Daily Headlines: April 1, 2016

* Peru: The archbishop of Arequipa has come under fire after he claimed that presidential candidates Alfredo Barnechea and Veronika Mendoza should be barred from running due to their support of abortion and same-sex marriage.

* Brazil: George Hilton resigned as Brazil’s sports minister roughly four months prior to the Rio Olympics, while Cuban defector Orlando Ortega will be unable to compete at Rio due to residency issues.

* Latin America: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization an average of 348,000 tons of food are wasted each day in Latin America, which could feed some 300 million people.

* U.S.: A recent study found that Latinos in the U.S. including those who are native-born have opted to reside away from states that have enacted harsh anti-immigration measures over the past decade.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV (Mass protests for and against the right to choose have been held in Peru over the last few months).

Online Sources – phys.org, teleSUR English, PRI, Fox News Latino, SBS

Daily Headlines: October 27, 2015

* Brazil: The first-ever World Indigenous Games commenced in Brazil yet much like preparations for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the competition has not been free from controversy.

* Mexico: Residents in Mexico’s Golden Triangle region claimed that they have been unfairly displaced as part of the manhunt to find fugitive drug capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

* Colombia: Preliminary peace talks between the Colombian government and ELN are in jeopardy after at least eleven security agents were killed and two were kidnapped in a guerrilla ambush.

* Venezuela: Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz tried to downplay allegations by ex-prosecutor Franklin Reyes who claimed that false evidence was used to convict opposition activist Leopoldo López.

YouTube Source – AFP

Online Sources – Scotsman, Global Voices Online, Voice of America, BBC News

Daily Headlines: January 22, 2014

* Brazil: FIFA officials warned that the Brazilian city of Curitiba could be excluded from hosting World Cup matches in June while International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach noted that work must be sped up ahead of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

* U.S.: A study published this month in the journal “Crime & Delinquency” concluded that about 44% of Latino men and 16% of Latinas are arrested at least once on non-traffic-related crimes by the time they turn 23-years-old.

* Panama: Representatives of the Panama Canal Authority and the consortium contracted to expand the famed waterway negotiated possible ways to make sure work continues on the troubled project.

* Ecuador: Ecuador is reportedly topping Brazil as Latin America’s top cocoa producer and in 2015 could become the number-four producer of cocoa in the world.

Video Source – sntv via YouTube (“World Cup workers in the southern city of Curitiba went on strike (in December) because of late pay at one of the stadiums that will host matches during the 2014 tournament”.)

Online Sources- Bloomberg; CNN; Fox News Latino; Reuters; Washington Post

Colombia’s Ibargüen Wins World Triple Jump Title

Over three weeks after Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana captured second place in the Tour de France, one of his compatriots secured another sporting triumph for the South American nation.

Caterine Ibargüen won the women's triple jump at the world track and field championships on Thursday in Moscow. 

The silver medalist at last year’s Summer Games on London triumphed earlier today with a leap of 48-3 ¼ feet (14.85 meters).  Despite faulting on three of her six jumps, her second attempt earned her the gold ahead of hometown favorite Yekaterina Koneva and reigning Olympic champion Olha Saladuha of the Ukraine.

“I felt all of Colombia jump with me!” exclaimed Ibargüen who also thanked her supporters in Puerto Rico where she went to university as well as her Cuban-born coach Ubaldo Duany.

After winning the gold medal, Ibargüen received congratulations from many of her compatriots including President Juan Manuel Santos and the governor of the Antioquia province where her family resides.

“Her father told me ‘you are the chief of all of this since you helped her accomplish this.  I want you to be happy with the victories she obtains’”, exclaimed Ibargüen’ grandmother, Ayola Rivas, who was joined by friends, family and well-wishers of the current Diamond League points leader in the women's triple jump.

Ibargüen’s gold wasn’t the only accomplishment by athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean at the world championships.  Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce confirmed their gold medals last year in London by winning in the 100-meter dash for men and women, respectively.  Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, for his part, took bronze in the men's 800-meter race.

Colombia’s Quintana Obtains Second Place in Tour de France

Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana finished his first-ever participation in the Tour de France with an extraordinary second place finish.

