Daily Headlines: July 21, 2015

* El Salvador: Salvadoran deputy police chief Howard Cotto ruled out negotiating with street gangs despite a call for dialogue in order to reduce high rates of violence.

* Brazil: Three executives of Brazil's Camargo Correa construction became the first figures to receive prison sentences in relation to a major bribery and corruption scandal that has rocked the South American country.

* Puerto Rico: Could statehood serve as a viable solution to alleviate Puerto Rico’s $73 billion debt?

* Uruguay: Alcides Ghigga, the Uruguayan game-winning goal scorer in the World Cup upset over Brazil known as the Maracanazo, died on the 65th anniversary of that game.

YouTube Source – wochit Latin America (“The month of June saw 677 murders in El Salvador. That's more than in any other single month since the end of the country's civil war.”)
 
Online Sources – Rappler, Deutsche Welle, The New York Times, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: July 20, 2015

* Cuba: After fifty-four years the embassies of Cuba and the U.S. reopened in their respective countries and, hence, officially reestablished bilateral diplomatic relations.

* Colombia: On Colombian Independence Day the FARC commenced their latest unilateral ceasefire that could jump start troubled peace negotiations between the rebels and the government.

* U.S.: A report published last week found that immigration authorities did not properly document 93% of deported, unaccompanied migrant children from Canada and Mexico between 2009 and 2014.

* Brazil: Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira became the most decorated athlete in Pan American Games history after winning his 23rd medal in Toronto.

YouTube Source – Associated Press (“After fifty years of frosty relations the United States and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations Monday.”)

Online Sources – ABC News, The Guardian, Colombia Reports, Swimming World

Daily Headlines: July 16, 2015

* Peru: A new U.N. report found that Peru’s 2014 coca harvest decreased by 14% to 67 square miles, which represents the lowest level since 1998.

* Latin America: Mexico City became the first Latin American city to regulate Uber, while Brazil's antitrust watchdog agency will advocate in favor of the controversial app-based ride sharing service.

* Cuba: Frank-Walter Steinmeier will become the first German foreign minister to visit Cuba in 25 years amid a push to improve bilateral political and economic ties.

* Brazil: UANL Tigres lost in first leg of their Copa Libertadores semifinal matchup against Brazilian club Internacional though Hugo Ayala tallied a valuable away goal for the Mexican side.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – The Globe and Mail, Andina, Reuters, Deutsche Welle, ESPN FC

Daily Headlines: July 15, 2015

* Argentina: Argentina’s River Plate gained a 2-0 advantage over Guarani of Paraguay in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores and, hence, took a solid step forward in its quest to win its first Libertadores crown since 1996.

* Venezuela: Authorities barred prominent opposition activist and ex-legislator María Corina Machado from public office in a move that could prevent her from running in this December’s local elections.

* Brazil: The offices of Fernando Collor de Mello, the Brazilian ex-president who resigned in 1992 amid a major corruption probe, were raided by investigators looking into the Petrobras kickback scandal.

* Mexico: The opening of Mexico’s oil industry after 77 years of control by PEMEX starts today with the auction of fourteen offshore blocks.

YouTube Source – FootballMania

Online Sources – SBS, Reuters, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: July 14, 2015

* Brazil: A new UNICEF report found that the number of homicides of Brazilians under the age of 19 has doubled over the past 25 years to about 28 teens and children each day.

* Puerto Rico: Puerto Rican officials met with creditors in order to seek a restructuring plan for the commonwealth’s $72 billion debt and days before a $93 million bond payment is due.

* Mexico: Popular Mexican musician, actor and songwriter Joan Sebastian passed away on Monday at the age of 64 from cancer.

* Cuba: Could the improving diplomatic ties between Cuba and the U.S. soon lead to an end to the “wet-foot-dry-foot” policy for Cuban migrants?

YouTube Source – CCTV America (UNICEF have criticized a proposed constitutional amendment in Brazil to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16).
 
Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, Billboard, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: July 10, 2015

* Mexico: Reporters Without Borders denounced increased violence against Mexican journalists while a reporter was robbed as he was filming a live television report in Mexico City.

