The blogger at Postre Literario [es] writes about this focus, “To talk with Ciro Alegría is to feel the pride in the indigenism that we have in our blood and that makes us different, unique, grand because of our history.”

Perhaps, Alegria's best-known work is Broad and Alien is the World (1941), which according to the La República newspaper, is “brilliant from the beginning. The novel Broad and Alien is the World takes place in a mountainous community in Northern Peru, troubled by the resistance of its residents and its wise mayor troubled by the plundering by the political bosses, the Holocaust, and the emigration by the victims.” The novel was awarded the Grand Prize for Continental Novel in 1941. The blog Desafío Perú [es] summarizes the work:

la aldea de Rumi, auténtica protagonista de la novela, cuya vida se describe maravillosamente, es objeto de la codicia del terrateniente blanco; destruida, sus habitantes se dispersan: unos mueren, otros son reducidos a esclavos o marchan a las grandes ciudades. El mundo es ancho y ajeno es así un gran cuadro épico de las luchas de una arquetípica comunidad indígena contra los tres poderes que quieren destruirla: la oligarquía terrateniente, el Ejército y el Gobierno al servicio de los intereses estadounidenses.

Gonzalo Espino of the blog La Alforja de Chuque [es] writes the following in an analysis of the book:

Un aspecto descuidado por la crítica es la singularidad de lo maravilloso -lo mágico maravilloso- que aparece a lo largo de la novela. Se trata de pasajes que resultan extremadamente sospechosos, por que cuestionan nuestro esquema de realidad, y aun siéndolo, los ubicamos como aspectos extremadamente ficcionales. Pongo, aquí solamente dos casos: el de la comunidad Muncha allí donde no hay agua, pero sin embargo una joven tiene “macetas de claveles” que crea esa sensualidad olfativa en medio de la sequedad o el otro caso, es el diablo que atraviesa los andes y que en el relato sabemos que es el Mágico.

Eduardo Jiménez of the blog El Observador [es] takes stock of his writing and notes that his other works did not reach the level than his most famous book:

siempre me pregunté porqué llegó Alegría a un silencio casi total luego de la publicación de El mundo es ancho y ajeno. Siguió escribiendo, sí, y publicando uno que otro libro desperdigado en el tiempo, pero sin llegar jamás a esa cúspide que significó El mundo… Sólo queda la especulación para dar una respuesta. Posiblemente sintió que ya había llegado a su límite, a ese non plus ultra que los escritores de verdad reconocen en su fuero interno y ser conciente que lo publicado después no estaría a la misma altura. Con El mundo es ancho y ajeno terminado y publicado, su pathos ya estaba agotado, salvo que hubiese repetido fórmulas, lo que un escritor auténtico jamás haría.

Alegría spent a large part of his life in exile in Chile, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. As a member of the APRA political party, he was also jailed twice. It was here where he developed ideas for his novels. Writer Eduardo González Viaña tells an anecdote in his blog El Correo de Salem [es]:

Cuando lo conocí, varias décadas más tarde, Alegría me contó que allí, entre sueños y en medio de las cuatro paredes carcelarias, había visto a Rosendo Maqui y a los diversos personajes de su épica novela “El mundo es ancho y ajeno”. “Me moría de ganas de salir de allí para escribirla”.-me dijo. A Ciro le fue conmutada la pena de muerte por una prisión que padeció algunos años para luego exiliarse en Chile.

There were several events honoring the life and works of Alegría, such as a ceremony at the San Marcos Cultural Center on November 4, according to the blog La Torre de las Paradojas [es]. In addition, in the city of Cajamarca, the IV Gathering of Peruvian Storytellers “Ciro Alegría.” More information can be found on the event's blog [es].

Spanish blogger Rosa Jiménez Cano, who works at the Spanish news daily El País, reported that she received the following SMS text meessage from Yoaní around 2am Madrid time:

Fui detenida junto a Orlando L. Pardo y Claudia Cadelo nos llevaron a la fuerza estilo siciliano. Golpes. Nos dejaron tirados en una esquina.

The morning after the events, Yoaní posted the following account on her blog:

Cerca de la calle 23 y justo en la rotonda de la Avenida de los Presidente, fue que vimos llegar en un auto negro –de fabricación china– a tres fornidos desconocidos: ‘Yoani, móntate en el auto' me dijo uno mientras me aguantaba fuertemente por la muñeca. Los otros dos rodeaban a Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo y una amiga que nos acompañaba a una marcha contra la violencia. Ironías de la vida, fue una tarde cargada de golpes, gritos y malas palabras la que debió transcurrir como una jornada de paz y concordia.  Los mismos ‘agresores' llamaron a una patrulla que se llevó a mis otras dos acompañantes, Orlando y yo estábamos condenados al auto de matrícula amarilla, al pavoroso terreno de la ilegalidad y la impunidad del Armagedón.

