Today’s Video: Tamales 101

We'll be back on the weekend with headlines from around the Americas and the world as well as posting our final poll of 2011.

For now we'll leave you with the following video from YouTube user xcookage on how to make Christmas tamales, a traditional holiday dish in several Latin American countries.

Buen provecho y felices fiestas!

Video Source - YouTube via xcookage

World Watch: The Mind is Sharper than the Beak

* World: According to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Science pigeons posses basic math knowledge on par with certain primates like rhesus monkeys.

* Czech Republic: Mourners gathered at Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral for the state funeral of recently deceased playwright, activist, and ex-president Vaclav Havel.

* Syria: The U.S. State Department condemned a series of car bombings in Syria that left over forty people dead and dozens injured.

* Europe: Turkey froze political and military ties with France in response to the French parliament's approval of a bill criminalizing denials of the Turkish genocide against Armenians over a century ago.

Image Source – Flickr via Aurelijus Valeiša (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – Discovery News, New York Times, Voice of America, CNN

Daily Headlines: December 23, 2011

* Peru: Defeated presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori admitted that her family is seeking a pardon for her father, disgraced and imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori.

* U.S.: A judge blocked several provisions of South Carolina’s staunch anti-immigration law that had been opposed to be over a dozen Latin American governments.

* Cuba: Over 180,00 Cubans could obtain Spanish citizenship via a “grandchildren’s law” though that number could spike ahead of the December 27th deadline to apply for benefits.

* Brazil: The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.2% in November; thus making it the lowest mark since records began in 2002.

* Central America: Citing “security concerns” the U.S. Peace Corps program will pull out of Honduras and have cancelled training classes for El Salvador and Guatemala.

Image Source – Flickr via Pedro Rivas Ugaz (“The headlines of Lima-based newspapers one day after ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison” in 2009.) (CC BY 2.0).

Online Sources- MSNBC, Peru this Week, Bloomberg, LAHT, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: December 22, 2011

* Ecuador: A statement from oil giant Chevron called for Ecuadorian authorities to investigate a judge that handed down a multibillion-dollar verdict against the oil giant last February.

* Latin America: The U.N.'s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said that the region’s economic growth is expected to slow down to 3.7% in 2012.

* U.S.: Attorneys representing fourteen Latin American countries filed an amicus brief criticizing a Utah anti-immigration law that “dangerously contributes to a patchwork of laws that impede effective and consistent diplomatic relations.”

* Haiti: The number of cholera cases reportedly continues to decline one year after an outbreak of the disease killed over 7000 people.

Image Source – Flickr via Steve Snodgrass (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- NPR, The Latin Americanist, Monsters & Critics, Deseret News, Huffington Post

Ads Nauseam: Toy Soldiers

Toys: innocent, fun and entertaining. Yet they are sometimes used in ads in order to effectively make a serious political statement. For instance, a 1972 ad for the campaign to reelect U.S. President Richard Nixon used toy warships and troops in order to attack rival candidate George McGovern's pledge to cut defense spending.

The following video was commissioned by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in order to call attention to human rights violations caused by Colombia's armed conflict. The use of toys along with jarring piano music and a twist in the end creates a very moving ad that highlights the horrors of war:

(Hat tip: Copyranter).

Online Sources - The Museum of the Moving Image, Copyranter

Video Source - YouTube via TheAdvertisingFan

Daily Headlines: December 21, 2011

* Uruguay: The English Football Association suspended striker Luis Suarez over alleged racial abuse against an opposing player during a match last October.

* Peru: Julio Galindo, Peru’s “anti-terrorist attorney general”, was none too pleased that paroled activist Lori Berenson was allowed to leave the country in order to spend the holidays with her family.

* U.S.: The number of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico will be reduced starting next month in order to put a greater emphasis on “aerial surveillance missions.”

* Argentina: The political tensions between the government and the Clarin media group are expected to worsen after police raided the offices of a Clarin-owned cable TV firm.

Image Source – Flickr via jikatu (#9 Luis Suarez celebrates with his teammates after scoring all four goals in Uruguay’s victory over Chile in World Cup qualifiers last month). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- USA TODAY, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: December 20, 2011

* Puerto Rico: Though the murder rate this year will top a record 1100 homicides, the local government rejected a newspaper report claiming that Puerto Rico shows signs of being a ”narco-state.”

* Brazil: A judge ordered Joe Sharkey, the New York Times' business-travel columnist, to pay a fine of over $26,000 regarding a blog post he wrote on a 2006 plane crash.

* Honduras: The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a letter to Honduran President Porfirio Lobo expressing “deep concern” over violence against members of the media.

* South America: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is expected to attend the Mercosur summit today in Uruguay and back his country’s full membership in the bloc.

Image Source – Flickr via Jason Sturner 72 (Torn poster in San Juan, Puerto Rico reading “Violence – coming to a corner near you.”)

Online Sources- The Committee to Protect Journalists, Fox News Latin, Brazzil Magazine, Mercopress

World Watch: Death

* North Korea: Could the death of Kim Jong-Il lead to the resumption of international nuclear negotiations that have been suspended since 2009?

* Czech Republic: Thousands of mourners in Prague paid their final respects to former president and activist Vaclav Havel who died on Sunday.

* Cape Verde: Grammy-award winning singer Cesária Évora passed away on Saturday at the age of 70.

* Philippines: Over 900 people have died in the Philippines as a result of flooding and heavy rains from tropical storm Washi.

Image Source – Flickr via jdxyw (“North Korean lawmakers, army and state officials attended a national meeting in 2010) at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium to honor North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.”) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources – Sky News Australia, Huffington Post, CBC News, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: December 19, 2011

* Peru: Federal authorities have yet to explain why Lori Berenson was barred from leaving Peru despite a court allowing her to spend the holidays with her family in the U.S.

