De Musica Ligera: Juana Molina

"Imagine if Tina Fey quit comedy and sang electronics-based folk songs." This was the description recently given by Rolling Stone to Argentina's Juana Molina. Don't let her comic background fool you, however. The critically acclaimed singer's voice resonates in such songs as "Un Dia" and "No es tan cierto." As the Boston Herald described her:

Molina’s unique sound is more than a one-note thing these days. Yet the same sensibility that drew her to her grandmother’s empty elevator continues to inform her dreamlike music decades later. It permeates the otherworldly, trance-inducing rhythms of her new CD, “Un Dia,” that enfold her sweetly melodic songs and Spanish lyrics.

The comedienne-turned-songstress will end her U.S. tour this weekend with performances in Virginia and Philadelphia. She is as delightful live as she is recorded and is well-worth seeing.

Here are some of her songs in case you missed her live or you're interested in what her music is all about:

• Juana Molina - Un Dia
• Juana Molina - Micael
• Juana Molina - La Verdad
• Juana Molina - En los días de humedad
  

Online Sources- Brooklyn Vegan, Juana Molina (English site), Rolling Stone, Boston Herald, YouSendIt
Image- NPR

Notable Quotables: Human rights hypocrisy?

"There is no Guantanamo in Chile".

---Chilean government spokesman Francisco Vidal responds to a global human rights report released this week by the U.S. State Department. Vidal also "questioned the moral authority" of the U.S. in criticizing the human rights problems of other countries.

The 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was particularly harsh on Cuba and Venezuela though it pointed out problems that persist in Chile. The report coincided with Amnesty International in noting that Chile's indigenous peoples "suffered discrimination."

Image- ABC Online
Online Sources- China Daily, The Latin Americanist, State Department

Today's Video: El Chileno Vasconcellos

Note: We'll be back over the weekend with a few posts.

In the meantime, please enjoy a great song from a personal favorite: "Magico" by Chilean musician Joe Vasconcellos. Enjoy!

Costa Rican priests forgive women who abort

Ideally, the following move by Costa Rican priests would be done year-round and without major doubts. Yet it’s a positive step for the Catholic Church in the Central American country to preach inclusion and treat women with the respect they so often deserve:

(…) This Lent and Easter week, the 300 or so priests within the Archdiocese of San Jose have been given the order to pardon anyone who has had an abortion and anyone involved in the procedure such as doctors, nurses, family members and friends.

The amnesty period will go from Feb. 25 to April 29 and was decided upon by the Archbishop Monseñor Hugo Barrantes. This is not the first time the Archdiocese has approved such a policy during this holy period, but it is the first time that they made the announcement to the public.

Typically, the act of abortion can have a person excommunicated from the Catholic Church as it is seen as a break from the way of the Lord, according to the Archdiocese.

Abortion is illegal in Costa Rica under all circumstances except if the mother’s life is at risk. Nevertheless, an estimated 27,000 illegal abortions are performed yearly.

Birth control measures in Costa Rica are so harsh that the country’s government even prohibited a campaign designed to promote use of the "morning after pill".

Image- Baltimore Sun
Online Sources- Spero News, Tico Times, LifeSiteNews.com

2010 Dakar Rally to be held again in Chile, Argentina

Organizers of the famed Dakar Rally will again hold the race in Chile and Argentina next January:

"Based on the success and popularity of the 2009 Dakar held for the first time in Argentina and Chile, A.S.O. (Amaury Sports Organization) and the two countries have decided together to renew the organization of the rally in 2010 in South America," they said in a statement on www.dakar.com.

The decision was met with approval from government officials in both Southern Cone countries. Chilean Minster Francisco Vidal praised the rally for promoting his country “to hundreds of millions of people in the world.” "Argentina welcomes again the Dakar Rally," Sports Minister Claudio Morresi said hours after ASO made their decision.

After a year off, this year’s race was held away from Africa for the first time due to the increasingly dangerous West African region.

Last month’s race crossed through diverse areas like the Argentine pampas and the Chilean desert and was considered one of the most difficult ever. South African driver Giniel de Villiers won the competition which was marred by the death of French motorcyclist Pascal Terry.

Image- AP
Online Sources- IHT, Wikipedia, AP, Canadian Press, Xinhua, El Mercurio

LatAm photogs earn World Press Photo honors

Several Latin American photographers were among those who received first prize honors in the 2009 World Press Photo contest:

• Brazilian Luiz Vasconcelos won in the General News Singles category for his stirring photo of a Manaus woman desperately trying to avoid being evicted by police (image).
• Lissette Lemus of El Salvador was honored in the Daily Life Singles group for her photo stunning photo of children staring at a dead woman shot in the street.
• Walter Astrada of Argentina won in the Spot News category for his photo of a phalanx of demonstrators during post-election violence in Kenya.
• Chilean Carlos F. Gutierrez won in the Nature Singles category for his awe-inspiring photo of the erupting Chaiten volcano.
• Mexico’s Carlos Cazalis got top honors in the Contemporary Issues Stories division for his stark photo depicting homelessness in Sao Paulo.
  

