President Barack Obama and Latin America: A strong new beginning or not so much?

Since becoming president, Barack Obama has promised a new beginning in relations between the United States and countries throughout Latin America. He even caused a stir during an April meeting of Western Hemisphere leaders by exchanging warm greetings with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,  who once called former President George W. Bush the devil and early this year referred to Obama as an ignoramous.

But the challenges are many. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times today says the U.S. bungled its response to the crisis in Honduras that followed the June coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, further damaging its credibility with Latin American countries.  To read the editorial, click here.

Uruguay's president-elect Jose Mujica keeps a low profile after his victory

Former leftist guerrilla Jose "Pepe" Mujica reportedly kept a low profile today after winning Uruguay's presidential election.

The president-elect said spending a lot of time talking after a campaign of speeches would amount to "raining on what is already wet," the Associated Press reported.

Mujica won about 53% of the vote Sunday, while former President Luis A. Lacalle received about 43%, according to media reports.

Mujica, a senator who campaigned as a consensus builder, was a co-founder of the Tupamaro guerrilla movement, which caused extensive chaos during the 1960s. Mujica previously served as minister of livestock, agriculture and fisheries under President Tabare Vázquez.

In Honduras, businessman Porfirio Lobo beat Elvin Santos for the presidency and declared that the election had ended the crisis resulting from the June coup against President Manuel Zelaya.

— Efrain Hernandez Jr.

Uruguay's presidential run-off election: Jose Mujica versus Luis Lacalle

Voters in Uruguay's presidential runoff election today will choose between Sen. José Mujica, a former leftist guerrilla, and former President Luis A. Lacalle.

Polls show Mujica, known as El Pepe, ahead in the race to succeed President Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguay’s socialist leader. Mujica previously served as minister of livestock, agriculture and fisheries under Vázquez.

The 74-year-old Mujica campaigned as a consensus builder and vowed to rely on negotiation to improve conditions in the country while continuing successful economic policies initiated by Vázquez. Lacalle, 68, vowed to eliminate a progressive income tax started under Vázquez while reducing state bureaucracies.

In Honduras, a presidential election today features neither ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is urging a boycott, nor de-facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who came to power through a coup in late June. The top contenders for Honduras' top spot are businessmen Porfirio Lobo and Elvin Santos.

-- Efrain Hernandez Jr.

Latin America Digest: Today's one-line news briefs

Livingston, Guatemala -- Descendants of African slaves who fled to Guatemala two centuries ago honored their ancestors Thursday in a celebration of the Black Carib Garifuna culture that included hundreds of people reenacting their forefathers' arrival by dugout canoe.

Manaus, Brazil -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said “gringos” should pay Amazon nations to prevent deforestation, insisting rich Western nations have caused much more environmental destruction than the loggers and farmers who cut and burn trees in the world's largest tropical rain forest.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- The Honduran Supreme Court recommended that lawmakers vote against restoring President Manuel Zelaya, concluding that Zelaya, who was ousted in a June 28 coup, should not return to the presidency while he has criminal charges pending against him, a spokesman said.

Havana, Cuba -- Cuba began its biggest military maneuvers in five years, with the state-run press quoting  military leaders as saying the nation needed to prepare for a possible invasion by the United States.

San Salvador, El Salvador -- An earthquake off El Salvador's Pacific coast sent people running from buildings in the nation and in neighboring Guatemala, though officials said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

-- Times wire reports

Latin America Digest: Today's one-line news briefs

Salvador, Brazil — Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday joined visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in calling on Israel to stop building new settlements in areas claimed by Palestinians.

Bogota, Colombia — Six people, including two children, were killed when suspected Colombian FARC guerrillas stopped and set fire to a bus traveling in the south of the country, a state governor said.

Guatemala City — Guatemalan officials announced the resumption of international adoptions after a nearly two-year suspension prompted by the discovery that some babies were being sold.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras — A Honduran television station that backs deposed President Manuel Zelaya accused the de facto government of interfering with its broadcast signal, replacing news programs with cowboy movies.

Mexico City — Rising oil prices and increased exports are slowly dragging Mexico’s economy out of a severe recession, but the nation’s financial system still faces fundamental challenges, national leaders and experts said.

-- Times wire reports

Hondurans in Los Angeles prepare to vote in presidential election

Members of the Los Angeles-area electoral board that will oversee local voting in the Nov. 29 Honduran presidential election have been sworn in by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras. There are 10 people on the board, with representatives from six Honduran political parties.

“We’re working to organize the entire election process in Los Angeles,” said Zulma Gutierrez, president of the board and a member of the Christian Democratic Party. “Currently we’re passing out ID cards to people who applied for them more than two months ago."

The tribunal gave the board 1,029 identification cards for the upcoming election.  Gutierrez said Hondurans are particularly interested in voting in this election "because they want change.”

Honduran national Noemi Xiomara Sabillon, who came to the board’s office in downtown Los Angeles to pick up her registration card, said, “I’m very happy to have this because ... it gives me a voice in my country. We need to return peace and democracy to Honduras.”

The Central American country has been plagued by unrest since the June 28 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Polling places in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans and Washington will be open to Hondurans registered to vote.

--Paula Diaz/HOY

Photo: Noemi Xiomara Sabillon receives her voter identification card from a member of the Los Angeles-area electoral board.  Credit: Paula Diaz

To read the full story in Spanish this Friday, visit http://www.vivelohoy.com/losangeles

Filmmaker tracks child migrants' dangerous journeys

Reed Johnson reviews "Which Way Home," a documentary by Rebecca Cammisa that screens on HBO today and screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival this year.

"It was the anguish of a 9-year-old child that made Rebecca Cammisa vow to press on.

"When the filmmaker first met the Honduran boy named José at a detention center in southern Mexico, he was alone, scared and crying. He was one of an estimated tens of thousands of Latin American children who annually try to cross illegally into the United States, many by riding the tops of railroad freight cars, most in search of work or missing parents.

"For many, the journey ends badly, if not tragically. Menaced by predatory smugglers and corrupt police, the children (the majority from Mexico and Central America) must contend with dodgy weather, hunger and the constant danger of falling off the trains and being killed or losing limbs.

"Some travel hundreds of miles only to be intercepted by law enforcement agents and deported home. When Cammisa filmed José, he was an underage refugee adrift in an international legal limbo."

Read the rest of the review here, and here are more posts on immigration and film.

-- Deborah Bonello, in Mexico City

Video: "Which Way Home" raises questions about cross-border immigration policies. Credit: HBO

Mexico on high alert for Obama; Americas summit awaits

Mexico City is on high alert this morning as it awaits the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama, expected here today in his first official visit to Mexico.

Movie review: Crossing borders with 'Sin Nombre'

Reed Johnson reports from New York (click here for full report) on the upcoming movie "Sin Nombre" ("Nameless"), which opens in Los Angeles on March 20.

Internet use grows in Latin America

More affordable computers and an expanding broadband network are two of the factors helping to push Internet use in Latin America, according to a survey conducted by Pyramid Research for Google.

The Miami Herald reports that the recent expansion of Internet users in Latin America has been dramatic.

In 2007, for example, Colombia added 5.4 million Internet users, or about 12% of its population of 45 million -- an 80% increase in the number of Colombia's Internet users that year.

Brazil added 7.4 million Internet users in 2007 (17% growth), Mexico more than 2.2 million (an 11% increase) and Venezuela 1.58 million (38% growth).

Read the full report through the link above.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City