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Portugal: Protests Against ACTA

Sara Moreira — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:10:56 +0000

On 11 February 2012, more than 200 cities around the world joined the global protests against ACTA - the proposed multi-national Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that aims to establish international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. In Portugal, around 300 people demonstrated on the streets of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Viseu and Braga, following the calls that had been organized via Facebook.

Kris Haamer summed up the Lisbon event:

‎”ACTA is censorship, a return to dictatorship” was what the group, many in Guy Fawkes masks, were shouting in an Anti-ACTA march in Lisbon center. I would describe it as small and unorganized (perhaps 200 people) with little structure and focus on coherent messaging. Very few people with laptops or iPads, iPhones, etc to share the message and only 1 tv station takin an interest..

"ACTA seems to be a marginal concern in Portugal. Few people mostly the youth". Photo by Kris Haamer on Foursquare (used with permission).

In Porto, although more than one thousand netizens had confirmed on Facebook their intention to participate in the protest, only a few dozen actually concentrated in the Aliados Avenue, in front of the City Hall. Some of the demonstrators came from Braga, as they decided to join forces in just one city in the North, due to low participation there.

Protest in Porto. Photo by Nuno Gomes on G+ (used with permission).

The protest, which was livestreamed on the blog of #AnonymousPortugal, then moved to the entrance of the newspaper Jornal de Notícias, in order to capture the attention of mainstream media, with success.

Protest in Porto. Photo by Nuno Gomes on G+ (used with permission).

In Coimbra, out of 154 confirmations on Facebook, only 21 people joined the demonstration.

Protest in Coimbra. Photo sent by an anonymous (used with permission).

"I had a motto but it was censored." Photo from Coimbra sent by an anonymous (used with permission).

In Viseu only 7 people joined. A new demonstration is scheduled for February 18 in Évora.

Activist on intellectual property issues Maria João Nogueira, wrote on her blog an open letter [pt] to the Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho where she mentions some of the countries that have stepped back from signing the agreement, recalling that:

o Embaixador Português no Japão já assinou a ACTA em nome de Portugal (e ainda não vi o pedido de desculpas), embora, curiosamente, não haja notícia desta assinatura, nem da posição do Governo Português acerca deste “tratado”.

the Portuguese Ambassador in Japan has already signed ACTA in the name of Portugal (and I haven't seen him apologize yet), though, curiously, there is no news about this signature, nor on the position of the Portuguese Government about this “treaty”.

On a different post she mentions a statement from 2010 that was signed by some of the members of the Parliament who “had reservations about the transparency of the process and have expressed doubts regarding the contents of this treaty”. Nogueira shares [pt] a list of the representatives, as well as their emails addresses, and invites readers “to ask the ones who signed if they have already clarified their doubts, and to those who didn't sign it, why they didn't do it, and what's their opinion/position about the subject”.

While the treaty is open for signature until March 31, 2012, Avaaz's world wide petition has already gathered more than 2.1 million signatures in just two weeks.

Peru: The Water March Approaches Lima

Kathryn Morgan — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:42:43 +0000

The Water March that set off from Cajamarca on February 1, 2012, continues on. After a warm welcome [es] in La Libertad region and more support [es] from farmers, fishermen and ecologists [es] on passing through Ancash, the March is now approaching Lima.

Meanwhile, various independent journalists and foreign websites are talking about and giving their opinions about the March. For example, El Ciudadano [es], PiensaChile [es] and Mapu Express [es] of Chile, the Agencia Latinoamericana de Información [es], Rebelión [es], Infolatam [es] are all reporting on the March. In Lima, however, some media are revealing [es] alleged political reports that denounce the March organisers as “reds and extremists” and “experts in the mobilisation of masses”.

The following video, uploaded to YouTube by noenhucal on February 5, captures the beginning of the March in the village of Santa, a little before Chimbote.

In the previous post we left the March on its fifth day, leaving [es] Chimbote and headed for [es] the city of Casma and then on to Huarmey. From there they continued on [es] to Paramonga, which now belongs to the Lima region, where they spent the night. On the Chungo y Batán blog they repost photos [es] of the march through Trujillo and Chimbote, as well as the arrival in Casma on Sunday night.

Al promediar las 8 de la noche, llegaron a la provincia de Casma, conocida como la ciudad del eterno sol, hasta cerca de la media noche realizamos una manifestación cultural, también agradeciendo al alcalde que recibió a los marchantes. Al cierre de la presente edición, nos preparamos para salir marchando hasta Paramonga.

At around 8 o'clock in the evening, they arrived in the province of Casma, known as the city of eternal sun. Until about midnight we held a cultural protest and thanked the Mayor for receiving the marchers. On ending this post we are preparing our march to Paramonga.

The Water March in Santa

The Water March in Chimbote

The Water March in Casma

La Misión de Observación (The Observation Mission) issued [es] their report on the fifth day in which they announced, among other things, the motives of the various Ancash collectives that have supported the March:

Almenzor Gómez y Javier Castro, representando a cientos de pescadores de la provincia de Chimbote, explicaron que ven amenazado su trabajo y la biodiversidad de su costa por la inminente presencia de la petrolera Savia Perú (ex –Petrotech) que pretende levantar una plataforma a 20 millas de Chimbote. […] Por su parte, Javier Castro, […] se refirió al gran riesgo que correría el zócalo marino de Áncash, rico en nutrientes y pesca, si se produjera un derrame de petróleo. Los ancashinos concretaron 4 reivindicaciones centrales por las que se unen a la Marcha: intangibilidad de cabeceras de cuenca, prohibición de la minería con cianuro y mercurio, derecho a la consulta de los pueblos y declarar el agua un derecho constitucional.

Almenzor Gómez and Javier Castro, representing hundreds of fishermen from the province of Chimbote, explained that their work and biodiversity on the coast is threatened by the iminent presence of the oil company Savia Perú (formally Petrotech) that intends to build an oil rig 20 miles off the coast of Chimbote. […]. Javier Castro, […] makes reference to the large risk of oil spillage posed to the marine base at Áncash, rich in nutrients and fish. Áncash locals summarized four main demands to go along with the March: Intangibility of the headwaters, prohibition of using cyanide and mercury in mining, the right to consultation with the towns and the declaration of water as a constitutional right.

After staying overnight [es] in Paramonga, the March set off for Pativilca, Barranca and Supe, where the day ended [es]. In the blog Frente de Defensa Ambiental de Cajamarca (Cajamarca Environmental Defence Front) there is a report [es] with photos.

The Water March in Paramonga

The Water March in Pativilca

The Observation Mission issued its report of the day in which it identifies [es] certain problems related to the March that we have mentioned in previous posts.

En torno al rosario de problemas sociales y ambientales, con sus correspondientes conflictos, que van federándose en torno a la Marcha del Agua, la Misión de Observación toma nota de la denuncia de una campaña de descrédito, según los organizadores, con acusaciones de “politización interesada de la Marcha” e incluso “connivencia terrorista de sus dirigentes”; recientemente viene apareciendo la acusación de que “Chile financia la Marcha”, para que las empresas se vayan allá … Los portavoces de la Marcha insistieron en que su objetivo es poner en la agenda nacional la prioridad del derecho al agua desde la movilización no violenta.

Around the miryad of social and environmental problems, with their associated conflicts, which all cluster around the Marcha del Agua, the Observation Mission takes note of a campaign to bring it into disrepute, with accusations of “politicisation of the March” and even “terrorist collusion amongst its leaders”. Recently the accusation that “Chile finances the March” has arisen with the aim that businesses go there… The spokespeople for the March insist that its objective is to make the right to water a priority on the national agenda through non-violent movement.

