Daily Headlines: November 3, 2016

* United States: The latest Latino Decision tracking poll estimates that as many as 14.7 million Latinos will vote in elections this month, which would represent a 5% jump compared to the turnout rate for the prior presidential election in 2012.

* Argentina: Representatives at the recent Ibero-American summit backed Argentina’s claim to the Falklands Islands while also supporting a United Nations resolution for dialogue with Britain over the disputed archipelago.

* Nicaragua: The final national survey prior to this Sunday’s presidential election indicates that incumbent Daniel Ortega and his running mate, first lady Rosario Murillo, will easily triumph.

* Brazil: Volkswagen appointed a German university professor to look into claims of torture and human rights abuses against the automaker’s employees in Brazil during military rule from 1964 to 1985.

YouTube Source – CBS Sunday Morning (Video uploaded on October 2016). 

Online Sources – Huffington Post, MercoPress, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: October 7, 2016

* Colombia: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in recognition of “his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”, and underlined that the recent electoral defeat of an accord with the FARC rebels “does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead”.

* Mexico: The National Human Rights Commission called on officials in the central Mexican state of Morelos to offer an official apology over their botched handling of 119 victims located in mass graves in 2014.

* United States: Polling firm Latino Decisions believes Hillary Clinton will win the Latino vote in next month’s United States presidential election by the widest margin in recorded history.

* Haiti: Authorities in Haiti claimed the death toll from Hurricane Matthew has reached at least 280 lives but worry that there may be more fatalities in communities isolated by the storm.

YouTube Source – Ruptly TV (An estimated 60,000 people in Colombia’s major cities on Wednesday night marched silently in rallies organized by university students calling for an end to the decades-long armed conflict.)

Online Sources – The Indian Express, The Guardian, Business Insider, Nobel Prize

Daily Headlines: October 4, 2016

* Honduras: The case file focused on the murder of prominent Honduran human rights activist Berta Cáceres was stolen last week, which will likely impede efforts to identify the masterminds behind her death.

* Latin America: At least three people died on the island of Hispaniola as Hurricane Matthew continued its northward path through the Caribbean, while Bolivia is facing its worst drought in a quarter century.

* Argentina: Researchers in Argentina believe the first people to reach the southern area of the American continent may have occurred thousands of years than initially believed.

* Puerto Rico: A seven-member panel appointed by the United States government began its oversight of Puerto Rico’s public finances in an effort to prevent worsening the estimated $70 billion debt on the commonwealth.

YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in March 2016). 

Online Sources – Fusion, Reuters, Smithsonian, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: September 30, 2016

* Brazil: Children's rights groups urged the International Olympic Committee to compensate minors who they claim were victims of police violence during the Rio Olympics and the security crackdown prior to the games held in August.

* Cuba: The campaign of United States (US) presidential candidate Donald Trump is under fire over alleged secret and illicit business dealings with Cuba’s government in 1998, while the Cuban state media blasted “subversive” US-funded programs.

* United States: The OneOrlando Fund commenced distribution this week of donations to some of the families and survivors of the June 12th massacre during a Latino-themed night at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando.

* Venezuela: Representatives of thirty countries led by Paraguay at the Untied Nations Human Rights Council called for a “timely and effective dialogue” in Venezuela and advocated the freeing of all political prisoners.

YouTube Source – ITV News (Uploaded on August 2, 2016: “As battles between security forces and drugs gangs rage ahead of the Rio Olympics, innocent bystanders are getting caught in the crossfire.”)
 
Online Sources – BBC Sport, Newsweek, McClatchy, Latina, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 28, 2016

* Peru: Vladimiro Montesinos, the shady former Peruvian intelligence chief who was instrumental in the rise and fall of Alberto Fujimori from the presidency, was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison for the kidnapping and burning of three people.

* Panama: Panamanian officials formally sought the extradition from the United States (US) of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli who is accused of using public funds for illegal surveillance.

