World Bank: LatAm Indigenous Still Face Major Struggles

During a mass at the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Monday, Pope Francis criticized how Mexico’s indigenous populace has suffered from the “culture of rejection” found in our modern world. His comments could also apply to the indigenous peoples of other nations in Latin America and the Caribbean that continue to confront major obstacles for socioeconomic advancement.

A new World Bank study concluded that indigenous people make up 14% and 17% of the region’s poor and extreme poor, respectively, even though they account for 8% of the total populace. The report further claimed that indigenous people face great difficulties to obtain basic social services and access new technologies.

Amerindians in some countries fare bother than others such as in Bolivia and Brazil where poverty levels have decreased while the education gap is shrinking in Ecuador and Nicaragua. Overall, however, process has moved at a glacial pace compared to non-indigenous peoples.

"Latin America has undergone a profound social transformation that reduced poverty and expanded the middle class, but indigenous peoples benefited less than other Latin Americans," said Jorge Familiar, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, in a statement.

Nearly half of the indigenous populace reside in cities and tend to reside in neighborhoods that are “less secure, less sanitary, and more disaster-prone” than those typically inhabited by residents of other groups.  The labor outlook for indigenous urban residents does not fare much better as the World Bank found that it is more likely for them to work in the informal sector.

Daily Headlines: January 22, 2016 (Updated)

* Latin America: A World Bank study warned that the number of youth in Latin America who are not in school or employed (“ninis”) has grown since 1992.

* Haiti: President Michel Martelly confirmed that the controversial runoff election for his successor will take place this Sunday and ruled out opposition calls to back a transitional government.

Update (January 23rd, 12:20 AM): Haitian electoral officials postponed the January 24th runoff due to "a deteriorating security environment and threats to the electoral process." The election has thus been delayed for a third time after originally being scheduled for December 27, 2015.

* Mexico: The Mexican government reported that homicides increased in 2015 for the first time in four years though other serious crimes like kidnapping and extortion decreased.

* South America: Bolivia and Ecuador are among the eight countries added to a Centers for Disease Control travel advisory warning due to the spreading Zika virus.

YouTube Source – CCTV America 

Online Sources – The Guardian, Mashable, France 24, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2016

* Brazil: Police charged officials with companies including Vale SA and BHP Billiton over a November 2015 dam collapse that caused major environmental damage in southeast Brazil.

* Mexico: Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez and U.S. Justice Department officials supposedly met on Tuesday in order to advance the possible extradition of reprehended drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

* Cuba: Cuba allegedly received over 3.5 million tourists last year including a 76% increase in visitors from the U.S.

* Colombia: World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called on the international community to guarantee greater financial assistance to Colombia as it tries to reach a peace deal and end decades of armed conflict.

YouTube Source – ODN

Online Sources – Yahoo News, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Jamaica Observer

Daily Headlines: April 16, 2015

* Venezuela: Spain’s ambassador to Venezuela was summoned back to his homeland amid a diplomatic rift stemming from the Maduro regime’s treatment of political dissidents.

* Argentina: The family of the late prosecutor Alberto Nisman has once again locked horns with lead investigator Viviana Fein over the circumstances of his mysterious death last January.

* Latin America: The World Bank warned that the Latin American economy could face a “permanent growth slowdown” if structural reforms aren't made.

* U.S.: it’s déjà vu all over again – the U.S. men’s soccer team beat bitter regional rivals Mexico by a score of dos a cero.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – The Latin Americanist, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Fox News Latino, GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: March 13, 2015

* Haiti: Haiti's electoral council announced the dates for legislative and municipal elections that have been delayed since 2011 due to political bickering between President Michel Martelly and the opposition.

* Brazil: The probe into a major bribery scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras has expanded to include investigations of three former governors.

* Latin America: According to a World Bank report published this week 130 million residents in Latin America and the Caribbean live in “chronic poverty” though there are variations between countries.

* Venezuela: The European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Venezuelan government to free opposition figures and student protesters “arbitrarily detained” in anti-government marches last year.

Video Source – YouTube use Reuters (From New Year’s Day 2015: “Thousands of Haitians protest in Port-au-Prince, marking their independence day and calling for their leader to resign.”)

Online Sources – Yahoo News; Fox News Latino; Reuters; ABC News

Daily Headlines: December 17, 2014

* Brazil: The presidents of Guatemala and Costa Rica could be implicated in a multibillion-dollar bribery scheme allegedly carried out at Brazilian state-run energy giant Petrobras.

* Haiti: Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe may have resigned but that didn’t stop thousands of Haitians from participating in anti-government protests on Tuesday.

* Mexico: At least eleven people died in clashes between rival “self-defense” groups in Michoacán state.

* Panama: The World Bank’s International Finance Corp will provide $300 million in financing for construction of a Panama wind farm that will be the largest in Central America.

