Latin Americans Among Dead in Spanish Train Disaster

At least four people from three Latin American countries were among the dozens of fatalities from Spain’s worst transportation accident in decades.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday that two nationals from that country were among the passengers of a high-speed train that derailed on a curve Wednesday night in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia.

The name of one of the deceased has yet to be published while her family gets contacted but the other Colombian fatality was reportedly identified as Sara Camila Vélez Fuenmayor. 

The 36-yer-old was allegedly riding on the train in order to pick up her eleven-year-old daughter who was vacationing with her Spanish-born father.  Vélez Fuenmayor, who had dual Colombian and Spanish citizenship, worked as a gym instructor and her own jewelry-making business.  She had been residing in Madrid for the past fifteen years and was also a mother to a three-year-old boy.

Yolanda Delfín Ortega of Mexico was also mentioned on Thursday as one of the deceased. The university student majored in law at the Universidad Anáhuac of Xalapa in her native Veracruz but had traveled to Spain as part of an academic exchange program.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy admitted, “It’s a major challenge to identify the people who have died.” Yet forensic experts were able to positively identify Delfín Ortega based on photographs published on the Internet by her family and boyfriend.  (Some of these images can be seen in the video at the top of this post).

“She sent me a message on Facebook saying that she was about to arrive at Santiago de Compostela and that we would get in touch once she got home,” Delfín Ortega’s boyfriend, Luis Ledesma said in a radio interview before her body was identified.

Thousands of messages of support have been sent to Ledesma and Delfín Ortega’s family via the social media hashtag #YolandaDelfínOrtega.  Among those expressing condolences to her family was Veracruz state governor Javier Duarte who also expressed his “solidarity” with the Spanish people.

Daily Headlines: July 25, 2013

* Brazil: More than one million people are expected to attend a mass at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach today as Pope Francis continues his visit to Brazil.

* Venezuela: “We are open to having a positive relationship with Venezuela moving forward,” said a State Department spokesperson in response to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro ending efforts to improve diplomatic ties with the U.S.

* U.S.: A recent study concluded that Latino housing consumers in three major cities face discrimination including hostility from housing agents and being requested to pay additional fees.

* Ecuador: The Ecuadorian government has offered thousands of jobs to Spanish teachers who are willing to leave their economically weak country.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews (“Tens of thousands of people turned out in southeastern Brazil (on Wednesday) to witness the Pope celebrate his first mass outside Italy as pontiff”).
 
Online Sources- Voice of America; The Latin Americanist; GlobalPost; Think Progress; LAHT

Daily Headlines: July 24, 2013

* Argentina: Gerardo "Tata" Martino will officially be named as the new coach of the famed Barcelona soccer team weeks after guiding Argentine side Newell's Old Boys to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.

* U.S.: The Univision TV network will surpass its English-language counterparts to top the Nielson ratings in two key age groups for the month of July.

* South America: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro met with Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos and pledged to continue supporting peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC guerillas.
 
* Mexico: A U.S. federal judge threw out a lawsuit against ex-Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo that accused him of crimes against humanity related to the 1997 Acteal massacre.

Video Source – YouTube via user sntv

Online Sources- The Guardian; USA TODAY; Huffington Post; Reuters

Multitude Welcomes Pope to Brazil

Tens of thousands of people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil took to the streets in order to welcome Pope Francis on his first international trip as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Argentine-born pontiff waved and smiled to the multitude as he rode in the open-air Popemobile through downtown Rio on Monday afternoon.  His security detail had their hands full attempting to control the throngs of admirers that gathered around the motorcade.  One woman even took advantage of a traffic jam to pass her baby through the window of the pontiff’s vehicle for a kiss from Francis. 

"I want to see him and feel him close to me," said Carlos Alberto Fahd regarding the ex-Archbishop of Buenos Aires.  "Francis is already changing the church with his simplicity," added the 23-year-old pilgrim who traveled from northern Brazil to catch a glimpse of the first Latin American pope. 

