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March 03 2012
Colombia: Chief Prosecutor Viviane Morales Removed from Office
The State Council, a regulatory institution of the Supreme Court, declared the election of Chief Prosecutor Viviane Morales invalid, arguing that in December 2010 the Court's internal rules were violated, causing irregularities in the voting, as La silla Vacía [es] explained. The news became a local trending topic on Twitter with the hashtags and phrases #ChaoFiscal [es], Consejo de Estado [es] y #ApoyoAVivianeMorales [es].
March 02 2012
Cuba: Blogger Perspectives on the Embargo's 50th Anniversary (Part 2)
This is the second part of a two part series on Cuban perspectives on the 50th anniversary of the embargo. Please read the first part here.
The United States embargo (or blockade) against Cuba awakens passionate reactions, debates and reflections that have not subsided with time: the embargo is now 50 years old. Beyond opinions of politicians, diplomats, and strategists, Cubans -inside and outside of the Island- have lived and felt the embargo on the ground. With this in mind, Global Voices Caribbean Editor Janine Mendes-Franco and I interviewed one blogger from the diaspora and one residing in Cuba to offer various perspectives on the embargo, a very complex and multi-layered issue. Janine interviewed Alberto de la Cruz, managing editor of babalu blog, and I interviewed Elaine Díaz, editor of the blog Polémica Digital, journalist, journalism professor at the University of Havana [es] and Global Voices author [es].
Global Voices (GV): The U.S. embargo on Cuba - probably the longest-running economic ban in history - recently turned 50. Supporters see it as a necessary measure against a communist government; critics say that the policy is a failure that is really not hurting the regime, but instead, the average Cuban. Where do you stand?
Elaine Díaz (ED): Definir una posición puede ser difícil; pero, en este caso, siempre ha sido sencillo ubicarse en un espacio. El bloqueo, que algunos llaman embargo, me parece, en primer lugar, una ofensa a Cuba como nación. Ningún país tiene derecho a imponer sanciones financieras o políticas a otro por estar en desacuerdo con sus sistema político. Cada pueblo tiene derecho a escoger su filiación ideológica, y Cuba no es la excepción. El temor al fantasma del “comunismo” le ha brindado un marco legal a Estados Unidos para imponer este conjunto de leyes que, contestando tu segunda pregunta; no afectan en nada al gobierno, sino al ciudadano común, que se ve privado del acceso a artículos de primera necesidad porque se encarecen las inversiones y nuestro maltrecha producción nacional no da abasto a la demanda actual.
GV: What do you think it has accomplished, if anything?
Elaine Díaz (on the right) with a blogger friend.
ED: Creo que ha creado un sentimiento de atrincheramiento, de necesidad de defender la isla, de promover un sistema político autónomo que ha sido capaz de resistir esta hostilidad durante 50 años.
GV: Do you think the embargo, as it stands now, is doing anything to improve the political or human rights situation in Cuba?
En lo absoluto.
GV: Do you see a better alternative?
Respetar el derecho a la autodeterminación de los pueblos.
GV: How do you feel about the recent lifting of travel restrictions and making remittances easier?
Me parece una medida muy acertada. Existen muchísimas familias sufriendo por la enemistad de dos gobiernos. El bloqueo se ha traducido en la separación de familias, de padres e hijos de alguna manera indirectamente. Hasta hace algunos años tener un familiar residiendo en Estados Unidos constituía un estigma; las recientes medidas de flexibilización tanto desde Cuba como por parte de Estados Unidos, sientan las bases, aunque aún insuficiente, para un diálogo entre las dos naciones.
GV: How has the embargo affected the Internet in Cuba? In terms of infrastructure, access, distribution.
Acceso a alguna tecnología en específico. No creo que Cuba estuviese en ningún momento de acuerdo en conectarse a algunos de los cables de fibra óptica que provee Estados Unidos por cuestiones de seguridad nacional
Colombia: Film Festival Award Goes to Indigenous Film
The Cartagena International Film Festival [es] awarded one of its India Catalina awards in the category of New Creators in Short Films to the documentary short Mu Drua (My land) by Mileidy Orozco Domicó of the University of Antioquia [es]. The documentary, in the Embera tongue, follows the struggles of a young woman forced to migrate due to conflict from her land to the city of Medellín in Colombia.
March 01 2012
Chile: Netizens Speak Out Against Mall in Chiloé
With the hashtag #malldecastro [es] Chilean netizens are reacting to a project to build a mall in Castro, Chiloe, in an archipelago in Southern Chile. Gerárdo Espíndola of Mi Voz wrote a post [es] on the project, showing pictures of the mall's current state. El Repuertero, a citizen newspaper of Mi Voz, also posts pictures [es] of the mall altered by Twitter users to show their discontent with the project.
Nicaragua: Author Arquímedes González Champions Self-Publishing
Mildred Largaespada reviews [es] the work of Nicaraguan writer Arquímedes González [es], “the first Central American writer (to my knowledge) who decides to jump to self-publishing using social networks, very much in tune with modern times,” she writes. The Kindle versions of González's novels can be purchased for 0.99 US Dollars on Amazon [es].
February 29 2012
Venezuela: Singer Onechot Becomes Victim of Violence He Decried
Photo of Onechot, taken by David Maris
Juan David Chacón is a reggae singer, his stage name being Onechot [es], which pronounced in Spanish sounds very much like a Latin “Juancho” and in English as “One shot”. As a reggae artist he has dedicated much of his work in spreading messages of peace. On the night of Monday, February 27, on returning to pick up some of his recorded material, Onechot was attacked by a group of criminals who shot him, wounding him in the head. Tuesday was meant to see the artist begin his national tour of his new album, however, due to the incident he has been in intensive care following surgery to remove the bullet from his brain.
Onechot recorded a video called Rotten Town, denouncing the violence in Venezuela. The lyrics of his music describes the situation:
“Let me introduce you to Caracas, embassy of hell, land of murderers and shottas. Hundred people die every week, we nuh live in war, country is full of freaks”
In 2011 alone 19 thousand people were killed in Venezuela, a country that has 28 million inhabitants and is not currently facing a war on drugs such as in Mexico or an armed conflict currently affecting Colombia. In 2008, Venezuela had one of the highest homicide rates in the world and the situation has not improved. This is the crisis that Onechot reported on in his video that at the time was criticised by the Venezuelan Government:
When Rotten Town was released in 2010, the former Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Tania Diaz, launched a threat of legal action [es] against Onechot for, according to official sources, the music video's showing of “sensationalist images of violence”.
The criminal act against the singer led to a protest on social networks, producing Twitter Trending Topics such as #Onechot and #FuerzaOnechot ('We support Onechot'). Most of the messages showed the surprise and indignation felt towards the fact that a peace activist had now become a victim of what he had previously denounced in his music.
Jogreg Henriquez demonstrated this with his post “Onechot saw it coming” [es]:
Onechot entró a formar parte de las estadísticas de las víctimas de los actos criminales que tienen a Caracas como una de las más peligrosas del mundo. Decenas de asesinatos cada fin de semana así lo atestiguan. Decenas de familias de luto frente a una morgue colapsada por tanto dolor y tanto olor a muerte.
In the blog Panfleto Negro, the oldest blog in Venezuela, the author Luis1210 has warned that for months now the Government has tried to blame society for the violence currently seen in the country. He describes this in his post titled “Oneshot, it's your fault” [es]:
El gobierno desde hace tiempo nos quiere vender una gran falacia con respecto a la inseguridad. Quiere convertirnos en corresponsables de la seguridad ciudadana para de esa forma echarnos los muertos a nosotros. Si aceptamos esa responsabilidad de manera automática aceptamos también la culpa. Y he ahí el porqué del título, no he dejado de leer en twitter estupideces como que OneChot se lo buscó o lo atrajo cósmicamente por haber elegido ese nombre artístico o que andaba “ostentando riqueza” o cualquier estupidez. Cuando lo cierto es que OneChot es un tipo que se atreve a hacer reggae de protesta, algo que hoy en día parece olvidado.
Inti Acevedo is of the same opinion (@Inti) [es], criticising the self-censorship of other artists who denounce the social problems in Venezuela:
Cuando @Oneshot sacó el video que denuncia la violencia en Venezuela se ganó mi respeto. Un rebelde de verdad en un país de rockeros cobardes
Meanwhile, the poet @WillyMcKey wrote a post for the blog Prodavinci [es] about how the country should leave its violence in the past and move on:
Quienes deben asegurarnos la vida ven llover sangre ajena, pisan nuestros charcos y se esconden detrás de sí mismos, como si el país fuese un hombre hospitalizado, como si la ciudad solamente necesitara condiciones antisépticas. Como si el miedo fuera una estrategia.
Mientras inventan una guerra en el espejo, afuera disparan consecuencias de la ineficacia.
Mientras buscan a quien echarle la culpa, afuera toma forma la muerte cada noche.
¿Cuándo vamos a poder cerrar los ojos para que la lluvia nos permita una sonrisa nueva? Sólo cuando mudemos Rotten Town muy lejos, a ese lugar donde reposa lo podrido: el pasado.
While they invent a war in the mirror, outside are the shots that come from the consequences of inefficiency.
While they are looking for who to blame, outside someone is killed.
When are we going to close our eyes so that the rain will wash the sadness away and permit us to smile again? Only when we move Rotten Town to a faraway place, to the place where all rotten things lie: the past.
