Daily Headlines: May 6, 2016

* El Salvador: Salvadoran authorities claimed that homicides declined last April by 15.8% but some analysts worry the government’s “zero tolerance approach” could lead to increased gang violence.

* Venezuela: At an Organization of American States meeting, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez accused the U.S. of orchestrating a campaign of “ongoing and relentless aggression” against her country.

* Colombia: Colombian police arrested Nidal Waked, a man named by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as “one of the world's most significant drug money launderers and criminal facilitators.”

* Haiti: Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demonstrate over the political crisis stemming from delayed presidential elections.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (“In El Salvador, it's estimated someone is murdered every hour.  It could become the world's most violent country if not already.”)
 
Online Sources – Reuters, The Miami Herald, BBC News, SBS

Daily Headlines: April 11, 2016

* Panama: As part of Panama’s campaign to save face in light of the “Panama Papers” leak, President Juan Carlos Varela in a New York Times op/ed piece tried to shift attention towards tax evasion as a “global problem.”

* Latin America: The Inter-American Development Bank anticipates a 0.3% contraction of the Latin American regional economy in 2016 and weak growth in the next few years.

* Argentina: Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner might be charged in relation to an investigation into alleged money laundering.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla ordered emergency financial measures aimed at preventing a default on a debt payment scheduled for May 1st.

YouTube Source – AFP (Over the weekend “police raided the El Salvador offices of the Panama-based law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal that has revealed how the wealthy in many countries stashed their riches offshore”.)
 
Online Sources – Reuters, MercoPress, The Economic Times, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist

Panamanian Gov’t Lashes Out over “Panama Papers” Leak

What do a Nobel laureate, “La Reina del Sur” and the president of a South American country all have in common? These and a few thousand other Latin Americans were named in the “Panama Papers” leak of eleven million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca purportedly assisting in tax evasion, circumventing sanctions, and money laundering. In light of the damaging allegations, the government of the isthmus had gone on a diplomatic offensive.

Deputy Minister Luis Miguel Hincapié on Tuesday blasted Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) chief Angel Gurria for suggesting that Panama failed “to meet the international tax transparency standards are now out there in full public view.” he claimed Gurria made “allegations and insinuations whose falsity is easily demonstrated.” Hincapié further accused Gurria of discriminating against Panama by not pointing the finger at other jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands where half of firms mentioned in the “Panama Papers” are registered in.

The official earlier today also implied that the OECD has coerced Panama as part of its campaign to place international standards on tax transparency.

“(Panama) for a long time has suffered pressure from the OECD so that the country can sign a multilateral treaty to exchange fiscal information,” Hincapié mentioned at a press conference.

“We only agreed in the interchange of information on a bilateral basis and in specific cases,” he said.
The OECD hasn’t been the only foreign body receiving criticism from the Panamanian government. Minister of the Presidency Alvaro Aleman threatened with “retaliation measures” against France if the European country goes through with placing the isthmus on its blacklist of tax havens.

Economics Minister Dulcido De La Guardia rejected claims that Panama is a “fiscal oasis” and claimed “three-quarters of income received by the government comes from taxes paid by nationals and foreigners residing in the country.” (Though this does raise the question of where does the other 25% come from).

Daily Headlines: October 23, 2015 (Updated)

* Mexico: A state of emergency has been declared in three Mexican states in anticipation of the expected landfall today of the category five Hurricane Patricia.

Update (October 24th, 12:30 AM): The storm was downgraded to a category four hurricane hours after it reached Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday night. As of this update, some material damage was reported but no fatalities.  Civil defense chief Luis Felipe Puente nevertheless warned that Patricia could still cause flash floods, landslides and infrastructural damage to states like Colima and Jalisco. (Link in Spanish).


Update (October 24th, 5:15 PM): 

So far, there are no reports of major damage from #Patricia. Our gratitude to all for your thoughts, prayers and actions #PrayForMexico.

— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) October 24, 2015

Nevertheless, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto traveled to Colima to oversee the aftermath of Patricia, which was downgraded to a tropical storm and is now drenching the northern border state of Nuevo Leon. (Link in Spanish).

* Paraguay: Former Paraguayan President Federico Franco could become the latest Latin American leader to be investigated for alleged corruption during his rule.

* Cuba: Will the U.S. reverse its historic vote in the U.N. General Assembly next week and opt to condemn the decades-long trade embargo against Cuba?

* Ecuador: Scientists have discovered a new species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands and named them after the longtime caretaker of the late emblematic tortoise George.

