Daily Headlines: September 16, 2014

* Mexico: A Mexican politician has come under fire after posting a Facebook message referring to Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho as an “ape.”

* Brazil: The warden of a Brazilian prison where an inmate was recently beheaded was arrested and charged with helping prisoners escape.

* U.S.: A coalition of fifty groups commenced a campaign yesterday aimed at boosting the number of Latino voters participating in the November midterm elections.

* Puerto Rico: Approximately $900 million in tax and revenue anticipation notes is expected to be sold in order to raise revenues on the cash-strapped commonwealth.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube
 
Online Sources – The Guardian; The Latin Americanist; Fox News Latino; The Huffington Post; Reuters

Daily Headlines: April 29, 2014

* Brazil: A social media campaign has grown in support of Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves who responded to the racist taunt of having a banana thrown at him in the middle of a match in Spain by nonchalantly gobbling up the fruit.

* Mexico: Acclaimed film director Alfonso Cuarón published a full-page advertisement in Mexican newspapers yesterday of a list of questions for President Enrique Peña Nieto to answer regarding a controversial energy reform proposal.

* Peru: Indigenous leader Ruth Buendia was named as a co-recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts to halt construction of the Paquitzapango hydroelectric project.

* Colombia: Thousands of farmers are protesting against the Colombian government’s agrarian polices in a demonstration that could affect the May 26 general election and President Juan Manuel Santos’ chances of winning reelection.
  
Video Source – YouTube user Love Football

Online Sources – GlobalPost; The Guardian; Reuters; The Telegraph

Sobredosis de TV – Fiction or Racism?

Sobredosis de TV is our occasional look at television shows in the Americas.  It is also the name of a song from famed Argentine rock music group Soda Stereo.
A Peruvian television show that showcases the misadventures of an indigenous woman in the big city has not sat well with some people in the Andean country including one politician who spoke out this week.

Hilaria Supa, a Peruvian member of the Andean Parliament, sent a letter to local television channel Frecuencia Latina requesting that the La Paisana Jacinta program get taken off the air.

“It is outrageous that in the middle of the twenty first century, when we believe that we are advancing, you can see racist attitudes in stadiums, public places, schools, and on the media with Frecuencia Latina which offends us as citizens when it reprograms like ‘El Negro Mama’ or ‘La Paisana Jacinta’”, said Supa who is of indigenous background.

“These programs defame us, they make us seem like stupid, unkempt people, and that has to stop,” she added against the program that retuned to the airwaves in mid-February.

Other critics of the program have used the hashtag #NoalaPaisanaJacinta to organize protests such as one scheduled to take place outside of the Frecuencia Latina studios in Lima today.   

Not everyone sees eye-to-eye with Supa including several Twitter users who responded by launching racist insults against her. 

“Hilaria Supa, learn to read and write,” “Go back to your hometown and plant potatoes” and “Shitty Chola” were just some of the messages issued against the legislator. 

A more measured reply was provided by actress Magaly Solier who said that La Paisana Jacinta “is fiction and acting because Andean women are not like that.”

Jorge Benavides, the male comic who portrays the protagonist of La Paisana Jacinta, is no stranger to controversy.  Last year he defended his portrayal of “Negro Mama,” a blackface character with a prosthetic wide nose and thick lips as “a character with an established name. Therefore, you can’t accuse us of generalizing and saying that all black people are thieves.” Peru’s television regulatory body did not agree and fined Frecuencia Latina over $26,000 for airing sketches with “Negro Mama.”

Should La Paisana Jacinta be yanked off the air permanently?  Judge for yourself below the page break by watching an episode where Jacinta becomes a construction worker:

Colombia: “Funeral” Honors Life and Legacy of Mandela (Updated)

A countless number of tributes in honor of ex-South African president Nelson Mandela have come from around the world since he passed away last Thursday.  Latin American leaders and Nobel Laureates such as Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Oscar Arias praised the iconic anti-apartheid campaigner who died at the age of 95.   Meanwhile, one of the most unique celebrations of Mandela’s life and legacy took place in a Colombian neighborhood named after him.

Last weekend, dozens of residents of the Nelson Mandela neighborhood of Cartagena held a vigil and “symbolic funeral” in his name. 

Religious leaders, community activists and admirers of the late leader took part in the activities that included an honorary mass and a funeral march with a coffin representing Mandela.  They chanted “Freedom, freedom, Nelson Mandela you are freedom” as they walked to a local soccer field.

