De Musica Ligera: Jobim

This Saturday marks what would have been the 87th birthday of the famed Brazilian singer and songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, "Tom" gained prominence in his native land after he collaborated with poet Vinícius de Moraes to write music for the 1956 play "Orfeu da Conceição" and its subsequent film adaptation, "Black Orpheus." He would soon help spearhead the bossa nova musical genre along with the likes of Luiz Bonfá and João Gilberto.  Jobim would make his name on the world stage by the mid-1960s with the skyrocketing popularity of bossa nova music worldwide.  His first big hit abroad was the recording of "Desafinado" by saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrd in 1962.  Yet his main claim to fame was Astrud Gilberto's version of "The Girl From Ipanema" from the classic 1964 album "Getz/Gilberto."
 
Over the next three decades Jobim emerged as an influential jazz artist who worked on albums with well-known musicians such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald as well as Brazilian contemporaries like Ellis Regina, Gal Costa and Sergio Mandes.  Songs including "Waters of March", "One Note Samba" and "Wave" became mainstays of jazz and Brazilian music.

The video below the page break comes from Jobim's 1986 performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival.  Recorded eight years before he passed away, Jobim interpreted some of his best-known tunes that continue to be cherished today: 

Daily Headlines: January 24, 2014

* Chile: A Memorial for Diversity was inaugurated this week and dedicated to the late Daniel Zamudio, a gay Chilean teen who in 2012 was tortured and murdered due to his sexual orientation.

* Argentina: The government announced plans to ease currency controls after the Argentine peso on Thursday devalued by the most since the 2002 economic crisis.

* Bolivia: “Bolivia cannot remain excluded from this technology, which belongs to all humankind,” said President Evo Morales as he declared that his country would construct a nuclear power plant.

* Panama: Can genetically modified mosquitos help ease an outbreak of the dengue fever in Panama?
 
Video Source – CNN Chile via YouTube

Online Sources- I Love Chile News; Bloomberg; Inside Costa Rica; TIME

Daily Headlines: January 23, 2014

* Colombia: Star striker Radamel Falcao will likely miss this summer’s World Cup after he tore an anterior cruciate ligament during a soccer match in France on Wednesday.

* South America: The value of the Argentine peso declined to its weakest level in twelve years today while the Venezuelan government unveiled a new dual-rate foreign exchange system.

* Puerto Rico: A spokeswoman for the White House claimed that the Obama administration is not considering a financial bailout to an economically weak Puerto Rico.

* Latin America: A U.N. report published this week found that gender inequality persists throughout Latin America despite more women being employed throughout the region.

Video Source – YouTube user Pasión Futbolista

Online Sources- ESPN FC; Reuters; Bloomberg; Xinhua; La Prensa

Mexican on Death Row Executed in Texas (Update)

Update (11:55 PM): Edgar Tamayo was executed via lethal injection on Wednesday night.

According to a report from the Associated Press:

Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled "no" and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 17 minutes after the drug was administered, at 9:32 p.m. CST.

Tamayo never looked toward (murdered policeman Guy) Gaddis' mother, two brothers and two other relatives who watched through a window. He selected no witnesses of his own.

There were several dozen police officers and supporters of the slain patrolman were revving their motorcycles outside of the prison before witnesses were let inside the death chamber.

Afterwords, Gaddis' mother admitted that "my broken heart is feeling better" while one of the slain officer's brothers deemed Tamayo as a "coward who shot my brother in his back."

Meanwhile, Tamayo's  father claimed that he was innocent and that members of his family had been praying for him. 

Update (10:20 PM): The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Mexican national and death row inmate Edgar Tamayo.  As a result, it's expected that Tamayo will be executed via lethal injection sometime tonight.

"Twenty years have been long enough.  I'm ready," said part of a statement issued by Tamayo on Wednesday.  Prison officials claimed that he has been calm in anticipation of his execution.
 Update (9:00 PM): Authorities in Texas have temporarily delayed the execution of convicted murderer Edgar Tamayo while the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal appeal.

The high tribunal has until midnight to make a decision on the fate of Tamayo though if no ruling is made a new date for execution may need to be set.

As mentioned in our original text below, the Mexican government called for Tamayo's execution to be suspended since it violates international law while the U.S. State Department expressed its concern that the punishment could impact the way U.S. citizens are treated in other countries.  Yet Texas state officials had been vehemently opposed to either postponing the execution or commuting Tamayo's sentence.

