Daily Headlines: August 12, 2016

* South America: The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela agreed to a gradual and partial reopening of their shared border one year after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro ordered the shutdown of several crossings.

* United States: A new poll of Latino voters found two-thirds of respondents prefer Hillary Clinton as the next president while 82% view Republican rival Donald Trump unfavorably.

* Haiti: A nationwide doctor’s strike that has entered its fourth month has exacerbated a public health crisis that has included a cholera epidemic and the spread of the Zika virus.

* Brazil: Brazilian energy giant Petrobras recorded its first quarterly profit in nearly a year though it was nearly one-third less than earnings in the second trimester of 2015.

YouTube Source – BBC News (From July 2016: “Colombian officials say 35,000 Venezuelans have crossed the border into their country over 12 hours to shop for basic supplies. Venezuela is suffering a severe economic crisis which has caused mass food shortages.”)
 
Online Sources – Bloomberg, Reuters, Fox News Latino, Humanosphere

Daily Headlines: December 22, 2015

* Central America: The Nicaraguan and Costa Rican governments welcomed Pope Francis’ appeal for both states to improve their relations following an International Court of Justice ruling last week.

* Puerto Rico: Legislation has been introduced to the U.S. Senate that would provide short-term help for debt-ridden Puerto Rico.

* Venezuela: According to U.S. investigators, five unnamed PDVSA employees received more than $1 billion in bribes from two Venezuelan businessmen.

* Paraguay: Several thousand Paraguayan workers protested as part of the second general strike to occur in the country since 2013.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – International Court of Justice, teleSUR English, Yahoo News, Reuters, SBS

Daily Headlines: September 16, 2015

* Mexico: Mexican foreign minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu traveled to Egypt and met with nationals injured in a deadly military strike against a tourist group, and is expected to later talk with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

* U.S.: U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders claimed that a political action committee backing rival hopeful Hillary Clinton has tried to link him to the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

* Chile: An estimated 70,000 passengers were affected by a 24-hour airport workers strike that grounded hundreds of domestic and international flights.

* Uruguay: The Uruguayan economy shrank for the first time since 2003 though it’s unknown if the country will fall into recession like trading partner Brazil.

YouTube Source – AFP

Online Sources – The Idaho Statesman, Christian Science Monitor, ABC Online, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: August 6, 2015

* Mexico: Mexican police arrested a suspect in the recent massacre of five people including a photojournalist and a #YoSoy132 activist but that may not be enough to allay fears among members of the press and human rights campaigners.

* Puerto Rico: Could statehood help Puerto Rico overcome their public debt woes or is it an unrealistic solution?

* Uruguay: More than 400,000 workers could protest tools today and participate in the first general strike in Uruguay since 2007.

* El Salvador: Four people were killed in the latest bloody incident involving bus drivers caught amid rampant gang violence.

YouTube Source – Al Jazeera English
 
Online Sources – Newsweek, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, BBC News, Bloomberg, Yahoo News

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2015 (Updated)

* Colombia: Colombian striker James Rodriguez won the FIFA Puskas Award for best goal of 2014 for his strike in last year’s World Cup round of 16 victory over Uruguay.

* Mexico: Maria de los Angeles Pineda Villa, the wife of former mayor of the Mexican town where forty-three students may have been massacred, will be tried over her alleged ties to local criminal gangs.

Update: On a related note, several family members of the disappeared students accused Mexican authorities of "assaulting" them with rocks and tear gas during a protest on January 12th. (Source link is in Spanish).

* Brazil: Several thousand striking autoworkers upset at the announcement of layoffs last week blocked traffic on a major highway connecting Sao Paulo to Brazil’s largest port.

* Argentina: Argentina’s central bank will reportedly receive $400 million from China as part of an $11 billion currency swap with the Asian country.

Video Source – YouTube user FIFATV

Online Sources including Update – ITV Sport; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; GlobalPost; Bloomberg; La Republica

Daily Headlines: November 11, 2014

* U.S.: Cuban-born slugger José Abreu was unanimously selected as the American League Rookie of the Year following a stellar season where he batted .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI.

* Peru: Production in Peru’s vital copper industry has been affected by an indefinite strike that started yesterday at the country’s Antamina mine.

* Colombia: An ex-drug smuggling pilot testified in court that former capo Pablo Escobar allegedly framed a British businessman imprisoned since 1986 on murder charges.

* Brazil: FIFA will create a $100 million development fund for Brazil months after the soccer’s global governing body earned more than $4 billion in sales from the World Cup.

Video Source – MLB via YouTube

Online Sources – USA TODAY; Reuters; The Guardian; Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: August 28, 2014

* Nicaragua: Residents along the planned route of Nicaragua’s interoceanic canal are worried that a survey of the area could lead to them losing their homes and receiving unfair compensation.

* Brazil: Several polls released this week indicated that last-minute presidential candidate Marina Silva would upset incumbent Dilma Rousseff in the likely event of a runoff election.