From Supe the marchers headed for Huaura and then [es] to Huacho, the city where they spent the night. Holding [es] a meeting the next day and spreading its proposals through the city streets. Earlier, in the city of Barranca, the members of the Observation Mission and the Water March met. The Mission's report [es] on the day talks about this meeting, highlighting the motives for the March as explained by its organisers:

Jorge Spelucín, maestro, e integrante de la Comisión Nacional del Agua, suscitó la denuncia del largo proceso de criminalización que los distintos dirigentes sufren, “no queremos que continúe la criminalización de la protesta que impuso el anterior gobierno, los pobres hemos soportado por 20 años la violencia política y social de Yanacocha”, dijo.

Jorge Spelucín, schoolteacher, and member of the National Water Commission, complained of the long process of criminalisation that the different managers suffered. He says “we want the criminalisation of the protest that the previous government imposed to stop. The poor people have put up with the political and social violence of Yanacocha for 20 years”.

On February 8 DLOOCHI uploaded the following YouTube video about the Water March in Huacho:

Meanwhile in Lima the March's sympathisers are already preparing to receive them on Thursday, February 9. The organisers that live in the city are meeting to prepare different activities like “Foro Hídrico: Agua, Minería y Desarrollo en el Perú” [es] (Water Forum: Water, Mining and Development in Perú) that begun on February 8 (here you can access its programme [es]) and the Tribunal Nacional de Justicia Hídrica [es] (National Water Justice Tribunal). “Voluntary work for reception, food, adjustment and National Great Water March marcher registration logistics” have also been announced [es] and organised [es] for their arrival in Lima. The Great Water March blog posts [es]the marching route for Lima and on the Seamos Un Río blog they ask for [es] donations:

Este esfuerzo [la marcha] se está realizando de manera autogestionada y autofinanciada, por lo que nos vemos en la necesidad de apelar a su solidaridad y animo de lucha para ayudarnos a cumplir con las metas trazadas durante los 3 días que nuestros compañeros caminantes de la Gran Marcha Nacional del Agua permanecerán en la ciudad de Lima.

El presupuesto que estamos manejando son para la realizacion de las siguientes actividades: **Albergue y Tribunal Hídrico**, **Foro Hídrico**, **Acto Político Cultural**, **Marcha**, **Comunicación, movilidad**

This effort [the March] is self-managed and self-financed. We see the need to call on your solidarity and to encourage the struggle to help us to achieve the goals that were drawn up during the three days that our fellow marchers on the National Great Water March stayed in the city of Lima.

The proposal that we are managing is for the execution of the follwoing activites: **Hostal and Water Tribunal**, **Water Forum**, **Political Culture Act**, **March**, **Communication mobility**

Freddy Otárola, the Nationalists congressman, has recently issued a controversial statement. He said [es]: “We hope that the ‘Water March' will be a failure”. The Prime-minister, Óscar Valdés, hopes [es] that the “March for water” will show a techincal stance rather than a political one. In the meantime from the city of Puno they have announced [es] that the representatives of the struggle committes and the defence fronts of the regions of Puno, Cusco, Arequipa, Madre de Dios, Moquegua and Tacna, will carry out a march and a protest in support of the Water March.

Finally, in this video filmed in the Fórum Social Mundial [pt] (World Social Forum), held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, between January 24 and 29, they have put together some testimonies and messages from participants expressing their support and solidarity with the Water March.

Post originally published on Juan Arellano's [es] personal blog.

Puerto Rico: Life One Photo a Day

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:47:27 +0000

The artist and producer Jose Marti (@Jose_Marti) has shot one picture a day for the past two years as part of his online project “Fotos de Hoy” (Photos of Today).

He explains:

Dentro de los temas que publico en su mayoría son fotos casuales donde la foto me encuentra a mí en vez de yo buscarla y bien pueden ser fotos de la ciudad, de mi casa o donde quiera que me encuentre por que en realidad lo importante es expresar algo sobre el momento, donde estoy, que estoy haciendo, etc. Ese es el elemento que me ha llevado ha constantemente publicar en Fotos de Hoy, el poder visualmente resumir semanas y diversas experiencias en un compilado accesible por internet.

They are mostly casual photos, where the photograph finds me instead of me looking for the photograph, and they may well be pictures of the city, my home or wherever it finds me because what is really important is to express something about the moment, where I am, what I'm doing, etc.. That is the element that has led me to constantly publish in “Photos of Today,” to be able to visually summarize weeks and diverse experiences that are accessible online.

I have selected some of his pictures of Old San Juan, the colonial city of the capital of San Juan, Puerto Rico (all photos are republished with his permission). You can follow his visual life daily at Fotos de Hoy.

City with a View.

San José Church.

The window.

Beach El Escambrón.

Fort El Morro.

Bar El Batey.

Luna Street.

Brazil: “We Are All Pinheirinho” Spreads Around the World

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:22:52 +0000

[All the links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]

Brazilians all over the world, as well as citizens from different countries, have mobilized online and organized protests in various cities like Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Buenos Aires, among others, in support of the community of Pinheirinho. The settlement was recently evicted with extreme violence by the Military Police of São Paulo and the Civil Guard in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, in what became known as the “Massacre of Pinheirinho.”

Teacher Lúcio Flávio de Almeida comments:

Os lutadores e lutadoras do Pinheirinho foram desalojados e vivem uma situação muito difícil, extremamente difícil. No entanto, sua luta, que é nossa luta, continua. Sob certos aspectos, cresce e deve crescer ainda mais.

The fighters of Pinheirinho were displaced and are facing a very difficult situation, extremely difficult. However, their struggle, which is our struggle, continues. In some ways, grows and should grow even more.

The citizens were organized under the motto “We are all Pinheirinho” on Facebook, in blogs and on the streets. The movement, in a letter released by the blog Vi o Mundo, explains:

Pessoas em várias cidades do mundo estão agindo em rede para mostrar sua indignação pelos acontencimentos no Brasil. São brasileiros e pessoas de várias nacionalidades buscando pressionar para que a situação das famílias em Pinheirinho não caia no esquecimento facilmente.

People in many cities around the world are acting as a network to show their indignation by the events in Brazil. They are Brazilians and people of various nationalities seeking to push for the situation of families in Pinheirinho not to be forgotten easily.

Activist Erick Cristiano produced a video with pictures of various events around the world and posted it on YouTube:

“Eu sou do país dos Pinheirinhenses” (I am of the country of the Pinheirinese) is the motto of a group of activists who put out the Tumblr “What is your country?”, which now has dozens of videos of people declaring their solidarity with the people expelled from Pinheirinho like the following uploaded by user engenhoso:

On January 27, a group of Brazilians protested in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Madrid, capital of Spain, with a great banner and a flag of Brazil.

"Solidarity with Pinheirinho. Brazilians in Madrid". Protest in Madrid. Photo by Fábio TQrz, used with permission

The group also released a letter of complaint, in Portuguese and Spanish, questioning the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and Minister of the Special Secretariat of Human Rights, Maria do Rosário, requesting action regarding the homeless of Pinheirinho.

Protesters talk to the secretary of the embassy after the ambassador refused to receive them. Photo by Fábio TQrz, used with permission

With banners and flags, Brazilians who live in Lisbon, Portugal, protested in front of the Brazilian Consulate in the country on February 2, and walked through the center of Lisbon, but not before delivering a manifesto to the consul, who declared that the government had already announced its position in relation to what happened in Pinheirinho.

