Daily Headlines: October 11, 2016

* Latin America: A new report alleges that surveillance laws in twelve Latin American states are outdated and can be easily exploited by authoritarian regimes.

* United States: The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments today on the secrecy of jury deliberations based on the case of a Latino man convicted after some jurors used ethnic slurs.

* Brazil: New corruption charges were raised against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who along with ten other suspects were believed to have allowed some $9.3 million in kickbacks for a construction projects in Angola.

* Mexico: The World Health Organization called for strict measures against consumption of sugary drinks such as those taken in Mexico where a tax was levied against those types of beverages.

YouTube Source – BBC News (A Brazilian judge last May suspended access to WhatsApp for 72 hours over the messaging service’s owner, Facebook, not handing over information requested in a criminal probe).

Online Sources – The Intercept, Fox News Latino, Latin American Herald Tribune, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 23, 2014

* Haiti: A "grand, dreamlike" rebuilding of areas of Port-au-Prince still in ruins from a 2010 earthquake has run into stiff opposition from survivors forced to relocate to tent camps.

* Argentina: "Life goes on for Argentina", claimed Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich hours after a U.S. court ordered the Argentine government to negotiate with holdout hedge funds and prevent a massive debt default.

* U.S.: A recent poll of 500 Latino voters found that most respondents are worried about the economy and this could factor into the upcoming midterm elections.

* Brazil: Heavy rains in southeastern Brazil could diminish the quality and reduce the quantity of the country's vital sugar and coffee harvests.

Online Sources - Businessweek; Reuters; Buenos Aires Herald; Business Insider; Latin Post 

Video Source - The Guardian via YouTube (Video recorded days after a major earthquake hit Haiti and caused the deaths of at least 100,000 people).

Daily Headlines: January 21, 2014

* Argentina: Juan Gelman, the renown Argentine poet and political activist whose son and daughter-in-law were killed during the “Dirty War”, died last week at the age of 83.

* Haiti: A Haitian judge charged nine people including several close allies of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of being involved in the April 2000 murder of radio station owner and journalist Jean Dominique.

* Colombia: The Colombian military claimed that troops killed fourteen members of the FARC guerillas during a raid in the eastern state of Arauca.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials pledged to mediate in the tense and violent standoff between sugarcane cutters seeking greater medical benefits and their employers.

Video Source – EFE International via YouTube (The late wordsmith Juan Gelman located his granddaughter, Macarena, in 2000 after she was stolen from her parents in 1976 and illegally put up for adoption).

Online Sources- Salon.com; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; ABC News; NBC News

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

Daily Headlines: March 8, 2013

Argentina: An Argentine court convicted former president Carlos Menem for illegally selling weapons to Croatia and Ecuador during the 1990s.

* Brazil: The price of sugar hit a four-month high due to the possibility that Brazilian sugar growers will increase ethanol production.

* Panama: Mariano Rivera, who has a record 608 saves, is expected to soon announce his retirement from professional baseball.

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla endorsed a proposal that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Online Sources - Bloomberg, BBC News, USA TODAY, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: February 12, 2013

* Mexico: A report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation faulted U.S. firms for sending lead batteries to Mexican recycling plants that fail to meet U.S. standards.

* Cuba: Approximately 500 U.S. troops were sent to the Guantanamo military base as part of a drill for a "mass migration event."

* Dominican Republic: The British Foreign Office updated its warning to visitors traveling to the Dominican Republic after tourists were targeted by criminals in Santo Domingo.

* Brazil: The price of sugar rose due to rumors alleging that Brazilian sugar growers will likely increase ethanol production.

Online Sources - Bloomberg, The New York Times, UPI, The Telegraph

Daily Headlines: October 11, 2011

* Brazil: Sugar mills in Sao Paulo state shutdown roughly a month early as national domestic output is expected to fall for the first time in six years.

* Chile: An estimated ten thousand people marched in solidarity with the indigenous Mapuche community in a protest held on Columbus Day.

* Haiti: According to Doctors Without Borders the number of cholera cases in Port-au-Prince has nearly tripled over the past few weeks.

* Peru: President Ollanta Humala fired two-thirds of the generals in the country's national police force as part of a reported push to combat corruption.

* Puerto Rico: A former Puerto Rican health secretary could face Gov. Luis Fortuño in a gubernatorial primary.

* Uruguay: Is the small South American nation of Uruguay on the verge of becoming a “major exporter of natural gas”?

