Daily Headlines: October 31, 2016

* Venezuela: Venezuela’s weakened economy is to blame for lowered output at Cuba's joint oil refinery with PDVSA, while government officials and opposition figures from the south American country met in discussions aimed at quelling rising political tensions.

* El Salvador: Ex-President Tony Saca was arrested over the weekend over the alleged embezzlement of an estimated $5 million dollars in public funds and, thus, became the latest former Salvadoran leader to be accused of corruption while in office.

* Mexico: Compatriots Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez did not fare well during the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Mexico held for the second straight year in Mexico City.

* Brazil: Students at more than 1100 high schools and universities occupied their respective educational institutions last week to protest policies under President Michel Temer.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Xinhua, Al Jazeera English, Newsweek, BBC Sport, Latin American Herald Tribune

Daily Headlines: September 23, 2016

* United States: A new report estimated that one million Latinos are expected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease by 2030, which could lead to a cash crunch for families who “are among the least resourced to deal with the financial demand Alzheimer's places on households and on family caregivers.”

* Brazil: Brazilian officials unveiled a controversial education reform that would ironically drop physical education as an obligatory subject in high school despite the national fervor caused by the recent Olympics and Paralympics competitions in Rio de Janeiro.

* Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan government strongly rejected a proposal being considered by the United States (US) Congress that would prevent the Central American country from receiving international loans unless political reforms are made.

* Cuba: Several Latin American leaders at the United Nations General Assembly including the business-friendly presidents of Mexico and Peru called for the elimination of the US trade embargo. 

YouTube Source – National Council of La Raza

Online Sources – NBC News, Xinhua, Retuers, The Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2016

* El Salvador: El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional an amnesty law protecting individuals suspected of committing crimes linked to the civil war from 1980 to 1992.

* Brazil: The recession battering Brazil has worsened with May showing the worst level of economic activity in more than six years.

* Mexico: The Mexican government announced changes to a teacher evaluation program following protests by educators arguing that the exams adversely affect rural communities with few resources.

* Peru: Environmentalists and opposition lawmakers will likely push back against President-elect Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s plan to lower air quality standards in order to boost investment in mining.

YouTube Source – Catholic News Service (The 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero could be one of the cases reopened after a top court declared a civil war crimes amnesty as unconstitutional).

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Xinhua, Latin American Herald Tribune, Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2016

* Haiti: The State Department pledged support by the United States to Haiti despite suspending financial help to the Caribbean country’s troublesome election process.

* Latin America: The quality of higher education in Latin America has been unable to meet the growing demand for a university education, according to new research.

* El Salvador: Ten people including five police officers were arrested over allegedly participating in a death squad linked to the deaths of forty suspected gang members in El Salvador.

* Mexico: Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto called the North American Free Trade Agreement a “win-win mechanism” for job creation and economic growth for his country, the United States and Canada.

YouTube Source – AJ+ (From January 20, 2016: “Protesters calling for fresh elections clashed with riot police in Haiti as the presidential run-off vote looms.”)
 
Online Sources – The Washington Post, Fox News Latino, The Hill, Times Higher Education

Daily Headlines: May 25, 2016

* Cuba: The Cuban government announced a plan to legalize small and medium-sized private businesses following the success of allowing self-employment in areas like restaurant ownership and hairdressing.

* Colombia: At least three journalists have gone missing and a rumored to have been kidnapped by rebels in a region of northeast Colombia devastated by armed conflict.

* Guatemala: Officials of the neighboring countries of Guatemala and Belize reportedly agreed to coordinate the training of their troops following the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy in a border region.

* Chile: Security guards at Chile’s presidential palace in Santiago clashed with student protesters seeking greater reforms to the educational system.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded in April 2015).
 
Online Sources – ABC News, BBC News, GlobalPost, Reuters

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2016

* Puerto Rico: Relief may finally arrive for Puerto Rico after House Republicans and the Obam administration agreed to a proposal that would help restructure the commonwealth’s $70 billion debt.

* Argentina: The revelations from the Panama Papers leak may have been an embarrassment for Panama and Argentine President Mauricio Macri but it could help alleviate the South American country’s financial woes.

