Daily Headlines: November 12, 2014

* Colombia: According to a new poll two in every three Colombians back the peace process between the government and the FARC despite the uproar over a deadly rebel attack on an indigenous community last week.

* Peru: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the recent murder of a Peruvian journalist reportedly investigating on violence caused by local gangs.

* Venezuela: A music lecturer at a British university accused Venezuela’s famed El Sistema youth music program of being “a cult, a mafia and a corporation.”

* Argentina: More than seventy banks, currency exchange locales and other financial institutions were raided as part of a tax fraud investigation.

Video Source – CCTV America via YouTube
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English; Al Jazeera English; BBC News; The Guardian; The Committee to Protect Journalists

Daily Headlines: March 26, 2014

* Mexico: The chief executive and major stakeholder of Mexican oilfield services firm Oceanografia was placed under house arrest over his suspected role in the reported defrauding of about $400 million from Citigroup.

* Panama: What connection does Panama’s independence over a century ago have to do with the Russian invasion and apparent annexation of the Crimea region?

* Cuba: The CARICOM bloc of Caribbean nations once again called for an end to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. 

* Brazil: Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a major Internet bill that did not include provisions on net neutrality or that would’ve permitted online data to be locally collected.

Video Source – YouTube user IBTimes UK

Online Sources- GlobalPost; Fox News Latino; USA TODAY; Reuters

Weekend Headlines: August 24-25, 2013

* Latin America: Uruguay held its first legal same-sex marriage on Thursday while a few fans of Brazilian soccer team Corinthians insulted Emerson over a photo of him kissing another man.

* Colombia: Months-long peace talks between Colombian government and FARC rebels were “paused” by the rebels after the country’s president recently proposed a national referendum.

* Brazil: The Brazilian real rebounded in trading on Friday after the central bank announced a $60 billion currency intervention plan that includes swaps and loans.

* Puerto Rico: Dozens of people were arrested in Puerto Rico and accused of committing widespread fraud of the Social Security Disability Insurance program.

Video Source – YouTube via user SubrayadoHD
 
Online Sources- On Top Magazine; ABC News; euronews; Bloomberg; Reuters

Bank runs hit LatAm over Stanford fraud

Billionaire tycoon Sir Allen Stanford gave himself in after F.B.I. agents found him in Virginia. Stanford has been accused of bilking customers out of over $8 billion dollars via his investment fund and other financial entities.

Stanford’s alleged scam led to bank runs in several Latin American countries and forced governments in the region to take drastic actions. Panamanian branches of Stanford bank were closed while Colombian authorities are seeking details over Stanford’s dealings in that country. Mexican officials are looking into Stanford's supposed links with violent drug gangs.

Venezuela’s government quickly intervened to “stem fears of investors”:

Venezuela has seized a local bank owned by Allen Stanford…after panicked investors withdrew millions of dollars worth of deposits.

Ali Rodriguez, the Venezuelan finance minister, said on Thursday that Stanford Bank SA would be sold and the government would back all deposits, after at least $26.5m was withdrawn in two days.

The move comes despite the Venezuelan government trying to reassure depositors that the local bank was healthy.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- AFP, Reuters, The Telegraph, BBC News, Monsters & Critics, Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: December 31, 2008

* Brazil: As Israel continues a fourth day of air strikes on Gaza, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is trying to coordinate an international diplomatic effort to stop the attacks.

* U.S.: Less than a month after Bernard Madoff’s fraud was publicized officials uncovered anther pyramid scheme that bilked thousands of investors from Florida's Haitian-American community.

* Colombia: A U.S. federal appeals court upheld a verdict absolving Drummond coal company from the murders of three Colombian labor leaders.

* Mexico: Mexican officials lifted the suspensions on meat imports from twenty U.S.-based processors.

