Septiembre 7, 2008 Reuters La tormenta tropical Lowell se formó en aguas del océano Pacífico frente a México y podría golpear la península de Baja California el próximo fin de semana, dijo el domingo el Centro de Huracanes de Estados Unidos en un reporte.

En Baja California se encuentra Los Cabos, un centro turístico frecuentado principalmente por turistas estadounidenses. La región no tiene instalaciones petroleras.Read More

Septiembre 7, 2008 BBC Mundo Venezuela anunció este sábado que realizará ejercicios navales con Rusia en sus aguas territoriales del Caribe, entre el 10 y el 14 de noviembre.

“Con la finalidad de realizar ejercicios operacionales en el mar Caribe con la Armada Nacional Bolivariana, representantes de la Federación Rusa tienen previsto visitar el territorio venezolano entre los días 10 y 14 de noviembre del presente año para unificar lazos de amistad y cooperación”, señala un comunicado, divulgado en parte por el diario El Universal.

El director de Inteligencia Estratégica del Estado Mayor Naval, contraalmirante Salvatore Cammarata, indicó en dicho comunicado que participarán cuatro buques y unos 1.000 militares rusos.Read More

September 7, 2008 Miami Herald The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela says he regrets President Hugo Chávez’s recent warning that he could be asked to leave the country, and says Washington is still interested in improving ties.

Ambassador Patrick Duddy recently expressed concern about rising drug trafficking through Venezuela. That prompted Chávez to warn that the diplomat could soon be ``packing his bags.’’

Duddy says he had tried to offer a ‘’respectful’’ response to an earlier overture by Chávez.

The newspaper El Nacional quoted Duddy as saying Friday that the U.S. government is interested in ``finding the way to improve our relations.’’Read More

Septiembre 6, 2008 Reuters Las autoridades venezolanas están investigando las actividades que realizaba en el país el ex ministro y ex senador colombiano Alvaro Araújo, capturado en un estado fronterizo con Colombia, dijo el Gobierno de Venezuela en un comunicado.

Araújo, que es buscado en su país por su presunta vinculación con un secuestro en Colombia y supuestos nexos con organizaciones paramilitares en ese país, fue arrestado por las autoridades locales en Maracaibo, en el estado Zulia.Read More

September 6, 2008, Boston Globe
The state was granted another two-week extension yesterday of its Medicaid waiver to keep its pioneering healthcare law running until at least Sept. 22, as officials negotiate with federal regulators over renewing the program. Federal funding was slated to expire June 30, but the state has received five previous extensions. At stake is roughly $11 billion in federal funds over three years that is used to help subsidize insurance for low-income residents. Read More

September 5, 2008 New York Times With their nominating conventions behind them, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain on Friday opened their march to Election Day, with a bleak unemployment report setting the tone for the final 60 days of their long campaign for the White House.
As both campaigns grappled for the edge in claiming the mantle of change, Mr. Obama criticized his rivals for failing to offer economic solutions during the Republican convention that ended Thursday night, while Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, barely waited until the last balloon dropped before heading to Wisconsin.
For his part, Mr. Obama asked voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania to tune out the static that has consumed the presidential race and reflect on which party would bring change vto Washington.Read More

Septiembre 5, 2008 Reuters Autoridades militares venezolanas capturaron al ex ministro y ex senador colombiano Alvaro Araújo, buscado en su país por su presunta vinculación con un secuestro en Colombia, informaron el viernes medios locales.

Araújo, quien portaba documentos de identidad falsos, fue capturado en la víspera en el occidente de Venezuela y podría ser enviado este viernes a Colombia, reportó el diario local El Universal.

El estatal canal de televisión VTV también reportó la detención, aunque acotó que no había inmediata confirmación de las autoridades locales.Read More

September 5, 2008 Miami Herald GONAIVES, Haiti—Her third day without food or water, Fleurie Benita waded through the calf-high mud, balancing her life’s possessions on her head, uncertain of what to do next, or what will come next.
With every step, the mother of four recalled the blinding sheets of rain and the sound of death knocking at her front door. Then her desperate decision.
‘’I grabbed the children and ran. We ran to a neighbor’s house,’’ said Benita, 24, who like so many here credit the last-minute decision to brave Tropical Storm Hanna’s pounding downpour for saving her life. ``The water didn’t even leave me a bed to sleep in. Even the pots and pans were washed away.’’
After three days of relentless rains from Hanna, the sun finally pierced the clouds Thursday in this low-lying city. And residents began to survey the damage.Read More

September 5, 2008 Miami Herald It took nearly five months, two failed nominations and a trail of drowned bodies in the wake of three deadly storms.
And as two more hurricanes prepared to wreak havoc on a storm-ravaged Haiti, Haitian senators decided Friday to finally end the country’s nearly 5-month-old political crisis they created by giving Prime Minister Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, the power to govern.
In a 16-0 vote, with one senator abstaining, lawmakers approved Pierre-Louis’ governing platform and 18-member cabinet, making her only the second woman in Haiti’s history to hold the title of prime minister. The historical session began Thursday evening and continued into the wee hours of Friday morning with Senate President Kely Bastien telling Pierre-Louis, 60, at 3:36 a.m. that she is now officially ``authorized to govern the country.’’

His declaration came on the heels of more than seven hours of debate and questioning—and a last-minute change of heart by one senator who temporarily put the approval in jeopardy by abstaining during the initial vote.

‘’What happened here today is the result of dialogue and the conviction of all of us here,’’ Bastien told his colleagues in the packed Senate chamber, where Pierre-Louis’ supporters had gathered all night. ``A parliament is not guaranteed democracy, but democracy cannot exist without a parliament. I hope that the dialogue will continue.’’Read More

Sept. 5, 2008, 8:47AM Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON — The nation’s unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, dramatic proof of the mounting damage a deeply troubled economy is inflicting on workers and businesses alike.The Labor Department’s report, released today, showed the increasing toll the housing, credit and financial crises are taking on the economy.Read More

