Thursday, September 9, 2010

Daily Headlines: September 9, 2010

Before we get to today’s headlines I would like to take a moment to apologize for the absence of posts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately this week I have been hit hard by a terrible cold and bronchitis, which meant that blogging had to take a back seat. Posting for the remainder of this week will be light and hopefully we can resume a normal schedule next week. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you very much for reading this blog.

* Argentina: Luis Scola’s 37 points helped push Argentina into the quarterfinals of the World Basketball Championship with a 93-89 win over Brazil.

* Guatemala: A trio of former soldiers will go on trial after having been accused of participating in the bloody Dos Erres massacre during Guatemala’s civil war.

* Venezuela: With less than three weeks to go before legislative elections President Hugo Chavez claimed that his rivals allegedly sabotaged Venezuela’s power grid.

* El Salvador: In order to combat gang-related violence Salvadoran legislators backed a bill banning membership in street gangs.

Image – The Telegraph
Online Sources- Canadian Press, Reuters, MSNBC, AP, The Latin Americanist

Monday, September 6, 2010

Today’s Video: All hail the glorious chivito!

Tonight is the 100th episode of "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" with the acclaimed chef and author visiting the French capital of Paris. During the five years the show has aired Bourdain has visited locations around the world as well as the Americas. In Puerto Rico he noshed on succulent lechon while he enjoyed cuy (a.k.a. guinea pig) during his visit to the Peruvian highlands. The following video came from his trip to Uruguay where he "stared deeply into the abyss of mind-scrambling sandwichness" that was the chivito:

Online Sources - Travel Channel, YouTube

Daily Headlines: September 6, 2010

* Guatemala: The corruption trial of ex-president Alfonso Portillo began with prosecutors accusing him of embezzling millions of dollars of public funds.

* Latin America:
According to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean exports throughout the region are expected to grow by 21.4% yet "warned against the heavy reliance on earnings from...natural resources".

* Brazil: With less than a month to go in the race for the presidency ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff continues her massive lead over Jose Serra in the polls.

* Venezuela:
Vice-President Elias Jaua denied that the government violated the rights of farmer Franklin Brito who died last week after a lengthy hunger strike.

Online Sources - BBC News, Reuters, Canadian Press, UPI
Image Source - EPA