Daily Headlines: November 2, 2016

* Mexico: Mexico’s “sugar tax” on carbonated beverages enacted in 2013 could prevent as many as 500,000 cases of diabetes and save up to $2.5 billion in ten years, according to a new report.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos indicated that a reworked peace deal with the FARC rebels would be ratified by Congress rather than risk defeat at a second referendum.

* Bolivia: Spanish energy giant Repsol extended its agreement for exploration and operation of Bolivia’s largest oil bloc to 2046.

* Chile: The race for 2018 World Cup qualification in South America became much tighter after a decision to dock points from Bolivia allowed Chile to leapfrog Argentina in the standings.

YouTube Source – Euromonitor International (Video uploaded on November 2013).

Online Sources – Vocaticv, Colombia Reports, Goal.com, Latin American Herald Tribune

Daily Headlines: October 11, 2016

* Latin America: A new report alleges that surveillance laws in twelve Latin American states are outdated and can be easily exploited by authoritarian regimes.

* United States: The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments today on the secrecy of jury deliberations based on the case of a Latino man convicted after some jurors used ethnic slurs.

* Brazil: New corruption charges were raised against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who along with ten other suspects were believed to have allowed some $9.3 million in kickbacks for a construction projects in Angola.

* Mexico: The World Health Organization called for strict measures against consumption of sugary drinks such as those taken in Mexico where a tax was levied against those types of beverages.

YouTube Source – BBC News (A Brazilian judge last May suspended access to WhatsApp for 72 hours over the messaging service’s owner, Facebook, not handing over information requested in a criminal probe).

Online Sources – The Intercept, Fox News Latino, Latin American Herald Tribune, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: August 24, 2016

* Chile: “(Latin America) doesn’t take the issue seriously or dedicate the resources it deserves,” claimed a Chilean AIDS rights activist after the government issued a health alert over 1.2 million faulty Chinese-made condoms distributed via a public health program.

* Latin America: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is expected to visit six Latin American states this week and sign numerous agreements with countries like Cuba and Bolivia.

* Argentina: Declassified British intelligence documents apparently showed Israel sold weapons to Argentina during the Falklands War in 1982.

* Central America: The presidents of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala pledged to launch a new joint force aimed at curbing drug traffickers and criminal gangs.

Daily Headlines: August 22, 2016

* Cuba: How are Cubans trying to work around the financial and technological barriers that make it very difficult to access the Internet?

* Chile: Hundreds of thousands of Chileans marched nationwide to call for reforming the private pension system in place since the regime of then-strongman Augusto Pinochet.

* United States: A recent study concluded that Latinos age at a slower rate than other ethnic groups despite having higher cases of chronic diseases as obesity and diabetes.

* Mexico: Bad news for the Mexican economy, which suffered its first quarterly loss in approximately three years.

YouTube Source – Wall Street Journal (From August 2015: “The streets of Cuba are famous for their classic American cars and weathered buildings. Now, they are also increasingly popular with Cubans using the Internet.”)

Online Sources – Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Quartz, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: August 15, 2016

* Argentina: Human rights group the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo held their 2000th weekly march in Buenos Aires days after the United States (US) declassified hundreds of documents related to actions during the “Dirty War” era.

* Cuba: Former Cuban president Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance to celebrate his 90th birthday and also penned a letter thanking his compatriots “for the signs of respect, greetings, and gifts” he has recently received.

* Puerto Rico: The US government declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to the spread of the Zika virus that has infected at least 10,000 people there.

* Guatemala: A Canadian legal aid group has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to probe a local mining firm accused of allegedly using legal chicanery to prevent a referendum over a Guatemalan mine.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – BBC News, The Bubble, Vice News, The Toronto Star, The Atlantic

Daily Headlines: July 12, 2016

* Uruguay: An World Bank arbitration panel ruled against an appeal by tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris over Uruguay’s strict anti-smoking laws that include placing a health warning on 80% of cigarette packs.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro claimed Citibank “with no warning” will close several key Venezuelan government accounts, and ordered the seizure of the only local factory belonging to the departing Kimberly-Clark personal care firm.

* United States: A new poll of Latino voters found that immigration is the most important issue while nearly three out of four respondents back Hillary Clinton in the race for the United States presidency.

* Panama: Interpol warned drug traffickers could take advantage of the anticipated boost in maritime shippers using the expanded Panama Canal.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, ABC News, Latino Decisions, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: June 13, 2016

* U.S.: LGBT centers in the area of Orlando, Florida are working to offer Spanish-speaking grief counselors in light of the massacre of at least fifty people during an “Upscale Latin Saturday” party at the Pulse nightclub.