Septiembre 4, 2008 El Universal La Policía Federal (PF) detuvo en Cancún, Quintana Roo, a dos ciudadanos de nacionalidad cubana presuntamente involucrados con la ejecución y decapitación de 12 individuos hallados en una carretera del estado de Yucatán.
La Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Federal (SSPF) informó hoy sobre la captura, en la ciudad de Cancún, de Ricardo Coto Vázquez (39 años) y Yamiset Santana Lam (30), a quienes se les aseguraron vehículos, armas de fuego, un rifle de asalto y una pistola, así como cartuchos útiles, dinero y sobre todo cheques y documentos de bancos estadounidenses.
Destacan entre los objetos asegurados un talonario de cheques de un banco norteamericano, identificaciones estadounidenses y cubanas, así como una tarjeta de seguro social de los Estados Unidos, una licencia de conducir de ese país y casi un centenar de tarjetas de presentación de Seguridad Preventiva y de Tránsito y Bomberos.Read More

Septiembre 4, 2008 El Nacional En cadena nacional, el presidente Hugo Chávez asumió la responsabilidad por las fallas eléctricas ocurridas en los últimos días en distintas zonas del país, no sin antes tildar de “pesimistas” y “oligarcas” los titulares de los diarios de circulación nacional que criticaron la frecuencia de los apagones.
“Aquí estamos, frente al timón”, aseguró el mandatario. “Oligarcas, pitiyanquis, sangran ustedes por la herida (...) Ellos siguen vendiendo el fraude del sistema capitalista. Nosotros estamos construyendo un nuevo sistema”, señaló en contra de la oposición y los medios de comunicación.Read More

Septiembre 3, 2008 Reuters La presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernández, firmó el miércoles un decreto para declarar de interés público la construcción de una línea ferroviaria que unirá el país con Chile a través de la Cordillera de los Andes, un proyecto relevante para el comercio bilateral.
La inciativa avala los proyectos privados presentados por las empresas argentinas Corporación América y Tecnicagua, en una obra presupuestada en 2.810 millones de dólares.
Al ser una obra de interés público nacional, con riesgos privados de inversión, se deja de lado el proceso natural de licitación abierta.Read More

September 3, 2008 New York Times President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil dipped his hands on Tuesday in the first oil from vast new reserves. Mr. da Silva, left, formally started the operation of an offshore platform as his government seeks a greater share of the wealth it hopes will help lift millions out of poverty and expand Brazil’s economy. Petrobras, a state-controlled corporation, announced last year the second-biggest oil find in 20 years.Read More

Septiembre 3, 2008 EFE El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia, Jaime Bermúdez, reiteró hoy la disposición de su país para reanudar las relaciones con Ecuador, rotas desde marzo pasado, aunque expresó que no cree que el problema se resuelva pronto.
Ecuador rompió las relaciones diplomáticas el 2 de marzo, dos días después de que tropas colombianas bombardearan un campamento ilegal de la guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) en territorio ecuatoriano, con un saldo de 26 personas muertas.
“Colombia tiene la disposición de avanzar en la reanudación de las relaciones lo antes posible”, manifestó Bermúdez durante una reunión de empresarios de la Cámara de Comercio Colombo-americana en Bogotá.
“A los colombianos nos ha faltado acercarnos más a Ecuador”, admitió.
El canciller precisó que hace dos semanas se reunió con su homóloga de Ecuador, María Isabel Salvador, gracias a la gestión de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), sin precisar el lugar y los temas tratados.Read More

Septiembre 3, 2008 Reuters El ex presidente de Cuba Fidel Castro dijo el miércoles que el huracán Gustav golpeó a la isla caribeña con la fuerza de una bomba nuclear, causando problemas para cubrir las necesidades básicas de alimentación de pobladores de algunas zonas.

En una columna publicada en internet, Castro dijo que Gustav, que el sábado azotó la parte occidental de Cuba con vientos de hasta 240 kilómetros por hora, había dañado o destruido 100.000 viviendas y asestó un duro golpe a la agricultura local.

El líder dijo que las imágenes de televisión de la Isla de la Juventud, que está ubicada a unos 64 kilómetros de la costa sudocciental de Cuba, “me recordaban la desolación que vi cuando visité Hiroshima, que fue víctima del ataque con la primera bomba atómica en agosto de 1945.”Read More

Septiembre 3, 2008 El Nacional El presidente de Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, valoró este miércoles la “generosidad y solidaridad” de su homólogo Hugo Chávez, pese a que ambos tienen “maneras de pensar muy distintas”.
En una rueda de prensa concedida en Bruselas tras pronunciar un discurso solemne ante el Parlamento Europeo, Arias recordó que “la cooperación que está dando Venezuela a los países de América Latina y el Caribe es por lo menos unas cuatro o cinco veces más elevada que la que da Estados Unidos” a los mismos.
“Venezuela es un país al que le entran 350.000.000 millones de dólares todos los días. Eso le permite a su presidente ser muy generoso con mucha gente”, ha afirmado en respuesta a una pregunta y aludiendo a los ingresos procedentes del petróleo del país sudamericano. Read More

September 3, 2008 Reuters Heavy rains flooded parts of Haiti with head-high water on Tuesday and sent walls of mud down the hillsides, killing at least 25 people as Tropical Storm Hanna swirled over the Bahamas and took aim at the southeastern United States.
A new tropical storm, Josephine, formed off Africa behind Tropical Storm Ike. Both were moving westward just as Hurricane Gustav dissipated after slamming into the U.S. Gulf Coast near New Orleans.
The flurry of Atlantic storms underscored predictions for a busier than normal hurricane season and was worrisome news for U.S. oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico, millions of people living in the Caribbean and on U.S. coasts, and farmers fearing flooded fields.Read More

Septiembre 2, 2008 El Nacional Un tribunal estadounidense comenzar en Miami el juicio del denominado “caso del maletín”, que con 800.000 dólares en su interior fue decomisado a un empresario cuando supuestamente iba a entregarlo a la campaña de la hoy presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernández.
El proceso, que pudiera desvelar la supuesta injerencia del Gobierno venezolano en los asuntos internos de sus vecinos latinoamericanos, se iniciará con la selección de los 12 miembros del jurado.
En el banquillo de los acusados está el empresario Franklin Durán, el único de los cinco involucrados que decidió ir a juicio ante la jueza Joan Lenard y que deberá responder las acusaciones del fiscal Thomas Mulvihill. Read More

