by tyler | Mar 1, 2024 | americas, CNN
Here is a look at the life of Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil.
Birth date: March 21, 1955
Birth place: Campinas, Brazil
Birth name: Jair Messias Bolsonaro
Father: Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro, dentist
Mother: Olinda Bonturi Bolsonaro
Marriage: Michelle Bolsonaro; Ana Cristina Valle (divorced); Rogéria Bolsonaro (divorced)
Children: with Michelle Bolsonaro: Laura; with Ana Cristina Valle: Jair Renan; with Rogéria Bolsonaro: Flavio, Carlos and Eduardo
Education: Agulhas Negras Military Academy, 1977
Military: Army, Captain
Religion: Roman Catholic
A conservative provocateur, Bolsonaro has a predilection for making inflammatory statements. His rhetorical targets include women and the LGBTQ community. In 2003, he told a congresswoman that she was not worthy of being raped. During a 2011 interview with Playboy magazine, Bolsonaro said he would be incapable of loving a gay son. He has expressed a sense of nostalgia for Brazil’s past as a military dictatorship.
Bolsonaro served seven terms as a congressman in the Chamber of Deputies. While in congress, his priorities included protecting the rights of citizens to own firearms, promoting Christian values and getting tough on crime. In 2017, he said, “A policeman who doesn’t kill isn’t a policeman.”
Bolsonaro changed his party affiliation numerous times, ultimately campaigning for president as a member of the Social Liberal Party.
When Bolsonaro took office in 2019, Brazil was suffering through a prolonged period of economic malaise and rising insecurity. His ascent was preceded by a corruption scandal that rocked political and financial institutions. During his inaugural address, Bolsonaro vowed to transform Brazil into a “strong and booming country.”
1986 – Bolsonaro writes an opinion column for the magazine Veja that criticizes the Brazilian Army’s pay system. He is subsequently disciplined for insubordination.
1989-1991 – Councilman for Rio de Janeiro.
1991-2018 – Congressman representing Rio de Janeiro in the Chamber of Deputies.
July 22, 2018 – Bolsonaro announces he is running for president.
August 15, 2018 – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former president of Brazil, announces he has submitted the necessary paperwork to register as the Workers’ Party candidate to run against Bolsonaro. Lula da Silva campaigns from prison, where he is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.
September 1, 2018 – Brazil’s top electoral court bars Lula da Silva from running for reelection while incarcerated. Ultimately, a former mayor of São Paulo named Fernando Haddad steps in as the Workers’ Party candidate.
September 6, 2018 – Bolsonaro is stabbed in the stomach during a campaign rally. He spends more than three weeks in the hospital recovering.
October 7, 2018 – Voters cast ballots in the first round of elections. Although Bolsonaro wins more votes than Haddad, he doesn’t surpass the 50% threshold. A runoff is set for later in the month.
October 28, 2018 – Bolsonaro wins the runoff. The final tally shows Bolsonaro with 55.13% and Haddad with 44.87%.
January 1, 2019 – Bolsonaro is sworn into office. On the same day, he issues a series of executive orders. One order could potentially strip away many LGBTQ civil rights protections by eliminating LGBTQ issues from the list of matters handled by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights. Another order gives the Agriculture Ministry the authority to designate indigenous lands, paving the way for agricultural development in areas that were previously off limits.
January 15, 2019 – Signs an executive order temporarily eliminating a regulation that limits firearms purchases only to individuals who provide a justification for owning a gun. The regulation gave police discretion to approve or deny gun sales.
January 28, 2019 – Officials say Bolsonaro has undergone successful surgery to remove a colostomy bag he was fitted with after being stabbed four months ago.
February 28, 2019 – Bolsonaro meets with Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó in Brasilia. During a joint news conference, Bolsonaro pledges Brazil’s support to help ensure “democracy is re-established in Venezuela.”
May 3, 2019 – A spokesman for Bolsonaro announces that the president has canceled a trip to New York, where he was set to be honored with a Person of the Year award from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. The trip was scrapped amid political backlash. The event’s original host venue, the American Museum of Natural History canceled and some corporate sponsors dropped out. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had called Bolsonaro “a dangerous man.”
May 7, 2019 – Bolsonaro signs an executive order relaxing gun control restrictions. The executive order makes it easier for guns to be imported and boosts the amount of ammunition an individual can purchase annually.