Original Post: A Mexican national sitting on death row in Texas is only a few hours away from being executed. 

Barring a last-second reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Rick Perry, Edgar Tamayo is scheduled to die via lethal injection at approximately 6:00 pm local time.  The odds that he will avoid being executed at the appointed hour are very slim as he faces decreasing legal options.  The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request this morning while a U.S. federal court denied an appeal contending that Tamayo is mentally impaired.

Tamayo, who was convicted of murdering Houston police officer Guy Gaddis in 1994, would be the first execution this year in Texas.  (Texas was the most active capital punishment state last year with sixteen people were put to death in 2013).

Tamayo’s planned execution comes amidst protests from Mexican officials such as the country’s Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to the U.S.

“If Edgar Tamayo's execution were to go ahead without his trial being reviewed and his sentence reconsidered ... it would be a clear violation of the United States' international obligations,” read a recent statement issued by the Mexican foreign ministry.  The ministry also argued that Tamayo was never advised under an international treaty that he could get legal help from his home nation after his arrest.

Yesterday the U.S. State Department reiterated the stance of Secretary of State John Kerry alleged that the possible death of Tamayo “could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries”.  In an article written last week, ex-Texas Gov. and self-professed capital punishment backer Mark White said, “This case is not about whether we support or oppose the death penalty. It’s about fairness and having the courts hear all the key facts”.

Despite these objections and others including an appeal from Tamayo’s father, it appears as if Gov. Perry will not delay the 46-year-old’s execution.

Daily Headlines: January 22, 2014

* Brazil: FIFA officials warned that the Brazilian city of Curitiba could be excluded from hosting World Cup matches in June while International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach noted that work must be sped up ahead of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

* U.S.: A study published this month in the journal “Crime & Delinquency” concluded that about 44% of Latino men and 16% of Latinas are arrested at least once on non-traffic-related crimes by the time they turn 23-years-old.

* Panama: Representatives of the Panama Canal Authority and the consortium contracted to expand the famed waterway negotiated possible ways to make sure work continues on the troubled project.

* Ecuador: Ecuador is reportedly topping Brazil as Latin America’s top cocoa producer and in 2015 could become the number-four producer of cocoa in the world.

Video Source – sntv via YouTube (“World Cup workers in the southern city of Curitiba went on strike (in December) because of late pay at one of the stadiums that will host matches during the 2014 tournament”.)

Online Sources- Bloomberg; CNN; Fox News Latino; Reuters; Washington Post

Nuestro Cine: Cesar Chavez on the Silver Screen (Take Two)

Last October we linked to the trailer of a feature film on Latino labor rights and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez that will be released in March. Entitled “Cesar Chavez: An American Hero,” the movie is directed by Mexican actor Diego Luna and stars Michael Peña, America Ferrera, John Malkovich and Rosario Dawson.

Several days ago a second theatrical trailer of the Chavez biopic was released and can be viewed below the page break:

Daily Headlines: January 21, 2014

* Argentina: Juan Gelman, the renown Argentine poet and political activist whose son and daughter-in-law were killed during the “Dirty War”, died last week at the age of 83.

* Haiti: A Haitian judge charged nine people including several close allies of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of being involved in the April 2000 murder of radio station owner and journalist Jean Dominique.

* Colombia: The Colombian military claimed that troops killed fourteen members of the FARC guerillas during a raid in the eastern state of Arauca.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials pledged to mediate in the tense and violent standoff between sugarcane cutters seeking greater medical benefits and their employers.

Video Source – EFE International via YouTube (The late wordsmith Juan Gelman located his granddaughter, Macarena, in 2000 after she was stolen from her parents in 1976 and illegally put up for adoption).

Online Sources- Salon.com; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; ABC News; NBC News

Daily Headlines: January 17, 2014

Note: The following video contains some graphic images and is Not Safe for Work.

* Latin America: A new study from Mexican think-tank Seguridad, Justicia y Paz concluded that forty of the world’s top fifty most murderous cities are located in Latin America and that “homicides in (the region) are well above the world average.”

* Colombia: Colombian authorities blamed the FARC for a bombing yesterday that left at least one person dead though a spokesman for the rebels denied that the guerillas were behind the attack.

* Chile: Chilean government officials denied accusations of environmental and archeological damage caused by the Dakar Rally that has been held in South America since 2009.