YouTube Source – Reuters
 
Online Sources including Updates – BBC News, Xinhua, The Guardian, InSight Crime, Milenio.com, Twitter, El Economista

Daily Headlines: October 13, 2015

* Chile: Five years after the rescue of thirty-three Chilean miners, most of them have reportedly suffered from health problems and difficulties finding employment.

* Honduras: Clients of Banco Continental worry that their savings could be wiped out after the U.S. Treasury Department accused the bank’s owners of laundering drug money.

* Cuba: Cuban dissident groups claimed that authorities over the weekend detained about 300 activists calling for the liberation of political prisoners on the island.

* South America: Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz said that his country would be willing to negotiate with landlocked Bolivia’s access to the sea but refused to “discuss sovereignty” claims.

YouTube Source – Journeyman Pictures (“In 2010 the story of the 33 Chilean miners trapped in a collapsed mine caught the imagination of people around the world. Despite the excitement and emotion, the impoverished mine workers who were not trapped are being easily forgotten by the international media.”)
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, BBC News, Reuters, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2015

* Colombia: A state of emergency was declared for areas of northwest Colombia ravaged by a landslide that killed at least sixty-two villagers and wiped out several rural communities.

* Argentina: Ex-Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati strongly rejected his country’s alleged role in the 1994 bombing of an Argentine Jewish cultural center that left eighty-five people dead.

* Puerto Rico: Several hundred protesters marched in opposition to an estimated $249 million in budget cuts to education and a proposed new value added tax.

* Venezuela: The U.S. is reportedly probing senior Venezuelan government officials including congressional chief Diosdado Cabello over possible drug trafficking and money laundering.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Yahoo News, The Guardian, Fox News Latino, Reuters

Daily Headlines: May 29, 2013

* Honduras: Leaders of the dangerous Mara Salavatrucha and 18th Street gangs declared a truce similar to a pact in El Salvador that has helped decrease homicide rates.

* Mexico: A hurricane warning was issued this morning for areas along Mexico’s Pacific coast as Tropical Storm Barbara gains strength on its way towards land.

* Cuba: Starting next week, the government will expand internet access to over one hundred extra outlets though no internet provided directly to private homes and most Cubans cannot afford going online.

* Costa Rica: U.S. law enforcement authorities shut down Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rican-based company specializing in online payments, over allegations of money laundering.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- ABC News; CBS News; Voice of America; Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 1, 2012

* Venezuela: Will Venezuela’s official entry yesterday as a full member of the Mercosur bloc help or hurt the country’s economy?

* Latin America: Spanish imports of oil from Latin America have doubled this year partly due to a European Union ban on Iranian oil that started exactly one month ago.

* Costa Rica: Fired Deputy Minister for Youth Karina Bolanos apologized but defended herself after a racy personal video made in 2007 was stolen and released on YouTube.

* Nicaragua: The criminal gang linked to the murder last year of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral has been accused of laundering over $1 billion.

Video Source – YouTube via Cosa Rosada (In this video from the Argentine government the leaders of Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina posed for a photo at the Mercosur conference yesterday).

Online Sources- Bloomberg, Reuters, InSight Crime, CNN

Daily Headlines: July 18, 2012

* Mexico: The head of Mexico's banking and securities commission defended the regulator amid claims that HSBC ignored warnings of money laundering by drug gangs.

* Cuba: The Cuban government announced an increase in import taxes days after the island received its first cargo shipment from the U.S. in fifty years.

* Colombia: Tensions continue in the war-torn Cauca province where the indigenous community has sought the removal of the military and FARC guerillas.

* Chile: A court charged two ex-military men with torturing and killing the father of former president Michelle Bachelet in 1974.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- Reuters, euronews, Huffington Post, CNN, BBC News

Daily Headlines: September 28, 2011

* Latin America: A study of major river basins worldwide including some in Latin America concluded that “inefficient use and unfair distribution” of water are affecting global food production.

* Bolivia: The country’s interior minister and his deputy resigned yesterday as a result of alleged police brutality during protests over the weekend against a controversial highway project.

* Costa Rica: A report found that Costa Rica is the top Central American country for money laundering with over $4 billion laundered between 2000 and 2009.

* U.S.: Baltimore Orioles slugger Vladimir Guerrero became the all-time hits leader for a player born in the Dominican Republic.

Image – Via Flickr user Bird Brian (“Indigenous nomad family on the Tambopata River.”) (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- MLB.com, InSight, Huffington Post, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg