Archive for July 14th, 2008
Ingrid Betancourt Celebrates Bastille Day
5:11 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia|france|Politics · Comments Off
14 Jul 2008
Former Colombian presidential candidate and recently released FARC hostage, Ingrid Betancourt, was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by French President Nicolas Sarkozy today, Bastille Day.
Betancourt, who has both Colombian and French citizenship, said in an interview aired yesterday on Univision, on Al Punto with Jorge Ramos, that she thought there were other ways to serve the Colombian people besides as president and that seeking the presidency was not a priority.
She also asked that people give her the time and space to sort through all that has happened. This is clearly a response to the press’s insistence on hearing details as to what happened to her during her six year experience as a FARC hostage in the Colombian jungle.
Via / BBC, AL Punto con Jorge Ramos (Univision)
Miss Universe is a Latina : U.S. Busts Its Ass (Again)
3:11 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · TV|Venezuela|Women · 1 Comment
14 Jul 2008
Crystle Stewart, from Texas, The Miss Universe contestant fell yesterday during an entrance to the stage during the competition, much like what happened with last year’s U.S. representative.
In Venezuela, potential beauty queens are trained in schools and given plastic surgery pretty much as soon as they come out of their mami’s womb, which may explain why Dayana Mendoza, 22, from Venezuela won the crown.
Mendoza, upon winning played up her cred by revealing that she was a victim of a secuestro express a little over a year ago.
I still don’t get the purpose of Miss Universe, beyond glorifying the idea of what valuable women are supposed to be like, but maybe that’s because I would likely bust my ass on stage too.
More Problems with the Postville Raids
2:12 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration · 10 Comments
14 Jul 2008
Democracy Now hosted an interview with Erik Camayd-Freixas, a court interpreter for many of the workers that were arrested in the recent raids in Iowa.
An experience he highlights:
Basically, I saw immediately that this man had no choice but to plead guilty, if he wanted to return to his family as soon as possible, after five months in jail and then at least another month for deportation. So, I could immediately see myself in that situation, and I realized that this man, just like many others—women, as well, parents—would be placed in jail for these five months, and every waking hour they would be consumed by the worry as to whether their family was going to make it, as to whether any of their children was going to make it that day. And on top of that, they would have to carry the burden of having failed their families.
So, to me, that situation, which was—I think could have been foreseen and should have been foreseen by authorities, because they are experienced in this, so they know, they must know, and it is their business to know, that many of these Guatemalan and Mexican people have families in their countries and children depending on them, as well as in Iowa, in the United States, in Postville, in this case, such that to place them in that position, basically holding their families’ well-being ransom over their heads in order to induce them to accept a plea agreement and plead guilty as the fastest way to get back home and then placing them in jail for that time under that kind of duress, I think that it’s very disturbing. It’s very disturbing.
Very disturbing indeed.
Read the whole thing here.
Human Rights Abuses Against Pregnant Undocumented Workers
1:25 pm By Maegan La Mala · children|Controversia|Family|Health|Immigration|Justice|Women · 3 Comments
14 Jul 2008
Latina Lista is reporting on the story of Juana Villegas DeLaPaz, an undocumented pregnant worker who was recently arrested and imprisoned for driving without a license.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Villegas DeLaPaz went into labor while in prison. The results were horrific.
Villegas DeLaPaz was arrested, incarcerated and forced to go through labor under armed guard handcuffed to by her wrist and ankle to a hospital bed. When she arrived at the hospital, the nurse asked the accompanying officer to step outside while Villegas DeLaPaz changed into her hospital gown – he refused, forcing Villegas DeLaPaz to unclothe before him. Then she was shackled on her legs whenever she went to the bathroom. The nurse asked that the shackles be removed because she wanted Villegas DeLaPaz to be able to clean up after childbirth and do other hygiene to prevent infection. Again, the attending officer refused. Her newborn was taken from her and did not receive needed breast milk for several days. She was re-jailed and denied a breast pump to express her milk. Nurses attending her were crying. She could not sleep in the jail because of the intense pain from her swollen breasts. She was not allowed to call her family so her husband could be with her for the birth.
Many nativists are making the rounds to Latin@ blogs covering this issue. They are arguing the same basic tired argument, that if ‘illegals’ don’t want to be treated like criminals than they should stop being criminals (aka go back to where they came from). I personally question why any criminal anywhere should be treated in such a manner. In this day and age, a country like the U.S. has not managed to find any possible alternatives to handcuffing laboring women to beds so they don’t escape? We haven’t figured out ways for lactating women to be given breast pumps in jail (oh, wait a minute, we have!)?
Being a “criminal” does not equal or even imply the loss of basic human rights. I think that’s something we should ALL be able to get on board with.
Grand Jury Fails to Indict Off-Duty NYPD Detective in Shooting: Community to Protest Today
1:11 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Justice|New York City · Comments Off
14 Jul 2008Last October, in what has been described as an act of road rage, off-duty NYC detective Sean Sawyer shot and killed Jayson Tirado, an unarmed motorist.
