Daily Headlines: November 1, 2016

* Brazil: A study from the Getulio Vargas Foundation public policy think tank concluded that the Brazilian economy will continue to be mired in an economic crisis into 2017.

* Cuba: The discrepancy in pay between workers of different nationalities laboring on three major hotel projects in Cuba has not sat well with residents.

* Argentina: Approximately $4.6 billion was reportedly declared by Argentines as part of a tax amnesty plan in effect until November 21st.

* Venezuela: Five imprisoned opposition politicians were released from jail after Democratic Unity Roundtable representatives first met with government represntatives in Vatican-mediated talks .

YouTube Source – Bloomberg (Video uploaded in September 2016).

Online Sources – UPI, Reuters, Xinhua, BBC News

Daily Headlines: October 6, 2016

* Argentina: “We have 40 years of love to give you," said the brother of the 121st person positively identified by the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo as having been stolen and illegally adopted during the “Dirty War” era of military rule in Argentina.

* Caribbean: At least sixty-nine people died in the Caribbean and authorities once again postponed Haiti’s presidential election as a result of Hurricane Matthew.

* Chile: The Chilean government announced an overhaul of the country’s Sename child services system following reports of 865 minors dying over the past eleven years in network shelters.

* Brazil: The International Monetary Fund indicated that Brazil’s recession may be worse than expected based on economic indicators such as declining industrial activity and a rising unemployment rate.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded in October 2014).
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Reuters, Fox News Latino, CNN Money

Daily Headlines: July 26, 2016

* Brazil: Amid the plethora of negative news on the upcoming Rio Olympics there’s a small glimmer of hope –Brazil’s economy could emerge from a deep recession by the end of this year.

* Mexico: In light of free trade becoming a hot topic in the U.S. presidential race, Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu suggested “modernizing and updating” the North American Free Trade Agreement.

* Latin America: LATAM Airlines, Latin America’s largest air carrier, was fined some $22 million over “violating accounting laws connected to a scheme to bribe Argentine union officials.”

* Argentina: Ex-Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed to be unafraid of going to jail over allegations of corruption and compared her situation to that of suspended Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff.

* Ecuador: As part of the latest legal tug-of-war between Ecuador and Chevron, the South American country’s central bank paid $112 million as part of an arbitration ruling favoring the U.S. oil firm.

* Chile: The Chilean Supreme Court last week unanimously lengthened the prison sentences against two former military officers convicted in the 1973 deaths of documentary filmmaker Charles Horman and university student Frank Teruggi.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (Brazil’s economy entered its fifth straight quarter at a loss at the beginning of 2016, but could emerge from its crippling recession by the end of this year).

Online Sources – Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, MarketWatch, Reuters, USA TODAY, Al Jazeera English
 

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2016

* El Salvador: El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional an amnesty law protecting individuals suspected of committing crimes linked to the civil war from 1980 to 1992.

* Brazil: The recession battering Brazil has worsened with May showing the worst level of economic activity in more than six years.

* Mexico: The Mexican government announced changes to a teacher evaluation program following protests by educators arguing that the exams adversely affect rural communities with few resources.

* Peru: Environmentalists and opposition lawmakers will likely push back against President-elect Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s plan to lower air quality standards in order to boost investment in mining.

YouTube Source – Catholic News Service (The 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero could be one of the cases reopened after a top court declared a civil war crimes amnesty as unconstitutional).

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, Xinhua, Latin American Herald Tribune, Reuters

Daily Headlines: June 3, 2016

* Haiti: The results of Haiti's first-round presidential election held last year should be thrown out and a new vote ought to be held, according to the recommendations issued this week by a special verification panel.

* Brazil: The Brazilian economy is still in recession though the decline in the first quarter of this year was only 0.3% less than the final trimester of 2015.

* Paraguay: More than one hundred people participated in the reconstructing the massacre of seventeen people in 2012, which was an incident cited in the impeachment and ouster of then-President Fernando Lugo.

* El Salvador: The Salvadoran legislature could approve a probe against the country's ambassador to Germany for purportedly selling weapons illegally on the black market.

YouTube Source – AFP (Haiti’s presidential runoff has been postponed multiple times amid accusations of fraud in the first round and heightened political tensions).
 
Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune, Reuters, Quartz, CBS News

Daily Headlines: December 21, 2015

* Bolivia: A natural disaster declaration was emitted for Bolivia’s second-largest lake, Lake Poopó, which is nearly completely dry.

* Central America: Should the U.S. help airlift an estimated 5000 of Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica since November?

* Haiti: “Violent protests and acts of vandalism’ have erupted in several Haitian cites prior to the controversial presidential runoff election scheduled for this Sunday.

* Brazil: Nelson Barbosa, Brazil’s new Finance Minister, said that the austerity plans will continue in order to jump start the recession-hit economy.

YouTube Source – Fundacion Solon

Online Sources – teleSUR English, SBS, Miami Herald, Forbes

Daily Headlines: December 1, 2015

* Guatemala: Gang violence was blamed for the deaths of at least sixteen inmates at a Guatemalan prison that is at approximately 500% overcapacity.

* Brazil: Brazil’s recession worsened in the third trimester of 2015 and posted a 1.7% quarterly drop along with a worrying 4.5% annual decline.

* El Salvador: San Salvador Archbishop Bishop Jesus Delgado apologized to victims of sexual abuse by clergy amid a crackdown by the archdiocese against suspected pedophiles.

