Daily Headlines: September 6, 2012

* Paraguay: Reporters Without Borders denounced the “purge” of twenty-seven employees of a state-run TV station allegedly due to their support of ousted President Fernando Lugo.

* Latin America: “The balance of the political and economic performance of (Latin America and the Caribbean) during the last twelve months in general is positive,” claimed Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza.

* Argentina: Debate commenced yesterday in the Senate on a government-backed proposal that would lower the voting age from eighteen to sixteen.

* Peru: President Ollanta Humala said that the military killed Comrade Williams, one of the commanders of the Shining Path rebel army.

Video Source – YouTube via user TvPública Paraguay (Former Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo speaking on state-run TV Pública hours after he was ousted last June)

Online Sources- Reporters Without Borders, Bernama, Huffington Post, BBC News

Daily Headlines: August 20, 2012

* Venezuela: At least twenty people died in a prison riot on Sunday night and which occurred over a week after a local rights group warned about an increase in prison violence.

* Mexico: Authorities have replaced all 348 policemen working as security at the Mexico City International Airport roughly two months after three officers were killed in a shootout.

* Puerto Rico: A majority of voters rejected a pair of proposed constitutional changes that Gov. Luis Fortuño claimed would’ve been “great tools to fight crime.”

* Argentina: The government will reportedly file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against E.U. restrictions on biodiesel imports.

Video Source – YouTube via user Noticias Internacionales (Excerpt from a July 2012 Venezuelan TV news report highlighting the problems with the country’s prison system.)

Online Sources- Bloomberg, The Australian, Huffington Post, CNN, Fox News Latino

Today’s Video: Vote or [expletive deleted]

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "to vote, or not to vote – that is the question".

This week a group called Latinos for Reform an ad in Nevada calling on Latinos eligible to vote to abstain in next month's legislative elections. "It is the only alternative so we may be taken seriously" claimed the ad that you can view here. Though the ad calls out Republicans and Democrats as "traitors" to the Latino community, most of the criticism is placed on President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress.

The controversial ad has drawn plenty of criticism in the press such as a Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist who deemed it "the most despicable and offensive political ad of Nevada's 2010 season". Univision dropped the ad with a spokesman for the latter saying that the network "prides itself on promoting civic engagement and our extensive national campaigns encouraging Hispanics to vote." Despite working with Republican clients, media consultant Lionel Sosa told NPR that would not have approved the ad since abstaining "is something for the voter to decide on their own."

Amid the controversy Latinos for Reform and its chief, Robert de Posada, defended not voting as a viable option "in a civic engagement situation." Yet de Posada, a former director of Hispanic affairs for the Republican National Committee, has been accused of producing the ad in order to to help the GOP in the run-up to midterm elections. Despite claims to advocate immigration reform the ad neglected to show the image of any Republican leaders or legislators. The ad was to air in a state where the Latino vote could be decisive in the Senate race between incumbent Harry Reid and opponent Sharron Angle. Furthermore, in 2008 Latinos for Reform produced a similar ad implyng that Obama's political rhetoric up to that point favored blacks and Africa over Latinos and Latin America.

It remains to be seen what type of effect the gambit by Latinos for Reform has on a Latino electorate that has grown increasingly frustrated with both major parties. (According to a recent Pew Hispanic Center poll "half of Latino voters said they were absolutely certain they will vote in the midterm elections, compared to 70 percent of all registered voters.") Such disappointment is understandable since Democrat legislators waffled on immigration reform and have not done enough to help a weakened economy. Meanwhile Latinos are surely turned off by some Republican candidates intent on demonizing immigrants in the name of short term political gain.

One of the most attention-grabbing counterarguments to the Latinos for Reform ad has come from Cuentame, a campaign run under the auspices of the Brave New Foundation. Cuentame previously gained attention for an outdoor billboard critical of Arizona's SB 1070 immigration law. Cuentame's newest strategy to advocate Latinos to head to the polls is simple: “Don’t Be a Cabrón, Vote”. (Their translation is "Don’t Be a Douchebag, Vote" though the word "cabron" has other meanings including some that are vulgar.)

Will this campaign will make an impact on the Latino vote next month? See for yourself:

Online Sources - Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Atlantic, ABC News, AFP, Wonkette, Huffington Post
Video Source - YouTube

Havana-born Regalado wins Miami mayor race

Later this week we’ll examine the consequences of Tuesday’s Election Day in the U.S. Tonight we’ll look at one of the races that flew under the radar – the election for Miami’s mayor.

