Today's Video: Utah's list of shame

The debate over immigration in the U.S. has centered on Arizona and the SB 1070 that is set to go into effect a week from today. Yet the discussion has at times been ugly in other parts of the country such as Utah where there has been an uproar over the distribution of a suspected illegal immigrant blacklist of 1300 mostly Latino names. newsy.com recently took a look at how several media sources focused on the controversy including some of the consequences of the ugly incident:
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Daily Headlines: July 23, 2010

* Cuba: Weeks after being released from jail, physically disabled Cuban dissident Ariel Sigler was permitted to travel to the U.S.

* Latin America: Could Argentina’s Southern Cone neighbors be the next countries to legalize marriage between same-sex couples?

* Haiti: The International Monetary Fund plans to cancel Haiti's $268 million debt but also agreed to lend the Caribbean country $60 million for reconstruction efforts.

* Guatemala: The government has warned villagers over increased vibration inside the Pacaya volcano.

Image – Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- LAHT, BBC News, CNN, On Top Magazine, The Latin Americanist

Latin America Monitors Arizona Battle

Latin American countries will be closely watching the court battle over Arizona's new law, which began today in a Phoenix courtroom.

In Americas Quarterly, an article highlights the discussion in a courtroom where the U.S. deputy solicitor general, representing the Justice Department, will argue against a private lawyer defending Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Arizona.

At issue in the case, United States v. the state of Arizona and Gov. Janice K. Brewer, is the state's recently signed law requiring citizens to provide proof of citizenship and asking police officers to investigate the legal status of anyone they suspect of criminal activity.

Writer Jason Marczak point out that as the sending country for 30 percent of immigrants in the U.S., Mexico retains a vested interest in the outcome.

Mexico is one of many countries -- including Ecuador, El Salvador and Nicaragua -- fighting the Arizona law. At least seven countries have filed friends of the court briefs arguing against the law.

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act is supposed to go into effect one week from today.

The Washington Post has a list of the case's main players here.

Also today, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told Congress that the country's Attorney General, Eric Holder, has the duty to challenge the state's law if he finds it unconstitutional, the AP reported.

Sources: Americas Quarterly, Washington Post, AP

Photo: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, phoenixnewtimes.com

China Remains Important Trade Partner

Latin America's recovery during the recession can be attributed in part to trade ties with China, one commission said.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reported that China is an increasingly important trading partner, particularly in countries like Brazil, Venezuela and Peru.

"China will remain a very dynamic economy and continue to attract commodities," ECLAC executive secretary Alicia Barcena said.

Indeed, Barcena said Latin Americans should consider exporting even more to China, such as soy oil.

Also this week, Reuters reported that China's spending and sales to Latin America are increasing, particularly in machinery sales.

In a similar article, Salon noted that Brazil and China are "keeping Caterpillar assembly lines running hard."

Sources: The Global Times, Reuters

Photo: Center for American Progress, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Hu Jintau at a 2004 investment and trade seminar

Rumble at the OAS: Colombia vs. Venezuela

Colombia's Ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alfonso Hoyos, today made his country's case before the regional body that Venezuela is not living up to its obligations to keep FARC guerrillas out of Venezuelan territory.

In a flurry of diplomatic posturing that included maps, photos, PowerPoints and calls to check out YouTube videos, Hoyos said Venezuela was effectively harboring 1,500 FARC members.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez Frias meeting in Caracas with Argentine soccer coach Diego Maradona, reacted swiftly to the Colombian allegations by announcing that he would sever all diplomatic ties with Colombia.

"I announce with a tear in the heart: Venezuela breaks off from this moment all relations with the government of Colombia," Chavez remarked to reporters in Caracas.

Back at the OAS, Venezuelan ambassador Roy Chaderton scoffed that the Colombian evidence was barely convincing.

One thing that is certain from today's events is that Colombian-Venezuelan relations have hit a frightening low. The brush-up and war talk that followed Colombia's assault on a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory in 2008 led each country to high alert. Now, just two weeks before president-elect Juan Manuel Santos assumes the Colombian presidency, he'll inherit a dangerously tense situation with his Venezuelan counterpart.

Chavez repeatedly attempted to provoke Santos during the Colombian election, but Santos has made some small gestures in the lead-up to taking office that seemed meant to extend a tentative olive branch to Caracas.

The decision by Colombia and Uribe to make the large OAS showing may be Uribe's last parting jab at his arch enemy, as well as a way to ensure that the Santos administration is left with no flexibility to engage Chavez.

Uribe is digging a deep hole for Santos to climb out of, especially since provocations against Colombia only bolster Chavez's standing at home. After today's developments, we hope that cooler heads can prevail and stave off an escalation of tensions.

Image Source: The Economist (by Dave Simonds)

Online Sources: AFP, Reuters, El Pais, The Economist, Miami Herald, Curvas Politicas (Twitter), BBC

Bolivia’s press – From chickens to vuvuzelas

Some stories speak for themselves:

Bolivian president Evo Morales jokingly referred to members of the press as “South African vuvuzelas” when they urged him to grant interviews from the doors of the presidential palace in La Paz.

“You guys aren’t chickens on a farm but are South African vuvuzelas,” said the president laughing in comparing the media to the noisy, high-pitched instrument…

Morales previously branded the press as “chickens on a farm” comparing the noise made by the animals with the loud and frequent interruptions during his press conferences.

Image- EPA
Online Sources- AFP

Problems with Merida Imitative says GAO

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found problems with the carrying out of a $1.6 billion counternarcotics plan to Mexico and Central America.

Only 9% of the aid under the Merida Imitative has been spent between 2008 and 2010 according to the GAO report, which was presented to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere yesterday. The report noted that there was a lack of sufficient oversight over the plan including the failure of setting targets to see if aid was being spent properly. The GAO even said in their study that Mexico has purchased some equipment on its own due to the delay in receiving Merida Initiative funds.

Federal officials tried to emphasize the increased collaboration with Mexico as a positive result from the Merida Initiative. "We are determined, working with Mexico, to do everything in our power to reduce this violence," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley to the press. For one analyst, however, the GAO report shows several shortcomings of the U.S. antidrug strategy:

The shortfall in U.S. assistance hurts Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s fight against organized crime, said Adam Isacson, senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights and policy research group...

“When you consider the urgency with which politicians talk about violence in Mexico and the threat it poses to us, to have only delivered 9 percent after two years is pretty remarkable,” Isacson said in a telephone interview from Washington.

The agency’s study was published days after one of the bloodiest weekends in Mexico including a car bombing and numerous shootings.

One Mexican government estimate said that almost 25,000 deaths related to organized crime have occurred since Felipe Calderon became president in December 2006.

Image- Los Angeles Times (eighteen people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a party over the weekend in Torreon, Mexico).
Online Sources- AP, The Latin Americanist, Voice of America, New York Times, Bloomberg

Chile: Pinochet-era victims protest clemency plan

A Chilean Catholic Church initiative for pardon and clemency has reopened old wounds for the families of human rights abuse victims.

The plan as presented by Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz and Monsignor Alejandro Goic would grant clemency to some infirm and elderly inmates including some ex-military members who committed crimes against humanity during the 1973-1990 dictatorship.

In their letter to Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, both clergymen suggested pardoning convicted ex-armed forces members so as long as they publicly repented for their crimes. "Our proposal is not meant to open up wounds of the past, nor to make them heal by decree," said Goic to the AP about the plan that has been backed by the head of a retired military officials organization.

The plan has run into strong opposition for those whose family and friends were slain and “disappeared” under the regime of the late strongman Augusto Pinochet. Hundreds of protestors gathered yesterday outside of the La Moneda presidential palace while holding placards with images of their loved ones. According to one activist for the victims of the Pinochet regime as many as 35 ex-military personnel currently in prison for Dirty War crimes would be eligible for clemency under the Church’s plan.

Pinera- who earlier this year became Chile’s first conservative president since Pinochet left power- may not be on board with the clemency initiative:

The main opposition to the pardons for former military officials comes from left-center sectors who have a majority in the Congress, but some law-and-order members of Pinera's conservative bloc are also uneasy at the idea of seeming to go easy on convicts.

Pinera himself has sought to distance his brand of conservative politics from the far-right Pinochet dictatorship.

Image- AP (“A relative of a dissident killed during former Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship holds a portrait outside La Moneda government palace in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday July 21, 2010.”)
Online Sources- AP, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 22, 2010

* Puerto Rico: Unemployment on the commonwealth decreased by 0.2% in June but remains high at 16.6%.

* Latin America: The head of the Organization of American States’ permanent council said that he was forced to resign days before an extraordinary session of the regional body on Venezuela-Colombia relations.

* Haiti: A general strike has been planned for today in protest against government plans to hold elections this November.

* Peru: Archeologists discovered the remains of a person who lived 1200 years ago as part of the pre-Incan Sican culture.

Image – Christian Science Monitor (“A demonstrator holds a sign that reads "Zero layoffs" in Spanish during a protest…(last October) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.”)
Online Sources- LAHT, El Universal, Miami Herald, AFP

World Watch: Playing with fire

* Africa: Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir could be arrested over charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during to his visit to International Criminal Court member state Chad.

* U.S.: The White House apologized for hastily dismissing an Agriculture Department employee over her racial remarks that were lifted out of context by a political website.

* Romania: The body of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was exhumed today and will be examined by doctors to ensure that the corpse is really his.

* China: Over 700 people are dead and hundreds are still missing as a result of massive flooding throughout China.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Houston Chronicle, CBC, CNN

Argentina: Gay Mormons peeved over Church’s politics (Updated)

Argentina will be the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriages after it was approved earlier this month by the country's legislature. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CLDS) took no official position on the proposal though some of its officials publicly opposed it.

Carlos Aguero, the church's public-affairs director for Argentina, was reported to have attended a meeting with other conservative organizations mobilized against the proposal. Furthermore, the church's First Presidency published a letter that was read at CLDS churches throughout Argentina on July 6th that claimed, “marriage is between a man and a woman and is ordained of God." That communiqué fell short of calling for outright political activism similar to actions by the CLDS two years ago in favor of California’s Proposition 8. According to a Mormon historian interviewed by USA TODAY, however, the letter represented a major step for CLDS political activism outside of the U.S.

The actions by the CLDS in Argentina have reportedly been condemned by some of its parishioners such as the Church’s support group for gays:

Affirmation, a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons, is criticizing the LDS Church for its efforts to thwart the legalization of same-sex marriage in Argentina. Last week, Argentina became the first Latin American nation to allow gay marriage. Mexico City also sanctions such unions…

"This is another appalling example of the LDS trying to dominate government decisions being made by democratically elected officials," David Melson, executive director of Affirmation, said in a statement.

In the end the actions by the CLDS may be insufficient to stem the gradual expansion of rights for homosexuals throughout Latin America.

Update: With a stroke of the pen from President Cristina Fernandez on Wednesday, Argentina officially become the first Latin American state to legalize same-sex marriages.

Image- The Guardian (“A couple kisses outside Argentina's congress during a rally supporting a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, CBS5.com, USA TODAY, LAHT

Guest worker plan for Utah?

Utah has recently been in the news regarding immigration for all the wrong reasons: a 1300-person name blacklist with personal information on suspected undocumented immigrants was circulated to the press and police. While two state employees have been fired and could face criminal charges the silver lining from the ugly incident could be an emerging constructive dialogue on immigration.

On Tuesday, 31 local community leaders ranging from the co-founder of Utah’s Minutemen to Latino activists gathered in Salt lake City as part of an immigration reform roundtable. Gov. Gary Herbert’s “immigration summit” at times became tense between those who favor strongly restricting immigration with those seeking a more inclusive policy. Nonetheless most at the meeting reportedly agreed that Utah should start its own guest worker program. One possible plan as introduced by State Sen. Howard Stephenson would have employers post a $20,000 bond per worker while the laborer would pay a deposit to ensure that he stays at his job. A similar proposal from the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce would require a two-year contract and potential employees to submit themselves to medical and criminal background checks.

