In recent days numerous hunger strikes held in some Latin American countries came to their respective ends.  But were the protesters’ demands met?  The answer varies:

• Bolivia

Twelve wives of Bolivian policemen upset at the poor working conditions of their husbands ended their three-day hunger strike on Saturday.

The women claimed that police commanders did not go through with the promises made in June 2012 to the police officers’ union before the organization was dissolved. As a result, the group went on a hunger strike and called for an increase in the salaries of policemen, changes to the reform system and other demands.

In the end, the hunger strike was halted after the government agreed to the creation of two working groups aimed at seeking a fair resolution.  The hunger strike could be renewed, however, if a deal is not reached within the next ninety days.

Political tensions remain high in Bolivia where the government and the country’s largest labor union have knocked heads over a two-week-long nationwide strike.  The protest was suspended for 48 hours in order to allow for negotiations.

• Colombia

A group of seven women who chained themselves to the from gates of the main cathedral in Villavicencio put a stop to their hunger strike after approximately one week.

The protesters alleged that they were “arbitrarily” targeted as part of official actions aimed at relocate street vendors.  One of the demonstrators claimed that they were not breaking the law and complained that the police unfairly confiscated their wares and carts.  Hence, they demanded the creation of a working group with the local government as well as meting with officials to voice their complaints.

Unfortunately, there is little in the Colombian press mentioning if the women’s demands were met even though the hunger strike ended.  The group was reportedly grateful to the local Red Cross chapter for their medical supervision during the manifestation.

• Mexico

After approximately ten days, a group of thirteen people including several mothers ended their hunger strike.

The protesters urged the Mexican government to look into the cases of hundreds of children gone missing over the past few years.

“We will not leave until our cases have been resolved, the president meets with us and he gathers a working group to tell us when and how they will start to find our missing loved ones,” declared hunger striker Margarita López whose daughter was kidnapped and presumably tortured to death.

In the end, the demonstrators did not meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto but they were able to voice their concerns to Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam.  He promised the creation of a special will soon create a joint unit to investigate and solve the cases of the “disappeared.”

"We're going to work together so this information isn't lost, so investigations aren't halted," said Karam who also praised the investigations conducted by relatives of the missing as "much more thorough" than the official probes.

• Cuba

Not all hunger strikes in the Americas have come to an end.  At least 102 of the 166 detainees at the U.S.-run Guantanamo military prison have been fasting for more than 100 days.  Thirty of them are being force fed, which is a practice condemned by the American Medical Association.

Video Source– YouTube via users Villavicencio Al Dia and Seatt007HD

Online Sources - La Razon; Bernama; GlobalPost; The Latin Americanist; notillano.com; Al Jazeera English   

* U.S.: The bipartisan "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill will move to the U.S. Senate for debate after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the proposal in a 13-5 vote.

* Venezuela: Pro-government TV host Mario Silva said that he would go on sick leave after opposition politicos revealed an alleged recording of him talking to a Cuban intelligence official and criticizing the Maduro regime.

* Brazil: Truth Commission investigator Heloisa Starling believes that former officials protected by a 1979 amnesty law could be tried at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

* Bolivia: The government enacted a law that would permit President Evo Morales to seek a third term in the December 2014 elections.

Video Source – YouTube via user NewsyPolitics (Video uploaded on April 16, 2013.)
 
Online Sources- CNN; ABC News; SFGate.com; LAHT

Officials of the Argentine city of Mercedes are none too pleased that their neighborhood will reportedly be chosen as the burial site for former “Dirty War”-era dictator Jorge Videla.

“He must have been the most nefarious person this country has ever had and it’s a weight that the people of Mercedes must carry,” said Marcelo Melo, the city’s human rights government representative.

Despite his “repudiation” of burying the infamous ex-strongman in Mercedes, Melo noted “we cannot prevent his family from bringing his remains to privately-owned burial plots.”

Some residents of the city where Videla was born and raised are upset over the burial plans announced by the late ruler’s lawyer.

“We had to put up with many hardship during the dictatorship.  I don’t want him in my city,” said Aida Ibaldi according to infobae.com.