The winning Latin American shutterbugs represented numerous agencies including Corbis, AFP, and Zuma Press.

Photo of the Year honors were given to Anthony Suau of the U.S. for his haunting snapshot of an Ohio sheriff creeping through a house abandoned after a foreclosure.

Image- AP
Online Sources- World Press Photo, Reuters, AP

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

Daily Headlines: February 27, 2009

* Mexico: Days after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced a major crackdown of Mexican drug gangs Sen. Joseph Lieberman said that the Senate will hold hearings over rising violence in Mexico.

* Colombia: Will U.S. military operations become headquartered in Colombia after they leave the base at Manta, Ecuador this August?

* Guatemala: One week after apologizing to Cuba for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom apologized to victims of his country’s cruel 36-year civil war.

* Haiti: Kristian Dyer of ESPN.com takes a great look at the legacy of Joe Gaetjens- the Haitian immigrant who scored the game-winning goal for the U.S. in one of the World Cup’s greatest upsets.

Image- Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- BBC News, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, AFP, ABC Online, ESPN

Today’s Video: Punished for spirituality

Earlier this week we examined how religion can be used by clergymen as a tool to help others and bring about positive change. But what happens when a religious figure is condemned for trying to do what’s right?

The Rev. Luiz Couto is both a practicing Roman Catholic priest and member of Brazil’s congress. After seeing the negative effects of AIDS in his community, Couto advocated the free distribution of condoms. In addition, he publicly condemned discrimination against gays.

The Archdiocese of the Brazilian state of Paraiba disagreed with Couto and foolishly punished him:

According to media reports, Paraiba Archbishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto cancelled Couto's right to celebrate mass in the northeastern Brazilian state.

The archbishop denounced Couto's comments and said they were the opposite of the Vatican's official positions on these contentious issues. Pagotto said this led to confusion within the Roman Catholic faith. If the priest publicly revoked his comments, he could return to his duties.

"I am going to continue celebrating mass at home, among friends," Couto retorted.

Instead of using religion to condemn and exclude, let us put it to better use. Couto’s remarks against the spread of AIDS and opposed to discrimination ought to be welcomed and maturely discussed. Sadly Pagotto opted for the wrong move.

(The above video is a Brazilian PSA that was aired during last year’s Carnaval).

Online Sources- earthtimes, YouTube, The Latin Americanist

NYPD arrest duo in Jose Sucuzhanay murder (includes update)

Update (March 1):

A lawyer for Keith Phoenix claimed that his client acted in self-defense over the murder of Jose Sucuzhanay.

Jay Schwitzman said that Pheonix and co-defendant Hakim Scott attacked Sucuzhanay and his brother when one of them appeared to reach for a gun. Police officials and a lawyer for the Sucuzhanay family rejected those claims. (Links via New York Times and AP).

Update (February 28):

Police yesterday arrested the second suspect wanted in the death of Jose Sucuzhanay.

Keith Phoenix was was arraigned Saturday morning on charges of second degree murder as a hate crime and is currently being held without bail.

"So I killed someone-that makes me a bad guy?...What's the big deal? That guy is dead." These were the chilling and remorseless words reportedly uttered by Pheonix during his interrogation yesterday according to the NYPD. (Links via CNN, NY1, and Gothamist).

Original Post:

New York City police arrested a man suspected in the December murder of Jose Sucuzhanay.

Hakim Scott, was charged with 2nd degree murder as a hate crime in the crime which took place in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. According to police, Scott and a second man- Keith Phoenix- assaulted Sucuzhanay and his brother Romel while shouting homophobic and anti-Latino insults. The attack was absolutely vicous and cruel:

Mr. Scott approached Jose Sucuzhanay and smashed a beer bottle over the back of his head, the police said, and then chased Romel Sucuzhanay.

Mr. Phoenix then took an aluminum baseball bat from the rear of the vehicle and struck Jose repeatedly on his shoulder, ribs and back until he fell, the police said.

“At that point Phoenix struck Jose several more times, full force, with crushing blows to his head,” said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, who announced the arrest at a news conference at Police Headquarters on Wednesday evening with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney. Once in custody, Mr. Scott “made a full confession,” Mr. Kelly said.

Authorities released the following video of Phoenix and Scott paying the toll at the RFK Bridge while laughing it up a mere nineteen minutes after the Sucuzhanay attack.

Police are still searching for Phoenix; anyone with information is asked to call the CrimeStoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Sucuzhanay’s murder was condemned not only in New York but also in his native Ecuador. His death came weeks after the killing of Marcelo Lucero on Long Island.

Online Sources- CNN, New York Times, The Latin Americanist, ABC News, New York Daily News

Former hostage attacks Ingrid Betancourt

It’s been nearly eight months since a rescue mission organized by the Colombian government freed fourteen hostages including Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. citizens. She has campaigned since then to seek the release of hundreds of people held against their will by Colombian guerillas. Yet her efforts have been unfairly condemned by those on the extreme right as well as the far left.

