Global Voices » El Salvador

El Salvador: Is Drop in Homicides a Result of a Deal with Gangs?

Silvia Viñas — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:36:09 +0000

Bloggings by boz looks at a drop in homicides after last month's news of a truce between the government and gangs to reduce crime: “Murders are down about 50% since the unannounced truce took hold in early March […] One side of this debate now has real results. No matter how you look at it, it's a game changer.”

El Salvador: Photos of Holy Week Carpets

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:20:48 +0000

Hunnapuh shares photos [es] of the carpets (”alfombras” in Spanish) made for this year's Holy Week in El Salvador. Tim explained more about these carpets in his blog back in 2008: “The alfombras are made by families, groups or organizations with salt and sand and make intricate, and temporary, works of beautiful art where Holy Week processions will soon pass.”

‘Mujeres Construyendo': Empowering Women, One Blog at a Time

Kathryn Morgan — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:00:34 +0000

“Una bloguera es, ante todo, una mujer valiente, que se atreve y se compromete. ¿Por qué? Porque a través de su blog se expresa, dice lo que piensa, siente, lo que es. Si tiene miedo de hablar o darle cuerpo a sus ideas, enfrenta ese miedo y lo supera.”

- “¿Quién es una bloguera?”, Mujeres Construyendo

A female blogger is, first and foremost, a brave woman, one who dares and one who commits. Why? Because through her blog she expresses herself, she says what she thinks, what she feels, what she is. If she is afraid to speak of or shape her ideas, she confronts this fear and overcomes it.

- “¿Quién es una bloguera?” [es] (Who is a female blogger?), Mujeres Construyendo

Women make up almost half of Latin America's Internet users. However, in spite of their high web-presence, women are mainly content consumers. Mujeres Construyendo [es], the first platform for female bloggers in Spanish, wants to transform Hispanic women into creators, not just consumers, of internet content.

Its founder, Claudia Calvin, answered some questions about this platform and community of Hispanic female bloggers.

Global Voices: How and when was Mujeres Construyendo created?

Claudia Calvin: Mujeres Construyendo surge como proyecto en el 2008, después de un tiempo de haberme hecho bloguera. Su origen se encuentra principalmente en mis andares por internet y después de descubrir una realidad que llamó profundamente mi atención: que las mujeres de habla hispana que participamos en internet seguimos transmitiendo en este espacio una creencia profundamente arraigada en nuestra cultura. ¿Cuál es? Aquella que nos inculcaron de niñas y en la que nos decían que “calladitas nos veíamos más bonitas”. Descubrí que nuestra participación como blogueras era muy distinta a la participación de las blogueras estadounidenses: ellas en la actualidad representan casi un 60% de los blogueros en su país y las blogueras en internet de habla hispana representamos un escaso 27%. Cuando inicié Mujeres Construyendo, la cifra era más desalentadora aún: 15%.

Busqué afanosamente un espacio de convergencia de mujeres blogueras, un espacio que no fuese un directorio, sino un lugar de convivencia, una comunidad como tal. Al no encontrarla, decidí hacerla, y así es como surge Mujeres Construyendo.

Hablé con unos amigos desarrolladores y lograron darle vida a esta idea que tenía en mi mente. La plataforma Mujeres Construyendo surge como tal en el 2009.

Claudia Calvin: Mujeres Construyendo came about in 2008, after a period of establishing myself as a blogger. It came from my internet browsing and the discovery of a reality that really caught my attention: Spanish speaking women who contribute to the internet continue to transmit a profound belief that is deeply-rooted in our culture. What was it? The belief that has been instilled in us since we were girls, the idea that “the quieter we are, the more beautiful we are”. I discovered that our contributions as bloggers were very distinct to that of American women. They currently constitute almost 60% of bloggers in their country and Spanish speaking female bloggers make up just 27%. When I began Mujeres Construyendo, the figure was even more discouraging… 15%.

I frantically looked for a space where female bloggers could get together, a space that wasn't a directory, but rather a place of coexistence, a community, as it were. After failing to find this, I decided to make it myself, and that is how Mujeres Construyendo came about.

I spoke with some developer friends and they managed to bring the idea I had in mind to life. And so the Mujeres Construyendo platform sprung to life in 2009.

GV: What is Mujeres Construyendo's mission? What does it want to achieve with this female blogging platform?

CC: El objetivo de Mujeres Construyendo es que las mujeres aprendamos a hacer uso de las nuevas tecnologías y las herramientas que brinda internet para empoderarnos, crecer, desarrollarnos. Los blogs son una herramienta de empoderamiento para nosotras: nos permite comunicar lo que hacemos, pensamos, visualizamos y participar en un diálogo central en el nuevo espacio público, que es internet.

