Daily Headlines: April 4, 2016

* Peru: Poll frontrunner Keiko Fujimori flip-flopped and pledged to not pardon her father, imprisoned former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori, if she wins the presidency in elections scheduled for next week.

* Venezuela: A Human Rights Watch report assailed Venezuelan law enforcement for extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members as part of a crackdown against crime.

* Haiti: Several hundred protesters including disabled rights activists and human rights advocates marched in Port-au-Prince last Friday to condemn the murders of three deaf Haitian women.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the current “one person, one vote” rule to decide voting districts in a decision that prevented shifting “political power away from fast-growing communities of immigrants”.

YouTube Source – NTDTV (Ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in 2009 for human rights abuses during his decade as Peru’s president).
 
Online Sources – Reuters, InSight Crime, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times

Chilean Expats Opt for Bachelet in “Virtual” Election

Chilean expats who do not have the right to vote gave their support to former President Michelle Bachelet in a “virtual” election for the South American country’s presidency.

Much like the real vote that took place on Sunday, the country’s first female president won easily over her eight opponents with 34.9% support among the thousands of registered participants living in more than 100 countries. The 4249 votes in her favor were more than twice that of second-place candidate Marcel Claude but not enough to avoid a runoff according to the “symbolic” election results.

Ruling party candidate Evelyn Matthei ended in fourth among expats though she will participate in a second round against Bachelet in Chile next month.  The conservative ex-minister was one of two candidates that did not publicly back the “virtual” election that was held via Internet between November 10th and 16th. 

“Nearly 12,500 Chileans living abroad took part and their enthusiasm showed that they want to be a part of the Chilean electoral process,” reportedly said a statement from Voto Ciudadano, a group sponsoring the online plebiscite.  “We are still Chileans (despite living abroad) and its time that we are granted the right to vote,” added the group via its Facebook page.

The Chilean Senate in September approved a constitutional amendment that would grant eligible Chilean expats the right to vote in presidential elections and national referendums.   The proposal has been opposed to mainly by conservative politicians such as senator Carlos Larraín who claimed that Chileans living abroad “don’t pay taxes, are absent from the effects of political policies and are unaware of the occurrences of Chilean life”.  (According to one article, the real reason for the opposition may be since some expats are exiles that left Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship).

Conversely, the amendment has received support among leftist politicians such as Bachelet who yesterday lamented that Chilean expats “cannot exercise a right (to vote) that is allowed in many other nations.”

Daily Headlines: June 18, 2013

* Brazil: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil’s main cities on Monday in the latest round of protests over several gripes including public transit price hikes and the use of state funds in the building of World Cup venues.
 
* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro reportedly discussed crime and hunger at a Vatican meeting with Pope Francis, while opposition figure Henrique Capriles sent a letter to the Pope that highlighted human rights abuses in Venezuela.

* U.S.: In a 7-2 vote the U.S. Supreme court struck down an Arizona voting registration law that opponents claimed discouraged Latinos from voting.

* Peru: “What we are trying to do is defend and keep the lake, so that is why we will be camping at the site indefinitely,” said one of the organizers of a march opposed to a planned $4.8 billion gold and copper mine in northern Peru.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- ABC News; The Latin Americanist; Fox News Latino; Gulf Times; Reuters; France24

Daily Headlines: February 26, 2013

* Peru: Over 1000 police officers were reassigned to street duty in Lima after photojournalist Luis Choy was killed on Saturday.

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto signed into law a major educational reform that has run into opposition from Mexico’s main teachers union.

* South America: A fan of Brazilian team Corinthians turned himself in to authorities and admitted that he set off a flare that killed a Bolivian teen at a Copa Libertadores match last week.

* U.S.: Several Latino legislators and legal rights groups in Texas have urged politicians to back the implementing of the Voting Rights Act for their state.

Video Source – YouTube via user PERUNOTICIASNOW
 
Online Sources- NBC Latino, GlobalPost, BBC News, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: November 5, 2012

Note: Today's "Daily Headlines" are an expanded edition in order to make up for the lack of posts last week.  Enjoy!

* Latin America: A group of 38 mothers from several Central American countries continued their march through Mexico calling for greater government protection for migrants.

* U.S.: According to new government data, unemployment among Latinos rose slightly to 10.0% last month though it’s below the October 2011 Latino unemployment rate of 11.4%.

* Bolivia: The family of a Bolivian radio host attacked and on set on fire have urged authorities to investigate who was the mastermind behind the assault.

* Paraguay: Human rights activists and former political prisoners are upset at plans over repatriating the remains of the late dictator Alfredo Stroessner from Brazil to Paraguay. 

Daily Headlines: October 18, 2012

* Chile: The Supreme Court allegedly approved the extradition an ex-U.S. Navy Captain accused of the 1973 deaths of journalist Charles Horman and student Frank Teruggi,
 
* Cuba: Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro congratulated a Cuban medical clinic in his first public statement in almost four months.