Video Source – YouTube user AFP
 
Online Sources – Reuters; Al Jazeera; Tico Times; euronews

Daily Headlines: October 29, 2014

* Cuba: Another year, another overwhelming rejection of the U.N. General Assembly against the decades-long U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

* Brazil: Will the reelection of Dilma Rousseff to the Brazilian presidency improve U.S.-Brazil diplomatic relations that have been fractured since last year?
 
* Colombia: A World Bank report found that Colombia is the best country in Latin America and Caribbean to do business in.

* Venezuela: Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition activist imprisoned since February, refused to appear in court this week as a sign of protest.

Video Source – Reuters via YouTube

Online Sources – Fox News Latino; Miami Herald; The Latin Americanist; ABC News

Daily Headlines: October 10, 2014

* Mexico: Federal authorities captured suspected Juarez drug cartel chief Vicente Carrillo Fuentes days after the detention of Hector Beltran Leyva, boss of the Beltran Leyva Cartel. 

* Bolivia: Polls indicated that Bolivian president Evo Morales is expected to easily triumph in Sunday’s general election and will be reelected to a third straight term in office.

* Venezuela: A World Bank arbitration board ruled that the Venezuelan government must pay ExxonMobil around $1.6 billion in compensation for a 2007 nationalization.

* Ecuador: Did the European Union “bully” Ecuador in order to sign on to a free trade agreement?

Video Source  – Noticieros Televisa via YouTube (Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, seen here after he was arrested on Thursday, was one of Mexico's most wanted criminals and he faced a number of charges in the U.S. including drug trafficking and money laundering).

Online Sources – CNN; The Latin Americanist; LAHT; Voice of America; teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: October 8, 2014

* Brazil: Aécio Neves' bid to win in the upcoming presidential runoff against current leader Dilma Rousseff received a boost from several allies of defeated candidate Marina Silva.

* El Salvador: A Spanish court ruled that Spain has the jurisdiction to investigate the 1989 Jesuit Massacre of eight people in El Salvador.

* Latin America: A new World Bank report concluded that economic growth for Latin America and the Caribbean this year will be less than initially estimated.  

* Mexico: Ten Mexican states were ranked as the worst places to live in among the thirty-four member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube

Online Sources – JURIST; LAHT; World Bank; The Latin Americanist; BBC News

Daily Headlines: April 10, 2014

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro and opposition figures are expected to meet today in live televised discussions that could help quell some of the political unrest that has claimed 39 lives over the past two months.
 
* South America: Three of Argentina’s five main labor unions are planning a major strike on Thursday while several thousand people in Sao Paulo marched on Wednesday calling for workplace reforms.
 
* Cuba: Cuban officials are reportedly “concerned” over the hunger strike undertaken by Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor imprisoned in Havana since 2010.
 
* Latin America: According to the World Bank, economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to slow down this year to approximately 2.3%.
  
Video Source– euronews via YouTube

Online Sources – Miami Herald; Tico Times; BusinessWeek; LAHT; GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: November 1, 2013

* Mexico: Mexican legislators approved a proposal that would raise taxes on sugary drinks and junk food.
 
* Latin America: According to a new World Bank report Peru is the best Latin American country for foreign investors while Venezuela is the worst in the region.

* Cuba: Direct passenger flights between Key West, Florida and Cuba are expected to resume for the first time in fifty-one years.

* Chile: Canada’s Barrick will halt development of its Pascua-Lama gold mine in Chile that was opposed to by some local residents and environmental activists.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- Bloomberg; Fox News Latino; GlobalPost; Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2013

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is reportedly looking into creating its own network equipment in order to protect information privacy and prevent alleged surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency.

* Mexico: Thousands of striking teachers took to the streets of Mexico City as part of their protests against government-backed educational reforms.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials rejected a recent World Bank arbitration panel decision claiming that the South American country had “failed to act in good faith or properly compensate” ConocoPhillips for the 2007 nationalization of oil projects.

* Colombia: John Leguizamo was selected to play the late Medellin Cartel boss Pablo Escobar in a Hollywood biopic set to begin shooting this January.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- The Guardian; USA TODAY; Reuters; Bloomberg; The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: March 26, 2013

* Chile: A Chilean court rejected a request seeking to indict ex-president Michelle Bachelet for negligence in the 156 fatalities caused by a tsunami in 2010.

* Guatemala: Supporters of former Guatemalan ruler Efraín Ríos Montt launched a campaign in his name despite the emotional eyewitness testimony against the ex-dictator at his genocide trial.

* Brazil: The BRICS group of emerging economic powers, which includes Brazil, could start a new development bank to compete with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

* Haiti: Houses in one of the biggest slums in Port-au-Prince have been painted in bright colors as part of a government-funded relocation plan.

Video Source – YouTube via CBS (A magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile in February 2010 caused a tidal wave that killed 156 people living in several coastal and island communities).
 