* U.S.: The American Civil Liberties Union has called for a federal investigation into allegedly abusive practices by the U.S. Border Patrol at checkpoints in Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Video Source – Channel 4 via YouTube (For the third straight year Mexican think-tank Seguridad, Justicia y Paz found that the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula is the murder capital of the world.)
 
Online Sources- Fox News Latino; The Guardian; NBC News; Miami Herald

Nuestro Cine: “Narco Cultura”

This morning the finalists to the upcoming Oscars were announced and the Alfonso Cuarón-directed “Gravity” received ten nominations in categories like Best Picture and Best Director.  While the Academy honored the Mexican-born Cuarón and his daring stroller set in outer space, films from Latin American were snubbed and will not be up for the Oscars.

Despite strong submissions like a Peruvian film set in a stark Lima of the future or an uplifting drama examining a Chilean divorcee’s plunge into romance, no movies from the Americas made it to the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film.  The Uruguayan movie “Anina” was wonderfully drawn and had a charming plot but was not chosen as a finalist for Best Animated Feature Film.

Similar to “Heli,” Mexico’s pick for Best Foreign Language Film, “Narco Cultura” examines the death and destruction caused by drug violence in that country.  Yet the documentary differs in that it also looks at the appeal that the drug culture has via musicians and their narcocorrido songs.  The film depicts the glorification of drug traffickers as modern day Robin Hoods through music with lyrics like “With an AK-47 and a bazooka on my shoulder/ Cross my path and I’ll chop your head off/ We’re bloodthirsty, crazy and we like to kill.”  This is contrasted with the testimony of a Ciudad Juarez crime scene investigator who has attended the funerals of several of his colleagues murdered while working by drug gangs.

Below the page break is the trailer to “Narco Cultura”, which was not selected as a finalist in the top documentary category at the Oscars:

Daily Headlines: January 16, 2014

* Guatemala: Vice President Roxana Baldetti was released from a medical clinic after a powder that may have been lime was thrown on her following the president's state of the nation speech.

* Cuba: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on the Vatican to help push for the release of Alan Gross, a contractor imprisoned in Cuba since 2009.

* Mexico: Most “self-defense” groups in Michoacán state have strongly refused the government’s call to lay down their arms and allow an influx of federal troops to combat drug traffickers.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro declared that the Venezuelan currency would not be devaluated despite high inflation and shortages of some consumer goods.

Video Source – YouTube user CadenaTres
 
Online Sources- Fox News Latino; Reuters; BBC News

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2014

* Brazil: The percentage of Brazilian sugar turned into ethanol grew in 2013 and could keep increasing this year as the prices of the sweetener are expected to continue to plunge.

* Central America: Recent polls in El Salvador and Costa Rica have indicated that conservative candidates hold slight leads ahead of February's presidential elections though it might not be enough to avoid a runoff.
 
* Puerto Rico: Dozens of schools did not open on Tuesday as teachers on the island went on strike against planned cuts to their pension system.

* Mexico: Several people in the Mexican state of Michoacán have died in the past few days amid heightened tensions involving local “self-defense” groups, drug gangs and federal troops.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- Bloomberg; BBC News; The Guardian; Reuters; NBC News

Lawyers Seek Impeachment of Troubled Brazilian Governor

A group of human rights lawyers filed a request today for the impeachment of a Brazilian governor who has come under fire over rampant prison violence.

The twelve attorneys representing the Lawyers Collective of Human Rights (Cadhu, in Portuguese) appealed to the Maranhão state legislature and claimed that Gov. Roseana Sarney is at fault for major overcrowding of local prisons as well as serious violations of the human rights of inmates.

“The impeachment law says that the chief of the executive branch may be removed from office if, in the case of violation of basic rights, he or she doesn’t hold anyone accountable for the abuses,” said Cadhu member Eloisa Machado de Almeida.

“We have long denounced the chaos that has worsened this state government.  They had the information to investigate and ensure that (violence in Maranhão prisons) did not occur,” said fellow petitioner Murilo Henrique Morelli. 

“The majority of legislators represent the people of Maranhão and the residents are clamoring for peace,” Morelli added.

The Maranhão state legislature has fifteen days to create a commission to investigate the lawyers’ petition.