Prior to the procession, the Pope took part in a motorcade that was occasionally surrounded by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff led a group of dignitaries at Rio’s main international airport.  The group was then serenaded by a choir of about three dozen children; a fitting reminder that Francis’ visit occurs amidst the Church’s World Youth Day (WYD) festivities.

“The world crisis is not treating young people well,” the Holy Father told reporters on the plane travelling from Italy. “We are running the risk of having a generation that does not work. From work comes a person’s dignity.”

The Pope will attempt to use his visit to appeal to Catholic youth in a country where most young followers may not see eye-to-eye with some of the Vatican’s policies. An Ibope poll released today showed that 82% of Brazilian Catholics between the ages of sixteen and thirty years old support the use of the "morning after pill" while 56% of those surveyed back same-sex civil unions.

Colombia’s Quintana Obtains Second Place in Tour de France

Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana finished his first-ever participation in the Tour de France with an extraordinary second place finish.

Yesterday Quintana became the first Latin American in a quarter century to reach the podium of the world’s top cycling completion. The 23-year-old’s dream debut also included winning the white jersey as the best young rider and the polka-dot jersey as the best mountain climber.

“He has plenty of talent and I think he could be one of the Tour’s greats,” said race winner Chris Froome of Britain about Quintana.  “I knew he would give it his all and he achieved something very important,” added Froome who finished over five minutes ahead of Quintana.

The Boyacá-born Quintana shined in the centenary edition though when the Tour began he wasn’t among the experts’ favorites to be among the top riders.  (For BBC Sport, Quintana’s teammate on the Movistar team, Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, was seen as a “potential rival” against Froome while Quintana was not mentioned.)  Yet Quintana proved his prowess in the always difficult mountain stages, which seemed natural for someone who as a child used to make a ten mile trip to a school located high in the Andes.

The pinnacle moment for Quintana in France occurred in the penultimate stage on Saturday; a date that coincidentally was the 202nd anniversary of Colombia’s independence.  Entering stage 20 in fifth place overall, Quintana took advantage of the pace set for most of the day by his Movistar teammates and he was able to pull away with eight kilometers left in a breakaway group that included Frrome and Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez. The group stayed together until Quintana burst forth with some 900 meters to go until the finish and captured the stage victory while his elated family back home celebrated the win.   

Daily Headlines: July 22, 2013

* Brazil: Argentine-born Pope Francis is expected to arrive today in Brazil and preside over the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day festival.

* Venezuela: Venezuela's president "ended" the possibility of improving diplomatic relations between that country and the U.S. due to recent remarks made by the White House’s nominee to serve as envoy to the U.N.   

* Chile: Labor Minister Evelyn Matthei became the candidate for the ruling conservative coalition vying to prevent Michelle Bachelet from returning to the Chilean presidency.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos said that the military would launch a strong offensive against the FARC after at least nineteen troops died in combat against the rebels this weekend.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP
 
Online Sources- The Guardian; Christian Science Monitor; ABC News; France 24

Daily Headlines: July 19, 2013

* Brazil: The Brazilian government blasted FIFA President Sepp Blatter for suggesting that due to mass protests last month the country may have been the wrong choice to host the 2014 World Cup.

* Puerto Rico: The U.S. Justice Department and Puerto Rico officials signed a $10 million agreement aimed at reforming the commonwealth’s beleaguered police agency.

* Peru: Eight men were reportedly killed by members of the native Ashaninka community in the Amazon rainforest region of Peru.

* Chile: Michelle Bachelet’s possible return to the Chilean presidency may have just gotten easier after her main campaign rival unexpectedly dropped out of the race.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- Businessweek; The Lain Americanist; Fox News Latino; Times of India; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 17, 2013

* Cuba: The Cuban government admitted that military equipment found on a North Korean-flagged ship seized by Panamanian authorities belonged to them but the weapons were “obsolete” and were being sent for repair.