“Videla’s family has his body, which was not tortured or abused, and they can bury him when and where they want,” said Juan Ignacio Ustarroz, the nephew of one of the tens of thousands of Argentines who “disappeared” during Videla’s five years in power.

In anticipation of the burial, nineteen social and political organizations will hold a protest against Videla on Wednesday night.  The demonstrators are expected to gather outside of the cemetery in Mercedes where posters of some of the local political activists killed under the Videla military regime have been placed.

The 87-year-old passed away in a civilian prison on Friday where he was serving a fifty-year sentence for the illegal kidnapping of dozens of babies from political prisoners.   Videla had also been serving a life sentence since 2010 for the deaths of thirty-one dissidents during his de facto presidency.

Videla’s death comes as proceedings began in a trial over Plan Condor, a secret intelligence operation by South American dictators to kidnap and murder their opponents. Videla was one of the most senior former officials indicted by prosecutors and he neglected to provide testimony to the case.  Nevertheless, prosecutors hope there is some evidence they can use that Videla has not taken to his grave:

The trial over Operation Condor will resume today without former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who died early Friday. A prosecutor in the Plan Condor trial recognized yesterday that the trial would “no longer be the same” without the former dictator present.

Prosecutors are considering using a few of Videla’s last interviews with journalists as evidence. Just four days before he died, Videla had remarked that he considered himself a “political prisoner” in a judicial system “without justice” which is why “it makes no sense to defend myself.”

Videla was one of 25 people charged in the case, which also includes Reynaldo Benito Bignone who led the military junta from 1982 to 1983.

The Operation Condor involved cooperation between the US-backed right-wing dictatorships of Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay and Brazil. 

Despite the possibility that Videla’s interviews could be used as evidence, the prosecutor of the Plan Condor observed that the trial “will never be the same.”

“A little bit of hope has died along with Videla due to all the things he never revealed or could have said,” admitted Pablo Ouviña in a radio interview this week.

Video Source– YouTube via euronews

Online Sources - infobae.com; La Voz del Interior; Europa Press; Buenos Aires Herald; BBC News; La Nacion

* Guatemala: In a 3-2 decision the Guatemalan Constitutional Court annulled the recent historic conviction of former strongman Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide.

* U.S.: At least 23 student groups at Harvard University called for an investigation of the doctoral thesis of Jason Richwine, an ex-Heritage Foundation policy analyst who claimed in 2009 that Latino immigrants have lower IQs than white natives.

* Latin America: Alicia Barcena, the head of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, expressed her concerns over weaker exports possibly hurting the region's economic growth.

* Mexico: Venture capitalists are reportedly being attracted to purchasing and refurbishing thousands of homes that were foreclosed and abandoned.

Video Source – YouTube via PBS NewsHour (“Efrain Rios Montt, former dictator of Guatemala, was found guilty (on May 10th) in the massacre of more than 1,700 Mayan Indians in the early 1980s”.)

Online Sources- Fox News Latino; Bloomberg; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; USA TODAY

* Latin America: A new report from the Organization of American States called for major changes to the “war on drugs” including the possibility of decriminalizing the use of marijuana.

* Mexico: Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam met with a group of mothers on hunger strike for over ten days and announced the creation of a government unit aimed at investigating the cases of thousands of missing people.

* Venezuela: Dozens of protesters participated in a march on Saturday in Caracas and urged the end of discrimination against gays and lesbians in Venezuela.

* U.S.: Will U.S. President Barack Obama mention later this week any major changes to the policy regarding detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison?

Video Source – YouTube via ContactoFESCOL (Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria is one of several ex-Latin American leaders allied to the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which is a campaign seeking for changes in drug laws).

Online Sources- The Guardian; GlobalPost; AFP; The Latin Americanist; NBC News

We'll be back on Monday to look at several news and notes from around the Americas.

The following video is the English-language international trailer for "Mercedes Sosa: la voz de Latinoamerica" ("Mercedes Sosa: The Voice of Latin America").  The documentary on the renown Argentine folk singer was produced by her only child, Fabian Matus, and will be released in her native country next month.