Hemos participado más como observadoras y consumidoras de contenido que como proveedoras y en este espacio vacío se está perdiendo una enorme oportunidad para construir una realidad que refleje nuestros intereses y manera de entender y participar en el mundo, tanto en el ámbito de lo social, como lo político y empresarial, y ni qué decir de lo personal y familiar.

Las mujeres vivimos muchos tipos de marginación en el mundo, no necesitamos sumar una más a las existentes: la digital.

CC: The objective of Mujeres Construyendo is for women to learn to make use of new technologies and tools that the internet offers in order to be empowered, to grow and to develop. Blogs are empowering tools for us - they enable us to communicate what we do, what we think, what we see. They allow us to participate in a central dialogue in the new public space, the internet.

We have been more involved as observers and consumers of content than providers. We are missing out on a great opportunity to construct a reality that reflects our interests and way of understanding and participating in the world, in a social sense, as well as a political and business sense, not to mention the personal and familial.

Women deal with many types of marginalisation in society, we don't need to add digital marginalisation to those that already exist.

GV: Why is it important for women to have a blog?

CC: Como mencionaba anteriormente, los blogs son una herramienta de empoderamiento en la medida en que posibilitan que las mujeres puedan comunicarse, expresar, proponer y dialogar en internet y con ello contribuir a la definición y construcción de una realidad que refleje sus intereses y visión. Las voces de mujeres en la blogósfera son importantes porque son el reflejo de la mitad de los habitantes del planeta y en el medida en que sean actores sociales, políticos, voten, consuman, tomen decisiones y vivan de manera cotidiana los diversos contextos de su entorno (desde violencia, hasta crisis económicas, pasando por desastres naturales o guerras) su voz es importante. Son actores de la vida cotidiana y su visión y mirada cuentan, valen, reflejan una circunstancia. Su silencio resulta -sin que ellas mismas los sepan- cómplices de realidades sexistas o que marginan y en la medida en que paulatinamente vayan apareciendo y expresando su voz…irá cambiando el entorno. El silencio jamás ha sido socio del empoderamiento.

CC: As I mentioned before, blogs are tools of empowerment insofar as they make it possible for women to be able to communicate and express themselves, make suggestions and converse on the internet. They are tools with which women contribute to the definition and construction of a reality that represents their interests and vision. Women's voices, in the blogosphere, are important because they reflect half of the planet's inhabitants. Their voices are important in the sense that they are social players, politicians, they vote, they act, they make decisions and everyday they live through different environmental contexts (from violence, to economic crises; from natural disasters, to wars). They are players in everyday life and their vision and perspective counts, they are valued, they reflect a situation. Their silence, although they themselves are unaware, acts as an accomplice for a sexist reality, or it means they are marginalised. As long as their voices continue to gradually appear and be expressed, this environment will keep changing.

GV: How many women have a blog on Mujeres Construyendo?

CC: La comunidad de Mujeres Construyendo está constituida por la plataforma Mujeres Construyendo (www.mujeresconstruyendo.com) y las redes sociales a través de las cuáles se conecta su comunidad. La suma de personas conectadas a esta propuesta y a este espacio suma hoy cerca de 9 mil personas.

CC: The community of Mujeres Construyendo is made up by the Mujeres Construyendo platform (www.mujeresconstruyendo.com) and the social networks that connect this community. The total sum of people connected today is around nine thousand.

GV: What is the profile of the women who blog on Mujeres Construyendo?

CC: Cabe decir que participan hombres y mujeres en nuestra plataforma. Somos un espacio incluyente y consideramos que no se puede hablar de equidad partiendo de un principio de exclusión, por ello, las voces masculinas son bien recibidas. La mayoría, estamos hablando de más del 96%, son mujeres. Su perfil es principalmente urbano, de entre 25 y 45 años, en su mayoría de México, España, Argentina, Venezuela y Estados Unidos. Quiero destacar a una de nuestras blogueras más activas, y que inclusive ha sido entrevistada en televisión: Bertha, una extraordinaria mujer de 82 años que nos enseña que no hay edad para seguir aprendiendo y que las herramientas digitales son poderosas y permiten a las personas seguirle dando sentido a su vida.

CC: I should say that both men and women use our platform. We are an inclusive space and we don't believe that you can talk about equality while at the same time exercising a principal of exclusion, so male bloggers are also welcomed. The majority, we're talking more than 96%, are women. Their profile is mainly urban, from 25 to 45 years of age, and mainly from Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Venezuela and the United States. I want to focus on one of our most active bloggers, who has even been interviewed on television. Bertha, an extraordinary 82 year-old woman who shows us that there's no age limit to learning and that digital tools are powerful and they can continue to give meaning to people's lives.

GV: What will 2012 bring for Mujeres Construyendo?