* Brazil: 104-year-old architect Oscar Niemeyer, renown for his designs of several futuristic buildings in Brasilia, was hospitalized and is reportedly in stable condition.
 
* Argentina: The Senate passed a bill supported by President Cristina Fernandez to lower the age of voting from 18 to 16.

Video Source – YouTube via user Antoniopost (Clip from “Missing,” a 1981 film on the 1973 disappearance of U.S. journalist Charles Horman during the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet).
 
Online Sources- Huston Chronicle, Businessweek, Huffington Post, euronews

Daily Headlines: May 16, 2012

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos said that officials do not know who was responsible for a deadly bombing in Bogota that allegedly targeted a former minister.

* Puerto Rico: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected hearing a case challenging Puerto Rican voting restrictions.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the Brazilian Foreign Ministry warned that the biggest challenge for next month’s Rio+20 environmental summit is to reach consensus and "to conciliate multiple interests."

* Panama: The only survivor of a Panamanian fishing boat that was lost for twenty-eight days is suing a cruise company whose ship allegedly ignored his calls for rescue.

Video Source – YouTube via TVPublicaArgentina

Online Sources- CNN, UPI, CBC News, Xinhua

Daily Headlines: October 10, 2011

* U.S.: Could smoking help explain the health phenomena known as the “Hispanic paradox”?

* Latin America: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas arrived in Colombia as he continued his Latin America tour seeking support for his government's bid to win a place at the U.N.

* Mexico: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder may soon receive a Congressional subpoena to testify over a failed gun surveillance program know as “Operation Fast and Furious”.

* Argentina: Despite taking an early lead and putting up a good fight Argentina was eliminated from the Rugby World Cup after losing to host team and heavy favorites New Zealand.

* Paraguay: Preliminary results indicated that most voters backed a constitutional amendment that would permit Paraguayans residing abroad the right to vote in general elections.

* South America: Qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil began last week and included an easy win for Uruguay over Bolivia and a surprising victory for Peru at home against Paraguay.

Video Source – Via YouTube user unnaturalcausesdoc (“Two researchers present findings related to the "Latino paradox," the fact that new Latino immigrants, despite having on average lower incomes and highly stressful lives, suffer lower rates of chronic and mental illness than the average native-born American.”)

Online Sources – The Latin Americanist, Colombia Reports, MSNBC, CNN, Soccer by Ives, The Guardian, Scientific American

Daily Headlines: February 24, 2010

* Puerto Rico: Several high-profile Puerto Rican officials are reportedly unhappy with the White House’s health care reform initiative.

* Latin America: Representatives of Latin America’s two largest economies- Mexico and Brazil- will supposedly soon start bilateral free trade negotiations.

* U.S.: The federal government ended its four-year monitoring of elections in Springfield, Massachusetts where it was claimed that Latino voters had been discriminated against.

* Uruguay: Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be among the dignitaries scheduled to attend the inauguration of incoming Uruguayan President Jose Mujica.

Image – USA TODAY
Online Sources- Orlando Sentinel, BusinessWeek, Boston Herald, MercoPress

Could Puerto Rico soon get Congressional voting rights?

By a vote of 61-37, the U.S. Senate approved a bill that would permit the District of Columbia to have a fully voting representative in Congress. The proposal will now go to the House of Representatives and that chamber is expected to soon approve a similar bill.

Supporters of the proposal like Democrat Sen. Harry Reid argued that the move represents changing a “centuries-old wrong…We are the only democracy in the world that denies the citizens of its capital, our capital, Washington, D.C., the right to vote.” Detractors like Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell contended that the bill was unconstitutional and that district representation is only reserved for states.

Ironically, it was GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch who helped push the bill through after a section was added that would potentially give Utah an extra House seat.

What are the chances that Puerto Rico- currently commonwealth- could get direct representation in Congress? According to the AP:

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley sympathizes with the plight of D.C. residents, but insists the measure is "flagrantly unconstitutional" and ultimately doomed.

"What these (lawmakers) are doing is extremely dangerous and destabilizing for our system of government," Turley said. "They are claiming the right to create a new type of voting member." The bill opens the door for Congress to give the vote to Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, he said.

Days before being inaugurated, Barack Obama promised that Puerto Ricans would get a chance to decide the island’s political status. In 2007, Congress approved a bill stipulating that a congressionally backed referendum be held in Puerto Rico by the end of this year. That proposal was introduced by Puerto Rico’s then-House Rep. (and the island’s current governor) Luis Fortuño.

Puerto Rico’s lone House Rep.- Pedro Pirluisi- is one of six non-voting members of the chamber and he’s allied to the Democratic Party.

Image- Fact Checker (Protestor holding sign in favor of Puerto Rican statehood)
Online Sources- Salt lake Tribune, Wikipedia, AP, Reuters, CBS News, Bloomberg, New York Times, The Latin Americanist