Sosa died in 2009 after battling several ailments.

Nicknamed "the voice of Latin America," Sosa's career spanned over four decades and included some forty albums.  Her songs often contained political messages, which did not sit well with the "Dirty War" military regime in Argentina that forced her into a brief exile.

"She lived her 74 years to the fullest," Matus said to the press shortly after Sosa died. "She had done practically everything she wanted, she didn't have any type of barrier or any type of fear that limited her."

Online Sources - imdb.com; CNN; Montreal Gazette

Video Source - YouTube via user Rodrigo Vila

* Mexico: The author of the Blog del Narco website, which offered an unflinching look of Mexico's drug war, reportedly fled to Spain while the fate of her partner is unknown.

* El Salvador: The country’s Supreme Court began hearing arguments regarding the case of “Beatriz”, an ill and pregnant woman with a deformed fetus who is seeking permission for an abortion.

* Brazil: Will a planned 10,000 mile “virtual border fence” help control drug smuggling and undocumented immigrants of will it be a $13 billion boondoggle?

* Costa Rica: Communications Minister Francisco Chacon resigned over the growing scandal regarding President Laura Chinchilla using a plane owned by a shady Colombian businessman.

Video Source – YouTube via user McClatchyDC
 
Online Sources- The Guardian; The Latin Americanistl ABC News; NPR Parallels; GlobalPost

* El Salvador: Officials launched a violence prevention program in areas where the country’s two largest street gangs – the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 – have honored a fourteen-month truce.

* Venezuela: The government’s plans to import fifty million rolls of toilet paper as Venezuelans complain of shortages in basic commodities and foods.

* Brazil: Defending Copa Libertadores titleholder Corinthians of Brazil were ousted from this year’s version of the tournament by six-time champions Boca Juniors of Argentina.

* U.S.: A new Census Bureau report found that an influx of immigrants is expected to outpace U.S. population growth from births within thirty years.

Video Source – Video via Al Jazeera English (Video uploaded in May 2012).

Online Sources- The Guardian; infosurhoy.com; SBS; Reuters

Brazil’s top court ordered a retrial of a rancher convicted of masterminding the murder of U.S. nun and environmentalist Dorothy Stang.

"The right to a defense is a value that must prevail, because it is fundamental for the development of a fair trial," Supreme Court justice Ricardo Lewandowsky said regarding the annulment of a 30-year prison sentence against Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura.

The 73-year-old Stang was gunned down in February 2005 as she was returning home from a community meeting in the state of Pará.

In 2007 de Moura was convicted of planning the murder of Stang, a tireless campaigner for the preservation of the Amazon and for the rights of poor landowners. One year later, a jury overturned de Moura’s conviction much to the disappointment of then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and human rights groups.  In April 2010, however, de Moura was again convicted and sentenced to thirty years behind bars after several of his co-conspirators testified against him.

De Moura will remain in prison awaiting a third murder trial, which could commence as soon as the end of May.  In the meantime, land rights activists in Brazil decried the Supreme Court’s ruling:

The Pastoral Commission on Land, a group linked to the Catholic Church, called the Supreme Court ruling "absurd."
 

"Unfortunately, court decisions like these only serve to increase the violence in rural areas and to maintain impunity, principally for those who order the murders of peasants," Jose Batista Alfonso, a lawyer for the commission, was quoted as saying by the G1 news website.
 

Moura's lawyer, Arnaldo Lopes, who took over the case from another lawyer, told G1 he had not had time "to study the 26 volumes (in the case), but I now know the dossier and in the next trial my client will be absolved."

Stang has not been the only victim of the battle over land in Pará that pits wealthy cattle ranchers against poor settlers of unused terrain.  José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife were murdered in May 2011 after he denounced multiple death threats against him.

“Here, land is power,” said Maria Raimunda César, a local member of the MST land rights group. “The conflict is never-ending. In Pará, people are gunned down like animals. A side of beef for export is worth more than a human life. There is tremendous injustice, and growing oppression and violence.”

