardo Izurieta, the military general who succeeded the dictatorial rule of the late Augusto Pinochet, died Sunday at age 71.

Video Source – YouTube user MOVIECLIPS  (Scene from the 2011 ALMA Award-winning film "A Better Life").

Online Sources – The A.V. Club; NBC News; The Latin Americanist; The Huffington Post; Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: August 13, 2014

* Ecuador: At least two people are dead and several more are trapped by a landslide caused by a 5.1-magnitude earthquake near Quito, Ecuador yesterday.
 
* Chile: A group of armed gunmen stole over $10 million from an armored vehicle in what has been reported as the largest robbery in the Chile's history.

* Brazil: Officials at the Sao Paulo state Education Department have come under fire after posting a job opening that requires female applicants to undergo genealogical exams.

* Colombia: According to the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights more than 400,000 Colombian refugees affected by armed conflict have fled to other countries.

Video Source – NTDTV via YouTube

Online Sources – The Guardian; BBC News; The Huffington Post; Colombia Reports

Colombian Gov’t Protest “Offensive” World Cup Comments

Colombia may be playing outstandingly well at the World Cup in Brazil, but that hasn’t stopped several public figures from making insulting comments being about the South American nation.

On the same day that Colombia finished its final group game with a third consecutive win, the Colombian government sent a letter of protest to Australians radio station Triple M regarding the “denigrating and offensive” remarks recently made on the air by two of the station’s DJs.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry (CFM) “requested that according to Australian radio’s Code of Practices…that the radio station apologize and punish” Matt Tilley and Joe Hildebrand for “discriminatory” comments made on their June 18th program. 

On the date in question one of the presenters wondered “is Colombia really famous for its coffee?” to which his partner replied, “Are you suggesting there is another stimulant with (the letter) ‘c’ that Colombia is more famous for?”

Later one of them asserted, “It seems to me that if you mention Colombia the one thing they mention is ‘cocaine’” while the other man said several colloquialisms for the drug.

“You know, everybody (in Colombia) has it, sells it…I thought I wonder if that is true or if it offends Colombian people who go ‘You know what? We’re a bit more than that. We have gangs and we kill people too,’” claimed one of the pair.   

They also alluded to the death of Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar who was killed following a World Cup own goal twenty years ago and referred to ex-goalkeeper Rene Higuita’s antics as something chimpanzees can do.

Colombia: “Funeral” Honors Life and Legacy of Mandela (Updated)

A countless number of tributes in honor of ex-South African president Nelson Mandela have come from around the world since he passed away last Thursday.  Latin American leaders and Nobel Laureates such as Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Oscar Arias praised the iconic anti-apartheid campaigner who died at the age of 95.   Meanwhile, one of the most unique celebrations of Mandela’s life and legacy took place in a Colombian neighborhood named after him.

Last weekend, dozens of residents of the Nelson Mandela neighborhood of Cartagena held a vigil and “symbolic funeral” in his name. 

Religious leaders, community activists and admirers of the late leader took part in the activities that included an honorary mass and a funeral march with a coffin representing Mandela.  They chanted “Freedom, freedom, Nelson Mandela you are freedom” as they walked to a local soccer field.

“We wanted to do this symbolic funeral in order to remember with each step the achievements of our South Africa leader,” said Abad Berrio, one of the attendees.

“We’re getting together to remember him and teach the children what he represented as well as the peace we hope to achieve,” Berrio added.

The neighborhood was founded on the day Mandela was elected as president of South Africa in December 1994.  Most of the 40,000 residents are Afro-Colombians and had been displaced from other parts of the country mired in a decades-long armed conflict.  Yet the Barrio Nelson Mandela is one of the most impoverished and crime-ridden neighborhoods in Cartagena with residents suffer from poor social services and in absence of urgent medical care.

The problems of the Mandela neighborhood have not gone unnoticed by local civic leaders like Wailer Herrón who hope to draw encouragement from the legacy of the late activist:

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2013

Note: Posting will be very light on Monday and Tuesday.  As a result, we hope to provide additional posts starting on Wednesday and including this weekend.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
 
* Chile: Chile has become the latest epicenter for the abortion debate in Latin America due to the case of an eleven-year-old girl who became pregnant after her stepfather raped her.

* U.S.: Three former Target employees filed a lawsuit against the company alleging racial discrimination such as the writing of memos with stereotypes on “Cubans (political refugees, legal status, higher educational levels) … Mexicans (lower educational level, some may be undocumented.)”

* Guatemala: Authorities arrested four men suspected of raiding a police station last month and killing eight officers.

* Peru: A team of archeologists discovered the mummified remains of a woman believed to have been sacrificed some twelve to thirteen centuries ago.

Video Source – YouTube via user NewsyWorld

Online Sources- BusinessWeek; CNN; SBS; BBC News

Report: 4000+ Yearly Hate Crime Cases in Spain

Thousands of hate crime cases based on factors such as religion, immigration status and racial background occur in Spain each year according to a report released today.