Yesterday Quintana became the first Latin American in a quarter century to reach the podium of the world’s top cycling completion. The 23-year-old’s dream debut also included winning the white jersey as the best young rider and the polka-dot jersey as the best mountain climber.

“He has plenty of talent and I think he could be one of the Tour’s greats,” said race winner Chris Froome of Britain about Quintana.  “I knew he would give it his all and he achieved something very important,” added Froome who finished over five minutes ahead of Quintana.

The Boyacá-born Quintana shined in the centenary edition though when the Tour began he wasn’t among the experts’ favorites to be among the top riders.  (For BBC Sport, Quintana’s teammate on the Movistar team, Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, was seen as a “potential rival” against Froome while Quintana was not mentioned.)  Yet Quintana proved his prowess in the always difficult mountain stages, which seemed natural for someone who as a child used to make a ten mile trip to a school located high in the Andes.

The pinnacle moment for Quintana in France occurred in the penultimate stage on Saturday; a date that coincidentally was the 202nd anniversary of Colombia’s independence.  Entering stage 20 in fifth place overall, Quintana took advantage of the pace set for most of the day by his Movistar teammates and he was able to pull away with eight kilometers left in a breakaway group that included Frrome and Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez. The group stayed together until Quintana burst forth with some 900 meters to go until the finish and captured the stage victory while his elated family back home celebrated the win.   

Daily Headlines: July 5, 2013

* Brazil: A Brazilian judge placed under house arrest Rayfran das Neves Sales, the convicted murderer of U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang, after serving only eight years in prison.

* Bolivia: “This was an open provocation toward a continent, not just a president,” declared Bolivian President Evo Morales regarding the forced diversion of his presidential plane in Europe this week.
    
* Ecuador: A British security firm denied allegations that they bugged the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been residing in.

* Argentina: Buenos Aires, Argentina beat out Medellin, Colombia and Glasgow, Scotland to win the chance to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Video Source – YouTube via user sisterdorothy (Trailer for a documentary on murdered U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang).
 
Online Sources- France24; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; Al Jazeera English; SI.com

Daily Headlines: April 1, 2013

* Venezuela: Interim leader Nicolás Maduro and opposition rival Henrique Capriles used spiritual imagery and religious rhetoric during the Holy Week as both attempt to win the April 14 presidential election.
 
* Argentina: A U.S. appeals court is expected to soon issue a decision that could force the Argentine government to pay $1.4 billion of its defaulted debt to creditors.

* Peru: Defense officials announced the purchase of twenty-four Russian military helicopters at a cost of $407 million.

* Britain: Colombian-born Oskar Zorrilla helped guide Oxford’s rowing team to victory over rivals Cambridge at the annual university Boat Race on Sunday.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP (“Video animation shows Venezuelan late president Hugo Chavez reaching heaven and received by many late Latin American leaders including Simón Bolívar and Che Guevara.”)

Online Sources- Times of Oman, Bloomberg, Bernama, CBC.ca

London Calling: Perseverance

On September 15, 2001 racing driver Alex Zinardi lost both of his legs after he crashed at a European racetrack. Nearly eleven years to the day of that accident, the Italian won a gold medal in the H4 handcycling time trial at the London Paralympics.

Much like Zinardi, other disabled athletes competing at the Paralympics were formally able-bodied individuals. One Latin American example of this is several members of the Colombian men’s wheelchair basketball team:

As noted in this article from BBC Mundo, four players on the squad that makes its debut in the Paralympics were not born with their respective disabilities. All of them were victims of the violence that has poisoned Colombia for decades.

London Calling: EEUU! EEUU! EEUU!

Over the past week and a half our posts on the London Games have focused primarily on athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, however, we will look at three Mexican-American competitors who have performed admirably for the U.S. (This is why the title to this post uses the popular "USA! USA! USA!" chant with the Spanish language abbreviation).

There is a cliché that says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Such was the case on Tuesday night for Leo Manzano in the men’s 1500 meters final. As he entered the last turn he was in a distant sixth and it certainly appeared that he wouldn’t reach the podium. But in the final ninety meters the University of Texas graduate surged ahead of four other runners and finished in second place.