Online Sources- GlobalPost, ABC News, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: August 16, 2012

Note: Due to our coverage of Ecuador's approval of Julian Assange's asylum today's "Daily Headlines" are being published later than usual. We apologize for the delay.

* U.S.: Venezuelan-born pitcher Felix Hernandez threw the 23rd perfect game in Major League history and the first ever for the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

* Latin America: According to the World Bank the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 3.7%-3.8% this year, which is less than 2011 but higher than was initially estimated.
* Brazil: “Human rights and environmental protection cannot be subordinated to narrow business interests,” said a Brazilian judge who ordered construction to be suspended on the Belo Monte dam project.

* Colombia: A group of former General Motors workers in Colombia have entered the third week of a hunger strike that includes sewing their lips shut.

Video Source – YouTube via ESPN

Online Sources- SI.com, The Guardian, Reuters, New York Daily News

Weekend Headlines: April 14-15, 2012

* Argentina: Ex-military strongman Jorge Videla admitted that as many as 8000 people were killed by the state during the “Dirty War” era and coldheartedly justified such deaths as “the price we had to pay to win the war against subversion.”

* Haiti: A former Dominican military officer has been accused of being involved in an alleged plot to overthrow Haitian President Michel Martelly.

* Cuba: Ten former Cuban political prisoners currently residing in Spain have gone on a hunger strike in order to seek additional government assistance.

Weekend Headlines: April 7-8, 2012

* Colombia: Authorities are on high alert over the possibility that renewed activity in the Nevado de Ruiz volcano could soon lead to an eruption.

* Mexico: Three men pleaded guilty to charges related to the botched gun-smuggling operation from the U.S. to Mexico known as “Operation Fast and Furious.”

* Latin America: Monsanto reported a boost in its latest quarterly profits in part due to increased sales of genetically modified seeds in Latin America.

Daily Headlines: March 26, 2012

* Ecuador: At least 4700 people have been displaced from their homes this year as a result of heavy rain causing flooding and mudslides.

* Colombia: Could Colombian economist Jose Antonio Ocampo upset White House pick Jim Yong Kim to become the next World Bank president?

* Chile: At least one fatality may have resulted after an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck central Chile on Sunday night.

* Mexico: Sergio Pérez became the first Formula 1 driver from Mexico to reach the podium since 1971 after he secured a career-best second place in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Video Source – YouTube via telesurtv

Online Sources- Financial Times, Stuff.co.nz, Reuters, Huffington Post

Massive economic loss for quake-hit Haiti

In the aftermath of the massive loss of life Haiti it is difficult to discuss issues relating to dollars and cents. Yet the earthquake that has shattered Haiti came at a time when the country’s impoverished economy was slowly bouncing back from previous natural disasters and the global economic crisis. According to the World Bank, the economic loss caused by the earthquake could be pretty hefty:

The earthquake in Haiti will cost the nation’s economy at least 15 percent of its gross domestic product, said Pamela Cox, the World Bank’s vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Jan. 12 quake is a “much bigger tragedy” than the four tropical storms or hurricanes that struck the nation in 2008, Cox said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television. Reconstruction efforts will take years and require help from the private sector, she said.

Image- The Telegraph
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Guardian UK

Daily Headlines: December 3, 2009

* Chile: Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón ordered that the widow of ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet post a $77 million bond after being suspected of money laundering for her late husband.

* Venezuela: After having nationalized several private banks earlier this week Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez threatened more banks with state intervention.

* Mexico: Authorities discovered a tunnel below the U.S.-Mexico measuring nearly 1000 feet in length.

* Latin America: According to the World Bank, Latin America is in a better position than other regions to survive the effects of a possible Dubai debt default.

Image – CNN

Online Sources- Bloomberg, Reuters, MSNBC, New York Times, The Latin Americanist

Lula advocates global financial reform

Most of the Latin American leaders who have spoken at the U.N. General Assembly this week have focused on the crisis in Honduras. We’ll discuss the Honduran situation later, but it’s important to point out that presidents have also used the U.N. pulpit to highlight other vital and regional concerns.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for the need to reform several international financial bodies. Lula advocated granting developing countries such as Brazil more control over the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Reform is necessary after advanced nations led the world into a financial crisis according to Lula. “We can’t just shovel away the rubble of failure; we must be midwives to the future,” he emphasized during his speech yesterday.

With Lula expected to be a key player at the G20 summit starting today, the Brazilian leader also decried protectionist policies that some countries have enacted in response to the global economic slowdown.

"Rich countries are putting off reform at multilateral agencies like the IMF and the World Bank," he said. "We simply cannot understand the paralysis of the Doha Round, whose conclusion will above all benefit poor countries."

"There are also worrisome signs of return to protectionist practices, while little has been done to fight tax havens," he said.

Image- PRESS TV
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Voice of America, AFP, Xinhua