* Latin America: Brazil’s foreign minister claimed that the Mercosur trading bloc would rely less on foreign technology in light of recent allegations of U.S. government surveillance in Latin America.

* Argentina: U.S.-based Chevron signed a $1.24 billion deal to develop the world’s second-largest shale gas deposit and fourth-largest shale oil reservoir.

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos deemed as “a great step towards peace” his meeting yesterday with thirty members of an ELN guerilla unit who gave up their arms.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- LAHT; Bloomberg; USA TODAY; Xinhua; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: July 16, 2013

* Chile: A Chilean appeals court ruled that construction work on the Pascua-Lama gold mine must be halted and the site’s owners, Canadian firm Barrick Gold, has to repair environmental damage to two rivers.

* Bolivia: The Spanish government formally apologized for an incident weeks ago where the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria.

* Panama: President Ricardo Martinelli claimed that Panamanian authorities seized a North Korean-flagged ship traveling from Cuba with a shipment of arms and other “undeclared military cargo.”

* U.S.: Cuban-born baseball player Yoenis Cespedes captured the All-Star Home Run Derby crown with thirty-two homers including nine in the final round.

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish

Online Sources- CBC; Reuters; the Latin Americanist; ABC News; NPR

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2013

Note: Posting will be very light on Monday and Tuesday.  As a result, we hope to provide additional posts starting on Wednesday and including this weekend.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
 
* Chile: Chile has become the latest epicenter for the abortion debate in Latin America due to the case of an eleven-year-old girl who became pregnant after her stepfather raped her.

* U.S.: Three former Target employees filed a lawsuit against the company alleging racial discrimination such as the writing of memos with stereotypes on “Cubans (political refugees, legal status, higher educational levels) … Mexicans (lower educational level, some may be undocumented.)”

* Guatemala: Authorities arrested four men suspected of raiding a police station last month and killing eight officers.

* Peru: A team of archeologists discovered the mummified remains of a woman believed to have been sacrificed some twelve to thirteen centuries ago.

Video Source – YouTube via user NewsyWorld

Online Sources- BusinessWeek; CNN; SBS; BBC News

Latin American Governments Irate Over U.S. Spying Allegations

Senior officials of several Latin American countries, including some of the region’s strongest allies to the U.S., have spoken out this week over alleged surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) throughout the Americas.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota admitted today that he might contact Snowden even though the former contractor is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Moscow, Russia’s main international airport.

“Mr. Snowden's participation in an investigation is absolutely relevant and pertinent," Patriota said during a Senate hearing. He added that U.S. Ambassador Thomas Shannon told Brazilian officials that the U.S. does not access the content of emails but does collect metadata on email traffic. 

Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported this week that it obtained documents leaked by intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden regarding “data mining programs” by the NSA.  At least fifteen Latin American countries were supposedly under surveillance for a variety of security-related issues such as oil in Venezuela, energy in Mexico and information on Colombia’s FARC rebels. 
Furthermore, the paper claimed that the U.S. ran a “data-collection base” in Brazil and that Brazilian telecoms firms cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies to facilitate surveillance.

“We need to see where data was stored,” President Dilma Rousseff told reporters on Monday as Brazilian authorities launched an investigation into the data storage policies of technology companies such as Google.

Colombia's Foreign Ministry requested days ago that U.S. government give an account of the “unauthorized data collection program” via its ambassador in Bogota.

“In rejecting the acts of espionage that violate people's rights and intimacy as well as the international conventions on telecommunication, Colombia requests the corresponding explanations from the United States government through its ambassador to Colombia,” the Foreign Ministry proclaimed in a statement.

Daily Headlines: July 12, 2013

* Chile: Thousands of Chileans called for better working conditions and tax reform as part of a nationwide strike organized by the country’s largest labor union.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis introduced legislation aimed at cracking down sexual abuse and child pornography at the Vatican.

* Brazil: A lawsuit was filed with the Brazilian Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the country’s “World Cup law.”