“We wanted to do this symbolic funeral in order to remember with each step the achievements of our South Africa leader,” said Abad Berrio, one of the attendees.

“We’re getting together to remember him and teach the children what he represented as well as the peace we hope to achieve,” Berrio added.

The neighborhood was founded on the day Mandela was elected as president of South Africa in December 1994.  Most of the 40,000 residents are Afro-Colombians and had been displaced from other parts of the country mired in a decades-long armed conflict.  Yet the Barrio Nelson Mandela is one of the most impoverished and crime-ridden neighborhoods in Cartagena with residents suffer from poor social services and in absence of urgent medical care.

The problems of the Mandela neighborhood have not gone unnoticed by local civic leaders like Wailer Herrón who hope to draw encouragement from the legacy of the late activist:

Brazil: Brewery Faces $2.7M Fine Over “True Black” Ad

Was a beer ad published in Brazilian magazines three years ago creative or racist?  The answer could lead to a multimillion-dollar fine against Japanese brewery Kirin.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice opened legal proceedings against Kirin regarding a print ad with an illustration of a scantily clad dark-skinned woman wearing a dress and in a sensual pose.  The tagline of the ad for the dark-colored Devassa Tropical Lager beer reads, “A true black can be recognized by her body.  A highly fermented dark ale.  Creamy with an aroma of roasted malt.”

The Ministry of Justice concluded that the ad is “abusive” because it “equates a black woman with a consumer object.”  As a result, a $2.7 million fine could be made against Kirin based on a complaint that was made in 2011 by the consumer protection agency for Espiritu Santo state.

“The Code of Consumer Protection protects consumers from abusive advertising,” said Amaury Oliva, director of the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense (DPDC) of the Ministry of Justice.  “Advertising is indicative of business ethics. Freedom of initiative can not hurt the rights of the consumer,” he mentioned in a press conference last week.

Oliva added that other government agencies for women’s rights and racial equality expressed their concern over the ad in question since it “reinforces gender discrimination and racist stereotypes”.

A spokesperson for Brasil Kirin told the local press that the company “does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. The company conducts its business ethically and with respect to all its stakeholders and consumers.”

The company has until October 14 to file a defense of the ad with the Ministry of Justice.

Weekend Headlines: August 18, 2013 (Updated)

* Caribbean: On Saturday, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became the first three-time male winner of the 200-meter dash at the world track and field championships.

Update: Bolt won his third gold medal of the world track and field championships after anchoring Jamaica's victorious men's 4x100 meter relay team.

* U.S.: Miguel Tejada received a 105 game suspension from Major League Baseball (MLB) over testing positive for an amphetamine weeks after Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games for violating the MLB’s drug policy.
 
* Chile: Employees at the world's largest private copper in Chile seeking better pay and improved working conditions staged a 24-hour strike last week.

* Mexico: Mexican airline Aeromexico and advertising firm Catatonia issued an apology regarding issuing a commercial casting call barring “dark-skinned” people from auditioning.

Video Source – YouTube via Universal Sports

Online Sources including Update- USA TODAY; BBC News; ITV; ESPN New York; The Guardian; CNN

"Golden Voiced" Boy Mariachi Belts Out National Anthem

We'll be back on Thursday with (hopefully) several posts on recent news stories from around the Americas.

In the meantime, we ask that all those who can please rise for the singing of the U.S. National Anthem:

The above rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was by ten-year-old Mexican-American singer Sebastien De La Cruz before the third game of the NBA Finals.  The San Antonio native has been hailed as “The Boy With the Golden Voice” after his recent appearance on a nationally televised singing competition.

In the aftermath of De La Cruz' performance, several twits on Twitter aired their disapproval of him using racist and vulgar language.  De La Cruz replied by noting, "My father was a U.S. Marine for a long time and they think I'm Mexican.  I'm not from Mexico.  I was born and raised in San Antonio and I'm a Spurs fan".

Video Source - YouTube via use Xsounders

Online Sources - El Diario/La Prensa; Salon.com

Attack on Afro-Uruguayan Activist Not Bias Assault Says Judge

A court decided that the controversial assault last month against an Afro-Uruguayan activist was not a bias attack and, thus, skipped charging Ramirez’ aggressors with racism.