Me negué a subir al brillante Geely y exigimos nos mostraran una identificación o una orden judicial para llevarnos. Claro que no enseñaron ningún papel que probara la legitimidad de nuestro arresto. Los curiosos se agolpaban alrededor y yo gritaba ‘Auxilio, estos hombres nos quieren secuestrar', pero ellos pararon a los que querían intervenir con un grito que revelaba todo el trasfondo ideológico de la operación: ‘No se metan, estos son unos contrarrevolucionarios'. Ante nuestra resistencia verbal, tomaron el teléfono y dijeron a alguien que debió ser su jefe: ‘¿Qué hacemos? No quieren subir al auto'. Imagino que del otro lado la respuesta fue tajante, porque después vino una andanada de golpes, empujones, me cargaron con la cabeza hacia abajo e intentaron colarme en el carro. Me aguanté de la puerta… golpes en los nudillos… alcancé a quitarle un papel que uno de ellos llevaba en el bolsillo y me lo metí en la boca. Otra andanada de golpes para que les devolviera el documento.

Yoaní's post goes on to describe further brutality inflicted on herself and Orlando, and their eventual release:

Nos dejaron tirados y adoloridos en una calle de la Timba, una mujer se acercó ‘¿Qué les ha pasado?'… ‘Un secuestro', atiné a decir. Lloramos abrazados en medio de la acera, pensaba en Teo, por Dios cómo voy a explicarle todos estos morados. Cómo voy a decirle que vive en un país donde ocurre esto, cómo voy a mirarlo y contarle que a su madre, por escribir un blog y poner sus opiniones en kilobytes, la han violentado en plena calle. Cómo describirle la cara despótica de quienes nos montaron a la fuerza en aquel auto, el disfrute que se les notaba al pegarnos, al levantar mi saya y arrastrarme semidesnuda hasta el auto.

At the time of writing, Yoaní's post had attracted 1,412 comments.

Claudia also quickly entered her version of the incident on her blog:

We refused to get in the car, there were three of them and they threatened us:

‘Get in the car, now.'
‘Let us see your documents, or bring a policeman.'

Orlando had his cell phone in his hand. ‘Pardo, don’t record,' said the one in the orange shirt, and I got my cell out. Nobody noticed me, I sent the first Tweet… In less than three minutes a patrol car came up with a couple of cops—a woman and a man—completely dumbstruck by the scene. They carried out their orders almost in slow motion, the woman told me:

‘Don’t resist.'

‘They are undocumented,' it occurred to me to enlighten her.

Yoani was clinging to a bush, I was clinging to her waist, and the woman was pulling me by the leg. They had already dragged Orlando off, outside my field of vision. A man at the bus-stop looked on with an expression of terror, people didn’t say a single word. The officer, very young, got me in an armlock that immobilized me. I could have kicked a little but I was too astonished at seeing Yoani’s legs sticking out the rear window of the State Security car.

Her post goes on to relate the chain of events in great detail, but she ends on a triumphant note:

Then the first call came, with a 00 international prefix, and I knew nothing had been in vain, even if we had all been arrested and the march suspended. When, later, I saw the video that Ciro brought me, I knew for certain: They lost; it's the countdown.

Commenting on the incident, diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense expresses some surprise, since “those of us overseas who presume that because Yoani, Claudia and the others are so well known, the Castro dictatorship would never dare arrest them.” Yet arrest them they reportedly did. He continues:

Of course, we should never be surprised at what the regime does when it comes to trying to silence its opposition on the island.

And we should never underestimate the importance of the protection we provide every time we read one of their blogs. Obviously, it doesn't provide them absolute immunity, but it is conceivable that someone like Yoani Sanchez would have a long ago been locked away in the Castro gulag were it not for the fact that she is so well known.

What you provide them with each click is the moral support vital for their continuing struggle for freedom.

Meanwhile, Babalu Blog, after publishing the story as breaking news, kept updating the post as more details became available, including an 8:15 am entry showing evidence of physical abuse via a photo that was sent to Penultimos Dias by Orlando Luis Pardo.  Cuban American Pundits‘ John R. learned of Yoani's detention from Babalu and goes on to comment:

It can only be said that the Cuba Governement is afraid, and that these heirs to Cuba's future are extremely brave.

