RSS feed for Quick Reads Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is reporting on Facebook that about 500 residents of neighborhoods resettled by Brazilian mining company Vale are blocking road access to its coal mine in Moatize, Tete province. The peaceful protest is for greater compensation. The paper is reporting the rail line is also disrupted.
Latest stories from Quick Reads + Latin America
A Message from an Achuar Indigenous Leader
“Every day, across the globe, society suffers the environmental and social impacts of extractive industries. The history of the extractive industries is filled with negative stories…”
Amazon Watch has uploaded a video with a message from Peruvian Achuar indigenous leader Peas Peas Auyi. In the message, Peas Peas Auyi thanks Canadian allies for their solidarity in the Achuar's struggle against mining in the Peruvian Amazon.
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Peru: Smile for Your ID Picture
In Peru, Twitter users turned to the hashtag #DNIfeliz [happy ID card] to encourage citizens to smile for their ID document photo, commonly known as DNI. Traditionally, citizens have a serious or even stern expression on their ID picture.
Honduras’ Indigenous Reject Hydroelectric Project
Simply put, this dam is a death sentence to the indigenous communities that have lived here for generations.
Peace Demonstrations Kick Off in Colombia
Photo shared by Twitter user @CrisferMartin: “Here people get up early for PEACE #AhoraSiLaPaz”
Colombians to March for Peace
Former senator Piedad Córdoba has called [es] for a march in favor of peace for April 9, 2013. The event seeks to ask the Colombian government to continue carrying out peace talks with FARC until they agree to a cease fire. There are several hashtags dedicated to the march [es] on Twitter: #9deAbrilporlaPaz [April 9 for peace], #Ahorasílapaz [Peace now], and #SomosGeneracióndePaz [We are a generation of peace].
FIFA Vetoes Brazil's Stadium Name
Brazilian journalist Fernando Rodrigues complains [pt] about FIFA's veto of the name of a “Brazilian public stadium in Brasília, built with the money of tax payers”. The stadium is named after the famous 50′s-60′s football player “Mané” Garrincha. FIFA does not allow that name to be used during the 2014 World Cup, claiming that it is inadequate for an international audience.
E-book on Digital Activism in Chile
Chilean website El Quinto Poder has published an e-book on digital activism in Chile [es, PDF], as part of the project “Social Media and Citizen Advocacy: Towards a new political legitimacy?” [es]. The book analyzes different activism initiatives and it considers ”the symbolic dimensions of the forms of discourse which are present in interactions between activists and their audiences.”
Peru: Attack on Radio Sparks Clashes
Protest in front of Radio La Karibeña, Plaza 28, Iquitos. Photo shared by Juan Morales on Facebook.
Cuban Blogger Denied US Visa
Cuban blogger, teacher and GV author Elaine Díaz Rodríguez was denied a visa to enter the US [pt] Wednesday, April 3, 2013, preventing her from participating in the International Congress of Latin-American Studies. Brazilian journalist Alex Haubrich reported Elaine's frustration with and criticism of the US government's criteria.
Uruguay Moves Towards Marriage Equality
On April 2, 2013, the Uruguayan Senate voted 23 to 8 to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill also raises the minimum age for marriage to 16. The bill will now go back to the lower house, which is set to vote on the Senate's amendments this month. El Telégrafo shares a Storify post [es] with related news and reactions.
Colombia: No to Army Raids
“Army raids are illegal”
Image published on Facebook by “Soy Colombiano”
Racism in Costa Rican Football
José Medrano in Carepicha Blog [es] speaks out against racism in football games and in society in general.
I think that racist insults should be punished with a high fine or with community work, along with the obligation to attend courses where they are taught about history and ethics, everything related to how harmful discrimination has been for humanity.
Anonymous Brazil Report on Controversial Preacher
Anonymous Brazil released a dossier [pt] about Marco Feliciano, recently elected as chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Minorities in the Deputy Chamber amid the outrage of human rights defenders due to his vocal hardline views on homosexuality and racist remarks. The dossier contains information on legal cases involving the evangelical preacher and congressman as well as “ghost workers” from his office.
PHOTOS: Street Art Celebrates Chavismo
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian revolution are kept alive through street art in Mérida, Venezuela. Photo via Venezuelan Analysis, under Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US)
Brazilian LGBT Advocates Beaten, One Arrested
Photo by Cícero Bezerra shared by Homofobia Não on Facebook.
On March 27, a protest against the recent election of congressman and controversial evangelical preacher Marco Feliciano as chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Minorities in the Brazilian Deputy Chamber ended with repression against LGBT rights advocates. On Youtube, Rodrigo Grassi shared the moment when one of the protestors was arrested.
Interview: Brazil's Indigenous Before Eviction
The interview, in Portuguese and Guarani, has English subtitles.
Brazilian activist Nayana Fernandez interviewed some of the former dwellers of the indigenous settlement known as Maracanã Village, in Rio de Janeiro, days before they were violently evicted by the state government.