* Venezuela: Authorities arrested three suspects in the murder of Venezuelan opposition politician Luis Diaz during a recent campaign event to rally support prior to Sunday’s legislative elections.

YouTube Source – Associated Press

Online Sources – iTV News, Reuters, UPI, Yahoo News

Daily Headlines: May 5, 2015

* South America: Chilean representatives requested the International Court of Justice to dismiss landlocked Bolivia’s long-standing claims of access to the Pacific Ocean.

* Mexico: The U.S. and Canadian embassies in Mexico issued travel warnings for tourists visiting a Jalisco state that has been the setting for a recent uptick in violent drug-related crime.

* Cuba: Alan Gross, the former contractor who spent over three years in a Cuban jail, will lobby for a new political action committee seeking stronger ties between the U.S. and the Caribbean nation.

* Brazil: Brazil will likely fall into a deeper recession and also raise interest rates according to financial analysts reporting to the Central Bank.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – Bloomberg, CBC News, MercoPress, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: January 1, 2015

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro promised to enact a series of reforms over the next six months in order to boost a Venezuelan economy that is officially in recession.

* Cuba: Performance artist Tania Bruguera and the husband of blogger Yoani Sanchez were among the roughly fifty dissidents briefly detained and then released by Cuban authorities.

* Colombia: Colombian Teofilo Gutierrez and Jose Pekerman of Argentina have been chosen in a poll by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais as South America’s top soccer player and coach of the year, respectively.

* Argentina: Argentina may be struggling with a debt default and rising inflation but that hasn’t stopped the country’s Merval from being named the “best performing global index of 2014.”

Video Source – YouTube user CNN

Online Sources – Reuters; NBC News; CNBC

Daily Headlines: September 9, 2014

* Mexico: Drought conditions on both sides of the border over the past few years could explain why Mexico allegedly owes some 380,000 acre-feet of water to the U.S.

* Latin America: A recent UNICEF report found that Latin America and the Caribbean has the worst homicide rate among children and youth, and at roughly three times the global average.

* Venezuela: Has Venezuela unofficially fallen into a recession due to a decrease of goods coming into the country?

* Honduras: According to Honduras’ human rights commissioner the number of deaths caused by firearms had more than doubled between 2005 and 2013.

Video Source – Reuters via YouTube (Areas of northern Mexico were devastated in 2011 due to the worst drought conditions in about seventy years).
 
Online Sources – The Washington Post; MercoPress; LAHT; Reuters

Daily Headlines: November 19, 2009

* U.S.: A report written for the William C. Velasquez Institute concluded that Latinos and blacks face a disproportionate risk of foreclosure as a result of higher unemployment rates and a greater probability of signing off on high-risk loans.

* Venezuela: The country is officially in recession due to the global economic slowdown and decreasing oil prices according to government officials.

* Brazil: Execs at state-run oil firm Petrobras claimed to have found a massive offshore field with the capacity to produce an estimated 25 million barrels of light crude.

* Mexico: Harvard University recently recognized Mexico City's bus rapid transit system for helping reduce pollution in the metropolis.

Image – MSNBC
Online Sources- Forbes, LAHT, boston.com, WCBS

Weekend Headlines: November 7-8, 2009

* Mexico: The country’s deep economic woes may start to be a thing of the past after the government proclaimed an end to the recession.

* Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo recent troubles go beyond being the possible target of a coup; on Thursday, the former priest was hit with his third paternity lawsuit.

* El Salvador: President Mauricio Funes announced that he will posthumously award El Salvador’s highest honor to six Jesuit priests infamously slain in 1989.

* Latin America: Toronto, Canada beat the capital cities of Peru and Colombia to become the site of the 2015 Pan American Games.

Image – SFGate.com (“Shopping for food in Mazatlán, in western Mexico”).
Online Sources- LAHT, Huffington Post, AP, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Puerto Rico’s economic woes

As we mentioned this morning, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño is expected to announce massive public layoffs as part of his austerity plan for the island. The plan might also include several tax increases and the forced retirement of public workers with a minimum of thirty years on the job.

The plan is likely to meet with widespread opposition from numerous sectors but it might be necessary due to Puerto Rico’s frail economy. According to Government Development Bank President Carlos Garcia the island is going through its third consecutive year in recession with little hope for immediate recovery. Garcia added that the island’s credit rating has fallen to junk status and is close to the dreaded non-investment status.

The pitiful state of Puerto Rico’s economy can best be represented by the problems with its pension gamble gone wrong:

The government of Puerto Rico borrowed $2.9 billion through pension bonds in 2008, betting that it could reap annual returns of 8.5 percent investing the money, while paying its bondholders 6.5 percent.

“The risk is minimal,” says Jorge Irizarry, who was chairman of the Employees Retirement System of Puerto Rico from August 2007 through December 2008…

So far, Puerto Rico’s wager isn’t paying off. The 8.5 percent expected rate of return has instead been a loss of more than $200 million, according to a Dec. 12 presentation by fund administrators to legislators.

“It was an arbitrage transaction, and the market has turned against us,” says Carlos Garcia, former president of Banco Santander Puerto Rico, who replaced Irizarry as chairman of the pension fund in January. “I don’t know if the benefits intended will be realized.”

It remains to be seen if Fortuño’s strategy will work. With such a weak economy on the island it’s hard to imagine it getting worse and plunging Puerto Rico into a deeper quagmire.

Image- mental_floss
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Caribbean Net News, primerahora.com, El Reportero Las Vegas, The Latin Americanist,