Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

SlutWalk Brazil (@MarchaVadias) protests on the streets of Brazilian federal state capitals such as São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Florianópolis, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Belém, Rio de Janeiro and Vitória, and the Federal District, this weekend. They demand an end to violence against women and will be echoing slogans like “my body my rule” and “neither saint, nor whore: a woman.” Information on the social movement website.

Andrés Bermúdez comments on China Files about ” The day vallenato was sung in Chinese” [es], a musical reaction to the Chinese industrial production of sombreros vueltiaos, one of the most important artisan crafts from Colombia.

According to [es]a recent poll [es] by Taringa! in Latin America, around 10 % of Internet users say it is not necessary to have a president for the internet, 8% nominated themselves for the job and Megaupload creator Kim Dotcom got third place. Meanwhile 82% say that learning to do new things is the main thing they have accomplished thanks to the Internet. Among the worst of the Internet people voted for pop-up windows (77%) and fake download icons (76%).

Temple of Kotosh, image by Flickr user madiko83 (CC BY 2.0).

The Central Reserve Bank of Peru released on May 22, 2013, the thirteenth collectible coin part of the numismatic series “Wealth and pride of Peru” . The coin has an image of the crossed hands from the Temple of Kotosh, located in the department of Huánuco.

WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) has published an update on the talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The report concludes:

As they pass their six-month anniversary, the talks are proceeding in an atmosphere of increased, though still moderate, optimism. This will grow dramatically if the ninth round makes clear that the agenda has moved beyond the first item, and if the FARC, in its public statements, more explicitly addresses its responsibilities to its victims.

On the blog section [es] of Chilean newspaper El Mercurio [es], columnist Leila Guerriero analyzes the meaning of prestige [es] and notes:

Rock musicians have been smart: ‘rock star’ is one of the few jobs (we'd had to add non-Saxon public servants) where a loss of prestige means an increase of quotation. Almost for every other member of the human race, regardless of their profession, prestige, for some time now, is useful only to estimate the height where they will fall from.

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Rituals, reflections, poetic “assaults”… From May 17 to 23, 2013, the first Latin American Congress of Community Living Cultures [es] will invade the streets of La Paz, Bolivia. The city will host government representatives from Brazil and Colombia, along with more than one thousand activists.
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Center-left coalition leader and former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet looks for a second Presidential term, focusing on themes of inequality, universal education, and tax reform. But have lessons been learned from the previous coalition terms?

This is how Upside Down World's Matthew Owens starts an extensive analysis on Michelle Bachelet's bid for the Chilean presidency in the 2014 elections.

Blogger and feminist lawyer Verónica Rivera Torres writes [es] about the piece of legislations that seeks to extend the Law Against Domestic Violence (Law 54) in Puerto Rico to same sex couples:

Since our Supreme Court ruled that the Law of the Prevention and Intervention in Domestic Violence, known as Law 54, did not apply to same-sex couples, individuals and human rights groups have been waiting for the historic moment we are witnessing today.

Finally, after ten long years, the legislator Luis Vega Ramos has filed a measure to clarify what for many people was clear since Law 54 was created: the protection of all victims of domestic violence, regardless of their sexual orientation, marital status and gender identity.

Alternative blog Puerto Rico Indie reviews [es] the recent Puerto Rican film “I Am a Director,” which was partially financed through Kickstarter:

The film, made in the ‘mockumentary’ style or fictitious documentary, follows the steps of Carlos (Carlos Marchand), first-time filmmaker who longs to make a Hollywood-style film, but in Puerto Rico. Besides being a genuinely funny comedy, ‘I Am a Director’ succeeds in satirizing the mental process of many who believe that making films is to meet the artificial standards based on the immense American productions.

On occasion of the celebration of Mother's Day, tomorrow Sunday May 12, feminist activist Amárilis Pagán writes about the experience [es] of telling her mother she was in love with another woman:

The day I told my mom I was in love with a woman, she delivered a long and heartbreaking scream. It was as if someone had told her that her daughter had died… and to some extent I think that something like this happened. Something inside me died, and something inside her died too. She never accepted my relationship, and that love that filled my life for so many years is still unknown to her.

Blogger Yasmín S. Portales comments on the challenges of mapping the Cuban blogosphere, including everything and anything written in blogs. This is her most recent project:

A directory is a map: you have the swamps of glorious battles swamps and the mountains of infamy. You include it all, or it's not a map. In other words, there is yet to be a map of the Cuban blogosphere.

The worst: The Cuban blogosphere is chaotic. Luckily I do not pretend to make sense of it, only reveal its current demographics.

Detail of the official poster of the VI Conference against Homophobia in Cuba. “Family is love, respect, inclusion.”

Cuban blogger and LGBT activist Francisco Rodríguez announces the events [es] of the VI Cuban Conference Against Homophobia to be held during the month of May in the island.

On the 26th day of the historic Genocide trial against former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt and his Head of Intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, the prosecution and defense gave their closing statements and the main accused, Rios Montt, finally declared.

