Daily Headlines: October 24, 2016

* Brazil: A new poll found that a plurality of Brazilians back former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to return to the presidency in the 2018 elections, assuming he does not get jailed over corruption charges related to the “Lava Jato” probe.

* Mexico: Lawyers for imprisoned Sinaloa drug gang leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman might be using his purportedly worsening health in order to prevent his extradition to the United States.

* Uruguay: A supporters group advocating for ex-Guantanamo prison detainee Abu Wa'el Dhiab claimed he ended his 68-day-long hunger strike and will reportedly travel from Uruguay to another country.

* Central America: According to Médecins Sans Frontières, around two out of three Central American migrants journeying through Mexico has been the victim of at least one “violent attack.”

YouTube Source – euronews (From september 2016: “Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is to stand trial for allegedly accepting over one million dollars (800,000 euros) in bribes in connection with the corruption scandal at the state-run oil firm Petrobras.”)
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Sputnik International, The Washington Post, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: September 28, 2016

* Peru: Vladimiro Montesinos, the shady former Peruvian intelligence chief who was instrumental in the rise and fall of Alberto Fujimori from the presidency, was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison for the kidnapping and burning of three people.

* Panama: Panamanian officials formally sought the extradition from the United States (US) of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli who is accused of using public funds for illegal surveillance.

* Puerto Rico: US Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen warned that Puerto Rico is facing a fiscal crisis and claimed it’s up to Congress or the White House to formulate an adequate solution.

* Latin America: The Pan American Health Organization declared the Americas are free from all endemic cases of measles “after years of intense efforts to vaccinate children under the age of five.”

YouTube Source – Journeyman Pictures (Documentary from December 2003.)

Online Sources – UPI, Reuters, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: September 15, 2016

* Latin America: Former Guantanamo detainee Abu Wa'el Dhiab woke up from a coma following the effects of a hunger strike, while Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas said he was duped by a fake website into halting his fast.

* Mexico: Extradition hearings against imprisoned drug capo Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are expected to start on September 26th though the process could take years to carry out.

* Venezuela: The Vatican confirmed its mediation in the tense and deep political division in Venezuela between the government and the opposition.

* Brazil: Ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva claimed he was a “victim of extremely serious illegalities” after prosecutors charged him with corruption as part of the “Lava Jato” probe.

YouTube Source – Marti Noticias (Guillermo Fariñas halted his latest hunger strike, the twenty-fifth such protest by the Cuban dissident, on Monday after more than two months).

Online Sources – ABC News, Fox News Latino, El Pais, BBC News, CNN

Daily Headlines: May 23, 2016 (Updated)

* Mexico: The Mexican Foreign Ministry approved the extradition of imprisoned drug capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to the U.S. though legal appeals could delay the transfer for months.

* Venezuela: The largest military exercise in Venezuelan history took place over the weekend amid increased discontent over the ailing economy and heightened political tensions.

* U.S.: A recent poll of nearly 900 Latino voters have showed respondents overwhelmingly prefer Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

* Argentina: Will Argentina’s top diplomat, Susana Malcorra, be the successor to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon after he steps down on New Year’s Day 2017?

Update: The head of the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alicia Barcena of Mexico, could be another female option to be the next Secretary General. (Link in Spanish).


YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Business Insider, The Latin Americanist, UPI, SBS, The New York Times, Economiahoy.mx

Daily Headlines: May 20, 2016

* Brazil: Jose Dirceu, a former aid to ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was among ten people sentenced to prison for their role in the “Lava Jato” corruption scandal.

* Colombia: Will drug maker Novartis accede to a Colombian government request to lower the price of imatinib in order to keep its monopoly on the cancer medication in the South American country?

* Chile: Chile’s Supreme Court urged that the U.S. extradite three former security agents believed to have been involved in the 1976 kidnapping, torture and murder of a U.N. official.

* Argentina: Argentina’s opposition-led legislature handed President Mauricio Macri a defeat by approving a proposal to prevent mass layoffs.

YouTube Source – France 24 (Then-President Dilma Rousseff last March failed in her attempt to install her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as her chief of staff.)
 
Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, Vice News, Reuters, Nasdaq

Daily Headlines: May 17, 2016

* Peru: Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori has come under fire roughly three weeks prior to a runoff over allegations that a close ally of hers is under investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

* Brazil: Beleaguered Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras, which last week reported a first quarter loss of $358 million, has dropped from having been a “major player” in the floating production systems market.

* Haiti: The African Union next month will admit Haiti as the bloc’s first non-African member in a move expected to boost the economy of the Caribbean nation.

* Mexico: A second Mexican judge approved the extradition request from U.S. prosecutors to possibly extradite imprisoned drug cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded last April).
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, MercoPress, The Latin Americanist, GlobalPost, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: May 9, 2016

* U.S.: Immigration authorities in the U.S. might grant Temporary Protected Status to the members of the Ecuadoran expat community in the wake of a major earthquake last month in the South American country.

* Mexico: Does the transfer of Sinaloa drug cartel head Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to a prison in Ciudad Juarez mean that he will soon be extradited to the U.S.?