The land rights issue, such as the debate over the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, has pitted current Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff against indigenous groups and environmental activists.  Yet she may be making a major shift in policy after it was reported on Tuesday that she ordered officials to halt seizing farmland to create indigenous reservations.

Video Source– YouTube via user sisterdorothy (Exceprt from the 2008 documentary “They Killed Sister Dorothy”)

Online Sources – Yahoo! News; The Guardian; IPS; GlobalPost; France 24; BBC News; The Latin Amercanist

* Mexico: The Cinderella story of Mexican soccer team Xolos de Tijuana continues following their surprising qualification to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.

* Brazil: Brazil could soon become the latest Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage after a judicial panel ruled that gay couples can receive marriage licenses.

* Costa Rica: President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica has come under fire after using a private plane owned by a Colombian oil company to travel to Peru and Venezuela.

* Caribbean: A rise in dengue favor cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has prompted British doctors to warn against travelling to parts of Central America and the Caribbean.

Video Source – YouTube via user FutbolAlRevesChannel
 
Online Sources- The Guardian; euronewsl France 24; Reuters

El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes said that an infirm and pregnant woman has the “right to choose” whether or not to abort her deformed fetus.

“The one who has the right to decide over her life and that of her son is ‘Beatriz’ and not the organizations trying to take advantage of her situation,” said Funes at the inauguration of a public works project yesterday.

He added that he’s well aware that the woman known as “Beatriz” has her life  “in danger” and said that he has created a medical commission that will “decide the best path to ensure (her) safety and well being.”

The 22-year-old “Beatriz” is approximately five months pregnant and doctors have informed her that her fetus is missing a large part of its brain and skull. The fetus may not survive past childbirth while “Beatriz” could also die since her body is severely weakened by lupus, kidney disease and hypertension.

The case of “Beatriz” has divided Salvadorans regarding the very sensitive issue of abortion with Catholic officials and conservatives on one side and women’s rights groups and pro-birth control activists on the other.  The case has even split some government authorities with the heath ministry arguing in favor of abortion while officials with forensic medicine opposed to it.

For her part, “Beatriz” would like to go ahead with the abortion:

"I'd like [people in the outside world] to respect my decision. I want to tell them that I'd feel better if I was allowed to have an interruption," she told the Observer…
 

Beatriz said she hoped for a rapid decision (from El Salvador’s Supreme Court) before her situation worsens. "I feel bad because of all of this, because they don't want to help me," she said. "I'm not seriously ill, but I feel bad, because I get really tired and I'm short of breath ... I'd like them to interrupt the pregnancy now."

El Salvador is one of three Latin American countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances and doctors who end the life of a fetus could face twelve years in prison. 

The country’s top court was asked to rule on the matter on 17 April, but it has withheld a decision, pending further tests.  In the meanwhile, the fate of “Beatriz” and her unborn child remain in the balance as the debate over abortion in El Salvador keeps heating up.

Video Source – YouTube via Noticiero Univision
 
Online Sources – Que.es; La Pagina (El Salvador); LifeSiteNews.com; The Guardian

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro launched the “Safe Homeland” program where over 3000 soldiers will be deployed in major cities in order to combat rampant street crime.

* Guatemala: One of the judges who convicted ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt in a historic genocide trial ordered the Guatemalan government to publicly apologize for human rights abuses committed under his rule.

* Cuba: Guillermo Fariñas, a frequent Cuban hunger striker and dissident, travelled to Miami as part of a tour of the U.S. and Europe.

* Mexico: Authorities raised the alert level for the Popocatepetl volcano as residents in nearby towns might soon have to evacuate.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- Businessweek; Miami Herald; NBC News; BBC News; The Latin Americanist

Last week we looked at "Llámame," the Spanish-language version of the hit "Call Me" by Blondie that was recorded but not released during the peak of the New Wave band’s popularity.  Today we’re going to briefly examine a song that was recorded in English after it became a popular tune in Spanish.