Jaqueline Goldberg [es] is a writer and friend of Onechot's parents. In her Facebook account she posted:
I don't know how I will be able to sleep tonight, knowing that Juan David Chacón Benítez, the son and brother of dear friends, is in therapy with a bullet in his memory. How can I leave tomorrow and pronounce the words “country” and “night” without anger. Right now I am scared, I have the desire to flee, I feel clumsy and dumb. Citizen disgust.
In 2010 the filmaker Sergio Monsalve praised the quality of the video of the singer, in spite of the official criticism, for which he came back to his original post on the subject [es] and added:
This is my reason for why “Rotten Town” is one of the best Venezuelan video clips of the third millennium and one of the greatest in Venezuela's history. I return to it here because of the recent incidents affecting Onechot. I published it in August 2010. Unfortunately today it takes on a new life. In Venezuela, time continues to pass yet the problems get worse, above all the unleashing of the underworld. Our real social cancer is the lack of safety. Is this a disease without a remedy? It is time to urgently seek a cure.
Meanwhile, as the country awaits the outcome of Onechot in intensive care, the protests continue to increase on social networking sites and physical artists such as Ricardo Crovato portray Caracas as being Rotten Town, until the situation improves.
Photo of Caracas as Rotten Town, image by Ricardo Crovato
Chile: The Role of Public Libraries in Post-Earthquake Reconstruction
Several Chilean bloggers are sharing their thoughts on the second anniversary of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27, 2010. Enzo Abbagliati [es] looks at how public libraries can help people “rebuild their lives.” He argues that restoring or building people's deep bond with reading is “probably the main contribution that [public libraries] can make to each of its users so that they can be the protagonists of their personal reconstructions.”
Costa Rica: Turning to Facebook to Fund TV Show
Sürrealista is a media producer in Costa Rica that has worked with many local bands. Now they want to have a 30 minute TV Show and to make that happen[es], they are asking for people to watch their pilot show online, give it a “like” on facebook and share it.
Puerto Rico: March Against the Pipeline
Hundreds of people across the whole island joined the “National March: Puerto Rico stands firm against the Pipeline” that took place on Sunday 19 February in the city of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. The demonstrators marched from the Capitol (the Legislature) to the Governors Mansion (La Fortaleza) in rejection of the so-called “Green Way,” a project proposed by the administration of the governor Luis Fortuño, which is looking to build a 92-mile-long tube to carry natural gas from the south coast of the island to San Juan, on the north coast, through the central mountain range.
The march was organized by the community organization Casa Pueblo [en] based in the town of Adjuntas. Casa Pueblo has led the attempts to put a stop to the so-called “Green Way”. Environmentalists have argued that, if the project goes ahead, it would have a negative impact on the aquifers and rain forests on its path, causing irreparable damage to the island's ecosystem. Grassroots organizations and people against the construction of the pipeline have called it the “Pipeline of Death.”
Photojournalist Ricardo Alcaraz shares some of the images he shot of the demonstration. All photographs have been published with his permission.
People from all sectors of civil society joined the demonstration.
The protesters marched from the Capitol to the Fortaleza. In the background you can see the west side of Olympic House, the headquarters of the national Olympic committee.
Various sectors have complained that the project would cause serious damage to the flora and fauna of the island. Several endangered species live on the proposed pipeline route.
Congressman Luis Gutiérrez also joined the demonstration.
There were a number of performances along the march.
Wrapped with the Puerto Rican flag.
No Puertorican protest goes ahead without la plena, the favourite rythmic drumbeat on demonstrations.
Uruguay: Scenes From the Longest Carnival in the World
Percussionists and dancers in colorful costumes signaled the beginning of carnival during the traditional inaugural parade on January 26, 2012–but carnival in Uruguay is not over yet. The performances and contests that make up the longest carnival in the world will continue well into March.
This, in part, is because carnival in Uruguay involves a lot more than parades. In stages called tablados performers compete in different musical and theatrical categories, like murga, negros y lubolos [es] (playing candombe), parodists [es] and humorists [es].
As we reported two years ago, blogs and websites dedicated to carnival allow people from all over the world to see what Uruguayan carnival is all about. During this time of the year, these sites ramp up their coverage to keep up with the daily events taking place in the country. This year has been no exception.
The site Carnaval del Uruguay [es], for example, provides forums [es] and a chat room [es] where users can discuss different aspects of carnival. The site is also on Facebook [es] and Twitter [es]. Blogs like Uruguay Carnavalero [es] cover the parades and competitions, re-post news, and share important announcements and event schedules. At the same time foreigners and Uruguayans dedicate blog posts to the event, share photos, videos and thoughts on the world’s longest carnival.