The guest worker plans are not without their problems, however; chef among these is the potential that they could violate federal law prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring those ineligible from legal employment. Some politicos claimed that a guest worker program would be “impractical” though one business leader believed that it would be mostly beneficial:

Randy Parker, of the Utah Farm Bureau, said one rancher reported that 300 of his lambs died because Peruvian migrant workers were delayed by 30 days during a critical lambing period.

Parker said workers fear that, if they return to their native countries, they won’t be able to return the next year. Consequently, many overstay their permits.

An historical antecedent to Utah’s potential guest worker plans could be the federal Bracero Program that ran from 1942 to 1964.

Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Democracy Now, Herald Extra, KSL.com, Salt Lake Tribune, Wikipedia
Image - New York Times ("Braceros, here in 1963, were often farmhands.")

Afro-Brazilian university to be launched

On Tuesday Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed into law the Racial Equality Statute, (RES), a measure that hopes to bring greater equality for the country’s Afro-Brazilian populace. An Afro-Brazilian university will be created as part as this plan according to Lula.

The Federal University for Portuguese-Afro-Brazilian Integration or Unilab will begin operations later this year in the northeastern state of Ceara. Aside from facilitating the education of roughly 2500 Brazilian students Unilab will also admit the same number of pupils from five African Portuguese-speaking countries including Angola and Mozambique. Hence, the federal university will “promote international cooperation between Brazil and African countries” via courses and other academic programs.

Aside from Unilab the RES includes making it easier for blacks to receive loans and mortgages and also initiates programs to preserve Afro-Brazilian culture. Yet some local bloggers were upset with the exclusion of a temporary form of affirmative action from the RES. Furthermore, the RES may do little to help to help residents of Afro- descendant communities near Sao Paulo who have been displaced by the construction and expansion of a space center:

Young women have few options. "University is a far-off dream for the majority, whose future will be housework, having children too early or migrating to urban centers to work as domestic employees or to swell the ranks of the unemployed or underemployed," (Regina Lúcia de Azevedo)Pacheco said. 

If they want to go for further studies, they have to leave, and that isn't easy for the family economy in the quilombo. "Sometimes girls repeat the final grade of primary school several times, because there is no way they can leave the communities," she said.

Image- Jornal Digital
Online Sources- LAHT, IPS, Xinhua, Global Voices Online

Today's Video: Somewhere out there

The wonders of space and the galaxies of the firmament light years away from us can be beautiful and awe-inspiring. For instance, check out in the video below where scientists working at the Cerro Paranal Observatory in Chile reportedly found the largest star ever discovered:

Online Sources - YouTube

Daily Headlines: July 21 2010

* Latin America: Brazilian scientists are investigating why hundreds of dead penguins have washed up on the shores of Sao Paulo while a type of fungus has been blamed for wiping out thirty amphibian species in Panama.

* Central America: “How to stem spiraling gang violence and how to bring Honduras back into SICA’s fold,” where the two main topics discussed during a conference of Central American leaders yesterday.

* Puerto Rico: After a ten-year chase authorities finally captured a Puerto Rican drug capo nicknamed “the Pablo Escobar of the Caribbean.”

* Argentina: According to the local press Diego Maradona will allegedly continue as head coach of Argentina's men’s national soccer team.

Image – Sky News
Online Sources- AP, New York Daily News, AS/COA Online, BBC News, National Geographic

Arte para la gente: Botero on torture

Today marks Colombia's bicentennial Independence Day and in honor of the holiday we want to highlight one of the country's most renown artists.

For over half a century the paintings and sculptures of Fernando Botero have been displayed in galleries, museums, and even street areas worldwide. He is best known for his artwork depicting morbidly obese figures in different settings from a baby sitting on his mother's lap to a soldier riding a horse. In 2005, he took a strong turn towards the political with his Abu Ghraib collection consisting of roughly 185 drawings and paintings. In the following video Botero explains why he decided to such a series and how the violence of his homeland influenced his work:

Online Sources - YouTube, Wikipedia, artnet