Daily Headlines: December 8, 2015

* Mexico: Coca-Cola has come under fire after airing a Christmas-themed ad depicting a “group of young, white Mexicans traveling to an indigenous town…to ‘help‘ wide-eyed locals by giving them bottles of Coke and a giant Christmas tree.”

* Venezuela: Nearly three out of four Venezuelans eligible to vote participated in Sunday’s legislative elections won by the opposition coalition with a potential “supermajority.”

* Colombia: Representatives of the FARC traveled to the Colombian town of Bojaya to ask for forgiveness for the massacre of some eighty residents in 2002.

* Cuba: The Cuban government is reportedly close to reaching a deal with the Paris Club of creditors to restructure a $16 billion debt.

YouTube Source – Diario de Mexico TV (Parody video poking fun at a Mexican Coca-Cola commercial criticized as racially insensitive and offensive against indigenous people).
 
Online Sources – Fusion, Xinhua, Colombia Reports, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: May 29, 2014

Note: Before getting to today’s headlines, I would like to sincerely apologize for the lack of posts over the past to weeks including the inexcusable absence of posts on Wednesday.

* Brazil: Indigenous groups have joined the growing number of protests opposed to the massive public spending on venues and other preparations for the upcoming World Cup.

* Colombia: Thousands of people lined the streets of Barranquilla and the nearby town of Fundacion as part of the funeral procession for twenty-eight children who died in a recent bus fire.

* Mexico: Leaders of the vigilante movement in Michoacán called for the creation of “self-defense” groups across Mexico in order to combat violence.

* Argentina: The Argentine government reached a deal with the Paris Club of creditors to repay nearly $10 billion dollars in debts.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube
 
Online Sources – GlobalPost; euronews; TIME; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: January 27, 2011

* Haiti: Haiti’s ruling political party has reportedly withdrawn support for its presidential candidate, Jude Celestin, amidst strong allegations that the first round of elections was rigged.

* Argentina: According to the Argentine press the government will pay $9 billion to the Paris Club of major creditor nations.

* U.S.: A former Border Patrol agent claimed that he was fired due to his opinions on the “war on drugs.”

* Colombia: At least 21 workers died after an explosion ripped through an underground coal mine in northeastern Colombia.

Image – Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press via CBC (“Presidential candidate Jude Celestin, seen waving to supporters during a campaign rally in Port-au-Prince, has pulled out of Haiti's election race.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, Reuters, Huffington Post, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: September 4, 2008

* Nicaragua: First it was Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and now it’s Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega who supports Russia’s stance on the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

* Puerto Rico: Researchers in Puerto Rico concluded that sexually or physically abused children have an increased risk in developing asthma.

* Ecuador: According to a recent poll 56% of Ecuadorians support a government-backed constitutional draft.

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez said that her country will pay back a multibillion dollar debt to the Paris Club of lending countries.

Image- AFP ("Russian soldiers stand near a burnt-down building in the ethnic-Georgian village of Avnevi.")

Sources- CNN, MSNBC, Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist, Reuters India