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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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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.

An anonymous threatening message [es] was delivered to the Article 19 Mexico offices on April 19, 2013, as reported [es] by the pro-human rights and freedom of expression organization. As a result, its director, Darío Ramírez, has published a video [es]. You can follow the hashtag #articulo19 to stay informed, and you can also show solidarity through their Twitter account: @article19mex.

On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]:

“A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to Italy, by way of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bolivia. From authoritarian regimes to democratic countries, none are exempt from criticism on the topic. In 2013, torture remains as endemic, omnipresent and multi-faceted as ever”.

Although you might think that all kiosks offer things that can be purchased, in the blog Hazme el chingado favor [es], La Banda writes about a peculiar kiosk [es] in Mexico City, where the owner:

makes it very clear that although magazines are for sale they are really not, so don't peek in to look for him because he is not there [...] but just in case, he leaves a phone there so that you can call and make an appointment so that you can finally purchase the month's magazine.

In his latest column, renowned New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that Mexico “will become the more dominant economic power in the 21st century.” Twitter immediately reacted to his piece, and journalist David Agren aggregated some of these positive and negative reactions posted on the microblogging site.

A survey completed by 102 journalists and bloggers in 20 Mexican states found that vulnerable reporters and bloggers lack digital and mobile security skills. Jessica Weiss reports for the IJNET blog:

The report, “Digital and Mobile Security for Mexican Journalists and Bloggers,” shows that nearly 70 percent have been threatened or have suffered attacks because of their work. In addition, 96 percent say they know of colleagues who have been attacked. [...] The report recommends urgent training to increase digital and mobile security.

Blogger Sopitas published a post [es] where he collects testimonies of people who had a first-hand experience of the blast that happened on Thursday, January 31, 2013 at Pemex headquarters in Mexico City. The stories help us to understand the tragedy.

El blog HuffPost Voces [es] picked up the story of Maria Salome, a tarahumara indigenous woman who easily won the 10 km of the OXXO international half marathon in Chihuaha, Mexico. The remarkable thing about her victory is that she ran wearing her traditional costume, with no running shoes and no preparation from notorious coaches. Maria Salome is a member of a community that is proud of its running tradition, as this video [es] reports.

Vanilla bean in Madagscar by David Darricau on Flickr CC license NC-BY-2.0

Antoine Ganne tells the unique story of how Vanilla came to populate the island of Madagascar and Reunion island [fr] from the Gulf of Mexico. Ganne explains that European traders brought Vanilla from Mexico to Louis XIV who wanted to grow it on Reunion Island but failed. A young Reunionese slave, Edmond Albius, solved the issue by inventing the technique of hand pollination. Madagascar Vanilla is now the most produced vanilla in the world.

According to the Mayans, what we are about to celebrate is the beginning of b’ak’tun 14. Very similar to us about to celebrate the beginning of 2013, or as happened some years ago, when we celebrated the beginning of 21st century.

Group blog Pedazos de carbono [es] weighs in and gives reasonable explanations about the alleged Mayan predicitions.

In World Policy Blog, Global Voices contributor Robert Valencia highlights five “top stories from 2012 that will have an impact in 2013 and beyond”: the war on drugs, Hugo Chávez's re-election, the Colombia-Nicaragua dispute over the San Andrés Archipelago, the Colombian peace process, and Brazil's booming economy.

The city continues to have several positive and unique aspects to it. But what has changed? We are not caught between crossfire, held at gunpoint or witness beheadings on a daily basis, but the difference from years back is that now is the presence of fear for these things actually happening and our conduct adapting accordingly.

Arjan Shahani in the Americas Quarterly blog shares his experience living in Monterrey, Mexico, focusing on “how daily life has changed for middle-class citizens as a result of the violence and how societal interaction today is less regulated by a rule of law and more so by a rule of fear.”

What is the future of the youth movement #YoSoy132 (I am 132) under the administration of new Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto? In Vivir México, Link Tilldemann argues [es]:

I think the future of the movement is the political way: it is already a political movement, since they are against a party and a candidate, though some insist otherwise. [...] The political way is, to my taste, the way the cries from the youth can last.