CC: Empezamos el año con el pie derecho, estrenando nueva casa y nuestro nuevo sitio nos permite interactuar mejor, conocernos y convivir de manera más cercana. Detrás de esto hay trabajo y compromiso y queremos consolidarnos como un espacio central para que las mujeres participen, tengan voz y con ello contribuir con nuestro grano de arena no sólo a su empoderamiento, sino al fortalecimiento de la democracia. Queremos incrementar el número de blogueras participando y vinculadas a nuestra comunidad, estamos trabajando en ofrecer herramientas a las blogueras que les permitan fortalecer su presencia y cumplir sus objetivos, sean estos personales, familiares, profesionales. Detrás de este trabajo hay alianzas y proyectos que podrán ver en un futuro muy cercano y del que con gusto les platicaremos en su momento.

Muchas gracias por su interés en conocernos y ojalá a través de Global Voices más mujeres se animen a sumar su voz a nuestra comunidad. Juntas podemos hacer una diferencia.

CC: We're going to start the year off on the right foot. Opening a new house and our new site will allow us to interact, get to know each other and live together in a closer way. Behind this there is work and dedication and we want to consolidate it into one central space so that the women who participate have a voice with which they do their bit, not just towards their own empowerment, but also towards strengthening democracy. We want to increase the number of female bloggers who participate within and are linked to our community so we are working on offering tools to the female bloggers that enable them to strengthen their presence and achieve their goals, whether these be personal, familial or professional. Behind this work there are aliances and projects that will be seen in the very near future, about which we'll talk about nearer the time.

Thank you very much for your interest in getting to know us and hopefully through Global Voices more women will be encouraged to add their voice to our community. Together we can make a difference.

Claudia is also a blogger [es] and she tweets under @LaClau [es]. You can follow Mujeres Construyendo on Facebook [es], Twitter, [es] YouTube [es], and LinkedIn [es].

El Salvador: Report of Government and Gang Negotiations Sparks Controversy

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:24:52 +0000

Bloggings by boz posts comments by Salvadorans he spoke to after online newspaper El Faro reported that the government had negotiated with gangs to decrease violence. Tim's El Salvador Blog explains and translates part of El Faro's article. Furthermore, Summer Harlow, in The Knight Center's Journalism in the Americas Blog, reports that the journalists behind the original report have been receiving threats.

El Salvador: Netizens Cover Legislative and Mayoral Elections

Silvia Viñas — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:06:43 +0000

Netizens in El Salvador covered the legislative and mayoral elections held on Sunday, March 11, 2012, through blogs and social media. They reported throughout the day and then analyzed the results on the following days; on Twitter Salvadorans used the hashtag #eleccionesSV [es].

One of the blogs that stayed on top of the elections and offered background information for local and international readers was El Salvador from the Inside:

Today, March 11, 2012, up to 4.5 million Salvadorans will vote for 84 senators and 262 mayors in a legislative and municipal election. Nine parties are running (and 5 candidates are independent).

There is an exciting change in El Salvador with this election. Up to now, individual voters have not been able to elect individual “Senators” (Diputado is the word in Spanish for representatives in the legislative assembly). Previously, you had to vote for a “party”, and the party would then choose the Diputado (sounds like an easy way to get re-elected, doesn’t it?). Well, that’s half changed, because citizens can still vote for a “party,” like before, or they can now vote for individual candidates.

El Salvador 2012 ballot. The new open-list ballot used in the Salvadoran legislative election of March 11, 2012. Image uploaded to Flickr by Matthew Shugart (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Online newspaper El Faro posted several Storify posts with tweets, images and other citizen media of the campaign (1 [es], 2 [es]), the day before [es] the election, election day (1 [es], 2 [es]), the vote count, and signs of electoral fraud [es]

Jjmar from Hunnapuh wrote two posts on election day. First [es] he reported on problems affecting the start of the day in San Salvador. Later, towards the end of the day, he noted [es] more of the voting conditions and concluded:

Bueno amigos y amigas, después de las cinco de la tarde, siéntense es su sillón favorito, con una taza de cafecito para respetar la ley seca y diviértase un rato. Al fin y al cabo, la democracia formal tiene su lado de Reality Show que vale la pena disfrutar.

Well friends, after 5 in the afternoon, sit down on your favorite couch, with a cup of coffee to respect the “dry law” [which prohibits consuming alcohol for 3 days] and have a little fun. After all, formal democracy has its Reality Show side that is worth enjoying.

Tim's El Salvador Blog reported on the preliminary results on Monday, the day after the election:

According to provisional vote totals from yesterday's elections, the conservative ARENA [Nationalist Republican Alliance] party appears to have been the biggest winner for both El Salvador's National Assembly seats and mayors. ARENA won 33 seats in the 84 seat National Assembly. This is one more seat than the party won in the 2009 elections, but is more impressive when you consider that 12 deputies had defected from ARENA to form the GANA [Grand Alliance for National Unity] party leaving ARENA with only 20 seats in the National Assembly.