The race for the metropolis known as the “gateway to the Americas” was fought between two commissioners of Cuban background: Tomas Regalado and Joe Sanchez. Much like in other local elections on Tuesday the weakened economy was a vital topic for voters as both men pledged to be fiscally sound and cut public spending. But with Miami’s housing boom turning into a sea of foreclosures, the issue of construction and development gained increased prominence. Sanchez mostly allied with outgoing Mayor Manny Diaz’ development plans including a port tunnel and new stadium for the Florida Marlins. Conversely, Regalado voted against most of Diaz’ major projects including being the lone commissioner to vote against the stadium plan.

In the end, the polls anticipating a landslide win by Regalado came true as roughly seven of every ten voters picked the former television journalist. Regalado can thank a specific Latino voting bloc for his win marred by a paltry turnout:

“We’re going to recover our city and the confidence of our residents,” Mr. Regalado said in his victory speech. “And we will do it by not wasting money.”

His victory, however, also seemed to be defined by low turnout. Just over 20 percent of Miami’s 177,000 registered voters cast ballots. In the final weeks of the campaign, Mr. Regalado focused on his core constituency, elderly Hispanics, who appear to have come out strongly in his favor.

It may seem as if Regalado has a mandate and he appears to be acting that way with a massive shakeup expected in City Hall. Whether he keeps his campaign promises remains to be seen, however.

Image- El Nuevo Herald (Joe Sanchez (left) lost in a landslide to Tomas Regalado (right) in the Miami mayoral election).
Online Sources- New York Times, BBC News, CBS4.com, Bloomberg, Miami Herald

U.S. Supreme Court limits minority voting provisions

By a slim 5-4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to limit minority voting provisions under the Voting Rights Act.

The case presided on by the magistrates referred to the creation of some election districts designed to maintain African-American and Latino voters. The decision thus reverses a North Carolina redistricting plan that aimed to preserve minority voting power in a district where racial minorities made up 39% of the electorate.

Speaking for the majority (all of whom are conservative), Justice Anthony Kennedy said that the Voting Rights Act did not warrant the creation of a new district where less than half of the electorate consist of minorities. The four dissenting, liberal judges decried the decision with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg urging Congress to work diligently to clarify the law.

Today’s ruling has a significant effect on the Latino electorate:

The ruling may make it harder for minority candidates to win election in some voting districts. The court under Chief Justice John Roberts has repeatedly shown skepticism about governmental considerations of race in voting and other contexts.

The court in April is scheduled to hear arguments in a potentially more far-reaching Voting Rights Act case, one challenging the requirement that the Justice Department give advance approval before district lines or other voting rules can be changed in many parts of the country.

Image- mlive.com
Online Sources- Bloomberg, IHT, Reuters

Latino vote vital in Obama win

Barack Obama’s triumph in yesterday’s presidential election crossed racial, religious, and gender lines. The much sought-after Latino vote was critical to the Illinois senator’s win.

Exit polls indicated a clear majority opting for him by a near 2-to-1 margin with an “overwhelming” number of young Latinos supporting him according to one source. The myth that Latinos would shy away from an African-American candidate was not to be especially in battleground states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado.

The impact of the Latino vote was best felt in Florida- one of the key battleground states won by the Democratic candidate. “A huge influx of Central and South Americans in South Florida and a large Puerto Rican population in the Orlando area” along with a shifting Cuban-American electorate are cited as the reasons why 57% of Floridian Latino voters chose Obama.

Why did the Latino community opt for Obama rather than Republican candidate John McCain? Columnist Andes Oppenheimer explains:

My opinion: Hispanics voted Democratic primarily because they are among the hardest hit by the economy and by the Iraq War.

But, as we have reported repeatedly in this column over the past two years, Latinos have good grounds for resenting the Republican Party's growing anti-immigrant stance. Many Republicans in Congress -- not McCain -- in some cases have bordered on racism.

McCain has a history of goodwill toward Hispanics and had sponsored a comprehensive immigration bill that advocated both securing the border and giving an earned path to legalization to undocumented immigrants.

But as the election neared, he shifted toward a let's-first-secure-the-border rhetoric to woo his party's hard-line anti-immigration vote, and the Republican Party's campaign platform pretty much advocated the unconditional deportation of millions of undocumented workers.