The blog also searched mainstream media sites to determine how big the story was and was disappointed to learn that “the only thing CNN is covering on Cuba is how Miller Beer and Haagen Dazs ice cream may be sold in Cuba — for a premium nonetheless. As Cuban citizens are sequestered and beaten for their exercising of free speech, Chicago Foods (and other companies) are negotiating how beer and ice cream are to be sold on the island.” (CNN eventually went on to cover the story of the bloggers' seizure.)  The post goes on to comment on the U.S. economic embargo against the island, saying:

For those who claim that a new era has dawned on Cuba should take a close look at the incident that happened with a peaceful group of Cuban bloggers. Nothing has changed. Oppression remains in the cities while luxury and freedom exudes in the resorts.

I don't know about you, but I'm no longer eating Hagen Dazs ice cream nor drinking Miller beer.

Oswaldo Payá of the Movimiento Cristiano Liberación issued a statement expressing solidarity with Sánchez and other victims of repression. My big, fat Cuban family is also standing in solidarity with her Cuban sisters:

I have the supreme luxury of writing about anything that excites or amuses me at any given time. And I do.

Today I want to make you aware if you're not already, of a group of dissident bloggers presently under fire for blogging in Cuba.

Unlike me, they write about the everyday indignities of living in castro's gulag. You understand, of course, that in a communist country, dissension is not just discouraged, it is oftentimes attacked.

Yet these brave bloggers persist…Tonight, Yoani Sanchez and a group of dissidents were picked up, harassed, detained and beaten as they prepared to attend, ironically, a demonstration against the use of violence.

They knew and called her by name and forced her into a car where she figured that this was a kidnapping  which would end in her execution. Although she and her dissident companions were beaten severely they were subsequently released.

Her safety lies here. On blogs like mine.

Along the Malecon gives some background to the incident and firmly believes that “the legend of Yoani Sanchez grew Friday after Cuban authorities snatched her off the street, shoved her into a car and roughed her up before freeing her”:

Luis Eligio, of the counterculture group OMNI-Zona Franca, and two rappers organized the march. On Oct. 20, Sanchez was one of more than 10 bloggers who staged a ‘virtual protest' using Tweets, cell phone text messages and blog posts to call for the release of political prisoners. All this puts the socialist government in a tough spot. The more force authorities use, the easier it will be for opposition activists to recruit followers. These incidents also help galvanize international support for Sanchez and other bloggers. This support grows at an exponential rate, colonizing cyberspace and making it difficult for the Cuban government to effectively counter.

In a separate post, the blogger highlights the views of those who are a tad sceptical about the whole event, one of whom is Cuban journalist Vladia Rubio Jiménez, who writes in her blog:

Francamente, me resulta bien oscuro el asunto. ¿A partir de ahora seremos testigos de “espontáneas” marchas de protesta? ¿Contra qué violencia estaban pronunciándose esos muchachos con sus abstractos carteles? ¿Sería contra la que está ocurriendo en Afganistán, Honduras,  o contra lo acontecido en la más importante base militar norteamericana donde un enloquecido disparó y dejó muertas a 13 personas y varios heridos?

She continues:

Por lo que leo, parece haber sido una manifestación organizada sobre todo a través de algunos blogs, entre ellos Octavo Cerco; y también me asombra ver las posibilidades tecnológicas de que disponen: teléfonos celulares, rápidas conexiones a Internet que incluso les permiten subir los videos… En ninguna parte dice con claridad quién convocó esa marcha.

Yohandry's Weblog echoes her sceptisicm:

Pero bien, Claudia Cadelo dejó este vídeo en su blog. No comprendo cómo pueden subir sus videos a Youtube tan rápido, pero allí está. Ella misma por Twitter dijo que no había llegado hasta el performance, además de que explicó que estaba detenida.

Cómo pudo hacer Twitter detenida, cómo subió el video desde un carro de la policía?

Entra en acción Yoani Sánchez. Ahora bien, Yoani Sánchez cuenta a las siempre listas agencias y emisoras que tienen la misión de cubrir sus actividades lo ocurrido con ella y otros bloggers que se encaminaban al performance, quizás con el objetivo de provocar, nadie sabe.

Les dejo la grabación, ¡esos medios tan ágiles al servicio de Yoani! Adelanto que cuenta que ella tiene celular, computadora y seguirá haciendo Twitter, cosa que no acabo de comprender, cuando ella misma dice que no tiene libertad para trabajar en Cuba.

Y yo esperaré ahora la otra versión de lo ocurrido. Como dice el dicho, siempre hay un ojo que te ve.

Social media users are certainly keeping a close eye on developments.  Even as Claudia tweeted about the incident, apparently while it was happening - “Estoy detenida about 22 hours ago from txt” was her first entry - her Twitter followers have shown their support, with one user calling her “muy valiente” (”very brave”).