Septiembre 2, 2008 BBC Mundo El recién posesionado presidente de Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, advirtió de una posible conjura golpista contra su gobierno.
En un mensaje a la nación, Lugo sostuvo que políticos rivales, incluyendo al ex presidente Nicanor Duarte Frutos, se habrían reunido con una figura militar clave para sondear apoyo a sus ambiciones políticas. Varios de los supuestos participantes negaron que esa reunión hubiese ocurrido.
Pero Lugo denunció “intenciones golpistas de sectores antidemocráticos y retrógrados”.
El mandatario paraguayo acusó al general retirado Lino Cesar Oviedo, quien ocupó el tercer puesto en las elecciones presidenciales de abril pasado y quien ha sido acusado en el pasado de participación en otras insurrecciones militares, de servir de anfirtrión a la reunión en su casa el domingo pasado. Read More

September 2, 2008 Mercopress Evo Morales, Bolivia’s anti-Washington president, has arrived in Tehran on his first official visit to the Islamic Republic. Morales’s plane touched down at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on Monday morning.
Accompanied by the Bolivian energy minister, he was welcomed at the airport by Iran’s Minister of Industries and Mining, Ali Akbar Mehrabian.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will officially welcome Morales at the presidential complex later in the day.
The Bolivian president has arrived in Tehran from Libya where he met Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries on August 13, 2008.Read More

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times September 1, 2008
MEXICO CITY—Perhaps nothing reveals this country’s kidnapping dread better than one product now on offer from a Mexican company: a tiny transmitter that is implanted under the skin to beam the person’s whereabouts to a satellite.Employing more conventional safeguards, businessmen travel with bodyguards, and children in tony neighborhoods attend classes behind Ft. Knox-like security. The insurance industry has pondered whether to offer kidnapping protection.Read More

September 1, 2008 Los Angeles Times Amid rising tensions over Georgia, U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that Russia is moving to rebuild one of the most dangerous features of the old Soviet Union’s security structure—its alliance with Cuba.

Moscow has been signaling that it wants to restore a long relationship with Havana that included not only economic ties, but also military and intelligence cooperation. The relationship brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when Russia secretly installed nuclear missiles on the island.Read More

August 31, 2008 Miami Herald Venezuela on Sunday rejected U.S. requests to resume cooperation in the war on drugs, saying it has made progress despite an alleged fourfold-gain in the amount of Colombian cocaine now passing through its territory.

In the latest barb-trading over the issue, Venezuela dismissed U.S. attempts to renew talks on drugs as “useless and inopportune,” saying U.S. officials should focus on slashing demand for drugs at home rather than blaming setbacks on other nations’ supposed lack of cooperation.Read More

August 31,2008 Miami Herald A Venezuelan will face trial in a case involving of a briefcase full of money—allegedly a campaign contribution on its way to Argentina from Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

A trial is set to begin next week in Miami federal court involving a Venezuelan man charged in the alleged coverup last year of Venezuela’s $800,000 campaign donation to an Argentine presidential candidate.

The charges brought against Franklin Duran sparked intrigue among the governments of the United States, Venezuela and Argentina. It will be a case in which the alleged crimes themselves are less important than the very context in which they were reportedly committed.Read More

Posted by Michael Kranish August 29, 2008 10:50 AM
DAYTON, Ohio—Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a dark horse candidate with little national prominence, is Republican John McCain’s choice as his running mate, a campaign official told the Globe. Palin, a 44-year-old mother of five, including a 4-month-old with Down’s syndrome, was elected governor in 2006 as a political reformer. She is the second woman on a major party presidential ticket, afterDemocrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.Read More

August 29, 2008 Miami Herald Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Rosales has claimed that a former U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Charles Ford, asked him to give political asylum to Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile accused in several terrorist attacks against the Havana government.Read More

August 28, 2008 Los Angeles Times Fear and foreboding gripped this still-mending city today as a potential Category 3 hurricane whirled toward the Gulf Coast on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s three-year anniversary.Read More

August 28,2008 Los Angeles Times A growing financial scandal in the 2-million-member Service Employees International Union has prompted a federal criminal investigation into the labor organization’s largest California local, sources familiar with the probe say.

U.S. Labor Department authorities are examining payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars by the union and a related charity to firms owned by relatives of the Los Angeles local’s president and expenditures of similar sums on a golf tournament, restaurants, a cigar lounge and entertainment companies, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.Read More

August 27, 2008 BBC While the prospect of peace talks with Colombia’s main guerrilla armies remains remote, a tiny splinter group has surrendered, presenting the government with an alternative strategy to pressure rebel units into abandoning the 44-year civil conflict.
“We believe it is possible to negotiate with individual blocs and fronts and offer them a dignified way out,” said Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo.
He was speaking after presiding over the demobilisation of the Guevarista Revolutionary Army (ERG), a splinter group of the larger National Liberation Army (ELN).
Although there is no dialogue with the ELN and the more powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) leadership, the government is now seeking to use the ERG model and apply pressure on individual guerrilla units to negotiate and surrender. Read More

ELPAÍS.com /- Madrid / Phoenix - 27/08/2008
Agentes de inmigración de EE UU han arrestado a 595 inmigrantes ilegales en la mayor redada de su historia en un entorno laboral. Una investigación sobre robo de identidades y falsificación de cartillas de la seguridad social llevó a la operación en una planta de fabricación de componentes eléctricos en la ciudad de Phoenix, capital del estado de Arizona, fronterizo con México.Read More

August 26, 2008 The Denver Post Hillary Rodham Clinton took the stage at the sold-out Emily’s List luncheon and asked all her supporters to work as hard for Barack Obama as they did for her.
“This could not be a better day for ask for the power of the women’s vote,” she said this afternoon, the 88th anniversary of the women’s right to vote.
“On Jan. 20, 2009, we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House. They will stand with us and fight for us. And wasn’t Michelle Obama terrific last night?” she said to loud cheers from the crowd of more than 2,500 women. Read More

August 26, 2008 El Universal En otro caso de secuestro, la familia de Nelson Vargas, ex director de la Comisión Nacional del Deporte y dueño de centros de natación, ofrece 2 millones de dólares por recuperar a su hija Silvia, de 18 años de edad, a quien vieron por última vez el 10 de septiembre de 2007 cuando se dirigía a la escuela.
Silvia Escalera, madre de la joven, inició ayer una campaña en medios de comunicación y en espectaculares para ofrecer una recompensa a quien le entregue a su hija o dé datos de su paradero.
Sin mencionar una cantidad, por la mañana Escalera mandó un mensaje a las personas que tienen a Silvia: “Les doy lo que pidieron y ustedes me devuelven a mi hija”. Read More

Agosto 26, 2008 Reuters El secretario de Hacienda de México, Agustín Carstens, dijo el lunes que el Gobierno está revisando las cifras de crecimiento económico de este año debido a una expansión menor a la esperada en Estados Unidos.