Image- Jackson County Floridian (“A campaign worker for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., center, registers new citizens to vote after a naturalization ceremony in Miami Sept. 16, 2008.”)
Sources- miamiherald.com, csmonitor.com, Guardian UK, Reuters, cbs4.com, Dallas Morning News, CNN

Have you voted yet?

If an 86-year-old recently-naturalized U.S. citizen weakened by Parkinson’s can make it to the polls then you should too (assuming you’re a registered voter):

The picture of (Maria) Reyes holding her small U.S. flag (during her citizenship ceremony) has an Ellis Island quality to it, tinted with loss and hope. I've watched new citizens being sworn in, and it's impossible not to be moved by all the people who have escaped hunger and war, united by the desire for a second chance…

Reyes, who has trouble speaking because of her illness and so reverts to the more comfortable Spanish, had not decided on the entire raft of propositions and other matters on Tuesday's ballot when I spoke to her last week. But she is discussing them with her daughter one by one, Reyes said, because she considers voting a matter of pride and duty.

"I'm praying for this country every night," she said, and for the welfare of 14 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, and a great-nephew now serving in Iraq.

Eight years ago I voted in my first presidential campaign while living in Miami, Florida. My preferred presidential candidate lost but that was nothing compared to the humiliation and shame of watching one’s vote being caught into the nightmare of recalls, hanging chads, and possible disenfranchisement. Yet the right to vote is something which has bee fought for (literally and figuratively) throughout the decades. It’s something to be taken advantage of and a cornerstone of a democratic society.

I mailed in my absentee ballot two weeks ago so I missed the long lines reportedly in precincts around the country. Nevertheless, there’s a great sense of personal pride in being able to exercise the right to vote and to have something of a voice in the political realm.

Image- AP (“Voters fill out their ballots for the general election in Dearborn, Mich. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya).”)
Sources- Los Angeles Times, CNN

Latino disenfranchisement in Florida?

The voter registration deadline for the pivotal battleground state of Florida is coming up on Monday. But could the state’s anti-voter fraud law prevent thousands of Latinos and other prospective voters from having their ballots count?

The Voter Registration Verification Law was passed in 2006 and stipulates that voters must show proper ID matched against a federal database. If there’s no match then they can vote with a provisional ballot which becomes official only if they can prove their identity within 48 hours.

Floridian electoral officials said that the law is fair and will be enforced on Election Day. Yet several groups contend that the “no-match law” would create more problems than will be solved:

To demonstrate how easy it is to be tossed out by the new verification process, Tirso Moreno, a coordinator for the Farmworker Association of Florida, held up his driving license and social security card.

The social security card showed his formal name - including his mother's maiden name and father's last name - while the driving license was shortened to include only his father's last name.

"I don't think this electoral system has the ability to deal with the differences between the two cultures," said Moreno. It's a particular hardship for people whose first language is not English, he said.

Image- CNN

Sources- miamiherald.com, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Times, Guardian UK

Yet another Bolivian state opts for more autonomy

An estimated four out of five voters in Bolivia's Tarija province opted for more autonomy in a local referendum yesterday. Tarija thus becomes the fourth province this year to seek more local control and at the same time reject the policies of President Evo Morales.

Much like the previous votes in other eastern regions, Morales declared the plebiscite as illegal and pro-government supporters have urged a boycott. Nevertheless, autonomy backers celebrated the result and have declared that the rest of Bolivia will join suit against Morales:

“Today it is clear that Bolivians must construct a new Bolivian state based on autonomy” said the prefect of Tarija- Mario Cossio- during a speech where he also blasted the central government…

Beni prefect Ernesto Suarez said that the referendums in the four provinces signaled to the government that “autonomy is an irreversible process and it will not end in Tarija…until it becomes the norm in all nine departments.” – [ed. personal translation]

The division between the indigenous, impoverished western regions and the wealthy, energy-rich eastern provinces will come to a head in less than two months. A nationwide referendum will be held to decide the fate of Morales and the nine provincial governors.

Sources (English)- AFP, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, BBC News

Sources (Spanish)- La Razon

Image- Al Jazeera English (“Tarija has joined Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando in voting for autonomy")

More Bolivian provinces opt for autonomy

Voters in a pair of Bolivian provinces chose increased autonomy during referendums held on Sunday. Much like the vote in Santa Cruz last month, the Beni and Pando referendums were declared “illegal” by President Evo Morales yet an estimated 80% opted against the federal government.