Photo of a child in a Soto exhibit by Alé and used under a Creative Commons license.

According to the art experts, Soto's art is inseparable from the viewer, who is an active participant of the artist’s piece. The illusion and the senses are completed by the perceptions of the mind as a result of observing, touching, and becoming part of the piece. Venezuelan bloggers and the online community in general, celebrate his art through articles, reviews, and videos taken in museums and inside the works themselves, while explaining the meaning of Soto’s works in their culture, landscape and daily life.

In his blog Literanova [es], Eduardo Casanova goes a bit deeper on Soto’s life and gives an insight of the history of the city he was born:

Jesús Rafael Soto nació en Venezuela, en 1923, en una población cargada de historia: Ciudad Bolívar, donde se instituyó la prensa escrita y se fraguó la creación de la llamada Gran Colombia (…) Era una población aislada, sin museos ni actividades del arte. El mismo ha dicho que aprendió solo el arte de la pintura. Deja su ciudad natal y viaja a Maracaibo, en el occidente del país, para encargarse de la dirección de una escuela de artes plásticas. En 1950 se va a París y allí comienza su carrera de artista creador de nuevas formas.

Photo of Soto Sphere in Caracas by Guillermo Ramos Flamerich under a GNU Free Documentation License

The YouTube channel of VenezuelaTuya gives an example of an experience walking through a piece exhibited in the Jesús Soto Museum, in Ciudad Bolívar:

The blog Talento Venezolano [es] also dedicates a space to talk about the artists and his most famous creations:

En 1967 creó la primera obra de la serie Penetrables, la cual consiste en instalaciones de tubos de plástico a través de los cuales el espectador se siente en un espacio mágico. Ambas obras que pudieron admirarse en el Museo de Arte Moderno, en el Grand Palais y el Centro Pompidou de París.

You Tube has also been a way for people to show their contact and emotions while interacting with Soto’s works. Children in particular, have had a special approach to the artistic experience inside the artist’s work, which has been shown and shared through these videos:

YouTube user elizaul1:

and YouTube user skaracas:

At the artist's webpage there are more galleries and information.

Photo by Macnolete and used under a Creative Commons license.

Although the influence of climate change on desertification has not been fully understood yet, according to GreenFacts, it is known that higher temperatures resulting from increased carbon dioxide levels can have a negative impact through increased loss of water from soil and reduced rainfall in drylands. At the same time desertification contributes to climate change by releasing to the atmosphere carbon stored in dryland vegetation and soils.

Desertification is taking its toll worldwide. At this moment it’s destroying harvests, driving up the price of remaining food, and in some areas, animals are dying. People are also being driven away from their homes, as blogger Miguel Angel Alvarado from El Salvador explains about the president’s home needing to be moved because of desertification [es]:

El traslado de casa presidencial, del Barrio san Jacinto al local en donde estaba el Ministerio de Relaciones exteriores, según informes extrajudiciales, obedece a la prevención del ejecutivo ante un posible hundimiento del suelo generado por cárcavas en este sector.

The most affected continent is Africa, and this can be seen especially in Kenya, where one of the most susceptible sectors to the effects of desertification and drought are young girls. When the water storage tanks have been used up at Dago Dala Hera orphanage in western Kenya, volunteer mothers and children have to draw unclean water from a nearby river for cooking and drinking. “Going to the river alone late in the evening is making girls more vulnerable to men who can sexually abuse them,” said Edwin Odoyo, whose mother Pamela founded the orphanage.

Even though desertification has its greatest impact in Africa, Latin America’s environmental conditions are also undergoing significant transformations, as discussed recently in the Ninth session of the Conference to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Italian expert Massimo Candelori, representative of the Convention to Combat Desertification, said in an interview with Tierramerica that the situation in Latin America is worrisome considering that there is not enough information about desertification’s scope in the region. “We have no current data. One of the goals discussed during the ninth session was to get indicators that allow us to better understand the situation….the last data we have is from ten years ago” said Candelori.

In Latin American countries where farming and cattle are one of the main sectors of the economy, desertification can be a silent, but dreadful predator. At least 25 percent of the regional territory is already degraded and the population is increasingly becoming concerned about this, as it is reflected in various blogs.

Eco Briefings [pt], a Brazilian blog, points out that Brazilians in the Northeastern region are witnessing an alarming expansion of desertification[pt]:

Mais um alerta está ligado. Temos pouco tempo para corrigir as coisas. (…)

No Brasil a desertificação tem avançado na caatinga, e zonas do polígono da seca no Nordeste e Norte de Minas Gerais, e também em Estados que antes não tinham áreas secas ou desertificadas como o Rio Grande do Sul. O Rio Amazonas viveu já uma grande seca a pouco tempo, grande com mortandade de peixes.