"Cuando pase el temblor" (“When the Earthquake Ends”, in English) became the second single to be released from Soda Stereo’s second album, Nada personal, in 1985.  The lyrics to the song can be interpreted either literally or figuratively as a double entendre but the music itself is a great mix of Andean sounds with traditional rock and roll.

According to an anecdote mentioned on the Hay Que Oir blog, the famed Argentine rock en Español group recorded two English-language versions in 1988 of their previous hits including "Cuando pase el temblor."  These songs were recorded in London and were eventually passed on to “an influential English DJ” (the late John Peel?) who then played them on his program.  The end product was to be an entire Soda Stereo album in English but “monetary issues” prevented that from becoming a reality.

Does "Cuando pase el temblor" en ingles sound better, equal to or worse than the original?  Judge for yourself:

Soda Stereo broke up in 1997 but returned briefly in 2007 for a reunion tour. 

Three years ago this Wednesday, Soda frontman Gustavo Cerati fell into a coma after he collapsed following a concert in Venezuela.  Cerati’s mother, Lillian Clark said last month that her son has shown “small responses” that have given her “signs of hope” regarding his health.

Video Sources – YouTube via users ubriacone88 and joacodelc
 
Online Sources – Los Angeles Times; Wikipedia (Spanish); sodastereo.com; Hay Que Oir; The Latin Americanist

A group of thirteen people including numerous mothers have entered a fifth day of a hunger strike in order to seek answers over the whereabouts of their missing children.

Among the demands from the protesters residing in a makeshift camp outside the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in Mexico City is the chance to talk with senior government officials including Enrique Peña Nieto.

“We are aware that the federal government is not entirely responsible for all the violence occurring in our country.  Yet it is their duty to recognize our appeal,” said Jaime Olivares Cruz, husband of one of the hunger strikers.

The protesters are allegedly in a “delicate” state of health and they were issued yesterday facemasks by a Doctors Without Borders medical delegation.  Some of them are reportedly battling chills, bone pains and other ailments after spending the past few days outdoors.

“We will not leave until our cases have been resolved, the president meets with us and he gathers a working group to tell us when and how they will start to find our missing loved ones,” declared hunger striker Margarita López.  López said her “disappeared” daughter, Yahaira Guadalupe Bahena, was kidnapped two years ago by “armed men” and then tortured until she died. López has urged authorities to uncover a mass grave where her daughter was allegedly buried in but her pleas have thus far been ignored.

López was one of the participants in a seven-day hunger strike that took place last November and that ended after Mexico City authorities met with the protesters.

The current hunger strikers have received support from the likes of author Elena Poniatowska and anthropologist Martha Lamas, whom the protesters hope will bring awareness to their cause and also pressure the government to meet their demands.

Four months ago, Peña Nieto enacted a “Victims Law” that provides a mechanism for compensation of victims of organized crime as well as the creation of a national registry to record what happened to victims.  The Mexican president said, “With this law, the Mexican state hopes to give hope and comfort to victims and their families,” yet some human rights activists believe that more can still be done:

“This law came about as a result of sustained pressure from civil society, and is an important advance for the victims of human rights violations and crime in Mexico” said Javier Zúñiga, Special Adviser to Amnesty International. 



"The decision by the new president to remove the veto on the bill applied by former President Calderón is a positive sign that this government will begin to take seriously the rights of the victims of the violence.



“But for it to make a real difference, the Mexican authorities at all levels must ensure the law is complied with effectively. When abuses happen, victims and their family members have a right to know the truth, for a full and effective investigation to take place, receive protection and support and have access to reparations - we’ll be keeping pressure on the authorities to ensure this happens," said Zúñiga.

The hunger strike hasn’t ben the only recent action calling attention to the plight of families of “disappeared” Mexicans.  Hundreds of people demonstrated in several cities like Ciudad Juarez on Mexican Mother’s Day last Friday.

“We have nothing to celebrate on this Tenth of May.  Our daughters were taken away from us but we still have hope that they will be found alive,” said the mother of Luz Angélica Mena Flores who has been missing since August 2008.