Protest in Lisbon. Photo by Soraya Barret, used with permission

On January 31, with temperatures below minus 10 degrees celsius, Brazilians protested in Berlin with a giant banner that read “Wir Sind alle Pinheirinho” and another calling for an end of social hygiene policy in Sao Paulo. The group released [de] a manifesto on the Internet in German. It was also released a video of the demonstration in Berlin.

"We are all Pinheirinho". Photo by Christian Russau, used with permission

"São Paulo: Stop the politics of sanitation". Photo by Christian Russau, used with permission

About 50 Brazilians demonstrated in Paris, capital of France, with several banners in French and Portuguese, on February 4, also in front of the Brazilian Embassy in the country. The French police, however, did not allow the act to last long, driving the protesters of the place, claiming it would be forbidden to take pictures near the embassy. A small group stood in a square nearby.

Protest in Paris. Photo by Dudas Bastos, used with permission

A Facebook group was created where one can read in French, a manifesto in solidarity with Pinheirinho. Daniel Ybarra, on Facebook, announced that the letter sent by the group to the Brazilian Embassy would be sent to the Brazilian government.

Protest in Paris. Photo by Maite Weill, used with permission

Another protest was also held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where at least 30 people engaged in the march from the “Obelisco”, singing all the way.

Protest in Buenos Aires. Photo by Victoria Vajda, used with permission

In Santiago, Chile, at least 20 people concentrated in the Plaza de Los Heroes, where the embassy of Brazil is located. The protest also gathered some Chileans.

In Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a demonstration took place on January 31 and in Curitiba, a banner of protest was exposed during a football game of the Paranaense Championship.

Photo by Rodrigo Tomazini, used with permission

Filmmaker Pedro Rios Leão ended his hunger strike after 11 days. The activist Alysson Bordi joined him but had to suspend the strike after being referred for medical care in a health clinic on February 7. The activist, however, wrote a manifesto in which he gives the reasons for the end of the strike and asks for support for the cause.

On Sunday the municipal guard of the city of Rio de Janeiro tried to remove the strikers and other activists who were with Pedro:

Pessoal, ontem a guarda municipal gentilmente atendeu a pedidos e chegou para nos remover. Depois de puxar cacetete, ameaçar muito nos agredir, resolveram só nos deixar ao relento. […] Na confusão perdi meu celular e algumas outras coisas. O acampamento ficou desbaratado e os ânimos devastados. No sol, e no pior ponto da greve, eu comecei a passar muito mal.

Guys, yesterday the municipal guard kindly responded to requests to come in and remove us. After pulling clubs and threatening to beat us, they decided to just leave us in the open. In the confusion I lost my phone and some other things. The camp was in disarray and devastated souls. In the sun, and the worst point of the strike, I started to feel ill.

Firefighters and military police officers on the eve of going on strike in the city supported the hunger strike of Pedro, that completed 11 days on Wednesday, February 8, when it came to an end:

11 dias sem sentir gosto nenhum, 12 quilos a menos no meu corpo. Espero que sirva para alguma coisa. Não peço desculpas pelo transtorno. Isso foi só uma tentativa.

11 days now without feeling any taste, 12 kilos less on my body. I hope that works for something. I do not apologize for the inconvenience. That was just an attempt.

Activists support the hunger strike of Pedro Leão. Photo by Pedro Leão, free use.

On February 2, a great act took more than 5,000 people to the streets of São José dos Campos to protest and show solidarity with the residents of Pinheirinho.

Meanwhile, fundraising campaigns are oganized and it is immense the pressure on politicians to take a stand in relation to the disproportionate violence and on the help the evicted families need.

Maldives: Marred by Violence

Saffah Faroog — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:56:48 +0000

The political crisis in the Maldives took an ugly turn on Wednesday 8 February, 2012, when police brutally beat and injured supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Nasheed as they protested against what they claimed to be a coup that removed the island nation's first democratically elected president from power.

In the riots that followed, Nasheed's supporters torched and destroyed a number of police stations, courts, local council offices and other public buildings. Scores of police officers were hurt in the violence too.

Earlier in the day, in a meeting of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the party which won the first multiparty election of the Maldives in 2008 and brought Nasheed to presidency, the deposed President announced that his resignation on Tuesday was coerced.

“We will come to power again,” Nasheed said. “We will never step back. I will not accept this coup and will bring justice to the Maldivians.”

Police charge teargas on protesters. Image by anonymous photographer, used with permission.

Nasheed and his supporters then marched through the capital Malé and faced a line of police behind shields near the island's main square, just next to military and police headquarters. The protesters threw bottles and stones at the police while the police fired teargas canisters into the crowd. The confrontation between the two sides ended in a brutal crackdown by police, leading to blood-soaked protesters being rushed to hospitals. Among those hurt were members of parliament and senior leaders of Nasheed's party.

FreedomWatchMV has posted this video of the confrontation between the security forces and protesters.

Another video shows police dragging an MP and Nasheed out of a shop after dispersing the crowd. Nasheed was released after a debate between the policemen about whether he should be arrested or not. This video shows a blood-soaked man narrating how the police beat him up.

Yameen blogs about the events that took place in Malé:

There is a brutal, concerted effort by the runaway police department to crush protests by supporters of President Nasheed, following his release today.

I have personally witnessed the heavy handed tactics employed to combat MDP activists, energized by the release of President Nasheed earlier today after yesterday's coup d'etat that forced him to resign.

Tear gas was used indiscriminately on Orchid magu near the Supreme court building. Two people were beaten up and lay motionless on the street for a long time before they were dragged and shoved into an ambulance.

Then I saw a police jeep speeding into a crowd of protesters. A police jeep. Absolutely reprehensible.

Police brutality on protesters. Image by anonymous. used with permission.

Muju Naeem ponders if the Maldives has turned into a military dictatorship:

So if President Waheed did not give the order, then we can safely assume that the security forces were acting on their own. What this means is that we have incidentally slipped into a military/police dictatorship where the executive is there only in name only.
Maldives has become a police state.
Maldivian Twitter users have started using 3 hashtags to tell their story. Please follow;
1. #maldivespolicestate
2. #mvprotest
3. #mvcoup

Following the events in the capital, Nasheed's supporters responded by rioting in outer islands, setting police stations on fire, throwing stones at policemen on duty and burning down courts and several other public buildings. In a number of islands they drove the police out and seized the police stations.

Maldivians and foreigners are tweeting about the new wave of violence that has gripped the holiday haven.

foram divrania tweets:

@divrania: Peace to Maldives..ur too beautiful for politics and violence.

Nattu tweets:

@reallynattu: “@hisherm: I don't support any political parties. I support Maldives.” Including Me!

There is an eerie calm in the islands and the capital on Thursday as people remain tense about what could happen next. In a press conference, the commanders of the police and military assured that order will be restored and promised to investigate the previous day's violence.

Speaking to journalists at his residence, Nasheed said he was forced to resign by some military personnel as the country's police force mutinied against his rule. Calling for fresh elections, he vowed to come back to power and reassured that he has no intention of grabbing power through street riots. He also condemned the acts of violence his supporters had committed in various islands.

Trinidad & Tobago: Seeing Siparia

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:24:12 +0000

MEP Publishers visits Siparia, a vibrant community that has had a fascinating part to play in the island's history.

Spain: The Rebel Grandparents of the 15M

Marianna Breytman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:25:57 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

They call themselves “the children” of 15M despite the fact that the majority of them far exceed the age of 60, they are retired, they are “iaios” (grandparents, in Catalan) and they are veterans of long-term activism.

