Daily Headlines: April 24, 2015

* El Salvador: Congress is considering declaring a “state of siege” for the first time since the civil war era while Salvadoran police proposed the return of “death squads” as an extreme measure to combat increased violence from street gangs.

* South America: Argentine team San Lorenzo was eliminated from the Copa Libertadores; thus, South America’s top soccer club tournament will not have a repeat champion for the thirteenth straight year.

* Bolivia: Lawmakers and farmers in Bolivia were unable to reach a compromise over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

* Uruguay: Turbine manufacture Gamesa of Spain plans to supply fifty megawatts of equipment for a Uruguayan wind energy farm expected to start functioning in 2016.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (Video published in January 2015.)
 
Online Sources – ESPN FC, The Latin Americanist, IPS, Bloomberg, teleSUR

Daily Headlines: July 26, 2011

* Central America: Four ex-Guatemalan soldiers are on trial for their alleged role in the infamous Dos Erres massacre in 1982, while Canadian immigration officials said that they will deport a Honduran accused of heading a violent army battalion in the early 1980s.

* South America: Scientists concluded that the results of tests performed on the corpse of independence figure Simon Bolivar were inconclusive as to how he died.

* Chile: Workers are expected to continue a sixth day of striking at one of Chile’s main copper mines.

* Mexico: Police uncovered over forty tons of marijuana in a “plantation” covering roughly 148 acres.

Image – AFP via BBC News (“The four suspects (front row) deny having been involved in the massacre” of over 200 people in the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres in 1982).
Online Sources- MSNBC, BBC News, MarketWatch, People’s Daily Online, Vancouver Sun

Daily Headlines: July 6, 2010

* Venezuela: As part of Venezuelan independence day celebrations on Monday honors were given to Manuela Saenz- the lover and confidant of independence hero Simon Bolivar.

* Argentina: Argentine officials are none too pleased with local Chilean authorities that permitted a group of students to visit the Falklands in order to take English-langue classes.

* Brazil: President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva may find himself at odds with Brazilian evangelicals over his plan to preserve classic theatres for film, not for preachers.

* U.S.: The company formerly known as Countrywide Financial has been sued in Illinois over allegedly pushing very risky subprime loans at black and Latino customers.

Image – BBC Mundo (Ecuadorian-born Manuela Saenz is seen by some as adulterous but viewed by others as a key ally to Bolivar’s independence movement in the 19th-century.)
Online Sources- ABC Online, MSNBC, MercoPress, The Consumerist

Today’s Video: Simon Bolivar

Today Venezuela celebrates the 200th anniversary of its initial independence, an occasion celebrated by the country's population. Several Latin American countries including Mexico and Colombia will also be commemorating their bicentennials this year.

Undoubtedly the most important figure in numerous Latin American independence movements was Simon Bolivar. Bolivar has reached a mythical status throughout the Americas including in Venezuela where the country's name was changed to reflect his importance. Below is part of a documentary narrated by Mexican author Carlos Fuentes that explains Bolivar's indelible impact throughout the region:

Online Sources - Reuters, BBC News, YouTube