Thursday, October 10, 2013
Daily Headlines: October 10, 2013
* Bolivia: Researchers discovered gold, silver, bones and ceramics in Lake Titicaca that are estimated to be roughly 1500-years-old.
* Costa Rica: Police in Costa Rica uncovered a cache of military weapons including a rocket launcher and seventeen AK-47s near the border with Nicaragua.
* Brazil: Should Brazil grant former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden political asylum?
* Argentina: Officials granted a female ID card and new birth certificate to a six-year-old who was recently permitted to legally change her identity.
Video Source – YouTube via NTDTV
Online Sources- Miami Herald; Inside Costa Rica; Al Jazeera English; Huffington Post
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Daily Headlines: October 9, 2013
* Argentina: The spokesman for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said that she is “in good spirits” and recovering at a Buenos Aires hospital after undergoing a surgery yesterday to remove a blood clot from her brain.
* Brazil: “Anarchist groups” were blamed for causing violence during a mass protest in Rio de Janeiro that was one of the biggest since nationwide demonstrations were held in June.
* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro said that he would seek decree powers from the legislature in order to combat “corrupt people and saboteurs of the national economy.”
* Haiti: Attorneys for victims of a major cholera epidemic that first hit Haiti three years ago have filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from the U.N.
Video Source – YouTube via euronews (Supporters of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez gathered outside of a Buenos Aires hospital prior to undergoing brain surgery yesterday).
Online Sources- Reuters; The Latin Americanst; The Guardian; Huffington Post; BBC News
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Nuestro Cine: What’s in a Name?
In the past few days we have featured the Mexican, Peruvian and Venezuelan choices for the next Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. All of these films are intense dramas but today we will examine a more light-hearted movie from the Americas.
The animated children’s film “Anina” will represent Uruguay in the race for the top foreign film Oscar. Based on the short story “Anina Yatay Salas,” the movie’s titular character is a ten-year-old girl who is upset that her name is made up of three palindromes. After a fight with one of her classmates, Anina is punished by her principal and given a sealed black envelope that cannot be opened for seven days. As she tries to discover the contents of the mysterious envelope, Anina experiences numerous adventures that help her learn more about the world around her.
Though “Anina” is a co-production with Colombia, the film’s creators consider the film as “culturally Uruguayan” including depicting tradition meals, jargon and customs from the Southern Cone country.
“We recently screened ‘Anina’ in the Montevideo neighborhood of Casavalle and to see the kids applaud at the end of the film filled us with more than just pride,” said Germán Tejeira, producer of “Anina.”
Could “Anina” be the first animated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film? Judge for yourselves by viewing the film’ trailer below the page break:
The animated children’s film “Anina” will represent Uruguay in the race for the top foreign film Oscar. Based on the short story “Anina Yatay Salas,” the movie’s titular character is a ten-year-old girl who is upset that her name is made up of three palindromes. After a fight with one of her classmates, Anina is punished by her principal and given a sealed black envelope that cannot be opened for seven days. As she tries to discover the contents of the mysterious envelope, Anina experiences numerous adventures that help her learn more about the world around her.
Though “Anina” is a co-production with Colombia, the film’s creators consider the film as “culturally Uruguayan” including depicting tradition meals, jargon and customs from the Southern Cone country.
“We recently screened ‘Anina’ in the Montevideo neighborhood of Casavalle and to see the kids applaud at the end of the film filled us with more than just pride,” said Germán Tejeira, producer of “Anina.”
Could “Anina” be the first animated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film? Judge for yourselves by viewing the film’ trailer below the page break:
Daily Headlines: October 8, 2013
* Cuba: Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno said that for the 22nd straight year his country will push for a U.N. condemnation of the decades-long U.S. trade embargo on the island.
* Brazil: “The United States and its allies must immediately stop their spying activity once and for all,” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff tweeted after new allegations emerged accusing the Canadian government of spying on the South American country.
* Mexico: The possibility of a U.S. government debt default has apparently led to increased anxiety among economists and officials in Mexico.
* Dominican Republic: Pope Francis named the Vatican’s new ambassador to the Dominican Republic after the previous envoy was removed while being investigated for possible sexual abuse.
