La Plaza comments switching to Facebook

La Plaza today is switching to a new commenting system.

The system requires commenters to sign in through their Facebook accounts. People without Facebook accounts will not be able to leave comments.

Readers will have the option of posting their La Plaza comments on their Facebook walls, but that's not required.

Readers are welcome to express their opinions about the news -- and about how the new Facebook comments system is working.

Jimmy Orr, the Los Angeles Times managing editor in charge of latimes.com, discussed our online comments and the Facebook system in greater depth in a March entry to the Readers' Representative Journal.

We hope to see your comments on Facebook.

-- The Foreign Staff of the Los Angeles Times

Uruguay moves to overturn amnesty law, an opening for major human rights cases

 

Uruguay is close to overturning a law that gave amnesty for human rights crimes committed by the military during the nation's 1973-85 dictatorship. The Senate narrowly approved the measure this week, and the lower house is expected to make only minor changes. The repeal could go into effect by May 20, the day Uruguay honors political prisoners who disappeared or were killed during the military regime's crackdown on leftists.

South American countries once saddled with right-wing military dictatorships have taken various steps to end amnesties that many enacted as the army returned to its barracks and democracy was restored; Argentina, for example, has put several former generals on trial. Uruguay was one of the last to take this step; the amnesty was criticized by Amnesty International in a 2010 report, which said the law permitted impunity. And the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled earlier this year, in a forced-disappearance case, that Uruguay should scuttle the law.

"The vote to annul Uruguay's amnesty law is a major victory for justice," Tamara Taraciuk Broner of Human Rights Watch told La Plaza. "The law has been an obstacle to prosecute police and military personnel for decades."

But Uruguay's still-powerful military and opposition political parties said the amnesty should stay in place. Top military brass held a late-night meeting with President Jose Mujica on Thursday to register complaints, the Montevideo daily La Republica reported (link in Spanish).

Overturning the military amnesty was a pet project of Mujica, whose leftist supporters demanded it. Mujica, 75, is himself a former guerrilla leader imprisoned and tortured by the military.  An amnesty for crimes committed by leftist guerrillas during the same dictatorship years remains intact.

-- Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City

Photo: Uruguayan President Jose Mujica. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

A growing list of Latin American nations moving to recognize a Palestinian state

Joining a widening trend across Latin America, Chile and Paraguay are poised to recognize a Palestinian state based on borders before the 1967 Middle East War, reports in Israel and Latin America said.

In recent weeks, several countries in the region have declared their recognition of a Palestinian state half a world away. Led by the rising global player Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela have all done so, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz.

The move by these governments to recognize a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders appears to be an uncoordinated response to requests that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has made to Latin American leaders, reports said. "There is no obvious coordination but quite a few Latin American governments are suddenly recognizing the Palestinian state in a very short amount of time," notes the Latin America-focused blog Two Weeks Notice.

On Saturday, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera met one-on-one with Abbas in Brazil during the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as Brazil's first female president. Abbas attended the inauguration in Brasilia to "thank the presidents" that have recognized the Palestinian state, reported the Chilean daily La Tercera (link in Spanish).

Chile is home to a significant population of about 350,000 mostly Christian Palestinians (link in Spanish). Like many of its neighbors, Chile also has a large Jewish community. A Jewish leader in Chile called the decisions to recognize a Palestinian state "imprudent" (link in Spanish).

World mayors sign climate-change pact in Mexico City

Hoping to place cities at the forefront of global climate-change policy efforts, leaders of more than 100 urban centers pledged on Sunday in Mexico City to commit their governments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The so-called Mexico City Pact is a precursor to climate-change talks with world governments opening next week in the Mexican resort city of Cancun. Countries will attempt once more to come up with a binding treaty to rein in global warming after the failure to do so at United Nations talks in Denmark last year.

In Mexico City, mayors and representatives of 138 cities, including Los Angeles, Paris and Johannesburg, signed the voluntary pact that states they will develop and implement local climate-change action plans that are "measurable, reportable and verifiable." The mayors summit was organized by the government of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, whose efforts to "green" this crowded and polluted megalopolis are considered the most ambitious in Latin America.

Ebrard, who appears a likely presidential candidate in Mexico in 2012, said local governments will be key to reducing the effects of climate change. A majority of the world's population is now living in cities for the first time in history.

"We have to tell the international community that it's in the cities that the battle to slow global warming will be won," the mayor said before the summit.