La semana pasada, el instituto de estadísticas publicó que la economía mexicana se expandió un 2.8 por ciento en el segundo trimestre y algunos analistas dudan ahora que se cumpla el pronóstico de crecimiento del Gobierno para todo el año, también de un 2.8 por ciento.

A la consulta sobre si aún era posible alcanzar el pronóstico, Carstens dijo: “Estamos ahorita revisando todos nuestros pronósticos, las cifras del segundo trimestre fueron buenas, sin embargo hay que ver el desarrollo de la economía americana (estadounidense) que va un poco más despacio.”Read More

August 25, 2008 Maimi Herald For the second time in two weeks, hurricane warnings and watches were posted around Haiti as a tropical storm threatens to unload heavy rain and wind.
Tropical Storm Gustav, the seventh named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, quickly developed Monday but had become ‘’a little ragged-looking,’’ according to a 5 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters still believe intensification to a hurricane is likely overnight Monday as the storm approaches Haiti because of warm ocean water and little wind shear.Read More

Agosto 25, 2008 El Nacional La franco-colombiana Ingrid Betancourt, liberada el pasado 2 de julio en Colombia, tras permanecer secuestrada por las FARC durante seis años, será recibida por el papa Benedicto XVI el próximo 1 de septiembre, indicó este lunes la oficina de prensa del Vaticano.

La ex rehén franco-colombiana será recibida en la residencia veraniega de los papas, en Castelgandolfo, a unos 30 kilómetros de Roma, donde el jefe de la Iglesia católica suele conceder contadas audiencias. Read More

By JON ANDERSONS, The Miami Herald Aug. 24, 2008
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic—Gloom has descended over this Caribbean nation as Dominicans endure blackouts with such frequency and duration that tempers are flaring and the economy is foundering.With blackouts lasting as long as 18 hours in some areas, angry residents have taken to blocking streets with burning tires and stones in protest, and police have respondent with tear gas that have even hit homes.Read More

August 22, 2008 BBC The new Paraguayan President, Fernando Lugo, has replaced the commanders of the army, navy, and air force.
The dismissals follow the removal earlier this week of the head of the national police by Mr Lugo - a centre-left former Roman Catholic bishop.
Correspondents say his actions form part of a campaign promise to reform the impoverished South American country’s military and police. Read More

By SHAILA DEWAN New York Time August 21, 2008
ATLANTA — Two college presidents, both in Georgia, have withdrawn their names from a petition to reconsider the legal drinking age after it drew blistering criticism this week from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, safety experts, transportation officials and politicians.Read More

Tue, Aug. 19, 2008,BY KAT GLASS, Miami Herald
WASHINGTON—If it weren’t for Hispanic births, the United States could be confronting long-term population declines similar to those in Germany, Japan and other industrialized countries.Hispanics are the only ethnic group now producing more than two children per family, according to a Census Bureau report released Monday. Read More

August 18,2008 El Universal Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez last Sunday announced “the possibility” that a Russian fleet visits the Caribbean, and particularly Venezuela. Chávez disclosed the plan cautiously, as opposed to his remarks late in July that Russian military bases would be established in Latin America, which Moscow denied later.

“Russia has advised us of the plan to visit Venezuela, that is to say, of the plan that a Russian fleet comes to the Caribbean,” Chávez said in his weekly radio and TV program Aló, Presidente.  Read More

Agosto 18, 2008 BBC Mundo Líderes rurales argentinos anunciaron que a partir de este lunes reanudarán su protesta contra el gobierno para reclamar un plan nacional que les dé mayores beneficios a los agricultores.
Los pequeños y medianos productores reunidos en la Federación Agraria Argentina (FAA) realizarán asambleas a la vera de las carreteras y marchas con tractores en varios puntos del país, aunque aclararon que por el momento no planean bloquear rutas. Read More

August 18, 2008 Boston Herald Panic can make people do crazy things. Witness the stampede to fund a taxpayer bailout of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority.
As parents know all too well MEFA ran into credit trouble this summer and announced it would be unable to provide the low-interest, fixed-rate loans that many college students depend on. And it was certainly troubling news, coming just weeks before first-semester payments were due.
But it turns out that despite MEFA’s (temporary) predicament, Bay State college students were able to make other loan arrangements. A survey of 41 area colleges and universities has concluded that no institution has more than 15 students who are still seeking financing.Read More

August 16, 2008 BBC Teachers in one part of the US state of Texas are to be allowed to carry concealed firearms when the new school term opens this month.
The school superintendent in Harrold district said the move was intended to protect staff and pupils should there be any gun attacks on its sole campus.
Teachers would have to undertake crisis management training first, the superintendent, David Thweatt, said. Read More

Agosto 15, 2008 Reuters Siete personas murieron y 50 resultaron heridas por la explosión de una bomba en un pueblo del noroeste de Colombia, en uno de los ataques más graves de los últimos meses que la policía atribuyó a la guerrilla de las FARC, informaron el viernes las autoridades.
La explosión de la bomba se registró el jueves en la noche en un bar del municipio de Ituango, en el departamento de Antioquia, en momentos en que decenas de personas participaban en las fiestas locales.Read More

Agosto 15, 2008 El Comercio El departamento de Ica recibió el viernes el primer aniversario del devastador terremoto ensordecido por el ruido de las cacerolas, los silbatos y los bocinazos de cientos de damnificados, quienes reclaman al Gobierno rapidez en las labores de reconstrucción y una mejor calidad de vida.Read More

AGENCIAS - La Habana - 13/08/2008 La Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional (CCDHRN) informó ayer de que el número de presos políticos en Cuba ha descendido de 234 a 219 en un año. La organización criticó que, sin embargo, la situación en la isla sigue siendo “muy desfavorable”.El traspaso de poder de Fidel Castro, que cumple hoy 82 años, a su hermano Raúl en 2006 ha supuesto el levantamiento de restricciones impuestas durante décadas. Desde permitir que un cubano se aloje en un hotel, hasta la posibilidad de que compren teléfonos móviles.Read More