The study from the Movement Against Intolerance (MCI, in Spanish initials) nongovernment organization concluded that at least 4000 hate crimes occur yearly in Spain.  Nevertheless, the group believes that the number of hate crimes could be much more since only 4% of all cases are conveyed to authorities.

The report has identified at least eighty hate-related homicides since 1991 and that racist groups exist in all of the country’s autonomous communities.  Furthermore, the MCI identified the existence of over 1500 “xenophobic” Spanish websites and more than 10,000 neo-Nazis and skinheads in the country.  Additionally, there has been an apparent growth in “protests of intolerance” in Spain such as four events occurring last April celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

In one case by the MCI highlighted last month that educational officials are investigating the death of a fifteen-year-old girl of Ecuadorian background living near Madrid who committed suicide allegedly after enduring heavy bullying from her classmates. 

“The other students would make her stand on the school bus even if there was an empty seat, and some of them would block her path if she wanted to use the restroom at the school ” claimed the girl’s father.

Among the recommendations made by the MCI are the prohibition of concerts and other public events promoting hatred and intolerance, greater monitoring of websites used to promote xenophobia and stronger punishments against racist sports fans.

Another suggestion made in the report is that the State should provide greater assistance to purported hate crime victims who don’t have the same protections as victims of acts of terrorism or gender-based violence:

Daily Headlines: May 30, 2013

* Brazil: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden continued his official trip to Brazil and urged the country to to further open its economy by encouraging free trade and ties to U.S. businesses.

* U.S.: Two former coaches filed a lawsuit against Major League Soccer team Chivas USA alleging that they were fired for not being Latino.

* Argentina: An Argentine prosecutor investigating the 1994 AMIA bombing claimed that Iran has “infiltrated” numerous Latin American countries with the purpose of carrying out “terrorist activities.”

* Mexico: A Mexican man became the first person in Latin America to successfully undergo a permanent implantation of an artificial heart.

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish
 
Online Sources- Reuters; CNN; LAHT; BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 9, 2013

* Chile: Thousands of students and teachers marched in Santiago, Valparaiso and other major cities resumed their protests in favor of free, high-quality education.

* U.S.: The co-author of a Heritage Foundation report criticizing immigration reform has come under fire for allegedly arguing that Hispanics have lower IQs than the "native white population."

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro visited Uruguay and Argentina as part of his “petro-diplomacy” tour of Latin America while Venezuelan opposition politicos sought support in countries like Peru and Paraguay.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis reportedly blessed leading Cuban dissident Berta Soler during a brief meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday. 

Video Source – YouTube via EFE

Online Sources- Miami Herald; USA TODAY, BBC News; ABC News

Daily Headlines: April 3, 2013

* Venezuela: Interim leader Nicolás Maduro and main opposition candidate Henrique Capriles held competing rallies yesterday as official campaigning began for Venezuela’s April 14th presidential election.

* Guatemala: Victims of sexual assault including one woman who claimed that she had found Guatemalan soldiers raping her daughter were among the latest testimony in the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.

* U.S.: Pressure from Latino media groups such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists may have been instrumental in the Associated Press’ decision to drop using the term “illegal immigrant.”

* Canada: Some forty temporary workers from Latin America received compensation five years after a Canadian court ruled in their favor in a discrimination lawsuit.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- euronews, Houston Chronicle, The Latin Americanist, The Vancouver Sun, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: December 21, 2012

* Mexico: According to the Propuesta Civica organization at least 20,851 people including over 1200 children under age eleven have gone missing in Mexico over the past six years.

* U.S.: The Justice Department filed a suit against a South Carolina sheriff accused of discriminating against Latinos including ordering officers to “go out there and get me some of those taco eaters.”

* Peru: Proceedings began this week in the trial of Shining Path rebel leader Florindo Eleuterio Flores, alias Comrade Artemio.

* Costa Rica: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that Costa Rica should overturn its ban on in vitro fertilization.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- ABC News, Washington Post, Tico Times, Kansas City Star

Daily Headlines: September 20, 2012

* South America: At least nine people died in Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia after being hit with storms that included ninety-mile-per-hour winds.

* Cuba: A group of thirty Cuban dissidents ended an eight-day hunger strike after authorities reportedly gave in to their demands.

* U.S.: A Department of Justice report found that a North Carolina sheriff routinely discriminated against Latinos including referring to Latinos as “taco eaters”.

* Costa Rica: Cases of dengue fever have reportedly shot up by 36% in Costa Rica with over 8400 people affected by the illness.

Video Source – YouTube via teleSUR

Online Sources- France24, Huffington Post, Bernama, Reuters

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 13, 2012

* Chile: President Sebastián Piñera signed an anti-discrimination bill that was rapidly approved by Congress after the March murder of young gay man.

* Venezuela: "The Bolivarian hurricane is back!" boasted President Hugo Chavez during a campaign rally yesterday, while rival Henrique Capriles said that October’s election would be “a choice between a people that want to progress and a government that wants to stay in power.”

