Pentagon official: Torture used at Gitmo

One of the detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was tortured according to the Pentagon official overseeing trials at the
prison.

In remarks made to the Washington Post, Susan Crawford admitted that Saudi Arabian Mohammed al-Qahtani endured sleep deprivation, prolonged exposure to cold and isolation. "The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent," Crawford regarding the alledged “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks.

Crawford admitted that she had “no doubts” that al-Qahtani would’ve participated in the 9/11 attacks had he gained access to the U.S. in August 2001. Yet the use of torture/”enhanced interrogation techniques” (pick your euphuism) against him led her to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani last May:

"His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case," she said…

Ms. Crawford said she was shocked, upset and embarrassed by the treatment he had received.

She said: "If we tolerate this and allow it, then how can we object when our servicemen and women, or others in foreign service, are captured and subjected to the same techniques?

"How can we complain? Where is our moral authority to complain? Well, we may have lost it."

Despite Crawford’s decision, military prosecutors may file new charges against al-Qahtani supposedly based on information acquired from non-torture techniques.

Meanwhile, a separate Pentagon official claimed that 61 former Gitmo detainees have taken up terrorist activities in recent months. “There, clearly, are people who are being held at Guantanamo who are still bent on doing harm to America” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell yesterday.

Image- AFP (“Over the years some 800 detainees have gone through Guantanamo.”)
Online Sources- AP, Guardian UK, Washington Post, AFP, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: January 14, 2009

* U.S.: In light of the cowardly murder of Marcelo Lucero federal authorities will be investigating alleged mishandling of crimes against Latinos by Suffolk County, New York police.

* Cuba: U.S. President George W. Bush blasted the Castro regime during a "message of hope" he gave to Cubans.

* Mexico: Vatican officials threatened Mexican drug traffickers with excommunication from the Catholic Church for their crimes.

* Bolivia: Film director Oliver Stone “kicked a soccer ball and chewed coca leaves” with Bolivian president Evo Morales as part of an interview for an upcoming documentary.

Image- New York Daily News (“Toddler contributes to makeshift memorial at scene of brutal murder of Marcello Lucero.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, AFP, The Latin Americanist, WNYC

Today’s Video: Grumbling over Guantanamo

Last week we featured Benicio Del Toro’s appearance on “The Colbert Report” where he discussed communism and Ché Guevara.

On Monday night’s edition of the program American Civil Liberties Union head Anthony Romero sat on the hot seat opposite Stephen Colbert. The interview is well worth watching due to their discussion on the future of the Guantánamo Bay prison and president-elect Barack Obama's mixed signals on when to close it.

(Video link):

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Anthony Romero

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Colbert Nation, Times Online

Obama promises action on Puerto Rican status

President-elect Barack Obama promised that Puerto Ricans will decide their political status sometime over the next four years.

According to a letter that he sent to new Boricua governor Luis Fortuño, Obama vowed to "enable the question of Puerto Rico's status to be resolved" during his first term. An article in Tuesday’s Orlando Sentinel website claimed that the “[letter] prompted a standing ovation when read during Fortuño’s inauguration on January 2nd.

The pro-statehood Fortuño is allied to the Republican Party and he backed John McCain during last year’s presidential election.

Obama’s pledge appeared to be welcomed by Puerto Rican politicos yet fellow contributor Maegan la Mala observed that not all that glitters is gold:

President-elect of the United States Barack Obama reiterated that he will try to resolve the colonial case of Puerto Rico during his first term and explained that self-determination is a “basic right” of Puerto Ricans, for which reason he will undertake responsibility for seeing that Puerto Ricans have “a voice” in the solution.

Wait, a voice in the solution? Am I wrong in thinking that if self-determination is a basic right, then shouldn't Puerto Ricans decided the solution, not just have a voice?

Image- AP (“President-elect Barack Obama arrives to speak about the economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Vivirlatino, All News Web, LAHT, Orlando Sentinel

HRW: Honduran trans community under attack

The murder of one of Honduras’ leading transgendered activists has “terrified” that community according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Cynthia Nicole was a well-known activist who was the head of a local transgendered group for about fourteen years. She was killed by unknown assailants last Friday in a drive-by shooting. “The authorities need to find and prosecute the perpetrators of this and previous attacks against the trans community,” said an HRW researcher in the article which also alluded to a rise in violence against transgendered Hondurans.