Judge Juan Carlos Fernández Lecchini said yesterday that the accused and the victim had taken “competing” views as to whether or not racism was the motivation behind the assault on Tania Ramirez outside of a Montevideo nightclub on December 14, 2012. He claimed that the views taken by Ramirez and her attackers had not been “proven in one way or another” and “one cannot be persuaded when there isn’t anything to imbalance to opposite perspectives.”

Fernández Lecchini did leave the door open to the possibility of having racism being used as evidence against the accused.  In the meantime, he went ahead with charging the three suspects with attempting to commit serious injury. If convicted, the accused (including a fourth suspect still on the loose) could face prison sentences of twenty months to six years.

Prosecutor Carlos Negro agreed with the attackers' claims that the assault was only a “street fight” and he backed the judge’s ruling.

“Every time one person insults another it would be defined as discriminatory since we shouldn’t forget that all insults contain some form of discrimination,” said Negro to the Subrayado website on Thursday.

Ramirez’ supporters, such as her boyfriend, vehemently disagreed with the judge’s decision:

“The assault began verbally with racial slurs.  What does it take for this to be racist, a tattooed swastika or a Ku Klux Klan hood? 

What if the attack had been the other way around with four black women beating up a white lady? I’m certain the police would’ve found the attackers the very next day,” he said in reference to the over one month police took to arrest Tania’s attackers.

Fernández Lecchini remarks also left a sour taste in the mouths of several Afro-Uruguayan government officials and activists. 

“If we live in a country where striking a person and calling her a “dirty black” (negra motuda) isn’t a racist act then we are lost,” noted Juan Raúl Ferreira, a member of the National Human Rights Institute.

Days after Ramirez was attacked several thousand people took to the streets of Montevideo and participated in an anti-racism march.  Among those who participated in the protest were politicians representing numerous affiliations, social organizations like the Israeli Committee of Uruguay and members of Ramirez’ family.

Earlier this month a campaign led by Afro-Uruguayan activists announced their petition to Spain's Royal Academy of the Spanish Language seeking to remove the phrase "to work like a black person" (trabajar como un negro) from its famous dictionary.

"We ask you to revise the permanence of this expression in your dictionary, while we find ways to eliminate all discriminatory expressions from our plazas, our schools, our playgrounds and our homes," said an online petition that has been signed by at least 21,000 people.

According to the most recent national census, eight percent of the roughly 3.2 million Uruguayans categorize themselves as being of African descent.  Yet Afro-Uruguayans reportedly receive salaries twenty to thirty percent less than their white counterparts while forty percent of Afro-Uruguayans live below the poverty line.

Video Source– YouTube via user SubrayadoHD (Security camera footage recorded the attack of four women, three minors and one of their mothers, on Tania Ramirez outside a Montevideo nightclub).
 
Online Sources – Diario El Pais, Subrayado, El Observador, Terra Colombia

Daily Headlines: December 21, 2011

* Uruguay: The English Football Association suspended striker Luis Suarez over alleged racial abuse against an opposing player during a match last October.

* Peru: Julio Galindo, Peru’s “anti-terrorist attorney general”, was none too pleased that paroled activist Lori Berenson was allowed to leave the country in order to spend the holidays with her family.

* U.S.: The number of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico will be reduced starting next month in order to put a greater emphasis on “aerial surveillance missions.”

* Argentina: The political tensions between the government and the Clarin media group are expected to worsen after police raided the offices of a Clarin-owned cable TV firm.

Image Source – Flickr via jikatu (#9 Luis Suarez celebrates with his teammates after scoring all four goals in Uruguay’s victory over Chile in World Cup qualifiers last month). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- USA TODAY, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor

"White supremacists" ridicule Miss Universe winner

On Monday Leila Lopes of Angola won the latest edition of the Miss Universe beauty pageant that was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Despite the many congratulations she received for winning, a few individuals were unhappy that a dark-skinned woman from an African country won the contest.

According to several reports, Lopes was taunted with racist messages in English and Portuguese on the website of a “white supremacist” group called Stormfront. One commenter allegedly bemoaned that a “monkey wearing a dress” won the contest while another claimed that she ought to play “the daughter of King Kong” in a Hollywood film.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that members of the Stormfront.org have cruelly ridiculed beauty pageant winners. “That disgusting black cannot be Italian,” was one of the messages supposedly written on the site weeks ago insulting Brazilian-born Silvia Novais after she won the opportunity to represent Italy in the next Miss World contest.