* U.S.: A Government Accountability Office study released last Tuesday found that U.S. public schools have become more racially segregated including an increase in the percentage of Latino children enrolled in “impoverished K-12 public schools.”

* Mexico: Mexican authorities rescued 271 people, including 112 minors, of an overcrowded drug rehab clinic where patients were reportedly tortured and grossly mistreated.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour
 
Online Sources – NBC News, UPI, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: January 28, 2016

* Brazil: A new spill has been reported at the same mine where a landslide of toxic sludge last November was deemed as the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history.

* Latin America: Should women avoid pregnancy in order to halt the spread of the Zika virus or is such a warning unnecessary?

* U.S.: A new study noted an increase in Latino college enrollment though most head to Hispanic-Serving Institutions found in a limited number of states.

* Mexico: Legislators in Mexico’s Congress began a series of discussions this week that could open the door to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

YouTube Source – euronews (At least seventeen people died after the Samarco dam mine in southwest Brazil overflowed last year).

Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune, ABC News, Reuters, NBC News, Quartz

Daily Headlines: January 22, 2016 (Updated)

* Latin America: A World Bank study warned that the number of youth in Latin America who are not in school or employed (“ninis”) has grown since 1992.

* Haiti: President Michel Martelly confirmed that the controversial runoff election for his successor will take place this Sunday and ruled out opposition calls to back a transitional government.

Update (January 23rd, 12:20 AM): Haitian electoral officials postponed the January 24th runoff due to "a deteriorating security environment and threats to the electoral process." The election has thus been delayed for a third time after originally being scheduled for December 27, 2015.

* Mexico: The Mexican government reported that homicides increased in 2015 for the first time in four years though other serious crimes like kidnapping and extortion decreased.

* South America: Bolivia and Ecuador are among the eight countries added to a Centers for Disease Control travel advisory warning due to the spreading Zika virus.

YouTube Source – CCTV America 

Online Sources – The Guardian, Mashable, France 24, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: December 31, 2015

* Chile: Education reform activists including those participating in protests since 2011 won a key victory when Congress approved a law last week dropping tuition for most state universities.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan opposition leaders blasted a high court ruling blocking the election of four legislators to the National Assembly and, thus, preventing a critical two-thirds supermajority for anti-government forces.

* Puerto Rico: 2016 will not start of well for Puerto Rico’s finances after Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla admitted that the commonwealth will default on $37 million of its $72 billion in public debt.

* Mexico: According to the Los Angeles Times, the relaxing of marijuana laws in several U.S. states has led to reduced earnings for Mexican drug gangs.

YouTube Source – AFP (Video uploaded in June 2015).
 
Online Sources – ABC News, Latin American Herald Tribune, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times

Daily Headlines: December 17, 2015

* Colombia: Retired Colombian army coronel Alfonso Plazas Vega might sue the state after the Supreme Court overturned his thirty-year prison sentence related to the 1985 Palace of Justice siege.

* U.S.: New data showed that the Latino high school graduation rate improved by 5.3% over three years to 76.3% for the 2013-2014 period.

* Cuba: Cuba and the U.S. agreed to an air travel deal that will allow commercial airlines to legally run some thirty flights to and from the island.

* Brazil: A Brazilian judge lifted a temporary ban that suspended the use of the WhatsApp social messaging program for twelve hours.

YouTube Source – AFP (Last October, “the remains of three Colombian women who vanished in fighting when leftist rebels briefly captured the Justice Palace in 1985 are identified”).
 
Online Sources – Yahoo News, Latina, ABC News, Quartz

Daily Headlines: November 17, 2015

* Venezuela: Recent polls show that the opposition would more than likely retake the Venezuelan legislature following Congressional elections on December 6th.

* Latin America: Several hundred protesters in Rio de Janeiro marched last week against a proposal to restrict abortions in Brazil, while a conservative backlash is sounding off against a plan to legalize first trimester abortions in Colombia.

* Argentina: A $15 billion agreement was reached on Sunday that would allow China to build two nuclear power plants in Argentina.

