Daily Headlines: October 9, 2015

* South America: World Cup qualifiers in South America began yesterday with noteworthy matches including Ecuador shocking Argentina in Buenos Aires and Copa America titleholders Chile beating Brazil.

* Brazil: Nine police officers allegedly avenging the shooting of an off-duty cop were arrested and charged with killing nineteen people on August 13th near Sao Paulo.

* Mexico: Mayor Enrique Serrano of Ciudad Júarez has called on a boycott of the hit film Sicario since it “speaks badly of the city.”

* Venezuela: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez accused the Guyanese government of “misleading the international community” over a heated territorial dispute between the neighboring countries.

YouTube Source – Futbolpasionmundial3 (Patricio Javier Diaz of La Red Ecuador radio provided emotional play-by-play of Ecuador’s two goals in their upset over Argentina on Thursday).
 
Online Sources – ESPN FC, The Guardian, BBC News, Xinhua

Mexico: Prison Sentences for Susana Chavez Murder Suspects

A Mexican court sentenced three young men to prison for the 2011 murder of women’s rights activist Susana Chávez.

The tribunal handed down fifteen-year prison sentences at a juvenile detention center to Sergio Rubén Cárdenas De la O, Aarón Roberto Acevedo Martínez, and Carlos Gibran Ramírez.  The three teens received the maximum amount of prison under the law since they were all sixteen-years-old minors at the time of the killing.

Details of the assault and murder of the 36-year-old were revealed during the weeks that the trial took place.  The trio claimed in their respective confessions that they were drunk when they met Chávez and convinced her to go to Cárdenas’ home.  It was there that they allegedly got into an argument, covered her head in tape and choked her to death.  They even severed one of her hands in a failed attempt to cover their tracks and deflect blame to drug gangs.

Chávez was described an outspoken figure in Ciudad Juarez where she drew attention to the unsolved murders of hundreds of women.  Her slogan of “Not One More Death” became a rallying cry in dozens of marches urging authorities to investigate the femicide cases in northern Mexico.

In addition, as reported by the BBC:

Sobredosis de TV: Eye on Juarez

It is said that a picture captures a thousand words.  This could be the mantra of photojournalists who venture to some of the world's most dangerous places in order to capture the chaos and conflict through the camera's lens.

"Witness: Juarez" is the first of a four-part documentary series that airs tonight on HBO at 9:00 PM.  Tonight's episode focuses on the work of Eros Hoagland in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Since 1993, he has traveled the world to cover violence and unrest in countries like Colombia and Haiti.  Hoagland followed in the footsteps of his father, John, a veteran photojournalist who was killed while covering the aftermath of El Salvador's civil war. 

In a recent article in The Daily Beast, Hoagland describes that the war on drugs in Mexico is complex and includes varied individuals such as "dirty cops, masked outlaws, and corrupt politicians."  He also delves into what he feels is the goal behind the images he captures:

Pictures lie all the time. I don’t believe my lens conveys the ultimate truth. I know full well that my photos are only part of the truth, and it’s up to you to decide the rest. Cases certainly exist with a clear victim and a villain, but in my line of work, it’s as if everything is in a bag—you can shake it up and take your pick. I’m on the hunt for thematic images that give perspective on a particular place. Good pictures should make you curious. If I’ve made you curious, I’ve done my job.

Below is the trailer for the "Witness" series that will also include Hoagland reporting on the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. 

A recent study found that Ciudad Juarez is not the world's most dangerous city though its murder rate is still a very high 148 people per 100,000. Juarez has reportedly undergone a decline in violence over the past few months though it's yet to be seen if this represents a road to recovery or a temporary improvement.

Online Sources - mexidata.info, The Daily Beat, Time, Eros Hoagland Photography, HBO Documentaries

Video Source - YouTube via user HBO Docs

Today’s Video: On a Wing and a Prayer

We'll be back over the weekend to look at several news and notes from around the Americas.

In the meantime think about the following: is Ciudad Juarez, Mexico the "most dangerous city in the hemisphere, if not the world"? This was the assertion made yesterday by William Brownfield, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

The former ambassador's remarks came on the same day as a Juarez police spokesman confirmed that five officers were shot and killed on Wednesday night. But Anthony Wayne, the U.S. diplomatic envoy to Juarez, observed that the number of homicides in the city have decreased significantly since 2010.