Video Source – YouTube via NTDTV (188 nations voted last year at the U.N. General Assembly against the U.S. embargo against Cuba with only the U.S., United States, Israel and Palau supporting the blockade).
Online Sources- Reuters; The Latin Americanist; Voice of America; Salon; CSMonitor.com
Monday, October 7, 2013
Brazil: Brewery Faces $2.7M Fine Over “True Black” Ad
Was a beer ad published in Brazilian magazines three years ago creative or racist? The answer could lead to a multimillion-dollar fine against Japanese brewery Kirin.
Brazil’s Ministry of Justice opened legal proceedings against Kirin regarding a print ad with an illustration of a scantily clad dark-skinned woman wearing a dress and in a sensual pose. The tagline of the ad for the dark-colored Devassa Tropical Lager beer reads, “A true black can be recognized by her body. A highly fermented dark ale. Creamy with an aroma of roasted malt.”
The Ministry of Justice concluded that the ad is “abusive” because it “equates a black woman with a consumer object.” As a result, a $2.7 million fine could be made against Kirin based on a complaint that was made in 2011 by the consumer protection agency for Espiritu Santo state.
“The Code of Consumer Protection protects consumers from abusive advertising,” said Amaury Oliva, director of the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense (DPDC) of the Ministry of Justice. “Advertising is indicative of business ethics. Freedom of initiative can not hurt the rights of the consumer,” he mentioned in a press conference last week.
Oliva added that other government agencies for women’s rights and racial equality expressed their concern over the ad in question since it “reinforces gender discrimination and racist stereotypes”.
A spokesperson for Brasil Kirin told the local press that the company “does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. The company conducts its business ethically and with respect to all its stakeholders and consumers.”
The company has until October 14 to file a defense of the ad with the Ministry of Justice.
Nuestro Cine: Hellish “Heli”
Last week we looked at the Peruvian and Venezuelan choices for the next Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Today we’ll examine the pick from the Latin American country that has yet to win in that category despite multiple nominations.
Argentine movies “The Secret in Their Eyes” (“El secreto de sus ojos”) and “The Official Story” (“La Historia Oficial”) have been the only Latin American films to revived the Oscar for best fringe film. Among Latin American countries, Mexico is the one with the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with eight finalists starting with 1960’s “Macario” and the most recent one being 2010’s “Biutiful.”
Set amidst the backdrop of the drugs, violence and corruption in Mexico, crime drama “Heli” was selected to represent the country in the upcoming Oscars. The film marks the debut of several newcomers including Armando Espitia who plays the titular protagonist, a seventeen-year-old whose life is flipped upside down when he discards packages of cocaine that was hidden by a friend in his house.
“Heli” was featured at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where some critics reportedly walked out of the theater due to its brutal depiction of drug violence in Mexico. Yet director Amat Escalante strongly defended his movie and called the violence affecting areas of his country as a “virus that is hurting many people.”
“It’s a moral responsibility to show violence as it is: sad and disgraceful, very dirty and a nightmare,” he added.
Despite the criticism, Escalante became the third Mexican in the past seven years to win the Best Director prize at Cannes.
Does “Heli” deserve to be Mexico’s first winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film? See for yourselves by viewing the film’ trailer below the page break:
Argentine movies “The Secret in Their Eyes” (“El secreto de sus ojos”) and “The Official Story” (“La Historia Oficial”) have been the only Latin American films to revived the Oscar for best fringe film. Among Latin American countries, Mexico is the one with the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with eight finalists starting with 1960’s “Macario” and the most recent one being 2010’s “Biutiful.”
Set amidst the backdrop of the drugs, violence and corruption in Mexico, crime drama “Heli” was selected to represent the country in the upcoming Oscars. The film marks the debut of several newcomers including Armando Espitia who plays the titular protagonist, a seventeen-year-old whose life is flipped upside down when he discards packages of cocaine that was hidden by a friend in his house.
“Heli” was featured at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where some critics reportedly walked out of the theater due to its brutal depiction of drug violence in Mexico. Yet director Amat Escalante strongly defended his movie and called the violence affecting areas of his country as a “virus that is hurting many people.”
“It’s a moral responsibility to show violence as it is: sad and disgraceful, very dirty and a nightmare,” he added.
