Colombian Congress Rejects Gay Marriage Bill

Colombian legislators today rejected a proposal that would have permitted same sex couples to marry.

In the 51-17 vote, legislators opted against the bill that was first introduced former Senate president Armando Benedetti last November.

 “The day that we are able to become a modern and progressive legislature is the day when we can start ending inequality and poverty in Colombia,” said Benedetti.

Voting on the bill had been delayed twice over the past week as tempers flared over the issue of gay rights.  On Tuesday senator Roberto Gerlein took to the floor to denounce what he deemed “the violence of the gay lobby” and allege, “Sex between homosexuals is scatological and purely recreational.”  (Last year he caused quite a stir when he declared that gay people have a smaller brain than heterosexuals and “homosexuality is a yoke placed by the bad luck of nature.”

In July 2011 the Colombian Constitutional Court granted a two-year window for Congress to pass legislation legalizing gay marriage. According to the court, if the deadline passes with no legislation, then same-sex couples will be able to formalize their unions before a notary public.  Yet it remains to be seen if notaries will be permitted to join same-sex couples after Attorney General Alejandro Ordóñez recently claimed that civil unions between members of the same gender is illegal and unconstitutional.

While Gerlein and his cohorts view gay marriage as something to be repudiated and abhorred, for some gay couples in Colombia the issue is one of acceptance and having the same opportunities as straight pairs.  As was written in an article on a gay couple in Colombian daily El Pais:

Daily Headlines: April 24, 2013

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto’s push for major reform in areas such as banking, telecommunications, and oil production could be in jeopardy partly due to allegations of vote buying by the ruling party.

* Latin America: Over 1800 police officers seeking better working conditions went on strike in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, while hundreds of Puerto Rican cops have supposedly ended their sickout protest.

* Brazil: Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced a series of measures aimed at boosting an ethanol industry hampered by increased production costs despite greater global demand for biofuels.  

* Guatemala: Senior U.N. official Adama Dieng called on Guatemalan judicial authorities to “act responsibly and prevent any attempt at interference, obstruction of justice or manipulation of the law” in light of the annulment of the genocide trial against former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times; Washington Post; United Nations; ABC News; MercoPress

Daily Headlines: April 23, 2013

* Haiti: Amnesty International accused the Haitian government for turning a blind eye to the eviction from settlement camps of thousands of survivors of a major 2010 tremor.

* Nicaragua: Eric Toth, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, will likely be extradited to the U.S. after police in Nicaragua arrested him. 

* Latin America: The U.N.’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean lowered its 2013 growth estimate for the region to 3.5% though it would still be higher than last year’s 3.0% increase.

* Colombia: The Colombian government and FARC rebels are renewing peace talks in Cuba that first began in November 2012.

Video Source – YouTube via user bri kouri nouvel gaye (“Several dozen victims of Haiti's earthquake who live in Camp Vilaume Deta demonstrated against forced evictions on October 12, 2012.”)

Online Sources- ABC News; UPI; Miami Herald; Reuters

El Salvador: Pope “Unblocks” Romero Sainthood Campaign

 
The possibility of granting sainthood to the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador became more of a reality over the weekend.

According to comments made by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, Pope Francis has reportedly given his approval for the beatification process for Romero to move forward.

“Today ... the beatification cause of Monsignor Romero has been unblocked; tomorrow I can resume saying that these martyrs help us to live,” said Paglia who is described as the “Italian prelate spearheading Romero's case.”

Paglia’s remarks came at a Mass to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of another candidate for sainthood: ex-president of the Pax Christi organization Bishop Tonino Bello.  Paglia’s words also came one day after he met with the Argentine-born pontiff to discuss the Bello and Romero cases.

Romero was assassinated in 1980 as he finished a mass where he criticized government repression and denounced human rights abuses.  His vocal defense of El Salvador’s poor and oppressed rankled the country’s political and economic elite, and it’s believed that right-wing death squad commander Roberto D’Aubuisson ordered Romero’s murder.