Image- AP (“A Palestinian woman checks the damage to her house following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008”).
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, WTVM, Xinhua, Reuters

Pedro Almodóvar caught in Madoff fraud

As we mentioned several days ago, numerous financial firms in Latin America and Europe have suffered embarrassing losses after being caught up in Bernard Madoff’s pyramid scheme. For instance, Chilean brokerage house Celfin Capital SA will have its slim 2008 profits cut in half after its clients invested millions of dollars with Madoff (image).

As the outstanding Guanabee blog noted today, several celebs who did business with the Wall Street huckster have also felt the pinch:

Pedro Almodóvar and his brother Agustin had invested their production company, El Deseo, in Oyster Investments, which was itself invested in one of the funds affected by the Madoff fraud, Lux Invest. So luckily for Almodóvar, his company was only affected tangentially, although significantly. Other casualties from the fallout include Steven Spielberg (who reportedly lost “millions”) and Uma Thurman’s fiancé, businessman Arpad Busson, who lost around 160 million in the fraud.

Image- AFP
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Guanabee

Madoff scheme costly for LatAm banks

The recently uncovered pyramid scheme run by Wall Street huckster Bernard Madoff has led to massive losses by clients worldwide. Those fooled by his elaborate ruse has included several major European banks, one of the world’s richest women and charities who will be forced to shut down. Despite warnings made as far back as 1999, Madoff’s fraud grew to an estimated worth of over $50 billion.

Among those customers fooled by Madoff and liable to lose a boatload of money is Chilean brokerage house Celfin Capital SA. The investment firm may have its 2008 profits slashed in half and will try to pay back approximately $10 billion to clients tied into the Madoff scheme.

Celfin isn’t the only Latin American firm feeling the pinch over Madoff’s ruse:

Among Latin American companies, Peru’s Credicorp Ltd. said Dec. 16 that it had $1 million invested with Madoff. Peru’s largest financial-services company also had $3.5 million at risk in transactions secured by investments with his Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC firm.

For Celfin, the losses come after the firm fired as much as a 10th of its workforce this quarter amid an economic slowdown stemming from the global credit crunch.

Image- AP
Online Sources- Fox News, The Telegraph, Bloomberg, BBC News

First U.S., now Dutch cut aid to Nicaragua

In the aftermath of Nicaragua’s recent local elections, U.S. officials decided to withhold aid from the Central American country. Up to $175 million in aid could be lost due to concerns over alleged fraud, violence, and political intimidation by the Nicaraguan government.

Last week the Dutch government joined the U.S. in not giving aid to Nicaragua. “I find it irresponsible to give direct aid to the Sandinista government which has sabotaged the free and fair elections in all possible ways,” the Dutch Minister of Development Aid said on Thursday after his government decided to withhold over $17 million in assistance.

Naturally, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was not too pleased with either government’s decision. Earlier this month, he ordered the U.S. to pay Nicaragua reparations owed to them via a 1986 International Court of Justice decision. Ortega also spoke out during last week’s Rio Group summit:

"A Latin American nation is under attack ... (by) the decision of the Yankee (US) government and the Europeans to suspend financing for Nicaragua," Ortega told a summit of regional leaders in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil.

Ortega said Nicaragua has been singled out because it does not accept orders from the "capitalist tyranny."

"Since when are we slaves of the Europeans? We broke off our chains some time ago," he said.

Image- AFP (Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega during his visit to Russia this week.)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, AFP, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: July 12, 2008

* Colombia: According to a communiqué by Colombia’s FARC rebels, the guerilla commanders overpowered in last week’s rescue mission “betrayed their revolutionary ideals.”

* Mexico: The country's National Human Rights Commission denounced the military for an increase in abuses including arbitrary arrests and torture.

* Brazil: Police raided the home and offices of Brazil's richest man who is being investigated for possible fraud and tax evasion.

* Cuba: The economic situation of the island “could worsen” and “key reforms” may be postponed according to a speech given by Cuban president Raul Castro.

Image- Los Angeles Times (“Military police escort FARC commander Gerardo Aguilar Ramirez, alias Cesar, left, who was in charge of the hostages, and another guerrilla” last week)

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Monsters & Critics, BBC News, Bloomberg, Guardian UK