Daily Headlines: September 19, 2016

* Peru: The San Sebastian Church in Cuzco, which was built in the 16th century, was almost completely destroyed by a fire purportedly caused by a short circuit.

* Latin America: A Mexican boy’s stand at an anti-gay rights demonstration wasn’t the only image at a protest in Latin America that went viral last week.

* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela said OPEC member states and non-cartel oil producing countries are “close” to agreeing to a plan to stabilize oil prices.

* Argentina: Third time could be the charm for Argentina in the Davis Cup finals after their team knocked out defending champions Great Britain in the semifinals.

YouTube Source – No Comment TV (“The historic San Sebastian church, in Cuzco, Peru has been gutted by fire. Dozens of works of art, including those by celebrated local artist Quispe Tito were destroyed in the flames.”)

Online Sources – The Washington Post, CNN, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, ESPN

Mexican Boy Blocks Anti-Gay Rights March

The actions of a child at a protest against gay rights and same sex marriage in Mexico over the weekend has reportedly become viral.

Foto de niño bloqueando protesta anti gay en Guanajuato, #México se vuelve viralhttps://t.co/ihZ8qwYc7f pic.twitter.com/TofksecuCQ

— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) September 12, 2016

In the image, the boy stands alone in the middle of the street with his arms outstretched in front of the multitude of protesters. He seemingly halts the demonstration including the police escort ahead of it.

Nationwide marches organized by the Frente Nacional por la Familia organization were held last Saturday across Mexico including the city of Celaya in Guanajuato where local newspaper photographer Manuel Rodriguez took the photo.

The image was not placed online by the publication Rodriguez works for but instead by an online news site via their Facebook page. The snapshot included the caption “I was nauseous by the sight of so much homophobia but I’ll stick with the image of a boy 'stopping' the protesters.”

Since the photo became more widespread via social media, Rodriguez has been accused of doctoring the image for political purposes or career advancement. Both accusations have been steadfastly denied by the photog who explained to Buzzfeed Mexico how he was placed on an elevated pedestrian crossing when the child ran on to the street and the image was taken.

Daily Headlines: September 8, 2016

* Ecuador: Oil drilling began yesterday in an area near the Yasuni National Park despite opposition from indigenous communities in the Amazon and environmentalists.

* Venezuela: In one of the latest struggles between the government and opposition politicians, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro “sent armed groups” to harass him at an airport.

* Brazil: Acting president Michel Temer was drowned out by a cacophony of jeering and whistling as the Rio Paralympics was inaugurated last night during an otherwise festive opening ceremony.

* Bolivia: LGBT activists in Bolivia celebrated the arrival of government-issued identification cards to transgender citizens based on a law approved last May.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV 

Online Sources – BBC News, UPI, Voice of America, ABC News

Daily Headlines: June 13, 2016

* U.S.: LGBT centers in the area of Orlando, Florida are working to offer Spanish-speaking grief counselors in light of the massacre of at least fifty people during an “Upscale Latin Saturday” party at the Pulse nightclub.

* Puerto Rico: U.S. President Barack Obama in his weekly address urged the Senate to quickly approve a plan that would help alleviate Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt.

* Brazil: According to “two unpublished academic studies” researchers have detected a “super bacteria” present in the waters of several venues of the upcoming Rio Olympics.

* Guatemala: Three former ministers who served under disgraced ex-President Otto Perez Molina were arrested on corruption charges while around 2000 protesters in Guatemala City rallied in favor of greater political transparency.

YouTube Source – Jornalistas Livres (Vigils were held in several Latin American cities including Sao Paulo in solidarity with the victims of the mass shooting of at least fifty people in Orlando on Saturday).
 
Online Sources – PBS NewsHour, Fox News Latino, Reuters, Deutsche Welle

Daily Headlines: May 18, 2016

* Dominican Republic: Luis Abinader conceded Sunday’s president election to Danilo Medina but not before blasting the policies of the incumbent and denouncing problems at voting stations.

* South America: The Paraguayan Congress is considering a bill to help combat a recent surge in femicides, while lawyers for the Bogota, Colombia government have come under fire for blaming the female victim of having been raped and killed in a 2012 murder.

* Argentina: Monsanto will reportedly “suspend future soybean technologies” as part of a dispute with the Argentine government and framers of genetically modified soybeans.

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto proposed expanding the legalization of same-sex marriages from a few locations like Mexico City to the entire Mexican nation.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – ABC News, teleSUR English, Colombia Reports, Reuters, The Huffington Post

Colombian High Court Continues Push to Expand Gay Rights

Thus far Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay were the only three Latin American states to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Colombia could soon be added to that list depending on the actions of the country’s Constitutional Court (CC).

According to reports from the Colombian press, CC judge Alberto Rojas Ríos is planning to introduce for debate a project that would recognize same sex marriages. The measure would also reaffirm an April 7th high court decision stating that marriage doesn’t apply exclusively to unions between men and women, and established a path that would allow Congress to legalize same sex marriage.