August 12, 2008 HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban group painted a grim picture of the human rights situation in the island nation, saying in a report on Tuesday it was “very unfavorable” and not likely to get better soon.
The Cuban Commission on Human Rights said the number of known political prisoners had fallen by 15 to 219 in the first half of 2008, but that short-term detentions of dissidents had increased dramatically.Read More

August 11, 2008 Reuters Pluspetrol said it was forced to shut down part of one of its natural gas lots on Monday after Peruvian tribes invaded it over a dispute over land, the Argentine company said.
Pluspetrol said armed protesters entered the Pagoreni A and B zones of Lot 56, located in Cusco province.
The company, the key operator in Peru’s developing Camisea gas fields, did not say if or how much production was impacted.
Indigenous rights group AIDESEP said tribes seized drilling platforms, a helicopter port and buildings in southern Peru. It also said tribes took over an electricity station and closed part of an oil duct in northern Peru.Read More

August 11, 2008 Reuters. Buoyed by a landslide recall election vote, Bolivian President Evo Morales aims to push through major constitutional reforms in early 2009, but it will likely deepen an acrimonious dispute with rightist provincial governors demanding autonomy from his central government.
Here is a list of Morales’ left-wing policies, on which he has vowed to forge ahead:
ECONOMY - Morales is trying to increase state revenue from energy and mining and has pledged to invest the extra cash to fight poverty. He has nationalized the country’s largest telecommunications company, Entel.
ENERGY - Morales has sharply increased taxes paid by energy companies and promised state-run energy firm YPFB a majority stake in future ventures with the private sector.
Energy companies including Brazil’s Petrobras, Spain’s Repsol and France’s Total have agreed to continue operating in Bolivia under the rules set by Morales.
Morales has also hiked the price Argentina and Brazil must pay for Bolivian natural gas.Read More

August 11, 2008 BBC Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has claimed victory in a referendum on whether he should continue in power.
Unofficial results gave Mr Morales a convincing win, and he promised to continue his reforms, including the nationalisation of key industries.
Four of six opposition governors, who have led protests against the president and are demanding more autonomy, also won the right to stay in office.
The outcome of the vote is likely to leave Bolivia divided, analysts say. Both sides were quick to interpret the result as a validation of their position. Read More

MONTERREY, Mexico—A 700-pound man once considered the world’s most obese person left his home for the first time in five months Sunday with the aid of a forklift and a platform truck.
Manuel Uribe traveled to the shore of a lake in northern Mexico without ever leaving his specially designed bed. A forklift hoisted the bed onto the truck, which then hauled him to the lake, where he snacked on fish and vegetables and joked with a local boat operator.Read More

August 11,2008 BBC. Both sides in the dispute that has split Bolivia have claimed victory in the recall referendum that was designed to heal the country’s wounds.
Based on unofficial exit polls, President Evo Morales stood on the balcony of the presidential palace in La Paz and told a crowd of cheering and flag-waving supporters that they had given him the mandate to push ahead with his radical plans to alter the way Bolivia is governed. Read More

August 9, 2008. New York Times LA PAZ, Bolivia — Faced with calls in a rebellious province for a military coup and with spreading protests that have kept him from landing his plane in parts of the country, President Evo Morales is pressing ahead with plans for a national referendum on Sunday intended to determine whether he and his top regional rivals should remain in office.
But analysts here expect the vote to heighten political tension in Bolivia, often described as South America’s poorest country, instead of relieving it.
If Mr. Morales prevails in the referendum, his political opponents in relatively prosperous lowland provinces have vowed not to recognize the results, describing the president’s stifling of judicial criticism of the vote as illegal. Read More

Agosto 7, 2008. El Comercio. Mario Vargas Llosa, nuestro más laureado escritor, no puede desligarse de la política. Por lo menos así lo deja entrever en su última conversación con este Diario, en la cual expresa su preocupación por el hecho de que pueda haber un pacto entre el Gobierno y los fujimoristas para liberar al ex presidente Alberto Fujimori.
“Tenemos por primera vez en la historia del Perú la posibilidad de castigar a un dictador que fue un ladrón y un asesino mediante recursos estrictamente legales”, sentencia Vargas Llosa.
“Hay síntomas preocupantes y creo que eso puede movilizarnos para impedir que haya un enjuague de ese tipo”, advirtió para rematar así: “La mujer del César no solo tiene que serlo sino parecerlo, y estas componendas en el Congreso no se ven nada santas”. Read More

Agosto 8, 2008 El Pais. “Directiva de retorno: no se ha aplicado ni se va a aplicar nunca en España. Nunca. Nunca. Que quede bien claro”. Los aplausos, ayer, en un foro internacional de mujeres en Santo Domingo (República Dominicana) sellaron esta taxativa afirmación de la vicepresidenta primera del Gobierno, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, sobre la norma europea que dilata la estancia de inmigrantes irregulares en centros de internamiento. En su viaje oficial por cuatro países latinoamericanos, la número dos del Ejecutivo explica la política migratoria española. Este tema es muy sensible en República Dominicana, un país que encabezó la primera gran oleada de inmigrantes a España y que ahora es el sexto país en número de residentes legales latinoamericanos, con casi 75.000, según fuentes del Gobierno.Read More

August 8, 2008. Miami Herald Tropical Storm Hernan gained strength on Thursday as it churned far off Mexico’s Pacific coast. Hernan could reach hurricane strength by Friday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.
On Thursday night the storm had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph), the center said. Hernan was located about 755 miles (1,215 kilometers) southwest of the tip of the Baja California peninsula and was moving westward, farther out to sea, at about 13 mph (20 kph).
Hernan is the eighth named storm of the Pacific hurricane season.Read More

Agosto 7, 2008. El Nacional. El movimiento estudiantil se pronunció este miércoles contra la decisión del TSJ de declarar la constitucionalidad de las inhabilitaciones políticas de más de 270 personas que no podrán postularse a los cargos que se disputarán en las elecciones del próximo mes de noviembre.
Con una concentración en la Plaza Brión de Chacaíto, los universitarios gritaron consignas en favor de los pre candidatos que quedaron sin opciones de cara a los comicios regionales.
El dirigente estudiantil, Yon Goicoechea, dijo que los venezolanos “queremos solucionar los problemas a través del voto, de la paz y la justicia”. “El Gobierno no se da cuenta que el pueblo ya decidió y que los inahbilitados están sufriendo violaciones a los derechos humanos”, acotó.Read More

Agosto 6, 2008. El Tiempo. El Guaviare, área en la que la guerrilla se hizo fuerte por años y donde recibió el mayor golpe de su historia, la operación Jaque, fue el lugar escogido por Juan Manuel Santos para hacer su balance.

