Daily Headlines: October 20, 2014

* Nicaragua: At least 24 people are dead and more than 33,000 are homeless as a result of heavy rain and flooding in areas of Nicaragua.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff has apparently reversed a downturn in recent polls and is currently in a statistical dead heat with challenger Aécio Neves ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian presidential runoff election.

* Mexico: The World Trade Organization criticized the U.S. for not complying with a 2012 ruling to change meat labeling rules that were deemed discriminatory against Mexico and Canada.

* Uruguay: Will former president and current ruling party candidate Tabaré Vázquez earn an outright win in the October 26th general election or be forced into a second round next month?

Video Source – teleSUR English (Video uploaded on October 11, 2014).

Online Sources – NTDTV; NBC News; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; Buenos Aires Herald

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

Mexico suspends U.S. meat imports

Three months ago the U.S. suspended the meat imports from seven Mexican processing plants. According to U.S. authorities, the move was done so that Mexican factories could improve their sanitary conditions.

Last week, Mexican officials suspended imports from thirty U.S. processors. They too cited issues of unsanitary factory conditions and the move led to a sharp drop in U.S. cattle and hog prices on Friday.

Though it may appear that the Mexican’s step was retaliatory, officials on both sides of the border deny it:

The U.S. Agriculture Department has been working with Mexican authorities and U.S. meat shippers to resolve concerns about shipments from certain U.S. meat plants, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

But Mexico's suspension of purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants was not done to retaliate against the U.S. country-of-origin labeling law, known as COOL, said Amanda Eamich of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Mexico recently joined Canada in filing a World Trade Organization complaint against U.S. meat regulations.

Image- cduniverse.com
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, chron.com

U.S. suspends meat exports from Mexico

U.S. officials suspended all meat and chicken exports from Mexico due to safety concerns. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the decision was made voluntarily by Mexican meat producers days after the USDA revoked the exporting licenses of seven Mexican processors.

The head of Mexico’s meat producers association anticipated that the suspension would be lifted soon:

Meat Council President Eugenio Salinas said the Mexican government has informed the council it could start issuing export permits as of next week…

"It was a voluntary and precautionary suspension," Salinas said…

Salinas said U.S. inspectors are in Mexico to check whether the problems have been corrected.

Over the past few months numerous products exported from Mexico have come under heightened scrutiny. A salmonella scare in North America was blamed on Mexican tomatoes and jalapeño peppers. Californian health officials issued a warning against a brand of Mexican candy in August after finding high levels of lead.

Image- WNCT

Sources- The Latin Americanist, USA TODAY, The Californian, AHN, Reuters