Rojas’ project argues that the decision last week is constitutional and based on a 2011 CC edict recognizing homosexual couples as a family and ordered the legislature to create rules to ensure the non-discrimination of civil unions for gay and heterosexual couples. Congress failed to do so, however, which led to confusion starting in 2013 among public notaries designating civil unions as marriages or refusing to do so.

One of the main points for debate in the plan by Rojas is interpreting marriage, be it by couples of the same or different sex, as “fundamental right” based on the constitution allowing for the right to create a family. Doing so would not only grant greater leeway for Congress to reform marriage laws but also recognize marriage as beyond the religious framework exclusively as a method to facilitate procreation.

Additionally, the project would contend that the CC must guarantee the basic rights of gay Colombians taking into account twenty-one legislative bills on the subject of same-sex marriage. The document would also support gay marriage based on the continued jurisprudence by the high court in favor of protecting the rights of minority groups.

Daily Headlines: March 10, 2016 (Updated)

* Peru: Keiko Fujimori’s path to the Peruvian presidency (and possibly pardoning her imprisoned ex-presidential father, Alberto) became a lot easier after electoral officials disqualified her main rival.

Update: The Organization of American States expressed concern over the ruling against Julio Guzman and will send an observer mission ahead of the April 10th election.

* Cuba: U.S. book publishing industry representatives signed a petition urging the White House to eliminate the Cuba trade embargo for texts and educational materials.

* Puerto Rico: A U.S. District Court judge upheld Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage and claimed that the 2015 Supreme Court ruling overturning gay marriage prohibition does not apply to the commonwealth.

* El Salvador: Salvadoran officials are considering declaring a “state of exception” in order to combat violence though critics believe such a measure is illegal and an abuse of authority.

YouTube Source – CCTV English

Online Sources including Update – ABC News, Publishers Weekly, NBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: January 27, 2016

* Brazil: Brazil suffered the biggest drop in the latest Transparency International corruption perceptions index while most Latin American countries did not rank highly on the list.

* Argentina: Argentina may have one of the world’s largest cattle populations but high inflation may force the country to import its beef.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered oil minister Eulogio del Pino to visit oil-producing countries with the possibly futile aim of “stopping the madness” that is plummeting crude prices.

* Mexico: The Mexican state of Jalisco has become the latest territory in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage.

YouTube Source – AFP (Last August, “hundreds of thousands of protesters demand Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's resignation, blaming her and the leftist Workers' Party for runaway corruption and looming recession in Latin America's biggest country”.)
 
Online Sources – Reuters, ABC News, Financial Times, PRI

Daily Headlines: November 5, 2015

* Colombia: The Mexican Supreme Court’s ruling on marijuana wasn’t the only key judicial decision made in Latin America yesterday as Colombian magistrates legalized adoptions by same-sex couples.

* U.S.: President Barack Obama will reportedly unveil as soon as this week a new plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and transfer inmates to mainland maximum security facilities.

* Latin America: Panamanian authorities claimed to have found a drug trafficking connection between Colombia’s FARC rebels and fugitive Mexican drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

* Puerto Rico: Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla introduced a plan to restructure the $8 billion debt held by Puerto Rico’s main electricity company.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – NBC News, Reuters, The Los Angeles Times, UPI, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: October 15, 2015

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for a full investigation into the death of local LGBT activist Diana Sacayan who became the third transgendered woman killed in Argentina during the past month.

* Brazil: “I will rise up against coup plotters and their conspiratorial actions, I’m not scared of them,” proclaimed President Dilma Rousseff as she has her back against the wall from a faltering economy and a push to impeach her.

* Ecuador: British officials warned that police would arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he leaves the Ecuadoran embassy on London to undergo medical tests.

* South America: Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile are a perfect two wins in two matches in the early stages of qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (“Trans rights activist Diana Sacayan was found dead in her home on Tuesday under suspicious circumstances.”)

Online Sources – Mashable, The Guardian, ESPN FC, France 24

Daily Headlines: September 21, 2015

* Cuba: On the last full day of his visit to Cuba, Pope Francis is scheduled to preside over a mass in the city of Holguin and visit the shrine of the island’s patron saint.

* Brazil: The Brazilian Supreme Court barred corporate donations to candidates and political parties as part of a ruling made amid major corruption scandals that have rocked the country’s political establishment.

* Venezuela: Hundreds of protesters in Venezuelan and international cities marched on Saturday against the thirteen year prison sentence recently handed down against opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez.

* Argentina: Argentina lifted a ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and, thus followed the lead Chile and Mexico by basing donors on “individual risk”.

YouTube Source – No Comment TV (“Pope Francis celebrated Mass with tens of thousands of Cubans in Havana's Revolution Square.”)

Online Sources – CNN, Reuters, The Huffington Post, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: September 4, 2015

* Cuba: A Florida International University study found that the push towards normalized relations would help U.S. tourism to Cuba though the embargo against the island serves as a major obstacle.

* Latin America: The number of Internet users in Latin America has nearly doubled from 2006 to 2013 according to a new report yet “local (Web-based) services and applications have not grown at the same rate as connectivity.”

* Brazil: The government rejected rumors alleging that Finance Minister Joaquim Levy was resigning over planned austerity measures backed by President Dilma Rousseff.