* Puerto Rico: U.S. President Barack Obama in his weekly address urged the Senate to quickly approve a plan that would help alleviate Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt.

* Brazil: According to “two unpublished academic studies” researchers have detected a “super bacteria” present in the waters of several venues of the upcoming Rio Olympics.

* Guatemala: Three former ministers who served under disgraced ex-President Otto Perez Molina were arrested on corruption charges while around 2000 protesters in Guatemala City rallied in favor of greater political transparency.

YouTube Source – Jornalistas Livres (Vigils were held in several Latin American cities including Sao Paulo in solidarity with the victims of the mass shooting of at least fifty people in Orlando on Saturday).
 
Online Sources – PBS NewsHour, Fox News Latino, Reuters, Deutsche Welle

Daily Headlines: April 6, 2016

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s state-owned Petroamazonas signed $1 billion in deals with Chinese firms amid controversy over the beginning of oil drilling near the Yasuni national park.

* Central America: According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, gang violence is to blame for the exodus of tens of thousands of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to other Central America states and the U.S.

* Peru: An estimated 30,000 people marched in Lima to protest against presidential frontrunner Keiko Fujimori on the 23rd anniversary of the infamous “self-coup” by her father, then-leader Alberto Fujimori.

* Mexico: Some 40% of cars in Mexico City were left off the road while the public transit system was oversaturated after the first “Hoy No Circula” vehicle restriction day on Wednesday.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (Video uploaded in August 2013).
 
Online Sources – Xinhua, The Guardian, euronews, ABC News, CBC

Daily Headlines: January 6, 2016

* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro will likely reshuffle his cabinet and announce new economic measures following the tense takeover of congress by the opposition.

* Latin America: The Zika virus, a deadly mosquito-borne disease that particularly affects newborn children, has spread throughout Latin America and reached Puerto Rico this week.

* Mexico: Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie,” is expected to plead guilty in a U.S. court today on charges related to drug trafficking for Mexican cartels.

* Brazil: The number of HPV and pneumonia vaccines administered by the Brazilian public health care system will be cut reportedly due to the government’s austerity plans.

YouTube Source – Reuters

Online Sources – ABC News, Reuters, Quartz, CNN

Daily Headlines: December 23, 2015

* Colombia: Colombia became the latest Latin American country to partially decriminalize marijuana use after President Juan Manuel Santos decreed the production and sale of the plant for medical use.

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan legislature approved stacking the Supreme Court with thirteen new judges less than two weeks before the opposition gains control of congress.

* Mexico: The number of undocumented migrants attempting to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. has dropped by 30% in the fiscal year 2015 and by 80% from the peak year in 2000 according to Border Patrol data.

* Guatemala: Guatemala is considering voluntarily taking in several thousand Cuban migrants stuck for the past few weeks in Costa Rica.

YouTube Source – AFP

Online Sources – Washington Post, Yahoo News, Vice News, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: December 9, 2015

* Guatemala: The Guatemalan Constitutional Court tossed out an appeal by the attorneys representing Efrain Rios Montt and stated that the ex-dictator’s genocide trial will go on as scheduled for next month.

* U.S.: A new report found that Latino neighborhoods need greater access to healthier food options sold in markets while Latino youth are more likely to be bombarded by ads promoting unhealthy snacks and drinks.

* Cuba: As part of the diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the U.S., envoys from both countries discussed competing claims of billions of dollars in owed assets.

* Mexico: Investigators with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that they found another inconsistency in the Mexican government probe over 43 students from Ayotzinapa missing since September 2014.

YouTube Source – NTDTV (Guatemalan high court judges are expected to resume the genocide and crimes against humanity trial of former strongman Efrain Rios Montt more than two years after the original verdict was overturned).
 
Online Sources – ABC News, The Guardian, USA TODAY, NBC News

Progress Made in Americas Against Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

Today marked the seventeenth annual observance of World AIDS Day, which raises awareness of the pandemic caused by the disease as well as remember those lost over the last few decades.
New data presented on Monday from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that some progress is being made in Latin America and Caribbean to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

According to a joint PAHO/WHO study, seventeen counties and territories in the Americas have mostly eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Among the nations credited in the report are Chile, Puerto Rico and Cuba, the last of which was certified by the WHO as the world's first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. (Sixteen other countries including Costa Rica and Uruguay are seeking this validation). New HIV infections in children have dropped by approximately 50% in Latin America and Caribbean as a result of efforts in the entities cited in the study.

The key to reducing transmission of HIV from mother to offspring has been more widespread prenatal check-ups of expectant moms. In 2010, 94% of women in the region received pre-natal care and only 54% were examined for HIV. Four years later, the former increased by 2% but the latter grew by a notable 21% so that three in four pregnant women are tested for HIV.