* Puerto Rico: US Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen warned that Puerto Rico is facing a fiscal crisis and claimed it’s up to Congress or the White House to formulate an adequate solution.

* Latin America: The Pan American Health Organization declared the Americas are free from all endemic cases of measles “after years of intense efforts to vaccinate children under the age of five.”

YouTube Source – Journeyman Pictures (Documentary from December 2003.)

Online Sources – UPI, Reuters, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2016

* Nicaragua: A new poll published weeks before the November 6th presidential election showed that incumbent Daniel Ortega continues with a massive lead ahead of his rivals.

* Venezuela: Human rights activists claimed extrajudicial killings in Venezuela have been on the rise since a government-backed crackdown on crime began fourteen months ago.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee claimed that more than 1.9 million tickets have been sold for the Rio Paralympics, and the 170,000 plus attendees last Sunday surpassed any single day of the recently held Olympics.

* Argentina: Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner received a subpoena to testify as part of a corruption probe focused on her time in office.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (From August 3, 2016: “Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has picked his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for November's election.”)
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Voice of America, CBC News, InSight Crime

Daily Headlines: September 6, 2016

* Mexico: Several thousand people lined the streets outside of Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes yesterday to pay their last respects to famed singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel who died last week at the age of 66.

* Venezuela: Oilfield services company Schlumberger announced it would scale back operations in Venezuela including laying off workers and withdrawing from projects.

* Cuba: Dissidents believe the Cuban government has been censoring text messages by removing missives with phrases like “human rights” and the names of opposition activists.

* Colombia: Coca-Cola, Chiquita and Drummond are some of the major multinational firms that could face charges over financing Colombia’s former AUC paramilitary group.

YouTube Source – Associated Press  
 
Online Sources – Reuters, Seeking Alpha, Endgadget, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: August 30, 2016

* Brazil: A defiant suspended President Dilma Rousseff defended herself during a marathon session of Brazil’s Senate but it may not be enough to prevent her from being ousted as soon as later today.

* Puerto Rico: Monica Puig made made history this month by earning Puerto Rico’s first ever gold medal but the tennis star was shockingly eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Open.

* United States: A federal appeals court upheld an order denying asylum to twenty-eight immigrant mothers and their children who claimed they would face danger if deported to their Latin American countries of origin.

* Mexico: Federal police chief Enrique Galindo was fired from his post over denunciations against officers accused of the extrajudicial killings of twenty-two suspected drug gang members last year.

YouTube Source – euronews (“Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff has accused her critics of using trumped charges against her to trample on the country's democracy.”)

Online Sources – Daily Telegraph, ABC News, Reuters, USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: August 19, 2016

* Bolivia: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization believes Bolivia is safe from food shortages despite going through one of its worst droughts in decades.

* Colombia: Polls show most Colombians would back voting in a plebiscite for a planed peace deal with the FARC though support varies from a little more than half to as high as 67%.

* Mexico: Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission accused the police of killing twenty-two people in extrajudicial executions last May and trying to cover up the murders.

* Honduras: Approximately one-third of the senior police officers in Honduras have been fired as part of a push to eliminate corruption within law enforcement.

YouTube Source – CCTV News (From March 2016: “Lake Poopo was Bolivia’s second largest. It started to dry up in late 2014, and by December last year it evaporated. Scientists said a drought linked to El Nino, as well as the diversion of rivers for mining and farming, have all played a part in Lake Poopo’s latest disappearance.”)
 
Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, Xinhua, BBC News, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: August 17, 2016

* Bolivia: Landlocked Bolivia took a big step towards being the world’s largest exporter of lithium following its first shipment of the metal to China.

* Brazil: Suspended President Dilma Rousseff proposed early elections though that may not be enough to prevent her from possibly being removed from office by the Brazilian Senate later this month.

* Puerto Rico: At least 500 passengers were evacuated from a ferry that caught fire off the Puerto Rican coast this morning.

* Nicaragua: Opposition parties have called for a boycott of Nicaragua’s upcoming presidential elections that critics claim are rigged to create a “dynastic dictatorship” for current leader Daniel Ortega.

