Daily Headlines: July 24, 2008

* Cuba: The video of Omar Khadr’s interrogation at Guantanamo may’ve been controversial but 78% of Canadians said that the video didn’t change their opinions on his case.

* Venezuela: The Chavez administration rejected reports claiming that Russia will be allowed to have military bases in Venezuela.

* Argentina: President Cristina Kirchner is presiding over a Cabinet reshuffle in the wake of last week’s tax plan rejection.

* Haiti: Haitian children remain in high risk of being abused despite improved security according to a U.N. report.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Bloomberg, Xinhua, National Post, UPI

Image- New York Times (“A 2003 video of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 16 at the time, during an interrogation at Guantánamo Bay.”)

Daily Headlines: July 18, 2008

* Argentina: The country’s Senate voted by a razor-thin one vote margin in favor of farmers and against a government-backed plan to raise export taxes.

* Panama: Geologists have found hundreds of animal fossils which could help explain how the American continent was formed.

* Brazil: Thousands of striking workers of state-run oil firm Petrobras may soon expand their strike across the country.

* Cuba: Has Cuba been “working around the U.S. internet embargo” by secretly cooperating with Venezuela?

Image- New York Times (“Farmers in Buenos Aires on Thursday celebrated the rejection by the Argentinean senate of the grain-export tax package.”)

Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Bloomberg, Slashdot

Argentina: Gov’t, farmers to rally over tax measure

With one day before Argentina’s legislature votes on a government-backed farm tax plan, separate rallies have been planned for and against the measure in Buenos Aires. Former President Nestor Kirchner is expected to lead one event this afternoon in support of his wife’s proposal to raise taxes on farm exports. Shortly afterwards, rural groups will have their own protest against the government in the northern Palermo neighborhood.

The controversy over farm taxes has been going on for several months and has included several strikes and blockades. Tomorrow’s vote is expected to be a very close one as tensions have grown over the debate:

“We are going head to head on this,'' (opposition Senator Maria Eugenia) Estenssoro told reporters in Buenos Aires yesterday. ``We want senators to vote their conscience and do what their supporters are asking of them''…

(Argentine president Cristina Kirchner) says $1.5 billion additional revenue generated by the increased taxes on grains and oilseeds will help Argentina build more hospitals and roads.

Image- lanacion.com

Sources (English)- Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist

Sources (Spanish)- Clarin, La Razon

Daily Headlines: June 24, 2008

* Argentina: The Argentine Congress will debate a controversial tariff plan that has pitted farmers vs. the government and threatens to plunge the country into economic chaos.

* Mexico: Mexico City's police have come under fire for their role in a nightclub stampede which killed twelve people.

* Ecuador: The country’s constitutional assembly chief resigned after claiming that there’s not enough time to rewrite the constitution.

* Colombia: In a video released over the weekend, a Colombian hostage blamed both the government and guerillas for their “cruelty and barbarism” in not reaching a humanitarian agreement.

Image- Los Angeles Times (“Argentines protest in Buenos Aires last week. Middle-class people worried about rising prices have sided with farmers in their dispute with the government over the tariff.”)

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, chicagotribune.com, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 21, 2008

* Latin America: A new study found that cervical cancer kills 33,000 women yearly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

* Argentina: Farmers upset with government economic policies plan to stop their second national strike since early April.

* Mexico: Authorities are on high alert after the recent murders of a Canadian and possibly four U.S. citizens in separate incidents.

* Peru: A local paper alleged that former president Alberto Fujimori is enjoying numerous luxuries while he sits in jail.

Sources (English)- New York Times, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Vancouver Sun

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo

Image- Sydney Morning Herald (Photo of an Australian woman receiving a cervical caner vaccine)

Argentine farmers strike again

Thousands of Argentine farmers went on strike today over tax increases on food exports. Protesting farmers have withheld crops and blocked the progress of trucks as the end came to a 30-day truce created after a previous strike. That stoppage lasted three weeks and led to food shortages throughout Argentina.

Government officials have equated the farmers’ actions with “extortion” and called the strike “irresponsible.” Rural leader Alfredo De Angeli disagreed:

“We want to seriously negotiate and not to be teased or told one thing and then take that back” he said. “The only thing (the government) does is fool the people, yet the people believe in us and ask that we do not weaken our position.” - [ed. personal translation]

Image- CNN (Argentine farmers protesting against the government in March)

Sources (English)- Guardian UK, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist

Sources (Spanish)- Clarin