The assassination of Romero marked the start of a bloody twelve-year civil war that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

Romero is viewed as a martyr among Salvadorans though the process for beatifying Romero was held up for years by the Vatican's opposition to liberation theology.  Nevertheless, the election last month of the first Latin American Pope provided hope for members of the Salvadoran clergy supporting the push for Romero’s sainthood:

Conservative Business Tycoon Wins Paraguayan Presidency

In Mexico last year the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) returned to the presidency after their seventy-one years of continuous rule was halted in 2000.  A similar story developed this weekend several thousand miles south in Paraguay.

Multimillionaire Horacio Cartes of the Colorado Party was declared the winner of Paraguay’s presidential elections with 45.91% of the votes versus 36.84% for Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal Party.  Thus, the Colorados return to the presidency after having their sixty-one years in power broken in 2008 by former catholic priest Fernando Lugo.

"My legs trembled at the thought of the enormous and amazing responsibility of being president of all Paraguayans," Cartes said in his victory speech on Sunday night. "I want the people who did not vote for us to know that I'll put all my effort into earning their trust," declared one of Paraguay's richest men who owns over twenty businesses.

The conservative Cartes and the center-right Alegre both reportedly ran campaigns with similar platforms promising to create jobs and improve economic conditions.  According to U.N. estimates over half of all Paraguayans live in poverty while only 1% of residents control 77% of the country’s land.

Both men also engaged in negative campaigning against each other regarding faced corruption charges. Cartes was jailed for nearly a year in 1989 for illegal currency dealings though that conviction was later overturned.  He’s also believed to be involved in money laundering and tax evasion as part of his offshore dealings with the Banco Amambay that he owns.

The two main candidates differed over the issue of gay rights, which was most evident when Cartes recently compared gay people to “monkeys” and threatened to “shoot myself in the testicles” if his son were to seek same-sex marriage.

The ugly campaign may have extended itself to the election itself; for instance, a Colorado party senator was suspended on Saturday after he was filmed allegedly offering cash to rival Liberal party officials in exchange for annulled ballot papers. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Organization of American States electoral observer Oscar Arias praised the Paraguayan electorate though he did note “grievous electoral irregularities” such as the buying of votes.

Court Convicts Carandirú Cops

Note: The below video contains very graphic images and is Not Safe for Work.

A Brazilian judge convicted and sentenced a group of police officers for their involvement in Brazil’s worst instance of prison violence.

The twenty-three police officers, most of them now retired, each received prisons sentences of 156 years as punishment for killing fifteen inmates of Sao Paulo's Carandirú prison in October 1992.

No officers were among the 111 fatalities of the incident referred to as the “Carandirú massacre” that began when officers attempting to quell rioting among rival gangs.

Prosecutors argued that dozens of Brazil’s Military Police officers indiscriminately fired on prisoners who surrendered or were hiding in their cells. They purportedly used shotguns and machine guns to murder 102 prisoners including some at point-blank range.

"We never thought they would come in and kill people randomly, as not everyone had joined the rebellion," said ex-Carandirú prisoner Jacy de Oliveira to the BBC News.

“The sentence does not reflect the thinking of Brazilian society,” said one of the defense attorneys who alleged that their clients were performing theirs duties and protecting themselves from violent inmates. 

At least seventy-nine current and former Military Police officers are expected to face charges in four separate trials.  For the Amnesty International human rights group, authorities could do more to prevent impunity twenty-one years after the massacre:

Daily Headlines: April 22, 2013

* Venezuela: Argentine-born Pope Francis called on “the dear Venezuelan people…to establish a dialogue” amid the high political tensions generated from this month’s contentious presidential election.

* U.S.: Senators Lindsey Graham and Charles Schumer argued that last Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings should not delay debate on a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill proposed last week.