* Mexico: Is the kidnapping of six people including the son of imprisoned capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman a sign of increased violence between Mexican drug gangs?

Daily Headlines: August 15, 2016

* Argentina: Human rights group the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo held their 2000th weekly march in Buenos Aires days after the United States (US) declassified hundreds of documents related to actions during the “Dirty War” era.

* Cuba: Former Cuban president Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance to celebrate his 90th birthday and also penned a letter thanking his compatriots “for the signs of respect, greetings, and gifts” he has recently received.

* Puerto Rico: The US government declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to the spread of the Zika virus that has infected at least 10,000 people there.

* Guatemala: A Canadian legal aid group has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to probe a local mining firm accused of allegedly using legal chicanery to prevent a referendum over a Guatemalan mine.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – BBC News, The Bubble, Vice News, The Toronto Star, The Atlantic

Daily Headlines: June 8, 2016

* Brazil: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice could allow for the arrest of four members of interim President Michel Temer’s political party over their alleged obstruction in the “Lava Jato” corruption probe.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan electoral officials approved a petition with 1.3 million signatures seeking a referendum for the possible removal of President Nicolás Maduro, while police and National Guard troops fired tear gas at anti-government protesters yesterday.

* Mexico: A new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative and Mexican human rights groups admitted that an “immense majority of violent crimes have been committed by criminal organizations” but accused government security forces of purportedly committing crimes against humanity.

* Peru: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski leads with tens of thousands of votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori in the presidential runoff that continues to be much too close to call.

YouTube Source – France 24 English

Online Sources – BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Voice of America, ABC News, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: May 4, 2016

* Argentina: Ex-Argentine Air Force chief Omar Graffigna is the latest former authority from the “Dirty War” period to go on trial for human rights abuses including the kidnapping and “disappearing” of dissidents.

* Venezuela: The probability that PDVSA could fall into default by the end of the year grew after the Venezuelan state-oil firm allegedly issued $310 million in debt to its suppliers.

* Honduras: Four people including two men purportedly linked to a controversial dam project were arrested for the murder of Honduran environmentalist and indigenous leader Berta Caceres.

* Colombia: The Colombian government once again refused to commence formal peace talks with the ELN unless the guerillas free all their hostages.

YouTube Source – AFP (Former “Dirty War” era political leaders and military officers accused of human rights abuses have gone on trial in recent years but one Argentine newspaper last November controversially called for an end to such proceedings).
 
Online Sources – Business Insider, Colombia Reports, NPR, BBC News

Daily Headlines: April 4, 2016

* Peru: Poll frontrunner Keiko Fujimori flip-flopped and pledged to not pardon her father, imprisoned former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori, if she wins the presidency in elections scheduled for next week.

* Venezuela: A Human Rights Watch report assailed Venezuelan law enforcement for extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members as part of a crackdown against crime.

* Haiti: Several hundred protesters including disabled rights activists and human rights advocates marched in Port-au-Prince last Friday to condemn the murders of three deaf Haitian women.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the current “one person, one vote” rule to decide voting districts in a decision that prevented shifting “political power away from fast-growing communities of immigrants”.

YouTube Source – NTDTV (Ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in 2009 for human rights abuses during his decade as Peru’s president).
 
Online Sources – Reuters, InSight Crime, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times

Daily Headlines: March 11, 2016

* Honduras: Representatives of more than 200 conservation and human rights groups signed a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on the U.S. to back an investigation into the recent death of renown Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres.

* Chile: A Chilean judge halted the sixteen-year probe looking into a U.S. professor missing and possible abducted by state agents, while former “Caravan of Death” Gen. Sergio Arellano Stark died at the age of 94.

* Latin America: The gender pay gap in Latin America has narrowed by 12% from 1990 to 2014 but women still earned 26% less than men according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

* Brazil: Some twenty Syrian refugees claimed that they are being hurt by the bureaucratic process in order to obtain local work permits.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (Honduran human rights activist Berta Cáceres was shot on killed at her home on March 2nd).

