De Musica Ligera: Nobel for “El Sistema”?

The latest edition of the Grammy Awards on Sunday night will most likely be remembered for Adele winning six trophies as well as the tributes to the recently deceased Whitney Houston. In terms of Latino music, one of the event’s biggest surprises was Mana beating out Calle 13 to win in the Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album category. Yet an even greater surprise could occur later this year thanks to another Grammy winner: Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

Dudamel may’ve won his Grammy with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for their recording of Brahms' Fourth Symphony, but since 1999 he has served as the music director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. This orchestra is an important product of El Sistema, a novel music education program run in Venezuela. Founded in 1975 by former economist José Antonio Abreu, the El Sistema network has helped teach classical music to at least 250,000 youth including children from impoverished economic backgrounds. The program has received government support since 1977 and has been critically acclaimed around the world.

In 2008 Abreu won both the Glenn Gould Prize and the Prince of Asturias Award for he Arts. He could earn a greater recognition later this year after representatives of the International Hagiography Academy nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. “Master Abreu has met all the conditions because he made music the language of peace and a symbol of Venezuela,” proclaimed the Academy’s president, Monsignor Rafael Febres Cordero, last month.

Should José Antonio Abreu become the first Latin American in two decades to win the Nobel Peace Prize? Perhaps the music from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra will help you decide:

Video Source – YouTube via TEDtalksDirector

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, The Onion A.V. Club, The Telegraph, El-Nacional.com

Daily Headlines: February 13, 2012

* South America: While UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Argentina and Britain to “avoid an escalation” in the dispute over the Falklands, Chilean officials denied “media rumors” claiming that they would consider a blockade of the disputed islands.

* Mexico: According to documents filed in a U.S. court, Mexican drug gangs paid $4.5 million in “political bribes” to figures in the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

* Brazil: Will France’s Dassault Aviation beat Boeing and Saab and win a major contract to refurbish the Brazilian air force?

* Haiti: A fifteen-member delegation of the U.N. Security Council is expected to arrive today in Haiti in order to observe reconstruction efforts over two years after a deadly earthquake shook the country.

Image Source – Flickr via wallygrom (Falklands War memorial in Ushuaia, Argentina). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Bernama.com, Reuters, Voice of America, Miami Herald

Daily Headlines: February 10, 2012

* Latin America: Amerigo Incalcaterra, the U.N. human rights representative for South America, denounced the “alarming pattern of prison violence” in the region due to overcrowding and substandard sanitary conditions.

* Brazil: Police in Rio de Janeiro state went on strike days before the beginning of Carnival celebrations and prison guards and firefighters might join them.

* Mexico: The U.S. State Department expanded its travel warning from ten to fourteen states in northern and central Mexico.

* Peru: Shining Path leader Florindo Eleuterio Flores-Hala, alias Artemio, was reportedly wounded in a raid conducted by Peruvian troops and dissident guerillas.

Image Source – Flickr via CDI Europe (Lemos de Brito prison in Brazil). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Guardian, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: February 9, 2012

* Argentina: Legendary Argentine rock musician Luis Alberto Spinetta died at the age of 62 after months of battling lung cancer.

* Venezuela: Possible rivals to president Hugo Chavez wrap up their campaigns ahead of this Sunday’s opposition primary.

* Ecuador: Emilio Palacio, the former El Universo newspaper editor facing prison after losing a libel case against the Ecuadorian president, has sought asylum in the U.S.

* U.S.: An estimated 12.2 million Latinos are expected to vote in this November’s general election according to the Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.

Video Source – YouTube via ghanderhva

Online Sources- Buenos Aires Herald, AS/COA Online, USA TODAY, Boston.com

World Watch: Iced Cooly

* Antarctica: The sub-glacial Lake Vostok was reached for the first time after a team of Russian scientists drilled over two miles below the Antarctic surface.


* Egypt: The Egyptian government’s crackdown on nongovernment organizations could hurt relations between that country and the U.S.


* Maldives: Mohamed Nasheed claimed that he was ousted from the presidency in a coup while some of his supporters have clashed with police.


