Daily Headlines: February 23, 2016

* Honduras: An international mission to combat widespread corruption in Honduras began its work though protesters believe the group lacks the strength of a similar investigative panel in nearby Guatemala.

* Peru: NASA scientists are conducting an experiment in Peru using potatoes in order to figure out the viability of growing crops on Mars.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials paroled 8149 inmates and repatriated nearly 100 foreign convicts as part of a plan to ease severe prison overcrowding.

* U.S.: A new study found that 71% of Latinos believe speaking Spanish is not a prerequisite to being considered as Hispanic though roughly three in four respondents speak the language at home.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Thousands of people (last August) hold a march with torches in the Honduran capital to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and a UN probe into impunity”.)

Online Sources – ABC News, Popular Science, Yahoo News, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: June 30, 2015

* Latin America: Pope Francis expressed enthusiasm for his planned visit to three South American countries next month, while the Vatican released details of the Argentine-born pontiff’s trips to the U.S. and Cuba in September.

* U.S.: The U.S. has surpassed Spain to become the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country according to a new study from the Instituto Cervantes.

* Argentina: British officials slammed the Argentine government after a judge ruled against foreign oil firms drilling near the disputed Falkland Islands.

* Colombia: “Equality is unstoppable and equality also will come to Colombia,” declared Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo as he called on the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriages.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – Catholic Culture, NBC News, The Guardian, Reuters, Washington Post

Daily Headlines: March 24, 2015

* U.S.: According to a new study about forty million people in the U.S. speaks the blend of English and Spanish known as “Spanglish.”

* Uruguay: Uruguay will reportedly not take in more former Guantanamo detainees as President Tabaré Vasquez seems to distance himself from the policies of his predecessor, José Mujica.

* Argentina: The recent archeological find of an allegedly secret Nazi hideout in northern Argentina appears to be more a case of fiction rather than fact.

* Mexico: Family members of some of the missing and possibly massacred forty-three Ayotzinapa students continued their U.S. tour by protesting over the past few days in New York, Los Angeles and other cities.

Video Source – YouTube user NCLLP
 
Online Sources – UPI; Dominican Today; The Guardian; KTLA

Daily Headlines: April 21, 2014

* Peru: In the latest case of the growing international problem that is counterfeit drugs, researchers found that 28% of contraceptive medicine in Peru is either counterfeit or ineffective.

* Venezuela: Argentine-born Pope Francis used his Easter homily to call for the “reconciliation and fraternal accord” in Venezuela, a country torn by political unrest though tempers have calmed somewhat after talks between the government and opposition. 
 
* Bolivia: President Evo Morales urged Bolivian peasants and impoverished residents to teach children how to be fluent in foreign languages so they can apply for scholarships to study abroad.
  
* Colombia: A new report found that at least thirty-four Colombian indigenous groups are going through a "humanitarian crisis" and this could lead to their extinction.
 
Video Source– YouTube user VOAvideo (“The World Health Organization estimates that 25 percent of medicines sold in poor countries are counterfeit. Monitoring by the World Bank and others suggests the overall global trade in fake and substandard drugs is now more than 30 billion dollars per year”.)

Online Sources – Vox; The Telegraph; The Guardian; LAHT; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: December 6, 2013

* Paraguay: A version of Facebook with settings in the Paraguayan indigenous language of Guarani was launched this week and will run for at least three months.

* U.S.: The unemployment rate among Latinos dropped to 8.7% last month, which represents a decrease of 0.4% compared to October and 1.2% less than November 2012.

* Ecuador: “We consider it an act of violence,” said the head of the Pachamama Foundation, an Ecuadorian environmental group that is critical of the country’s present and was abruptly shut down on Wednesday.

* Peru: A forensic team is investing a recently uncovered mass grave with forty-eight bodies of women and children likely killed during Peru’s armed conflict.

Video Source – YouTube user LDS Mission Stories (Prepare to Serve!)

Online Sources- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sacramento Bee, BBC News, ABC News

Daily Headlines: November 19, 2013

* U.S.: A new study published in the journal Neurology found that being bilingual could delay the onset of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia by several years.

* Latin America: Uruguay’s senate is expected to pass a “far-reaching” marijuana decriminalization proposal this week while Puerto Rican legislators delayed until next a year a bill that would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.

* Haiti: Police in Port-au-Prince clashed with demonstrators opposed to President Michel Martelly and to call attention to “complaints ranging from the cost of living to high levels of corruption”.

* Cuba: The Cuban government may have inadvertently received information from the U.S. pertaining to a $6 million grant program for dissidents on the island.

