BRAZIL: BRAZIL IN MOURNING TO THE RHYTHM OF JOBIM FOR THE 600 DEAD DUE TO THE RAINS The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, declared today three days of national mourning because of the tragedy of more than 600 victims that died during the recent rains in Brazil. The Brazilians today, remember the famous songs of their god of Brazilian music, Tom Jobim (Antonio Carlos Jobim), whose property in the country, a place where he would retreat to compose his music, has been destroyed by an avalanche of water and mud. This country house located in Poço Fundo, in the small town of Sao Jose do Vale Preto, on the edge of the river Preto, overflowed in the past few days devastating the town, as well as, Jobim’s country property, the one in which this musician, lover of nature, had carried out his precious work of recuperating native vegetation. The lyrics of his famous samba Waters of March, written in 1972, appear covered with prophetic images. “It’s a stick. It’s a stone. It’s the end of the road. It’s the rain. It’s the bottom of the well. It’s the night. It’s death on the face.” The rains of march that Jobim saw then as a regenerating force have today been converted into assassins. (www.elpais.com)
HAITI: THE EX-DICTATOR DUVALIER RETURNS TO HAITI AFTER 25 YEARS IN EXILE This morning (January 17), after 25 years in exile, Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) arrived in Haiti on an Air France flight from Paris. Between the father, Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc) who governed from 1957 until his death in 1971, and his son Jean Claude, who succeeded him and governed until 1986, they were responsible for ordering the death of some 60,000 people in Haiti. When he left the country in 1986 as a result of a popular revolt, he was accused of a range of crimes from corruption to violations of human rights, as well as, embezzling public funds. Rene Preval, Haiti’s president, in 1997 during his first term in office, warned that Duvalier would be jailed if he returned to Haiti. For now, the National Police still does not know what to do. “I have returned to help”, stated Duvalier. This Tuesday, January 18, he was taken to the chief prosecutor’s office. Five hours later, the district attorney charged him with corruption, theft and embezzlement of public funds. After a few hours in the Palace of Justice, Baby Doc was set free but remained under the disposition of the judges, according to his own lawyers. (www.elpais.com)
COSTA RICA: COSTA RICA ASKS THE JUSTICE COURT OF THE UNITED NATIONS TO REMOVE NICARAGUA’S TROOPS FROM ITS TERRITORY Costa Rica and Nicaragua have presented a case before the International Court of Justice of the United Nations due to a border dispute. Located on the River San Juan the Costa Rican Government alleges that Managua intends on building a canal, three kilometers (1.86 miles) long, to connect the river to the sea which will modify the existing border. Because Costa Rica considers the territory where Nicaraguan troops have been stationed as its own. It has asked the judges to order “an immediate removal”. Moreover, it adds, the dredging of the river will harm the surrounding wetlands, protected since 1996 because of the value of its wildlife. The River San Juan has been a source of conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the last two centuries and a risk exists that the current situation may harm the peace in this region. (www.elpais.com)
MEXICO: THE NATIONAL COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF MEXICO DISCLOSED MASSIVE KIDNAPPINGS OF MIGRANTS Some 20,000 Central Americans in a year are victims of extortion while trying to reach the United States. The National Commission of Human Rights (a public institution in Mexico that is autonomous from the federal government–NCHR) is expected to make public a report in the next few weeks that will disclose the seriousness of what could very well be one of the human tragedies least documented in the 21st century, that is, the kidnapping on Mexican soil of 20,000 Central American migrants in a year. Many of these migrants begin their travel on Mexican soil by boarding “La Bestia” (The Beast), a cargo train so nicknamed, that leaves from Chiapas, a border state with Guatemala. The train is detained by immigration authorities (under the authority of the National Institute of Migration–NIM) in order to capture illegal migrants. Upon provoking the undocumented to disperse, they are, in reality, taking them directly to the kidnappers. For each person kidnapped, the criminals demand a payment, that varies with each case, but , in general falls within “$5,000 to almost $15,000”. The president of NCHR (Raul Plascencia Villanueva) declared that the testimonies taken from the kidnapped victims make the complicity of the authorities with the criminals very clear. The tragedy has also been documented by the activists of diverse groups involved in the defense of human rights, who have accused the NIM of indolence and its officers of colluding with the kidnappers. The activists indicated that among those that orchestrate the kidnappings, could be the organized criminal group known as “Los Zetas” as well as gangs such as the “Mara Salvatrucha 13” (MS 13). (www.elpais.com)