July 11, 2019 – During a news conference, Bolsonaro says that he wants his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, to serve as ambassador to the United States. He says that Eduardo is friendly with the children of US President Donald Trump.
August 23, 2019 – Bolsonaro announces a plan to send army troops to fight wildfires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest.
August 26, 2019 – At the G7 summit in France, French President Emmanuel Macron announces a $20 million emergency fund to help Brazil with the fires. Bolsonaro responds that he cannot accept Macron’s “intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of the G7 countries to ‘save’ the Amazon, as if we were a colony or no man’s land.” The dispute devolves after a Facebook user posts a meme ridiculing the appearance of Macron’s wife on Bolsonaro’s page and the president jokes, “Don’t humiliate the guy…haha.”
September 8, 2019 – Bolsonaro undergoes a hernia operation to treat complications from prior surgeries conducted as he recovered from a stab wound.
December 24, 2019 – Tells the Band TV network that he was hospitalized overnight after falling in the presidential palace December 23. He says he had brief memory loss, but that he has recovered.
April 19, 2020 – Bolsonaro joins a rally in the country’s capital, where protesters called for an end to coronavirus quarantine measures and some urged military intervention to shut down Congress and the Supreme Court. He later defends his participation, saying that he was not calling for military action against the country’s other branches of government.
June 23, 2020 – Bolsonaro is ordered by a federal judge in Brasilia to wear a face mask in public or face a fine. The decision extends to all government employees in the Federal District, where the capital Brasilia is located.
July 7, 2020 – Bolsonaro announces he has tested positive for Covid-19, following months of downplaying the virus.
March 16, 2021 – A Brazilian court orders Bolsonaro to pay damages to a journalist after he made remarks that questioned her credibility.
April 27, 2021 – Brazil’s Senate launches an inquiry into the federal government’s response to Covid-19.
July 14, 2021 – Bolsonaro is admitted to the hospital to investigate the cause of persistent hiccups that are leading to abdominal pains, according to Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Social Communication.
December 3, 2021 – Brazil’s Supreme Court orders an investigation into Bolsonaro’s false claim that people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 may have a higher risk of contracting AIDS. The inquiry is launched in response to a request by the country’s parliamentary commission which has been investigating Bolsonaro’s government’s response to the pandemic.
January 3, 2022 – Bolsonaro is admitted to a hospital with a blockage in his intestine.
June 29, 2022 – A Brazilian court rules that Bolsonaro must pay “moral damages” of 35,000 reais (approximately $6,700) to a Brazilian journalist after making remarks with sexual innuendo about her in 2020.
October 2, 2022 – In the presidential election, Bolsonaro finishes with 43.2% versus Lula da Silva’s 48.4%. Either candidate needed to surpass 50% to be elected in the first round of voting, so the two will face each other in a runoff on October 30.
October 30, 2022 – Bolsonaro loses his bid for a second term, after receiving 49.1% of the vote against Lula da Silva, who wins with 50.9%.
November 22, 2022 – Bolsonaro files a petition with Brazil election authorities formally contesting the results of the presidential vote, alleging that some voting machines had malfunctioned and any votes cast through them should be annulled. The petition is rejected the following day.
January 10, 2023 – Is discharged from a Florida hospital and arrives at a residence in Orlando. Bolsonaro said he was receiving treatment for complications related to his 2018 stabbing. Bolsonaro’s hospitalization came after hundreds of his supporters stormed the capital Brasilia on January 8, trashing government offices and drawing strong condemnation from the international community.
January 13, 2023 – Brazil’s Supreme Court says it has accepted the public prosecutor’s request to investigate Bolsonaro’s alleged involvement in the January 8 attacks on government buildings in Brasilia.
June 30, 2023 – Brazil’s highest electoral court bars Bolsonaro from running for political office until 2030, after finding him guilty of abusing his power and misusing public media during the 2022 election campaign. Speaking to Brazilian radio station Itatiaia, Bolsonaro says he plans to appeal the court’s decision.
August 17, 2023 – Brazilian hacker Walter Delgatti Neto tells Brazil’s Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) that during an August 2022 meeting, Bolsonaro asked him if he could hack into voting machines and offered to pardon the hacker if he suffered any legal consequences.
February 8, 2024 – In a statement, Brazilian Federal Police announce that four people were arrested and 33 search warrants were executed as part of a probe into an alleged attempted coup to keep Bolsonaro in power as president. Fabio Wajngarten, a lawyer representing Bolsonaro, confirms that Bolsonaro is among their number under investigation.
February 25, 2024 – Bolsonaro leads a protest rally of his supporters in São Paulo as he denies allegations that he took part in a coup plot in an attempt to stay in power after losing the 2022 presidential election.
by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | americas, CNN
Here is a look at the life of Hall of Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky, who is the all-time leading scorer in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 2,857 career points (894 career goals and 1,963 career assists).
Birth date: January 26, 1961
Birth place: Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Birth name: Wayne Douglas Gretzky
Father: Walter Gretzky, telephone technician
Mother: Phyllis (Hockin) Gretzky
Marriage: Janet Jones (July 16, 1988-present)
Children: Emma, Tristan, Trevor, Ty and Paulina
Nicknamed “The Great One.”
Only player to have his jersey number (No. 99) retired by the entire NHL.
Won four Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers (1984-1985, 1987-1988) and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL Playoff MVP) twice (1985 and 1988).
Awarded the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) nine times (1980-1987, 1989).
Won the Art Ross Trophy (NHL scoring title) 10 times (1981-1987, 1990-1991, 1994).
Played in 18 NHL All-Star Games.
At the time of his retirement in 1999, Gretzky held outright or shared 61 NHL records.
Is a part-owner of Wayne Gretzky Estates, a winery and distillery in Ontario’s Niagara region.
1974 – At age 13, scores his 1,000th lifetime goal, in an exhibition hockey game.
1978 – At the World Junior Championship, leads the tournament with 17 points (eight goals and nine assists).
June 1978 – Turns professional, signing with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association.
November 2, 1978 – Gretzky’s contract is sold to the Edmonton Oilers. After the collapse of the World Hockey Association (WHA), the Oilers are one of four WHA teams be absorbed into the NHL the following year.
October 14, 1979 – Scores his first NHL goal, against the Vancouver Canucks.
February 24, 1982 – Scores his 77th goal to break Phil Esposito’s single season scoring record. Gretzky ends the season with 92 goals, which remains an NHL record.
1983-1984 – Scores at least one point in 51 consecutive games. Gretzky’s record of the longest consecutive point scoring streak remains active in the NHL.
August 28-September 15, 1987 – Scores 21 points (three goals and 18 assists) in Team Canada’s victory against the USSR in the best-of-three finals for the Canada Cup. The final is still “considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history.”
August 9, 1988 – His trade to the Los Angeles Kings is announced.
October 15, 1989 – Surpasses Gordie Howe to become the NHL’s all-time leading point scorer, with points 1,850 and 1,851.
October 26, 1990 – Earns his 2,000th career point, the only NHL player to reach that landmark.
March 23, 1994 – Scores his 802nd goal, passing Howe as the all-time leading goal scorer.
February 27, 1996 – Traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the St. Louis Blues.
July 21, 1996 – Signs with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent.
April 18, 1999 – Retires following the Rangers’ 2-1 loss in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky played 20 seasons in the NHL, and a total of 21 seasons professionally.
October 1, 1999 – Gretzky’s jersey, No. 99, is formally retired league-wide.
November 22, 1999 – Inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, after the three-year waiting period is waived.
June 2, 2000 – Announced as a minority owner, managing partner and head of hockey operations for the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets). Gretzky officially begins his position on February 15, 2001, when the sale of the Coyotes is completed.
2002 – Establishes the Wayne Gretzky Foundation to connect underprivileged youth with hockey.
February 2002 – The Canadian men’s hockey team, for which Gretzky is the executive director, wins gold at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 50 years.
2005-2009 – Head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
2014 – Establishes Gretzky Hockey Schools.
October 2016 – Becomes partner, vice chairman and alternate board member for the Oilers Entertainment Group, which owns the Edmonton Oilers. On May 25, 2021, Gretzky announces that he is stepping down as vice chairman.
May 26, 2021 – Turner Sports announces that Gretzky is joining the network as a studio analyst.
by tyler | Jan 16, 2024 | americas, CNN
Here is a look at the life of Hall of Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky, who is the all-time leading scorer in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 2,857 career points (894 career goals and 1,963 career assists).
Birth date: January 26, 1961
Birth place: Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Birth name: Wayne Douglas Gretzky
Father: Walter Gretzky, telephone technician
Mother: Phyllis (Hockin) Gretzky
Marriage: Janet Jones (July 16, 1988-present)
Children: Emma, Tristan, Trevor, Ty and Paulina
Nicknamed “The Great One.”
Only player to have his jersey number (No. 99) retired by the entire NHL.
Won four Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers (1984-1985, 1987-1988) and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL Playoff MVP) twice (1985 and 1988).
Awarded the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) nine times (1980-1987, 1989).
Won the Art Ross Trophy (NHL scoring title) 10 times (1981-1987, 1990-1991, 1994).
Played in 18 NHL All-Star Games.
At the time of his retirement in 1999, Gretzky held outright or shared 61 NHL records.
Is a part-owner of Wayne Gretzky Estates, a winery and distillery in Ontario’s Niagara region.
1974 – At age 13, scores his 1,000th lifetime goal, in an exhibition hockey game.
1978 – At the World Junior Championship, leads the tournament with 17 points (eight goals and nine assists).
June 1978 – Turns professional, signing with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association.
November 2, 1978 – Gretzky’s contract is sold to the Edmonton Oilers. After the collapse of the World Hockey Association (WHA), the Oilers are one of four WHA teams be absorbed into the NHL the following year.
October 14, 1979 – Scores his first NHL goal, against the Vancouver Canucks.
February 24, 1982 – Scores his 77th goal to break Phil Esposito’s single season scoring record. Gretzky ends the season with 92 goals, which remains an NHL record.
1983-1984 – Scores at least one point in 51 consecutive games. Gretzky’s record of the longest consecutive point scoring streak remains active in the NHL.
August 28-September 15, 1987 – Scores 21 points (three goals and 18 assists) in Team Canada’s victory against the USSR in the best-of-three finals for the Canada Cup. The final is still “considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history.”
August 9, 1988 – His trade to the Los Angeles Kings is announced.
October 15, 1989 – Surpasses Gordie Howe to become the NHL’s all-time leading point scorer, with points 1,850 and 1,851.
October 26, 1990 – Earns his 2,000th career point, the only NHL player to reach that landmark.
March 23, 1994 – Scores his 802nd goal, passing Howe as the all-time leading goal scorer.
February 27, 1996 – Traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the St. Louis Blues.
July 21, 1996 – Signs with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent.
April 18, 1999 – Retires following the Rangers’ 2-1 loss in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky played 20 seasons in the NHL, and a total of 21 seasons professionally.
October 1, 1999 – Gretzky’s jersey, No. 99, is formally retired league-wide.
November 22, 1999 – Inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, after the three-year waiting period is waived.
June 2, 2000 – Announced as a minority owner, managing partner and head of hockey operations for the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets). Gretzky officially begins his position on February 15, 2001, when the sale of the Coyotes is completed.
2002 – Establishes the Wayne Gretzky Foundation to connect underprivileged youth with hockey.
February 2002 – The Canadian men’s hockey team, for which Gretzky is the executive director, wins gold at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 50 years.
2005-2009 – Head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
2014 – Establishes Gretzky Hockey Schools.
October 2016 – Becomes partner, vice chairman and alternate board member for the Oilers Entertainment Group, which owns the Edmonton Oilers. On May 25, 2021, Gretzky announces that he is stepping down as vice chairman.
May 26, 2021 – Turner Sports announces that Gretzky is joining the network as a studio analyst.
by tyler | Oct 2, 2023 | americas, CNN
At least 11 people were killed and two people seriously injured on Sunday after the roof of a church in northern Mexico collapsed, officials said.
Preliminary reports indicate that about 100 people were inside the building in Ciudad Madero at the time of the incident, according to a statement from security services in the state of Tamaulipas. Thirty people were believed to be buried in the rubble, Reuters reported.
At least 60 people were injured, with two people sustaining serious injuries, Tamaulipas security spokesperson said.
Units from the National Guard, State Guard, Civil Protection and the Red Cross were assisting in the rescue operation.
Bishop Jose Armando Alvarez, from the diocese of Tampico, said the roof of the church collapsed while worshipers were taking communion, Reuters reported. He urged other members of the community to pray for survivors.
“In this moment the necessary work is being carried out to pull out the people who are still under the rubble,” Bishop Armando said in a recorded message shared on social media, according to Reuters.
by tyler | Sep 28, 2023 | americas, CNN
A couple of dozen people pile into a van meant for 13. They’ve crossed a river on a makeshift raft and hope to ride 20 or so miles to get to their next stop. But after a short while, the van stops and everyone has to get out.
The passengers – children and their parents, older couples and single adults – have paid to get from Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico, a small town on the border with Guatemala, to Tapachula, the nearest city.
But they entered Mexico without permission or papers so the van driver tells them to duck around a checkpoint and get picked up on the other side by him or another vehicle.
The families grab their belongings and head along a tarmacked path as we join them, long grass mostly hiding them from the view of the highway and Mexican officials.
It’s no secret that this is happening, just as everyone knows about the rafts bringing people across the Suchiate River and the international border.
Occasionally, Mexican officials shout out across the grass to the walkers and tell them to come back to the main road.
No one pays the officials any notice. The migrants just keep marching, at times signaling to each other to crouch lower to keep out of view.
We saw no officials bothering to chase them as they walked the unofficial migrant route, just yards from National Route 200 that heads from the border northward.
This static game of cat and mouse will play out several times past several checkpoints on the route. Each stop leads to a trek of 20 or 30 minutes and nerves about whether the promised transport will be there on the other side.
The migrants CNN spoke with said this was just another bump in their long road, another set of obstacles that will likely make what is generally a one-hour drive last the whole day.
In Tapachula, they said they planned to request asylum or permission to transit Mexico legally in hope of reaching the United States.
Two families from Venezuela said it would be their first contact with officials since fleeing their troubled country. They say they have traveled through Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala.
“It’s like dealing with the mafia,” said Yeimiler Rodríguez, who told CNN her family had paid about $1,000 per person so far on their 18-day odyssey.
By sunset, they reach Tapachula, their stop for the night. They may be in the city several days, but none expect to stay forever.
Their eyes are set on the US – “el pais de oportunidades,” the land of opportunity, they say.
Tears well up in one woman as she sits back in a van after one checkpoint is skirted successfully. A fellow traveler tells her to perk up. “Didn’t you want the American Dream?” he calls out. “Hold onto that.”
by tyler | Aug 4, 2023 | americas, CNN
The number of migrants crossing the treacherous Darien Gap, a mountainous rainforest region that connects South and Central America, has broken a new record, according to immigration officials in Panama.
The Panama migration authority’s deputy director Maria Isabel Saravia told media that 2022’s already-high number of crossings was surpassed on Monday.
Last year was an “unprecedented year” where a total of 248,284 people crossed the Darién National Park, she said. 2023 now looks set to outstrip that number as the year continues.
“With today and yesterday’s crossings of 1,869 people, there have been 248,901 crossings,” Saravia said Monday.
Around 20% of the people making the dangerous trek are children and adolescents, authorities say.
“Within that age group, at least 51% are five-year-old children or under. As the figures anticipated, we exceeded last year’s number (…) The last three years have been much higher than the last 11 years in crossings,” Saravia added.
Venezuelans and Haitians represent the majority of the people crossing, followed by Colombians, Ecuadorians, and migrants from outside the continent, she said.
The 66-mile (106-kilometer) hike through the Darien Gap brings migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial passage for those hoping to reach the United States and Canada.
Mass migration across the Western Hemisphere has fueled a growing number of people moving north.
But after officials warned that a surge in illegal migration across the US southern border would accompany the May expiration of a Trump-era border restriction, used in the pandemic to turn back migrants at the US-Mexico border, the number of daily encounters along the US border remained low in June.
“As a result of planning and execution – which combined stiffer consequences for unlawful entry with a historic expansion of lawful pathways and processes – unlawful entries between ports of entry along the Southwest Border have decreased by more than 70 percent since May 11,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release in June.
It is unclear whether the deterrent effect will last, and human rights advocates say migrants, who were fleeing danger in their home countries, are now living in limbo in Mexico as they wait for their asylum claims.
Others are being forced to take increasingly risky paths to reach the US, advocates said. In June, dozens of people were found dead inside a semi-truck in Texas.