Latin American and Caribbean governments, civil society and health groups agreed last year on an ambitious “90-90-90” plan to eliminate AIDS in the region by 2030. Yet the PAHO/WHO report noted that approximately 2500 infants in Latin America and Caribbean contracted HIV in 2014. Furthermore, the organizations claims that roughly 30% of the estimated two million people in the region with HIV are unaware that they are infected. These obstacles must be overcome in order to fulfill the pledge made last year:

Daily Headlines: September 10, 2015

* Latin America: According to the Pan American Health Organization, “ultra-processed food products and fast food are occupying a larger and larger share of what people eat and drink in Latin America, with very negative results.”

* U.S.: The Washington State Attorney General plans to review the decision made by a local prosecutor to not charge police officers who killed an unarmed Mexican national last February.

* Haiti: A record fifty-four Haitians registered as presidential candidates amid a poor economy, controversy over corruption and a humanitarian crisis involving stateless residents of Haitian background.

* Mexico: Did fugitive Mexican drug capo Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman flee to Costa Rica or is his son trying to throw authorities off his father’s trail?

YouTube Source – Duetsche Welle
 
Online Sources – GlobalPost, Jamaica Observer, King 5, Tico Times

Daily Headlines: June 29, 2015

* Latin America: A recent study found a shift in migration flow between 2007 and 2012 with more Europeans leaving their countries for Latin America rather than vice versa.

* Guatemala: Several hundred protesters gathered once again in Guatemala City and called for the resignation of scandal-plagued President Otto Perez Molina.

* Chile: Copa America host nation Chile will face Peru tonight in the semifinals amid controversy over the suspended Gonzalo Jara, while Paraguay will hope to shock Argentina in the other match on Tuesday .

* Cuba: Cuban scientists claimed to have successfully developed a new oral vaccine against cholera, a bacterial disease that is the cause of death for 100,000 to 120,000 people globally according to the World Health Organization.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in June 2014).

Online Sources – Global Voices Online, The Latin Americanist, Fox News Latino, Yahoo Sports, Xinhua

Daily Headlines: May 15, 2015

* Argentina: On a dark day for Argentine soccer yesterday the Copa Libertaodres match between River Plate and Boca Juniors was suspended after players were attacked with pepper spray, while league play this weekend was postponed over the tragic death of Emanuel Ortega.

* Brazil: A new report blamed a “slow justice system and flawed police investigations as well as the widespread availability of firearms” for a record 42,000 people killed by gun violence in Brazil in 2012.

* Chile: Valentina Maureira, the 14-year-old Chilean girl who earlier this year requested for euthanize, died on Thursday from complications related to cystic fibrosis.

* Colombia: A Colombian counternarcotics panel confirmed the ban on using the possible carcinogenic glyphosate in the aerial spraying against drug crops.

YouTube Source – FootballManiaChannel

Online Sources – Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC News, TIME, sunherald.com

Abortion Debate Intensifies in Southern Cone

The abortion issue is a very sensitive and divisive topic in many areas around the world. This has certainly been the case recently in several countries of Latin America’s Southern Cone region.

• Paraguay

On Monday police in Paraguay transferred to a prison the alleged rapist stepfather of a ten-year-old girl who sought an abortion.

“I never touched her,” said 42-year-old Benitez Gilberto Zarate after he was arrested last Saturday. He denied sexually abusing his stepdaughter and has requested a DNA test in an attempt to clear his name. Yet he was on the run for nearly a month after prosecutors accused him of impregnating the girl who was first seen by doctors in Asuncion on April 21st.

The child’s mother was detained on April 27th and charged with breaching duty of care of her daughter. In January 2014 she denounced her husband for sexually abusing the girl but the authorities allegedly took no action. Earlier this month she requested permission to seek an abortion for her daughter where the procedure is allowed if the mom’s life is in danger. Yet Paraguayan courts rejected the solicitation much to the satisfaction of the federal government.

Health Minister Antonio Barrios on May 4th insisted that the doctors are closely monitoring the girl’s health and declared his opposition to abortion. He further argued that performing such a procedure might be too late.

“It is impossible because the girl arrived in our hands in the 21st week of pregnancy. The abortion should have been done prior to the twentieth week. We are now in the 23rd week,” said Barrios.

Paraguayan feminists and reproductive rights groups believe that the child’s life is certainly at risk and that her mother has been unfairly punished for seeking the abortion.

“When you consider the threat to life and the anatomical and psychological risks, the first step that should be taken in pregnancies of girls under the age of 13 should be an abortion. This is what the authorities fail to understand,” asserted Lilian Soto, an activist at the Centro de Documentación y Estudios.