Video Source – YouTube via user DNews

Online Sources- UPI; USA TODAY; Fox News Latino; The Huffington Post; The Guardian

Today’s Video: Soda en Ingles

Last week we looked at "Llámame," the Spanish-language version of the hit "Call Me" by Blondie that was recorded but not released during the peak of the New Wave band’s popularity.  Today we’re going to briefly examine a song that was recorded in English after it became a popular tune in Spanish.

"Cuando pase el temblor" (“When the Earthquake Ends”, in English) became the second single to be released from Soda Stereo’s second album, Nada personal, in 1985.  The lyrics to the song can be interpreted either literally or figuratively as a double entendre but the music itself is a great mix of Andean sounds with traditional rock and roll.

According to an anecdote mentioned on the Hay Que Oir blog, the famed Argentine rock en Español group recorded two English-language versions in 1988 of their previous hits including "Cuando pase el temblor."  These songs were recorded in London and were eventually passed on to “an influential English DJ” (the late John Peel?) who then played them on his program.  The end product was to be an entire Soda Stereo album in English but “monetary issues” prevented that from becoming a reality.

Does "Cuando pase el temblor" en ingles sound better, equal to or worse than the original?  Judge for yourself:

Soda Stereo broke up in 1997 but returned briefly in 2007 for a reunion tour. 

Three years ago this Wednesday, Soda frontman Gustavo Cerati fell into a coma after he collapsed following a concert in Venezuela.  Cerati’s mother, Lillian Clark said last month that her son has shown “small responses” that have given her “signs of hope” regarding his health.

Video Sources – YouTube via users ubriacone88 and joacodelc
 
Online Sources – Los Angeles Times; Wikipedia (Spanish); sodastereo.com; Hay Que Oir; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: April 25, 2013

* Argentina: Pope Francis told that the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo that he's "at the disposal" of the group that helps find hundreds of Argentines missing during the "Dirty War" period.

* Uruguay: Troubled striker Luis Suarez has been banned for ten games by English soccer officials after biting a rival player on the arm.

* Mexico: No, U.S. legislator Louie Gohmert, Al Qaeda has not established "terrorist camps" in Mexico.

* U.S.: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit alleging that some 20,000 students in California who need to learn English are receiving inadequate language instruction.

Video Source - YouTube via romereports.com

Online Sources - Huffington Post; SI.com; GlobalPost; PolitiFact.com

Daily Headlines: July 20, 2012

* South America: Brazil's oil regulator confirmed that Chevron will have to pay a $24.7 million fine for an offshore oil leak last November, while Chevron will invest an additional $2 billion in a joint venture with Venezuela’s PDVSA.

* U.S.: A U.S. immigration judge granted asylum to a woman who fled her native Guatemala in 2004 after she was “brutally beaten and raped by her common law husband.”

* Argentina: One of the worst droughts to hit the U.S. in recent history could benefit Argentine grain farmers.

* Mexico: The head of the Mexico's National Institute of Indian Languages warned that sixty-four indigenous dialects could soon “die out.”

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (Video from November 2011).

Online Sources- Reuters, San Jose Mercury News, Busninessweek, GlobalPost

Weekend Headlines: March 17-18, 2012 (Updated)

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez arrived in Caracas yesterday after staying in Cuba for three weeks and undergoing cancer surgery. (Update: On Saturday a homecoming celebration seemingly became an impromptu campaign rally after Chavez claimed that he will give the opposition a "beating" in this October's presidential election).

* Puerto Rico: Mitt Romney's criticism of Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor might not sit well with voters in tomorrow's Puerto Rican primary or with his most prominent local supporter, Gov. Luis Fortuño.

* El Salvador: Did the government make a deal with two of the country’s largest street gangs to reduce violence?

* Brazil: Chevron suspended oil drilling operations off the Brazilian coast after a “small new seep” of oil was detected in the same area where a major leak occurred four months ago. (Update: Federal prosecutors will reportedly bring up criminal charges against seventeen Chevron and Transocean executives in relation to the new oil leak).

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources (including Updates)- Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, Fox News Latino, Bloomberg, BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 9, 2011

* Ecuador: Preliminary results showed that referendum voters approved ten measures backed by President Rafael Correa including a path to reforming the judiciary, limits on media ownership, and a ban on bullfighting.

* Mexico: Tens of thousands of people gathered at Mexico City's Zocalo Square yesterday in the culmination of a four-day march against drug-related violence.

* Cuba: Dissidents blamed police for the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto, a political activist who died several days after being arrested and allegedly beaten.