* Mexico: A U.S. appeals court ruled against deporting an undocumented transgender woman back to Mexico where she was under threat of being sexually abused again.

YouTube Source – AFP 

Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune, Fox News Latino, Voice of America, SFGate.com

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: 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

Daily Headlines: June 15, 2015

* Dominican Republic: The Vatican officially indicted Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the former papal nuncio for the Dominican Republic, on sexual child abuse charges and will stand trail starting in July.

* Brazil: In a bad sign for the Brazilian economy, car sales in the world's fourth-largest auto market is expected to fall by 18% this year.

* Venezuela: A study found that 27% of Venezuelans between 15 and 29-years-old are considering emigrating mainly due to the weakened economy and a perceived lack of opportunity.

* Mexico: “As the purpose of matrimony is not procreation, there is no justified reason that the matrimonial union be heterosexual, nor that it be stated as between only a man and only a woman,” according to a landmark Mexican Supreme Court decree issued earlier this month.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in September 2014).

Online Sources – CNN, NBC News, Fox News Latino, UPI

Daily Headlines: April 29, 2015

* Mexico: A Pew Research Center study found that increased deportations from Mexico and declining homicide rates in Central America could be behind the reported drop in unaccompanied child migrants entering the U.S. since last October.

* Venezuela: Vice President Jorge Arreaza announced that the workday for Venezuelan public employees would be shortened as part of a nationwide electricity-rationing plan.

* Ecuador: Ecuador could soon become the latest Latin American country to recognize same-sex civil unions.

* Panama: New research suggests that the isthmus of Panama was first formed twenty million years ago, not between three and four million years as scientists generally believe.

YouTube Source – Vox (Video uploaded in July 2014).

Online Sources – UPI, BBC News, teleSUR English, Pew Research Center

Daily Headlines: March 12, 2015

* Peru: The debate over legalizing same-sex unions turned ugly recently when an “influential” Catholic bishop used a homophobic slur against a gay legislator.

* Cuba: According to a new poll 64 percent of respondents including majorities among Democrats, Republicans and independents support eliminating the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

* Mexico: Ex-ambassador Eduardo Medina Mora was confirmed as the new Supreme Court chief despite questions raised over his close ties to President Enrique Peña Nieto and his alleged role in the infamous “Fast and Furious” weapons transfer program.

* Argentina: The government will reportedly build unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, for defense proposes and at a cost of about $238 million.

Video Source – YouTube user teleSUR English (“Despite opposition from within Peru's traditionally conservative society, debate and pressure are mounting, including in parliament, for recognition of civil unions.”)
 
Online Sources – Reuters; Fusion; Bernama; Los Angeles Times

Daily Headlines: October 21, 2014

* U.S.: Iconic Dominican-born fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died at the age of 82 reportedly due to cancer.

* Panama: Panamanian Supreme Court judge Alejandro Moncada was arrested and charged with money laundering and illicit enrichment.

* Argentina: An Argentine human rights group claimed that refugee status was given to a gay Russian man violently targeted due to his sexual orientation.

* Bolivia: Bolivia’s top electoral tribunal ratified President Evo Morales' victory in the presidential polls and gave the green light for him to rule for a third straight term.

Video Source – Associated Press via YouTube

Online Sources – JURIST; Variety; Zee News; Reuters

Daily Headlines: April 7, 2014

* Costa Rica: Historian and outside candidate Luis Guillermo Solís validated his first round victory in February by easily becoming Costa Rican president-elect after winning in a virtual one-man runoff yesterday.

* Cuba: The recent revelation that U.S. government helped create a “Cuban Twitter” network could hinder the efforts of opposition activists and independent bloggers on the island.

* Argentina: Umma Azul became the first child of a lesbian couple to be baptized by the Catholic Church in Argentina in a ceremony held in the Cathedral of Cordoba.

* Mexico: Renown author Gabriel García Marquez could leave a Mexico city hospital tomorrow and over a week since the Nobel laureate was treated by doctors for a lung and urinary infection.

Video Source– teleSUR via YouTube (Nearly 1.3 million voters opted for Costa Rican president-elect Luis Guillermo Solís in Sunday’s runoff election despite a high abstention rate).

Online Sources – The Guardian; Reuters; Prensa Latina; The Latin Americanist; Tico Times
 

Daily Headlines: October 29, 2013

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials announced the planned installation of tens of thousands of surveillance cameras nationwide including in high-crime areas of several major cites.  

* Chile: Patricio Ahumada, the leader of a gang recently convicted of the 2012 murder of gay youth Daniel Zamudio, was sentenced to life in prison by a Chilean court.

* Cuba: The relaxation of travel restrictions may explain why there was a reported 35% boost in the number of Cuban tourists who have left the island.

* Brazil: Brazil’s Bio-Manguinhos biomedical research center in conjunction with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will try to produce a combined measles and rubella vaccine for export to developing countries.

Video Source – YouTube via user brianandrewsntn24 (Video uploaded in March 2012).

Online Sources- El Universal; The Latin Americanist; GlobalPost; ABC News; Reuters