Juarez mayor Héctor Murguía also criticized Brownfield's views as "irresponsible" and personally invited him to visit the northern Mexican city.

If Brownfield does take up Murguía on his offer then perhaps he can visit a group of young Juarez residents who dress up as angels in order to protest the violence in their city:

Video Source - YouTube via Univision News

Online Sources - Univision Noticias, LAHT, BBC Mundo, El Universal

Report: Latin America and Caribbean Tops Femicide List

Latin America and the Caribbean is the world’s most dangerous region for femicides according to data gathered by the Small Arms Survey (SAS).

The SAS report found that a whopping fourteen of the twenty-five countries with the highest femicide rates come from Latin America and the Caribbean. El Salvador, with twelve femicides per 100,000 people, is the worst of the worst and is followed by Jamaica (10.9 per 100,000) and Guatemala (9.7 per 100,000). Honduras, Colombia and Bolivia where also among the top ten on the SAS list with at least seven femicides per 100,000 individuals.

The SAS report concluded that the countries with the highest rates of femicides, or homicides where the victims is girl or woman, also generally have high rates of “lethal violence”. Therefore, in countries with very high femicide rates women are reportedly more likely to be “attacked in the public sphere, including by gangs and other criminal groups.” As a result, “femicides often take place in a general climate of indifference and impunity.”

The study also found that the femicide rates could vary within countries such as Mexico where the national rate was 2.5 per 100,000 in a four-year span while the rate was an astronomical 19.1 per 100,000 in Ciudad Juarez in 2009. In addition, countries like Brazil and Venezuela interestingly have high femicide rates though “men are up to ten times more likely to become victims of homicide.”

Femicides and violence against women made headlines in several nations in the Americas over the past few days:

• Argentina

The trial of Eduardo Vásquez, a former musician accused of killing his wife by setting her on fire, continued with prosecution witnesses claiming that the defendant was a “horrible person and a monster.”

• Chile

According to a local study the number of femicides in the first two months of this year grew by 60% compared to the same period in 2011.

• Guatemala

Citing the need to ensure equal rights for women, the country’s Constitutional Court upheld a legal challenge against an anti-femicide law that was approved last year.

• Mexico

Officials in the state of Mexico have come under fire after a bus driver accused of murdering at least eight women escaped from custody and was on the lam for six days before being recaptured.

• Puerto Rico

The commonwealth’s special prosecutor for women gave her approval to a measure that would legally recognize the crime of femicide.

Image Source – Flickr via Miami Workers Center (Pink crosses that serve as memorials to women murdered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico). (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources - Small Arms Survey, La Nacion (Argentina and Chile), LAHT, Prensa Libre, El Nuevo Dia

Today’s Video: Battling impunity

As Lille Langtry mentioned in the Memory in Latin America blog, November 23rd is the International Day to End Impunity. Langtry observed that the date highlights crimes against journalists "who have been killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression."

Last week human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) blasted the Mexican government for not doing enough to protect members of the press from violence. "Mexican authorities have to show that they do not tolerate threats and violence against the media by putting in effective preventative measures, leading impartial investigations on these attacks and assuring those responsible are brought to justice," noted AI special advisor Javier Zuniga.

As we mentioned one year ago, several local newspapers decreased their reporting on organized crime in order to prevent being targeted by drug gangs and other criminal groups. Meanwhile journalists under constant harassment and death threats like Emilio Gutierrez Soto have sought political asylum in the neighboring U.S.

The below video from the International Center for Journalists provides testimony from Rocío Idalia Gallegos Rodríguez and Sandra Rodríguez Nieto, a pair of reporters who work at El Diario de Juárez. Despite the great dangers of their investigative work, both of these muckraking reporters have written about drug violence, government corruption and impunity in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.

Video Source - YouTube via the International Center for Journalists

Online Sources - Memory in Latin America, GlobalPost, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: August 25, 2011

* El Salvador: The country’s Supreme Court rejected arresting or seeking the extradition of nine men accused of murdering six Jesuit priests in 1989.

* Latin America: A two-day strike in Chile calling for education reform began yesterday while the Colombian government rejected a proposal that would’ve permitted the private financing of public universities.