Llamadas parade, Montevideo, Uruguay. Photo courtesy of carnaval.com (CC BY 2.0)
This year, Solange González Henott wrote about Uruguay’s carnival in El Blog de la Ruta [es], a travel blog from news site Otramérica.
Cada verano, en medio del Carnaval de Montevideo, el más largo del mundo, el país se envuelve en un torbellino de colores, de humor ácido y del otro, de música, de expresiones culturales propias de los uruguayos y de comparsas de negros y lubolos -blancos disfrazados de negros- en dichas Llamadas.
Solange goes one to explain Llamadas, a parade where Uruguay’s African roots are celebrated to the rhythm of candombe:
Pero de seguro, el momento más esperado son las dos jornadas de competencia que tiran a las calles de los barrios Palermo y Sur, los pasos lentos del esclavo simulado por la cuerda de tambores de las Llamadas, el grupo de músicos que candombean tocando el tambor chico, repique y piano, que guían el baile de el resto de la comparsa en competencia y de todo el público que fielmente, llega cada año a vibrar con los sonidos y el regocijo de ver a las bailarinas y personajes que dan vida a esta gran fiesta del pueblo uruguayo.
Flickr user sfmission of carnaval.com dedicates a set of photos, licensed under Creative Commons, to the Llamadas parade:
Llamadas means “calls” which was how blacks in Montevideo would meet up for candomble. Calls might be chanting or handclapping but more often it would be drum beats and it meant candomble was about to start.
Many Uruguayans keep up with carnival from abroad, like Leo Bar from the blog Pix in Motion. He writes:
This time of the year, I miss Montevideo the most. The joy of the holiday – Carnaval – the way people forget their worries, party, enjoy life… The colors and sounds can be seen and heard through every neighborhood. A real celebration of culture, roots, friendship and integration.
Leo produced a video titled “Candombe and Llamadas - Carnaval Uruguay,” with video footage of the parades and photos by Flickr user Adriana Cabrera Esteve.
You can see a lot more photos of the different events that make up Uruguay's carnival on Carnaval del Uruguay's Facebook page.
February 28 2012
Video Highlights: Defending Human Rights
This section aims to showcase interesting and recent posts in Global Voices that show the many ways in which videos are helping people tell stories all around the world. You can follow the activity by regions in our YouTube channel.
Several stories using video this month have focused on human rights violations and the steps being taken to speak out on the abuses and try to protect minorities and disadvantaged communities. Click through to the stories to see more videos and learn more about each case.
The right to life and non-discrimination
Guatemala: Speaking Out on the Genocide of Indigenous Women
Thanks to activists the international courts following the genocide proceedings against Guatemala will be taking into account the violence indigenous women faced for more than 36 years where they were victims because they were women and because they were indigenous.
A documentary and several video testimonials tell their harrowing stories, stories that due to the discrimination the victims faced in their communities and the fear of retribution many kept silent for decades.
Fighting for sexual diversityUganda: The Anti-Gay Bill That Won't Go Away
The same bill that was presented in 2009 is showing up again for voting in Uganda:
Uganda has again re-tabled the controversial anti-gay bill. Ugandan member of parliament, David Bahati, who proposed the bill back in 2009 has again considered tabling the draconian bill but with changes. He claims to have dropped the death penalty and jailing of family members who fail to report homosexuals to the authorities.
However, under further scrutiny it has been noted that no changes have been made in the bill, and it is still exactly the same one presented back in 2009. The following video explains the impact this bill will have on the LGBT community as well as their families and friends:
Hong Kong: Videos Against Homophobic Bullying in Schools
In Hong Kong, students in schools admit that homosexual students are bullied and discriminated, so an organization has spearheaded a campaign to raise awareness on this issue, focusing on producing online videos of interviews with sexually diverse students and experts on the topic.
The right for an education
Spain: Police Violence Against Students in Valencia
and
Spain: Crackdown Against Students Continues in Valencia
In Valencia, school children decided to protest budget cuts that affected their schools, forcing them to carry blankets with them due to lack of heating, in what has been a particularly cold winter in Europe. Police reacted to the protests violently with students injured and detained; many videos have been made showing the abuses against minors, females and the elderly.
Just a few days after the brutal police crackdown at the Luis Vives Institute of Secondary Education in Valencia [es], students have again been the target of beatings, pushing and violence from the police at a pacific protest in which they were, precisely, demonstrating against police violence. This time,the crackdown started on the afternoon with unexpected force.