* Mexico: No immediate reports of damage or injuries have been reported after a magnitude-5.9 earthquake shook central Mexico last night.

* Puerto Rico: Could Puerto Rico join Washington State and Colorado on the list of U.S. territories legalizing marijuana use for people over 21-years-old?

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- CNN; Washington Post; Huffington Post; The Latin Americanist; France 24

Venezuela: Spectator Interrupts Presidential Inauguration (Updated)

Update (10:05 PM): The man who briefly interrupted the inauguration of Veneuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Friday is allegedly no stranger to barging into pubic events.

Twenty-eight-year-old Yendrick Sánchez will reportedly be charged with "crimes established within the Venezuelan judicial code" after he leaped onto the stage where Maduro was giving his inaugural address.  

Sánchez has been described by several Venezuelan media sources as a "spontaneous man" who, along with his cousin Juan Salas, are infamous for intruding in high profile events.  Sánchez interrupted Spanish musician Alejandro Sanz in a 2008 peace concert along the Venezuela-Colombia border while at the 2007 Miss Venezuela pageant he took the tiara as the winner was being crowned.

On April 10th, Sánchez targeted opposition figure Henrique Capriles during a campaign event by taking away his microphone and proclaiming him as "the next president of Venezuela" before being led away by security.

Following the inauguration ceremony, Maduro presided over a military parade and then affirmed that he will serve as a "commander of the armed forces...with the legacy of the commander Hugo Chávez". 
 
Capriles, meanwhile, tweeted that Maduro did not provide "a single proposal or solution to the problems of our country" in his inauguration speech.
 
Update (5:55 PM): Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated was sworn in as Venezuelan president in a ceremony marked by an apparent lapse in security.

A man clad rushed the stage and grabbed the microphone where Maduro was speaking and momentarily interrupted the proceedings.

"Nicolas, my name is Yohendri.  Please help me," exclaimed the man clad in a red shirt (a color popular among followers of the late President Hugo Chávez) before he was taken away by security personnel.

"He could have shot me here," said an irate Maduro who later mentioned that he will "talk with the youth" regarding "whatever desperation he has."

Daily Headlines: April 19, 2013

* Guatemala: Judge Carol Patricia Flores annulled the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on the grounds of a technicality though it’s unclear if a higher court will overrule her decision.

* South America: A rematch of last year’s Copa Libertadores final between current titleholders Corinthians of Brazil and Boca Juniors of Argentina is among the matches in the round of 16 in this year’s competition.

* Argentina: Pope Francis sent a message of support to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an Argentine group that for the past thirty-six years has protested the thousands of disappearances during the Dirty War period.

* U.S.: Sal Castro, a California social studies teacher and activist who played a key role in 1960s Chicano student walkouts, died at the age of 79.

Video Source – YouTube via user telesurenglish (Note that this video was posted shortly before a Guatemalan judge annulled the genocide trial of ex-strongman Efraín Ríos Montt).
 
Online Sources- Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, SI.com, Catholic Culture

Venezuela: Maduro and Capriles Continue Post-Election Accusations

Political tensions remain high in Venezuela as government officials and Henrique Capriles continued their post-electoral war of words.

Capriles accused the government of plotting to infiltrate an opposition rally that was supposed to take place later today.

“I have made the decision: we will not mobilize tomorrow, and I ask all my supporters to accept that,” Capriles said Tuesday. “He who goes out (on the streets) is on the side of violence and is playing the government’s game.”

the runner-up of Sunday’s presidential election mentioned at a press conference that the opposition was “disposed to open a dialogue so this crisis can be resolved in the coming hours.”

Capriles also reiterated his demands of a full recount of the election, which was won by Nicolás Maduro by roughly 265,000 votes, and presented evidence of alleged voter fraud perpetrated by the Maduro regime.

Senior government officials replied by accusing Capriles of instigating violent incidents that left at least seven people dead and over sixty injured.