Celestino Sánchez, Antonia Jover, Adrián Rísquez, and Rosario Cunillera are some of the members of the the “Iaioflautas,” a collective that emerged in Barcelona last October alongside the camping grounds in Plaza Catalunya. Its objective is to support the youth in their own way. But the fight, they assert, is the same: “for a dignified democracy by name and social justice against conspiratorial bankers and politicians.”

The “iaioflautas,” whose name was invented in solidarity with the “perroflautas” (gutter punks) — a derrogatory term with which the president of Madrid used to refer to the young occupiers — combine some of the methods they used in the anti-Franco, labor union, local or leftist fights with their learning about new technologies. To summarize, they organize a “direct action” in the street once a month, almost in secret, and do not announce it on their Twitter account, @iaioflautas, or blog [es] until it has already begun. That way, they avoid problems with the police.

The first event took place in November, when they occupied a Santander Bank office in Barcelona. The most recent one, called “Operation #RebelionBus,” occurred on Wednesday, February 1. Some 70 “yayos” (grandparents) arranged to meet in the very center of the Catalan capital and “hijacked” a bus in protest of the abusive increase in public transportation fares.

They chose Line 47, in reference to the missing bus driver and syndicalist Manuel Vital [es] that hijacked a bus on this line in May of 1978 to demonstrate that he could get to his neighborhood. The following is part of a series of tweets that they started writing a few days before with the help of young activists:

January 30:

@iaioflautas: #eldía1F los @iaioflautas vamos a hacer algo muy loco. (puenting…como que no). Filosofía #occupy 99% ¿Le dais un meneito? Gracias!

@iaioflautas: #Feb1 the @iaioflautas are going to do something really crazy. (bungee jumping… but of course). #occupy 99% Philosophy. Will you give it a little shake? Thank you!

@celescolorado: Miércoles 1 por la mañana nueva travesura de @iaioflautas, síguenos

@celescolorado: The morning of Wednesday, the first, a new @iaioflautas prank. Follow us

January 31:

@iaioflautas: Tic-tac, tic-tac…cuenta atrás para una travesura más. Será #eldia1f ¡especuladores, os vais a enterar! Somos el 99%. No olvidamos.

@iaioflautas: Tick-tock, tick-tock… counting down to one more prank. It will happen on #Feb1. Speculators, you're going to find out! We are the 99%. We don't forget.

February 1:

@iaioflautas: En marcha! Hoy será un día largo. No olvidéis el bocadillo, medicaciones varias… Hoy entramos en acción. ¡Atentos!

@iaioflautas: Marching! Today will be a long day. Don't forget your sandwich, various medications… Today we start the action. Watch out!

@iaioflautas: Calentando motores, q frío que hace!

@iaioflautas: Starting our engines, it's so cold out!

@iaioflautas: Hemos ocupado un autobús, el 47, en pl. Catalunya. Somos más de 70 @iaioflautas, la acción ha empezado, seguidnos en #rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: We've occupied a bus, the 47, in Pl. Catalunya. There are over 70 of us @iaioflautas, the action has started. Follow us with#rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: [Calle] Industria con Sardenya. Que se escuche: rechazamos las reducciones de tarifas y el plan de recortes salariales #rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: On Industria and Sardenya Street. Listen: we reject the reduction in prices and the plan for salary cuts #rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: Aquí podéis ver algunas fotos de #rebelionbus. Vamos por Ronda Guineueta. Estamos ocupando el bus 47 http://www.iaioflautas.org/2012/02/operacio-rebelionbus/

@iaioflautas: You can see photos from #rebelionbus here. We're going along Ronda Guineueta. We're occupying the 47 bus. iaioflautas.org/2012/02/operac…

@iaioflautas: Bueno, el trayecto de ida ha acabado. Ahora, volviendo para la Plaza Catalunya. Sobre las 12:30 haremos una asamblea allí #rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: Well, the trip there has ended. Now we're returning to Plaza Catalunya. Around 12:30 we're going to have an assembly there #rebelionbus

@iaioflautas: Final del trayecto mañanero de la #rebelionbus. La lucha continúa con #yonopago esta tarde. pic.twitter.com/8GaRmzSw

@iaioflautas: The end of the morning trip on the #rebelionbus. The fight continues with #yonopago (#Iwontpay) this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/8GaRmzSw

@celescolorado: En la asamblea final en pz. Catalunya @iaioflautas hemos cantado el cumpleaños feliz a un compañero, Manolo González cumplía 80 años

@celescolorado: At the final assembly in Pl. Catalunya @iaioflautas We sang Happy Birthday to a friend, Manolo González, who turned 80

And here is the video that @15Mbc_tv recorded and edited:

The #RebeliónBus operation had been prepared a week before, during a meeting I attended. I had been following the Iaioflautas for some time online, and I wanted to get to know them. There they finalized the details of the action and began planning the “prank” that they will carry out in March. This is part of what some of them told me:

Celestino Sánchez, 61 years old:

Celestino. (Screen shot taken by the author)

El 15M representó para gente como nosotros una especie de aire fresco. La situación ha cambiado y hay un nuevo escenario y tenemos que volver a aprender. Eso no quiere decir que nuestro pasado no sirva, pero las cosas son diferentes. Por ejemplo, hace diez años era impensable que se convocara a través de las redes sociales la ocupación de la plaza Catalunya. Se decía que la gente joven no hacía nada, y hace, hace mucho. La gente de las generaciones futuras vivirá peor que la del pasado, ese es otro cambio. Lo que creo que no ha cambiado son los objetivos: una sociedad en las que las personas podamos vivir libremente, que tengamos vivienda, transporte, que estudiemos. Eso lo queríamos hace treinta años y ahora también, sigue siendo vigente.

The 15M represented a sort of breath of fresh air for people like us. The situation has changed and there is a new scenario, and we have to go back to learning. This doesn't mean that the past no longer serves a purpose, but that things are different. For example, ten years ago, it was unthinkable for the Plaza Catalunya occupation to be organized through social networks. People said that the youth did nothing, but they do quite a lot. Future generations will live worse than those of the past, that is another change. I believe that the objectives are that which hasn't changed: a society in which we as people can live freely, where we can have homes, transportation, where we can study. This is what we wanted 30 years ago and now it also continues to be the case.

Antonia Jover, 72 years old:

Antonia. (Screen shot taken by the author)

Me gusta mucho esta forma de lucha, porque pienso que es una forma directa y, además, responde a la concepción que siempre he tenido de la democracia. La democracia es poder del pueblo, ningún gobierno puede ser democrático, porque los gobiernos son represivos. La verdadera democracia está en el pueblo y en la vigilancia del pueblo de que los gobiernos cumplan lo que prometen. Los iaioflautas podemos aprovechar las experiencias que teníamos del franquismo. Entonces los que queríamos una sociedad democrática teníamos un enemigo común, el franquismo, un sistema bárbaro y represivo. Y ahora, ¿por qué no hacer una misma experiencia de la unidad contra los especuladores y los financieros? Nos afecta al 99% de la población y sólo es el 1% el que se beneficia. Ésta es la idea.”

I really like this form of uprising, because I think it is direct and also responds to the conception that I have always had of democracy. Democracy is power of the people, no government can be democratic because governments are repressive. True democracy lies with the people and in the peoples' vigilance that the governments deliver their promises. We iaioflautas can take advantage of the experiences we had with the Franco era. So those of us that wanted a democratic society have a common enemy, Franco's regime, a barbaric and repressive system. And now, why not create the same experience of unity against speculators and financiers? It affects 99% of our population and it is only the 1% that benefits. That is the idea.