The right to a home
Brazil: Quilombo Community in Bahia About to Be Evicted
One of the oldest slave descendent communities in Brazil, Quilombo Rio dos Macacos, where around 50 families live, has a date for eviction: March 4, 2012. The claim for the land comes from the Navy of Brazil, that intends to broaden a condo for its officers in that territory, in the border area between Salvador and Simões Filho, state of Bahia…
Descendants of original peoples from Africa who, during colonialism, were taken from their land to become slaves in Brazil, the Quilombolas now see themselves under threat of losing their homes again, despite their right to the land they inhabit enshrined in the constitution.
This short documentary [pt] shows the situation the Quilombolas are facing: afraid to leave their houses, unable to move freely and fearing for their well-being, their families and their homes.
Colombia: Citizen Journalist Threatened Over Viral Video
A video [es] made of the violent response the government had to peaceful protesters standing up against the rerouting of a river in their community for a dam construction has caused the citizen journalist to receive death threats.
Brazil: The Deficient Prison Systems of the Americas
Recent events in Latin American prisons that cost the life of hundreds of inmates have people looking into the living situation and overcrowding faced in many penitentiary centers, and analyzing if they are tragedies waiting to happen. People who are being deprived of their liberty as punishment for their crimes should be guaranteed minimum living conditions, and sometimes these aren't met, as shown in the documentary of life in Brazilian prisons, which also provides possible solutions for this difficult situation.
February 26 2012
Puerto Rico: 365 Photographs
The photographer José Rodrigo Madera [es] shot one photograph a day during two years, as part of his project “365.” His photos were only visible to his friends on Facebook, until the magazine Revista Cruce [es] published 20 of them for everyone to enjoy.
José Rodrigo Madera describes himself as:
…fotógrafo de profesión y nunca estudió Artes. Estudió Comunicaciones en la Universidad Interamericana y quiere enseñar fotografía. Cree en el matrimonio y se considera de izquierda. Dedica todo su trabajo al hombre de su vida, Emil Alejandro, y a la mujer de su vida, Penelope.
Here is a selection of some of his beautiful photographs.*
Pitcher: 1. Individual who, for one reason or another, does not follow through with an obligation or commitment proposed by himself. 2. Person who does not return calls.
Watch.
Child in red pants.
Breakfast.
Agostini prepares for a shot.
Ghost cloud.
Sorely laughs.
Spiral.
Eye.
The mother of "azul."
*All photographs are republished with the permission of the photographer and Revista Cruce. The captions have been translated from the original (except some that were English).
February 25 2012
Mexico: Group Looks for Independent Citizens to Run for Congress
Currently, in Mexico you need to belong to a political party to be eligible for a seat in Congress. It is often argued that this system only fosters a power monopoly of the political class who looks after its party interests. Months ago, a group of citizens had pushed for substantial reforms to Mexican democracy, one of those was a Political Reform that included, among other things, the possibility of recall elections.
But since it became impossible for these reforms to get approved, and taking into account that it is a presidential election year, the same group that promoted #ReformaPolíticaYA (”Political Reform NOW”) is now driving a series of changes to the Federal Code of Institutions and Electoral Procedures (Cofipe) that would allow independent citizens to run for an elected office.
The system works as follows: citizens register on the site democracia.mx [es] and the group analyzes his/her profile to see if the person fulfills the requirements, that according to what Juan Pablo EMT (@JuanPabloEMT) [es] said on Twitcam, are:
No tengan intereses partidistas, ser ciudadano independiente y tener ideas frescas
Do not have any party interests, be an independent citizen and have fresh ideas
The group of young people behind this initiative intends to offer legal support to the citizens that get elected for a popular election office and hand them a kit to explain their next steps.
Citizens presenting proposals to the Mexican Senate. Photo by yfrog user @YONOFUI
Selected independent candidates will go to register at their local Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) [es], IFE will reject their registration and then the group will go to a judge to contest the decision. The youth hope the judge will allow the name of the independent citizens to appear in the ballots on July.
This idea thoroughly reflects the constant search for ideas of a young generation that doesn't feel represented.
José Manuel Azpiroz (@jmazpiroz) [es], Director of the area of Leadership Training of Ethos Foundation, mentioned one of the main points of this idea:
¿Qué tal recuperar el Congreso Mexicano? Si, ese que lleva décadas secuestrado por los partidos políticos. #300vacantes #occupySanLázaro
How about we recover the Mexican Congress? Yes, the one that's been kidnapped by the political parties. #300vacantes (#300 vacancies) #occupySanLazaro
Paul Moch (@p_moch) [es], who is a member of the group, said:
No están hartos de los abusos de quienes se ostentan cómo nuestros representantes en el Congreso? Si tu respuesta es sí… Hay#300Vacantes!
Aren't you fed up of the abuses of those who call themselves our representatives at Congress? If your answer is yes… There are #300Vacantes!
YONOFUI (@YONOFUI) [es], who is one of the most active members of the movement, believes something is changing in the way many think:
Me encanta como cada vez más Mexicanos están decidiendo tomar la iniciativa y no esperando que el gobierno resuelva.