* U.S.: The number of students from Latin American and the Caribbean enrolled in U.S. universities jumped by 19% last year to 86,378 according to a new survey.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded on July 2015).
 
Online Sources – Folha.com, U.S. News & World Report, Christian Science Monitor, MercoPress, Vice News

Daily Headlines: October 16, 2015

* Chile: Thousands of students took to the streets of Santiago in a protest against President Michelle Bachelet’s planned educational reforms.

* Venezuela: Opposition politician Manuel Rosales was arrested after returning from exile, while a bipartisan group of U.S. Congressmen from Florida have proposed granting immigration relief to Venezuelan expats.

* Latin America: An investigation in the GlobalPost news website followed three U.S. priests accused of sexual abuse who fled to Latin America and continued practicing their faith.

* Mexico: Mexican TV network Televisa revealed unauthorized footage of the escape of fugitive drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman that casts doubts on the official government version of events.

YouTube Source – Reuters

Online Sources – teleSUR English, Deutsche Welle, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fox News Latino, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: July 31, 2015

* El Salvador: Salvadoran authorities are doing too little to protect thousands of children under threat from gang violence according to “U.S.-based advocacy group” Refugees International.

* Mexico: A Mexican judge approved a request to extradite fugitive drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the U.S., while 80% of Mexicans in a recent poll doubted the official version of his July 11th escape from prison.

* Venezuela: Soldiers took over the warehouse complex of Venezuela’s largest food distributor, Empresas Polar, amid shortages of basic goods in grocery stores.

* Brazil: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced nearly $600 million in extra education spending cuts amid government attempts to turn around a lagging economy.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (“The transportation strike enforced by street gangs in San Salvador and surrounding areas continues and has become more violent, with a 7th bus driver killed (on July 29th).”)

Online Sources – Houston Chronicle, Reuters, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: June 16, 2015

* Colombia: "What you can do, count on us," exclaimed Pope Francis who offered to help with peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC that have continued amid a recent rebel offensive.

* Mexico: Education authorities dropped “costly and cumbersome” requirements for hundreds of thousands of foreign-born children attending Mexican schools.

* Brazil: As part of the debate over youth crime in Brazil, legislators are expected to vote this month on a controversial proposal to lower the age a suspect can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro indicated that meetings this weekend between officials from his country and the U.S. could help improve bilateral diplomatic relations.

YouTube Source – euronews (Colombia’s FARC guerrillas have gone on a violent offensive since ending their unilateral ceasefire nearly one month ago).

Online Sources – ABC News, Fox News Latino, UPI, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2015

* Colombia: A state of emergency was declared for areas of northwest Colombia ravaged by a landslide that killed at least sixty-two villagers and wiped out several rural communities.

* Argentina: Ex-Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati strongly rejected his country’s alleged role in the 1994 bombing of an Argentine Jewish cultural center that left eighty-five people dead.

* Puerto Rico: Several hundred protesters marched in opposition to an estimated $249 million in budget cuts to education and a proposed new value added tax.

* Venezuela: The U.S. is reportedly probing senior Venezuelan government officials including congressional chief Diosdado Cabello over possible drug trafficking and money laundering.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Yahoo News, The Guardian, Fox News Latino, Reuters

Daily Headlines: May 1, 2015

* Cuba: “We will only advance toward the normalization of bilateral relations (with the U.S.) on a basis of respect for the sovereignty…which includes the lifting of the blockade,” declared the lone speaker at Cuba’s annual May Day parade today.

* Venezuela: Ex-Brazilian President Henrique Cardoso, former Mexican leader Felipe Calderon and 24 other heads of state signed an open letter to the Venezuelan government urging the release of imprisoned opposition activists.

* Nicaragua: Lawmakers in Nicaragua approved a proposal that would allow Russia to build satellite bases on the Central American country.

* Brazil: Police in Curitiba have clashed twice with teachers protesting a planned reform to the pension and retirement system of public employees.

YouTube Source – teleSUR (Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro joined Cuban leader Raul Castro and thousands of other attendees at the annual May Day parade in Havana on Friday.)
 