Video Sources – YouTube via users teleSUR and Paris Martínez

Online Sources - Univision.com; Amnesty International; Milenio.com; proceso.com.mx; WRadio; BBC News

Pope Francis gave his full support today to peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the country’s FARC rebels.

“Reference to the undergoing process of peace and the victims of conflict was not overlooked, with the wishes that the parties involved carry on negotiations, inspired by a sincere search for the common good and for reconciliation,” read a statement issued by the Vatican after the Argentine-born pontiff met privately on Monday with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

The leaders also discussed the “challenges that the country must face were taken into consideration, especially in regard to social inequalities” according to the Vatican statement.

"These past 24 hours have been very important for Colombia, for my government, for me as a president, for me as a person and for my family," Santos said after meeting with the first Latin American elected to head the Roman Catholic Church.

Representatives for the Colombian government and the FARC admitted earlier this month that progress has slowly been made in the peace talks that began last November.

On Sunday, Pope Francis canonized two female nuns from Latin America known for their unselfish work aiding the poor and the indigenous during the 20th century.  Laura Montoya and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala became the first saints from Colombia and Mexico, respectively, and the Pope emphasized yesterday how they should serve as examples for Catholics to follow:

Francis, the first pope from the Jesuit order, praised the Colombian saint for "instilling hope" in indigenous people. He said she taught them in a way that "respected their culture". Many Catholic missionaries over the centuries have been criticized for demanding that natives renounce local traditions viewed as primitive.
 

He hailed the Mexican saint for renouncing a comfortable life to work with the sick and poor. Mother Lupita's example, said Francis, should encourage people not to "get wrapped up in themselves, their own problems, their own ideas, their own interests, but to go out and meet those who need attention, comprehension, and help".

Montoya spent over thirty years in the Colombian jungle not only performing missionary work on the indigenous but also teaching them how to read and write. Garcia, meanwhile, helped protect Mexican Catholic figures during the Cristero War of the 1920s and also took in impoverished patients to the hospital she worked in.

The pontiff also canonized the "Martyrs of Otranto,” over 800 Italians massacred by Ottoman soldiers in 1480 after they refused to renounce their Christianity.

Video Source– YouTube via Rome Reports
 
Online Sources – The Guardian, GlobalPost, news.va; Reuters

* Brazil: An Associated Press analysis concluded that Brazilian-made cars are “dangerous” since they’re made with materials of inferior quality and a lack of safety features.

* Guatemala: Several hundred supporters of ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt gathered outside a Guatemalan military prison and protested his conviction on Friday on genocide charges.

* U.S.: Sesame Street will add a new Latino, Spanish-speaking character named Armando for the upcoming 44th season of the classic children's TV series.

* Mexico: According to a recently released report the number of homicides related to organized crime dropped 18% during the first five months of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration.

Video Source – YouTube via user autobr

Online Sources- LAHT; New York Daily News; Huffington Post; Boston.com; The Latin Americanist

Former Guatemalan strongman Efrain Rios Montt was sentenced on Friday to eighty years in prison after a court convicted him of genocide.

The 86-year-old ex-general thus becomes the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge.

Rios Montt was convicted of ordering the deaths of 1,771 members of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his brief time in the presidency between 1982 and 1983.

The historic verdict comes after weeks of harrowing testimony from hundreds of eyewitnesses to the horrors of one of the bloodiest periods in Guatemala's decades-long civil war.

The court's decision will likely be appealed by Rios Montt's attorneys who argued that he was blind to any human rights abuses during his rule.

Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, who came under fire after he publicly defended Ríos Montt, said earlier today that the government would abide the court's ruling.

The tribunal absolved José Rodríguez, the former Intelligence chief who served under Ríos Montt, of being complicit of human rights abuses.


Update below the page break...


Update: Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was whisked away to prison on Friday night shortly after a court convicted and sentenced him for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Although Rios Montt claimed on the witness stand on Thursday that "It was never my intention or my goal to destroy a whole ethnic group," the three-judge tribunal rejected his assertion.