Argentina has several areas affected as well. In the region of Valles Aridos, in the Northeast, where the main economic activity is sheep raising, it is stipulated that during the last 100 years at least 180 thousand people had to emigrate [es] (.pdf format). Southern Argentina has not escaped desertification either. Blogger Ailen Romero, comments on the blog Geoperspectivas [es] that in the Patagonia region, the government actions to combat desertification are not enough:

En la Patagonia, la amplitud del problema es de tal magnitud que ha comenzado a adquirir estado público. Pocos ignoran el tema, pero pocos tienen la posibilidad de actuar de alguna forma o con el conocimiento para hacerlo. El problema de la desertificación en el caso de la Patagonia supera a los planes que se han elaborado para combatirlo. Es por eso que no deben ahorrarse esfuerzos, ni limitar la imaginación de soluciones alternativas.”Si la geografía es la manifestación de la sociedad en el espacio físico, un espacio físico deteriorado refleja una sociedad deteriorada” afirman del Valle y Coronato(investigadores del Centro Nacional Patagónico)

In Chile, where 62% of the national territory is already affected by desertification [es], blogger Alfredo Erlwein expressed concern on the blog El Ciudadano [es] (The Citizen) on how little knowledge citizens have about desertification.

Efectivamente la desertificación es el problema ambiental más grave de Chile y muy poco conocido. Existen grandes zonas, como en la costa de la octava región, donde la erosión severa supera el 50% de la superficie: esto es que literalmente más de la mitad de los suelos se ha perdido por completo. En esas zonas se encuentran cárcavas de más de 50 metros de profundidad. Una tasa normal de formación de suelo puede ser de 0.2 cm por año, lo que evidencia la gravedad del asunto.

According to Italian expert Candelori, using soil in the carbon market will help fighting desertification; this can be decided during the Copenhagen conference. The countdown to Copenhagen has begun and the world awaits it.

Photo of Chimbote by Edgar Asencios and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version.

The Lima blog La Fortaleza de la Soledad [es] published a post about those responsible for these blogs:

Augusto Rubio Acosta y Milton Rojas vienen desde la rica ciudad de Chimbote a darnos un ejemplo laudatorio de que aún hay mucho por hacer. Augusto y Milton no se han contagiado de la apatía capitalina, recorren el Perú en busca de las voces, mayores y jóvenes, de nuestro ambiente cultural, demostrando que es mucho más saludable “hacer” que el mero acto de “quejarse”, sacándole el jugo a la herramienta por excelencia de la promoción, Internet.

And in the blog Círculo D.M. [es] from Holland, Rómulo Meléndez interviewed Augusto Rubio about the project Marea Cultural and other topics, here are some excerpts:

El proyecto MAREA CULTURAL nace en 2003 en Chimbote (Perú), … surgió primero como el programa radial que conducía en la desaparecida Radio Universidad San Pedro. Después, en 2004 el programa se mudó a Radio Santo Domingo, donde estuvimos al aire hasta el mes de mayo de este año. En el camino surgió la idea de publicar revistas y libros de literatura (publicamos cinco números de la revista “Mundo cachina” y dos libros), … Surgió también el Blog MAREA CULTURAL, nuestro programa de TV en un canal local (2008), una experiencia en prensa popular con la creación del primer periódico mural cultural callejero de Chimbote (surgida en 2005 y aún vigente),

Nuestra fuerte presencia en redes sociales (gracias a la alianza estratégica establecida con Milton Rojas, de Viadescape.TV) obedece a la necesidad de estar más cerca de los jóvenes, ellos son los que van a cambiar la realidad cultural que hemos heredado”. … Desde enero de 2009, con la creación de mi página en Facebook he abandonado el correo electrónico tradicional. Ahora habito en Twitter, la forma de contactar a los autores es distinta. De igual forma la búsqueda de información de carácter literario o cultural ha cambiado. Antes visitaba páginas webs o blogs especializados, ahora eso me llega automáticamente vía Twitter y Facebook”.

Marea Cultural's Facebook page can be found here [es], as well as its Twitter account [es]. A brief account of the interviews conducted by the blog from among the more than 100 published include the writers Braulio Muñóz, Fernando Cueto (1 and 2) Marco Cueva (1 and 2), Iván Vásquez (1 and 2) and Dante Lecca. There are also interviews with cultural promoters, Silvia Diestra, Jaime Guzmán and Paulino Meléndez, as well as the singer Lucho Oliva and social activists Jorge Noriega (1 and 2).

