Daily Headlines: December 4, 2008

* Latin America: Over 100 counties around the world signed on to a treaty banning cluster bombs though the U.S. and Brazil were major exceptions.

* Chile: NPR takes a look at Chilean author Roberto Bolano whose legend has grown in the five years since he died.

* Russia: A Russian warship involved in recent military exercises with Venezuela is expected to sail through the Panama Canal this week.

* Mexico: The family of a student who survived a Colombian military raid on a FARC camp in Ecuador claimed that she will soon return to her native Mexico.

Image- AFP (“Bomblets that fail to explode on impact can still kill and maim long after the conflict.”)
Sources- CNN, Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, miamherald.com

L. American states key to U.N. disabled treaty

Numerous Latin American states were among the eighty countries to sign onto the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For instance, Chile‘s government sent their Planning Minister to the treaty signing ceremony and Jamaica became the first country to ratify the treaty. In addition, disabled right activists from around the world were vital in the creation of the convention along with the governments of Ecuador and Mexico.The convention encompasses many issues relating to persons with disabilities including:

“Specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life… requires that public spaces and buildings be accessible to persons with disabilities, and… recognizes that a change of attitude is vital if disabled people are to achieve equality”.

As of April 5^th, a few countries in the Americas have yet to sign the treaty including Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, and the U.S.

Links- People's Daily Online, Today’s Zaman, SignOnSanDiego.com, Xinhua, U.N. Enable