Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
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- After Tuesday night’s chaotic presidential face-off between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debate issued a statement saying that it would make changes to the remaining debates “to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.” Sources close to the deliberations within the organization claim that one detail under consideration is cutting off the microphones of candidates who talk over the other candidate’s allotted time. [CBS News]
- Peter Hotez, dean of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus briefing this week that COVID-19 represents the “historic decimation” of the Latino community as the virus has hit older Latinos particularly hard around the country. “This virus is taking away a whole generation of mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, you know, who are young kids, teenage kids. And it occurred to me that what we’re seeing really is the historic decimation among the Hispanic community by the virus,” he said. [NBC Latino]
- Brazil has indefinitely suspended its famed carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro as a result of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 144,000 people in the country. Carnival has been a staple in Rio for more than a century and has been organized in the past during wars, labor strikes, and political repression. However, organizers decided to postpone it this year for the first time since 1932. [NYT]
- Joaquín “Quino” Salvador Lavado, the creator of the beloved Latin American comic character Mafalda, passed away at the age of 88 in his hometown of Mendoza, Argentina, where he was born. Lavado wrote Mafalda between 1964 and 1973, boosting the character into a pop culture mainstay, with statues across Argentina and in Spain. [BBC]
- Laura Esquivel’s novel “Like Water For Chocolate,” which was also made into a film in 1992, is being developed into a musical, although a timeline and a premiere date has not yet been released. The stage adaptation will be directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, with original music created by the band La Santa Cecilia. [Deadline]
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