Brazilian police have been investigating the Stormfront group over suspected ties to neo-Nazi organizations. In the meantime, Lopes spoke out on Wednesday against being the target of racism:

“Racism doesn’t affect me. Racists are the ones who should seek help because it isn’t normal that a person should think like that in the twenty-first century. There is no basis for that type of prejudice.”

Lopes herself has faced other troubles this week including rumors that she falsified documents in order to enter (and subsequently win) the Miss Angola UK contest.

Image- AFP via USA TODAY (“Miss Angola 2011 Leila Lopes is crowned Miss Universe 2011 by Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete of Mexico at the 60th annual Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo on Sept. 12, 2011.”)

Online Sources- ABC News, Guanabee, Portal Susse, Observador Global, El Universal

Was Neymar targeted with racial taunts?

Young Latin American soccer stars such as Chile’s Matias Fernandez and Mexico’s Javier Hernandez have shined during international friendlies this week. Nineteen-year-old Neymar was easily the best of the bunch after scoring twice in Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Scotland at London’s Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Sadly, allegations of racial abuse have overshadowed the impressive shutout by Brazil.

As he was preparing to convert a penalty kick near the end of the match, a banana was thrown from the crowd and landed near Neymar. Teammate Lucas Leiva tossed the fruit away and insinuated after the game that the fruit was thrown as a sign of racism. Moreover, Neymar interpreted the booing against him by Scottish supporters as part of an “atmosphere of racism” against him.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) reacted by strongly rebuking the claims of racism while a spokesman for the Tartan Army supporters group said that “Neymar was booed was because we believed he was feigning injury.” Their claims appeared to be supported by an investigation by the Metropolitan Police and Arsenal Football Club who play their home matches at the Emirates. Their probe concluded that “a German teenage tourist” sitting in an area “occupied by the official allocation of tickets to Brazil supporters” threw the banana in question. "The Metropolitan Police is satisfied there was no racist intent and have confirmed that no further action will be taken," said a statement issued by Arsenal via the SFA.

The Brazilian Football Federation has thus far rejected issuing a formal complaint regarding either the banana-throwing incident or the booing. While it could be argued that Neymar was been overreacting another Brazilian player may’ve been the target of racism from fans:

Zenit St Petersburg have launched an investigation into an alleged incident of racist abuse involving former Brazil international Roberto Carlos…

A photograph has since emerged of a supporter appearing to wave a banana in the direction of the former Real Madrid star as the two teams entered the field.

Zenit have condemned the alleged incident, and vowed to step up their efforts to stamp out racism by working closely with the country's governing body and the police.

Neymar could soon join one of Arsenal’s fiercest London rivals- Chelsea- as part of a rumored $48 million deal that could be completed in the next few months.

Image- AP via The Telegraph (“On the spot: Neymar pushed his asking price up by scoring twice against Scotland, including this penalty.”)
Online Sources- The Canadian Press, San Jose Mercury News, ESPN Soccernet, Reuters, The Guardian, Bloomberg

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: September 28, 2010

* Mexico: Critically acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro’s next project will involve the world of animation.

* Guatemala: Most residents of the “remote, indigenous village of Xenac” are outraged over the death of one of their compatriots after a confrontation with Los Angeles police.

* Bolivia: Social activists and media groups are butting heads over an anti-racism proposal that could soon become law.

* Honduras: Police claimed that the main suspect in the massacre of eighteen factory workers earlier this month was himself killed in a shootout.

Image – The Independent
Online Sources- The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, Knight Center, Miami Herald

World Watch: Border battle

* Middle East: The UN Security Council strongly rebuked both Israeli and Lebanese authorities for a border clash in July that cost the lives of four people.

* Indonesia: Thousands of residents near the Sinabung volcano worry that it could keep erupting after being dormant for roughly four centuries.

* U.S.: According to researchers the severity of multiple sclerosis may change depending on the seasons.

* Germany: A member of Germany’s central bank has refused to resign after making “disparaging remarks” about Muslims and Jews.

Image – PRESS TV
Online Sources- BBC News, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Xinhua

World Watch: Climactic caution

* World: According to a report by the U.N. released yesterday slower population growth could help combat climate change and lessen the “climate burden” shouldered by women in underdeveloped states.

* Russia: Anti-facist groups and neo-Nazis have fought in the streets of Moscow after the “fatal shooting of an anti-racist activist.”