Despite the criticism, Escalante became the third Mexican in the past seven years to win the Best Director prize at Cannes.
Does “Heli” deserve to be Mexico’s first winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film? See for yourselves by viewing the film’ trailer below the page break:
Daily Headlines: October 7, 2013 (Updated)
* Argentina: Doctors for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez have ordered her to take a month off after she was diagnosed with a brain hematoma.
Update: According to the Favaloro Foundation clinic in Buenos Aires where Fernandez is being treated, the sixty-year-old will undergo an emergency surgery on Tuesday to remove an accumulation of blood in her skull.
* Latin America: At least eight people died in Mexico when a monster truck lost control and careened into the stands while about nineteen people died in a bus crash in Peru.
* Guatemala: A U.S. court last week found ex-Guatemalan solider Jorge Sosa guilty of lying on his citizenship application regarding the role he played in the Dos Erres massacre of 1982.
* Cuba: A study from rights group Freedom House concluded that Cuba “has long ranked as one of the world’s most repressive environments for information and communication technologies.”
Video Source – YouTube via user BBCWorldNewsWatch
Online Sources including Update - The Guardian; Miami Herald; Huffington Post; GlobalPost; 3News NZ, Businessweek
Friday, October 4, 2013
Daily Headlines: October 4, 2013
* Mexico: Mexico City police clashed with several of the thousands of people who marched on the 45th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre to protest against President Enrique Peña Nieto’s economic plans.
* Ecuador: The Ecuadorian legislature overwhelming approved a controversial proposal made in August by President Rafael Correa to allow oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park.
* Brazil: Ten members of a Brazilian police unit aimed at addressing crime before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games have been accused of torturing and killing a construction worker.
* Colombia: Representatives of the FARC rebels claimed that peace talks with the Colombian government have achieved “modest progress.”
Video Source – YouTube via Univision Noticias
Online Sources- Deutsche Welle; CNN; The Latin Americanist; Bloomberg; The Guardian
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Nuestro Cine: Picking the Right Nominee
To be eligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, films must fulfill several requirements such as the "one-country-one-film" rule that stipulates that each country can only pick a single nominee per year. This rule is designed to help countries with minor film industries with major releases from established filmmaking nations. Yet the rule has come under fire in instances where worthwhile films are ignored in lieu of a country’s one nominee.
Last month, “Bad Hair” (“Pelo Malo”) received the Golden Shell as the top film at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival. The selection jury unanimously backed the Venezuelan-Peruvian and German production that depicts a “modern day cultural complexity and a young boy’s emerging identity guided by his single mother”.
“I made this film to liberate myself from the angst of so much intolerance. Being different isn’t a problem. Just the opposite. It is beautiful,” said Mariana Rondon, the Venezuelan director of “Bad Hair.”
Even though “Bad Hair” was eligible for nomination to the upcoming Oscars, “Breach in the Silence” ("Brecha en el silencio") was picked to represent Venezuela. The drama directed by brothers Andres and Luis Rodriguez spotlights domestic violence and its negative effects on families.
The movie has played at a number of festivals around the world though it has not garnered the same critical acclaim as “Bad Hair.” (As noted by the Latinos Post, one critic said that “'Breach in the Silence' is perhaps most notable for creating a lot of flash and noise, but providing little substance.”)
Was “Bad Hair” overlooked due to Rondon’s supposedly controversial remarks on “intolerance in a polarized country”? Or did the selection committee opt for a superior film with a better chance of being reaching the Academy’s shortlist? Judge for yourselves by viewing excepts from both films below the page break.
Last month, “Bad Hair” (“Pelo Malo”) received the Golden Shell as the top film at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival. The selection jury unanimously backed the Venezuelan-Peruvian and German production that depicts a “modern day cultural complexity and a young boy’s emerging identity guided by his single mother”.
“I made this film to liberate myself from the angst of so much intolerance. Being different isn’t a problem. Just the opposite. It is beautiful,” said Mariana Rondon, the Venezuelan director of “Bad Hair.”