* Argentina: Thousands of workers including state employees, truckers and waiters are expected to participate today in the second general strike to hit Argentina in less than five months.

* Colombia: Is the hospitalization of approximately 200 girls living in a northern Colombian town caused by vaccinations or is it merely a case of mass hysteria?

Video Source – YouTube user Newsy World

Online Sources – The Guardian; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: April 10, 2014

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro and opposition figures are expected to meet today in live televised discussions that could help quell some of the political unrest that has claimed 39 lives over the past two months.
 
* South America: Three of Argentina’s five main labor unions are planning a major strike on Thursday while several thousand people in Sao Paulo marched on Wednesday calling for workplace reforms.
 
* Cuba: Cuban officials are reportedly “concerned” over the hunger strike undertaken by Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor imprisoned in Havana since 2010.
 
* Latin America: According to the World Bank, economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to slow down this year to approximately 2.3%.
  
Video Source– euronews via YouTube

Online Sources – Miami Herald; Tico Times; BusinessWeek; LAHT; GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: April 8, 2014

* Latin America: Researchers warned that the chikungunya virus that has already been detected in several Caribbean countries could soon cause a “catastrophic” epidemic in the Americas.
 
* Brazil: More than 2000 construction workers at Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park have been on strike since last Thursday as part of the latest delay to affect preparations for the 2016 Summer Games.

* Mexico: The mayor of Tampico, Mexico believes that rival drug gangs attempting to “settle scores” may be behind the deaths of at least eighteen people over the weekend in the northern border state of Tamaulipas.
 
* Cuba: According to a Havana Consulting Group report, the number of U.S. tourists visiting Cuba continues to grow in the first three months of this year despite a decades-long trade embargo against the island.

Video Source– YouTube user CARPHACampus (The chikungunya virus is spread by the same Aeges infected mosquitos that can carry dengue.  Victims endure severe joint pains that could lead to permanent disability and, in some cases, death).

Online Sources –news.com.au; GlobalPost; NET Website; Dominican Today; The Guardian

Paraguay: Thousands Protest in General Strike

Several thousand Paraguayans took to the streets on Wednesday as part of a general strike against the government’s economic and social policies. 

The nationwide protests were organized by labor unions and were held on the twentieth anniversary of the country’s previous general strike in 1994.  Social groups, peasants and teachers were among the scores of participants in the general strike and called for a variety of demands including better education, reducing the fare on public transportation and agrarian reform.  Labor unions, for example, have sought a 25% across-the-board salary increase and are upset over a law permitting private companies to invest in government infrastructure in exchange for owning concessions and charging fees. 

“(The government) claims that there has been development, that funds are distributed across the nation.  But that money doesn’t flow to the workers or the peasants, nor does it arrive to the hospitals or the schools,” declared labor leader Teodolina Villalba.

The largest demonstration took part in the capital of Asunción where traffic reportedly came to a standstill and most businesses and schools were closed. Marches were also organized in the country’s interior cities and for the most part were peaceful aside from minor tensions resulting from the temporary shutdown of the Friendship Bridge connecting Ciudad del Este to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.

Prior to the strike, president Horacio Cartes gave in by permitting the establishment of dialogues in order to hear the demands from the protesters.  Otherwise it appears unlikely that he will provide any more concessions such as the public-private investment plan that Public Works Minister Ramon Jimenez defended as necessary to improve government infrastructure.

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2014

* Brazil: The percentage of Brazilian sugar turned into ethanol grew in 2013 and could keep increasing this year as the prices of the sweetener are expected to continue to plunge.

* Central America: Recent polls in El Salvador and Costa Rica have indicated that conservative candidates hold slight leads ahead of February's presidential elections though it might not be enough to avoid a runoff.
 
* Puerto Rico: Dozens of schools did not open on Tuesday as teachers on the island went on strike against planned cuts to their pension system.

* Mexico: Several people in the Mexican state of Michoacán have died in the past few days amid heightened tensions involving local “self-defense” groups, drug gangs and federal troops.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- Bloomberg; BBC News; The Guardian; Reuters; NBC News

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

Daily Headlines: July 12, 2013

* Chile: Thousands of Chileans called for better working conditions and tax reform as part of a nationwide strike organized by the country’s largest labor union.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis introduced legislation aimed at cracking down sexual abuse and child pornography at the Vatican.

* Brazil: A lawsuit was filed with the Brazilian Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the country’s “World Cup law.”

* U.S.: A former Cuban prison chief accused of human rights abuses is allegedly hiding out somewhere in the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube via user Emisoras Unidas

Online Sources- ABC News; USA TODAY; Bloomberg; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: April 10, 2013 (Updated)

* Brazil: Latin America's biggest defense trade fair takes place this week in Rio de Janeiro where deals could be made between international firms and governments with growing military budgets.

* Chile: Work resumed at state-owned Codelco after a 24-hour strike though tensions continue between management of the copper giant and labor unions seeking better worker conditions. 