Milton Rojas, in addition to working on Marea Cultural, is also responsible for the blog La Ignorancia Mata [es], which addresses Internet issues, cyberjournalism, and Viadescape.TV [es], in which he publishes the video interviews from Marea Cultural. It might appear that the projects are on the right track, including the quality of the content. However, this is what Rojas wrote:

desde que empecé con Viadescape y en particular con el blog “La ignorancia mata” en el 2005, muchas cosas para bien han ocurrido, cosas que jamas me imagine, aunque muchos de esos triunfos personales no han logrado cubrir la sensación de vacío que siento y lo que empezó siendo un proyecto personal e intransferible, ha comenzado a ser una iniciativa grupal y siento que a diferencia del pasado ya no estoy solo en esto, ya no es más mi cruzada personal, incluso buscando últimamente un modelo de negocio rentable al trabajo que realizamos,

And then later, he writes:

voy a la ruina económica de seguir invirtiendo en proyectos web que no me retornan rentabilidad, solo la satisfacción de hacer lo que me gusta y de liderar e inspirar a muchas personas que siguen lo que hacemos en Internet, pero de momento no hay marcha atrás, estamos decidimos a encontrarle vuelta al asunto muy pronto

And it can be difficult to complete the work that one enjoys without considering the economic factor or without having another job as backup. There are numerous initiatives and projects that have been left half-started in the country because of a lack of economic support or because of the unwillingness to conform to editorial standards. Many hope that the Marea Cultural project can find a way to solve their inconveniences and continue to provide cultural information.

These are other blogs from Chimbote, and within the same cultural wave, there is the blog Soy Como Agua y Fuego [es] written by Carmen Alejos, one of the cultural promoters from Chimbote. Her blog is dedicated mainly to the musical style of trova, as well as her weekly radio program. One can hear her thoughts in this video interview she did with Marea Cultural. However, this is a sample of social sensitivity demonstrated in her writings about Rural Women's Day:

Las mujeres son las encargadas de trasmitir los conocimientos ancestrales de generación en generación, logrando conservar los cultivos tradicionales e innovarlos, en su afán de garantizar la alimentación de las familias en sus comunidades. Lamentablemente los gobiernos de turno no implementan políticas que busquen un desarrollo sostenible de la agricultura, mucho menos fomentan el desarrollo de capacidades que permitan que las mujeres puedan compartir conocimientos y mejorar su calidad de vida. En algunas comunidades de la cuenca del Valle de Nepeña, las mujeres rurales han iniciado un proceso de concientización alrededor del tema ecológico impulsado desde sus familias. Este 15 de octubre es el Día de la Mujer Rural y desde este espacio queremos reconocer el trabajo de miles y miles de mujeres -muchas de ellas solas- que de sol a sol se esfuerzan para cultivar sus tierras, criar su ganado y construir una familia y una sociedad distinta. ¡Feliz Día Mamá!…

There is also the blog called Matríz Musical [es] by poet Denisse Vega, who was also interviewed by Marea Cultural, who writes about her literary production and posts about cultural activities. The blog Mujer: El Más Bello Arte [es] by Victoria Fuentes is dedicated to women's issues. A blog from the Social Justice Commission from the Diocese of Chimbote [es] writes about human rights by giving voice, via video interviews, to individuals that work in this field.

Other blogs from Chimbote include De Todo Un Poco 2.0 [es], which is dedicated to posting notes relating to the utilities, gadgets, movies, and other topics. The blog Law & Iuris [es] by a group of law students at the Los Ángeles University in Chimbote, write about legal issues. A musical blog called Herederos de Nada [es] y Escena Chimbote Rock [es] post about rock music and concerts in Chimbote, and other cities in Peru. Chimbote ♫♫ [es], on the other hand, deals with the promotion of various genres of music. Periodismo Responsable [es] was a blog that wrote about news in Chimbote, but it has not been updated in more than a year.

Another blog can be considered from Chimbote is called Mis Aventuras en Perú, maintained by Jane Silcock, a volunteer from the United States, who can be seen in this video interview by La Ignorancia Mata. Even though the title of the blog is in Spanish, the blog is written in English. She writes:

I can’t believe I am more than half way done with my volunteer experience. There are times that I never want to leave, and then moments where I miss all the familiar people, food, and music of yesterday. My time in Peru has definitely confirmed my passion and desire to dedicate my life to social justice work. I am also realizing now more than ever the beauty and importance of mass communication in helping to make change.