Unfortunately, serious violence against Honduras’ LGBT is nothing new; according to a March 2008 State Department report on Honduras:

“Representatives of sexual diversity rights NGOs asserted that their members were killed, beaten, and subjected to other mistreatment by security authorities…

"Sexual diversity rights groups asserted that security forces, government agencies, and private employers engaged in anti-gay discriminatory hiring practices…

"In March the secretary general of the Ministry of Governance and Justice commented publicly that the government denied registration to gay rights advocacy NGOs because their stated purposes did not comport with "good custom"…

"On March 18, police beat and detained Donny Reyes, the treasurer of the Lesbian-Gay Rainbow Association of Comayaguela.

"Police then reportedly put Reyes in a jail cell with 57 gang members who raped and beat him. Reyes filed a formal complaint and was subsequently harassed by police."

Image- worldflags.es
Online Sources- Human Rights Watch, PinkNews.co.uk, SheWired.com

Spain to investigate Salvadoran Jesuit massacre

Spain's High Court will indict fourteen former military officials for the brutal 1989 massacre of eight people in El Salvador.

Judge Eloy Velasco said that he will investigate the “Massacre of the Jesuits”, whose name comes from the six Jesuit priests slain at the hands of a Salvadoran army battalion. The killings brought increased global attention to El Salvador’s bloody civil war and the ensuing outrage helped speed up a peace agreement three years later.

Velasco accepted the petition filed in November by human rights groups who chose Spain due to its application of international law to pursue the likes of ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The High Court rejected the request to investigate ex-El Salvador President Alfredo Cristiani who has been accused of covering-up the massacre. Despite the setback, the head of California's Center for Justice and Accountability- one of the petitioning parties- was pleased with the court’s decision:

"The judge's prompt action underscores the importance of this case not only for the families of the victims and the people of El Salvador but for the cause of human rights accountability around the globe," Pamela Merchant said in a statement. "We look forward to a successful prosecution of all of those responsible for this heinous act."

Image- daylife.com (“The bodies of killed Jesuit priests are seen in this Nov. 16, 1989, file photo in El Salvador.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, IHT, javno.hr, BBC News, Prensa Latina

Clinton hearing gives lip service to LatAm (includes update)

Update: During questioning Clinton admitted that she would back president-elect Barack Obama's idea to lift travel restrictions on Cuba. (Link via Reuters).

Confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton‘s designation as the next Secretary of State took place today on Capitol Hill. The proceedings had been largely a dull affair though the Senator did face some criticism over donations to the charity of her husband- former President Bill Clinton.

In her opening remarks, Clinton promised to use “smart power” in combining both diplomacy and military power as part of U.S. foreign policy. Clinton primarily emphasized the conflicts in the Middle East during her opening statement though she also gave some attention to Latin America:

In our efforts to return to economic growth here in the United States, we have an especially critical need to work more closely with Canada, our largest trading partner, and Mexico, our third largest. Canada and Mexico are also our biggest suppliers of imported energy. More broadly, we must build a deeper partnership with Mexico to address the shared danger arising from drug-trafficking and the challenges of our border, an effort begun this week with a meeting between President-elect Obama and President Calderon.

Throughout our hemisphere we have opportunities to enhance cooperation to meet common economic, security and environmental objectives that affect us all. We will return to a policy of vigorous engagement throughout Latin America, seeking deeper understanding and broader engagement with nations from the Caribbean to Central to South America. Not only do we share common political, economic and strategic interests with our friends to the south, our relationship is also enhanced by many shared ancestral and cultural legacies. We are looking forward to working on many issues during the Summit of the Americas in April and taking up the President-Elect’s call for a new energy partnership of the Americas built around shared technology and new investments in renewable energy.

It’s welcoming to note her acknowledgment that Latin America cannot be as ignored much as it was by the Bush administration and that the U.S. must continue its close political and economic ties with Mexico. At the same time, however, her remarks are vague in that they ignore more specific issues and problems to U.S. foreign policy in the Americas such as Brazil’s push for biofuels, Colombia's armed conflict or Central America’s gang violence.

What do you think?