Gov. Sarney, daughter of former Brazilian President José Sarney, has yet to respond to the push for impeachment.  In the aftermath of the recent firebombing of a bus that killed one girl, she alleged that nearly 2800 extra spaces for prisoners were made available and that the spike in violence in her state was a “consequence of a growing population and the growing wealth in the state.”  (But as this article notes, Maranhão is Brazil’s second-most impoverished state and in 2013 the state’s population grew by almost 4% while the homicide rate soared by nearly 62%).

Daily Headlines: January 14, 2014

* Mexico: Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong announced that federal troops would be sent to an area of Michoacán state where vigilante “self-defense” groups have been combating drug traffickers.

* Central America: While trouble continues to plague the expansion of the Panama Canal, Nicaraguan officials said that construction would commence in December of a “mega-waterway” connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

* U.S.: Technical problems, grammatical mistakes and erroneous translations have reportedly plagued the Spanish version of the federal government’s Obamacare/Affordable Care Act website.

* Colombia: Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez confirmed the ouster of Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro though it remains to be seen if the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will intercede on his behalf.

Video Source – AFP via YouTube

Online Sources- Miami Herald; Fox News Latino; Prensa Latina; The Telegraph; Al Jazeera English

Reports: Increase in Argentines Smuggling Pot from Uruguay

“Marijuana tourism” has allegedly boomed in the U.S. state of Colorado ever since a law permitting the recreational use of the drug went into effect on January 1st.  A similar case appears to be occurring several thousand miles away in Uruguay where a major marijuana legalization proposal became law nearly one month ago.

Officials in neighboring Argentina have reported an uptick in the number of residents caught trying to smuggle marijuana after having visited Uruguay.  Three to four people per day are allegedly caught with cannabis in their attempt to return to Argentina via points of entry such as ferry terminals and major airports.  This increase is said to be “unprecedented” compared to previous end-of-the-year holiday breaks.

Federal prosecutors subsequently intervened and most cases were rapidly closed since the amount of marijuana found was small and did not break Argentine law allowing “personal doses” of the drug.
As long as the marijuana is “not shown off ostentatiously and found discreetly within the luggage” then it is not a punishable offense, according to unnamed “judicial sources” cited in news reports.

The new law permits the sale of up to 1.4 ounces of cannabis to registered users over the age of 18 via a government-regulated marketplace.  Yet the pilot program is expected to go into effect later this year and it bars tourists from legally purchasing marijuana in the South American country.

“This is not like the Netherlands… (The Uruguayan government) is not promoting in any shape or form tourism related to marijuana” said Uruguayan Tourism Minister Benjamín Liberoff in an interview weeks ago with the Europa Press. 

He also denied that a spike in requests for residency in Uruguay are related to marijuana legalization and could be because of “other laws such as allowing same-sex marriage…or economic growth that we’ve enjoyed in recent years.”

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2014

* Mexico: Alfonso Cuarôn of Mexico was named Best Director at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards and, thus, could be the favorite to capture top director honors at the upcoming Oscars.

* Brazil: Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, claimed in an interview that the Brazilian government should grant asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

* Venezuela: Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez gave out his personal phone number as part of a campaign to combat corruption launched after the murder of ex-beauty queen and actress Monica Spear and her husband.

* Chile: President Sebastián Piñera vowed that the constructors of Chile’s first drawbridge will “fix…the mistake” after it was discovered that one of the stricture’s road decks was built upside down.

Video Source – WIRED via YouTube
 
Online Sources- UPI; Sky News; ZDNet; Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: January 8, 2014

* Venezuela: The shocking murder of actress and former Miss Venezuelan Monica Spear has shined a light on the South American country's high levels of violence.

* Mexico: Mexico's National Human Rights Commission blasted local authorities for not properly investigating the 2010 massacre of seventy-two undocumented immigrants in Tamaulipas state.

* Panama: Operators of the Panama Canal offered $283 million to a Spanish-led consortium as part of a deal to continue the pricey expansion of the famed waterway.

* Latin America: Santa Marta, Colombia, several locations in Uruguay and the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro were named by Travel + Leisure magazine as among the "Best Places to Travel in 2014."

* U.S.: Is the Latino-themed spinoff to the Paranormal Activity film series a "savvy move" or a box office bust?

* Brazil: A recent Brazilian government report found that the country's troublesome prison system continues to be overwhelmed by a rapidly growing inmate population.

* Argentina: In the latest chapter of the diplomatic brouhaha over the Falklands, the Argentine government appointed a new minister to oversee relations with the British-controlled archipelago.