Latin America

Trade Issues Expected To Dominate Obama's Trip To Mexico

7:37am February 19, 2014

by Carrie Kahn

President Obama travels to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. The three presidents are talking about the increased trade among their countries, 20 years since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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Panel Considers Bin Laden Bodyguard's Stay At Guantanamo

12:49pm January 29, 2014

Steve Inskeep talks to Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald about the parole hearing of an alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Abdul Malik Wahab al Rahabi, 34, was one of the first detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

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World News

Mexican National Executed For Texas Cop's Murder

8:20am January 23, 2014

by Carrie Kahn

Texas has executed a Mexican national for killing a Houston police officer in 1994. Mexico opposes the death penalty and the execution revived a long-running diplomatic row between the United States and Mexico.

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World News

Under Government Pressure, Mexican Vigilantes Vow To Fight On

7:20pm January 18, 2014

by Carrie Kahn

Federal forces are backing away from a plan to disarm the civilian militias that are defending their communities from ruthless drug traffickers. In the western state of Michoacan, it's unclear how long the fragile peace will last.

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World News

A Newsprint Shortage Hobbles Venezuelan Media

6:20pm January 17, 2014

by John Otis

Venezuela is running out of newsprint and newspapers are shutting down. Media outlets say that it's another form of harassment by a government that often doesn't like what independent media reports.

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Social media is booming in Brazil, which has become a major market for both Facebook and Twitter. But Brazilian law is still in flux, and legislation is only just being created to deal with the rise of social media.

World News

Brazil's Social Media Boom Sparks Calls For New Privacy Laws

11:59am January 02, 2014

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Brazil is the world's third largest market for Facebook and the fifth largest for Twitter, and it has quickly become the largest market for Lulu, the controversial man-rating app for women. That has highlighted the country's race to pass legislation to keep up with a quickly changing society.

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The Secret Protectionism Buried Inside NAFTA

7:49am December 26, 2013

by Zoe Chace

In order to get the North American Free Trade Agreement signed 20 years ago, a specific trade-off was made. The trade-off would not protect U.S. jobs from moving overseas.

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Cuba Loosens Restrictions On Buying New Cars

11:13am December 20, 2013

Automotive News reports the state altered regulations, first in 2011, and now a second time, making it simpler for Cubans to buy or sell new cars. Cubans, too, now have the freedom to ask: "What do I have to do to get you in this new car today?"

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An auto worker tightens bolts on a Focus at a Ford plant in Michigan in October. Labor unions predicted in 1993 that NAFTA would send many U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico, and they continue to argue that the pact prompted a race to the bottom for worker

What Has NAFTA Meant For Workers? That Debate's Still Raging

12:31am December 18, 2013

by Don Gonyea

Two decades ago, labor unions warned that the North American Free Trade Agreement would drive away U.S. jobs and push wages down. Today, unions feel as strongly as ever that NAFTA was a mistake for U.S. workers, but quantifying the factors behind the decline in the middle class is no simple matter.

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The Virgencita Plis character from Distroller in Mexico.

World News

Mexico's Patron Saint Is Also Its Hello Kitty

8:52pm December 12, 2013

by Carrie Kahn

As many as 6 million pilgrims have made their way to the Mexican capital to pay homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe on Thursday. One woman has turned the country's most revered religious icon into a cartoon characterization, using it to build a multimillion-dollar company.

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