Latin America

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Cuban Youth Prefer Facebook to Revolution

They're resigned to small freedoms, not sweeping change

(Newser) - Cuba's youth are restless, but many are more concerned about access to Facebook, flat-screen TVs, and trips abroad than political change, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Young people say that they pressured Raul Castro to allow cell phone and computer ownership, but they remain disillusioned about the prospects for greater...

Betancourt, 3 US Hostages Freed From FARC Rebels

Colombia claims to have rescued 15

(Newser) - Colombia's military has freed 15 hostages—including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors—from Maoist rebel group FARC, the AP reports. Colombia's defense minister announced the rescue today, saying that army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their...

Yellow, Popular, and Not Long for Our Shelves
Yellow, Popular, and Not Long
for Our Shelves
OPINION
Jun 18, 2008 9:32 AM CDT

Yellow, Popular, and Not Long for Our Shelves

Ripening prices, disease will make bananas exotic again

(Newser) - With prices pushing the $1-per-pound mark, the banana's days as an American staple fruit are numbered, Dan Koeppel writes in the New York Times. “That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing,” he notes of the exotic, quick-to-rot fruit, which is cheaper...

Low-Income Buyers Make Brazil 5th-Biggest PC Market

More money and more credit fuel surge, helping Dell and HP

(Newser) - Brazilian consumers are putting better credit offers and growing wealth into computers, and HP and Dell are the beneficiaries. The country is now the 5th-biggest PC market in the world, and low-income buyers are fueling the boom there. Computer shipments rose 38% last year to 10.7 million, Bloomberg reports,...

Shakira Shakes Cash Loose for Charity
Shakira Shakes Cash Loose
for Charity
May 18, 2008 11:30 AM CDT

Shakira Shakes Cash Loose for Charity

Pair of star-studded shows take on Latin American poverty

(Newser) - Shakira, Ricky Martin, and dozens of other Spanish-speaking pop stars performed at simultaneous fundraising concerts in Mexico City and Buenos Aires yesterday, reports the LA Times. “It is doable, we can really eradicate poverty,” said the Colombian singer, whose shows benefited Alas, a charity that helps Latin America's...

Chavez Ties Merkel to Hitler
 Chavez Ties Merkel to Hitler 
May 12, 2008 10:26 AM CDT

Chavez Ties Merkel to Hitler

Venezuelan fires back after German chancellor advises neighbors to keep distance

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez fired back at Angela Merkel after the German leader suggested Latin American countries should be wary of ties to Venezuela. "She is from the German right," he said yesterday, "the same that supported Hitler, that supported fascism, that's the Chancellor of Germany."

Pelosi, Dems Hijack Colombia Free-Trade Deal

They change House rules to avoid a vote, angering Bush

(Newser) - Congressional Democrats thumbed their noses today at Bush's renewed efforts to pass a free-trade pact with Colombia. Bush sent the bill over Monday, mandating Congress to vote yea or nay within 90 days. Or so he thought. Nancy Pelosi is changing the House rules and won't allow a vote until...

Bush to Give Congress Colombia Bill

But Dems will likely kill trade pact over human rights

(Newser) - President Bush said today he is handing Congress a much-disputed Colombia free trade pact, the Washington Post reports. But with both Democratic presidential candidates and many lawmakers opposing it, the bill has little chance of passing. Democrats have long blasted Colombia for failing to protect labor advocates and curb violence....

Mexico's Emo Teens Under Fire
 Mexico's Emo Teens Under Fire 
Mar 28, 2008 10:58 AM CDT

Mexico's Emo Teens Under Fire

They're being attacked in the streets by other youth subcultures

(Newser) - An ugly clash of cultures is surfacing in Mexico with so-called emo teenagers being viciously beaten in big cities across the country, Wired reports. In one well-publicized attack north of Mexico City, an 800-strong mob—made up of punk fans and ordinary working-class teens—beat up a handful of long-haired,...

Teens' Public Orgies Rattle Chilean Mores

Sexcapades reflect consumer-driven, apolitical youth culture

(Newser) - Can 100 teenagers performing oral sex on one another in a public park not be a political statement? That's one of the questions the sight of horny, apolitical, bisexual Chilean teenagers are prompting among their appalled, mostly Catholic compatriots, Newsweek reports from a country still haunted by General Pinochet's repressive...