The abortion case has also caught the attention of international rights groups and entities. The European Union is “closely following the evolution” of the girl’s health and called for the “global protection…of the rights of children.” A panel of U.N. human rights experts blamed the Paraguayan government for refusing to provide the proper treatment for the pregnant girl.

“Every day in Paraguay and average of two girls between the ages of ten and fourteen give birth to a child,” said UNICEF official Andrea Cid. “These cases are a consequence of sexual abuse and, in most situations, from constant abuse where victims have not received opportune assistance,” she added.

[Read about the abortion debate in Uruguay and Chile below the page break].

Daily Headlines: May 8, 2015

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff claimed that Brazil is “tirelessly seeking a solution to (Venezuela's) political crisis”, while the Brazilian Senate approved a resolution condemning the “arbitrary detention” of Venezuelan opposition activists.

* Argentina: The government rejected reports claiming that Belgian officials seized two Argentine embassy bank accounts at the behest of hedge fund creditor.

* U.S.: A new study on the health of Latinos in the U.S. concluded that the “Hispanic paradox” exists though results vary by subgroup.

* Mexico: Police rescued 103 migrants from Central America, Sri Lanka and India held hostage in Mexico by a human smuggling gang.

YouTube Source – Venevision (Mitzy de Ledezma, the wife of imprisoned Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, met with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on May 5th).

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Reuters, Buenos Aires Herald, Fusion, UPI

Daily Headlines: October 3, 2014

* Latin America: 63 doctors and 102 nurses from Cuba reportedly left for Sierra Leone to help combat the African country’s Ebola outbreak while Salvadoran authorities placed under quarantine two nuns suspected of being infected with Ebola.

* Brazil: The head of the International Olympic Committee’s inspection team claimed that plans for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are “on track” though “the schedule was tight.”

* Venezuela: Was ruling party legislator Robert Serra and his partner killed days ago as part of a planned assassination?

* Argentina: A Spanish judge ruled that Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi must stand trial for allegedly evading more than four million euros in taxes.

Video Source – Voice of America via YouTube

Online Sources – Fox News Latino; Tico Times; BBC News; The Independent; Businessweek

Daily Headlines: September 4, 2014

* Argentina: Argentina enacted a measure of revenge for losing the World Cup title match in July and thumped Germany 4-2 in an international friendly held in Dusseldorf.

* Brazil: A pair of polls released yesterday showed that President Dilma Rousseff gained support but is still expected to lose in a likely runoff to challenger Marina Silva.

* U.S.: A new medical study concluded that the sexual risk behaviors among young Latinos vary due to factors like language, country of birth and economic status.

* Venezuela: Producers of U.S. TV drama “Legends” apologized for a scene depicting the Venezuelan government buying nerve gas for using against opposition protesters.

Video Source – TyC Sports via YouTube

Online Sources – Deutsche Welle; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; The Guardian; Medical Xpress

Seeking Help

On Monday actor and comedian Robin Williams passed away at the age of 63. Authorities in California mentioned today that Williams apparently committed suicide by hanging himself at his home.

Despite Williams’ humorous contributions in films like “Aladdin” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” as well as TV sitcoms “Mork & Mindy” and “The Crazy Ones”, his publicist admitted that he had been battling severe depression and had been seeking treatment for it. (So far it’s unknown if depression played any factor at all into Williams’ death).

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, (NAMI), depression affects Latinos more than any other ethnic group in the U.S.  Within the Latino community, the organization found that Latinas along with U.S. born and long-term residents are especially vulnerable to depression.  Furthermore, a study published this year concluded that “idea of acculturation, of navigating different cultural contexts” could explain why Latinos are particularly susceptible to depression.

Many Latinos unfortunately fail to seek help due to several factors including the cultural stigma attached to mental illness and the lack of Spanish-speaking and Latino mental health care specialists.

“When Latinos think of mental illness, they just think one thing: loco,” said Clara Morato, the mother of a child who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18.  “[Latinos] don't want to be labeled, and they don't want to be labeled as the family with a relative who's crazy,” she added.

As a young Latino who had trouble facing his own mental demons many years ago I fully understand the crushing anxiety of loneliness and believing that there was nothing that could be done.  Yet there is a light at the end of the tunnel and better days can lie ahead with the aid of friend, loved ones and mental health care professionals.

If you or anyone you know may be suffering from depression, please know that you can seek help without fear of shame or embarrassment. 

Si usted sufre de depresión o conzces alguien afectado por la depresión por favor tenga en mente que puedes solicitar ayuda sin miedo de pena o humillación.

Video Source – National Institute of Mental Health via YouTube
 
Online Sources – Suicide Prevention Hotline (English and Spanish); CNN; Latin Post; BBC News; National Alliance of Mental Illness