* South America: The border dispute between Bolivia and Chile heated up after President Evo Morales claimed that the Chilean military established a base near the disputed Silala River.

* El Salvador: Mauricio Funes of El Salvador could soon be the next former Central American president to face a trial over potential corruption.

YouTube Source – AFP (At least 660 people died following a 7.8-magintude earthquake on April 16, 2016 that devastated areas of Ecuador near the Pacific coast).
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latin, The Atlantic, Deutsche Welle, JURIST

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2016

* Brazil: Police charged officials with companies including Vale SA and BHP Billiton over a November 2015 dam collapse that caused major environmental damage in southeast Brazil.

* Mexico: Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez and U.S. Justice Department officials supposedly met on Tuesday in order to advance the possible extradition of reprehended drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

* Cuba: Cuba allegedly received over 3.5 million tourists last year including a 76% increase in visitors from the U.S.

* Colombia: World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called on the international community to guarantee greater financial assistance to Colombia as it tries to reach a peace deal and end decades of armed conflict.

YouTube Source – ODN

Online Sources – Yahoo News, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Jamaica Observer

Daily Headlines: November 16, 2015

* Argentina: Mauricio Macri and Daniel Scioli sparred in a head-to-head televised debate held one week before the November 22nd presidential runoff.

* Latin America: At least five Mexican and Chilean nationals were among the 129 fatalities from last Friday’s attacks in Paris, while security was reinforced at the Panama Canal following the incidents in France.

* Brazil: Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha could be the next head to roll as part of the investigations into corruption among Brazil’s political elite.

* Mexico: Mexican officials extradited suspected Sinaloa drug gang trafficker Gastelum Serrano to the U.S. though the cartel’s chief, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, continues to be on the lam.

YouTube Source – AFP 

Online Sources – Reuters, The Inquisitr, Fox News Latino, Deutsche Welle

Daily Headlines: September 14, 2015

* Mexico: The Mexican government condemned the deaths of at least two nationals killed when the Egyptian military attacked a tour group allegedly mistaken for a terrorist convoy.

* Latin America: Several Latin American countries including Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico are considering following the lead of Argentina and Uruguay by welcoming refugees from war-torn Syria.

* South America: Colombia’s Foreign Ministry is expected to lodge a formal complaint over the incursion of two Venezuelan military planes into Colombian territory.

* Peru: One of Peru’s most wanted suspected drug traffickers, Gerald Oropeza Lopez, was extradited from Ecuador where he was caught after spending four months on the lam.

YouTube Source – euronews
 
Online Sources – The Atlantic, International Business Times, The Guardian, UPI

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: July 3, 2015

* Colombia: The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found that coca cultivation in Colombia increased by 44% in 2014.

* Brazil: The Brazilian Congress rejected a bill that would have allowed criminals as young as 16 to be tried as adults and potentially sent to overcrowded adult prisons.

* Venezuela: The Spanish government will seek from Venezuela the extradition of a convicted member of Basque separatist group ETA.

* Mexico: Human rights investigators accused the Mexican army of the extrajudicial killings of drug gang suspects including twenty-two people in Tlatlaya last year.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – BBC News, teleSUR English, ABC News, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: September 15, 2014

* Mexico: Hurricane Odile swept through parts of the Baja California peninsula early this morning with 125 mile per hour winds and dumping a “mind-boggling” eleven inches of rain in the span of an hour.

* Cuba: Some 165 Cuban medical professionals will be sent to parts of Africa ravaged by a deadly Ebola outbreak.

* Brazil: FIFA admitted that senior officials with the world soccer governing body illegally received Swiss watches worth $25,000 after arriving in Brazil for this year’s World Cup.

* Colombia: The extradition process between Colombia and the U.S. has been called into question when a recently released “humble carpenter” was mistaken for a drug smuggler and held in prison for six months.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube 

Online Sources – NBC News; Associated Press; GlobalPost; InSight Crime

Weekend Headlines: July 26-27, 2014 (Updated)

* Venezuela: Former Venezuelan military intelligence chief Gen. Hugo Carvajal was arrested in Aruba could soon be extradited to the U.S. where he’s charged with drug trafficking and collaborating with Colombian rebels.

Update: Much to the disappointment of the U.S. State Department, Cavajal was released Sunday and returned to a "hero's welcome" in Caracas.

* Mexico: Rosa del Carmen Verduzco, the owner of a Mexican shelter recently raided by the authorities, denied allegations of sexual abuse against hundreds of residents but admitted to hitting children as a means of “correcting” them.

* Peru: The executive board of state-owned oil company Petroperu was reshuffled after it was revealed that children were employed to clean an oil spill.

* Brazil: Brazil's National Indian Foundation claimed that they made contact with an isolated indigenous group near the border with Peru that has been hurt by disease and violent attacks.

Video Source – CNN en Español via YouTube (The Venezuelan government has accused the U.S. of orchestrating the “kidnapping” of Hugo Carvajal, the head of military intelligence from 2004-2008 during late president Hugo Chavez' rule).
 
