Rio’s Disabled Face Barriers Despite Paralympics

According to the official website for the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, organizers assured that both competitions would allow for full accessibility.

“We are going to offer locations free of obstacles, plan transport for Rio 2016 clients inside the principles of universal design, incorporate accessibility criteria into accommodation plans, provide an accessible and inclusive workplace, use accessible communication tools, as well as making partners and employees aware of accessibility, encouraging the adoption of new behavior,” planners boasted. But as the Paralympics is opened tonight, those pledges detailed by event organizers have not been fully realized.

A recent investigation by Brazil’s O Globo noted that despite the influx of an estimated 4350 athletes and estimated quarter of a million tourists including 10% with special needs, problems plague Rio’s infrastructure, transport, and accessibility for the disabled. Despite more than seven years of planning prior to the Paralympics, obstacles continue to abound including the lack of wider sidewalks, ramps to cross the street and wheelchair accessible restrooms.

Tale the case of Claudecir Lopes, a 37-year-old who O Globo described as a “muscular” person using a wheelchair since he became paralyzed at the age of thirteen. He recently made his way through the railway station at Deodoro, one of the areas were several Olympic sports were held including equestrian and rugby sevens. Lopes made his way to the platform by ascending a ramp but noted that the entrance to the train was nearly one foot above the platform. No railway workers were present to answer hiss calls for assistance though he was eventually able to enter the train with the help of two passengers.

“I would have missed that train had it not been for the solidarity of the users,” Lopes explained. “I would like to move around without the help of anyone. This is not a matter of pride, but rather a matter of freedom,” he added.

Daily Headlines: July 28, 2016

* Bolivia: Disability rights protesters calling for greater benefits recently entered their fourth month of protest camping out in the streets of La Paz after initially marching roughly 250 miles from Cochabamba.

* Guatemala: Former President Otto Perez Molina, who resigned in 2015 being implicated in the “La Linea” corruption probe, faces new corruption charges over purportedly heading a “criminal network” and accepting some $39 million in bribes.

* United States: A recent survey found nearly one in five Latinos use app-based ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft though they’re used by 53% of residents in “majority-minority” neighborhoods.

* Brazil: Vale SA, the mining firm involved in a deadly dam collapse that killed seventeen people last November, reported a 34% nosedive in its second quarter profits.

YouTube Source – euronews (Special needs demonstrators in La Paz, Bolivia have occasionally clashed with police).

Online Sources – The Huffington Post, Pew Research Center, ABC News, Reuters

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: October 1, 2012

* U.S.: According to a new study the multiracial population has grown faster than single race individuals, which includes six percent of Hispanic 2010 Census responders who identified themselves as belonging to more than one race.
 
* Haiti: A ban on the importing, manufacturing, and marketing of non-biodegradable plastic bags and Styrofoam containers will start today.

* Honduras: Soldiers are being deployed on buses with the hope of preventing violence in a country reportedly the world's highest murder rate.
 
* Panama: U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that a free trade pact between the U.S. and Panama “will be implemented very soon.”

Video Source – YouTube via user destinationcb

Online Sources- Huffington Post, BBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 14, 2012

* El Salvador: This week marks the fifth month of a truce between the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs that has reportedly led to a sharp decline in homicides.

* U.S.: Security workers at Logan International Airport in Boston engage in racial profiling of numerous groups including “Hispanics traveling to Miami” according to the New York Times.

* Argentina: Workers of the Buenos Aires metro announced a temporary halt to a ten-day strike that pitted the capital city’s mayor against Argentine President Cristina Kirchner.

* Cuba: Former President Fidel Castro apparently did not make a public appearance on the occasion of his 86th birthday yesterday.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP (Video posted in June 2012).

Online Sources- New York Times, France 24, Huffington Post, Time

Daily Headlines: April 27, 2012

* Honduras: Popular TV presenter Noel Alexander Valladares became the third journalist killed in Honduras this year and the twenty-first since July 2009.

* Mexico: A group of Mexican independent truckers protested yesterday against the unsafe use of double-trailer vehicles throughout the country.

* Argentina: The Argentine Senate gave their approval to the government’s planned takeover of a majority of energy from YPF from Spain’s Repsol.

* Brazil: Is Brazil’s economic boom not all that it’s cracked up to be?

Video Source– YouTube via canalNTN24

Online Sources- The Guardian, Miami Herald, MSNBC, Foreign Affairs

Daily Headlines: March 5, 2012

* Mexico: Mexico City’s government decided that the cab licenses of the metropolis’ unique Volkswagen Beetle taxis, known locally by the nickname of “vochos”, would expire at the end of this year.

