Weekend Headlines: November 29, 2015

* Cuba: Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside of the Ecuadoran embassy in Havana after the South American country imposed new visa restrictions on visitors from Cuba.

* Venezuela: The death of Venezuelan opposition politician Luis Diaz by unknown gunmen last Wednesday has added to an already tense political climate prior to next Sunday’s legislative elections.

* Haiti: Presidential candidate Jude Célestin could drop out of the December 27th runoff amid allegations of fraud during the October 25th election.

* Chile: Jovino Novoa, described as a “founding member of Chile's largest party and former collaborator of late dictator Augusto Pinochet”, was found guilty as part of a corruption investigation.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff will order a freeze of some $2.65 billion in spending in order to comply while the government tries to tackle a budget crisis.

* South America: Will South American neighbors Argentina and Uruguay launch a joint bid to host the soccer World Cup in 2030?

YouTube Source – EFE (Starting on December 1st, Ecuador will halt becoming the only Latin American nation without visa requirements for visitors from Cuba).

Online Sources – Deusche Welle, Reuters, ABC News, SBS, NDTV

Daily Headlines: October 20, 2015

* Canada: The incoming Liberal government under Justin Trudeau could affect Canadian mining interests in Latin America as well as the North American state’s growing Latino immigrant population.

* Mexico: Parents of some of 43 Ayotzinapa students missing for over a year have called on a boycott against a documentary that they claim relies on a “false” version of events.

* Cuba: Cuba’s Foreign Ministry rejected unconfirmed claims that troops from the island were sent to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro railed against Lorenzo Mendoza, the head of the Empresas Polar food conglomerate, for suggesting that the country needs an international economic bailout.

YouTube Source – Associated Press
 
Online Sources – Newsweek, Voice of America, Reuters, teleSUR English, Latin American Herald Tribune

Pope Francis Urges Youth, Migrants to “Dream”

During his speech at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Pope Francis urged political leaders to view migrants in a more benevolent manner and help youth "not to turn their back on our neighbors." Francis continued to speak favorably on immigrants during a visit to a catholic school in New York City earlier today.

The pontiff acknowledged the difficulties recently arrived migrants may have to be in a different country including learning "a new language...a new culture." Yet he praised those who open their arms to migrants and help accommodate them amid new surroundings.

"We find new friends...who open doors for us and show us their care and understanding," he said to an of some 150 refugees helped by Catholic Charities in New York.

"(They) help us not feel like strangers, like foreigners. They make us feel at home though our imagination may sometimes lead us to recall our homeland."

The Pope cited the late Rev. Martin Luther King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech  and urged the audience at the Lady Queen of Angels in Harlem  to strive for their goals.

"All of you here, big and small, have a right to dream. I’m pleased that you find in your fellow students and teachers the ability to do so".

Francis, who was no stranger to celebrating with children when he served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was overjoyed as he encouraged a student chorus to sing louder for him. he viewed with an apparent wide-eyed curiosity at other pupils who showed him various school projects. The Pope even joked that he was sorry to take away time from teachers and gave students "homework": "pray for me so I can help spread the joy of Jesus' love."

Daily Headlines: September 7, 2015 (Updated)

* Mexico: Families of 43 Ayotzinapa college students missing for nearly a year have called on meeting with Mexico’s president after an independent probe contradicted the official investigation.

Update: President Enrique Peña Nieto said on Monday that he would be willing to meet again with families of the missing students and claimed that the government's investigation into the disappearances remains open.

* U.S.: While some politicians on the campaign trail deride immigrants, a recent study found that “immigrant adolescents are actually less likely than native-born peers in the United States to commit crimes, use drugs or behave violently.”

* Latin America: Representatives from seventeen nations celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Petrocaribe oil alliance that has been shaken by the low price of crude and Venezuela’s economic problems.

* Colombia: FBI agents reportedly placed the late Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez under surveillance including monitoring his ties to then-Cuban president Fidel Castro.

YouTube Source – euronews
 
Online Sources including Update – El Universal, The Latin Americanist, Latina, The Washington Post, Xinhua, Excelsiór (in Spanish)

Daily Headlines: March 8, 2013

Argentina: An Argentine court convicted former president Carlos Menem for illegally selling weapons to Croatia and Ecuador during the 1990s.

* Brazil: The price of sugar hit a four-month high due to the possibility that Brazilian sugar growers will increase ethanol production.

* Panama: Mariano Rivera, who has a record 608 saves, is expected to soon announce his retirement from professional baseball.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla endorsed a proposal that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Online Sources - Bloomberg, BBC News, USA TODAY, Huffington Post

Ecuadorian Expats in Spain Backed Correa Reelection (UPDATED)

Several days ago Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa easily won reelection in the first round partly thanks to the number of expats who overwhelmingly voted for him.

Much like he did among the Ecuadorian electorate, Correa had little trouble beating his rivals in several Spanish cities.  According to figures from the Ecuadorian embassy in Spain, Correa won between 75 and 80% of the vote in Madrid while at least four out of every five voters in Valencia voted for him.

In Barcelona Correa received the backing of 9300 of the 13,200 expats who participated in Sunday’s election.  The second-most popular option was not another candidate but votes counted as null (966) followed by opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso and business magnate Álvaro Noboa (639).

Approximately half of eligible Ecuadorian voters in Spain went to the ballots even. Ambassador Aminta Buenaño praised the “great enthusiasm” among the electorate in Spain that led to a 50% voter turnout.  (Voting is obligatory in Ecuador though it’s voluntary outside of the South American country.)