En San José, la capital del departamento, el ministro Santos aseguró que las Farc atraviesan el peor momento en sus 44 años de historia y que ahora no tienen más de 7 mil hombres en armas. Es poco más de la tercera parte de lo que llegaron a contar hace menos de una década.

Entre enero y junio, 1.500 subversivos se han desmovilizado.

El desabastecimiento, la desmoralización y la falta de comunicación con sus jefes, dicen los militares, están minando a la guerrilla a pasos agigantados. Read More

August 6, 2008. BBC. The Venezuelan Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on some 270 people from standing in November’s state and municipal polls is constitutional.
The list of barred candidates, most from opposition parties, was issued by Venezuela’s anti-corruption chief. He said the law gave him the right to impose restrictions on potential candidates suspected of corruption.
Critics said the ban was unconstitutional because none of those affected had been convicted of a crime.
Venezuelan Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian issued his list of barred candidates earlier this year.
He argued that under Venezuelan law he had the right to disqualify people suspected of corruption from running for office. Read More

August 3, 2008. By Andres Oppnheimer. Miami Herald. Judging from the latest headlines, you might think that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s radical-leftist populism is gaining ground in Latin America, and that it will expand its influence in the region over the next few years. But, actually, the opposite may happen.

Before we get into why we may see a shift away from Chávez’s narcissist-Leninist political model, let’s take a quick look at some of the most recent news. It could suggest a clear advance of radical authoritarianism at the expense of democracy and the rule of law.Read More

August 3, 2008. Los Angeles Times. CARACAS, VENEZUELA—Suspected drug flights from Venezuela to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola rose 44% over the first three months of the year, U.S. officials say, a surge in activity that some believe was behind Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s expressions of willingness to resume anti-drug cooperation with Washington.Read More

July 30,2008 Reuters - Dozens of U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police took up positions around groups of ex-soldiers occupying former military buildings in northern Haiti and began on Wednesday to negotiate their surrender, officials said.

Tensions between the rebel soldiers and the U.N. forces rose on Tuesday night in the northern city of Cap-Haitien when civilians supporting the former soldiers’ demands for the reinstatement of the Caribbean country’s once-feared army threw rocks at the international troops, witnesses said.Read More

July 31, 2008. Mercopress. United States President George W. Bush signed Wednesday into law a bill designed to help struggling homeowners and prop up the battered US housing market. The new law creates a 300 billion US dollars rescue fund to help thousands of homeowners get cheaper loans.
It may also be used to bail out the struggling mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which own or guarantee around half the nation’s mortgage debt. The White House said the bill would boost confidence in the housing market.
It said the bill was designed to help hundreds of thousands of Americans trapped by mortgages they can no longer afford. They will be offered the chance to refinance their debts with state-backed, fixed-rate loans.Read More

July 31, 2008. BBc. The Brazilian musician and Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, says he is standing down from the government to concentrate on his music career. Mr Gil, 66, has been in government since 2003, but said for some time that he was finding it difficult to pursue two demanding roles.
He said public speaking was affecting his singing ability. As culture minister, he championed sometimes neglected forms of cultural expression such as indigenous painting.
However it was always clear that he hankered to return to his artistic career, and some critics questioned the level of commitment to his political role, says the BBC’s Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo.
But the outgoing minister said he not been worried about the criticism he faced over the overlap between his artistic and political roles. Read More

July 30, 2008. Reuters. After decades of searching, five Alzheimer’s disease genes have been discovered. But they are only a few pieces of a very complex puzzle.
Scientists believe that there could be a number of key genes that haven’t yet been found. The best chance of developing a cure for Alzheimer’s is if gene hunters can track down the rest.
Dr Martin Medrano, a researcher in the Dominican Republic, is one of those leading the hunt.Read More

A strong earthquake has been felt in the US city of Los Angeles. The quake made buildings in the city shake, witnesses say, but so far there are no reports of casualties or damage.
The US Geological Survey said the tremor had a magnitude of 5.8. Read More

July 29, 2008. BBC. Walking down a street or through a shopping centre in Sao Paulo, Lucia looks like any other mother or grandmother going about her normal business. But this 71-year-old woman carries a burden that few know about. She is HIV-positive and the virus was passed on to her by her husband.Lucia discovered she was infected in 1999, four years after he died of a heart attack.
“I nearly went crazy. I even tried to commit suicide,” she says. “I couldn’t believe it.”
“Some marks appeared on my skin and I went to a doctor who asked me to do some tests and it was confirmed. Read More

Julio 29, 2008. El Nacional. El presidente Alvaro Uribe pidió este lunes a los miembros de su gobierno, por segunda vez en lo que va de julio, que utilicen un lenguaje “discreto y adecuado” al referirse a temas de Venezuela, con cuyo gobierno busca un pleno restablecimiento de relaciones.
En un comunicado emitido por el gobierno colombiano, destaca que el presidente Uribe “ha instruido a la cancillería, así como al gabinete en pleno, a avanzar de manera diligente en los temas de integración y de la agenda bilateral con Venezuela. En este camino se debe obrar de manera propositiva y con un lenguaje discreto y adecuado a la integración binacional”. Read More

Julio 29, 2008. El Nacional. Al menos 10 guerrilleros de las FARC murieron en un bombardeo que la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana propinara a un campamento rebelde ubicado en el departamento de Arauca, fronterizo con Venezuela, informaron hoy fuentes oficiales.