Adrián Rísquez, 77 years old:

Adrián. (Screen shot taken by the author)

En los iaioflautas me siento muy bien. Llevo cinco años encerrado en la Federación de Asociaciones de vecinos hablando de la sanidad sin salir a la calle y como nuestra trayectoria fue en la calle, dentro de los locales no me aguantaba. Con los iaios hacemos lo que me gusta, en la calle, porque lo hicimos en aquellos tiempos y lo estábamos echando en falta. Decíamos que era necesario que la juventud saliera a la calle, pues ya está en la calle y ahora lo que tenemos que hacer es estar con ellos, que ellos aprendan de nosotros y nosotros de ellos. No se puede estar en casa porque las cosas que tenemos no las hemos conseguido en casa. La sanidad pública se consiguió en la calle y tenemos que conseguir en la calle para que no nos la quiten.

I feel really good being with the iaioflautas. I have been locked up in the Federation of Neighborhood Associations talking about health without going out into the streets, and since our experience had been in the streets, I couldn't take it anymore inside the locales. With the iaios, we do what I like, outside, because we did it in those times and we were doing what was needed. We said that it was necessary for the youth to come out into the streets, well now they're in the streets and what we have to do is be with them, so that they learn from us and we from them. You can't stay inside the house because we haven't gotten the things we currently have from sitting at home. Public health was achieved in the street and we have to continue on in the street so they don't take it away from us.

Rosario Cunillera, 66 years old:

Rosario. (Screen shot taken by the author)

Todo empezó cuando fuimos a la plaza Catalunya a ver a los jóvenes y saber qué pensaban. No entramos en su lucha, porque, para mí, era totalmente diferente a cuando vine a Barcelona, a los 18 años, a luchar contra Franco. Pero fue un impulso nuevo. Ellos van a encontrar su forma de luchar, pensé, con el Twitter y todo esto. Y me apunté a los iaioflautas y cada vez que hay algo de los jóvenes, procuramos ir. Los jóvenes del 15M nos han dado un poco de ilusión y eso es algo que nos faltaba a la gente mayor.

Everything started when we went to Plaza Catalunya to see the young people and find out what they were thinking. We didn't join the fight because, for me, it was totally different from when I came to Barcelona at the age of 18 to fight against Franco. But it was a new impulse. They went to find their own way of fighting, I thought, with Twitter and all of that. So I joined the iaioflautas and every time the young people do something, we try to go. The 15M youth has shown us a bit of hope and that is something that us elderly were missing.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

South Korea: Activist Indicted for Retweeting North Korean Messages

Lee Yoo Eun — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:33:35 +0000

South Korean prosecutors indicted a photographer and freedom-of-speech activist last week on charges of violating national security law, for retweeting messages posted by an official North Korean government Twitter account. Despite the international media's widespread coverage, the case went seriously under-reported in South Korean media.

This case has sparked another round of debate on the controversial national security law, which prohibits “acts benefiting the enemy” without specifying what constitutes such acts.

Controversial tweets

Park Jung-geun, 23, was detained last month, but the incident actually goes back to September 2010, when police raided his photo studio in Seoul. According to one news report [ko], Park, from 2010 March to January 2011, with his two Twitter accounts (@seouldecadence, @dprkdecadence), retweeted about 102 messages originally tweeted by North Korean Twitter account @uriminzok. He also tweeted 30 links that led to North Korean video content.

Twitter profile image of user @windburial, the user switched to this image created by Park in order to show his support to Park.

The overall number of Park's “problematic” tweets is 384, which is only about 0.5 per cent of his entire tweets. In his trial, these tweets were depicted as “an expression of an agreement with the enemy's (referring to North Korea) propaganda” and were accused of “promoting the enemy's messages”.

Park claimed his retweets were a joke made to lampoon the North Korean regime and explained that the misunderstanding rose from reading his tweets out of context.

For instance, Park tweeted a tweaked image of a North Korean poster (see right). Using a typically North Korean poster, which are usually aggressive, warmongering and whose major color is red, Park replaced the soldier's face with his own face and the rifle with a bottle of whisky.

In another example, Park compared himself to North Korea's new heir, Kim Jong-un, since like Kim, he had ‘inherited' something from his father, which in Park's case is a photo studio.

South Korean media silence

What has baffled South Koreans however, is that although the police raided Park's studio last year and there has been quite strong opposition against the case online (including the creation of Internet photo memes of Park), recent updates have mostly come from the international media. Until local media reported about this unusual flow of information, Park's indictment was fairly new to the South Korean general public.

Hong Sung-soo (@sungsooh) tweeted [ko]:

“北 풍자한 박정근이 이적행위?”…외신 일제히 비판 : bit.ly/yK0WtI 뉴욕타임스, 워싱턴포스트, AP, AFP, UPI, CBS, MSNBC, 더 오스트레일리안, BBC… 외신보도 슈퍼 그랜드슬램 달성!!

“Really? Has Park committed national treason by lampooning North Korea?” Foreign media unanimously criticized (the indictment), including the New York Times, Washington Post, AP, AFP, UPI, CBS, MSNBC, the Australian, BBC - Congratulations on hitting the Grand Slam in the international media coverage.

A journalist from progressive newspaper, Huh Jae-yeon (@welovehani) tweeted [ko]:

우리만 보도안하고 있음

Only we - the Korean media - are remaining silent on this matter.

A Twitter account has been set up to support Park (@freepark_bot), summarizing[ko] in just one sentence what his real charge is:

박정근의 죄목: 트위터로 이것저것 한 거

The name of Mr. Park's crime: Trying this and that on Twitter.

Internet photo meme

Here are some of the meme photos produced back in September 2011, consolidated by Wiki Tree: firstly, starting with Park's original Twitter profile photo:

Park's original Twitter profile image, Image from his account @seouldecadence

Profile image of Twitter user @blu_pn. Posted on Wiki Tree site, CC

The image above shows Park's image with him holding a large blue pen. The tweet [ko] read:

I've switched my profile photo. (Sorry for using Park Jung-geun's photo without permission) It is to voice opposition against the government authority's raid on Mr. Park. I have never met Mr.Park, neither am I a socialist party member (like Park himself). I am not even his follower. But as a member of our civil society, I support his rights to freedom of speech!

Some of the messages from the Wiki Tree link [ko] read…

Twitter user @yawoori [ko]:

우리 모두는 박정근이다!

We are all Park Jung-geun!

Twitter user @Chocoberryp [ko]:

프로필 제 사진 아닙니다. ‘국가보안법 위반'이라는 이유로 박정근님에 대한 압수수색에 항의하는 의미에서 수많은 사람들이 프로필에 박정근을 자처하고 있습니다.

This profile photo is not mine. Many people have changed their Twitter profile photos to Park's image as an expression of protest against the police raid on Mr. Park, which was done under the name of ‘violation of the national security law'

Various Internet meme photos of Park Jung-geun, Posted in the Wiki Tree site, CC

Twitter user @Solidaritat [ko]:

이토록 많은 박정근을 죄다 가두지는 못할 것이며, 또 이토록 많은 박정근으로 인해 그 한 명의 박정근은 반드시 자유로워질 것이다. 필시 그리될 것이다.

They cannot arrest all these Park Jung-geuns. And thanks to all these numerous Park Jung-geuns, that one Park Jung-geun will be set free. That will eventually happen.

Rights advocates, including Amnesty International, released a statement to voice worries that the law “has a chilling effect on freedom of expression in South Korea” and “is used not to address threats to national security, but instead to intimidate people and limit their rights to free speech”.

Park's socialist party filed an online petition [ko] denouncing such decision as “an abuse of the national security law which is an icon of the military, authoritarian regime era”.