GANA was running in its first elections, and managed to capture 11 seats. Together with ARENA, their 44 seats could be a strong majority bloc in the National Assembly. Although it is still possible that the FMLN, GANA and CD [Democratic Change] could be a majority voting bloc with 43 votes.

These elections were seen as a test for President Mauricio Funes‘ left-leaning party FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front). The FMLN will now hold 31 seats in the National Assembly after losing 4 seats in these elections. This change in the National Assembly prompted blogger Marjuna [es] -also from Hunnapuh- to look at the math and voting formulas needed to reach a simple majority in the new National Assembly.

Chambita Hernandez from the blog Gatos Frentudos [es] points out that ARENA's results are a good sign for democracy because its representatives will be a “counterweight” in the National Assembly. Chambita says that the FMLN has time to learn from these results before the next elections and ends the post congratulating the Salvadoran people:

Felicito enormemente a la población salvadoreña que cumplió con su deber cívico de ir a votar, es un paso más en la democracia y espero que en la próxima elección tengamos muchas propuestas, menos canciones; más debates de altura entre contendientes y no decir que el verdadero debate es con el pueblo.

I enthusiastically congratulate the Salvadoran population who fulfilled their civic duty to vote. It is another step towards democracy and I hope that in the next election we have many proposals, less songs; more quality debates between contenders and point out that the real debate is with the people.

Intercontinental Cry Will Launch Spanish Edition

Silvia Viñas — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:23:14 +0000

Ahni announces the upcoming Spanish edition of Intercontinental Cry [es], which will go live on March 31, 2012. “The main objective of IC Espanol is, of course, to provide Spanish readers with the same news that our English readers have come to expect from us; what I consider to be essential news on the global indigenous movement.” Find out about more languages on the IC Translation Project Facebook page.

Ibero-American Blogging Competition Asks Teens: “What are you reading?”

Silvia Viñas — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:17:26 +0000

The Organization of Ibero-American States invites teens ages 12 to 15 to enter a blogging competition about reading. The sign up [es] deadline is May 31, 2012, and judges will consider blog posts written until July 31. The winner from each participating country will receive an iPad. Visit the official website [es] and follow the hashtag #questasleyendo [es] (”what are you reading”) to find out more about the contest.

El Salvador: Hunnapuh, a Pioneer of the Salvadoran Blogosphere

Betsy Galbreath — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:08:58 +0000

[Translator's note: All links are in Spanish unless otherwise noted.]

Omar Nieto is a pioneer of the Salvadoran blogosphere. His blog Hunnapuh is one of the oldest and longest-running in this Central American country. In his first post, published February 5, 2005, Omar explained that there he would post his “ideas, contributions and comments…until for reasons beyond my control I quit doing it.” During these 7 years, the blog has changed its web address but there haven't been any reasons for Omar to stop blogging. In fact, what began as a personal blog has become a community platform for other Salvadoran bloggers to post their own stories, analyses and opinions.

In this interview, Omar talks to us about his blog and about the Salvadoran blogosphere. He also gives some advice to achieve consistency and quality in a blog.

Global Voices: How and when was Hunnapuh born?

Omar Nieto: Hunnapuh como personaje nació en 1995 como participante en las primeras comunidades de foros hispanoamericanos. Mientras me adaptaba a esta forma de interacción, se me ocurrió hacer una página de orígenes pipiles que titulé “El Arbol Pipil” y con la ayuda de uno de los contertulios que también era salvadoreño (Galileo y su Telescopio). La puse en Geocities y pasó ahí hasta que este hosting de Yahoo cerró. Entonces era algo complicado tener una página propia, pues había que hacerla y editarla uno mismo en html con todo su contenido o utilizar unos editores bastante primitivos.

Los foros originales cerraron, nos mudamos a otros y un día por casualidad vi un sitio llamado Blogcindario que facilitaba el mantenimiento de una página sin más trabajo que escribir contenido con un editor de texto bastante simple y publicarlo, encargándose el mismo sitio de administrar todo lo demás; el concepto me encantó y ahí nació el blog Hunnapuh – Comentarios, en febrero del año 2005.

Hunnapuh as a character, was born in 1995, as a participant in the first Hispanic community forums. As I got used to this form of interaction, it occurred to me to start a page with Pipil roots that I called “The Pipil Tree,” and with the help of one of the forum members who was also a Salvadoran (Galileo and his Telescope). I put it on Geocities and it stayed there until that Yahoo hosting closed. It was somewhat difficult to get one's own website, having to do it and edit it oneself in html with all of its content or using some rather primitive editors.