* Venezuela: A U.S. immigration judge suspended the deportation order against a Venezuelan national in a legally-recognized same-sex marriage weeks after another justice came to a similar decision in favor of an Argentine woman.

* Guatemala: A voter registration drive will be run ahead of September’s federal elections and will include radio ads and electoral materials in four Mayan languages.

* U.S.: Animal Kingdom, sired by Brazilian horse Leroidesanimaux and ridden by Puerto Rican Jockey John Velazquez, won the prestigious Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Image – Raul Arboleda/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images via The New York Times (“An Ecuadorean woman, with her child, cast her vote Saturday at a school in Otavalo, Ecuador, on the referendum proposed by President Rafael Correa. It included sweeping measures aimed at strengthening his power.”)
Online Sources- The Irish Times, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, insidecostarica.com, Reuters, CNN, Boston Globe

Daily Headlines: February 9, 2011

* Nicaragua: A study of deaf Nicaraguans concluded that math skills are acquired culturally and are not an inherent characteristic.

* Panama: Business groups and Republican legislators are turning up the pressure on the Obama administration to pass free trade deals with Panama and Colombia.

* Brazil: Soccer star Daniel Alves claimed that he receives racist verbal abuse every time he plays for his club side, Barcelona, in Spain’s top league.

* South America: The E.U. is keen on signing a “wide-ranging economic collaboration pact” with the Mercusur bloc earlier than anticipated.

Image – USA TODAY (“A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that counting beyond three may not be innate in humans, but a product of culture.”)
Online Sources- UPI, Wired.com, Reuters, Canadian Press

Daily Headlines: December 15, 2009

* Spain: The Royal Language Academy of issued a new 4000-page grammar book designed to better reflect the evolution of the Spanish language throughout the Americas.

* Latin America: Cuba and Venezuela strengthened their ties after signing several deals worth approximately $3 billion.

* Mexico: The country’s severely weakened economy and decreased oil output has led Standard & Poor’s to lower Mexico’s credit rating.

* Argentina: President Cristina Kirchner was the target of death threats by someone who tapped into the radio frequency of the presidential helicopter.

Image – BBC News (King Juan Carlos was given a copy of the new Spanish grammar rules that will replace the Royal Language Academy’s 1931 guidelines).
Online Sources- Bloomberg, ABC News, Toronto Sun, MSNBC

Sonia Sotomayor's scholarly semantics

The U.S. Supreme Court this week presented a unanimous verdict in a suit regarding attorney-client privileges. Justice Sonia Sotomayor read the court’s opinion on Mohawk Industries Inc. v. Carpenter, a decision Bloomberg described as a “setback to businesses”. The ruling also implicated “an expansive view of executive power on the ‘state secrets privilege’" that was championed by the Bush administration and upheld by the Obama White House.

Aside from granting her first high court opinion, Sotomayor reportedly had a hand in a change in semantics that could become de rigueur in future verdicts:

In an otherwise dry opinion, Justice Sotomayor did introduce one new and politically charged term into the Supreme Court lexicon.

Justice Sotomayor’s opinion in the case, Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, No. 08-678, marked the first use of the term “undocumented immigrant,” according to a legal database. The term “illegal immigrant” has appeared in a dozen decisions.

The Supreme Court’s use of a more neutral phrase is a welcome move though ultimately what matters most is the content of their verdicts and how they will affect Americans.

(Hat tip: ImmigrationProf Blog via Think Progress).

Image- Forbes.com
Online Sources- ImmigrationProf Blog, New York Times, Think Progress, Bloomberg, CNN

Hablando español en Jamaica

Some stories speak for themselves:

Jamaica’s foreign minister says his country should adopt Spanish as a second official language to foster expanded trade and cooperation with its neighbors in the Caribbean and Central America.

Growing ties between the Caribbean Community and Latin America, the Dominican Republic’s desire to join Caricom and the fact that Jamaica is surrounded by Spanish-speaking countries make it imperative for Jamaicans to become proficient in Spanish, Kenneth Baugh said…

“I think all Jamaicans, all schools and teachers, have to become conscious that there is a desperate need for us to become Spanish speaking,” he said.

Image- clipperz
Online Sources- LAHT

Latin American Film Exhibition in NY

If you are in New York this week, make your way over to the Musuem of Modern Art (MoMA) for the Ibermedia film exhibition. The exhibition Iberoamerica:Our Way(s) lasts from November 5-13 and will feature Latin American films. Ibermedia is an intergovernmental organization facilitating film projects, helping to finance coproductions, and providing grant money for the distribution and promotion of Spanish and Portuguese language films.