The remaining problem is that still a considerable number of Korean public are in support of this controversial law under which a considerable number of innocent citizens have been arrested and detained. Kim Nakho (@capcold), who has a Twitter profile photo that tweaked Park's profile image, tweeted [ko]:

어처구니없는 박정근 구속…보다 그에 관한 외신보도 때문에 급 조명받는 시대착오 국보법. 이왕 관심 가진 김에, 왜 그게 지금껏 살아있는지에 대해도 관심을. 국보법 없으면 국가보안 망한다 믿는 평범한 많은 이들의 학습능력 결여된 지지 말이다.

Park's arrest is so outrageous. What is more ridiculous is that this outdated national security law that recently caught the attention of the media because of the international media's coverage on it. Since we have started looking into this matter, we should focus on why that law has survived til now. It is because the ordinary people who so blindly bought into the notion that if the national security law stops existing, national security will be compromised. Those people who support the law for that reason are really lack the educational ability [lack understanding].

Georgia: Independent Media Gone Mobile

Onnik Krikorian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:36:53 +0000

Following the removal of traditional newspaper booths in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, and out of concern that the independent media will suffer as a result, Democracy and Freedom Watch reports that newspapers are now being sold via mobile newsstands including those attached to bicycles. A video report [GE] is also available here.

Cuba: Fatal Collapse in Downtown Havana Stirs Online Debate

Ellery Roberts Biddle — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:57:55 +0000

Over the last three weeks, two buildings have collapsed in downtown Havana. Located on Calzada de Infanta, a bustling thoroughfare that runs from the Vedado section of the city to Old Havana, the first building to fall killed three of its inhabitants and severely injured six more. There were no fatalities or injuries with the fall of the second building, an old theater that was no longer in use.

Bloggers from Voces Cubanas [es] and Havana Times saw the incidents as clear evidence of state officials' negligence of housing conditions in the city.

Generacion Y's [es] Yoani Sánchez wrote (English translation here):

Calzada de Infanta, in Havana. Photo by Flickr user amycgx (CC: BY - NC)

¿Qué solución urgente se aplicará para que esas tragedias no sigan siendo parte del escenario cotidiano? No vamos a aceptar una respuesta al estilo de que “se está estudiando el tema para aplicar soluciones de manera paulatina”. Tampoco nos vengan ahora con que la culpa la tienen los propios moradores que se quedaron en un lugar inhabitable. ¿A dónde hubieran podido ir? En lugar de eso exigimos que se construya, se repare, se nos proteja.

What urgent solution will be applied so that these tragedies won’t continue to be a part of our daily landscape? We will not accept a response in the style of, “We are studying the issue in order to apply solutions in a gradual way.” Nor do we now fault the inhabitants themselves, who stayed in an uninhabitable place. Where could they go? Instead, we demand that the State construct, repair, protect us.

Sin EVAsion's [es] Miriam Celaya wrote that such incidents have become “commonplace” in the city, but that the first received much greater attention than usual, due to the building's central location, and reports of the collapse by citizens using Twitter.

As Twitter users and bloggers reported on the incident, Celaya wrote that the state press had little choice but to cover it as well. She criticized their approach to the story (English translation here):

La prensa revolucionaria aprovechó la desgracia para resaltar la importancia de la intervención del Cuerpo de Bomberos, la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria, los servicios médicos de urgencia y las autoridades de la provincia y de los municipios Centro Habana y Plaza de la Revolución. Ellos fueron, a juzgar por los medios, los verdaderos protagonistas. La tragedia humana palidecía y se empequeñecía frente a la grandeza de las instituciones revolucionarias.

The revolutionary press took advantage of the tragedy to highlight the importance of the involvement of the Fire Department, the National Revolutionary Police, the Emergency Medical Services and the authorities of the province and municipalities of Centro Habana and Plaza de la Revolución. They were, judging by the media, the true central characters. Human tragedy was dwarfed and paled in comparison to the greatness of the revolutionary institutions.

She summarizes the article about the collapse that appeared in the print version of the national daily, Granma [es], on Thursday, January 19:

“la actuación coordinada e intensa” de “las fuerzas del Cuerpo de Bomberos y los servicios médicos de urgencia en el rescate de las víctimas y en el empeño de salvar la vida de los que se encontraban atrapados”, como si esa no fuera exactamente la función que se espera deben cumplir dichos cuerpos; o como si los derrumbes fuesen un accidente del clima o un mero capricho arquitectónico. Algo inesperado, impredecible, antojadizo, casual.

“Intense and coordinated action” of “the forces of Fire and Emergency Medical Services in the rescue of victims and in the effort to save the lives of those who were trapped,” as if those were not exactly the expected roles of such organizations, or as if building collapses were an act of God, or just an architectural whim; something by chance, unexpected, unpredictable or capricious.

Isbel Díaz Torres, at Havana Times, wrote of the many buildings in Havana that have fallen into disrepair and described how government policies have left Cubans with little capacity to repair their homes:

From what has been announced, the new formula designed by the government to provide home improvement loans and grants doesn’t allow for major structural work, which is what is required for many of the dilapidated buildings that abound across the capital, particularly in the municipalities of Centro Havana and Old Havana.

[…]

Of course many of the buildings are in such deteriorated states of construction that the only plausible solution would be their demolition. This, however, is impossible without a housing option for those people still living in them.

Peru: Following the Great Water March

Kitty Garden — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:18:13 +0000

It has been 7 days since the Great Water March set off, on February 1, 2012, from the heights of Celendín, Cajamarca, Peru, where the lakes threatened by the Conga [es] mining project are located. The march has unfolded practically without incidents, and is currently halfway to Lima, its final destination.

Meanwhile, the media are reporting on its progress, and publishing editorials [es] on the real purpose of the march, stressing above all its political and ideological affiliations; and government spokespeople declare [es] that in reality “there is an excess of water in Cajamarca”.

The media does not have a standard figure on the number of people who departed from Celendín on February 1. While Terra.pe writes [es] of 200 people, EFE counts [es] 300. Newspaper El Comercio mentions [es] that 600 community landowners started the journey, and RPP indicates [es] that 300 people arrived at Cajamarca's Plaza de Armas to sleep overnight and continue marching the next day.

The blog Seamos un río (Let's be a river) reproduced [es] what was published by Marcio Arana, one of the march's organisers:

Salimos a las 4am, nos reunimos en la plaza de armas de Celendin. Líderes ronderos, mujeres, jóvenes, músicos, maestros, comunicadores, vamos llegando. No hace mucho frio y una suave llovizna nos anuncia que la tierra fértil la está esperando y que los pequeños ríos van a juntarse hasta formar el Gran Rio de Vida que es nuestra Marcha. […]

La noche anterior habían llegado los responsables de barrios trayendo sus aportes económicos para apoyar a los caminantes. Hasta la colecta de profesores, maestros católicos y una niña que en nombre de sus padres dona 20 nuevos soles son aplaudidos. En Lima no faltan políticos que se preguntan quién financia la marcha. Los políticos financiados por grandes grupos de poder económico jamás comprenderán la fuerza y el poder de las pequeñas donaciones como no están entendiendo el gran río que serán los pequeños riachuelos y manantiales.

We left at 4am, and met up in Celendin's Plaza de Armas. Rondero leaders, women, young people, musicians, teachers, communicators, we're arriving. It is not very cold and a light drizzle announces to us that the fertile land is waiting and the small rivers are going to join together to form the Great River of Life that is our March. […]

The night before, neighbourhood leaders had arrived with their economic contributions to support the marchers. Even the contributions from professors, Catholic teachers and a girl who donates 20 nuevos soles are applauded. In Lima there is no shortage of politicians who are wondering who is funding the march. Politicians financed by large, economically powerful groups will never understand the strength and power of small donations, just as they do not understand the great river that small creeks and springs will become.