Online Sources – The Hill, The New York Times, BBC News, Reuters, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: February 8, 2016 (Updated)

* Haiti: Monday marks the first full day a transitional government rules Haiti after Michel Martelly stepped down as president amid political chaos and instability.

* Mexico: A ninth inning home run by Jorge Vazquez in the final game helped power Mexico to the Caribbean Series title for the third time in four years.

Update: On a related note, Cuba's Gourriel brothers including "star infielder" Yulieski reportedly left the team hotel and plan to defect as part of an attempt to play in the major leagues. 

* Venezuela: Shopping malls in Caracas will cut their hours of service to four hours per day as a result of weather-related energy rationing.

* El Salvador: Human rights advocates and friends of six Jesuit priests massacred in 1989 are pleased with the recent arrest of four ex-military members accused of committing the murders.

YouTube Source – AFP
 
Online Sources including Update – Vice News, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, ESPN

Daily Headlines: January 12, 2016

* Venezuela: Venezuela’s new opposition-led congress has been thrown into disarray after the Supreme Court voided new legislative actions over the swearing in of three barred lawmakers.

* Mexico: Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, alleged co-leader of the Sinaloa drug gang along with Joaquin Guzmán, is reportedly Mexico’s most wanted criminal days after the recapture of “El Chapo”.

* Guatemala: A Guatemalan tribunal once again suspended the trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

* Europe: Lionel Messi of Argentina captured the Ballon d’or as the world’s top male soccer player for a fifth time while Brazil’s Wendell Lira won the goal of the year award.

YouTube Source – euronews

Online Sources – Reuters, The Tico Times, The Latin Americanist, BBC Sport

Daily Headlines: January 11, 2016

* U.S.: Mexicans Gael Garcia Bernal and Alejandro González Iñárritu received individual Golden Globes last night while the Pablo Larraín-directed Chilean movie “The Club” lost in the top foreign film category.

* South America: The Dakar Rally reached its halfway point on a tragic note after a spectator was run over and killed during the seventh stage between Bolivia and Argentina.

* Cuba: White House chief-of-staff Denis McDonough confirmed the Obama administration’s plans to close the U.S. military base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

* El Salvador: Gen. José Guillermo Garcia-Merino, El Salvador’s former defense minister, was deported back to his homeland over his likely role in human rights violations during the civil war era.

YouTube Source – TIFF Trailers

Online Sources – Reuters Africa, Business Standard, NBC News, Latin America Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: January 8, 2016

* Puerto Rico: Two firms that are insuring Puerto Rico’s bonds filed a lawsuit days after the island’s government missed a $36 million payment on a $70 billion municipal debt.

* U.S.: The Latino unemployment rate dipped last month to 6.3% according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data published today.

* Brazil: In the latest black eye for the Brazilian economy, the 2015 inflation rate of 10.67% was the highest in thirteen years.

* El Salvador: The Salvadoran government will seek the arrest of seventeen retired soldiers suspected of murdering eight people including six Jesuit priests in 1989.

YouTube Source – Al Jazeera America News
 
Online Sources – Reuters, GlobalPost, Fox News Latino, The Tico Times

Daily Headlines: January 7, 2016

* Mexico: Mexican government officials expect some 2.3 million visitors to be present at a motorcade and rally on February 14th as part of during Pope Francis’ trip to the that country.

* Costa Rica: Several hundred migrants stranded in Costa Rica over the past few weeks will reportedly be allowed to leave for El Salvador starting on January 12th.

* Colombia: Irish advocacy group Front Line Defenders deemed Colombia at the most dangerous state for human rights activists in Latin America.

* Guatemala: Fourteen ex-military officials were detained over alleged involvement in the disappearances of at least 588 indigenous Guatemalans during the civil war some three decades ago.

YouTube Source – Reuters (Bolivia was one of four countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that Pope Francis traveled to in 2015).

Online Sources – BBC News, ABC News, Reuters, teleSUR English