* Mexico: A U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee found that Mexican anti-drug efforts are “largely ineffective” and urged for a greater focus on training police and judiciary.

* Brazil: Is Brazil’s stagnant economy on the road to recovery?

Video Source –YouTube via Al Jazeera English (A hate crime bill that had been stalled for years was approved weeks after the killing of Daniel Zamudio nearly four months ago).

Online Sources- Reuters, CNN, Bloomberg, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2012

* Haiti: A 19-year-old Haitian man testified at a closed-door judicial hearing against six former U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay accused of sexually assaulting him last year.

* Chile: The Chilean legislature overwhelmingly backed an anti-discrimination law that had been stalled for years but was fast-tracked after the March murder of gay teen Daniel Zamudio.

* Mexico: An American Civil Liberties Union report urged U.S. authorities to investigate complaints of abuse by Border Patrol agents against migrants and Mexican residents.

* Puerto Rico: According to a poll published this week a slim majority of Puerto Ricans back the island’s current commonwealth status.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- News24, Huffington Post, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Fox News Latino

Today’s Video: Potty Mouth

A politician from the Colombian department of Antioquia has come under fire over his use of offensive colloquialisms.

As mentioned in Colombia Reports, provincial legislator Rodrigo Mesa used silly language to describe his opposition to a program aiding the neighboring province of Choco. “The money you will invest in Choco is like adding perfume to a turd,” said the politico as seen in the following video:

“When you go to a party at someone's home, the first thing is to clean the house so when guests arrive they find an organized home. But if they find some shitty, dirty diapers everywhere they are going to criticize," added Mesa in reference to the country’s poorest department and whose residents are mostly people of African descent.

Feud Over the Falklands: Star of David

Last week we examined offshore oil drilling near the Falklands and how this has helped fuel the diplomatic tug-of-war between Argentina and Britain. Today we will briefly examine alleged anti-Semitism within the Argentine military during the Falklands War.

The recently declassified Rattenbach Report concluded that the Argentine troops “weren't adapted or equipped to handle the weather or the living conditions” in the south Atlantic during the Falklands War thirty years ago. According to journalist Hernan Dobry, Jewish troops faced additional difficulties due to their background and religious beliefs.

Daily Headlines: April 5, 2012

* Chile: Congress approved a new anti-discrimination law that had regained momentum after the murder of gay teen Daniel Zamudio.

* Cuba: At least forty-three dissidents, most of whom belong in the opposition group Patriotic Union of Cuba, have reportedly been arrested in areas near where Pope Benedict XVI visited last week.

* Brazil: Amnesty International denounced a Supreme Court ruling acquitting a suspected child rapist whose lawyers claimed that the three girl victims were “sex workers.”

* Haiti: According to the U.N. the number of cholera cases have spiked in March after several months of steady decline.

Image Source – Flickr via DILO.cl (Young Chileans taking part in a vigil last month in memory of Daniel Zamudio). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Amnesty International, The Latin Americanist, France24, The Washington Post

Daily Headlines: February 20, 2012

* Brazil: According to risk consultancy firm Maplecroft the BRIC group of economically emerging countries that includes Brazil continue to be vulnerable to a possible global crisis.

* Venezuela: In an interview with Venezuela’s El Universal, opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said that demeaning comments from President Hugo Chavez are “business as usual in a weary, big, heavy boxer.”

* Mexico: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa signed a deal for the “development of oil and gas reservoirs” in the border area in the Gulf of Mexico.

* Paraguay: Tranquilo Favero, the head of Paraguay’s largest soy producer, apologized after claiming that “you have to treat (farmworkers) like a bad woman, with a stick.”

Image Source – Flickr via Rodrigo Soldon (Photo of the Sao Paulo skyline). (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- NASDAQ, Bloomberg, ABC News, El Universal

Daily Headlines: February 6, 2012

* Panama: At least one person was killed after police clashed with indigenous protesters blockading the Pan American Highway.

* Brazil: The military have been deployed to Bahia where 10,000 members of the state police went on strike and refused to return to their posts.

* Ecuador: Chevron refused to issue a “court-mandated” public apology accepting guilt for polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon.

* U.S.: The mayor of East Haven, Connecticut refused to fire his police chief despite a federal investigation charging four officers of racial profiling and harassing Latino residents.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- CBC News, LAHT, Fox News, Global Voices Online

Daily Headlines: January 30, 2012

* South America: Funerals where held yesterday in Peru for some of the twenty-seven victims killed in a fire at a drug rehab clinic while the official death toll from last week’s office building collapse in Rio de Janeiro rose to seventeen.

* U.S.: The police chief of East Haven, Connecticut will step down from his post days after four officers where accused of racial profiling and harassing Latino residents.

* Venezuela: According to police kidnappers freed the Mexican ambassador to Venezuela and his wife this morning after they where abducted in Caracas on Sunday night.

* Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo’s medical team said that the cancer that was first diagnosed in August 2010 is now in “complete remission.”

Video Source – euronews via YouTube

Online Sources- LAHT, CNN, USA TODAY, Reuters, Voice of America