Even though “Bad Hair” was eligible for nomination to the upcoming Oscars, “Breach in the Silence” ("Brecha en el silencio") was picked to represent Venezuela. The drama directed by brothers Andres and Luis Rodriguez spotlights domestic violence and its negative effects on families.
The movie has played at a number of festivals around the world though it has not garnered the same critical acclaim as “Bad Hair.” (As noted by the Latinos Post, one critic said that “'Breach in the Silence' is perhaps most notable for creating a lot of flash and noise, but providing little substance.”)
Was “Bad Hair” overlooked due to Rondon’s supposedly controversial remarks on “intolerance in a polarized country”? Or did the selection committee opt for a superior film with a better chance of being reaching the Academy’s shortlist? Judge for yourselves by viewing excepts from both films below the page break.
Radio and TV Marti On the Air Despite Gov’t Shutdown
Broadcasts to Cuba via Radio and TV Martí (RTVM) have continued despite a U.S. government shutdown that started on Tuesday.
According to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), U.S.-funded news that the organization oversees such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and RTVM are “necessary for conducting foreign relations essential to the national security.” Hence, BBG operations are exempt from being suspended during the government shutdown period.
BBG activities have been slimmed down to encourage the use of “pre-recorded material” and bars starting any “new programs or projects.” Nevertheless, breaking news and high-priority live news programs will continue and RTVM’s website has been kept updated with news stories. (Ironically, one of the website’s most recently headlines was the “failure” of negotiations yesterday between U.S. President Barack and Congressional leaders to end the shutdown.)
The fact that the Office of Management and Budget signed off on this indicates how high a priority our broadcasting activities are,” said BBG spokeswoman Lynne Weil to Foreign Policy’s The Cable website. “The mission of the agency is to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy”.
Broadcasts from Radio Martí (founded in 1983) and TV Martí (started in 1990) are based out of Miami and is rand are beamed into Cuba with the aim of overcoming the tight media controls under the Castro regime.
Daily Headlines: October 3, 2013
* Brazil: Brazilian “industry executives and analysts” are supposedly worried over the government’s plans to protect Internet privacy in the wake of spying allegations by the U.S. National Security Agency.
* U.S.: A U.S. appeals court found that the an unknown number of people eligible for citizenship have been denied due to a nonexistent article of the Mexican constitution.
* Latin America: Will a Colombian-made version of “Breaking Bad” that will air on Univision be as successful as the recently finished original version?
* Venezuela: The U.S. ordered the expulsion of three Venezuelan diplomats as a retaliatory move that has heightened tensions between the governments of both countries.
Video Source – YouTube via user NewsyWorld
Online Sources- USA Today; Voice of America; The A.V. Club; NPR; The Latin Americanist
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Daily Headlines: October 2, 2013
* Haiti: Police in Port-au-Prince clashed with some of the thousands of backers of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide who protested against the government led by Michel Martelly.
* Colombia: Gen. Flavio Buitrago became the second chief of security for former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to have been arrested over the past year due to alleged ties to drug traffickers.
* U.S.: Could Latino consumers play a decisive role in the potential success of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare?
* Argentina: The U.S. Supreme Court opted not to listen to an appeal from the Argentine government to avoid possibly paying the holders of billions of dollars of defaulted bonds.
Video Source – YouTube via euronews
Online Sources- LAHT; CNN; The Guardian; Bloomberg; Fox News Latino
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Nuestro Cine: Cleaning Up
We begin our look this week at some of the Latin American nominees for the upcoming Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
“The Cleaner” (“El Limpiador”) was chosen last week as Peru’s pick for top foreign language film at the Oscars.
According to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, “The Cleaner” was selected “for its original proposal of an apocalyptic Lima, where loneliness and strain are shown through an effective use of cinematographic elements, expressing a city that slowly fades out.” This can be seen in the film’s trailer that shows gray colors, hushed vocals and slow movements by the protagonists:
The sci-fi drama focuses on the ties between a forensic cleaner and an orphaned boy he takes care of. Both of them develop a friendship despite the devastation caused by a mysterious epidemic in Lima.
“The Cleaner” (“El Limpiador”) was chosen last week as Peru’s pick for top foreign language film at the Oscars.
