Daily Headlines: September 22, 2016

* Puerto Rico: An estimated 1.5 million Puerto Rican customers remain without power following a blackout that first began on Wednesday afternoon.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan electoral officials announced that the recall referendum of President Nicolas Maduro would likely be held sometime in the first three months of next year.

* Brazil: Andrew Mackenzie, the CEO of BHP Billiton, had his salary slashed in half after the mining giant suffered a massive annual loss partly due to the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil.

* Chile: Chile could become the next Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage.

YouTube Source – euronews 

Online Sources – CNN, Reuters, The Independent, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: September 21, 2016 (Updated)

* Brazil: A Brazilian judge determined ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will need to stand trial over allegedly accepting some $1.1 in bribes in connection to the Lava Jato corruption scandal.

Update (September 22nd): Guido Mantega, the former Finance Minister under Lula, was detained for several hours and then released on Thursday as part of the Lava Jato probe.  

* Latin America: Outgoing United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he felt “tremendous regret” over a cholera outbreak that hit Haiti, while the Venezuelan government is upset with critical remarks made by Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski at the UN General Assembly.

* United States: A new study found that the number of undocumented migrants from Mexico to the United States has dropped from a high of 6.9 million in 2007 to 5.8 million in 2014, and those from Central America have sharply increased in recent years.

* Honduras: Authorities began the transfer of thirty-seven “high-risk prisoners” including former gang leaders to a new maximum-security facility as part of planned reforms to the corrections system.

YouTube Source – AFP 

Online Sources including Update – ABC News, The Miami Herald, Reuters, InSight Crime, BBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 20, 2016

* Mexico: A drill of Mexico City’s earthquake alert system, which was installed following a deadly 8.1-magnitude tremor in 1985, was conducted yesterday on the 31st-annoversary of the quake.

* Argentina: Argentine President Mauricio Macri affirmed his state’s sovereignty claim regarding the Falklands as “standing and non-negotiable” despite improved relations between Argentina and Britain over the disputed islands.

* Haiti: Some 130 Organization of American States observers began arriving in Haiti this week in anticipation of the controversial presidential election rerun scheduled on October 9th.

* Cuba: Iranian and Cuban officials signed several pacts in areas of health, education and science after the heads of government for both countries met in Havana.

YouTube Source – ITN Source (“Mexico City was struck by an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale followed by an aftershock of 7.5 the next day. Thousands of people were killed with many more made homeless in the three minute quake which caused major damage.”)
 
Online Sources – MercoPress, Xinhua, The Guardian, Reuters, The Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: September 19, 2016

* Peru: The San Sebastian Church in Cuzco, which was built in the 16th century, was almost completely destroyed by a fire purportedly caused by a short circuit.

* Latin America: A Mexican boy’s stand at an anti-gay rights demonstration wasn’t the only image at a protest in Latin America that went viral last week.

* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela said OPEC member states and non-cartel oil producing countries are “close” to agreeing to a plan to stabilize oil prices.

* Argentina: Third time could be the charm for Argentina in the Davis Cup finals after their team knocked out defending champions Great Britain in the semifinals.

YouTube Source – No Comment TV (“The historic San Sebastian church, in Cuzco, Peru has been gutted by fire. Dozens of works of art, including those by celebrated local artist Quispe Tito were destroyed in the flames.”)

Online Sources – The Washington Post, CNN, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, ESPN

Daily Headlines: September 16, 2016

* Colombia: A Colombian court found the state responsible for the murder in 1999 of Jaime Garzón, one of the country’s most acclaimed satirists in the 1990s, who was killed purportedly at the behest of paramilitary commanders.

* Peru: Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski deemed his visit to China as “a success” but his government doesn’t seem to be too pleased over the $60 billion price tag placed by Chinese officials on a proposed railway crossing South America.

* Brazil: Television actor Domingos Montagner will be buried in his native city of Sao Paulo on Saturday after he drowned while filming a scene for Brazil’s most popular telenovela.

* Mexico: “We don't have a reason to shout 'viva Mexico' ... There are thousands of injustices,” said one of the many hundreds of protestors in Mexico City who called on President Enrique Peña Nieto to resign from office.

