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: January 18, 2016

* Guatemala: Political newcomer turned president Jimmy Morales repeated his campaign pledge to combat Guatemala’s deeply-rooted corruption during his inauguration address last Thursday.

* Latin America: Brazilian scientists will receive public funds to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus though one researcher claimed that it could take from three to five years.

* Bolivia: Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada of Bolivia, currently living in the U.S. on asylum, could become the next former Latin American president to go on trial.

* Mexico: “Emerging markets need to be ready for a potentially severe shock,” warned Mexican central bank Agustín Carstens amid investor worry over the weakening Chinese economy.

YouTube Source – efeinternational

Online Sources – Bloomberg, CNBC, Christian Science Monitor, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: January 6, 2016

* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro will likely reshuffle his cabinet and announce new economic measures following the tense takeover of congress by the opposition.

* Latin America: The Zika virus, a deadly mosquito-borne disease that particularly affects newborn children, has spread throughout Latin America and reached Puerto Rico this week.

* Mexico: Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie,” is expected to plead guilty in a U.S. court today on charges related to drug trafficking for Mexican cartels.

* Brazil: The number of HPV and pneumonia vaccines administered by the Brazilian public health care system will be cut reportedly due to the government’s austerity plans.

YouTube Source – Reuters

Online Sources – ABC News, Reuters, Quartz, CNN

Daily Headlines: December 10, 2015

* Mexico: Mexican health officials approved the world’s first vaccine against the dengue fever, which would be applied to individuals “between ages 9 and 45 who live in areas where dengue is endemic.”

* South America: Colombia’s Independiente Santa Fe captured the Copa Sudamericana crown and, thus, broke the recent hegemony of Argentine teams in South American soccer club tournaments.

* Cuba: Some 4500 Cuban migrants continue to be stuck in limbo in Costa Rica while Central American countries continue to figure out what to do with them.

* Brazil: Stronger public pressure has reportedly led to greater scrutiny of cases of alleged abuse and extrajudicial killings by military police in Brazil.

YouTube Source – Journeyman Pictures

Online Sources – NPR, ESPN FC, Fox News Latino, GlobalPost, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: August 28, 2014

* Nicaragua: Residents along the planned route of Nicaragua’s interoceanic canal are worried that a survey of the area could lead to them losing their homes and receiving unfair compensation.

* Brazil: Several polls released this week indicated that last-minute presidential candidate Marina Silva would upset incumbent Dilma Rousseff in the likely event of a runoff election.

* Argentina: Thousands of workers including state employees, truckers and waiters are expected to participate today in the second general strike to hit Argentina in less than five months.

* Colombia: Is the hospitalization of approximately 200 girls living in a northern Colombian town caused by vaccinations or is it merely a case of mass hysteria?

Video Source – YouTube user Newsy World

Online Sources – The Guardian; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; Bloomberg

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

Daily Headlines: April 13, 2012

* Mexico: According to the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, Mexican journalists and members of the media were targeted by a “record number” of attacks in March.

* Argentina: The Argentine government praised BP’s decision against offshore oil exploration near the Falklands though other British firms continue to go ahead with their projects.

* Haiti: Tens of thousands of Haitians received cholera vaccines yesterday as part of an initiative to prevent the spread of the disease that has killed over 7000 people since October 2010.

* Peru: Over 1500 troops and police have been deployed in order to search for at least three dozen energy company workers kidnapped in southern Peru this week.

Image Source – Flickr via Knight Foundation (In August 2010, “hundreds of Mexican journalists silently marched in downtown Mexico City in protest of the kidnappings, murder and violence against their peers throughout the country”.) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- CNN, LAHT, The Latin Americanist, The New York Times, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Daily Headlines: November 18, 2011

* Venezuela: Thousands of troops under a new command known as the People's Guard will be deployed throughout the country in order to combat a spike in violent crimes.

* Haiti: Vaccinations will soon be administered in order to stop a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 7000 people since October 2010.

* Puerto Rico: The yearly record for murders is expected to be surpassed in the next few days with the 1000th murder.

* Nicaragua: Recently reelected President Daniel Ortega will surely be seeking to take advantage of a two-thirds majority of his political party in the Nicaraguan legislature.

Video Source – YouTube user teleSUR

Online Sources – BBC News, Voice of America, Fox News Latino, Reuters

Daily Headlines: October 21, 2011

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom formally apologized to the family of Jacobo Arbenz, a former president who was ousted in a 1954 CIA-backed coup.

* Haiti: Plans are underway in order to apply cholera vaccinations to an estimated 100,000 Haitians.

* Central America: At least 105 people have died in Central America after approximately ten consecutive days of heavy rainfall.

* Mexico: Officials in the U.S. and Mexico will cooperate in order to make improvements to an “earthquake monitoring system” along the border region.

Video Source – YouTube user misterpucho (“Extract from "The century of the self" by Adam Curtis. Story behind the coup d'etat which toppled elected president Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954. The film explains how Edward Bernays, recruited by United Fruits, created the conditions for a government intervention. Mass media were successfully used for manipulating the public and generating consensus around a military action involving the CIA.”)

Online Sources- BBC News, USA TODAY, ABC News, NPR