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:
- President Joe Biden plans to commemorate the 50 millionth coronavirus vaccination shot today at the White House. The event comes just days after Biden held a moment of silence and candle lighting for the 500,000 Americans who have died of COVID, a grim milestone the country reached over the weekend. [WaPo]
- Lawyers and advocates working to reunite about 600 children separated from their families during the Trump administration say that they have found the parents of 105 kids over the past month. The group said it has yet to find the parents of 506 other children, many who are believed to have been deported. [NBC News]
- Alex Garcia, an Honduran man who has spent the last three and a half years living in a Missouri church to avoid deportation and separation from his family, stepped out for the first time this week. He has said he’s received assurances from both the Biden Administration and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement that he no longer needs to fear deportation. [Insider]
- Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro visited the state of Acre in the Amazon rainforest as floods have submerged several cities underwater. So far, more than 120,000 people have been displaced as a result of flooding, according to data from the state’s fire department. [AP]
- Puerto Rican officials are investigating a box found in the rural town of Morovis holding almost two dozen Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. “We are talking about 31 vaccines that, sadly, were lost. I’m very upset and, most of all, outraged,” Puerto Rican Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said during a press conference on Wednesday. [NBC Latino]
- Selena Gomez talked about her recent collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro during a Vevo Footnotes video. “I wanted something fun that everyone could dance to,” she said. “I also wanted to work with artists I admired and who are respected in the Latin community. That’s when Rauw Alejandro came into the picture.” [Billboard]
- Luis Fernando Arias, who became the leading voice in a coalition of Indigenous peoples in Colombia, died in Barranquilla at the age of 41. His death was attributed to a heart attack and
complications of the coronavirus. [NYT]