Fourteen Mexican women [die] each day as a result of violence according to a report published [es] by the Fundación Origen women’s’ rights group.

Erwin C. highlights this report in a post about violence against women in Mexico in the blog The Latin Americanist. Erwin also looks at the record of the newly sworn in president, Enrique Peña Nieto, on this matter.

The recently released Free Software Assessment Report 2012 shows the opinion, assessment and preferences of more than 5,000 people from Spain and Latin America. The study published in its fourth edition is promoted by PortalProgramas and supported by a number of experts and collaborators [es]. The report aims to contribute to a better understanding, use and dissemination of free software in Latin America. The summary of the study can be accessed online [es] and more information can be found on the report's conclusions for 2012 [es].

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced its first contest for bloggers, which will focus on issues related to child development.
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A strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Guatemala's Pacific coast on Wednesday, November 7, 2012. Twitter user Roberto Touchez (@RobertoTouchez) shares this image from San Marcos, Guatemala.

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Arjan Shahani writes about the case of Mexican blogger Ruy Salgado from el5antuario [es], who had gone missing in September of this year. On October 20, one of his former collaborators livestreamed [es] a 3-hour Skype call with Salgado, who confirmed that he was alive but also announced that he was ending his popular online broadcast.
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The blog Native Box shares an English translation of an article originally published in Vanguardia [es]: “Indigenous Languages of Mexico: Rescued, Alive, and Facing Challenges in Cyberspace”.

Sibylla Brodzinsky in the blog InSight Crime writes about organized crime as “the new face of forced displacement in Latin America.” She adds that under the coordination of InSight Crime and with the support of Internews, an alliance of digital media in El Salvador, Colombia, and Mexico explored this new face of displacement in the region.

After Aleph Jiménez [es] -a member of the #YoSoy132 movement- disappeared in Ensenada, Mexico on September 21, 2012, the website Pulso Ciudadano (Citizen Pulse) republished a Twitter Manifesto [es] against violence targeting netizens to remind us of the danger citizen journalists face in the country.

The Mexican youth movement #YoSoy132 has presented a document on media democratization. Marco Antonio Gómez Lovera in the blog Vivir México [es] outlines and analyses the group's proposals.
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Mexican blogger Pepe Flores considers [es] the Macedonian platform for disclosing violence against women in public spaces React! “a fantastic idea,” applicable to Latin America.

Ileana Fernández from Vivir México [es] reports that the Mexican Constitution was translated into Mayan and other indigenous languages.

A.L.S. in Vivir México [es] lists four journalists who were censored during July 2012: Pedro Ferriz de Con, Rubén Luengas, John Ackerman, and Lydia Cacho. The blogger concludes, “I think this is worrisome, because we are not just talking about journalists who have been censored, but also about journalists who prefer to leave the job or run away rather than deal with the circumstances defined by the incoming government.”

“Murió Chavela Vargas” (“Chavela Vargas has died”) is currently a worldwide Trending Topic on Twitter. Netizens from all over the world are saying goodbye the Costa Rican-born Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, who passed away Sunday, August 5, at 93.

Upside Down World posts a photo essay by Clayton Conn titled “National March Against the Imposition of Nieto as President in Mexico.” The photo essay covers the march held on July 21, “to decry the outcome of the July 1 presidential elections, which gave Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto the win.”

The Americas Quarterly blog points out that although there is still a lot to do to end gender discrimination at the Olympics, “for the first time in history, every country competing in the London 2012 Olympics will have at least one female athlete, with many – notably in Latin America – achieving  gender parity among their delegations. [...] Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Peru have selected female athletes to represent their teams. “

On July 10, at 12:30pm ET, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will host a webcast titled “Narcotweets: Reporting on the Mexican Drug War using Social Media,” with Andrés Monroy-Hernández and Panagiotis “Takis” Metaxas. You can read more about the event and the speakers on the Berkman Center website.