"Ibermedia encourages cinematic innovation and supports cinema with something to say...With no strings attached, the filmmakers' personal visions are protected and the projects retain their national and/or personal-historical character."

Check out the film descriptions, dates, and times here.

Online Sources: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Ibermedia, The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York

Image: MoMA, from the film Partes Usadas

World Watch: What’s in a name?

* World: The tilde, Greek characters, and other non-Latin languages could be coming soon to Internet domain names.

* Iran: Negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear program have hit a snag after Tehran rejected a proposal brokered by several Western countries.

* U.S.: President Barack Obama said that a 22-year-old travel ban barring people with HIV and AIDS from entering the U.S. will be removed in January.

* Europe: Stocks in Europe tumbled on Friday after several regional firms like Alcatel-Lucent and Siemens AG posted losses.

Image- Guardian UK (“A Chinese internet user. Soon '.com' will not have to be added in English to a Chinese web domain.”)
Online Sources- Bloomberg, BBC News, Wired.com, The Telegraph

¿Por qué no te callas?: Connecticut debate hecklers

It’s been a while since we last inducted anyone into our hall of shame for outrageous and stupid remarks. There have been several worthy candidates not related to Latin America such as the asinine controversy over President Obama’s “stay in school” speech earlier today. This week’s “¿Por qué no te callas?” honors goes to some attendees of a recent town hall debate on health care.

Throughout the summer, numerous forums on the proposed health care reform have turned into shouting matches and at times forums for ugly slurs. Unfortunately things got a little testy at a Norwalk, Connecticut forum last week when a Peruvian-born bishop walked up to the mic and spoke Spanish:

Amidst the heckling and jeering over the clergyman speaking in Spanish where a few some other taunts like “just give him the country, give it to him.” His legitimate concerns over health care (he lost his insurance after his wife was laid off from her job) were overshadowed by the boorish behavior of some louts in the audience.

Yes the bishop could have spoken in English yet he preferred to comment in the language where he could best express himself. He did not speak in Spanish in order to harangue or tease or insult but rather to provide a legitimate opinion. To his credit, the bishop calmly continued with his remarks and did not apologize for his actions. His civil behavior and civic duty are lessons that we should all learn whether we speak English, Spanish, Hungarian, Mandarin, or any other language. Pity it’s a lesson that most of the hecklers will probably never understand.

Why don’t you just shut up Connecticut debate hecklers?

(Hat tip: Wonkette).

Online Sources- Wonkette, Think Progress, YouTube, Gawker

Chile expanding China language program

For some in the Americas, China’s increasing inroads into the region is a
reason for worry and concern though for others it’s a prime chance for economic growth and development. It is no wonder then that (as we mentioned in 2006) Latin Americans are taking a greater interest in how to speak Mandarin and learn about Chinese culture.

Several governments in the Americas are eager to expand educational opportunities in order to fulfill that growing demand:

The Chilean Education Ministry announced on Wednesday the expansion of Chinese education in the country's high schools.

According to the ministry's plan, the number of high schools that run Chinese courses as a foreign language will rise from five to 10 in 2009 and the number of high school students learning Chinese will rise to 1,700 from 850 in 2008.

Rodrio Fabrega, chief of the "Languages Open Doors" program, said the country's demand for talents who can speak Chinese is increasing particularly in economic, cultural and tourism sectors, since a free trade deal between the two countries took effect in October 2006.

Image- The Globalist
Online Sources- Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, AFP

Today’s Video: Obama en español

U.S. President Barack Obama taped a brief message that aired on Univision Thursday night. He dabbled in a little Spanish and overall didn’t sound too much like a fish out of water. Oddly enough, however, his remarks didn’t air on a news program but instead on the chintzy, made-for-TV "Premio lo Nuestro":

Said the AP:

He wished the viewers good evening in Spanish and he celebrated the diversity of Latin music. The president closed by offering another line in Spanish. Translated into English, the president said, "And for all those nominees wondering if tonight is their night, let me just say, yes, you can!"

Obama could've picked a better scenario to appear on Univision:

• Pretending to be the annoying “Chacal de la trompeta” alongside the more annoying Don Francisco on “Sabado Gigante.”
• Analyzing the Mexican soccer league while flanked by the booby-tastic “senadoras” on “Republica Deportiva.”
• Making a guest appearance on hit telenovela “Las Tontas No Van al Cielo” as Candy’s secret gringo lover.
• It’s too late for this but I would’ve loved to have seen Obama smack the smug, nauseating look off Enrique Gratas’ face on “Ultima Hora”.
  

Online Sources- YouTube, AP, truveo.com, Google Video, Wikipedia