YouTube Source – Señal Colombia 

Online Sources – Reuters, Colombia Reports, Forbes, BBC News, Peru this Week

Daily Headlines: September 15, 2016

* Latin America: Former Guantanamo detainee Abu Wa'el Dhiab woke up from a coma following the effects of a hunger strike, while Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas said he was duped by a fake website into halting his fast.

* Mexico: Extradition hearings against imprisoned drug capo Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are expected to start on September 26th though the process could take years to carry out.

* Venezuela: The Vatican confirmed its mediation in the tense and deep political division in Venezuela between the government and the opposition.

* Brazil: Ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva claimed he was a “victim of extremely serious illegalities” after prosecutors charged him with corruption as part of the “Lava Jato” probe.

YouTube Source – Marti Noticias (Guillermo Fariñas halted his latest hunger strike, the twenty-fifth such protest by the Cuban dissident, on Monday after more than two months).

Online Sources – ABC News, Fox News Latino, El Pais, BBC News, CNN

Mexican Boy Blocks Anti-Gay Rights March

The actions of a child at a protest against gay rights and same sex marriage in Mexico over the weekend has reportedly become viral.

Foto de niño bloqueando protesta anti gay en Guanajuato, #México se vuelve viralhttps://t.co/ihZ8qwYc7f pic.twitter.com/TofksecuCQ

— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) September 12, 2016

In the image, the boy stands alone in the middle of the street with his arms outstretched in front of the multitude of protesters. He seemingly halts the demonstration including the police escort ahead of it.

Nationwide marches organized by the Frente Nacional por la Familia organization were held last Saturday across Mexico including the city of Celaya in Guanajuato where local newspaper photographer Manuel Rodriguez took the photo.

The image was not placed online by the publication Rodriguez works for but instead by an online news site via their Facebook page. The snapshot included the caption “I was nauseous by the sight of so much homophobia but I’ll stick with the image of a boy 'stopping' the protesters.”

Since the photo became more widespread via social media, Rodriguez has been accused of doctoring the image for political purposes or career advancement. Both accusations have been steadfastly denied by the photog who explained to Buzzfeed Mexico how he was placed on an elevated pedestrian crossing when the child ran on to the street and the image was taken.

Daily Headlines: September 14, 2016

* Brazil: Eduardo Cunha, the former Brazilian lower house speaker who helped lead the impeachment process against recently ousted President Dilma Rousseff, was himself expelled from the Chamber of Deputies over corruption allegations.

* Latin America: According to the State Department, seventeen Latin American and Caribbean states are still deemed as “major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries.”

* United States: A new poll taken in four key battleground states in the upcoming presidential election showed Latino voters overwhelmingly support former senator Hillary Clinton.

* Mexico: Investigators looking into the disappearance and possible massacre of forty-three trainee teachers nearly two years ago have widened their probe to focus on more police officers.

YouTube Source – Transparency International

Online Sources – The Atlantic, InSight Crime, Politico, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2016

* Nicaragua: A new poll published weeks before the November 6th presidential election showed that incumbent Daniel Ortega continues with a massive lead ahead of his rivals.

* Venezuela: Human rights activists claimed extrajudicial killings in Venezuela have been on the rise since a government-backed crackdown on crime began fourteen months ago.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee claimed that more than 1.9 million tickets have been sold for the Rio Paralympics, and the 170,000 plus attendees last Sunday surpassed any single day of the recently held Olympics.

* Argentina: Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner received a subpoena to testify as part of a corruption probe focused on her time in office.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (From August 3, 2016: “Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has picked his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for November's election.”)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Voice of America, CBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2016

* Honduras: Authorities last week arrested the final suspect in the murder last March of acclaimed Honduran environmentalist Berta Caceres though investigators are still looking into who masterminded her death.

* Colombia: Nairo Quintana became the first Colombian in nearly three decades to win the Vuelta a España, and has thus won two of the three cycling grand tours in his career.

* Ecuador: The legal tug-of-war between energy company Chevron and Ecuadoran plaintiffs over pollution in the Amazon rainforest heads to a Canadian court this week.

* Brazil: Brazil’s currency weakened this morning to its lowest point since July 28th following street protests nationwide against the government led by President Michel Temer.