Rice Snubs Argentina in Trip South
Rice Snubs Argentina in
Trip South
Mar 13, 2008 2:19 PM CDT

Rice Snubs Argentina in Trip South

Relations grow icier as Kirchner drifts toward Chavez

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice has embarked on a visit to Brazil and Chile, but the secretary of State won’t be stopping in neighboring Argentina, a sign of ever-frostier relations. “The United States is clearly snubbing Argentina,” one expert tells the New York Times. New Argentine president Cristina Fernández...

Iraq Hired Guns Fight en Espa&ntilde;ol
Iraq Hired Guns Fight en Español
Jan 28, 2008 2:20 PM CST

Iraq Hired Guns Fight en Español

Contractors offer hard-to-refuse deal

(Newser) - Not every security contractor in Iraq is a hotshot American making $500 a day. Many of the private security personnel roaming Iraq are poor Latin Americans, for whom the promise of $1,000 a month and full benefits is nearly irresistible, reports the LA Times. “I’d rather die...

How They See Obama Overseas
How They See Obama Overseas
OPINION
Jan 16, 2008 3:19 PM CST

How They See Obama Overseas

New Republic scribe dissects what the world thinks of Democratic candidate

(Newser) - It’s not just Americans who are weighing in on Barack Obama’s candidacy: The New Republic’s Antonio Vargas Llosa reads the tea leaves in overseas attitudes towards the potential first black president:
  • The European left is relatively mum, showing “a quiet shame” that mainstream America—often mocked
...

'Mistrust' Fueling Latin American Arms Race

Venezuela, Brazil lead weapons spending spree

(Newser) - Recent bursts of defense spending from Brazil and Venezuela have experts wondering if Latin America—decades removed from a war between nations—has entered an arms race, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Chile has also invested in weapons recently, and Colombia is rife with war-on-drugs firepower. “There is a...

Brazil Prez: Fidel 'Healthy, Lucid'
Brazil Prez: Fidel 'Healthy, Lucid'
Jan 16, 2008 9:07 AM CST

Brazil Prez: Fidel 'Healthy, Lucid'

Lula signs economic pacts to help Cuba through transition

(Newser) - After meeting with Fidel Castro, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday the 81-year-old leader was "incredibly lucid," healthy, and "ready to assume his political role in Cuba and the role he has in history." Lula met earlier with Raul Castro, who has been...

Colombian Hostage Reunited With Son
Colombian Hostage Reunited
With Son
Jan 14, 2008 4:50 AM CST

Colombian Hostage Reunited With Son

Rojas meets child rebels took from her

(Newser) - A Colombian woman held captive for nearly six years by rebels was reunited yesterday with the son she had as a hostage. Clara Rojas' baby, Emmanuel, fathered by one of the rebels, was taken from her when he was just eight months old, suffering from a broken arm and a...

Director Rips Bush in Colombia Hostage Drama

Rescue undermined by US, says Stone

(Newser) - Maverick Hollywood director Oliver Stone had a front-row seat on the scene of the failed hostage rescue mission in Colombia last month—and has returned blaming that nation's government and President Bush. "Shame on Bush,” Stone told the Guardian. Colombian rebels reneged on a deal to free two...

New Approach Targets Tough Parasitic Illness

Insect-borne disease infects 11M annually

(Newser) - A new way to test for Chagas disease offers hope for combating the insect-borne ailment, which can otherwise go unnoticed for years, Reuters reports. The new method involves screening children in small areas where exterminators find the most disease-carrying bugs instead of having to test bigger populations. The disease infects...

Argentine Prez Campaign Cash Tied to Chavez

$800,000 in suitcase seized en route to Kirchner, US says

(Newser) - US prosecutors are accusing the Hugo Chavez government of sneaking donations to the election campaign of new Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, writes the Guardian. A suitcase filled with $800,000, seized at Buenos Aires airport , was on its way from Caracas to Kirchner, one of the men involved in the...

Chavez Foes Stage Mass Rally
Chavez Foes Stage Mass Rally
Nov 29, 2007 4:24 PM CST

Chavez Foes Stage Mass Rally

Thousands take to the streets ahead of Sunday's vote

(Newser) - Tens of thousands took to the streets in Caracas today to protest Hugo Chavez's proposal to bolster his power and institute socialist changes. Venezuelans will vote Sunday on 69 constitutional reforms, including the eradication of presidential term limits. "We can't be a communist Venezuela," one opposition leader told...

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