* Mexico: One person was killed and four were wounded after gunmen fired into a crowd outside of a Ciudad Juarez elementary school.

* U.S.: According to a study published this week “high-achieving” black and Latino students are particularly vulnerable to obtaining worse grades due to bullying.

Image – AP via USA TODAY (“People hold banners depicting six Jesuit priests massacred in 1989, during an act to commemorate the 19th anniversary of their death in San Salvador, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008”)
Online Sources- CNN, UPI, Voice of America, Huffington Post, Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 28, 2011

* U.S.: A Pew Research Center analysis of Census data concluded that the wealth gap between whites and people of color is at its widest point in about 25 years.

* Haiti: Authorities are reportedly searching for a man accused of attacking President Michel Martelly over the weekend.

* Colombia: Ex-Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias was jailed as part of a corruption case where subsidies aimed at helping the poor were instead diverted to wealthy firms.

* Mexico: Police in Ciudad Juarez accused federal officers of firing on them during a prison riot that ended with seventeen people dead.

Image – CSMonitor.com (“A group undergoes computer training on July 12 at STRIVE, a program in Harlem, New York, designed to prepare the unemployed for new jobs. A new study has found that blacks and Hispanics have lost a greater share of their net worth compared to whites in recent years as a result of the troubled economy.”)
Online Sources- Orange County Register, IOL News, Voice of America, BBC News

Mexican womens’ rights activist killed

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., a day to commemorate the achievements of the renowned civil rights activist. Though his hard work helped advance the cause of civil rights globally, there are activists around the world who continue his legacy in favor of the downtrodden and disadvantaged. Susana Chavez of Mexico was one of those individuals up until her untimely death.

For many years Chavez campaigned against the unsolved murders of hundreds of women in northern Mexico. She helped create the slogan “Ni Una Mas” ("Not One More Death"), which served as a battle cry for local women’s rights activists against the string of “femicidies” since the early 1990s. She participated in an organization called May Our Daughters Return Home, which represented the families and loved ones of the female victims.

Chavez’ body was identified last week by her family after police found her corpse on January 6th. Three suspects were arrested after they reportedly confessed to mutilating and murdering Chavez. Authorities said that her death was not related to her activism but was instead the result of an "unfortunate encounter" with the three teens that strangled her after an argument. The accused allegedly cut off her hand to give the false impression that drug gangs were behind her death.

Unfortunately Chavez’ murder came weeks after another Ciudad Juarez activist was slain:

Chavez’s killing happened less than a month after the murder of Marisela Escobedo, the mother who set up shop in front of the state governor’s office to demand the arrest of the killer of her 16-year-old daughter. Escobar alone investigated the whereabouts of the perpetrator, who was eventually set free by a panel of judges, despite confessing to the crime. The judges are currently being investigated for the decision.

Chavez’ blog, Primera Tormenta, revealed her very moving and touching poetry in honor of those killed and whose murders have gone mostly in impunity. “Blood of my own, blood of sunrise, blood of a broken moon, blood of silence” has reportedly become the motto of those who wish to continue her efforts for justice for the women in Ciudad Juarez.

Image- Reuters via BBC News
Online Sources- COLORLINES, BBC News, Milenio, The Independent, New American Media, Primera Tormenta, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: December 7, 2010

* Mexico: In an insensitive act of violence a Ciudad Juarez nursery school was allegedly burnt to the ground after its owners did not pay extortion money.

* Central America: Costa Rica closed its embassy in Nicaragua as part of a tense-filled border dispute between both countries.

* Venezuela: Candidates from President Hugo Chavez’s party emerged as the big winners of local elections held amid a backdrop of torrential rains and terrible flooding.

* Haiti: At least five people including two infants were killed when a boat full of Haitian migrants crashed and capsized near the British Virgin Islands.