Una fuente de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC) consultada por Efe señaló que el operativo se realizó en un paraje del municipio de Arauquita (noreste) contra el frente 10 de las FARC luego de seis meses de seguimiento. Read More

July 28, 2008. BBC. A women arrested on suspicion of being the representative in Spain of the left-wing Colombian Farc rebel group has been released on bail.
Maria Remedios Garcia Albert, a Spanish national, was detained near Madrid on Saturday as part of a joint operation by Spanish and Colombian authorities.
She is accused of providing logistical and financial support for the group.
The Farc, which has waged a 44-year civil war in Colombia, is considered a terrorist group by the EU and the US.
The Colombian government has recently warned that large amounts of the money the rebels raise from cocaine by are often being invested in Europe. Read More

July 27,2008. BBC. Cuban President Raul Castro has warned that Cubans must be prepared for the consequences of the current global economic crisis.
He said that developing countries had already felt the effects of rising fuel and food prices.The speech was part of the celebrations marking the 55th anniversary of the beginning of the communist revolution.
President Castro had been expected to announce new economic policies, but in the event did not do so.He has already introduced significant changes in the country since succeeding his ailing brother, Fidel, in February.
The president recently announced a move to allow some private farming and relaxed limits on mobile phones and computers. Read More

July 25, 2008. BBC.Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has met Spain’s king for the first time since they fell out at a conference in Chile last November. The pair had talks over breakfast at King Juan Carlos’s summer house, on the island of Mallorca.
The king famously told Mr Chavez to shut up after he accused Spain’s former Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, of being a fascist. The remarks caused outrage and no shortage of diplomatic tension.
Mr Chavez said before he left for Spain he would like to hug the king but also warned he was not about to shut up. The two leaders shared smiles and a warm handshake in front of the cameras, but there was no hug. There were no public remarks by either man.Read More

July 22, 2008. BBC. Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect Venezuela from the US.
The Venezuelan president’s call came as Moscow and Caracas agreed to extend bilateral co-operation on energy.
Speaking during a two-day visit to Russia, Mr Chavez said oil and military cooperation were vital to guarantee Venezuela’s sovereignty. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said three Russian energy companies are to be allowed to operate in Venezuela. Read More

July 21, 2008. Reuters. Ingrid Betancourt urged Colombian rebels to free all hostages as she addressed a rally in the French capital on Sunday that was part of a series of demonstrations around the world to protest against kidnappings.
Thousands gathered near the Eiffel Tower to hear Betancourt, a Franco-Colombian politician rescued from captivity this month after spending more than six years as a hostage of Colombian rebel forces.
“We want freedom for everyone,” said Betancourt, drawing loud applause from the crowd, many of whom chanted the Spanish word for freedom “Libertad!”.
Betancourt’s speech, delivered in Spanish, was shown on television in Colombia, which is also preparing to hold a mass anti-kidnapping rally on its national day.Read More

July 16,2008 (Reuters) - Nicaragua’s leftist president, Daniel Ortega, said on Wednesday he was willing to accept a request from Colombia’s biggest guerrilla force for talks to try to help Colombia end its four-decade-long civil war.
Ortega said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which some analysts see as being on the brink of defeat, had asked to speak with him about “war and peace.”
“We are fully willing to contribute to the peace process and we tell our brothers in the FARC that we are willing to talk. We are willing to dialogue to help bring peace to Colombia,” Ortega said in a televised speech.Read More

At least six people have died and one is missing after a boat collided with another vessel and sank on Lake Titicaca, Bolivian police have said. The two boats, carrying a total of 48 people, hit one another in the dark on Tuesday evening, police said. The accident, which happened in an area known as the Strait of Tiquina, split one of them in half, officials said.
One of the vessels was reported to be carrying Brazilian nationals, although all the dead are said to be Bolivian. Read More

Abortion will remain a criminal offence in Brazil, the world’s most populous Roman Catholic nation, after MPs voted against proposals to change the law.
One MP reportedly took a mock-up of a baby’s coffin into the debate, in the Chamber of Deputies, to show his opposition to the proposed reforms.The centre-left government had backed moves to decriminalise the practice.
At least one million women are believed to have abortions every year in Brazil, despite the possibility of a jail term.
Abortion is permitted only in cases of rape, or where the woman’s life is in danger. Read More

July 10 (Reuters) - A strong economy has lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty and into a new middle class in the past few years. Following are some facts about the impact on people’s incomes and spending.
In the past two years, more than 23 million people have risen from lower income classes into Class C, defined as households with monthly incomes between 726 and 1,195 reais ($450 and $745) and which now makes up 46 percent of Brazil’s population.
The number of people in the the lowest D and E classes fell to 39 percent of the population in 2007 from 51 percent in 2005. 10 million people gained Internet access between 2005 and 2007, taking the total with access to nearly 40 million, or 29 percent of the population. Average spending on subscriptions to the Internet and cable/satellite television rose 25 percent from 2006 to 2007.Read More

BY CINDY KRISCHER GOODMAN

When Millie Puldon learned her job would be eliminated, she agonized over how to tell her three kids. ‘’I didn’t want to worry them,’’ recalls Puldon, a single mother. When she did tell them, her 9-year-old daughter broke into tears and asked, ``Are we poor now?’’ Job loss is hitting employees of all kinds, and it’s delivering a profound blow to family stability. Read More

SANTIAGO, July 8 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Chilean students and teachers fought riot police armed with tear gas and water cannons in the capital on Tuesday, the latest protest against an unpopular education reform bill.
Police said they arrested 44 people, most of them youths who pelted police with stones and injured two officers.
Teachers and students want President Michelle Bachelet to withdraw an education bill from Congress under which an education superintendent would regulate government funds for public schools.Read More

July7, 2008. Mercopress. Cuban vice president Esteban Lazo called on his fellow Cubans to understand that “work is essential” and that “we must accept we lack the need for an extraordinary economic culture”.
At the closing ceremony of the 8th Congress of the Cuban Journalists Association (UPEC) at the Havana Convention Center and with President Raul Castro presiding over the final session, Lazo called on the press and journalists to help Cubans understand that work is needed to keep Cuba growing economically.Read More

July 7, 2008. Mercopress. Malnutrition among children below the age of 5 dropped dramatically in Brazil between 1996 and 2006 according to a release from the National Demography and Health Studies on women and children released on Sunday.
“We could say Brazil has managed to eliminate malnutrition”, said Professor Carlos Augusto Monteiro from the Public Health School of the Sao Paulo University.Read More

Under pressure from the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in two decades, employers across the country are fighting back in state legislatures, the federal courts and city halls.
Business groups have resisted measures that would revoke the licenses of employers of illegal immigrants. They are proposing alternatives that would revise federal rules for verifying the identity documents of new hires and would expand programs to bring legal immigrant laborers.Read More

Julio 6, 2008. El Universal. La Habana.- El líder cubano Fidel Castro sugirió hoy a las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) liberar incondicionalmente al resto de los rehenes, pero no deponer las armas, en un editorial publicado en medios cubanos.