Manzano’s silver-medal winning finishing kick at the Olympic Stadium was reminiscent of the following come-from-behind victory at a track meet roughly one year ago in London:

Manzano thus became the first U.S. runner in forty-four years to obtain a medal in the men’s 1500 meters.

He reportedly celebrated after the race by carrying both the flags of Mexico and the U.S.

Boxer Marlen Esparza lost in her semifinal match-up against Chinese pugilist Cancan Ren though she still ended with a bronze medal. Both boxers fought defensively though it appeared that the six-time national champion from Houston landed more punches in the first two rounds. But the judges viewed the fight different and gave Ren a 7-4 advantage. Esparza was more aggressive in the final two rounds against the three-time world champion but in the end she ended up losing by a score of 10-8.

After the bout U.S. head boxing coach Abdullah Basheer criticized the judges scoring while Telemundo commentator Rene Giraldo claimed that the fight was “gifted” to Ren.

Meanwhile a frustrated reportedly “broke down in tears several times after the fight” and told reporters that she “can't be angry about getting any medal at all but (bronze) wasn't my goal.”

Women’s water polo player Brenda Villa has obtained the three Olympics medals but she has never obtained the gold medal. She will be looking to change that tomorrow when the U.S. faces Spain in what will likely be her last time participating in the Olympics.

The thirty-four-year-old veteran who has been with the team since 1996 played a key role in the quarterfinals when she scored twice in a 9-6 win over Italy. She missed a penalty throw in regular time of the semifinal against Australia but she and Maggie Steffens combined for a defensive stop in the final minute of overtime that helped preserve an 11-9 victory.

In a recent Orange County Register article, U.S. coach Adam Krikorian referred to Villa as “the Magic Johnson of water polo.” Such a moniker may refer to her strength in the pool though she also strives out of the water to help improve her community:

London Calling: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Wembley

After an excellent first day in the 2012 London Games medal count for Latin America, days two and three have provided plenty of action for the region’s athletes. The biggest moment occurred on Sunday with one of the biggest upsets in Olympics soccer history.

An early Jerry Bengston goal for Honduras was enough to beat Spain by a score of 1-0 and eliminate them from the games.

The Spaniards, who were one of the favorites to win gold, were stymied by a physical Honduran defense at St. James' Park in Newcastle. Coach Luis Suarez’ decision to not tinker with the lineup that tied the first group match with Morocco paid off after Bengston’s powerful header beat David De Gea in the seventh minute.

Los Catrachos withheld a second-half Spanish onslaught that included a trio of shots that hit the posts and crossbar.

“Undoubtedly this triumph is a historic achievement for our players,” declared Honduran president Porfirio Lobo who also said that the team’s “toughness and unity” should serve as “an example for the Honduran people”.

After the game Spain’s Iker Muniain vociferously complained about the poor officiating of Venezuelan referee Juan Soto and accused his rivals of “being blown upon and falling down” in order to draw fouls. Yet Spain had several iffy calls in their favor including Muniain not being sent off after he angrily bumped Soto late in the match.

London Calling: Ouro

The first gold medal won by a Latin American athlete at this year’s Olympics came from a tenacious Brazilian martial artist.

Sarah Menezes won the under-48kg women’s judo gold on Saturday after beating defending champion Alina Dumitru of Romania in the final.

Menezes, who upset world number one Tomoko Fukumi to reach the gold medal bout, fought a tough and defensive bout against Dumitru. The patience from the twenty-two-year-old paid off when she threw the Romanian twice in the final minute.

“I feel like I’m floating!” said Menezes to the Brazilian press after capturing the gold. Her victory was the pinnacle of a judo career that she admitted started “as a joke” thirteen years ago.

Menezes wasn’t the only Brazilian to obtain a medal on Saturday. Felipe Kitadei, who superstitiously touched the judo ring before each one of his bouts, won bronze in the under-60kg men’s category. Swimmer Thiago Pereira finished behind Ryan Lochte of the U.S. and won silver in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.

In other Olympics results from Saturday:

Today’s Video: Stevenson’s Rocket

The opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Games will be held on July 27th. This week we will examine several athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean who made their mark on previous competitions.

It was over a month ago that Teófilo Stevenson, surely of the greatest amateur boxers to ever grace the ring, passed away in his native Cuba.