At Cecopros, the journalism NGO, I am currently working on TV news stories for local channels about the problems in small towns around Chimbote. We’ve done two so far, one about how an illegal city trash dump is causing nearby residents to have skin fungus and respiratory problems. The other is about misuse of government funds that should go to building water and pluming systems for those who don’t have access to water, but instead are being used, among other things, to build a 500,000 soles (about $170,000) park.

There are problems with environmental pollution in Chimbote, however, there are no blogs that deal with the issue. In YouTube, there are videos uploaded by various institutions that can attest tot he serious problems caused mainly by fishing activities. For example, the Natura Environmental Institute [es] based in Chimbote, deals with these issues, but do not have a blog.

Finally, this video that contains interviews with Chimbote residents who talk about their favorite dishes, and the video can also show various spots around the city. More Chimbote videos here.

However, Chacaltaya's glacier has been receding at a worrisome and rapid pace. The effects of climate change on this glacier and others in the region have been part of the investigation by Higher University of San Andrés professor Edson Ramírez, who concludes a direct connection [es] between global warming and the disappearance of the glacier.

Ramírez and his team have also been studying another nearby glacier that is undergoing similar changes and about the effect on the local population. The Tuni Condoriri glacier is melting at a rapid pace, affecting alpine enthusiasts, but also affecting a vulnerable migrant population that depends on it for drinking water and agricultural activities.

The reservoir that collects the water from the glacier provides 80% of the drinking water to the city of El Alto and the outskirts of La Paz. According to the most recent census, El Alto has a population of 827,000 people [es], which is increasing every year at a rate of 5.1% per year. According to journalist and blogger Mónica Oblitas, this rate is more than double the national average [es]. Experts are predicting water shortages and a premium for water, with some people predicting that water rationing is imminent [es]. The team from Observador Global [es] (Global Observer) created a 6-part video series about the effects of future water shortages in this region.

The city is home to migrants from the Aymara indigenous communities on the Bolivian Altiplano, who settle in El Alto, often in impoverished conditions. Bolivian blogger Cristina Quisbert of the blog Indigenous Bolivia describes the situation that many residents face in terms of suitable drinking water:

Additional conditions difficult access to water. A lot of people arrive from rural area to El Alto and establish wherever they can. Because of lack of money, they live in neighborhoods where there is neither drinkable water nor sewer system. Some of them dig a hole which should be about three metres deep until they find water. More or less in November, it starts rainy time and it is other possibility for neighbors to collect water. At the end, lack of water added to existent levels of poverty many times result in illnesses.

There is an heterogeneity of situations. I have water at home but some of my neighbors don't. This is a serious problem for the families. In my case, I share water with other family. Basilio and Juana have four children. They are renters. The house where they live doesn't have drinkable water. Whenever they need, they use a hose to collect water from my house and at end of the month we divide the cost of water invoice to pay.

However, the Tuni Condoriri, not only provides drinking water to the city, but it also provides valuable water for agricultural activities on the Altiplano. If sustainable agricultural activities decrease because of the lack of water, many more rural residents may seek opportunities in El Alto, where they may face similar water shortages, while raising demand.

350.org activists climb to the Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia in preparation for a major event on October 24. Photo used under a Creative Commons license.

It is the high-profile image of the Chacaltaya glacier that is drawing attention from local government official and other activist groups to the problem of climate change in the Bolivian Occident. A recent local event associated with the 350.org campaign was advertised on Facebook [es], inviting Bolivians to take an excursion to the Chacaltaya glacier to see for themselves the effects.

Finally, Oblitas concludes with the following questions [es]:

Chacaltaya ya no está y pronto dejarán de existir otros glaciares, ¿está el país preparado para esas pérdidas?, ¿somos conscientes de la importancia de tomar un rol activo e inmediato contra el calentamiento? Para muchos, el cambio climático no es un fenómeno global y no creen sentirse afectados, pero lo cierto es que absolutamente todos estamos en riesgo y no todos podemos enfrentarlo en las mismas condiciones. La lucha continúa, aunque ya sea tarde para lugares como Chacaltaya.

The agreement point that was debated the most and which had provoked the failure of previous dialogue attempts was whether or not to return Zelaya to power. This agreement would call for a power-sharing government and for both sides to recognize the results of the Presidential elections to be held on November 29. The signed deal is now in the hands of the National Congress, which must approve it and which is the same body that voted for Zelaya's removal more than 120 days ago.

Photo by NewsHour and used under a Creative Commons license

The international community has praised the signed agreement. The Organization of American States supports the November general elections, as are the European Union and the United States, which also recently resumed the issuing of visas to the country, which had been a measure to pressure the Micheletti government.