I love to see more and more Mexicans deciding to take the lead and not waiting for the government to solve things.
The process is uncertain and there is no guarantee that the citizens that the group presents will appear on the ballots. However, it is a last resource (after trying to have the Congress sponsor the necessary changes written in the Political Reform), full of wit, to try to transform a paradigm that up until now seemed foundational: only those who belong to a political party can be elected to hold public office.
February 24 2012
Peru: A Conversation with Rafael Salazar of Creative Commons Peru
Oscar Montezuma Panez from the blog Blawyer [es] spoke to Rafael Salazar, one of the leaders behind Creative Commons Peru. In the conversation, Rafael explains what the local Creative Commons chapter is currently working on. Oscar also invites readers to visit the group's new website: http://cc.pe/ [es].
Bolivia: Disabled Protesters Clash with Police
Disabled Bolivians marching to demand higher government subsidies clashed with police on Thursday, February 23. Blogger Mario R. Durán [es] shares citizen photos of the clashes. On Twitter, netizens are using the hashtag #discapacitados [es] (”disabled”) to comment and report on the march.
Puerto Rico: Blogosphere Denounces Proposed Cybergag
[All links lead to Spanish language pages except when otherwise noted]
The mayor the city of Mayagüez in the western part of Puerto Rico, José Guillermo Rodríguez, was given the power through a resolution from the Municipal Legislature to investigate anyone who publishes content on social networks that he takes as sullying “the good name and image of the municipal government of Mayagüez, its managers, officials, and employees”, according to the stipulations of the resolution approved by the Municipal Assembly of Mayagüez. The news website Noticel reported that the mayor had decided to not enforce the resolution. Nevertheless, Rodríguez released a warning:
En algún momento muy cercano vendrán más regulaciones para atender la utilización inadecuada de las redes sociales, y eso lo provocarán los que no hacen uso correcto de las mismas, acechando, amenazando, utilizando identificaciones falsas para tratar de mancillar la imagen de gente íntegra y decente. Hemos cumplido con nuestro deber de ser de los primeros en alertarlo.
Resolution 102, approved on February 9, authorized the mayor to contract legal and investigatory services to prosecute anyone who users social networks in a “malicious way”. This includes trying to identify users who prefer to utilize a pseudonym instead of their real name.
Mayor Rodríguez, affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), attempting to justify this measure said in statements published by the weekly regional newspaper La Estrella that the use of social networks “should be a privilege in democratic countries”, inciting the Puerto Rican blogosphere to rail against him.
Luis J. Villanueva from the Raciocinio said:
Este sujeto no tiene idea de las reglas que determinan lo que él puede y no puede hacer porque este tipo de actividad está prohibida por la Constitución y las Leyes de Puerto Rico y los EEUU. ¡Más preocupante es la visión de que el uso de las redes sociales es un privilegio!”
Other bloggers also could not wait to react. Mario Núñez Molina on his blog DigiZen expressed his take on the matter:
A mi esto me suena a mordaza, censura y un atentado contra la libertad de expresión ya que la evaluación que se haga de lo que se publique en contra de estos funcionarios será una altamente subjetiva y tendrá como fin el que nadie diga nada malo de Guillito [José Guillermo Rodríguez] y sus seguidores.
On the Puerto Rico Law Blog, lawyer Christian M. Frank Fas confirmed that the municipal measure goes against the laws and principles of a democratic society:
La libertad de expresión es un pilar constitucional por una razón. Es uno de los cimientos de toda sociedad democrática y civilizada, y si al municipio le preocupa tanto que mancillen su estelar desempeño, quizás podrían dedicar esos mismos recursos contratando una firma publicitaria, y no utilizar el afilado intelecto legislativo para investigar y “carpetear” a sus constituyentes y, de paso, suprimir un derecho democrático fundamental.
The Overseas Press Club de Puerto Rico issued the following statements also repudiated Resolution 102:
Amparado en una alegada defensa de la imagen del municipio y sus funcionarios, el Alcalde de Mayagüez y su legislatura municipal intentan censurar a quienes critiquen su gestión. Rodríguez debe recordar que precisamente por ser figura pública está expuesto a las críticas y de ninguna manera puede querer controlarlo. Eso sería dar al traste con el derecho a la libre expresión y la libertad de prensa.
The antipathy toward Resolution 102 has been so widespread that the president of the Popular Democratic Party and candidate for the government through the same party, Alejandro García Padilla, also came out against the measure on Twitter @agarciapadilla:
Estoy en contra de la Resolución aprobada por el Municipio de Mayagüez. Voy a hablar personalmente con el Alcalde para aclarar este asunto.