* U.S.: Latinos may have became the largest ethnic majority in California but a recent report found them underrepresented in local and state government posts.

* Brazil: In the latest indicator of the weekend Brazilian economy, the unemployment rate in the last quarter grew by 0.7% to 8.1%.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials have banned the importation of rice from Guyana amid an escalating maritime border dispute between the neighboring states.

YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded in February 2015).

Online Sources – Reporters Without Borders, The Telegraph, Los Angeles Times, ABC News, Latin American Herald Tribune

Daily Headlines: July 9, 2015

* Colombia: Colombia’s FARC rebels announced a month-long ceasefire starting on July 20th and that comes after weeks of increased violence by guerilla against civilian and the armed forces.

* Mexico: Officials in Mexico City proposed regulations against the same app-based Uber car service that has run into strong opposition from taxi drivers across Latin America.

* Cuba: The U.S. State Department denounced a recent Cuban crackdown on dissidents but emphasized that such actions will not slow down the push to normalize bilateral relations.

* Brazil: The Petrobras bribery scandal that has hurt Brazil’s economy and led to increased scrutiny against the government could deepen after investigators identified $17 billion in “suspicious financial activity.”

YouTube Source – CCTV America
 
Online Sources – ABC News, Australian Business Review, Reuters, euronews, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: July 8, 2015

* Ecuador: During his official visit to Ecuador, Pope Francis has called on dialogue to ease domestic political tensions, greater protection of the environment and more opportunities for the world’s youth.

* Guatemala: A medical report concluded believe that former strongman Efrain Rios Montt is mentally incapable of standing trial where he’s accused of genocide during his brief rule in the 1980s.

* Peru: Japanese researchers have found twenty-four new geoglyphs at the famed Nazca Plateau including some about 2400 years old.

* Mexico: Official at Pemex claimed that the state-run energy firm is importing 75,000 gallons of gasoline daily in order to combat shortages in several states.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – Yahoo News, BBC News, Platts, Japan Times

Today’s Video: Snapshots of History

We’ll return on Wednesday with a look at several news stories in the Americas including the Pope’s visit to South America and the immigration debate on the isle of Hispaniola.

This week’s video will look at several award winning ad campaigns from Latin America, and tonight we start with a short film created for Leica Gallery Sao Paulo. FNazca S&S Brazil became the firs Brazilian ad agency in sixty-four years to win the top prize at the Cannes Lions festival. Their Grand Prix-winning video pays homage to the German optics firm but was filmed entirely in Uruguay.

“This is a nearly perfect piece of filmmaking,” said Cannes Film Lions jury head Tor Myhren. “The visual storytelling is unique and stunning. The writing is absolutely amazing. And importantly, it's a category that is challenged right now with cell phones and with photography becoming a little bit less sexy,” he added.

Please check out the “Leica 100” short film after the page break (slightly NSFW):

Daily Headlines: July 7, 2015

* Mexico: Will the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by farmers, security agents and amateur enthusiasts transform Mexico into the “drone capital of Latin America?”

* Chile: Five members of Chile’s Copa America-winning squad were named to the all-tournament team, while Argentina topped the latest FIFA world rankings despite finishing as Copa America runners-up.

* Colombia: An upcoming report to be published by a Colombian NGO found that about 140 candidates running for political office have ties to criminal groups including paramilitaries.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro recalled Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana over a maritime border dispute that involves a recently located “significant oil discovery.”

YouTube Source – user Postandfly

Online Sources – InSight Crime, MercoPress, Fusion, Goal.com, ESPN FC

Daily Headlines: July 6, 2015

* Brazil: Brazil’s government attempted to downplay new revelations from Wikileaks of U.S. surveillance on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and other officials.

* Ecuador: Pope Francis arrived at the Ecuadoran city of Guayaquil on the first full day of his official visit to three South American countries.

* Mexico: The Greek financial crisis has spurred Mexico’s currency to hit a “record low” 15.86 pesos per U.S. dollar in trading this morning.

* Colombia: Ovidio Gonzalez, a 79-year-old affected by an incurable cancer, became the first Colombian to die legally via euthanasia last week.