From 1972 to 1980 Stevenson won three gold medals while fighting in the heavyweight division. Only two other boxers (including his countryman Félix Savón) have won three gold medals in three Olympics.

Stevenson dominated amateur boxing and won over three hundred amateur bouts in a career that lasted over two decades. He could have reached greater heights in the Summer Games yet he was prevented from winning further medals due to Cuba’s boycott of the 1984 and 1988 games. More famously was how The Las Tunas-born pugilist preferred to stick to his own political convictions rater than pursue a career as a professional boxer.

"What is a million dollars against eight million Cubans who love me?" Stevenson reportedly said in 1974 when offered a $5 million dollar purse to fight then world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. It was this loyalty, which included earned him the admiration of Cubans on the island including long-time dictator Fidel Castro and the hundreds of Havana residents who followed the funeral procession of Stevenson’s coffin.

After retiring Stevenson became a coach in Cuba's amateur boxing program and guided a generation of fighters including Savón. In an interview with BBC News, Savón explained why he emulated Stevenson and refused to turn professional:

Today’s Video: Going for Goal

Women’s soccer may be viewed as secondary to their male counterparts throughout Latin America. Yet in recent years women have made great strides to become more involved in “the beautiful game.” Virginia Tovar of Mexico, for instance, enjoyed a thirteen-year career as a pro soccer referee despite the occasional insults from fans and players. The Brazilian women’s national team has emerged as one of the world’s top squads though sides from Argentina and Colombia have gradually gained regional prominence.

In a unique example of female inclusion in Latin American soccer, Nelfi Ibanez Guerra of Bolivia is using her experience and training in order to try to lead a Peruvian club into the Andean country’s first division:

The road for women in soccer has been bumpy; for example, the widely successful Santos women’s team of Brazil ceased operations months ago reportedly in order to pay for the salary of star male player Neymar. But that road continues without a dead end in sight for women who wish to participate in one of the world’s most popular sports.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP

Online Sources – ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, Mujer Futbol, Golcaracol.com, tribalfootball.com

Today’s Video: Trial by fire

Preparations continue in Brazil in anticipation of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Plenty of obstacles persist including projects running behind schedule and the displacement of some favela slum residents.

An important tests of Rio's preparedness for the upcoming twin global sporting events comes this week with the fifth World Military Games (WMG). The video below shows some of the pomp and splendor of the opening ceremonies that took place on Saturday at the Joao Havelange Stadium. But as noted in this article by Xinhua, there have been numerous problems at the WMG related to security and media communications.

Online Sources - AS/COA Online, Xinhua
Video Source - EFE via YouTube

Brazil: Criticism grows against Olympics slum removals

Brazilian authorities have received plenty of criticism in preparing for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The latest critique has to do with the unfair treatment of residents of Rio’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

International human rights group Amnesty International (AI) expressed concern over evicting favela dwellers in order to accommodate several infrastructure projects for the 2016 games. AI Secretary General Salil Shetty expressed his strong doubts over officials providing fair compensation to slum residents obligated to relocate. "Everybody fully understands that some degree of movement might be inevitable when you're undergoing such a major project, but the issue is whether the fair process is being followed," Shetty said to the press.

Shetty is expected to address his concerns later this week in meetings with favela residents and government officials maybe including President Dilma Rousseff. In the meantime, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing Raquel Rolnik accused authorities of possible violations against the “right to adequate housing” in slum communities. She echoed Shetty’s concerns over unfair compensation and added that “insufficient attention is being given to access to infrastructure, services and means of subsistence in relocation sites.”

So far there have been few evictions but plenty of poor people have been affected. Rolnick noted that for the expansion of Line 5 of the Sao Paulo metro “thousands of families have bee evicted…and another ten thousand face the same fate.”

Latin American soccer columnist Tim Vickery observed in his blog that the World Cup would likely have a hard affect on the “hard-pressed Brazilian tax payer”. While that may probably be the case, Brazil’s poor are carrying a greater burden while preparations continue for the upcoming sports mega-events:

Video Source – Al Jazeera English via YouTube
Online Sources- BBC Sport, El Espectador, Reuters, Democracy Now, U.N. News Center, BBC News

Latino hockey pioneer retires

Generally Latinos are associated with sports like baseball and soccer. Yet a few hockey players are of Latino background and perhaps one of the most famous Latino players to lace the skates decided to call it quits.