Brazilian Military Enters Indigenous Lands
On March 22, the Brazilian Government deployed [pt] 60 forces of the police and army to the lands of the Munduruku indigenous people, at the Tapajós river basin. Activists and bloggers believe that the mission is to ensure the realization of studies of impact of the construction of yet another hydroelectric plant. “Munduruku's carbon credits” have been bought by international private investors, A Pública reported [pt].
VIDEO: Urban Artists Invade Lima
2013 urban art festival Latidoamericano in downtown Lima, Peru.
Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala
Alfombras (carpets), processions, and floats –AntiguaDailyPhoto shares a series of photo posts on Holy Week traditions in Antigua, Guatemala.
Venezuela: New Wave of Online Threats
Several Venezuelan cartoonists, journalists, writers and artists have been the target of a series of threats through Twitter, telephone and text messages, according to news portal Noticias 24. They began after a number of anonymous users spread the victims’ personal contact information, said the Press and Society Institute in Venezuela (Ipys in Spanish).
Alejandro Martínez from The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas Blog reports on a new wave of threats against journalists and media workers.
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Bolivia: Book Bill Excludes Copyleft
Bolivian activists are on alert [es] and writing a collaborative proposal [es] on the new Book and Reading Act [es] in the Plurinational Legislative Asemply (Parliament). The bill seeks to encourage the production and reading of texts of various kinds in the country; however, the bill passed by the Lower Chamber excludes Copyleft and instructs the absolute use of Copyright.
VIDEO: Tokyo Gives Harlem Shake a Whirl
Harlem Shake in Shibuya crossing
Popular Internet video meme the Harlem Shake [en] has hit Tokyo. A verison organized by a Latino under the pseudonym Saw was filmed on March 17, 2013 in Shibuya, the heart of Japan's youth culture, and the video was uploaded on YouTube a few days later. Portal Mie [pt], an online portal that serves Portuguese-speaking foreigners in Japan, has more details [pt] .
Colombia's Indigenous Set Development Goals
1) the protection of indigenous territory;
2) indigenous self-government;
3) the self-development of indigenous communities on the basis of equilibrium and harmony;
4) free, prior and informed consent as a condition for developments on indigenous land; and
5) the ‘institutional redesign’ of the state in its relations with indigenous peoples.
Colombian indigenous organizations have presented five new development goals in response to the Millennium Declaration. Read more about these goals in a post by Robin Llewellyn at Intercontinental Cry.
Cuba: A Pope from the Americas
How do Cubans feel about the new pope? Iván's File Cabinet gives us an idea.
Photos: Day One in Trial of Former Guatemalan Dictator
Rios Montt Genocide Trial, Guatemala. March 19, 2013. Photo by James Rodriguez, used with permission.
Documentary photographer James Rodriguez shares a photo essay with “images from the first day of the historic trial against former de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and former Intelligence Director José Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez. Ríos Montt and Rodriguez Sanchez are charged with Genocide and crimes against humanity during the civil war in Guatemala (1960-1996) against the Ixil Mayan people”.
Former Guatemalan Dictator On Trial
Rios Montt's lawyer and others believe that the trial is a “political lynching” [...] It doesn't matter if the guerrilas were going to turn “Guatemala into another Cuba;” the rape, torture, starvation and murder of civilians who might or might not have supported the guerrillas is just indefensible. But Rios Montt now has the opportunity to defend his actions and those of the officers who carried out orders on his and the state's behalf.
Mike Allison in Central American Politics refers to the trail against Guatemala's former military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, which began today, March 19, 2013.
Peru: Exit Polls Say Villarán Remains Lima's Mayor
Even though the first official results of Sunday's recall referendum have not been published, exit poll results [es] indicate that mayor Susana Villarán will not be revoked. According to Ipsos Apoyo the ‘No’ received 52.6% of the votes and the ‘Yes’ 47.4%. Datum reports that the ‘No’ got 53.2% of the votes, while the ‘Yes’ got 46.8%. According to CPI, the ‘No’ got 54% and the ‘Yes’ got 46%. The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) is expected to issue [es] results with 40-50% of the votes processed on Monday morning, and results with 100% of the votes processed will be published in the afternoon.
Caracas Chronicles: From Blog to Book
Blogging the Revolution: Caracas Chronicles and the Hugo Chávez Era brings together the best of our work from the last ten years: 150 posts that stand the test of time.
Francisco Toro and Juan Cristobal Nagel of the blog Caracas Chronicles have published a book that promises to bring together “most of what you need for a sophisticated, nuanced understanding of Venezuela in the Chávez era.” The book can be purchased as an e-Book or a paperback.
Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio Elected Pope
Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected as the new Pope of the Catholic Church. #Bergoglio and #OrgulloArgentino (Argentinian pride) are current trends on Twitter in Argentina.