The first moments of the march were recorded, as can be seen in these videos from users GobRegCajamarca and jampaoli [es]. There were also various statements, like this one from user MetsaRiba who captures the words of a participating campesino:

Or this one showing women from Cajamarca chanting pro-water slogans:

That same day another march took place in Cajamarca, the Jug March [es], where 2,000 people marched in favour of nature and ecology, and protested against polluting mining activities. Servindi published some photos to accompany its report on the solidarity parade held in Lima, which can also be seen on a video uploaded on YouTube [es]. On the blog Celendín Libre (Free Celendín) an itinerary for the first day of the Water March was posted [es], alongside photos of the day's events:

10:30 a.m. Primer obstáculo, una tranquera particular en plena vía pública no deja el pase a ningún vehículo. Los manifestantes proceden a retirarla.

Arribo a la Laguna Cortada (a más de 3 800 m.s.n.m.), donde unas 300 personas dan inicio a la Marcha por el Agua con un rito simbólico de agradecimiento a la mamapacha y mamacocha, por comuneros del Ámaro.

10:30am. First obstacle, a private gate in the middle of the main road is not letting any vehicles past. The protesters proceed to remove it.

Arrival at Laguna Cortada (more than 3,800 metres above sea-level), where some 300 people begin the Water March with a symbolic ritual giving thanks to mamapacha and mamacocha [Incan Goddesses of earth and water], carried out by community land-holders from Ámaro.

Payment to mamapacha. Image by Celendín Libre blog.

Beginning of the Water March. Image by Celendín Libre blog.

In its blog [es], an “International Observation Mission of the Great National March for the Right to Water”[es] publishes information on the march's events, as well as monitoring its peaceful development. There they share the mission's principles and objectives [es] and a list [es] of the entities supporting it. On the first day of the march they commented:

La movilización también ha sido secundada en la región norteña de La Libertad, donde un grupo numeroso de campesinos inició una marcha hacia la ciudad de Trujillo desde las provincias andinas de Huamachuco y Santiago de Chuco.

En Lima, unas 300 personas, en su mayoría jóvenes y dirigentes estudiantiles, realizaron un Pasacalle para celebrar el arranque de la Marcha que culminó en la Plaza San Martín.

The mobilisation has also received support in the Northern region of La Libertad, where a large group of campesinos began a march towards the city of Trujillo from the Andean provinces of Huamachuco and Santiago de Chuco.

In Lima, about 300 people, mainly young people and student leaders, held a street parade to celebrate the start of the March which culminated in the Plaza San Martín.

The next day, the second of the march, participants from Celendín, Bambamarca and other towns departed [es] Cajamarca for Ciudad de Dios in La Libertad, where they spent the night, though not before passing through Choropampa. This is a town where in the year 2000 about 151 kg of mercury belonging to the Yanacocha mine were spilled, greatly affecting the local population. The Observation Mission reported on this day in their blog [es]. Videos [es] of the departure [es] from Cajamarca in the morning have also been uploaded to the internet.

On the third day the marchers left Ciudad de Dios, passed [es] through Pacasmayo and arrived [es] in Trujillo, where they were joined by other delegations from various towns in the La Libertad region, in numbers estimated at around 2,000 [es]. These delegations were greeted by about 5,000 people, and then a rally was held, which included discussion sessions, the presentation of petitions, and other activities as planned [es].

In a post [es] on the blog “El Maletero” “Red Verde Cajamarca” (”The Trunk” “Cajamarca Green Network”) photos from the first three days of the march can be seen. Meanwhile the blog Frente de Defensa Ambiental de Cajamarca (”Cajamarca Environmental Defense Front”) shares more photos [es] of the day in Trujillo. A post on the blog ¡Conga no va! (”Conga will not happen!”) links to a set of photos on Flickr taken in Trujillo.

Twitpic user @YoDash posted some photos of the protest in Trujillo's Plaza de Armas, like this one:

Water March in Trujillo, image from Twitpic user @YoDash

Meanwhile, on Facebook the Water March's page reports [es] that in Trujillo defamatory flyers [es] were distributed, attempting to link the March and its organisers with terrorist movements. In spite of this, the protest continued in the Plaza de Armas until night time with various musical numbers, some of them related to the march and surrounding circumstances, as can be seen in this video posted on YouTube by user Fuzzerjoga:

In the Observation Mission's daily report [es] they note some incidents during a strike carried out in Huarmey:

La Comisión Nacional Organizadora de la Gran Marcha Nacional del Agua ha reportado y denuncia una acción represiva por parte de efectivos policiales. El jueves en la noche, en Huarmey, uno de los puntos de concentración previstos en la Marcha, se produjeron enfrentamientos entre la policía y la población en el marco de un paro de 48 horas contra la minera Antamina, a la que acusan de contaminar el acuífero que les provee de agua potable.

The National Organisational Committee for the Great National Water March have reported and denounce repressive action taken by police officers. On Thursday night, in Huarmey, one of the assembly points planned for the March, there were confrontations between the police and the population in the context of a 48-hour strike against the mining company Antamina, which is accused of contaminating the aquifer that provides them with drinking water.

On the fourth day of the march, Saturday 4, the protesters stayed in Trujillo to rest, but they also continued holding discussions and making contact with the local population. On Sunday 5, the fifth day of the march, the group left [es] for the city of Chimbote. The Water March's Facebook page uploaded a video [es] of their arrival in the village of Santa, just before Chimbote. Once in the city they met [es] with the Fisherman's Union, and then left for the city of Casma, following the route South towards Lima.

Meanwhile the Observation Mission's fourth report [es] stresses the government's attitude towards the problem of mining companies and water, bringing together various statements and declarations, including:

- El pronunciamiento del Colegio de Ingenieros del Perú, señalando que: “El Gobierno Peruano, desde la época republicana y hasta la fecha, no tiene una visión de desarrollo sostenido, ya que ha cimentado gran parte de su crecimiento en la explotación minera”.

- El presidente Ollanta Humala señaló que “ningún proyecto se paralizará por la consulta previa, y que esto no es un pretexto para que se detenga la inversión”, en referencia a la falta de la reglamentación de la ley que debía estar lista en diciembre pasado. En agosto del año pasado, sin embargo, el propio presidente escribía en twitter: “El derecho a la consulta previa sobre del desarrollo de los pueblos indígenas es un signo más de inclusión social. Forjamos un Perú para todos”

En este contexto, parecen razonables las palabras de Emma Gómez, de Cooperacción: “hay una lectura equivocada del presidente Humala sobre la Consulta Previa, la cual está siendo considerada como un obstáculo para la inversión privada más que un imperativo para que las empresas extractivas cumplan con los estándares ambientales y sociales de una inversión seria y que respeten los derechos de las poblaciones en las zonas de influencia”.

- The statement from the Engineering Association of Peru, indicating that: “The Peruvian Government, from the first Republican era until today, has never had a vision of sustained development, given that a large part of its growth has been based on mining.”

- President Ollanta Humala indicated that “no project will be paralised by prior consultation, and that it is not a pretext to halt investment”, in reference to the lack of regulations governing the implementation of the law, that should have been ready last December. In August last year, however, the President himself wrote on Twitter: “The right to prior consultation on the development of indigenous communities is a sign of greater social inclusion. Let's create a Peru for everyone”

In this context, the words of Emma Gómez from Cooperacción seem reasonable: “President Humala is misreading Prior Consultation, which is being considered as an obstacle to private investment rather than an imperative for extractive companies to meet the environmental and social standards of serious investment and to respect the rights of the people in affected areas.”