* Venezuela: Both the government and opposition have accused each other of being responsible of being behind an attack during a rally for presidential challenger Henrique Capriles.

* Peru: Authorities captured the suspected head of the Shining Path guerillas that succeeded the recently captured Comrade Artemio.

* Haiti: According to a new study there has been a dramatic spike in major crimes in Haiti’s major cities but “there is no single factor to explain the rise in violent crime.”

Image Source – Flickr via Fredo in (((Stereo))) (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- The Telegraph, LAHT, BBC News, ABC News

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2011

* Mexico: A survey of 8,000 drivers concluded that Mexico City has the world’s worst traffic.

* Panama: According to the U.N. Population Fund there continues to be an in increase in the number of female AIDS patients in Panama.

* Argentina: “Los Pumas” lost to England 13-9 in their inaugural match at the Rugby World Cup.

* Honduras: President Porfirio Lobo sacked four key Cabinet members including the Ministers of Security and Foreign Relations.

Image – BBC News

Online Sources- BBC Sport, Honduras Weekly, Inside Costa Rica, Reuters

Today’s Video: Walk this way

Several Latin American cities, such as the Colombian capital of Bogota last February, have held car-free days designed to raise environmental awareness. Bolivia upped the ante on Sunday with the "Day of the Pedestrian", which restricted individual auto users public transit buses nationwide during ten hours. "The city is not only for vehicles but also for the people," declared La Paz mayor Luis Revilla as street performers and marathon runners took to the auto-free streets yesterday.

Sunday's activities came amid protests against the construction of a major highway through the Amazon rainforest.

Video Source - ntn24 via YouTube

Online Sources - Global Voices Online, Milenio, BBC News

Today’s Video: Taxis for all

Last week we briefly examined the difficulties faced by people with disabilities (PWD) in Latin America. We noted that "some progress" has been made in the region in order to promote the rights of PWD and help grant them much deserved social and economic equality.

Mexico City's ubiquitous green-colored VW Beatle taxis have been gradually phased out in recent years in favor of more modern, environmentally-friendly vehicles. The changes also included a pilot program of pink-colored women-only taxis that was tested last year.

Despite the positive changes to the taxi system in the megalopolis practically nothing has been done to accommodate PWD. None of the more than 250,000 registered cabs could be considered wheelchair accessible though that changed last month. Heriberto Gómez Pérez became the first Mexico City taxi driver with a fully accessible vehicle, a minivan with a hydraulic wheelchair lift. According to the website for El Universal, Gomez spent over 200,000 pesos (over USD $17,000) in order to modify his vehicle.

"I hope (Mexico City mayor Marcelo) Ebard noitces this and pays attention too a segment of the population...that want to be treated with dignity and well-being with their transportation," said Gomez. Hopefully Gomez' initiative will be example for the integration of accessible taxis not only in Mexico but for other major cities of the world.

(Video link via El Universal):

Online Sources - New York Times, The Latin Americanist, Latin America Traveller, Mexipreneur, El Universal
Video Source - YouTube via El Universal

Peru: Transit discrimination case highlights obstacles against the disabled

The above video shows the farcical case of a government building in Bogotá, Colombia that has a wheelchair accessible entrance but only stairs to reach offices on the second floor.

On Tuesday we commemorated the twenty-first anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by featuring a video with disability rights advocate Kathy Martinez. She explained that the ADA has helped remove obstacles that have hindered the social progress of the disabled. Nevertheless, she also noted that there are “invisible” barriers related to “fear” and “stereotypes” against the disabled in the U.S.

According to a report released this year by the World Heath Organization and the World Bank, negative “attitudes” on the disabled (like those Martinez pointed out) is one of the many problems facing people with disabilities around the world. Latin America is no exception to this as noted in an article published yesterday on the website of Peruvian daily La Republica:

A court sentenced a bus driver and conductor with a two-year suspended sentence and a civil damages fine of S/. 200 (Ed.- roughly $74) for discriminating against a physically disabled person in Arequipa.

According to the city’s ombudsman both people denied entry to the woman after arguing that her wheelchair “took up too much space”.

Local disabled rights activists and officials that this case can bring attention to discrimination against disabled users of the public transit system in Arequipa and throughout Peru. "The scourge of discrimination perpetuates an environment of exclusion against those who are perceived as different and even inferior, affecting the fundamental rights of citizens and society as a whole," observed Gisella Vignolo of the Arequipa Ombudsman's Office.