YouTube Source – CCTV News

Online Sources – Zee News, CNN, Reuters, Christian Post

Daily Headlines: July 3, 2015

* Colombia: The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found that coca cultivation in Colombia increased by 44% in 2014.

* Brazil: The Brazilian Congress rejected a bill that would have allowed criminals as young as 16 to be tried as adults and potentially sent to overcrowded adult prisons.

* Venezuela: The Spanish government will seek from Venezuela the extradition of a convicted member of Basque separatist group ETA.

* Mexico: Human rights investigators accused the Mexican army of the extrajudicial killings of drug gang suspects including twenty-two people in Tlatlaya last year.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources – BBC News, teleSUR English, ABC News, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: July 2, 2015

* Cuba: U.S. President Barack Obama called on Congress to drop the trade embargo against Cuba as both countries fully reestablished diplomatic ties for the first time since 1961.

* Mexico: Mexican Supreme Court judge Olga Sanchez urged legislature in 29 of the 31 states banning gay marriage to overturn their restrictions.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan and U.S. representatives have reportedly undergone “quiet” negotiations since March in order to improve years of bitter relations.

* Argentina: Are comparisons between the current financial quagmire in Greece and Argentina's default in 2001 constructive or inappropriate? 

YouTube Source – Associated Press

Online Sources – Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 1, 2015

* Mexico: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accused the Mexican government of acting too slowly in the investigation over forty-three Ayotzinapa university students missing since last September.

* Brazil: The presidents of Brazil and the U.S. met at the White House two years after a diplomatic rift over U.S. intelligence surveillance on the South American country.

* El Salvador: The Chalatenango region may be immune from most of the modern-day violence in El Salvador but the scars still remain from the country’s brutal civil war.

* South America: Chile will be seeking its first Copa America title against an Argentine side that walloped Paraguay 6-1 in their semifinal match last night.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – Fox News Latino, New Scientist, The Latin Americanist, PRI, CNN

Puerto Rico's Governor Gets Key Support for Strategy Against Debt

Puerto Rican political and business leaders gave their support to austerity measures proposed by the debt-ridden commonwealth’s governor in order to prevent default.

“There must be a better environment in Puerto Rico if we want to promote job creation and have more laborers and salaried employees,” said local Chamber of Commerce president José Izquierdo Encarnación following a meeting with Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla on Tuesday.

He and other business group representatives proposed creating a special fiscal control board and labor reforms as part of Garcia Padilla’s five-year plan to attempt to reign in Puerto Rico's $73 million debt. Izquierdo Encarnación and company gave their backing to the governor’s idea for reinvesting savings in bond payments into “strategic” projects for economic development.

“(Garcia Padilla) is seeking support from the private sector to those suggestions made in the report by (ex-World Bank Chief Economist) Anne Krueger that are vital such as economic growth,” he emphasized.

In a separate set of discussions, the heads of Puerto Rico’s main political parties gave their conditional support to Garcia Padilla yet with numerous conditions. Partido Nuevo Progresista head Pedro Pierluisi called for the participation of the opposition in the government’s decision-making process. Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño chief Rubén Berríos Martínez, meanwhile, blasted the “neoliberal package” outlined by Krueger.

In a televised speech Monday evening, Garcia Padilla warned that the island’s massive debt is unpayable and proposed seeking a multi-year moratorium on debt repayment while austerity measures can go into effect.  He also urged Congress to change existing laws and allow Puerto Rico to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy after the White House rejected a potential bailout.

Daily Headlines: June 30, 2015

* Latin America: Pope Francis expressed enthusiasm for his planned visit to three South American countries next month, while the Vatican released details of the Argentine-born pontiff’s trips to the U.S. and Cuba in September.

* U.S.: The U.S. has surpassed Spain to become the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country according to a new study from the Instituto Cervantes.

* Argentina: British officials slammed the Argentine government after a judge ruled against foreign oil firms drilling near the disputed Falkland Islands.

* Colombia: “Equality is unstoppable and equality also will come to Colombia,” declared Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo as he called on the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriages.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – Catholic Culture, NBC News, The Guardian, Reuters, Washington Post