* Iran: It’s back to the drawing board over Iran and its nuclear ambitions after that country rejected an internationally-brokered deal.

* Somalia: A 20-year-old woman was brutally stoned to death in front of 2000 eyewitnesses after a “judge” punished her for committing adultery.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- MSNBC, AFP, BBC News, Los Angeles Times

World Watch: The filth and the fury

* South Africa: A judge postponed the trial of four white ex-university students who filmed a shocking video of five black workers eating food that had been urinated upon.

* Iraq: At least 155 people died as a result of a series of bombings on Sunday which have been blamed by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Al-Qaeda militants.

* Europe: The war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karodic at The Hague is expected to start on Tuesday “with or without” his presence.

* World: According to a U.N. human rights official, women and gays worldwide tend to be unfairly “caught between being victims of extremist groups and victims of counter-terrorism measures.”

Image- AFP (“The video drew massive anger after it was leaked last year.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, csmonitor.com, BBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: October 16, 2009

* Chile: Tensions between Chile’s government and the indigenous Mapuche are near the boiling point after the Bachelet administration controversially invoked a Dirty War-era law against violence.

* Latin America: According to an Inter-American Development Bank study Brazil has Latin America’s worst gender and racial gap while the margin in Bolivia and Guatemala is nearly zero.

* Mexico: Tens of thousands of Mexicans protested yesterday against the federal government’s closing of state-run energy firm Luz y Fuerza.

* Cuba: A U.S. federal judge reduced the sentence of one of the “Cuban Five” convicted over a decade ago of being a Cuban spy.

Image- Santiago Times ("Mapuche flag.")
Online Sources- Guardian UK, csmonitor.com, LAHT, The Latin Americanist, New York Times

Daily Headlines: June 1, 2009

* U.S.: A “right-wing shock jock” from Boston will return to the airwaves tomorrow after bring suspended since April for numerous deregotary remarks including calling Mexicans “leeches” and claiming that “women with mustaches and VD” are one of Mexico’s top exports.

* Peru: The country’s foreign minister defended the decision to grant asylum to four South American opposition figures including ex-Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Venezuela’s Manuel Rosales.

* Brazil: Authorities released a man of Lebanese background who was arrested and misidentified as an Al-Qaeda operative.

* Ecuador: President Rafael Correa declared that Ecuador will leave a global arbitration body affiliated to the World Bank.

Image- Gimme Noise
Online Sources- Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Forbes, Voice of America, BBC News, The Latin Americanist

Sao Paulo fashionstas, prosecutors reach deal

Last year’s Sao Paulo Fashion Week was marred when an investigation revealed a terrible lack of black and mixed-race models sashaying on the runway. Though nearly half of Brazil’s population is said to be black or of mixed race, only eight of the 344 models at last year’s event were black.

With threats by authorities to shut down this year’s event, offaicls and organizers reached an agreement:

Under its terms, fashion brands must ensure that 10% of the models are of African or Indigenous descent…

Companies failing to meet the new target could face the prospect of being fined more than $120,000…

While there has been little visible sign of tension over race, people of African heritage make up the poorest section of society.

An attempt to create a national law to establish quotas to address this inequality has once again been delayed in the Brazilian Congress, because of a failure to reach a consensus.

Some legislators are arguing that the best way to tackle inequality would be to use social rather than racial criteria in setting targets.

As the BBC News reported last year, some Afro-Brazilian models are upset at the apparent racism in their country’s fashion industry. "In a fashion show it is practically impossible," attest one model.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: February 19, 2009

* Mexico: Several local officials and media outlets have claimed that recent protests in northern Mexico are organized by violent drug gangs.

* U.S.: "We are all human beings and we don't have a right to take a life," said the mother of slain Ecuadorian Marcelo Lucero after attending initial proceedings against two of the eight defendants.

* Puerto Rico: Scientists examining unexploded bombs off the former Naval base on Vieques concluded that those munitions release dangerous cancer-causing toxins.

* Nicaragua: The owners of a Managua nightclub apologized for being racist after turning away a black woman who just so happens to represent Nicaragua in the Central American Parliament.

Image- BBC News (A banner held during a recent demonstration in northern Mexico read “The soldiers do not let us live in peace we are scared” [sic]).
Online Sources- LAHT, The Latin Americanist, newsday.com, New York Times, U.S. News and World Report