* U.S.: A former Cuban prison chief accused of human rights abuses is allegedly hiding out somewhere in the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube via user Emisoras Unidas

Online Sources- ABC News; USA TODAY; Bloomberg; Fox News Latino

Report: 4000+ Yearly Hate Crime Cases in Spain

Thousands of hate crime cases based on factors such as religion, immigration status and racial background occur in Spain each year according to a report released today.

The study from the Movement Against Intolerance (MCI, in Spanish initials) nongovernment organization concluded that at least 4000 hate crimes occur yearly in Spain.  Nevertheless, the group believes that the number of hate crimes could be much more since only 4% of all cases are conveyed to authorities.

The report has identified at least eighty hate-related homicides since 1991 and that racist groups exist in all of the country’s autonomous communities.  Furthermore, the MCI identified the existence of over 1500 “xenophobic” Spanish websites and more than 10,000 neo-Nazis and skinheads in the country.  Additionally, there has been an apparent growth in “protests of intolerance” in Spain such as four events occurring last April celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

In one case by the MCI highlighted last month that educational officials are investigating the death of a fifteen-year-old girl of Ecuadorian background living near Madrid who committed suicide allegedly after enduring heavy bullying from her classmates. 

“The other students would make her stand on the school bus even if there was an empty seat, and some of them would block her path if she wanted to use the restroom at the school ” claimed the girl’s father.

Among the recommendations made by the MCI are the prohibition of concerts and other public events promoting hatred and intolerance, greater monitoring of websites used to promote xenophobia and stronger punishments against racist sports fans.

Another suggestion made in the report is that the State should provide greater assistance to purported hate crime victims who don’t have the same protections as victims of acts of terrorism or gender-based violence:

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2013 (Updated)

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff announced that an additional $1.3 billion would be spent on health care and education in light of recent anti-government protests held in June.

Update: Mass protests resumed today in several major cities by striking workers calling for better labor conditions and improved social services.  The demonstrations have reportedly blocked ports and major roadways and also "paralyzed" the Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre public transit systems.

* Mexico: Mexico’s main opposition party, the National Action Party, is proposing changing the constitution in order to break up the PEMEX state-run oil monopoly.

* Latin America: According to Transparency International, Argentina and Mexico are the most corrupt countries in Latin America.

* Dominican Republic: At least one person was killed in the Dominican Republic as Tropical Storm Chantal makes its way through the Caribbean.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- Xinhua; The Latin Americanist; International Business Times; Bloomberg; USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: July 10, 2013

* Honduras: Police believe they have found the dismembered and beheaded body of Anibal Barrow, a popular television journalist missing since last month.

* Mexico: Archaeologists have uncovered thousands of stone carvings in Coahuila that are believed to be up to 6000-years-old.

* Cuba: “Reform czar” Marino Murillo allegedly said that the government plans to deregulate several large state-run companies including nickel producer Cubaniquel and oil company Cubapetroleo.

* Ecuador: According to Finance Minister Fausto Herrera, Ecuador is seeking as much as $1.4 billion in financing from China to fund this year’s budget.

Video Source – YouTube via NTN24
 
Online Sources- Bloomberg; Voice of America; Huffington Post; Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 9, 2013

* Mexico: Mexico has become the world’s fattest industrialized nation according to several estimates including a report released last month from the World Health Organization.

* Costa Rica: A reform to Costa Rica 's Young Persons Law could mean that gay marriage is legal though it remains to be seen if the courts will overturn it.

* Argentina: Several U.S. legislators are upset that the Argentine government will not allow a special prosecutor investigating the 1994 AMIA bombing to testify in front of a Congressional committee.

* Colombia: Suspected drug lord Daniel "El Loco" Barrera was extradited this morning from Colombia to the U.S. where he faces trial in New York and Florida.

Video Source – YouTube via Deutsche Welle 

Online Sources- New York Daily News; MercoPress; ABC News; Tico Times