Online Sources including Update – Fox News Latino; Los Angeles Times; The Latin Americanist; VOXXI; Reuters; ABC News

U.S. to Seek Extradition of Drug Capo “El Chapo”

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán is behind bars in a Mexican prison days after he was apprehended in a predawn raid.  How long he will remain in his native homeland is unknown as U.S. prosecutors and politicians have expressed their desire to see the Sinaloa drug cartel leader extradited north of the border.

“We plan to seek his extradition,” said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the US attorney's office in Brooklyn.

“This guy, he ran a global enterprise, so he’s big. He’s as big as Pablo Escobar,” Nardoza said to TIME magazine. “He may wind up being charged in Mexico first. We don’t know what the time line is and how exactly this is going to proceed … He’s facing a lot of time in prison based on the charges we’ve brought against him.”

Prosecutors in New York may have to compete with their counterparts in Chicago where investigators in 2013 named Guzmán as “Public Enemy No. 1.”

“I think we have the strongest case,” Jack Riley, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration n Chicago, said on Saturday. “I fully intend for us to have him tried here.”

In addition, Rep. Mike McCaul also advocated for the extradition of Guzmán, which he claims as necessary due to corruption in Mexico and Guzmán’s successful prison escape in 2001.

“This is the largest, biggest drug lord we’ve ever seen in the world,” the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said yesterday.  “I would ask that the Mexicans consider extraditing him to the United States, where he would be put into a super-max prison under tight security, where he cannot escape”.

An obstacle to a possible extradition of Guzmán is that he faces indictments from at least seven U.S. federal district courts on charges related to his leadership of the violent Sinaloa cartel. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder highlighted how “(we) were able to work effectively with Mexico through the cooperative relationship that U.S. law-enforcement agencies have with their Mexican counterparts.”  Yet it’s unknown if Holder would press for extradition to San Diego, Texas, Brooklyn or other areas where “El Chapo” could stand trial.

In addition, Mexican law enforcement officials might be reluctant to extradite Guzmán since he faces charges in Mexico.  Thus far, the Mexican government has yet to respond to any request for extradition though Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Eduardo Medina Mora mentioned, “it is important that (Guzmán) first face the charges against him in Mexico’s courts.”

Daily Headlines: July 9, 2013

* Mexico: Mexico has become the world’s fattest industrialized nation according to several estimates including a report released last month from the World Health Organization.

* Costa Rica: A reform to Costa Rica 's Young Persons Law could mean that gay marriage is legal though it remains to be seen if the courts will overturn it.

* Argentina: Several U.S. legislators are upset that the Argentine government will not allow a special prosecutor investigating the 1994 AMIA bombing to testify in front of a Congressional committee.

* Colombia: Suspected drug lord Daniel "El Loco" Barrera was extradited this morning from Colombia to the U.S. where he faces trial in New York and Florida.

Video Source – YouTube via Deutsche Welle 

Online Sources- New York Daily News; MercoPress; ABC News; Tico Times

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: September 13, 2012

* Peru: On the twentieth anniversary of the capture of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzman, President Ollanta Humala said that he will not negotiate with the guerillas.

* Cuba: Cuban officials said that they would be willing to talk with the U.S. government over possibly releasing imprisoned contractor Alan Gross.

* Latin America: Latin American governments condemned the violent attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya that left four people including Ambassador Christopher Stevens dead.

* El Salvador: Ex-senior Salvadoran military officer Inocente Orlando Montano pled guilty in the U.S. to immigration fraud and could be extradited to Spain over his alleged role in the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- NPR, RTT, Reuters, infosurhoy.com, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: August 9, 2012

* Colombia: Jairo Varela, the founder and leader of renowned salsa band Grupo Niche, died at the age of 62 due to an apparent heart attack.

* Guatemala: A former Guatemalan military commander accused of taking part in the infamous Dos Erres massacre could soon be extradited from Canada to the U.S. where he awaits trial.

* Brazil: The federal legislature backed an affirmative action-like law that supporters hope will increase Afro-Brazilian enrollment in universities.

* Mexico: Archeologists have supposedly found an ancient Aztec burial site containing a skeleton surrounded by nearly 1800 human bones.

Video Source – YouTube via juanitolinares

Online Sources- Billboard, The Latin Americanist, CBC News, BBC News, Huffington Post

Weekend Headlines: March 11, 2012

* Brazil: A report in the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper today claimed that federal prosecutors are looking into over 150 cases of disappeared people during a twenty-year period of military rule.

* Argentina: Buenos Aires officials announced that Tuesday would be the reopening of a street that had been closed after a nightclub fire in 2004 but near the site of a rail accident last month.

* Venezuela: According to intelligence cables unearthed by Wikileaks, senior Venezuelan military officials urged the extradition of suspected drug trafficker Walid Makled to neighboring Colombia instead of the U.S.

* Mexico: Could there be a link between 167 decomposed bodies recently found in a southern Mexican cave and Guatemala’s civil war?

Video Source – YouTube via gaires

Online Sources- Boston.com, Buenos Aires Herald, The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald, MSNBC