In Honduras, there is a mix of hope and uncertainty. There is hope that the political, economic, and social crisis that the country has been living since June will finish as soon as possible, at least in this current state. There is uncertainty in that the return of Zelaya is still in the hands of the National Congress. There are reactions from Honduran blogs:

In the blog Nacer en Honduras [es], Ardegas writes “Will Zelaya be reinstated? That is the floating question,” and looks at some of the possible obstacles before he is returned to power. For example, Ardegas writes that the reinstatement will be ineffective if the Supreme Court does not suspend its pending orders for Zelaya's capture.

Juan Carlos Rivera of Mirada de Halcón [es] believes:

La crisis aún no ha terminado, el acuerdo es, a penas, la puerta hacia la resolución del conflicto. La inestabilidad, la convulsión social, continuará si no retorna Manuel Zelaya Rosales al poder. Esto no lo digo yo. Lo grita la gente que está en la calle. La mayoría de hondureños exige la reintegración del presidente que eligieron en noviembre de 2005.

In the blog Hibueras [es], Gustavo Zelaya calls the signing of the agreement a “Halfway Celebration?” and provides opinion about the interference of the United States in national affairs:

Esto era lo fundamental para muchos, en especial para los gringos encabezados por Shannon y para el resto de los candidatos presidenciales. Y aquí es donde se nota con toda claridad quiénes son los que mandan, ordenan, imponen y deciden en los asuntos nacionales. Ya no sólo les debemos la clasificación al mundial.

Finally, the blog Honduras en el Mundo [es] writes that “Congress has us waiting:”

Hay que estar vigilantes, y espectantes, la restitución está cerca, pero no hay que confiarse, esperamos que los diputados del Congreso sean consecuentes con el país, que reparen el delito que cometieron, y solucionen este problema, para que de una buena vez sea revertido este golpe de Estado.

Zavala was kidnapped by the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP for its initials in Spanish), a terrorist group believed to the continuation of the Patria Libre political party. The EPP is also said to have been advised by Colombia's FARC in 2004 in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas [es], daughter of former President Raúl Cubas.

President Fernando Lugo outlines security plan. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Liberal senator Alfredo Jaeggli said Lugo should face an impeachment [es] because he is not fulfilling his functions as president by not providing security to Paraguayan citizens. The impeachment idea is also supported by Pedro Fadul and Lino Oviedo, both former presidential candidates and Senator Julio Cesar Velázquez.

What places Lugo in an even more difficult position is that the President has been linked to members involved in Cubas' case, to the point that Cecilia’s mother, Mirta Guzinsky, launched a video during the 2008 presidential campaigns asking citizens not to vote for Lugo [es]. The video has now been revived within the online Paraguayan community through collective emails with the subject line: “What if Mirtha Gusinsky was right?” Lugo was the Bishop of San Pedro department in 2004 when he said he had not heard anything about the kidnap, even though the Cubas case was on every single media utlet in the country at that point.

Debates are ongoing both within the high political spheres and among regular Paraguayan citizens. Blogger José Angel López Barrios, comments on his blog that the government is not now nor has never been equipped to fight the increasing kidnap industry [es]:

Sin duda se aúnan un montón de factores en la sucesión de secuestros que nos acorralan, en 8 años hemos tenido por lo menos 100 secuestros y el único factor común destacable es que quienes deben solucionar estos crímenes no están preparados para ello. (…)

La increíble suma solicitada por los mismos (5.000.000 de dólares) revela que atrás de ese pedido existe la idea de financiar las operaciones del grupo clandestino….

Maki Fretez, a blogger who comments on an ABC Color article, says impeachment is fundamental to reestablish security and safety in Paraguay [es]:

Cambiar al presidente en este momento es una cuestion de superviviencia!, de lo contrario hay que apagar las luces y salir del pais cuanto antes. El juicio politico es un mecanismo constitucional por lo que no puede ser considerado irregular…

Others believe the impeachment flag is being used by politicians to favor their parties and personal interests, and that it is neither helping the kidnapped Zavala’s circumstances, nor improving the situation in the country. Blogger and journalist Alfredo Boccia, writes in his blog Antes del Septimo Día [es]:

La mención al juicio político fue azuzada por buena parte de la oposición, por la prensa -que insinuaba que el silencio de Lugo ocultaba algo- y, por supuesto, por el vicepresidente, quien le dio manija a su fastidiosa y autodestructiva tarea de marcar sus diferencias con el presidente.

En momentos en que se imponían la austeridad de palabras y la reflexión prudente, triunfó la descalificación irresponsable y la vocinglería fanática. El que debería ser la principal preocupación de todos -cautivo en condiciones probablemente dramáticas en los montes del Norte- pasó a un segundo plano.

As Zavala remains captive, the debate over security concerns continues.