Earlier today Bill Guerin announced that he would retire after an extraordinary eighteen-season career. Guerin, who is of Nicaraguan descent, played for eight different teams and played in four National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star Games. He also was part of the 1996 U.S. team that would upset Canada in the World Cup and the 2002 silver-medal winning team. He was the first player to score at least a twenty goals per season with seven different teams.

Guerin won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. Though Guerin may be best remembered as a member of the successful mid-1990s Devils sides, his brief time with Pittsburgh cannot be understated. Acquired at the 2009 trade deadline, Guerin scored twenty-six goals including a pair of game-winners in the playoffs and his invaluable leadership helped the Penguins win the title.

It’s unknown what Guerin’s immediate future will hold; for now, he expressed his immense gratitude towards his family in his retirement speech:

“There's not much I can actually say because I couldn't put into words what you mean to me, what you've sacrificed and how much you guys have done for me. I love you incredibly. I'm looking forward to spending more time with you, and doing all the things I've dreamt about for a long time. I'm looking forward to the second half of my life and you guys being the focal point. I love you guys. Thank you.”

Other Latino players currently playing in the NHL are Scott Gomez (Colombian and Mexican background) and Raffi Torres (Mexican and Peruvian descent). In addition, defenseman Francis Bouillon’s father was originally from Haiti.

Image- Jamie Sabau/Getty Images via CBC (“Bill Guerin will be honored by the Pittsburgh Penguins in an on-ice ceremony before Monday night's game.”)
Online Sources- Official websites of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, Wikipedia, Sporting News, USA TODAY

World Watch: Asleep at the switch

* Congo: A preliminary report from the U.N. found that peacekeepers “failed” to protect residents of an eastern Congo town where over 300 people were raped by militia troops.

* India: Organizers of the Commonwealth Games in India have come under scrutiny for a myriad of problems from shoddy construction of venues to the use of child labor.

* Iran: President Barack Obama blasted his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for suggesting that the U.S. government may have been behind the 9/11 attacks.

* Asia: Relations between Japan and China are expected to improve after Japanese authorities released a detained Chinese fisherman.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- The Telegraph, Voice of America, AFP, CNN

Weekend World Watch: Troubles in Thailand

* Thailand: Thailand could soon enter a civil war as violence between the army and anti-government protesters has sharply escalated since Thursday’s murder of “renegade army general Seh Daeng.”

* U.S.: For the 31st-consecutive year there will be no horse racing Triple Crown champion after Lookin At Lucky won the Preakness Stakes.

* Netherlands: The lone survivor of a deadly airline crash in Libya- young Ruben van Assouw- returned to his native Holland earlier today.

* Europe: Worries over Europe’s worsening financial situation led to the euro falling to an eighteen-month low on Friday.

Image – MSNBC (“A "Red Shirt" protester carries the Thai flag as tires burn and the violence in central Bangkok escalates on Saturday.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, AP, Bloomberg, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: May 13, 2010

* Latin America: Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is a persona non grata to Paraguayan and Argentine officials due to the subject of her next film.

* Chile: Authorities arrested a Pakistani man who visited the U.S. embassy and was found with “trace amounts” of explosive materials.

* Dominican Republic: Major League Baseball announced numerous drug testing and registration procedures for Dominican prospects.

* Mexico: At a court hearing actress Fernanda Romero rejected accusations of her wrongly marrying a pizza deliveryman in order to obtain a resident visa.

Image – Guardian UK
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Los Angeles Times, LAHT, AFP

Daily Headlines: May 10, 2010

* Latin America: According to the International Labor Organization one in ten minors age 5-17 in Latin America and the Caribbean are child laborers.

* Mexico: Rest in peace Joaquin Capilla; the Mexican diver who won three Olympic medals died yesterday at the age of 81.

* U.S.: A jury is expected to continue deliberations into one of the men accused of the hate crime murder of Jose Sucuzhañay in New York.

* Bolivia: Is the U.S. government complicity aiding a strike by Bolivian labor unions against the Morales regime?

Image – PRESS TV
Online Sources- NY1, AFP, NBC Sports, Reuters