Stories about Argentina from February, 2008
Argentina: Concern Over Cartoneros
The Buenos Aires government is worried about the activity of the ‘cartoneros,’ who are members of the informal economy and rummage through garbage to salvage cardboard that can be sold for recycling. Gabriela Arca of Grito Argentino [es] writes about some of the government's reasons for concern.
Argentina: Direct Taxes and Digital Rights
A new proposal in Argentina sought to add a direct tax to any electronic equipment capable of reproducing digital media, which would seek to offset some of the revenues lost by artists due to piracy. Bloggers in that country mobilized to say that this move would encourage piracy because compensation would have already been paid. It would have also raised the prices of these goods in a country where the prices are already expensive.
Argentina: Bariloche Offline
The city of Bariloche, Argentina was disconnected from the internet for two days. That is what happens, “when the only monopolistic internet provider is down. There is no contigency plan,” writes Fabio.com.ar [es]
Argentina: Free Hugs in Buenos Aires
La Espada Vengadora [es] announces that the “Free Hugs” campaign will be arriving to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday, and is something must needed in this violent world.
Argentina: Graffiti on Trains
TBA Me Mata [es] posts a video of some graffiti artists tagging a Buenos Aires train in broad daylight and writes that there is “zero security.”
Argentina: Anti-FARC Protest
Grito Argentino [es] writes that approximately 300 people assembled to protest against the FARC in Argentina.
Argentina: Former Torture Center to Become Cultural Center
The Armed Forces Mechanics School or ESMA for its initials in Spanish was a clandestine detention and torture center in Argentina during the dictatorship. It is now being turned into a cultural center and a “Museum of Memories,” writes Maria Sol Tischik in Grito Argentino [es].