YouTube Source – GreenpeaceVideo

Online Sources – NBC News, Bloomberg, The Independent, Fortune

Daily Headlines: September 9, 2016

* Mexico: Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón will purportedly return to Mexico to shoot his first film there since “Y Tu Mamá También” in 2001.

* Brazil: Police in Brazil want to question International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach over a suspected plan to resell Rio Olympics tickets, which may explain why he opted to skip attending the Paralympics opening ceremonies held on Wednesday night.

* United States: Despite the sometimes-toxic rhetoric in the U.S. presidential race regarding immigration, a new study found that the Latino population growth has slowed due lower fertility rates and less migrants coming from Latin America.

* Uruguay: Uruguayan authorities are seeking another country, “especially in the Arab world”, to house ex-Guantanamo detainee Abu Wa'el Dhiab who is going through a hunger strike in order to be reunited with his family.

YouTube Source – Movieclips 

Online Sources – ABC News, BBC News, NBC News, The A.V. Club

Daily Headlines: September 8, 2016

* Ecuador: Oil drilling began yesterday in an area near the Yasuni National Park despite opposition from indigenous communities in the Amazon and environmentalists.

* Venezuela: In one of the latest struggles between the government and opposition politicians, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro “sent armed groups” to harass him at an airport.

* Brazil: Acting president Michel Temer was drowned out by a cacophony of jeering and whistling as the Rio Paralympics was inaugurated last night during an otherwise festive opening ceremony.

* Bolivia: LGBT activists in Bolivia celebrated the arrival of government-issued identification cards to transgender citizens based on a law approved last May.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV 

Online Sources – BBC News, UPI, Voice of America, ABC News

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: September 7, 2016

* Chile: A Chilean Senate panel approved a controversial proposal to relax a total ban on abortion and allow it under certain cases including when the pregnancy is caused by rape.

* Brazil: Much like his predecessor, interim President Michel Temer faces his own corruption scandal that could taint his rule less than a week after taking office.

* Latin America: While World Cup 2018 qualifiers were held through the Americas, the bigger news may be that FIFA president Gianni Infantino would be open to a possible joint United States-Mexico bid for the 2026 version of the tournament.

* El Salvador: the Nicaraguan government conceded asylum to former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes who is under investigation in his home country for purportedly not declaring $700,000 of his personal income.

YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (The 2013 rape and impregnation of an eleven-year-old girl in Chile helped reopen the debate on abortion, which is illegal under all circumstances in that country.)

Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, Reuters, teleSUR English, Vanguard, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: September 6, 2016

* Mexico: Several thousand people lined the streets outside of Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes yesterday to pay their last respects to famed singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel who died last week at the age of 66.

* Venezuela: Oilfield services company Schlumberger announced it would scale back operations in Venezuela including laying off workers and withdrawing from projects.

* Cuba: Dissidents believe the Cuban government has been censoring text messages by removing missives with phrases like “human rights” and the names of opposition activists.

* Colombia: Coca-Cola, Chiquita and Drummond are some of the major multinational firms that could face charges over financing Colombia’s former AUC paramilitary group.

YouTube Source – Associated Press  
 
Online Sources – Reuters, Seeking Alpha, Endgadget, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: September 5, 2016

* Argentina: The indigenous Mapuche community in Argentina is campaigning against fracking at one of the world’s top shale gas producing sites that has caused environmental damage including groundwater pollution.

* South America: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was reportedly chased by demonstrators during a visit to Margarita Island, while tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of several major Brazilian cities yesterday.

* Ecuador: A 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the Ecuadoran capital city of Quito nearly five months after a stronger tremor killed at least 700 people and caused some $2 billion in damages.

* Puerto Rico: Now that Congress returned today from its summer recess, will federal legislators soon back a plan to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Puerto Rico?

YouTube Source – AJ+ (“From September 2014: “The Mapuche (people indigenous to Argentina's Patagonia region) have long fought for their land and rights. Now they're witnessing the side effects of fracking, and taking action to keep oil companies off the land.”)

Online Sources – UPI, Fox News Latino, BBC News, Reuters, teleSUR English