For Bolivia, the results of the plebiscites highlight the tensions between the majority indigenous population living in the west and the wealthier minority mainly in the eastern provinces. Yet the results indicate a growing opposition to several left-leaning populist governments in the Americas according to the Christian Science Monitor:

In many cases, the opposition in Latin America has been stunted because they have not "come to grips" with the deep-seated shift under way in the region, says (Inter-American Dialogue analyst Mike) Shifter.

Yet, in part spurred on by (Hugo) Chavez’s ideological war against the traditional elites, the opposition has moved into defense mode…

To opposition leaders in Bolivia, this is proof enough that they must start acting. "Chavez owns the Bolivian government, and is the biggest threat to democracy in Latin America," says Jorge Quiroga, a former Bolivian president who heads Bolivia's main opposition party.

Sources- Christian Science Monitor, AFP, CNN, Monsters & Critics, the Latin Americanist

Image- BBC News (Bolivian woman wearing a pro-autonomy shirt)

Today’s Video: Voting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

A controversial referendum took place on Sunday in the region of Santa Cruz, Bolivia over the autonomy of the area. Exit polls showed that 84% of voters chose for the energy-rich region to have greater autonomy though that number was not surprising since pro-government factions urged followers to boycott the referendum.

In addition, violence broke out across the region with nearly two dozen injured and one woman who died after inhaling tear gas. President Evo Morales made note of the disturbances in a speech on Sunday night and added that the referendum "failed categorically."

Below is a very brief clip on Sunday's events as reported by Colombia's Noticias Caracol:


Sources- Reuters, Bloomberg, Monsters & Critics. Mercopress, YouTube

Daily Headlines: November 22, 2007 (PM Edition)

With the tryptophan slowly making its way through my body here’s a quick rundown of some recent headlines:

* Venezuela’s government begrudgingly accepted Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s decision to remove Hugo Chavez as mediator for negotiations with Colombia's largest guerilla army.

* Yet another reason why immigration reform in the U.S. is necessary: a backlog of citizenship applications may bar hundreds of thousands of people from voting in next year’s elections.

* Costa Rica’s free trade pact with the U.S. became law yesterday.

* Will Mexico soon ban all public smoking?

* José Feliciano y Andy Montañez are the latest celebs that have joined protestors against construction in a historic area of San Juan.

* Good news: Chile’s Congress voted to fund Santiago’s problematic transit system. Bad news: Congress allotted a mere $2.

Sources (English)- snopes.com, BBC News, Associated Press, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, El Diario/La Prensa

Image- BBC News

Quote of the Day: Votes via “futbol”

"I'm not sure soccer and politics mix, but I guess it will be up to Nevada Latinos as to whether they appreciate this outreach or decide to issue Dems a red card in the primaries for this bizarre gimmick."

--Julia Hoppock of ABC News’ Exclusiva blog commented on the initiative by the Nevada State Democratic Party to sponsor a local soccer team with the goal (pun intended) of convincing Latinos “to register and vote Democrat in the 2008 presidential election”.

(Hat tip: This is American Soccer).

Image- Los Angeles Times (According to the caption: “Carlos Quezada plays in the team’s first game as Los Democratas. All but two Democratas are Latino”.)

Sources- ABC News Exclusiva, This is American Soccer

Spanish is “ghetto” language, says Gingrich

First it was a Long island legislator saying that he would “load a gun” and shoot at day laborers that dared stand in front of his home.

Then it was presidential candidate Mitt Romney misinterpreting a popular quote by Fidel Castro during a speech to Cuban exile leaders.

Now it’s former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s turn to be afflicted by verbal diarrhea after he called Spanish "the language of living in a ghetto" during a speech on Saturday (image). Gingrich’s comment came during a discourse against bilingual education and multi-lingual voting ballots. (Hat tip: Hispanic Tips).

It absolutely amazes me when someone’s level of political discourse lowers itself to the level of juvenile and irresponsible remarks. You would think people ought to know better, but perhaps their hubris gets in the way of clear, rational judgment.

Maybe Puck was right all along:

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Links- The Latin Americanist, Wonkette, WSB-TV, Hispanic Tips, eNotes,

Image- Seattle Post-Intelligencer