"He had full knowledge of everything that was happening and did not stop it," said Judge Yasmin Barrios as she delivered the court's verdict in a courthouse packed with some 600 people.  

"Mood inside courtroom after verdict was euphoria, grief, hope among Ixiles and other victims; those who supported Ríos Montt are very angry," tweeted journalist Xeni Jardin.  Despite the divisiveness  caused by the trial among the Guatemalan public, the country's government tonight reaffirmed President Otto Pérez Molina's comments "respecting the court's decision".





The verdict against Ríos Montt does not signal the end of the legal process since his attorney, Francisco García Gudiel, declared that he will appeal the ruling and possibly take the case to Guatemala's Constitutional Court.  Nevertheless, the verdict could be the start of trials against military officials accused of human rights abuses during the civil war that lasted from 1960 to 1996.  (Six former soldiers were convicted in 2012 and 2013 for participating in the Dos Erres massacre, which occurred during Ríos Montt's rule, and sentenced to over 6000 years in prison).

"It's historic for this country," said Guatemalan political analyst Martin Rodriguez to CNN en Español. "Surprising, because many of us remain incredulous that Guatemala's judicial system could handle a trial of this magnitude."   




The verdict could also have repercussions in Latin American countries where ex-military rulers and senior officials during the "Dirty War" period have gone on trial.  Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who has already been convicted in connection with the killing of prisoners and the kidnapping of children during his rule, is expected to provide testimony next week at a trial against twenty-five people accused of crimes against humanity.

Video Source - YouTube via user skylightpix ("Episode 2 of our Dictator in the Dock series on the genocide trial of General Ríos Montt, where a Maya Ixil witness testifies to the horrors committed by government troops in his village 30 years ago.")

Online Sources including Update - BBC News; siglo21.com.gt; CNN; NBC News; Twitter accounts of the Guatemalan government and Xeni Jardin; Europa Press; The Guardian; Centro de Informacion Judicial (Argentina) 

* Guatemala: Former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt took the witness stand for the first time in his genocide trial yesterday and alleged that he didn’t order the massacre of hundreds of indigenous Ixil.

* Venezuela: U.S. immigration officials were allegedly granted access to Timothy Tracy, a California filmmaker detained last month and accused of conspiring against Venezuelan government.

* Uruguay: Gen. Miguel Dalmao was convicted and sentenced to twenty-eight years in prison for the 1974 murder of professor and political activist Nibia Sabalsagaray.

* Panama: Panama Canal administrators announced a series of water-saving measures as part of energy rationing caused by a drought.

Video Source – YouTube via PBS News Hour

Online Sources- ABC News; The Guardian; Businessweek; The Latin Americanist

* Chile: Thousands of students and teachers marched in Santiago, Valparaiso and other major cities resumed their protests in favor of free, high-quality education.

* U.S.: The co-author of a Heritage Foundation report criticizing immigration reform has come under fire for allegedly arguing that Hispanics have lower IQs than the "native white population."

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro visited Uruguay and Argentina as part of his “petro-diplomacy” tour of Latin America while Venezuelan opposition politicos sought support in countries like Peru and Paraguay.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis reportedly blessed leading Cuban dissident Berta Soler during a brief meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday. 

Video Source – YouTube via EFE

Online Sources- Miami Herald; USA TODAY, BBC News; ABC News

This week we're going to take a brief look at songs that became popular in their original languages but for different reasons were then recorded in other languages.

"Call Me" became a mega-hit for Blondie and it would eventually become the biggest selling single for the New Wave band.  The song would reach #1 in the U.S. and Britain but that apparently wasn't enough for the group's record executives looking to expand Blondie's success into Latin America.  Thus, "Llámame" was reportedly recorded to be released in Mexico and several South American countries.  That never came to fruition, however, and "Llámame" would eventually be included in a 1993 rarities compilation.  (That album, Blonde and Beyond, also included a French version of "Sunday Girl"). 

Does Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry sound better in English or Spanish? Judge for yourself:

Video Source - YouTube via user ali69tigrek

Online Source - Wikipedia