Other cities in the region joining the pledge in Mexico City included Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina; La Paz, capital of Bolivia; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the largest cities in Brazil; Bogota,  capital of Colombia; Quito, capital of Ecuador; and Montevideo, Uruguay's capital (link in Spanish).

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City

Photo: Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, center, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, at left, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hold the pact. Mexican magnate Carlos Slim, who also presented his plan on climate change at the mayors summit, is seen in the far rear, third from left (link in Spanish). Credit: World Mayors Summit on Climate Change

Argentina dispatches Mexico in World Cup -- again

To the left, the front page of La Prensa in Mexico City Monday, lamenting Mexico's World Cup loss against Argentina, 3-1, on Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Failure!" the headline reads, above a photo of forward Giovani Dos Santos with tears welling in his eyes.

Two crucial mistakes and a questionable goal from Argentina early in the match sealed Mexico's fate. The loss eliminated Mexico from contention for the Cup and repeated the squad's inelegant exit from the tournament in 2006, when Argentina took out El Tri, 2-1, in Germany.

"It was a team that was supposed to make history," Kevin Baxter writes in The Times. "Instead it only repeated it."

The match was rife with significance beyond the field. Mexico entered the tournament with high expectations, but Argentina came in as favorites to potentially win it all. Plus, they are coached in this World Cup by Diego Maradona, a legend to any soccer fan anywhere in the world. For Mexico, it's "more of the same," reflecting what some refer to as a nagging mentality of inferiority (link in Spanish).

Others see it as pure bad luck --  terrible, epic, awful luck. The Los Angeles soccer blog From a Left Wing put it this way: "It's become a World Cup scripted by Emile Zola."

Not for all the teams, of course. Latin American squads are faring well so far in South Africa, with six advancing to the Round of 16, matching six from Europe. With their wins, Argentina and Uruguay advance to the quarterfinals, and Brazil and Chile face off on Monday for their duel to advance.

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico

Image: La Prensa

Latin America Digest: Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico

Today’s One-Line News Briefs:

Buenos Aires— Argentina's last dictator, 82-year-old Reynaldo Bignone, was convicted and sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for torture and illegal detentions committed during the nation's 1976-1983 military regime.

Bogota, Colombia — Colombian Gen. Fernando Joya, two colonels and three other servicemen were killed when a military helicopter and a civilian helicopter crashed into each another at a base in the southwest province of Tolima.

The Hague, Netherlands — A United Nations court rejected Argentina's claims that a Uruguayan pulp mill is pumping dangerous pollution into the river on their mutual border, angering Argentine protesters who have waged a three-year campaign against the mill.

Mexico City — The lower house of Mexico’s Congress joined the Senate by approving the creation of a space agency that will seek to bolster research and raise Mexico's scientific profile, a proposal that now goes to President Felipe Calderon.

-- Times wire reports

Latin America Digest: Uruguay's Bordaberry sentenced, Brazil's heat wave, Paraguay's energy crisis and Peru's tourism push

Today's One-Line News Briefs:

Montevideo, Uruguay— Former dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry was sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the constitution when he led a 1973 coup that began 12 years of dictatorship in Uruguay, the prosecutor said Wednesday.

Brasilia, Brazil — Thirty-two elderly people died in the southeastern Brazilian coastal city of Santos this week because of a heat wave, a health official said.

Asuncion, Paraguay— An energy crisis in Paraguay is disrupting factories and testing leftist President Fernando Lugo, who ordered the lights to be switched off at the presidential palace to save power.

Lima, Peru— Peru’s government is cutting air fares and hotel rates hoping to draw tourists to the Inca city of Cuzco even though the country’s top tourist destination, the nearby Machu Picchu fortress, remains inaccessible as a result of landslides and floods in late January.

--Times wire reports

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 American entries win at Berlin film festival

Gael Garcia Bernal's latest movie "Mammoth" might have received a frosty reception at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this month, but the same cannot be said for some of the other Latin American entries.

“The Milk of Sorrow / La Teta Asustada,” the first Peruvian film in the festival's main competition, won the top prize, the Golden Bear for best picture, on Saturday, reports the New York Times.

The film, about a young woman who was born as a result of her mother’s rape, was directed by Claudia Llosa and stars Magaly Solier.

Meanwhile, the Uruguayan-Argentine effort "Gigante" took three awards, including the Jury Grand Prix.

"Gigante" takes place in Montevideo and is about a guard at a supermarket who is in love with one of the employees whom he spies on through his many security cameras.

See trailers for both films in the embedded videos.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City