Among the firestorm of complaints that the measure provoked, the hilarious commentary on the Puerto Rican blog El Ñame could not be missed, highlighting how absurd it would be to implement this measure:
Uno de los blogueros que critican la ley, quien permaneció en el anonimato porque es un cobarde de siete suelas, arguyó: “No entiendo cómo alguien podría determinar la ubicación física del autor de un contenido cibernético ofensivo a los funcionarios municipales. ¿O es que el Alcalde podrá soltarle los perros a cualquier bloguero que hable pestes de él o de su administración, sin importar dónde habite? ¿Quién hubiera podido imaginar que la Sultana del Oeste tuviera tanto poder?”, preguntó sarcásticamente, aunque la respuesta a su pregunta es “nadie, porque la imaginación de nadie podría superar la realidad boricua”.”
Chile: Aysén Region and the Call for Decentralization
Protests, road blocks, and clashes between protesters and police continue as citizens of the Aysén region of Chile demand change. Global Voices contributor Elizabeth Rivera reported on the social movement behind the mobilization earlier this month and summarized their demands:
Their demands have been compiled in a petition list with 10 points [es] which basically ask for subsidies to balance food, water, electricity and fuel costs; quality health and education; employment equity and retirement pensions based on regional needs; greater citizen participation in the decisions that affect the region including natural resources exploitation; better access and infrastructure.
For many, the conflict in Aysén boils down to one problem affecting the whole country: centralization. “Santiago is not Chile,” is a phrase commonly used among Chileans who often feel ignored for living outside of the capital. Many of these Chileans have to move to Santiago to access better employment and basic services like healthcare due to a shortage of doctors in the regions.
As a result of a heavy focus on the capital, Santiago has been developing at a much faster pace than the rest of the country. Even the media's attention focuses on the capital, giving little air time to issues happening in the rest of Chile.
The protests in Aysén have brought centralization to the forefront of the national conversation, prompting several Chilean bloggers to weigh in on the issue.
"Aysén is Chile." Protest in support of Aysén mobilizations, February 20, 2012, Santiago, Chile. Photo by Luis Fernando Arellano, Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Blogger Danae Mlynarz Puig [es] looks ahead to what might happen this year in Chile. She begins her post mentioning the social movement in Aysén:
Seguimos movidos en cuanto a demandas sociales, en estos días, Aysén se moviliza, en el extremo sur de nuestro país exigiendo descentralización, a un país tremendamente centralista, donde parece que todo pasa en Santiago. El estallido de Aysén nos recuerda lo que vivimos anteriormente en Magallanes, Isla de Pascua, Calama y otras ciudades, donde los habitantes de estos territorios se movilizaron exigiendo mayor compromiso del gobierno central por sus problemáticas, develando la enorme desigualdad territorial que vivimos en Chile y la falta casi absoluta de descentralización.
In El Quito Poder [es], Salvador Muñoz says that the problem of centralization is not new:
Los ayseninos afirman que ningún gobierno se ha hecho cargo de sus demandas. Los problemas de Aysén, Coyhaique, Magallanes, Tocopilla, Dichato, Calama y de todos los pueblos y ciudades de Chile son los mismos. Como señala la Asamblea Ciudadana de Magallanes en una declaración de solidaridad con el movimiento de Aysén, “Aysén y Magallanes reclamamos terminar con el centralismo oficial y corporativo, que ahoga a las regiones para beneficio de la capital, que no nos da participación en las decisiones de política pública y nos impide lograr una efectiva regionalización y descentralización”.
On a similar note, blogger and journalist Gabriel Sanhueza Suarez [es] says that the conflict in Aysén reveals a systemic problem:
El problema de Aysén es mucho más profundo que tratar de atender demandas sectoriales… o de acallar las movilizaciones enviando fuerzas especiales.
Es un problema sistémico, que implica repensar radicalmente la forma de entender el país, sacarse para siempre el chip del centralismo. Y sobre todo pensar e implementar políticas audaces que transforme la regionalización de una consigna demagógica a una realidad que nos permita tener un Chile justo en todas las esquinas de su territorio.
The problem of Aysén is much deeper than trying to address sectoral demands … or silencing the protests by sending special forces.
It is a systemic problem, which involves radically rethinking the way we understand the country, removing the centralism chip forever. And above all to think and implement bold policies to transform regionalization from a demagogic slogan to a reality that will allow us to have a fair Chile in all the corners of its territory.
Finally, Kaos en la Red [es] published a post by Patricio Segura from Aquí Aysén [es], a blog written from Aysén that has been covering the movement. Patricio ensures that this social movement wants to influence all Chile, not just Aysén.