Image- AP (“Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., takes her seat on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009, prior to the start of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination.”)
Online Sources- Fox News, CBS News, Guardian UK, CNN, BBC News

“Self-deportation” plans in U.S., Spain fail

Approximately three months ago the U.S. and Spanish governments announced plans for self-voluntary deportations of illegal immigrants. The U.S. plan- entitled “Operation Scheduled Departure”- allowed undocumented immigrants to turn themselves in without arrest and would give them three months to prepare before deportation.

Critics blasted “Operation Scheduled Departure” with one calling it “more about public relations than solutions.” To nobody’s surprise the critics were right.

The Spanish “self-deportation” program was a little more flexible than the U.S. plan yet it was correctly attacked by politicos on both the left and right as a “populist measure”.

Perhaps by now you can guess what’s next:

A Spanish program that pays jobless immigrants to return home is turning out to be a flop, with the vast majority opting to stay put and weather hard times…

The initiative offers jobless non-EU foreigners - mostly Latin Americans - the option of receiving unemployment benefit in two lump-sums, on average totaling about €10,400 (£9,245). In exchange, they must return to their native country for at least three years.

However, the money on offer is hardly enough to start a new life back home. Wages in the home countries of many immigrants are much lower than in Spain, where immigrants earn an average of £1,022 a month, compared with £180 in Colombia, for example. In addition, the idea of giving up hard-fought Spanish work and residency permits is scary, immigrant advocacy groups say.

Two governments separated by a vast ocean yet united by incompetence on immigration. Unbelievable.

Image- marketplace
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2009

* Latin America: A survey conducted for Google concluded that Internet usage in Latin America has skyrocketed over the past few years.

* U.S.: Sentencing has been delayed in the case of a Venezuelan businessman convicted last November as part of the “Maletagate” scandal.

* Puerto Rico: U.S. officials have closed off a Puerto Rican island popular with tourists that used to serve as a bombing range between 1930 and 1975.

* Colombia: Recently declassified documents showed that U.S. intelligence knew as far back as 1990 that Colombia’s army was committing extrajudicial killings.

Image- abc.net.au
Online Sources- IPS, New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, miamiherald.com, La Plaza

Today’s Video: Marta maravilhoso!

On Monday, FIFA presented its awards for the top male and female soccer players of 2008. To nobody’s surprise, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo won top men’s honors by an ample margin over Argentine Lionel Messi and Spain’s Fernando Torres.

In the other non-surprise Brazilian star midfielder Marta won female Player of the Year for the third straight year. The 21-year-old was stellar in helping Brazil capture the silver medal in last year’s Summer Olympics as well as second place during the most recent Women’s World Cup.

In addition, Marta announced that she would bring her style of futebol to the States by joining the Los Angeles Sol for the Women's Professional Soccer’s inaugural season.

Below is a video clip of one of Marta’s best goals; an absolute golazo against the U.S. in the 2007 Women’s World Cup semis:

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, UPI, AHN, YouTube

Beyond the Americas: Chairman Mao’s blogging grandson

Some stories speak for themselves:

This is Mao Xinyu, the 38-year-old grandson of Chairman Mao.

Grandson Mao is a senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army. He's now become well-known here as a blogger. The readers of the People's Daily online have just voted his blog the most popular of the last year.

Mao's blog is largely dedicated to an appreciation of his grandfather, who died when he was six years old. The founder of communist China is still admired by many people here -despite the fact that millions died because of famine and conflict during his rule (an official Communist Party verdict delivered after his death ruled - with precision - that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong).

"The greatest happiness of my life and satisfaction come from a real understanding of a great man. And he is my grandfather," grandson Mao writes.

(Hat tip: Neatorama).

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- BBC News, People’s Daily Online, Neatorama

Colombia’s Uribe to get Medal of Freedom

Q: What do Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair, ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe have in common?

A: They will all receive the Medal of Freedom.

On Tuesday, President George W. Bush will grant the honor to the three leaders during one of his last public gestures before leaving offive. The ceremony will be held in the White House one week before the inauguration of incoming president Barack Obama.

According to White House press secretary Dana Perino, Uribe and co. are being honored for “their work to improve the lives of their citizens and for their efforts to promote democracy, human rights and peace abroad”. Indeed, Uribe has enjoyed great support amongst most Colombians especially for his “democratic security” policy. Yet his presidency has had its share of shortcomings that contradict some of what Perino claimed.