“These tragic events where caused by the irresponsible attitude of the ex-candidate representing the extreme right who lost and refuses to accept reality,” declared Information Minister Ernesto Villegas.

Foreign Affairs Minister Elias Jaua said that Capriles is “generating baseless chaos” and has not provided a “single concrete element” proving voter fraud.

Daily Headlines: April 17, 2013

* Mexico: Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, the architect behind Mexico’s iconic Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Estadio Azteca, died yesterday on his 94th birthday.

* Guatemala: "Are we animals that they can do anything to us?" said one of the over one hundred eyewitnesses to the horrors of war who have testified at the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.

* Haiti: The International Organization for Migration found that the number of people displaced by a January 2010 earthquake has decreased from about 1.5 million to just over 320,000.

* Brazil: Some seven hundred indigenous Brazilians have barricaded themselves in Congressional offices to protest a bill that would reportedly give legislators "a say in the demarcation of indigenous territory."

Online Sources – Art Daily; ABC News; Huffington Post; National Catholic Reporter; The Latin Americanist

Video Source – YouTube via user axbord

Venezuela: Violence Erupts After Contentious Election

Tensions remain high in Venezuela less than 48 hours since Nicolás Maduro was declared winner of a contested presidential election.

Authorities claimed that at least seven people died and sixty-one were on Monday after violence erupted in several major cities.  Officials added that 135 people were arrested as thousands of people took to the streets banging pots and pans in protest against Sunday’s electoral results.  

This afternoon an estimated 2000 protesters clashed with riot police shooting tear gas and rubber bullets in Barinas, the home state of the late President Hugo Chávez.

Senior government figures have raised the possibility of legal action against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, while Maduro accused him of trying to orchestrate a coup d’état.

“I won’t allow (the opposition) to march to downtown Caracas (which is) filled with death and blood…Do whatever you want.  There will be a strong hand against fascism and intolerance,” declared Maduro in televised remarks.

Capriles responded by blaming the “illegitimate” government for having “ordered violence to prevent the counting of votes” after the election.

"Those who are with me stand for peace!  Nobody should leave that path!  The government wants violence!” Capriles mentioned via his Twitter account.

Pro-Capriles protesters continued their demonstrations today in areas such as Carabobo state where hundreds of people accompanied local opposition leaders seeking to file a complaint of widespread fraud at the electoral council (CNE, in Spanish) offices. 

Daily Headlines: April 16, 2013

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla warned that he would push for a Constitutional Assembly over Puerto Rico’s statehood issue if Washington does not take action this year.

* U.S.: Mexicans Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab and Narciso Contreras along with Rodrigo Abd of Argentina won Pulitzer Prizes for their respective work in journalism.

* Latin America: A new study found that Costa Rica and Chile are the Latin American and Caribbean states with the most “social progress” for its citizens.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis supports a controversial plan passed by his predecessor to overhaul the largest umbrella group of nuns in the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube via Newsy (Puerto Rican voters last year backed changing the island’s political status from a commonwealth to the 51st U.S. state).

Online Sources- Hispanically Speaking News, Huffington Post, Inside Costa Rica, USA TODAY

Venezuela: Maduro Certified as President-Elect Amidst Protests (Updated)

Venezuelan electoral board chief Tibisay Lucena confirmed Nicolás Maduro as President-elect in the midst of increased tensions over Sunday’s electoral results.

Maduro accused his opposition rivals who are “run by the foreign bourgeoisie” of “caring only about power” and refusing to admit defeat.

He claimed that the Venezuelan constitution guarantees democracy in the country and that it’s a “gift from (ex-President Hugo) Chávez to the world.  Nobody can come and erase that.”

Prior to Maduro’s speech Lucena rejected the suggestion of enacting a manual recount of all the votes, which was requested by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

She accused the White House and the Organization of American States of “foreign interference” by urging a recall of the election where the margin of victory was roughly 230,000 votes.