“Si algo me atrevo a sugerir a los guerrilleros de las FARC es simplemente que declaren por cualquier vía la disposición de poner en libertad a los secuestrados y prisioneros que aún estén en su poder, sin condición alguna”, dijo el ex presidente de Cuba. Read More

Mercopress.July 2, 2008.Peruvian President Alan Garcia said on Tuesday that he was sick and tired of Bolivian President Evo Morales criticizing Peru’s trade pact with the United States, spreading false rumors about American military bases and urging Peruvians to protest in the street.
Garcia said he was tempted to borrow the words Spain’s king tossed at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last year: “Why don’t you shut up (Morales)? Stick to your own country and don’t meddle in mine”.Read More

Mercopress. July 2, 2008. South American leaders meeting at the Mercosur summit called the new European Union immigration policies that permit the detention of undocumented workers for up to 18 months “xenophobic” and said the measure may damage economic ties between the two regions.
“We have to defend our citizens who emigrated abroad because they weren’t able, at that time, to find the conditions in our own countries to build a better life’’ said Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez during the summit in Tucumán, Argentina.Read More

In a bid to boost his foreign policy credentials United States Republican presidential candidate John McCain began in Colombia a three-day visit to Latin America, highlighting his support for free trade and progress against narcotics and terrorism.
However an hour after McCain left Colombia for Mexico came a dramatic example of some of the very issues he was there to trumpet: the rescue of 15 hostages held by the rebel FARC faction, including Colombian French Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors. But amazingly, McCain left the country knowing the rescue was taking place.Read More

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 --IEA, the energy watchdog for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted that oil supply will exceed projected demand by 2 million barrels per day, which is considered a thin cushion. Read More

Mercopress. 6/27/08. The world’s major industrialized nations must take the lead in efforts to tackle the three interrelated crises of global food insecurity, climate change and development in poor countries, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on the eve of an official trip that will include his participation in next month’s G-8 summit in Japan.
“If ever there were a time to act, together as one, it is now,” Mr. Ban told journalists at United Nations Headquarters in New York, a day before he departs for the two-week visit to Japan, the Republic of Korea and China. Read More

24 de junio 2008 EFE. El Nacional.España se ha convertido en receptor de una creciente ola de inmigrantes latinoamericanos y actualmente se estima que acoge a alrededor de 1,82 millones de personas procedentes de América Latina, según un informe de la Comisión Andina de Juristas.

El estudio “Grupos en situación de especial protección en la región andina”, elaborado por la CAJ y la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, agregó que las cinco principales colectividades de latinoamericanos en España están formadas por ecuatorianos, colombianos, argentinos, bolivianos y peruanos.Read More

24 Jun 2008 03:58:42 GMT.By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE, June 23 (Reuters) - Haitian President Rene Preval has put forward a new candidate for prime minister after parliament rejected his two previous choices to replace a government leader fired over violent food price protests, the Senate leader said on Monday.Read More

eltiempo.com / mundo / latinoamérica
“Rendición incondicional para los sediciosos del campo… Los quiero de rodillas”. Esa consigna de Néstor Kirchner comunicada por su adlater piquetero, Luis D’Elia, quedará en la historia. Todo porque Alfredo de Angeli, el representante de los “sediciosos” que con su discurso dosificado con simpleza chacarera, pragmatismo y fe en lo que se defiende, terminó logrando lo que parecía imposible, el efecto contrario al esperado. Puso de rodillas en las encuestas al ex mandatario (Néstor) y a su esposa, la presidenta Cristina Kirchner. Read More

Jun 19th 2008 | CARACAS. From The Economist print edition. Hugo Chávez invites the private sector to help him build socialism.
TO BUILD his promised socialist revolution, Hugo Chávez seems to have concluded that he needs the help of capitalist businessmen. Earlier this month he invited a handpicked group of captains of finance and industry to the presidential palace. He lectured them about the imminent demise of capitalism, but then proceeded to offer them cheap credit and joint ventures to “reactivate” production.Read More

El Espectador. 18/6/2008. La Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra las Drogas y el Delito (UNODC) dijo que el aumento de 27% en los cultivos de coca en Colombia el año pasado es sorprendente y un verdadero “shock”.
“El incremento en los cultivos de coca en Colombia es una sorpresa y un shock: una sorpresa porque llega en un momento en que el gobierno de Colombia intenta fuertemente erradicar la coca y un shock debido a la magnitud de los sembradíos”, dijo Antonio María Costa, director de la UNODC.Read More

Las reglas rotas del narco
15-Junio-2008

I CIUDAD JUÁREZ. Maldita puntería. Una sola bala, disparada por el fusil de un sicario, entró por el estómago de una mujer y acabó con la vida de dos personas a la vez. Neri Domínguez estaba embarazada, y cayó al suelo, sin aliento, como un bulto. Y su hijo, en el vientre, de tres meses, cayó con ella antes de conocer el mundo. Dos muertos de un solo tiro.

La muerte, en Ciudad Juárez, usa AK-47 de alta precisión. Read More

MEXICO CITY, June 12, 2008—In observation of World Day Against Child Labor, World Vision will launch a report titled, “In exchange for my childhood,” a series on child labor and exploitation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report explains forms of exploitive child labor throughout 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.Read More

Viernes, 13 de junio de 2008
Max Seitz
BBC Mundo, Buenos Aires
Argentina está al borde de una crisis de desabastecimiento de alimentos debido a los bloqueos de carreteras que realizan camioneros en todo el país. Read More

BBC. Mundo, Junio 4, 2008 En Roma, medio centenar de jefes de Estado y de gobierno discuten el tema más álgido de los últimos meses: la crisis por el aumento en el precio de los alimentos. Pero, ¿cuál es la situación en América Latina? BBC Mundo ofrece un panorama.
En la región es Haití el país que presenta la situación más crítica. En abril de este año se produjeron disturbios por el aumento de los precios de los alimentos que dejaron un saldo de siete muertos y más de 15 heridos. Los desórdenes llevaron a la destitución del primer ministro, Jacques-Edouard Alexis. Read More

Barack Obama fue entrevistado por el popular periodista Jorge Ramos para “El Mundo” de Madrid. Habló de su política hacia el continente y especialmente de Hugo Chávez.
Read More