[…] el Movimiento Social por la Región de Aysén no debe ser visto sólo como una revuelta por y para los ayseninos. Tiene mucho del país que queremos construir, donde se consideren las particularidades de cada ciudadano, de cada territorio. Nuestro tema es la verdadera descentralización, la verdadera equidad, el verdadero respeto, todo lo cual en el mercado no se puede transar.
Los habitantes de Aysén no queremos cercar con alambres de púas la región para que no llegue nadie más. Queremos ser un aporte para Chile y para el mundo, con lo que somos, con los bienes comunes presentes en este vasto y hermoso territorio, pero no queremos morir en el intento.
[…] the Social Movement for the Aysén Region should not be viewed merely as a revolt by and for the people of Aysén. It involves a lot of the country which we want to build, where the particularities of each citizen, of each territory, are considered. Our issue is real decentralization, true equity, true respect, all of which cannot be compromise in the market.
The people of Aysén don't want a barbed wire fence around the region to keep every one else away. We want to be a contribution to Chile and the world, with what we are, with the common good present in this vast and beautiful land, but we don't want to die trying.
February 23 2012
Colombia: Citizen Journalist Threatened Over Viral Video
Citizen Journalist Bladimir Sánchez has already received threats for making a video showing the forced evictions of farmers and fishermen protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the department of Huila, Colombia on February 14 and 15. In less than three days, more than 600,000 people have watched it.
On Publimetro[es], Camilo Andrés García Cortés states that the video may be making history as the most watched Colombian citizen video, due to its half a million views during only two days. The Video the Colombian Government Doesn't Want Us to See[es] shows the violent eviction faced by two river bank communities standing up peacefully against the building of the dam, and pulls together the testimonies of those who faced the violence and were injured. The communities are against the dam construction because it will leave them without livelihoods if the river is diverted for the project. When describing the clash that injured protesters, both the community members and journalists present describe that there was no violence towards the authorities in spite of the attacks, and that the police restricted the access of journalists, peace observers and human right organizations to the area of the protest.
La acción violenta se cumplió coordinadamente entre el Gobierno Nacional y Emgesa contra campesinos y pescadores inermes cuya única respuesta fue cogerse solidariamente de las manos para abrazar el río Magdalena o lanzarse al mismo, mientras recibían cargas de gases lacrimógenos y granadas de aturdimiento, ocasionando varios heridos, entre ellos, el obrero de construcción Luis Carlos Trujillo Obregón quien perdió su ojo derecho.
On the interview with Publimetro [es] Bladimir discussed the threats he's received:
Recibí una llamada No aparece el número de la persona en el identificador (…) Me han enviado mensajes a mi correo. Me dicen que soy de las Farc, del ELN, que estoy atacando a la fuerza pública. Yo no soy nada de eso. Simplemente soy un realizador audiovisual que quiere mostrar la realidad de lo que pasa en el departamento del Huila.
In his Facebook page Zeitgeist Huila [es], Bladimir posted on February 23rd [es] that he had been receiving threatening calls, one including death threats.
Chile: Twitter Users Share Images of the Protests in Aysén
[The original version of this post was first published in La Opiñón [es], an online citizen newspaper by the Mi Voz (My Voice) network]
A social movement that demands better quality of life and lower costs has gained strength in the Aysén Region in the Chilean Patagonia, as previously reported by Elizabeth Rivera for Global Voices.
Images of fierce clashes that occurred during the early hours of February 22, the blocking of the road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, the police repression and an unabated protest were captured by the citizens of Aysén and uploaded to social networking sites.
Twitter is the platform that shows the striking images of these protests, which have paralyzed the region.
Taking of the Chacabuco bridge, Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar):
Clashes on the Chacabuco bridge in Aysén, February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
"Remains of a violent night in Aysén." February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
Nighttime barricades, Movement for Aysén (@despiertaAYSEN):
Nighttime barricades in Puerto Aysén, early hours of February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Movement for Aysén (@despiertaAYSEN)
Coyhaique expressing itself in the street, Kallfulikan (@Kallfulikan):
Image of the protest in Coyhaique, February 22. Photo by Twitpic user @Kallfulikan
Road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, Patricio Segura (@patsegura):
Road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, February 21. Photo by Twitpic user Patricio Segura (@patsegura)
Blocked roads, Alonso Nuñez (@alonso_nunez):
Blocked roads, February 21. Photo by Twitpic user Alonso Nuñez (@alonso_nunez)
Road to Coyhaique, Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar):
Blocked route between Aysén and Coyhaique, Sunday February 19. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
February 22 2012
Argentina: Train Crash Leaves At Least 49 Dead, Hundreds Injured
A commuter train crashed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, leaving at least 49 dead and hundreds injured according to the latest reports. Netizens are using the hashtags #Sarmiento and #TBA to tweet about the crash.
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