* Somalia: A “suicide car bomber” in the capital city of Mogadishu killed at least eleven people.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources – National Geographic, Voice of America, CNN, Reuters

Daily Headlines: February 8, 2012

* Brazil: Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro could be threatened by police officers that may reportedly join their comrades in Bahia state and go on an illegal strike.

* Mexico: A judge dropped some of the charges against two people accused of trying to smuggle members of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's family into Mexico.

* U.S.: A preliminary deal over state and federal redistricting in Texas might not reflect the state’s growing Latino population according to some local legislators.

* Latin America: Drought conditions in several Latin American countries could lead to a global spike in the prices of corn.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- NASDAQ, CBS News, Bloomberg, CBC News

World Watch: Homs Under Siege

* Syria: While foreign powers debate over how to end violence in Syria, the military continued its deadly offensive against residents in the city of Homs.

* U.S.: A federal appeals court ruled that California’s gay marriage ban is unconstitutional though the final decision may rest with the Supreme Court.

* Philippines: At least twenty-two people died and dozens are missing after an earthquake shook the Negros Island.

* Palestine: Rival factions Hamas and Fatah signed a pact that would form a unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Video Source– YouTube via telegraphtv

Online Sources – USA TODAY, CBS News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: February 7, 2012

* Brazil: Authorities filed a lawsuit seeking to block Twitter accounts and messages warning about “radar locations, speed traps, and DUI checkpoints.”

* Mexico: Josefina Vasquez Mota became the first female presidential candidate from a major political party after winning the primary for the ruling PAN on Sunday.

* Dominican Republic: At least eighteen migrants died after the boat they where traveling in capsized off the Dominican coast.

* Cuba: Former president Fidel Castro made a “rare appearance” in Havana in order to promote his new memoir.

Image Source – Flickr via xioubin low (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- CNet News, Reuters, Voice of America, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: February 6, 2012

* Panama: At least one person was killed after police clashed with indigenous protesters blockading the Pan American Highway.

* Brazil: The military have been deployed to Bahia where 10,000 members of the state police went on strike and refused to return to their posts.

* Ecuador: Chevron refused to issue a “court-mandated” public apology accepting guilt for polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon.

* U.S.: The mayor of East Haven, Connecticut refused to fire his police chief despite a federal investigation charging four officers of racial profiling and harassing Latino residents.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- CBC News, LAHT, Fox News, Global Voices Online

World Watch: The Not-So-Beautiful Game

* Egypt: Clashes have taken place between Cairo police and mourners angry at military authorities in the aftermath of a deadly soccer riot on Wednesday in Port Said.

* Space: International astronomers concluded that a new planet located about twenty-two light years from Earth might be able to support life.

* Europe: At least one hundred people are dead as a result of cold spell that has hit several European countries.

* Afghanistan: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta indicated that troops could withdraw early from Afghanistan in 2013 though it remains to be seen if NATO forces will do the same.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English (” Egypt has declared three days of mourning for the more than 70 people who died at a football stadium amid violent clashes between rival supporters in the northern city of Port Said.”)

Online Sources – The Guardian, National geographic, TVNZ, USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: February 2, 2012

* Mexico: According to the central bank remittances to Mexico grew by 6.9% in 2011; thus, representing the biggest rate of increase since 2006.

* Guatemala: Can the government and civil society unite to combat a “relentless wave of femicides”?

* Brazil: Social media research company Semiocast concluded that Brazil leapfrogged Japan to become the second most-represented country on Twitter.

* Venezuela: Trade between Cuba and Venezuela reportedly soared by 78% to over $6 billion in 2010.

Image Source – Flickr via navart (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, PC Magazine, IPS, El Universal

Nuestro Cine: Viva Violeta!

Last week Demián Bichir of Mexico and Argentine-French actress Bérénice Bejo received Academy Awards nominations in the categories of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, receptively. While the recognition of these Latin American actors was well deserved, the Academy sadly overlooked films from the region when choosing the finalists to the Best Foreign Film category. Not a single film from Latin America made the January shortlist, much less the list of five finalists.