Uribe has had to endure the “para-politics” scandal which has linked some of closest allies including his brother to rightist paramilitary squads. There’s also the supposedly “contaminated” process behind the push to allow him to run for a third term. Uribe came under fire over alledged bribes to senators that enabled his first reelection. Extrajudicial murders have risen as Colombia’s armed forces have been tainted by planting “false positives”. Public opinion has dipped over Uribe’s perceived weak reaction to the collapse of several pyramid schemes. Even the much celebrated mission to rescue over a dozen hostages last July was not without its controversy.

Even with all these shortcomings at least the Medal of Freedom hasn’t been granted to those who grossly miscalculated the early stages of the Iraqi invasion.

Oh wait…

Image- Voice of America
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, Colombia Reports, USA TODAY, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, CBS News, AP, Voice of America, New York Times, semana.com

Brazil plans more state aid

On the eve of a planned trip to Bolivia and Venezuela, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva announced today more state aid for the county's economy.

One measure will free credit from Brazil's National Development Bank. Silva said more measures will be announced later.

Brazil's economy was strong before the economic downturn, but Silva says the first quarter of 2009 will be difficult.

Brazilian stocks continue to fall today. Brazil's Ibovespa index was down 2.3 percent today in the first 30 minutes of trading.

Agribusiness and other industries that depend on exports also are suffering.

Source: AP

Photo: Spiegel

Mexican police in immigrant controversy

Earlier this month we mentioned about the often overlooked the issues regarding migrants crossing from Central America into Mexico. Now comes word that Mexican police have come under fire for allegedly killing three migrants.

Accounts differ as to what exactly occurred; one officer from the southern stats of Chiapas said that the three migrants died after their truck crashed at the end of a lengthy car chase. Jose de Jesus Mejia- one of the migrants caught by police- told LAHT that thirty people were riding on the truck including migrants from Honduras, Ecuador, and even a Chinese man. He added that some of them paid as much as $6000 to be smuggled into Mexico and subsequently the U.S.

As another LAHT article noted:

Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, is the gateway for the estimated 300,000 undocumented migrants annually who enter Mexico from Central America by land with hopes of reaching the United States, many of them conducted across the border by people traffickers charging stiff fees.

Image- New York Times (“Migrants from Guatemala cross a stream into southern Mexico, a common route for those seeking jobs in Mexico or passage to the United States.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, LAHT, MSNBC

Venezuela threatens to boot U.S. diplomat

Venezuela’s government threatened to boot a U.S. “top embassy official” less than a week after the South American country expelled Israeli diplomats.

President Hugo Chavez accused the official in question of allying with the opposition during a visit to Puerto Rico and plotting against the Venezuelan government. “If I can confirm this, I’ll throw them out of the country,” threatened Chavez who had previously expelled U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy.

Chavez also added in his remarks that Puerto Rico “needs to be liberated” from U.S. rule. (Puerto Rico is currently a U.S. commonwealth).

A U.S. embassy spokeswoman told the AP that Charge d'Affaires John Caulfield did visit Puerto Rico recently yet did so in order to attend a wedding.

Meanwhile, expelled Ambassador Shlomo Cohen defended the actions of his native Israel:

"We are harboring the hope that this will be resolved quickly and relations will improve," Cohen told The Associated Press before boarding a flight (on Friday) to Frankfurt, Germany...

Chavez called Cohen's expulsion a "gesture of dignity" in response to Israeli air and ground strikes on Gaza, which have killed at least 777 Palestinians since Dec. 27 — many of them civilians…

Cohen defended the Israel offensive, saying there was "no alternative."

Image- AP (“In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gestures during a rally in Caracas, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: January 12, 2009

* U.S.: The nominee to be the next head of Homeland Security- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano– said that more Border Patrol officers are needed and expressed some reservations over constructing border barriers.

* Bolivia: Catholic Church officials denied that the diocese planned a local day of prayer which united opposition leaders.

* U.S.: A Guatemalan woman testified in court that she was forced to become a prostitute after migrating into the U.S.

* Dominican Republic: Brazilian firm Embraer sold eight “light-attack aircraft” to the Dominican Republic, according to execs with the company.

Image- Tuscon Weekly
Online Sources- eastvalleytribune.com, Catholic News Agency, UPI, Reuters