Central America, Latin America: Week in Review
Tropical Storm Ernesto Heads For Central America, Mexico
August 7, 2012 By Staff
Top Story — A tropical storm warning has been issued for Honduras and Nicaragua and a hurricane warning has been issued for parts of Mexico and Belize as Tropical Storm Ernesto makes its way toward the Yucatán peninsula. Authorities in Nicaragua and some parts of Honduras may evacuate coastal areas as the storm is expected to pass along Honduras’ northern coast. Authorities in Nicaragua evacuated hundreds of people along the coast and near the border with Honduras, where the storm is expected to dump five inches of rain through Monday night and Tuesday morning. Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to be upgraded to a hurricane on Tuesday morning with winds exceeding 74 miles per hour.
Read more from The Washington Post and Reuters.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it will begin accepting applications for deferred action and work authorization on August 15 under U.S. President Barack Obama’s new policy toward young undocumented immigrants.
- A dozen couples staged a “kiss in” in the Mexican city of Leon after a man was arrested for kissing a female companion in public.
Caribbean
- Kirani James earned Grenada’s first-ever Olympic medal and its first gold medal in the 400 meter finals.
- Felix Sánchez won the Dominican Republic’s first gold medal in the London Olympic Games in the 400-meter hurdles Monday.
- Following Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake’s gold and silver medals in the 100-meter dash at the London Olympics on Sunday, Jamaica celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain on Monday.
- Cuba’s state oil company Cubapetroleo announced Monday that its latest offshore oil well “cannot be qualified as a commercial discovery”.
Central America
- A top Guatemalan political advisor said Monday that the government will withdraw its proposal to acquire a 40 percent stake in the country’s mining projects because it was “making a lot of noise internationally”.
- A Guatemalan court ruled to extradite a 72 year-old man suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel to the U.S..
Andes
- Kenyan authorities on Monday charged the first secretary of Venezuela’s embassy in Nairobi with murder of acting Venezuelan Ambassador Olga Fonseca.
- At least 250 Colombian women have been attacked by having acid thrown in their faces in the last three years, but attackers are rarely apprehended and usually only face 2 years in prison.
- Ecuadorean police arrested guerrilla Edilson Castro Lopez, alias “Jairo” or “Chicanero,” for providing arms for the FARC.
Southern Cone
- Argentine officials said that 30 people were injured in a train accident in Buenos Aires‘ Retiro station, but none are in serious condition.
- Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle said that the inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur would be “good for Uruguay” but that Venezuela should not have been incorporated without Paraguay’s approval.
- A Paraguayan newspaper reported that Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel attempted to set up a methamphetamine precursor chemical ring in Asunción, but it reportedly failed to take hold.
Image: Chalky Lives @ Flickr.
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