According to the AP, one of the former contractors had harsh words to say about Betancourt during the time they were both hostages:

One of the Northrop Grumman employees alleges she was haughty and self-absorbed, stole food and hoarded books, and even put their lives in danger by telling rebel guards they were CIA agents.

"I watched her try to take over the camp with an arrogance that was out of control," Keith Stansell told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. "Some of the guards treated us better than she did."

One of Stansell’s fellow ex-captives- Marc Gonsalves- mentioned in the above article that conflicts were common among hostages though his relationship with Betancourt has always been cordial.

Stansell, Gonsalves, and Thomas Howes have been making the media rounds in order to promote their new book “Out of Captivity”. The text describes the 1967 days they spent as hostages after their surveillance plane crashed in 2003 and they were captured by the FARC guerrillas.

Image- El Pais (Picture of Keith Stansell released in 2007 while he was still held hostage in the Colombian jungle).
Online Sources- ABC News, Colombia Reports, Plan Colombia and Beyond, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist

Study: Minority clinics “chaotic and crowded”

Health clinics that serve a sizeable number of minority patients tend to suffer from terrible work conditions according to a study released earlier this month.

Researchers examined data from 96 primary care clinics in New York and in the upper Midwest; 27 of which had a minimum 30% minority patients. The conditions in those health centers compounds the health care problems encountered by minorities in the U.S.

A combination of "time pressure, insufficient resources and patients with complex problems likely constitutes a 'perfect storm' that contributes to the challenges that physicians face in providing quality care to large proportions of minority patients," said Dr. Anita Varkey and colleagues at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois.

Varkey said the study did not turn up a root cause of the problem, although geography and funding cannot be ruled out.

"We can say that the challenges are measurably different from clinics serving lower proportions of minority patients," she said in a telephone interview.

The findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also found that clinics serving at least 30% minority patients are more likely to have patients less proficient in English and are more likely to be covered by Medicaid.

Image- Marketplace
Online Sources- Archives of Internal Medicine, Reuters, U.S. News and World Report

State Department study blasts Cuba, Venezuela

The State Department’s annual report on human rights claimed that there has been some progress in Latin America yet has deeply criticized the situation in Cuba and Venezuela.

Regarding Cuba, the report says that the Castro administration denies “its citizens their basic human rights and committed numerous, serious abuses.” Over 200 political prisoners remained detained and the report highlighted a litany of human rights abuses from “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, including denial of medical care” to “denial of peaceful assembly and association”.

The State Department’s assessment of Venezuela was not as harsh as Cuba but still pretty critical nevertheless. Though U.S. diplomats recently expressed cautious optimism over the recent term limits referendum, the report said that referendums pursued “policies that threatened to undermine freedoms and democratic institutions."

The Venezuelan government replied this morning:

The report's allegations are "false, bad-intentioned and meddling," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. It also said the U.S. government has "the darkest record of violations ... of human dignity in modern history."

According to Voice of America, the report praised several Latin American countries such as Argentina for going after suspected Dirty War criminals and Colombia for “improving” a still-deteriorated human rights environment. (Really? “Improving”?)

Image- The telegraph (The State Department’s annual report on human rights critiqued the referendum process in Venezuela)
Online Sources- Voice of America, State Department, AP, El Universal, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: February 26, 2009

* Cuba: The U.S. House of Representatives approved a spending bill that included provisions to relax travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba. The bill will likely face a serious challenge in the Senate, however.

* Latin America: Could Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela be “destabilized” due to the global economic crisis? CIA Director Leon Panetta thinks so.

* Guatemala: The country’s government still has a long way to go to repair the human rights violations during the civil war according to Amnesty International.

* Colombia: Time magazine examines the shortcomings of extraditing suspected Colombian drug capos to the U.S.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- Time, AP, Amnesty International, BBC News, Reuters

Today's Video: Happy birthday Lovefoxxx!

Today is the 25th birthday of Lovefoxxx (real name Luísa Hanaê Matsushita)- the lead singer of Brazilian electroclash group CSS (a.k.a. Cansei de Ser Sexy). Thus, the perfect excuse to feature one of CSS' best-known songs (and a personal favorite): "Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above".

Online Sources- YouTube, Wikipedia, Myspace Music

Bloggers of the world unite!

• A porn actress has accused a married, journeyman ballplayer of having a “tawdry romance” with her. Discuss.
• Sage words from Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.
• A look at the late Cuban-born cartoonist Antonio Prohías.
• Will Uruguay escape largely unscathed from the global economic slowdown?
• This Saturday a protest will be held against controversial Arizonan sheriff Joe Arpaio. (If you’re lucky you just might catch a glimpse of Charles Barkley).
• Say “hello” to Colombia’s narco-paramilitary leaders.
• A personal note: I love Argentine singer Juana Molina!
  

Image- Concurring Opinions
Online Sources- La Plaza, Plan Colombia and Beyond, Deadspin, VivirLatino, Guanabee, Small State, Latin American Musings, Latin American News Review