Update: A Chilean court suspended work at the Barrick-owned Pascua Lima gold mine due to alleged environmental threats to indigenous communities.

* Argentina: Catholic officials in Argentina are hoping Pope Francis will grant sainthood to three priests and two seminarians murdered in a 1976 “Dirty War” massacre.

* Cuba: Authorities in Cuba handed over a U.S. couple accused of kidnapping their two sons and fleeing by boat to the Caribbean island.

Video Source – YouTube via user portalfab (Video created by the Brazilian Air Force for the ninth edition of the LAAD Defense and Security expo that began on Tuesday.)
 
Online Sources including Update- NBC News, GlobalPost, Dialogo Americas, Washington Post, Al Jazeera English, ABC News

Daily Headlines: November 21, 2012 (Updated)

* Puerto Rico: Former world boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho remains in critical condition and is reportedly struggling to survive after he was shot last night.

Update (November 22): Hector “Macho” Camacho is brain dead and close to death according to doctors overseeing the critically injured former pugilist.

"We have done everything we could,"said Dr. Ernesto Torres of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan to the press on Thursday morning.

He added that Camacho's family will decide by Friday whether to take the former three-time title holder off of life support machines.

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan economy grew by over five percent in the third quarter but manufacturing has supposedly hit a fifty-year low.

* Argentina: Buenos Aires and other major cities were paralyzed yesterday after Argentina's main labor unions declared a general strike.

* Honduras: Could Xiomara Castro, the wife of ousted ex-president Manuel Zelaya, win next year's Honduran presidential election?

Video Source: YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources including Update: Globalpost, ABC News, BBC News, Fox News Latino, Reuters, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: October 22, 2012

* Cuba: A former Venezuelan vice president and a Havana hotel manager tried to refute rumors alleging that 86-year-old ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro is on his deathbed.
 
* Central America: A nine-year-old boy in Panama died during violent protests over the selling of state-owned land in a duty-free zone, while Honduras’ Supreme Court blocked plans for the creation of privately-run cities.
 
* Colombia: At least five soldiers were killed in an attack by the FARC that took place days after the Colombian government and the rebels formally began peace talks in Norway.

* Peru: A 33-day strike by thousands of Peruvian doctors came to an end after the government pledged to increase pay.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP Videos – Español (Former Venezuelan vice president Elias Jaua showed a photo of him taken over the weekend reportedly with Fidel Castro and several members of his family).

Online Sources- CNN, TVNZ, BBC News, Huffington Post, Edmonton Journal

Daily Headlines: June 26, 2012

* Bolivia: Despite calls by the government to “avoid any bloodshed” scores of police on strike clashed with supporters of President Evo Morales in La Paz yesterday.

* U.S.: Hours after the Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law the Justice Department set up a hotline to report "potential civil rights concerns" related to that law.

* Ecuador: The last surviving member of the Pinta Island subspecies of giant tortoises died on the Galapagos Islands on Sunday.

* Argentina: China is seeking to deepen its economic ties to Latin America by signing a series of agricultural agreements with Argentina.

Video Source – YouTube via CNN

Online Sources- BBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bernama, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2012

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is urging a thorough investigation into the recent death of a Sao Paulo-born student shot with a Taser gun by police in Sydney, Australia.

* U.S.: According to the Pew Hispanic Center nearly half of all Latinos reside in Texas and California, and the Latino population in the U.S. is “now more dispersed than a decade ago.”

* Cuba: A U.S. judge allowed one of the convicted “Cuba Five” spies to return to his homeland for two weeks and visit his ailing brother.

* Argentina: A strike by grain truckers seeing higher pay will enter its third day with little hope for a prompt resolution.

Image Source – Flickr via Cea. (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Reuters, NPR, Fox News Latino, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: February 10, 2012

* Latin America: Amerigo Incalcaterra, the U.N. human rights representative for South America, denounced the “alarming pattern of prison violence” in the region due to overcrowding and substandard sanitary conditions.

* Brazil: Police in Rio de Janeiro state went on strike days before the beginning of Carnival celebrations and prison guards and firefighters might join them.

* Mexico: The U.S. State Department expanded its travel warning from ten to fourteen states in northern and central Mexico.

* Peru: Shining Path leader Florindo Eleuterio Flores-Hala, alias Artemio, was reportedly wounded in a raid conducted by Peruvian troops and dissident guerillas.

Image Source – Flickr via CDI Europe (Lemos de Brito prison in Brazil). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Guardian, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: February 8, 2012

* Brazil: Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro could be threatened by police officers that may reportedly join their comrades in Bahia state and go on an illegal strike.

* Mexico: A judge dropped some of the charges against two people accused of trying to smuggle members of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's family into Mexico.

* U.S.: A preliminary deal over state and federal redistricting in Texas might not reflect the state’s growing Latino population according to some local legislators.

* Latin America: Drought conditions in several Latin American countries could lead to a global spike in the prices of corn.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- NASDAQ, CBS News, Bloomberg, CBC News