Archive for August, 2006
FBI Off the Hook for Killing of Rican Nationalist
11:51 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
23 Aug 2006
Surprise surprise. Last week the Federal Department of Justice determined that FBI acted appropriately when they shot and killed Puerto Rican nationalist leader and Machetero Filiberto Ojeda Rios last September 23. The only criticism the Feds made was that there were some procedural issues in the shooting, including delayed communications between FBI headquarters and agents at the scene. According to CNN the report said:
“Although our report did not find that the FBI violated the deadly force policy or intentionally allowed Ojeda to die, we did find deficiencies in the FBI’s conduct of the arrest operation,” the report said. FBI decisions suffered from inadequate consideration of alternative options and inadequate preparation for foreseeable scenarios.”
Chicas Like Us
8:57 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · children|Movies|race|Women · Comments Off
23 Aug 2006
One of the reasons I love VL is because our readers pass us such great info. Yesterday we were informed of a film that impacted me as a Latina mami and mujer. The short film, A Girl Like Me, explores the standards of beauty and the messages that society is sending to black girls. The 7 minute piece directed by Kiri Davis and featured at the last Tribeca Film Festival features interviews with black girls talking honestly about their skin color and hair texture and what they were taught was beautiful compared what they thought themselves to be. While watching children all shades of brown choosing a white baby doll as good and a darker baby doll as bad and identifying with the darker doll was sad and horrifying it wasn’t surprising.
Mexican Elections : Blogs Eyeing Fraud
11:38 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Blogs|Controversia|mexico · Comments Off
22 Aug 2006
We here at VL have been keeping on eye out on what’s been going down in Mexico especially on the going ons surrounding the much disputed Mexican presidential race and the fraud accusations surrounding the recounts. There is a new blog out that VL will be watching closely and you should be too if you wanna be in the know about what’s going down south of the U.S. border. The blog, aptly named Electoral Fraud in Mexico contains videos, articles and even PDF files on studies concerning fraud in the race between AMLO and Calderon.
Another Nuestro Himno?
8:57 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Immigration|Music · Comments Off
22 Aug 2006
It’s back! Another song highlighting the issues of immigrants in the United States is being marketed as a competition for the controversial Spanish language version of the Star Spangled Banner, Nuestro Himno. The song, Sé que triunfaré, clearly has a Mexican feel and features estrellas de la musica regional mexicana like Tony Meléndez, Jenni Rivera y Mario Quintero. The simple lyrics are said to represent the everyday experiences of immigrants here in the U.S. A sample of some of the lyrics:
Soy el siembra la tierra por eso en tu mesa nunca falta el pan. Soy la que cuida a tus hijos para que puedes ir tranquilo a trabajar.
The song will be included in a cd containing positive messages about the Latino immigrant community to be released by Fonovisa records on September 26.
Anything that draws attention to the real issue and away from alarmist and racist warnings about Latino invasions is a good thing even if the song is a little cheesy and sentimental.
Via / Univision.com
Pat Buchanan warns of Mexican “invasion”
4:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Immigration|Politics · 18 Comments
21 Aug 2006
That xenophobic freak Pat Buchanan is at again. MSNBC is running excerpts of his new book “State of Emergency” and they are nothing less than laughable. I might be upset if I weren’t ROFLMAO.
Chapter 2. The Invasion
“Will the American Southwest become a giant Kosovo, a part of the nation separated from the rest by language, ethnicity, history and culture, to be reabsorbed in all but name by Mexico from whom we took these lands in the time of Jackson and Polk? Chicano chauvinists and Mexican agents have made clear their intent to take back through demography and culture what their ancestors lost through war.”
And apparently Mexicans are responsible for — of all things — bedbugs:
Chapter 3. Coming to America
“High among the [costs of immigration] is the appearance among us of diseases that never before afflicted us and the sudden reappearance of contagious diseases that researchers and doctors had eradicated long ago. Malaria, polio, hepatitis, tuberculosis and such rarities of the Third World as dengue fever, Chagas’ Disease and leprosy are surfacing here …. Bedbugs have invaded the United States for the first time in 50 years, with 28 states reporting recent infestations.’”
For a real hearty laugh, check out the whole feature on MSNBC.com.