Maldives: President Resigns After Mutiny

Saffah Faroog — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:31:00 +0000

Mohamed Nasheed, the president of Maldives most famously known as a climate champion, announced his resignation on Tuesday 7 February, 2012, after the military forces joined the police mutiny against his rule.

Nasheed, sworn in to office in November 2008 after the country's first democratic multiparty election, was inside the military headquarters when the military started withdrawing their allegiance to him. He was taken in a car to the nearby President's Office where he announced his resignation on live television in front of journalists.

Some Maldivians were worried about the safety of the president. Maeed wrote:

One Sincere Request remain, DO NOT HURT A PRESIDENT OF MALDIVES. UPHOLD DIGNITY and DON'T LET HISTORY REPEAT. PROTECT HIM.

People gather in front of Bandaara Koshi, the headquarters of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) where president Nasheed was taken. Image by MUHA. Used with permission.

He added in a following post:

We shifted from a Dictatorship to a democracy in 2008 and we showed an example to the world then. I call the Security forces to show that example again.

Earlier in the day, tension escalated as the police rioted against what they claimed were unlawful commands. After what appeared to be a bitter stand-off between the military and the police, the military retreated into their headquarters. The police protest was preceded by three weeks of evening protests organised by the opposition parties in the capital Male', after the government ordered the military to detain a top judge.

Mohamed Waheed Hassan, the vice president in Nasheed's administration, has been sworn in as the new president. Even though Hassan urged for calm during a speech after taking oath, it remains to be seen if the country can quickly restore stability after weeks of protests, destruction of property and attacks on journalists and media outlets.

Soldiers who mutinied shake hands with public. Image by MUHA. Used with permission

The continuity of the democratic exercise of the Maldives is in question as tension remains high. The supporters of the deposed president label the change in power as a coup while his opponents claim Tuesday's events showed the will of the people.

Opinion is divided and feelings are mixed on social networks and twitter as Maldivians try to come to terms with the fact that the government has changed approximately two years before the next scheduled election. The hashtag #Maldives trended on Twitter today.

Dhaanish tweets:

@Dhaaanish: @JeelAli @yaittey People will start realizing how sane Nasheed is compared to all these opposition retards later! Mark my words!””

Hum_Don tweets:

@Hum_Don: I feel sorry and sad to see the resignation of the very president we worked so hard to elect.

Epicloser expressed his views:

@epicloser: You didn't listen to #Dec23 protest Nasheed, you just made fun out of us and called us terrorists. This is the outcome for you. Peace.

Haumaldives has this to say about the mutiny:

@haumaldives: @CNN Maldives Nasheed carried arbitary arrests using the Military which led to protests.. and Military crackdown led to Police revolt.

People waving Maldives flags after the tension is over. Image by MUHA. Used with permission.

Limmto tweets:

@Limmto: Citizens beat #Nasheed at his own game. The #muzaaharaa. #Maldives #MVrevolution

profEuLOGist tweets about the rebranding of the state-owned TV station after police took over:

@profEuLOGist: Fastest transition of a media and rebranding I have ever seen! TVM to MNBC1 took months but back 2 TVM - 10mins!

Mashafeeg has this to say about the turn of events:

@mashafeeg: New era of democracy in Maldives, people proves their power and president shown his bravery by the resignation.

Maldives11 responded to Mashafeeg's tweet:

@Maldives11: @mashafeeg I doubt it was the people. sorry I am not convinced it was the people.

Mashafeeg also ponders about the future:

@mashafeeg: At last Dr.Waheed’s longed dream has come true, wonder how people will accept his presidency! better wait and see for a while! #Maldives

Hilmy7007, has high expectations of the new government:

@Hilmy7007: President Waheed should ensure his government is corruption free. We demand transparency n accountability in all projects awarded.

Balkans: Online Platform Tracks Reports From Areas Hit by Record Snowfall

Danica Radisic — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:12:22 +0000

Since last week, the Balkans have been hit by massive snow storms, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade, if not longer. After an unusually long period of nearly no real signs of a typical Balkan winter, last week brought what seems to be non-stop snowfall throughout the region, including the seaside areas around the Adriatic that seldom get any snow.

Men shoveling snow from a street in Sarajevo. Record snowfall has paralyzed transportation in the Bosnian capital, where a state of emergency has now been declared. Photo by Sulejman Omerbasic, copyright © Demotix (5/02/12).

Serbia's national television network, RTS, and other media reported on Friday 3 February, 2012, that a state of emergency has been declared by the government, while citizens have been reporting critical situations throughout the country and that municipal services have been doing a poor job of tackling the snowfall in many urban areas.

In an article titled “Serbia Blocked by Snow, State of Emergency in 27 Municipalities, Recommendation to Call Off School Attendance” [sr], the Head of the State of Emergency Sector of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Predrag Maric, is reported to have stated on Friday:

27 municipalities in Serbia have declared a state of emergency due to heavy snowfall. Maric has told Beta news agency that the most difficult situations are in Sjenica, Ivanjica, Prijepolje, Crna Trava and Surdulica, where the height of snow has reached approximately 2 meters. According to him, power supply is “relatively good,” outages are being fixed quickly and there have been no long power outages.

Maric also announced the possibility of declaring a full state of emergency nationwide, which the Government did on Sunday evening, cancelling school throughout Serbia at least until Friday, February 10, among other things.

Several actions have been organized by the online community in Serbia and the region to fend off the snow and to attempt to regain a functional state in urban areas at least, such as a #lopataup (”#shovelup”), organized by one online community leader, Zoran Torbica, and other local Twitter users.

In the meantime, Al Jazeera Balkans, the recently established regional office of Al Jazeera news network in the region, has joined forces with the team from Ushahidi to set up a platform for tracking verified information on everything from road blocks, power outages to other critical points and information in the entire region.

Ushahidi is an open-source platform for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping, which was also used in Serbia just after the earthquake in Kraljevo in November 2010 to map and track damage in the area.

Haris Alisic, who heads the New Media team for Al Jazeera Balkans, launched the platform on Sunday evening, and many members of the online community, including some of the region's GV authors, have joined the Al Jazeera-Ushahidi team in curating, tracking and verifying reports from the region.

The adapted Ushahidi platform can be located on Al Jazeera's official site, while reports can be sent in by anyone using the following channels:

- via SMS to +387644218661
- via Twitter by using the hashtags #kolaps #sneg #snijeg #lopataup #iskljucenje
- via email to oluja2012@aljazeera.net
- or by entering information directly into the form on the”pošaljite izvještaj” tab on the Al Jazeera page

If you would like to volunteer your time to help map critical areas and are familiar with using online tools, please contact the author of this article, or Haris Alisic via Twitter, or leave a comment here on Global Voices, and we will contact you for more information on what you can do to help. We also ask that you all begin reporting from your area on Twitter and using the above-mentioned hashtags on Twitter, which are automatically collected by the platform and then reviewed and verified by Al Jazeera and volunteers.

Iran: Beautiful nature

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:10:35 +0000

Here is a blog publishing the photos about Iran's northern province, Gilan. It lies along the Caspian Sea.

Iran: No War, No Dictatorship

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:57:11 +0000

Gahneveshteaye Ali writes [fa] that Green Movement demonstrated in New York both against war and dictatorship. The Iran based media preferred to ignore them.Watch the photos here.