James Rodriguez shares a photo essay of the day in MiMundo.org.
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1. What do you have in mind when creating a new post? Your personal style? Other blogs? Your experience? Your readers?

2. How do you save your content or remember ideas? Notebooks? Favorites? Pinterest?

3. When publishing a post, do you check the grammar or just publish? …

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These are not pictures for tourism purposes — these are pictures to educate and illustrate issues facing modern day El Salvador.

Tim's El Salvador Blog links to a collection of photos on Global Eyes Media. The project by Jeff Hammond, Noah Bullock, and Doriana Westerman, “focused on documenting Salvadoran themes that institutionalized poverty and inequality in the country.”

While Laura [Chinchilla] was talking, at one point he [Obama] turned and looked toward my direction. I took the opportunity and put on my best smile and raised my hat as a greeting. With my other hand I was holding his book over my chest. And you know what? He saw me. He said hello with his eyes. Either that or he was very amused with my hat.

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Colombians commemorated World Press Freedom Day showing their outrage over the May 1 attack against journalist Ricardo Calderón from Semana magazine. Calderón was investigating corruption among military officers [es]. On Twitter the hashtag #NoNosCallarán [es] (we will not be silenced) is trending in Colombia.

Are you in Lima? Would you like to do something to preserve the Internet? Sign up for the 2013 Internet Freedom Camp: two days of free culture and activism in Lima [es].
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The website Regionlimaaldia.com [es] shares the story [es] of 9-year old Tatiana, who:

[...] didn't hesitate and got her long hair chopped and sold it in order to buy medicines for her mother, who suffers of hypertiroidism that has caused her a tumor located on her neck.

In spite of her sacrifice, Tatiana wasn't able to buy all the necessary medicines, so she asked for help.

Chavelo’s voice was quiet but unwavering as [he] expressed his gratitude that we traveled all the way from the U.S. and Canada with the human rights and solidarity organization Rights Action to hear his story. [...] Chavelo recounted briefly how he ended up in the prison, emphatically stating that, “I have been in prison for five years for a crime I did not commit. I am not a thief or an assassin. I never took anything from anyone.”

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Journalist and Global Voices author, Leila Nachawati, writes an open letter [es] to Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who has been touring the United States, Latin America and Europe talking about Cuban technopolitics. Sánchez has been embraced by some, and criticized by others during her voyage. In her open letter, the Spanish-Syrian blogger Nachawati refers to some of Sánchez's comments on the Spanish state and society:

I was struck by your admiration towards the policies and institutions of this country [Spain]. I cannot deny that you may value aspects that pass unnoticed to many of us who live live here, but the truth is that our reality is far from a mirror to want to look into. I think we are far from being a model to follow or a formula to imitate.

Mockup by Leonardo Maciel. Full credits on Solon Maia's blog. (CC BY 3.0)

Images of people kissing went viral on Facebook, blogs and Twitter in Brazil, under the hashtags #beijaço (protest by kissing) and #Laerte. Strips by Laerte published on Folha de São Paulo newspaper, triggered the ‘protest by kissing’ against the anti-gay preacher Marco Feliciano, recently elected Brazil Human Rights Committee Head.

Flisol 2013 Banner.

From the Patagonia to Havana, hundreds of computer users across Latin America are choosing freedom over control by installing free software on their computers. On April 27th, groups of free software enthusiasts will be installing free software in dozens of cities across Latin America as part of FLISOL [es], the Latin American free software installation festival.
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The International Journalists’ Network, IJNET, recently announced the release of the Spanish translation [es] of The Data Journalism Handbook, “a free, open-source book that aims to help journalists use data to improve journalism.”

Both the original English version and the Spanish translation are freely available online under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, which means that they can be freely downloaded, shared and built upon.

“If this case does not move forward, survivors of Guatemala’s genocide are being victimized all over again,” says Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams, co-founder of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. “They have taken a huge risk in testifying, and many have been harassed, intimidated and threatened. To annul the case would turn the clock back on justice—and would be a victory for impunity.”

Nobel Peace laureates are calling on Guatemalan authorities to proceed with the case against Efraín Ríos Montt. The trial against the former dictator and his former intelligence director was declared invalid last week.

Every day I wake up, shivering with fear, hoping I’ll make it to see the light of another day here in Honduras. I live behind doors enforced with triple bolt locks and I barely dare to go out on the street. [...]

If that’s what you want to hear, there you have it.
But the truth is quite different.

Blogger Carin Steen argues that “the most dangerous country in the world” is actually not that dangerous for tourists.

Desarrollando América Latina (Developing Latin America) has published a video summary of the regional hackathon DAL 2012, where 400 participants and 70 social experts developed 80 applications. Here [es] you can see Global Voices’ coverage of the event.

Horacio Cartes is Paraguay's new president, winning 46% against Efrain Alegre's 37%. Cartes faces major issues from the past: the legacy of Colorado Party rule, the ongoing challenges related to Lugo's impeachment and removal from regional groups, and questions about his own background.

Boz from Bloggings by boz lists five points on Paraguay's new president.