Daily Headlines: August 31, 2008

* Cuba: “I feel even more hate for this tyranny,” said anti-Castro punk rocker Gorki Aguila after he was fined by a local judge for being “an anti-social”.

* Puerto Rico: After almost fifty years of service, one of Puerto Rico’s main English-language dailies- The San Juan Star- closed on Friday.

* Venezuela: “The only thing we aspire to in a new government in the United States is that it respects the dignity of the peoples of our Americas,” remarked Venezuela president Hugo Chavez over the weekend.

* Brazil: Deforestation in Brazil shot up by 64% over the last twelve months, according to official government data.

Image- CNN (“Musician Gorki Aguila leaves a Havana courtroom on Friday”).

Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Monsters & Critics, Associated Press, Guardian UK

Daily Headlines: August 29, 2008

An all follow-up edition of Daily Headlines this morning looks at updates to news stories we’ve recently covered:

* Mexico: By an 8-3 vote Mexico's Supreme Court voted to uphold Mexico City’s abortion law that has been in place since April 2007.

* Cuba: The trial of Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila is expected to start today after he was detained on Monday supposedly for his outspokenness against the Castro regime.

* Caribbean: The death toll from Tropical Storm Gustav has grown to 60 as the storm continues ravaging through the Caribbean.

* U.S.: In the wake of the Postville raids residents of another Iowan town worry that theirs could be the site of the next immigration crackdown.

Image- Associated Press (“A doll representing a fetus, right, and crosses displayed by anti-abortion activists sit at Mexico City's central Zocalo square during a protest against the legalization of abortion, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008... Signs next to the doll read in Spanish "I want to live" and "Vote for me, vote for life." (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)”).

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Associated Press, Guardian UK, Reuters, Los Angeles Times

Cuban punk rocker arrested says bandmates

Cuban punk rock musician Gorki Aguila of band Porno Para Ricardo was detained by authorities according to members of his band. A statement on Porno Para Ricardo’s website said that police arrested Aguila in Havana while the band was recording their latest album. A more recent entry on the band’s site expressed worry that Aguila will be jailed for his beliefs:

Aguila was detained without motive several hours after his father found out that he would be put on trial for dangerous citizenry. (For those that don’t know that term, it has to do with a law that sanctions those convicted with one to four years of jail based solely on their political beliefs…

Gorki Aguila is about to be sentenced based on his real motive of expressing songs against the Cuban political system and his right to be human. [ed. personal translation]

Aguila’s criticism of the Cuban government was documented in a 2007 CNN interview where he observed that “communism is a failure.”

Image- rock.com.mx

Sources (English)- CNN, UPI, BBC News

Sources (Spanish)- Porno Para Ricardo