Online Sources – Bernama, Yahoo! News, BBC News, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: April 17, 2015

* Chile: Tens of thousands of university students marched in Chile yesterday to protest against growing corruption scandals and to call for stronger education reform.

* Brazil: Police in Rio de Janeiro evicted 100 squatters from a building that was supposed to be converted into a luxury hotel for the 2016 Olympics.

* Argentina: Argentine minister Daniel Filmus announced that the government started legal proceedings to prevent British firms from oil drilling near the disputed Falkland Islands.

* Mexico: Approximately 2.5 million children reportedly work in Mexico including nearly one out of every five farmworkers.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Bloomberg, The Globe and Mail, Latin American Herald Tribune, BBC News

Daily Headlines: March 26, 2015

* Argentina: In the latest chapter in the dispute over the Falklands, Argentine government officials blasted British plans to increase their military presence on the archipelago.

* Costa Rica: The Costa Rican ambassador to Venezuela, Federico Picado Gómez, was recalled from his post after expressing his support for recent decree powers given to President Nicolás Maduro.

* Brazil: The Brazilian real has lost approximately 17% against the U.S. dollar so far in 2015 and, thus, is “the worst performing major currency this year.”

* Bolivia: A book compiling “all of Bolivia's arguments regarding recovering sovereign access to the sea from Chile” will become an official text used in the landlocked state’s educational system.

YouTube Source – The Times of India

Online Sources – Reuters, Tico Times, The Latin Americanist, Fox News Latino and Bloomberg

Marchers Rally for Missing Mexican Students

A series of marches are taking place today in several cities to repudiate the disappearance of forty-three students in Mexico’s Guerrero state.

With the theme of “Por Ayotzinapa, tod@s a la calle” (“Everyone take to the streets for Ayotzinapa”) a coalition of civil organizations behind the rallies urged protesters to carry candles and dress in black as signs of solidarity with the recent victims  of violence in Guerrero.

An estimated 20,000 marchers have shut down one of the main highways in Guerrero as they make their way to the governor’s residence in the state capital city of Chilpancingo.  The protesters include students from the region, professors and family members of the forty-three students from a teacher training college that have been missing since the evening of September 26th. 

Scores of marchers are gathering near Mexico City’s iconic Angel of Independence monument as part of their peaceful protest today.

Other rallies took place around the world including Barcelona where some 100 people demonstrated while wore masks of the disappeared students and held signs calling for an end to perceived impunity in the investigation.  Demonstrates in Los Angeles presented a letter to the Mexican consul in that city urging officials to punish those responsible for the killings in Guerrero two weeks ago.

On September 26th, armed men from the town of Iguala fired upon some 120 students while they were riding local buses back to their school in Ayotzinapa.  Local police chased those students who were able to escape the attack and are believed to have fired at them.

“They were hitting the students as they took them. People were also scared about being shot so they gave themselves up. They thought they would just be arrested. But something else awaited them,” said Eusebio, one of the survivors of the attack in Iguala.  

Eusebio claimed that police officers and men in plainclothes with rifles ambushed them while none of the students were armed. The next day, he alleged to have encountered the faceless corpse of one of the students who was allegedly detained by the attacking mob.

Daily Headlines: August 22, 2014

* Venezuela: Is President Nicolás Maduro’s plan to implement a mandatory fingerprinting system in supermarkets a useful tool to combat food shortages and smuggling or a desperate attempt to reverse his tumbling approval rating?

* Argentina: In the latest chapter of the legal tug-of-war between Argentina and holdout creditors, the U.S. judge overseeing the dispute declared as “illegal” a debt swap plan proposed by President Cristina Fernandez.

* Chile: Police in Santiago clashed with a handful of the tens of thousands of protesters calling on President Michelle Bachelet to accelerate education reforms.

* Bolivia: Bolivian officials claimed that the country’s main state oil firm was Latin America's second most profitable oil company ahead of the likes of PDVSA, Petrobras and YPF.

Video Source – NTDTV via YouTube
 
Online Sources – BBC News; Bloomberg; Globalpost; Reuters; The State