Daily Headlines: April 7, 2011

* Honduras: The Honduran police must thoroughly investigate several cases of attacks against press covering recent protests according to a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

* Latin America: Could other U.S. ambassadors to Latin America come under fire after the latest controversies regarding the envoys to Mexico and Ecuador?

* U.S.: Immigration authorities have been accused of breaking their own agency rules by “stalking" Latino immigrants near schools and churches in Detroit.

* Cuba: After a near three-month hiatus the Cuban government resumed mail service of parcels weighing less than 1.1 pounds to the U.S.

Image – AP via CTV News (“A demonstrator kicks at a cloud of tear gas during a protest in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday March 24, 2011.”)
Online Sources- Committee to Protect Journalists, CSMonitor.com, The Detroit News, The Latin Americanist, LAHT

Postal service to resume between Cuba and U.S.?

Direct postal service between Cuba and the U.S. may be restarted after being suspended for nearly five decades.

According to this Reuters article, unnamed “Western diplomats” said that negotiations will take place in Havana in several weeks. So far there has been no official confirmation from either Washington or Havana of the claims made in the piece.

The possible discussions would represent another sign of the thawing in relations between the U.S and Cuba. Cuban and U.S. officials agreed in May to resume discussions over immigration as well as openness to resuming direct postal service. The current postal arrangement involves mail going through a third country while U.S.-owned firms like UPS and FedEx are barred from making express mail deliveries. (German-owned company DHL can, however.)

Today’s news comes on the heels of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s visit to Havana last week where he called for improved relations between the island and the U.S.:

"There is a good atmosphere [between the two countries]," he said at a news conference in Havana on Friday. "It is the best atmosphere I've seen in many years."

Richardson called for "concrete steps from both sides," but noted a "lack of flexibility in their positions" and reciprocity from the Cuban government.

He also called on the United States to "pay more attention to the Cuba issue, though acknowledged more urgent U.S. priorities like health-care reform have drawn attention away from normalizing relations.

Image- computer-stamps.com
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CNN, Reuters