Via / MSNBC.com
Penelope is the New Curvy
1:54 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Internet|Women · 3 Comments
21 Aug 2006
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz says she doesn’t feel pressure to fit into U.S. standards of beauty, mainly around weight because she’s not from the U.S. FemaleFirst goes so far as to say:
The beautiful ‘Volver’ star is comfortable with her curvy body, despite the expectation from Hollywood for women to be really skinny.
I agree that Penelope is beautiful but curvy? She looks straight up flaca to me. Or is it that as a Latina I also have a different idea of beauty compared to Hollywood?
Via / FemaleFirst
Image Via / Bodog Beat
Bolivia: Guaraní seize pipelines
1:11 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Bolivia|Politics · 1 Comment
21 Aug 2006
The Dow Jones — in a strangely translated and not very PC press release — announced today that a group of Guaranís have seized a gas pipeline in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which provides gas to nearby Brazil:
Between about 20 to 30 Indians were still occupying the site Monday, while up to 150 people were staging protests outside the premises, the official told Dow Jones Newswires, speaking over the telephone from Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
The occupied control station is located in Parapet in Santa Cruz state and serves to compress gas to transport it to Brazil. Brazil currently imports about 25 million cubic meters of gas a day from Bolivia.
Indian leaders have threatened to close valves in the control station to stop the gas exports, but so far the gas flow is uninterrupted, the Petrobras official said.
The protesters are demanding 9 million dollars they say were promised them by Brazilian oil companies in 2005.
Via / Easy Bourse
Image via bolivia.indymedia.org
Raul Castro : Fidel Light?
9:13 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba|Politics · Comments Off
21 Aug 2006
Does Raul Castro really taste great and is he less filling compared to his bro Fidel? According to State Department spokesman Tom Casey he is. That’s what he called Raul in a statement last Friday in reaction to a statement by the acting Cuban president saying that he was open to normalized relations with the U.S. but that threats would get Bush and company nowhere.
Some of the empire’s war hawks thought that the moment had come to destroy the Revolution this past July 31. We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even crazier, within the U.S. government.
Interesting that Raul is considered less hard core by the U.S. government than Fidel when during the revolution Raul was always considered more ruthless. A ver if Fidel ever steps back in the spotlight or steps back to Raul.
Via / AccessNorthGa.com
Image Via / Con Tinta Negra
Possible Juarez killer detained?
12:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Justice|mexico|Women · Comments Off
18 Aug 2006
The Denver Post is reporting that officials in Denver have picked up a suspect that is believed to have been involved in the killings of hundreds of women in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (Mexico). Details are still sketchy, but Mexican officials are also saying that there is reason to believe that the suspect is part of a group of criminals responsible for the crimes:
Edgar Alvarez-Cruz was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Denver for being in the country illegally after Mexican authorities asked the U.S. Marshals Service to help locate him in the city.Mexican authorities believe Alvarez-Cruz is part of a gang of men who raped and murdered at least 10 women in Ciudad Juarez from 1993 to 2003, U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza Jr. said.
The suspect apparently has an arrest record in the state of Colorado dating back to 2002, and was apprehended on an immigration violation. No warrant was issued for the murders but:
Mexican authorities made a specific request that they wanted Alvarez-Cruz in custody.Mexico Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca told reporters Alvarez-Cruz had been under investigation but fled the country.
“We don’t exactly know how many homicides he may have been responsible for, but there is solid evidence in several cases we know of,” Cabeza de Vaca said.
Here’s hoping this is a breakthrough, but pressure on the Mexican government to put a stop to this should not subside. If this man is involved, he is but one piece of the puzzle and we should all continue to make noise about this cause.
Via / The Denver Post
Jerry Rivera Calls Shaki’s (and your) Bluff
12:10 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Chismes|Controversia|Music · 5 Comments
18 Aug 2006
A little while back Jen wrote about Colombian singer and hip shaker Shakira being called out by Rican salsero Jerry Rivera for using a trumpet rif from his song Amores Como lo Nuestro in her hit song Hips Don’t Lie without his permission. Many of you wrote in defending Shakira and Jerry Rivera, some even saying that the trumpets had been used in other songs. Well someone forgot to send the memo to Jerry because in today’s El Diaro/LA Prensa Jerry is quoted as saying from Peru:
Si Shakira dice que antes había sido utilizado por otro artista, pues que lo demuestre, porque yo no lo sabía. ¡Quiero escucharlo!
So who is gonna send Jerry the MP3?
Via / El Diario/La Prensa
Hola!
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