Expats in Madrid waited on lines nearly two kilometers long to go vote while hundreds of others were turned away.  Buenaño claimed that officials were overwhelmed by large numbers of voters who decided to head to the polls at the last minute.

Since taking office in 2007, Correa has sought to improve relations with his countrymen living abroad.  In March 2012, for instance, Correa held one of his weekly televised town hall meetings with Ecuadorians in the Spanish city of Murcia.  In addition, Ecuador extended health benefits to expats who are uninsured; thus, aiding those living in Spain whose insurance was under danger due to deep spending cuts enacted by Mariano Rajoy’s government.

Senate Backs Immigrant Clauses in Violence Against Women Act

In a 78-22 vote the Senate approved a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that includes some safeguards for immigrants.

Among the provisions approved by the Senate on Tuesday is one that would provide help to immigrants who are abused and married to U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.  These victims would be allowed to petition for independent legal status.  Another clause has a visa option that would permit abused undocumented immigrants to remain in the country. 

One of the pro-immigrant clauses dropped from the Senate bill would’ve permitted granting U visas to undocumented immigrant abuse victims.  This clause would’ve helped law enforcement officials examine abuse cases was done reportedly in order to improve the odds of the proposal’s approval in the House of Representatives.

The original VAWA was passed in 1994 and had been reauthorized twice but it expired in 2011.
The Republican-controlled House last year passed its own bill, which left out the visa provision as well as services for gay victims. In response to the Senate’s actions, seventeen House Republicans wrote a letter to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker John Boehner seeking support for the VAWA reauthorization.

As mentioned in an ABC News article, reauthorizing and expanding VAWA benefits could benefit Latina immigrants:

Daily Headlines: November 30, 2012

* Panama: Only nine countries including Panama voted against a U.N. General Assembly proposal that granted nonmember observer status to Palestine.

* U.S.: A new report concluded that a sharp decrease in births among immigrant women led the U.S. birth rate to fall to its lowest level on record.

* Venezuela: Vice President Nicolas Maduro said that President Hugo Chavez is doing "very good" while seeking "hyperbaric oxygenation" therapy in Cuba.

* Brazil: Luis Felipe Scolari was rehired as the Brazilian men's soccer team coach ten years after he helped guide the squad to a World Cup title.

Online Sources: Huffington Post, NPR, Reuters, SI.com

Video Source: YouTube via euronews

Daily Headlines: November 27, 2012

* Panama: At least five people are dead and parts of Panama are under a state of emergency as a result of damage from torrential rainfall.

* Puerto Rico: The murder of former champion boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho has shined a light on the rampant violence in Puerto Rico that includes at least 858 homicides this year.

* U.S.: Could “undocumented immigrants” be named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2012?

* Colombia: One of the FARC negotiators involved in peace talks between the guerillas and the Colombian government claimed that both sides are “on the same wavelength.”

Luis Ramirez and Every Mother's Sons and Daughters : Seeking Justice by All Means Necessary

Cross-Posted from VivirLatino and the Sanctuary


in 1991, in the rapidly changing immigrant community of Corona, Queens, NYC 19 year old son of Dominican immigrants, Manny Mayi Jr. was beaten to death.

Last year, Marcelo Lucero was killed.

At the start of the new year Wilter Sanchez was nearly killed.

In February of this year Jose Sucuzhañay, an Ecuadorian immigrant was beaten to death.

Speaking Spanish can get you beaten.

And most recently, Luis Ramirez was beaten and killed and those accused got away with murder.

I could go through recent and not so recent history and clearly see a pattern and practice of hate that has been growing. A pattern and practice of racism, nativism, fueled by the media and government, eaten up by the mainstream public.

People in Shenandoah celebrated, went out into the streets and rejoiced after an all-white jury found Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, guilty of lesser charges and acquitted them of criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

And then people have the nerve to ask why are more Latinos not more active in the fight for immigration change?

This is not just about laws, this about lives.

So what do we as a community do?


In the case of Marcelo Lucero, the Feds have stepped in to investigate a pattern and practice of hate crimes against Latinos while local law enforcement did nothing.

The Feds are considering opening an investigation into the 18 year old killing of Manny Mayi jr.

18 fucking years.

Federal investigations and federal hate crimes legislation will not bring sons and daughters like Angie Zapata back. Civil rights statutes do not equal justice against individuals and a society that sends the message that our lives are worth less because of what we look like, how we speak, and where we come from. Pero, they are weapons people can get behind in addition to other strategies.

MALDEF has a petition that all people should get behind. It asks that the United States Department of Justice to intervene and conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation of the brutal murder of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

It is not the answer. It will not save our lives and the lives of our children. That HAS to happen on multiple fronts that include direct action, legal action, media strategies and education.

Think of all the mothers without their children this coming Sunday, Mother's Day.

Sign the petition . Our lives cannot wait.

Daily Headlines: November 17, 2008

* Latin America: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced plans to visit several Latin American countries later this month including Cuba and Venezuela.

* Dominican Republic: A pair of Cabinet officials rejected the misconception that Haitian migrants are all criminals.

* Peru: A lawyer representing former President Alberto Fujimori said that his client “plans to remain silent” if he’s called to testify at the trial of ex-intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos.

* Chile: The country’s legislature passed a bill allocating funds for the construction of a Holocaust memorial.

Image- Javno
Sources- Xinhua, AP, IHT, Dominican Today, Voice of America