According to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, “The Cleaner” was selected “for its original proposal of an apocalyptic Lima, where loneliness and strain are shown through an effective use of cinematographic elements, expressing a city that slowly fades out.” This can be seen in the film’s trailer that shows gray colors, hushed vocals and slow movements by the protagonists:
The sci-fi drama focuses on the ties between a forensic cleaner and an orphaned boy he takes care of. Both of them develop a friendship despite the devastation caused by a mysterious epidemic in Lima.
U.N. “Concerned” over Controversial Dominican Citizenship Ruling
The United Nations (UN) is “extremely concerned” over a recent Dominican court decision that could strip the citizenship of thousands of citizens with a Haitian background.
“We are extremely concerned that a ruling of the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court may deprive tens of thousands of people of nationality, virtually all of them of Haitian descent, and have a very negative impact on their other rights,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Monday.
Shamdasani added that last week’s court decision could lead to “disastrous” implications for people of Haitian descent residing in the Dominican Republic. Among the potential consequences are leaving tens of thousands of people stateless and without access to basic services.
Meanwhile, U.N. resident commissioner Lorenzo Jimenez said yesterday that the UN will conduct an "exhaustive study" to see if the court’s ruling violates international agreements. He also mentioned that the findings of such a study would be presented several weeks from now.
The decision, which was handed down on September 25th, was based on Article 11 of the Dominican Constitution that was ratified in 2010 and exempts children of diplomats and people in transit from becoming citizens if they were born on Dominican soil. The high court judges concluded that migrants who came to work in the Dominican Republic after 1929 were “in transit”; hence, voiding automatic citizenship to their descendants.
Haiti recalled its Ambassador to the Dominican Republic yesterday in response to the measure that could reignite diplomatic tensions between the countries that share the island of Hispaniola.
The ruling could also lead to the mass deportations of some of the estimated 500,000 migrants born in Haiti now live in the Dominican Republic. (Approximately 47,700 undocumented Haitian migrants were deported from the Dominican Republic between August 2012 and September 2013 as part of a government crackdown).
The possibility of becoming denationalized has worried some of the thousands of Dominicans citizens with a Haitian background:
Daily Headlines: October 1, 2013 (Updated)
* Brazil: A Brazilian court dismissed a lawsuit against Chevron and Transocean seeking about $18 billion in damages for a November 2011 offshore oil spill.
* Latin America: According to the International Monetary Fund, Latin America is the region that would be the most hurt if U.S. interest rates rise faster than that country’s economic recovery.
* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro expelled three senior U.S. Embassy officials from Venezuela and accused them of plotting to sabotage the economy.
Update: The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela claimed today that the expelled officials "were in Bolivar state conducting normal diplomatic engagement" and "completely rejected the Venezuelan government's allegations of U.S. government involvement in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government."
* Argentina: Representatives of Argentina and Iran will meet in Geneva next month in order to continue discussions related to the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires cultural center.
Video Source – YouTube via user WSJDigitalNetwork
Online Sources including Update- NBC News; Mercopress; BBC News; Reuters
Monday, September 30, 2013
Daily Headlines: September 30, 2013
* U.S.: On Sunday, Venezuelan pitcher Henderson Alvarez hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history to end on a wild pitch.
* Mexico: Why is Laura Bozzo, the Latin American version of talk show host Jerry Springer, engaged in a feud with well-known Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui?
* Colombia: Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos rejected the mediation of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson in the release of a former U.S. Marine kidnapped by the FARC guerillas since June.
* Argentina: A six-year-old girl has become the first transgendered person in Argentina to officially change her identity after her mother petitioned the country’s president and the governor of Buenos Aires.
Video Source – MLB.com
Online Sources- USA Today; Reuters; The Telegraph; Latin Times
* Mexico: Why is Laura Bozzo, the Latin American version of talk show host Jerry Springer, engaged in a feud with well-known Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui?
* Colombia: Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos rejected the mediation of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson in the release of a former U.S. Marine kidnapped by the FARC guerillas since June.
* Argentina: A six-year-old girl has become the first transgendered person in Argentina to officially change her identity after her mother petitioned the country’s president and the governor of Buenos Aires.
Video Source – MLB.com
Online Sources- USA Today; Reuters; The Telegraph; Latin Times
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