Lucena also warned that a manual recall would be "vulnerable" and cited the U.S. Supreme Court case of Bush vs. Gore as evidence of why a recall wouldn’t work.

Capriles has steadfastly refused to accept the electoral results until all the votes are recounted.

“All we're asking is that our rights be respected, that the will of the people be respected, and that every single vote be counted, every little piece of paper, that paper isn't for recycling, it's proof,” said the Miranda state governor on Monday.

He also called on his backers to protest in the streets tonight and “bang pots and pans” if the demand for a recall were to be rejected.

Impromptu protests are reportedly occurring in several major Venezuelan cities like Caracas where crowds are gathering outside the offices of the federal electoral board.  It’s also being reported that five people were injured at a demonstration in Lara state after police fired tear gas to disperse the multitude.

(Update: Thousands of cacerolazo protesters continue to demonstrate throughout Venezuela on Monday evening.  These demonstrators have taken to the streets to express their discontent with the lack of a full recount of Sunday's presidential election results.

"What happened yesterday was fraud, a lie. The opposition won and they know it," said Briand Alvar, one of the dozens of protesters who clashed with police in Caracas.

Capriles once again reiterated his demand that all votes should be recounted "one by one" and urged the Venezuelan people to "not allow yourselves to be diverted from the path of democracy."   

"The majority is the majority. Democracy must be respected...The opposition cannot launch an ambush to jeopardize the will of the people," said Maduro during the ceremony where he was formally declared the election winner).  

White House Urges Venezuelan Presidential Election Recount (Updated)

The U.S. government has called on Venezuelan authorities to recount the country’s presidential election that was apparently won by interim leader Nicolás Maduro.
"Given the tightness of the result - around 1 percent of the votes cast separate the candidates - the opposition candidate and at least one member of the electoral council have called for a 100 percent audit of the results," said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday.

"This appears an important, prudent and necessary step to ensure that all Venezuelans have confidence in these results," mentioned Carney. "In our view rushing to a decision in these circumstances would be inconsistent with the expectations of Venezuelans for a clear and democratic outcome."

(Update: Venezuelan electoral board chief Tibisay Lucena rejected calls by the Venezuelan opposition and international diplomats to recall all the votes from Sunday's presidential election.

She warned that a manual recall would be "vulnerable" and cited the results of the contested U.S. presidential election of 2000 to reject the suggestion of an electoral audit). 

The CNE on Sunday night declared Maduro as the victor with 50.66% of the votes compared to the 49.07% obtained by main opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.  The razor-thin margin of victory represented approximately 250,000 of the roughly 15 million total votes according to CNE president Tibisay Lucena.

Capriles replied yesterday that he would not accept the results until all the votes are recounted “one-by-one.”  Moments ago he reiterated his call for a recount and he urged electoral authorities to halt the planned confirmation of Maduro as President-elect later this afternoon.

“If you (Maduro) accept the presidency then you are illegitimate,” declared Capriles at a press conference from his campaign headquarters.  He who also called on his backers to protest in the streets tonight and mass demonstrations in front of local CNE offices on Tuesday if a recall is not done.

Other international diplomats echoed Carney’s remarks and supported the notion of an electoral recount in Venezuela.

Daily Headlines: April 15, 2013

* Cuba: In op-ed piece published in the New York Times, Guantanamo inmate Samir Naji al-Hasan Moqbel claimed that he has been detained without trial since 2001 and described his participation in a hunger strike at the U.S.-run military prison. 

* Mexico: Europol warned last week that Mexican drug gangs are allegedly trying to become “key players in the European drugs market.”

* Argentina: Golfer Angel Cabrera fell short of winning his second Masters tournament and ended as runner-up to Adam Scott of Australia.

* Latin America: Guatemala filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization against Peru regarding import duties on several foods.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews
 
Online Sources- The Atlantic, Bloomberg, ESPN, LAHT