Last week, a grand jury , did not indict Sawyer, even though, according to the saying, if it really is in the political will, a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich. Despite the fact that Sawyer fled the scene of the shooting and did not report it, the fact that he was a police officer allowed him to operate under a different set of laws.
It was a justifiable shooting under unfortunate circumstances,” he added.
The district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said Officer Sawyer, 35, could not be charged with leaving the scene of the shooting and failing to immediately report it because, unlike leaving the scene of a car accident, what he did was not a crime.
“I’m sure that most people would be shocked to learn that it is not a crime for a police officer to leave the scene of a shooting without reporting it as soon as practicable,” Mr. Morgenthau said in a news release. “I share their outrage. But, that is the law. As a result of this case, we will be submitting legislation to change that.”
An Apology Regarding the Amigos Invisibles Show
11:11 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Events|Music|New York City|VivirLatino · Comments Off
14 Jul 2008I wish I were using this space to write about the wonderful time I had at the Amigos Invisibles show at S.O.B’s last Friday. Instead I’m using this space to apologize for putting up information that was a misunderstanding at best, false advertising a la bait and switch at best.
On the flyer for the Amigos Invisibles show, which I was provided from people working at S.O.B’s for me to specifically promote on VivirLatino, it clearly states that LAMC badge holders would be granted free admission. I would like to apologize to LAMC badge holders who found that this was not honored when they went to S.O.B’s on Friday night. I and about 30 other people were not granted admission that I personally witnessed.
Despite my attempts at getting an official explanation, it remains unclear what happened. I was told by one person who works at S.O.B’s that the free admission for LAMC badge holders was limited to the first 50 or so people. If this is the case, it certainly was never relayed to me, and it isn’t on the flyer.
My feeling is that it was a bait and switch job with S.O.B’s management knowing that people would be coming out to see the Amigos Invisibles show anyway, so they were going to ignore what they had already put out there.
I still would appreciate an official response because it really is shame that a place like S.O.B’s, that has so much history and a certain reputation for playing global music and supporting global music, would play people who themselves are musicians or are in the industry.
The New Yorker Vs. Obama
9:11 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|Magazines|Media|Politics · 2 Comments
14 Jul 2008
I’m currently out of the country and because of this, my reaction to the image you see here is probably more dramatic than yours. Maybe this has been all over CNN and you are numb to it? Maybe there is some other meaning behind this that I am missing? All I can say is that I am floored to see the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Illinois Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle depicted as “terrorists” (yes, read that with the quotation marks it deserves) on the cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Both the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign are denouncing the cartoon. Reports SwampPolitics.com:
“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement, reported by Politico. “But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”“We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement.
As mentioned in the Obama camp’s quote, the magazine calls the cover a “satire”, meant to call attention to the right’s fear mongering tactics.
What do you think?
Via / Chicago Tribune’s The Swamp
Obama Speaks to La Raza y Que?
9:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off
14 Jul 2008Yesterday Barack Obama gave a speech at the National Council of La Raza Conference in San Diego, California. The speech contains nothing surprising. Obama positions himself as a friend of Latinos, who feels our struggles with education, housing, the economy, health care and of course, immigration. But he balanced that with by saying that those that are undocumented need to be punished somehow, by paying a fine, for example, but not through mass deportation. He mentioned the need for secure borders (without mentioning his support of the border fence) and the need to create a path for citizenship.
Is this anything new? Does this address the questions left pending by members of the Sanctuary and others? Read his remarks for yourself after the jump:
When You’re a Stripper in Santiago…
8:58 am By Maegan La Mala · Chile|Controversia|sex|society · Comments Off
14 Jul 2008…don’t try working it on the poles of the city’s metro, or you’ll get carted away:
Chilean stripper Monserrat Morilles wanted to draw attention to what she called the “conservatism” of Chilean society in a special way — by showing subway riders how she earns her keep. Apparently authorities weren’t amused, as evidenced by the above video, which shows Ms. Morilles (a.k.a. “La Diosa del Metro”) being taken away in a paddywagon.
Regardless, it looks like Montse got her point across!
Via / Reuters
Lunes Libros : Cubano-Nuyorican Writer Charlie Vazquez brings Business as Usual
8:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Books|GLBT · 1 Comment
14 Jul 2008
A transgender Mexican gets involved in a complicated relationship with a young man caught between pandilla life and a gringo offering the American dream. A clown struggles between a life of entertaining children and a punk lifestyle. These are just some of the tales that Charlie Vazquez brings together in his book, Business as Usual, published by Fireking Press.
This Bronx boy weaves some fantastic tales that reveal the influence the punk subculture of the 80′s had on him. The two novellas and three short stories (written in New York City, California, Baja Mexico and Oregon), reveal underground queer Latino cultures that function parallel to what is known as mainstream and what happens when they intersect. The stories in the book draw you into these worlds and when you’re done, you’re left with a sort of hangover, with flashes of what you’ve just read coming back at you.
Charlie Vazquez’s Business as Usual can be purchased through his website, or if you’re in NYC, you can pick it up at St. Mark’s Books, which is an amazing bookstore. Support independent Latino artists!!
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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