It’s worth noting that some progress has been made in countries like Mexico in order to promote the rights of the disabled. Furthermore, several Latin America and Caribbean have signed and ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But there are still too many obstacles faced by the disabled in the region are including a lack of employment opportunities. They have endured an uphill struggle against social and economic inequality, a struggle that will continue for many years to come.

Video Source- ElEspectador.com via YouTube
Online Sources- La Republica, The Latin Americanist, World Heath Organization, NACLA, El Universal, UN Enable

Daily Headlines: April 11, 2011

* Latin America: Latin America’s strong economic growth contributed to a spike last year in regional arms spending according to an analysis from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

* Mexico: Details emerged of a renewed pilot program agreed to by Presidents Felipe Calderon and Barack Obama last month that would permit Mexican long-haul truckers to transport in the U.S.

* Dominican Republic: President Leonel Fernandez declared that he would not run again next year though he did not discard seeking the presidency in 2016.

* U.S.: Baseball star Manny Ramirez retired on Saturday supposedly after testing positive once again for performance-enhancing drugs.

Image – AP via CSMonitor.com (2008 image where “Venezuelan soldiers shouted as they marched during the country's July 5 independence day military parade in Caracas.”)
Online Sources- Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Time, MSNBC

Oxygen masks removed from airline lavatories says Folha

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is slowly implementing the removal of oxygen masks from commercial airline bathrooms according to the website for Brazilian daily Folha da Sao Paulo.

The article published on the site earlier today claimed that Brazilian air carriers are also complying with the modifications done to a reported 6000 U.S. aircraft. TAM, Gol and Avianca are some of the airlines that are undergoing the changes that apparently must be completed by Saturday.

FAA and U.S. intelligence reportedly found that oxygen masks in bathrooms were “being used by terrorists as explosives.” Hence, the FAA recommends that in the event of depressurization crewmembers have permission to come to the aid of passengers in the lavatories and locate a nearby free oxygen mask.

Though Folha claimed that they obtained the information “exclusively” a similar article was also published today on TheStreet.com. That article acknowledges that the FAA alerted regional aviation authorities though it doesn’t specify which countries. Nevertheless, the article details the apparent dangers of oxygen masks in airplane bathrooms:

Most carriers have chemical oxygen generators in the lavatories in case a depressurization event occurs in the cabin while the lavatory is in use. The same type of generator is also provided above each seat and can drop down in the event of an emergency. The difference is that a terrorist or disturbed passenger could conceivably tamper with a lavatory generator while unseen by other passengers.

Image- OC Weekly
Online Sources- Folha da Sao Paulo, TheStreet.com

World Watch: Gridlock

* China: A “mini-economy” of food vendors and “opportunists” has grown amidst a 60-mile traffic jam that has lasted almost two straight weeks.

* Pakistan: Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis continue to be stranded and in dire need of help as floodwaters continue to rise.

* U.S.: The Wikileaks website published a February 2010 C.I.A. report that examined how nations could view the U.S. as an "exporter of terrorism".

* Afghanistan: 55 people including 49 schoolgirls were treated in a Kabul hospital after supposedly being poisoned.

Image – The Guardian (“A cleaner picks up waste beside the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway in north China's Hebei province. Roadworks are blamed for causing the 60-mile jam that has lasted 10 days. Photograph: Alexander F. Yuan/AP”)
Online Sources- Vancouver Sun, The Guardian, BBC News, CBC

Weekend Headlines: July 4, 2010

* Mexico: An IBM study concluded that the traffic in Mexico City and Beijing is the worst among twenty major cities worldwide.

* Peru: Scientists recovered the fossil of a massive prehistoric whale that existed over twelve million years ago.

* Chile: According to recently declassified documents the CIA was involved in the assassination of one of Salvador Allende’s closest supporters in 1971.

* Argentina: In a unique tit-for-tat, visiting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad pledged to support Argentina’s claims to the Falklands in exchange for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s backing of Syria’s claims to the Golan Heights.

Image – CNN (Traffic in Mexico City).
Online Sources- MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, AFP, Reuters

Russians to build Nicaraguan canal?

Before the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, U.S. and European interests were intrigued with the notion of constructing a canal across Nicaragua that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. That notion fell by the wayside; most famously in 1902 a stamp depicting the eruption of Nicaragua’s Momotombo volcano swayed Congressional opinion towards the then-Colombian province of Panama.

Discussion of a Nicaragua Canal has been few and far between though in 2004 then-president Enrique Bolaños declared that the “galloping increase in world business demands another canal in addition to a widened Panama Canal.”