* Mexico: Senior officials issued an apology to an indigenous woman who was raped and tortured by the military in 2002.

* Cuba: Restrictions on travel and remittances from the U.S. to Cuba were dropped by Congress from a $1 trillion spending bill.

* Brazil: The environmental secretary for Rio de Janeiro state claimed that thousands of barrels of oil from a leak reached the shore.

Video Source – YouTube via larepublicaweb1 (The above video from Peruvian TV claimed that paroled activist Lori Berenson arrived late to the airport and subsequently missed her flight to the U.S. But according to Gothamist “witnesses claim that Berenson was ‘at the airport hours before the flight was to leave.’”)

Online Sources- Gothamist, Houston Chronicle, UPI, MSNBC, ABC News

Daily Headlines: December 16, 2011

* Argentina: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights gave an Argentine judge more than 100 photos with images of alleged victims during the Dirty War regime.

* Mexico: Three officials in the Mexican state of Guerrero were dismissed over the deaths of two student protesters during clashes with police.

* Honduras: Honduran police have come under fire after firing tear gas and swinging batons at anti-violence demonstrators.

* Venezuela: A French court sentenced Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, to life in prison for a second time.

Image Source – Flickr via longhorndave (Art installation with pictures of “disappeared” Argentines placed in front of the infamous Navy Mechanics School). (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – ABC News, LAHT, Fox News Latino, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: December 15, 2011

* Chile: Student protest leader Camila Vallejo was named by a nationwide poll as Chile’s Person of the Year.

* Brazil: Federal prosecutors in Brazil are seeking the suspension of operations of Transocean and Chevron as well as $10.6 billion in environmental and social damages.

* Cuba: The National Endowment for Democracy gave their annual humanitarian award to the late Cuban dissident Laura Pollan.

* Colombia: According to the Vatican Radio, Pope Benedict XVI called for the freeing of all the hostages held against their will by Colombian guerillas.

Image Source – Flickr via gpoo

Online Sources – Santiago Times, MSNBC, UPI, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: December 14, 2011

* Central America: Are pesticides and herbicides causing a “major epidemic” of chronic kidney disease throughout Central America?

* Haiti: Politicians and human rights activists in Brazil expressed their concern over a possible “humanitarian crisis” due to an influx of Haitian migrants.

* Venezuela: Citgo, which is owned by the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s PDVSA, will resume a program providing heating oil to low-income U.S. families.

* Argentina: Prosecutors in the U.S. accused eight former Siemens executives of paying over $100 million in bribes to the Argentine government during a ten-year period.

Image Source – Flickr via JoePhoto (“Taken on the outskirts of Chichicastenango” in Guatemala.) (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – PRI’s The World, El Universal, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters

World Watch: Cameron’s Crow?

* Europe: British Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to veto an E.U. treaty aimed at preventing a worsening of the region's debt crisis.

* Canada: The country’s immigration minister announced the prohibition of the wearing of the burka during the citizenship ceremony.

* Syria: According to U.N. estimates nearly 5000 people including about 300 children have been killed as part of a brutal crackdown by the state.

* Democratic Republic of Congo: Electoral observers and opposition figures accused the government of vote rigging during recent elections.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources – The Guardian, CNN, BBC News

Daily Headlines: December 13, 2011

* Mexico: According to the Mexican archdiocese over 5.6 million people visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City this year.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court agreed to listen to a case next year involving Arizona's controversial anti-immigration S.B. 1070 law.

* Colombia: Human Rights Watch blasted a proposed judicial reform that could “virtually guarantee impunity for human rights violations committed by the security forces.”

* Caribbean: Representatives of several countries including the U.S. and Cuba reportedly met last week in order to discuss potential problems with increased Cuban offshore oil drilling.

Image Source – Flickr via Joaquin Martinez (Mexicans domestically and worldwide commemorated the annual celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe yesterday).

Online Sources – Miami Herald, MSNBC, Bloomberg, AFP

Today’s Video: The Minor Fall, The Major Lift

Note: In honor of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities celebrated earlier this month, some of our some of our daily video segments this week will focus on the disabled community throughout Latin America.

In November the legislature in the Argentine province of Mendoza backed an initiative to comply with national law on the disabled. The measure protects the rights of the disabled in Mendoza and also expands public health coverage for disabled individuals. (For example, disabled individuals where previously excluded from the local public health system once they reached the age of twenty-one years regardless of the seriousness of their condition).

For over a decade the families of disabled individuals attempted to push through the plan though they were unable to gain much headway. Their efforts received a much-needed boost from “Caiga Quien Caiga” (“Whoever May Fall” in English), an Argentine TV news show that is presented in an irrelevant manner.

The following video from “Caiga Quien Caiga” shows how Mendoza’s disabled community, with help from the program, helped bring about necessary and long overdue changes:

Video Source – YouTube via LATVARG

Online Sources – United Nations Enable, Diario Uno, Wikipedia

Daily Headlines: December 12, 2011

* Panama: Former dictator Manuel Noriega was extradited to Panama and is expected to start serving a twenty-year prison sentence for crimes committed during his rule.

* El Salvador: The government issued a formal apology for the over 1000 people killed at the El Mozote massacre of 1981.

* Mexico: At least two people were killed after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck in the state of Guerrero.

* Cuba: Dissidents claimed that “some 200 detentions for political motives” were made by police in the days leading up to Human Rights Day this past Saturday.

Video Source – YouTube via BBC News

Online Sources – Voice of America, Reuters, The Guardian, BBC News