Image – Via Flickr user cliff1066

Online Sources- Bloomberg, BBC News, Mercopress, MSNBC, LAHT, UPI

Daily Headlines: May 6, 2010

* Bolivia: A nationwide strike took place yesterday as protesters demanded higher wages from the federal government.

* Haiti: A pair of Senators from each major party introduced a bill that would give $3.5 billion over five years to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

* Colombia: Antanas Mockus vowed that he would prevent a Venezuelan-style “revolution” if he were elected as Colombian president.

* Cuba: According to the Cuban press the country’s sugar harvest was the worst in over a century.

Image – AFP
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Washington Post, El Universal, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: March 24, 2010

* Brazil: Global sugar prices are expected to keep dropping after Brazil has reported a very large crop.

* Paraguay: Three months after Salvador Cabañas was shot in the head the soccer star continues his satisfactory recuperation in Buenos Aires.

* Venezuela: Was the recent arrest of opposition figure Oswaldo Álvarez Paz a “crime of opinion” or much ado about nothing?

* Latin America: Argentina and Peru restarted diplomatic relations that had been almost frozen for fifteen years.

Image – ABC News (“Want to start your morning off with a kick? Have some Frosted KrustyO's, named after (“The Simpsons”) comic clown. One serving: 130 calories and 15 grams of sugar.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, New York Times, LAHT

"Sugar" will leave you feeling sweet, sentimental

"Sugar is not a baseball movie," implores one IMDB comment. I might argue that it most certainly is, and a great one (albeit a unique one) at that, because the comment struck me because it offers a defense for those that might quickly label the film another sports flick, which it isn't.

The movie about a young Dominican baseball player will be sweetly appreciated by several groups. Anyone with a penchant for the immigrant experience in the US will be touched by its depiction of universal moments such as the first restaurant order, the US culture gulches, and the ensuing self-identity exploration. Baseball enthusiasts -- particularly purists -- will fall in love with the unglamorous minor league locker room and travel scenes, the historical anecdotes (from Roberto Clemente to Vic Power) and subtle MLB cameos (such as Jose Rijo). Cinephiles will appreciate the understated narrative, free from overly dramatic moments and the imbuing of realistic humanity in all of the characters -- none of which can be painted easily in one dimension, despite the limited screen time for anyone besides the title character.

The non-professional actor who interprets Sugar, Algenis Perez Soto, does a serviceable job in his first role, but his performance is not a really striking one -- which may not be an accident. Instead, both the movie and the title character feel like a vehicle for us to explore each of these themes through his eyes -- with much left to our own interpretation. We are left with the feeling that we witnessed a simple, not too uncommon and altogether human experience -- without any of the bells and whistles we might expect in the typical Hollywood telling of a coming of age story.

That this indie-styled movie is getting a billing in major, national theatres like Loews is thus all the more remarkable. While it won't likely be breaking any box-office records, it will get a much larger viewership than it would have if its directors weren't the writers / directors of the 2006 Oscar-nominated Half Nelson. As the summer blockbuster season approaches, I hope this marks a trend.

Other recommended reviews:

• NYTimes
  
• Variety
  
• Rolling Stone

Caribbean sugar producers clash with E.U.

Representatives of the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) bloc have called on the E.U. to continue a decades-old sugar agreement during future E.U. discussions. ACP countries want the E.U. to uphold the “Sugar Protocol” which was signed in 1975 and stipulates that E.U. states guarantee to buy and import agreed quantities of sugar at certain prices.

As David Jessop wrote in the Jamaica Gleaner, Caribbean countries worry that the E.U.’s proposed changes would hurt the region’s sugar industry:

“What seems to be little understood in Brussels is that the (E.U.) approach has the practical effect of undercutting existing commercial arrangements and the short- to medium-term assurances that those that extend finance to the industry require.

Producers in the Anglophone Caribbean also suggest that while they are comfortable with the decision to afford the Dominican Republic a 100,000 ton quota in the short term, the probability is that once there is duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market at lower prices, Santo Domingo's access may challenge the viability of sugar production in some parts of the region.”

However, the increased demand for ethanol production may offset any changes in trade for sugar-producing states:

“Developing countries that were expected not to survive in the open market are now optimistic once again. An example comes from Jamaica, where the depressing phrase "sugar is dead" is gradually disappearing from the vocabulary of globalization. What is more, the Jamaican government now even sees a "promising future" in the production of sugarcane-based ethanol and its potential to revitalize agriculture in this Caribbean nation.”

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica are some of the Caribbean states in the ACP group.

Sources- Reuters Africa, acpsugar.org, Jamaica Gleaner, biopact, Wikipedia

Image- biopact