The original forums closed, we moved to other ones and one day by chance I saw a site called Blogcindario that facilitated maintaining a web page without more work, creating content with a fairly simple text editor and publishing it, while the same site handled everything else; I loved the idea and the blog Hunnapuh – Commentaries was born in February of 2005.

GV: Tell us a little about the name. What does it mean and why name it that?

Omar Nieto. Foto usada con su permiso.

ON: Hunnapuh es una versión modificad del nombre del personaje hunapú o junapú, que aparece en el libro de origen Maya Quiché: Popol Vuh, que es una recopilación de relatos supuestamente de la cosmogonía de los pueblos Maya Quiché que habitaron parte de Centroamérica. Hunapuh junto con Xbalanqué son hijos de Hun Hunapuh y de Ixquic y a lo largo del libro se convierten en protagonistas de muchas aventuras, descendieron a Xibalbá (inframundo) venciendo a los Ajawab, y se convierten en el Sol y la Luna.

El personaje nació porque no encontraba un buen Nick o Tótem que en el foro identificara mi procedencia como aborigen de Centroamérica, y no conocía ningún referente Pipil que hubiese sido más exacto a mi nacionalidad salvadoreña, pero Hunapuh estaba bien y añadí las letras para dejarlo como Hunnapuh, con el objeto de que no se confundiera con ningún otro que tomase el mismo nombre.

Era natural para mí que el blog se llamara del mismo modo que me auto nombraba en los foros.

Hunnapah is a modified version of the name of the character hunapú or junapú, who appears in the creation story of the Maya Quiché: Popol Vuh which is a collection of stories allegedly about the cosmology of the Quiché Maya people who inhabited part of Central America. Hunapuh together with Xbalanqué are the sons of Hun Hunapuh and Ixquic and throughout the book are the protagonists of many adventures–they descended to Xibalbá (the underworld), overcame the Ajawab, and turned into the sun and the moon.

The character was born because I couldn't find a good nickname or symbol that would identify me in the forum as a Central American aboriginal, and I didn't know of any Pipil reference that would have been more precise about my Salvadoran nationality, but Hunapuh was good and I added the letters to make it Hunnapuh so that it wouldn't be confused with anyone else who might use the same name.

It worked for me to name the blog the same as I called myself in the forums.

GV: Who contributes to the blog?

ON: Al principio lo hacía yo solo, pero logré entusiasmar a Jjmar (Juan Martel). Luego se fueron añadiendo otros personajes de los cuales solo conocemos personalmente a MArjuna, quien es sicólogo. Tuvimos un poeta, Demander, que hacía versos satíricos del acontecer nacional; emigró a los Estados Unidos y no hemos vuelto a saber de él, lo conocíamos solo virtualmente.

Actualmente colaboran activamente:

Raul Fuentes: Creo que es licenciado en filosofía, que escribe excelentes artículos formadores en esa disciplina madre.

Mariposa: La legendaria locutora de la Radio Venceremos, una de las radios clandestinas del FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) durante el conflicto armado, que trabajó junto a Santiago Consalvi, actual director del Mueso de la Palabra e Imagen en San Salvador.

Deux ex Machina: Un joven iconoclasta y de ideas muy claras y definidas que nos colabora también con relativa frecuencia.

Francisco Quintanilla: Un profesional de la educación que también toca muy buenos temas en el área de la gestión educativa.

Joralgue, que nos colaboraba mucho con recopilaciones y referencias muy puntuales y útiles a interesantes artículos internacionales.

No conocemos personalmente a ninguno de ellos.

Tuvimos espacio para otros reconocidos blogueros Salvadoreños, como Virginia, Víctor, Queith, Aniuxa y Ligia (Placebos), quienes tienen sus propios blogs pero ocasionalmente escribieron en Hunna.org

ON: At first it was just me, but I managed to interest Jjmar (Juan Martel). Later other people were added, of which we only know personally MArjuna. We had a poet, Demander, who did satirical verses about national events; he emigrated to the United States and we never heard from him again, we only knew him virtually.

Currently actively posting:

Raul Fuentes: I think he has a degree in philosophy, and writes excellent articles based in that original discipline.

Mariposa: The legendary presenter for Radio Venceremos, one of the underground radio stations of the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) [en] during the armed conflict, who worked with James Consalvi, current director of the museum of the Palabra e Imagen (Words and Images) in San Salvador.

Deux ex Machina: A young iconoclast, who has very clear and definite ideas who frequently contributes.

Francisco Quintanilla: An education professional who also touches on very good themes in the area of educational management.

Joralgue, Collaborates a lot with us on very useful and timely information and collections of international articles.

We don't personally know any of them.

We had room for other well-known Salvadoran bloggers like Virginia, Víctor, Queith, Aniuxa y Ligia (Placebos), who have their own blogs but occasionally wrote for Hunna.org

GV: What is Hunnapuh's mission?

ON: Realmente no tenemos como que una misión o visión formalmente definida. Al principio la idea era rescatar la lengua pipil y eso se ve en los primeros post, pero luego el espacio se convierte en un lugar para expresar nuestros pensamientos y sentimientos sobre la situación actual de cualquier tópico que nos interese. Al final buscamos tener un espacio en donde podamos expresarnos sin restricciones, pero respetando los derechos de los demás.

We don't really have a mission or formally defined vision. At first it was to save the pipil language and you can see this in the first posts, but later the space becomes a place to express our thoughts and feelings about the current status of any topic that interests us. In the end, we're looking to have a space where we can express ourselves without restrictions, but respecting the rights of others.

Hunnapuh-http://hunna.org/

GV: What do you think about the Salvadoran blogosphere? What are its strengths? What needs to be improved?

ON: La blogósfera salvadoreña es variada y de gran calidad, predomina la creatividad, la calidad de contenido, la coherencia de su mensaje ya sea que defienda una ideología o que exprese la visión particular de sus editores acerca del arte, la cultura, la televisión, el cine, la música, la política, etc.

Quizá lo único que necesite mejorar es la constancia y frecuencia de publicación. Pero lo cierto es que para hacer un buen post, un bloguero puede tomarse varios días en escribirlo, revisarlo y corregirlo porque no tenemos “blogueros profesionales”, es decir, a nadie de los que yo conozco personalmente le pagan nada por escribir en un blog, todo se hace por puro corazón y ganas.

The Salvadoran blogosphere is varied and of high quality, creativity prevails, quality of content, consistency of its message whether it defends an ideology or whether it expresses the particular vision of its editors about art, culture, television, film, music, politics, etc.

Perhaps the only thing that needs improvement is the consistency and frequency of publication. But the truth is that to create a good post, a blogger can take several days to write, review and correct it because we don't have “professional bloggers”, that is to say, nobody I know personally gets paid to write a blog, it's all done for love and the desire to do it.

GV: You publish Hunnapuh almost daily, and sometimes more than once a day. What advice would you give other bloggers to achieve the consistency and quality of Hunnapuh?

ON: Para lograr la constancia, solo es de fijarse la meta de postear algo diario. En nuestro caso resulta sencillo ya que son varios colaboradores o lectores que nos envían sus escritos y los distribuimos en al menos una publicación diaria. Una forma sería preparar más de un post y programarlos en días diferentes y horas diferentes que es como lo hacemos, dedicamos un rato en la noche a prepararlo y que se publique en horas predeterminadas.

En cuanto a la calidad, no creo que pueda dar ningún consejo ya que eso es algo muy relativo y depende de la percepción del lector. De tanto escribir se llega a tener cierta soltura para expresar ideas, pero eso no necesariamente devuelve un producto de calidad. Los amigos que escriben en el blog cuidan un poco su redacción y revisan antes de postear, pero siempre se escapa uno que otro error. Es normal, no somos un periódico y no tenemos jefes de redacción, ni de edición. Creo que el único consejo que puedo y me atrevo a dar a los blogueros es que escriban sin presión, ni temor; las críticas son gratis y no solicitadas, no hay problema en eso, siempre deben ser bienvenidas.

To achieve the consistency, one just has to set the goal of posting something every day. In our case, that's easy since we have several collaborators or readers who send their writings and we distribute them in at least one publication daily. One way would be to prepare more than one post and schedule them for different days and times which is how we do it. We spend awhile at night preparing them to be published at predetermined times.

As far as the quality, I don't think I can give any advice about that since it's very relative and it depends on the perception of the reader. Writing for so long gives one a certain freedom to express his ideas, but that doesn't necessarily produce a quality product. Friends who write on the blog do some drafting and review it before posting, but errors always manage to get through. I think the only advice I can and I dare to give other bloggers is to write without pressure or fear; critiques are free and unsolicited, there's no problem there, and should always be welcomed.

GV: What keeps you motivated to keep up the blog?

ON: Las ganas y la necesidad de decir algo son un gran impulso a seguir. Pasan tantas cosas en nuestro entorno que es difícil no tomar postura y para nosotros es la forma perfecta de expresar nuestros sentimientos o los de los amigos que nos colaboran. Pero creo que la parte más motivadora para continuar son nuestros amigos lectores que fielmente siguen el blog y sus publicaciones, gracias a ellos es que decidimos tener dominio propio y un formato más adecuado.

The desire and the need to say something are great motivators to keep going. So many things go on around us, it's difficult not to take sides and so for us, it's a perfect way to express our feelings or those of our friends who collaborate with us. But I think the biggest motivation to keep going is our readers who faithfully follow the blog and its publications. Thanks to them we decided to have our own domain and a more adequate format.

Omar has also contributed on Global Voices. You can find a list of his articles on his profile on Global Voices en Español. You can also follow Hunnapuh on Twitter and Facebook.

El Salvador: Facebook Photo Album Documents Worst Examples of Campaigning

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:40:33 +0000

Legislative elections for El Salvador are scheduled for March 11, 2012. Tim's El Salvador Blog reports on an interesting Facebook initiative: “The Facebook page called “Sociedad Civil” (Civil Society) is sharing a photo album of the worst examples of campaigning during this campaign season leading up to the March elections. You'll need to be able to read Spanish to understand some of the comments, but some photos […] speak for themselves.”

El Salvador: The Family Agriculture Plan

Silvia Viñas — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:29:03 +0000

Colleen O'Brien from the blog Locavore del Mundo writes about The Family Agriculture Plan (PAF) in El Salvador, “a new act that was implemented in 2011 by the Ministry of Agriculture that aims to reduce rural poverty and increase agricultural production in order to revitalize the economy in the countryside.”

El Salvador: New Attack Against Anti Mining Activists

Silvia Viñas — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:02:15 +0000

Voices from El Salvador reports on a new attack against anti mining activists in Cabañas. This time, Father Neftalí Ruiz was attacked by “several young men [who] tied him up in his home and proceeded to search his home, computer files, and cellphones for information and supposed weapons.” Grit and Grace published an English translation of a press release by the National Working Table against Metallic Mining in El Salvador on this attack.

Latin America: Museum Releases Digital Archive of 20th-Century Art

Silvia Viñas — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:36:22 +0000

The International Center for Arts of the Americas (ICCA) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has released a digital archive of 20th-century Latin American and Latino art, which, “is now available, free of charge, to the research and teaching community as well as to the public at large.” Culture magazine Ñ [es] briefly interviewed Mari Carmen Ramírez, the project's director.

El Salvador: Top Stories of 2011

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:53:02 +0000

Tim's El Salvador Blog summarizes the top stories from El Salvador in 2011.

El Salvador: Destruction of Cathedral Mural Angers Citizens

Renata Avila — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:08:24 +0000

Update (1 February, 2012):

The Cathedral's website, catedralsansalvador.org, which included pictures of the mural is no longer online.

El Salvador has a bloody history: 75,000 civilians were killed by the armed forces and death squads during the civil war (1980-1992) and the religious community suffered the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980, the murder and rape of four United States churchwomen, and a massacre of Jesuit priests. The Catholic church was particularly harmed by State violence during this period.

After the signing of a peace agreement, memory and reconciliation became priorities for many citizens. Any act in the opposite direction tends to spark a lot of reactions, as happened recently regarding the controversial destruction of one of the most visible Salvadoran memorials: a mural in the facade of the capital's San Salvador Cathedral. The Internet quickly flooded with shocked comments and calls to actions.

San Salvador Cathedral. Image available on Wikipedia (GNU Free Documentation License).

Kabistan [es] explains on Tumblr:

Esta semana fue destruido sin previo aviso el mural que adornaba la fachada de la Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador;realizado por Fernando Llort; por parte de la autoridades eclesiásticas del recinto; particularmente nunca me ha gustado ni el mural ni la catedral , pero el acto en si es indignante, una falta de respeto para el artista(y la comunidad de artistas en general) que concibió la idea, y las personas que colaboraron en su construcción.

This week, without previous notice, the mural that adorned the facade of the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, by Fernando Llort, was destroyed by the ecclesiastical authorities of the precinct; I've never actually liked the mural or the cathedral, but the act itself is outrageous, disrespectful to the artist (and the artistic community in general) who conceived the idea, and to the people who helped in its construction.

Blogger Mildred Largaespada [es] gathers several reactions and posts pictures of the destroyed mural. She wonders:

Cómo se les ocurrió este atentado contra la autoestima de las y los salvadoreños, la historia de este país, el arte…?

How could they come up with this assault on the self-esteem of Salvadorans, on the history of this country, on art …?

On his website [es], Llort, the artist who created the work as a tribute for peace, describes his work on the Cathedral:

The Catholic Church of El Salvador asked me to design the facade for the Cathedral. This was one of the most inspiring artistic moments of my life, because it meant to me that I was putting my art on a very important symbol of my country, with huge historical significance. It was a work that took us (me and a group of artisans) around one year to finish.

Llort's mural was a symbol of peace, as Linda Raftree states in an extensive post where she explains the meaning of the art work, and draws a timeline of El Salvador's history. In “On pueblo and cathedral, ruin and rebuilding” she writes:

La Armonia de mi Pueblo is the title of the work that Salvadoran artist Fernando Llort created in 1997 to adorn the front of San Salvador’s Cathedral. Armonia is easy to translate into English – it means harmony. Pueblo is a bit more difficult. It’s a term in Spanish that includes the notion of both place and people. It comes from the Latin populus and can refer to a) inhabitants of a nation, country or region who share a similar culture; b) a population that farms in a particular zone (eg., a village or community); or c) the peasant or working class. So in essence, the title of the work is “the Harmony of my People”.

Linda adds:

Church leaders have since apologized to the Llort family and to those who are upset by the surprise removal of the tiles. They contend that they consulted with the congregation of the cathedral, and got their approval to remove the tiles. But the Secretary of Culture has called the Catholic church out for their actions, condemning ’the destruction of the face of the Cathedral,’ and accusing the church of violating the ‘Special Law on Protection of Cultural Patrimony’ which states that ‘although the mural on the Cathedral of San Salvador was not declared a Cultural Site, it was in process of being declared, meaning that under no circumstances should any interventions have been made.’

In his article “Church ripping Llort mural from facade of Cathedral”, blogger Tim provides background information on the prominent artist and also points out the reactions on social networks against the destruction:

The Facebook page of the Fernando Llort Foundation was filled with expressions of sadness and solidarity. Another Facebook page, Indignados por El Mural, is rapidly filling with pictures and comments and anger at the blindness of the church to the meaning of this artwork.

Ironically, pictures of the mural are still included in the San Salvador Cathedral [es] website, together with a description that states that without doubt the mural contributes “a unique personality” to the Cathedral. It also states that the murals are the most meaningful reference of Salvadorean contemporary art.

Blogger Hunnapuh [es] said that it is incredibly disrespectful to destroy such valuable work of art. In his opinion the cathedral should be demolished, because of its authorities' narrow mentality and because he considers the cathedral a terrible work of architecture which the mural somehow helped look less ugly.

However, Copinapitli thinks [es] the Cathedral controversy is just a smoke curtain, distracting citizens from really important issues yet to be addressed, such as the growing violence which resulted in 50 murders in the first four days of the year, the risks of increasing scandals due to a tax reform, and a bad economic situation in general. According to this blogger, such situations deserve more attention from Salvadoran citizens.

Tim blogs that the artist responded to the destruction of the mural and made three requests:

First, he requested that the church make a full and complete explanation of its study and reasons for destroying the mural rather than restoring it. Second, he asked that there be greater recognition in El Salvador of the value and respect due for the work of Salvadoran artists and artisans. Third, he asked that the church return to him the rubble from the tiles removed from the facade so that he could create a new art work in homage to Salvadoran artisans.

Llort currently enjoys moral rights on his art work and the destruction might be considered against Salvadorean law. In any case, it is a good sign for Salvadorean democracy that its citizens are standing up to fight for the protection of their art, their common places, their memory.

Central America: LibreBus Project Presents its Documentary

Jenny Cascante Gonzalez — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:17:39 +0000

Several months have passed since the LibreBus [es] collective project traveled across the streets of five different Central America countries looking for free culture and knowledge sharing enthusiasts.

As Jane Park explained in October, 2011:

Librebus, a project inspired by Free Culture principles, consisted of a regional tour spanning most of May of this year [2011] to explore Central American shared culture and digital communities. Twenty-seven “librenautas” [free navigators] with different nationalities, backgrounds and skills, from the free software community, Creative Commons chapters, freedom of speech activists and natural commons experts, shared their “open” knowledge with others in a variety of activities, from roundtables to public data hackathons and the first Central American CC Salon in Guatemala.

Conversations were held in each city with representatives of diverse communities that promote the use of information technology and communication. LibreBus ‘free navigators' also organized meetings with digital natives whose contributions complemented to the discussion on free software and the defense of freedom of speech and content sharing.

Musicians, artists and users in general were able to learn about the cultural commons licenses. Also, participants had the opportunity to learn about the development of knowledge and technological constraints that farmers face in the region because of the legislation and use of transgenic seeds.

A documentary [es] showing the different interactions that took place during the tour through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, is now available online. The organizers are open to arranging a similar tour in the future, under the same flag: free collective knowledge.

These are some extracts from the documentary:

El 16 de mayo de 2011 LibreBus dejó de ser un viaje por Centroamérica para convertirse en un compromiso.

On May 16, 2011 LibreBus was not just a trip through Central America, it became a commitment.

LibreBus leaving Honduras. Image by Flickr user LibreBus (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

24 personas subieron y bajaron en el trayecto pero son muchos más los que comparten la filosofía de ser librenauta.

24 people got on and off the bus along the way but there are many more who share the philosophy of being a free navigator.

Ser librenauta es seguir un camino: el del conocimiento libre para todos y todas.

To be a free navigator is to follow a path: free knowledge for everyone.

Information on presentations related to free software, photographs of the trip, and posts published by some participants can be found on the LibreBus [es] website. You can also follow the project on Twitter @Librebus [es] and Facebook [es].