Image – PRESS TV
Online Sources- AP, BBC News, People’s Daily Online, Bloomberg

Today’s Video: Blank generation

"I was sayin' let me out of here before I was even born" is the first lyric of the seminal punk rock song "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids. This line can be applied to the growing ni-ni youth in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico who cannot afford to go to school but also suffer due to limited job opportunities:

Online Source - lyricsmode.com
Video Source - YouTube

Mexican newspaper seeks “truce” with drug gangs

Last week we briefly mentioned how the International Press Institute deemed Mexico the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. “In the first eight months of 2010, 52 journalists were killed because of their work…and it's 52 too many,” said the interim director of the media watchdog group in her grim assessment. It should not come as a surprise then that the heads of the biggest newspaper in one of Mexico’s most violent cities have tried to take a unique precaution.

An editorial published in Sunday’s edition of El Diario de (Ciudad) Juarez appealed to the area’s drug cartels in the name of security for their journalists. "We ask you to explain what you want from us, what we should try to publish or not publish, so we know what to expect,” said the editorial which was published days after gunmen killed an El Diario photographer.

Aside from seeking a “truce” with the criminals, the editorial also blasted Mexican president Felipe Calderon for his “inadequate strategy” against the drug gangs as well as U.S. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton:

The main obligation to protect the citizenry is lost in sterile discussions on whether Mexico is equal or worse than Colombia twenty years ago; a statement issued by…Clinton and backed by press as serious as the Washington Post. It is also lost…in the onerous expenditure used to celebrate the Bicentennial, resources that would have been better spent on reinforcing the pale security forces.

Though the editorial emphasized that it would “not surrender” a senior member with the Committee to Protect Journalists expressed disappointment with El Diario. "The fact that they're giving up is really bad. It's an indication that the situation is out of control," said Carlos Lauria to the AP.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- El Diario de Juarez, The Latin Americanist, Sify, AFP, AP, New York Daily News

Daily Headlines: July 30, 2010

* Latin America: According to German researchers marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas may have descended from a “common ancestor” in the Americas.

* Cuba: Roughly three weeks after ending his four-month hunger strike Cuban authorities allowed dissident Guillermo Farinas to leave hospital and return home.

* Costa Rica: President Laura Chinchilla State Department vowed not to reverse a decree allowing an open-pit gold mine to operate near the border with Nicaragua.

* Mexico: U.S. authorities indefinitely closed the consulate in Ciudad Juarez in order to conduct a “security review.”

Image – The Telegraph
Online Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, BusinessWeek

Cartels Send Message to the United States Government

At around 11p.m. on Friday night, a small bomb was thrown over a wall of the U.S. Consulate in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo. It is suspected that one of the drug cartels is responsible for hurling the device into the Consulate, though thankfully no one was hurt. This is the second time in the past two months that violence has been directed toward people linked with a U.S. Consulate. Three people were shot in the border town of Ciudad Juarez last month, leading people to believe that the cartels are now beginning to send a stronger message to the United States government regarding their involvement with combating drug violence. The United States has sent millions in aid to Mexico in order to assist President Felipe Calderon in combating Mexico's deadly drug cartel violence.

Image Source: Guillermo Batres/Reuters

Online Source: The New York Times

Daily Headlines: March 18, 2010

* Cuba: Cuban police have been accused of heavy-handedness and repression after breaking up a peaceful protest yesterday by the Ladies in White.

* Mexico: According to the FBI the recent killings of three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez may have been a case of mistaken identity.

* Latin America: Agriculture ministers from thirteen countries are meeting in Ecuador in order to figure out how to eliminate malnutrition and hunger.

* Peru: The country’s justice minister was let go from his post over alleged irregularities in the 2009 pardoning of a former TV executive.

Image – Al Jazzeera English (“The wives and mothers of political prisoners marched (as the Ladies in White) to demand that they be freed.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, The Independent, Miami Herald, Living in Peru, People’s Daily Online

Juarez Violence Keeping Spring Breakers Away

Last year fears of swine flu and concerns of violence kept tourists away from Mexico.

Now, this past weekend's attacks against several people affiliated with the US consulate in Cuidad Juarez has brought concerns of security along the US-Mexico border to the highest levels.

Highlighting the seriousness of the situation, the US State Department has advised all Americans to delay travel to the border regions of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango states.

The violence against the consular employees has raised new concerns of security, since the victims seem not to have had any connection to the drug trade that is responsible for the vast majority of violence in Juarez. Assuming the drug gangs were indeed behind the killings, they are becoming scarily effective at sending the message that they can continue to operate with impunity.