The latest talk of an inter-oceanic canal comes from the Russian media, which has claimed that Nicaragua’s government has requested that Russia help build the waterway. The project would cost at least $18 billion and would be able to accommodate ships bigger than those that pass through the Panama Canal. Yet the warning of one Russian official was reminiscent of so many failed pledges of the past:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted over a year ago his Nicaraguan counterpart's proposal to study the possibilities of participation by Russia's state and private sectors in an enterprise to build a canal through Nicaragua.

However, Sergei Aristov, a Russian deputy transportation minister, gave on Monday a less optimistic remark on the proposal, saying that Russia must first review its foreign financial ambitions in the light of the ongoing global financial crisis.

"Considering the financial situation in the world, as well as the beginning of the Panama Canal reconstruction, the given issue needs additional elaboration taking into account the altered economic conditions," Aristov said at a meeting with Nicaraguan Deputy Foreign Minister Coronel Kautz.

Plans have been underway for a Panama Canal expansion that is supposed to be done by 2014 and that will add an extra channel for ships to travel through.

Image- BBC News (2006 illustration of a proposed route for an inter-oceanic Nicaragua Canal).
Online Sources- Wikipedia, The Register, ITAR-TASS, RIA Novotsi, LAHT

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

Today's Video: Think pink in Mexico

First it was special ladies-only pink buses which circulated in order to bring safety to Mexico City women sick of being leered and pinched. The newest female-oriented transportation program in Mexico is being tested in nearby Puebla with women-only "Pink Taxis". The reaction so far has been mixed:

"Some of the woman who have been on board tell us how male taxi drivers cross the line and try to flirt with them and make inappropriate propositions," said taxi driver Aida Santos, who drives one of the compact, four-door taxis with a tracking device and an alarm button that notifies emergency services. "In the Pink Taxi they won't have that feeling of insecurity, and they feel more relaxed"...

"We are in the 21st century, and they are saying women have continued worrying about beauty and nothing more," said Vianeth Rojas, of the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Puebla. "They are absolutely not helping eradicate violence against women."

What do you think about the "Pink Taxi" initiative? Take a look and decide for yourself:

Online Sources - YouTube, MSNBC, Reuters

Weekend Headlines: September 12-13, 2009

* Bolivia: Last year president Evo Morales successfully campaigned against FIFA’s altitude requirement. This year he wants to “nationalize” the country’s soccer teams.

* U.S.: The Texas Border Coalition of elected officials insists that Congress drop a provision that would add more pedestrian bridges to the U.S.-Mexico border.

* Peru: A group of Japanese and Peruvian archeologists uncovered an estimated 2900-year-old tomb in northern Peru.

* Honduras: The European Union could sign off on additional sanctions against Honduras’ de facto regime days after the U.S. cut at least $11 million in aid to the Central American state.

* Cuba: In order to alleviate Cuba’s transportation problems the government will grant new licenses for private taxis for the first time in about a decade.

* Argentina: Tennis star Juan Martin del Potro will make his second trip to a Grand Slam semifinal after beating Marin Cilic in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Image- Time (“Bolivian President Evo Morales vies for the ball with former soccer pro Oscar Arce” in a 2007 friendly game.)
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, The Latin Americanist, LAHT, MSNBC, USA TODAY, San Francisco Gate

Mexico retaliates over freight dispute

Mexico’s government shot back at a U.S. trade decision by raising the tariffs on about 90 imports.

President Barack Obama’s signing of a $410 billion government spending bill last week helped relax travel restrictions to Cuba. But the newly signed law also put the brakes on a pilot program permitting widespread access of Mexican freight trucks into the U.S.

The cross-border program has been mired in controversy ever since the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s. Several special interests groups supported (Mexico, commerce groups) and opposed (environmentalists, labor unions) the plan. The topic heated up in 2007 when the Bush administration relaxed the rules to permit 500 Mexican trucks greater access beyond a very narrow zone just above the border.

Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan called the measure “protectionism” and threatened to take retaliatory action. Today the Mexican government did just that:

Mexico says it will increase tariffs on about 90 U.S. products in retaliation for last week's decision to cancel a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods within the United States.

The Mexican Economy Department says the U.S. decision violates a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was supposed to have opened cross-border trucking years ago.

Department officials told a news conference Monday that the measure will affect about $2.4 billion in trade: 90 agricultural and industrial products from 40 U.S. states.

Despite the limits placed over Mexican trucks, Canadian tractor-trailers have unrestricted access into the U.S.

Image- Truthdig
Online Sources- csmonitor.com, Los Angeles Times, AP, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist