Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other going ons in Latin America and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
- House Democrats have officially introduced an article of impeachment against President Trump, following his incitement of a mob attack on the U.S. Capitol building last week. Republicans have blocked their calls for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which leaves Democrats with the option of convening for a vote on full vote on impeachment measures as early as Tuesday (Jan. 12). [NYT]
- As the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S., health experts are warning that the country’s vaccination plan is falling entirely too short to insure the safety of Americans. “We need to acknowledge that it’s not working,” Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said. “We need to hit the reset and adopt a new strategy in trying to get that out to patients.” [CNN]
- Alex Padilla, the current California Secretary of State, is being sworn in today (Jan. 11) to finish out the Senate term of Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris. He will be the first Latino to represent California as senator. [WaPo]
- Police are investigating the case of a Black woman who was attacked by a crowd of Trump supporters who had gathered in downtown Los Angeles as a hate crime. “They’re yelling at me because of my color, calling me the n-word, calling me the b-word, saying, ‘All lives matter. Black lives doesn’t matter,’” the woman, named Berlinda Nibo, said. She explained the crowd went on to push her, hit her, pull her wig off and pepper spray her. [WaPo]
- Miya Ponsetto, the woman who attacked a 14-year-old Black boy and falsely accused him of stealing her phone, has been arraigned on charges of attempted assault, endangering the welfare of a child, attempted robbery and attempted grand larceny. She had been granted supervised release after her arrest and extradition to New York. [CNN]
- Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, the spokesman for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has tested positive for coronavirus. Cuevas announced his diagnosis on Twitter, the same day that the country reported its first case of a potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant that was first discovered in the United Kingdom. [AP]
- The actor and comedian Carlos Villagrán, known as Kiko from El Chavo del Ocho, has made a political bid by registering as a candidate for governor and mayor of the central Mexican city Querétaro. The actor has said his platform will combat poverty and economic uncertainty, but he’s also drawn controversy for calling COVID-19 a hoax. [LatinUS]