With many colleges kicking off Spring Break, it's likely that the Mexican tourism industry will once again see a drop in visitors.

Of course there may be some hidden perks, such as a reduction in cross-border idiocy and Jessica Simpson singing.

Kidding aside, any hit to the Mexican tourism industry will deal a significant blow to an industry that represents the fourth largest source of foreign exchange for Mexico.

Online Sources: Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, CNN, AFP, State.gov, Wikipedia
Image Source: Jessica Simpson at MTV Spring Break, Cancun

Daily Headlines: March 2, 2010

* Colombia: President Alvaro Uribe’s delusions of a third straight term may be dead yet one of his chief supporters is the favorite to succeed him.

* U.S.: Will the White House’s promise of an extra $900 million in school improvement funds stem the “dropout crisis” among Latino students?

* Guatemala: At an annual coffee producers’ conference in Guatemala City exporting countries claimed that climate change has seriously hurt coffee growers.

* Mexico: Police arrested a third suspect allegedly linked to the February murders of fifteen teens in Ciudad Juarez.

Image – CNN (A recent poll found that nearly one in four respondents back former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as the successor to President Alvaro Uribe.)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CNN, Economic Times, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor,

Daily Headlines: February 15, 2010

* U.S.: Don’t ignore the “Latino vote”; according to a report from America’s Voice Latinos will play a key role in at least forty Congressional midterm election races.

* Mexico: If President Felipe Calderon expected the welcome wagon during his visit last week to Ciudad Juarez then he was quite mistaken.

* Chile: Two officials at Chile’s mint are looking for new jobs after 1.5 million coins were misspelled “Chiie.”

* Brazil: Tourism authorities in Rio de Janeiro anticipate at least 700,000 visitors during the Carnaval season.

Image – U.S. News and World Report
Online Sources- Washington Post, AFP, BBC News, AP

Juarez shooting stuns Mexicans (Updated)

The Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez has seen its fair share of violence in recent years but one incident over the weekend has shocked locals and Mexicans alike.

At least sixteen teens died when unidentified gunmen broke into a late night party and mowed down the revelers. "There is no logical explanation, a concrete reason for this event,” said Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz as he claimed that the victims were “good kids” without previous criminal records or known ties to drug gangs. (Update: On Tuesday Reyes said that a suspect had been arrested for his possible involvement in the shooting).

Investigators suspect that cartels may be behind the shooting after having found over 100 AK-47 bullet casings at the crime scene. Yet the possibility of a random act of violence has upset the already distraught families of the victims:

The father of one victim wept during a radio interview as he called upon his government to stop the killing that has shown no signs of abating in Juarez.

"It's not fair, President Calderon. Hear these cries. They're not from families that have problems with drugs, it's from a father whose heart has been torn out, whose son has been taken away this way," said Adrian Cadena, whose son Rodrigo was killed.

In the aftermath of the shooting Calderon vowed to create a broader security strategy designed to tackle the “complex problem” of violence in Ciudad Juarez. The authorities have had their hands full, however, and have been seemingly incapable of stemming the tide of violence in Mexico. (January was the bloodiest month during Calderon’s presidency with over 900 homicides).

Image- Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, CNN, Los Angeles Times, BBC News, AFP

Regional court faults Mexico over femicides

In a landmark decision, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights (ICHR) blasted Mexico’s government for irregularities and lax investigation in the deaths of women in Ciudad Juarez.

The ICHR’s decision- made in November but publicized on Thursday- found a litany of problems by federal investigators including forcing innocent people to confess, mishandling evidence, and impunity against suspected officials. The court further ruled that the families of the three female victims mentioned in the case should be given $800,000 in compensation.

The binding decision- that the Mexican government said it would abide- was highly praised by local human rights groups and victims rights organizations:

Activists said that the 156-page decision strikes a blow for justice in a circumstance in which many of the dead were impoverished young factory workers.

"It represents hope for thousands of people, of mothers, of desperate family members with nowhere to turn for help, no one to bring them justice," said Irma Guadalupe Casas, director of Casa Amiga, a Ciudad Juarez group that works with victims' families.

Some Mexican activists further claim that as many as 500 women have been slain in the border city since 1993.

Image- Los Angeles Times
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, AP