Movies such as a tender tale of friendship from Cuba and a ripped-from-the-headlines story from Mexico where ignored by the Academy although Chile’s entry to the Oscars got a boost several days ago at the Sundance Film Festival.

According to the Santiago Times:

“Violeta Went to Heaven,” directed by Andrés Wood, won best international picture for its devastating biopic about Violeta Parra, a Chilean folk musician and national icon whose songs encapsulate the fight for social equality in Chile. 



“It speaks well of the film that it can be appreciated outside of Chile,” Wood told La Tercera. “The award means “Violeta” will be distributed in U.S. so now more people will be able to appreciate it.”



In winning best international film, “Violeta” follows in the footsteps of Sebastian Silva’s “La Nana,” a Chilean production which delves into the dominant social hierarchies and prejudices of Latin American society. “La Nana” won the award in 2010.

Meanwhile, Chilean film “Young and Wild”, which was the first work by director Marialys Rivas, won best international script at Sundance.

The following is the trailer to “Violeta Went to Heaven,” a film that celebrates the trials and tribulations of one of Chile’s most celebrated individuals:

Parra committed suicide forty-five years ago this Sunday though her influence has certainly lived on.

Video Source – YouTube via violetapelicula

Online Sources – Fox News Latino, The Latin Americanist, NPR, The Santiago Times

Daily Headlines: February 1, 2012

* Peru: Authorities are trying to avoid the growing encroachment against natives like the Maschco-Piro tribe who reside in remote areas of the Amazon.

* Latin America: Drought conditions in have led to a reported drop in the planting of marijuana in Mexico and a decrease in the corn yields of several South American countries.

* Argentina: Canadian mining firm Osisko suspended a gold mining project in the La Rioja province after weeks of protests by locals and environmental groups.

* Dominican Republic: The World Trade Organization backed a claim by several Central American countries against import tariffs by the Dominican Republic.

Video Source – YouTube via ITN News

Online Sources- National Geographic, Fox News Latino, UPI, BBC News, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: January 31, 2012

* Haiti: Haitian human rights groups as well as the U.N. criticized a judge’s decision yesterday to try former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier only on charges of embezzlement and corruption.

* Latin America: According to the Iranian state-run media, the government has launched a 24-hour Spanish-language television network.

* Cuba: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff arrived in Cuba yesterday and is expected to meet with President Raul Castro before traveling to Haiti later this week.

* South America: Could South America serve as the next major market for India’s Bollywood movies?

Video Source – YouTube via telesurenglish (Note that this video was first posted on January 20, 2012).

Online Sources- Boston.com, Christian Science Monitor, BBC News, Fox News Latino

World Watch: Money Woes

* Europe: European Union leaders are supposedly close to reaching a deal for greater regional fiscal discipline as well as an agreement over a second Greek bailout.

* Iraq: Several Iraqi government officials are none too pleased over the alleged use of "unarmed aerial vehicles" (also known as drones) by the U.S. in Iraq’s territory.

* Canada: Three members of a family where convicted of murdering four female siblings in a 2009 “honor killing” that was described by a judge as "cold-blooded (and) shameful".

* Japan: New government data revealed that the Japanese population would decrease by one-third by 2060 due to low birth rates coupled with a rapidly aging populace.

Image Source– Flickr via Images_of_Money (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – ABC News, UPI, CBS News, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: January 30, 2012

* South America: Funerals where held yesterday in Peru for some of the twenty-seven victims killed in a fire at a drug rehab clinic while the official death toll from last week’s office building collapse in Rio de Janeiro rose to seventeen.

* U.S.: The police chief of East Haven, Connecticut will step down from his post days after four officers where accused of racial profiling and harassing Latino residents.

* Venezuela: According to police kidnappers freed the Mexican ambassador to Venezuela and his wife this morning after they where abducted in Caracas on Sunday night.

* Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo’s medical team said that the cancer that was first diagnosed in August 2010 is now in “complete remission.”

Video Source – euronews via YouTube

Online Sources- LAHT, CNN, USA TODAY, Reuters, Voice of America