Global Voices » Peru

Peru: How the Achuar People are Saving their Territory from Oil Companies

Juliana Rincón Parra — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:45:42 +0000

The movie Chumpi & The Waterfall follows the life of young Chumpi and his community, the Achuar people who live in the Amazon Rainforest in the border between Peru and Ecuador. In the movie, subtitled in English, the Achuar show the richness of their daily life and also the steps they are taking to protect their ancestral lands from Oil Companies.

On the website The Achuar Movie by Amazon Watch, there is a wealth of information on the Achuar and other indigenous communities that share the region and share the same concerns of how governments give permissions to Oil companies to exploit the land, considering them without owners and undeveloped. Using GPS systems and traveling through their lands, the Achuar are mapping their territory and their resources, in the hope that their claim to the land and its resources will be respected.

From the site:

Chumpi and the Waterfall (TeleAndes) was filmed in the Achuar community of Chicherta in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, the last community on the Huasaga River before the border with Ecuador. This is a headwater area, where the forest is full of animals and the rivers teem with fish. Daily life is usually peaceful and calm.

Chumpi, with his father Secha and his grandfather Irar, make a trip to a sacred waterfall where both adults had received a vision as young men. Achuar lands, including this waterfall, are under threat from oil drilling. The Achuar believe oil drilling would contaminate its pure waters and the Arutam spirits which inhabit it would leave, and future generations would lose the power of their visions forever.

The daily life of the Achuar is documented on the site through a series of photographs, and along with an explanation of the importance of the territory for the Achuar is an image of the map they've been making:

GPS points help map out the Achuar territory

You can get involved with helping the Achuar defend their territory by sharing the video through social networks to raise awareness about the Achuar, by signing a Global Petition, signing up to receive updates from Amazon Watch or donating money for the Achuar.

Thumbnail image of an Achuar man is from the Achuarmovie.org website.

Peru: Controversy Over Banning of Popular Priest

Gabriela García Calderón — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:16:20 +0000

On Friday May 11, 2012, local online edition of newspapers [es] broke the news that the Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, had decided not to renew the ministerial license for Father Gaston Garatea [es], a well-known Peruvian priest from the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Father Gaston communicated he will abide by that decision.

According to some analysts, the cause of the decision was Father Gaston's stance on homosexuality and civil unions. Cardinal Cipriani is well-known for his conservative position on matters such as birth control, homosexuality, civil unions, etc.

Father Gaston has embraced various fair causes, most related to poor and extremely poor people.

He has served as Chairman of the Consensus-Building Board on the Fight Against Poverty, and as such, he also participated in the National Agreement. He also acted as commissioner for the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Archdiocese of Lima issued a statement [es] regarding Father Gaston's situation:

[…] para realizar trabajo pastoral en una determinada jurisdicción, requieren que el Obispo, Ordinario del lugar, les otorgue las respectivas Licencias Ministeriales (cfr. canon 265).

2. En ese sentido, el Obispo Ordinario del lugar, por motivos suficientes y anteriormente advertidos al Superior Mayor de la respectiva comunidad religiosa, puede disponer que un sacerdote religioso no trabaje pastoralmente en su jurisdicción eclesiástica. Ello, que es lo que ha ocurrido con el Padre Jorge Gastón Garatea Yori, SS. CC., no suspende o prohíbe al sacerdote religioso el ejercicio de su ministerio sacerdotal en otros lugares.

[… ] in order to accomplish pastoral labor on a specific jurisdiction, [priests] require that the Bishop, the Ordinary from the jurisdiction, grant them the respective Ministerial Licences (cfr. canon 265).

2. As such, the Ordinary Bishop of the jurisdiction, due to sufficient motives already warned to the Superior of the respective religious community, may provide that a religious priest won't work pastorally on his ecclesiastic jurisdiction. As it has happened with Father Jorge Gaston Garatea Yori, SS. CC., this doesn't suspend nor forbid the religious priest from exercising his ministry elsewhere.

The website ACI Prensa [es] cites an unnamed source and explains that the process against Father Gaston was made according the due process. This source explained:

Existe en todas las diócesis un tribunal sinodal, que examina a todos los que piden las licencias ministeriales, y todos los sacerdotes -diocesanos y religiosos-, están sometidos al examen sinodal previo a las licencias ministeriales”.

Por ello dijo que “cuando el Obispo toma una decisión, en este caso de no renovar las licencias ministeriales, previamente ha tenido que pedir informe a este tribunal sinodal y también a su senado, que es el colegio de consultores. No es una decisión personal, previamente ha tenido que cumplir todo un procedimiento“.

In every diocese, there is a synod tribunal that examines all people who ask ministerial licences, and every priest -diocesan and religious-, are subject of that synodal examination prior to ministerial licences”.

That's why [this source] said that “when the Bishop makes a decision, in this case, not to renew ministerial licences, ha has to request a report to this synod tribunal and to its Senate as well, which is the consulting board. It's not a personal decision, previously there has been a whole process to be observed“.

The site later adds:

Indicó además que el P. Garatea ha tenido “un sinfín de pronunciamientos contrarios (a la doctrina católica) explícitamente aunque hoy quieran maquillarlo”.

“No sólo es lo último del ‘matrimonio gay’, que lo dijo y ahora pretende decir que se refería al contrato civil. En su momento dijo ‘matrimonio gay’, y si dice ahora que se refería al contrato civil, en la práctica es lo mismo. Lo único es que está maquillando una doctrina que va en contra de la Iglesia“, afirmó.

[…]

Sin embargo, indicó que las autoridades eclesiásticas no revelarán los motivos por los que no se renovaron las licencias porque el derecho canónico pide que se guarde “absoluta reserva por la dignidad, honor y fama de esa persona.

[The source] also remarked that Father Garatea has made “countless statements against (the Catholic doctrine), although today there is an intention to sugar coat it”.

“It's not just about the latest statement on ‘gay marriage’ [es], which he said and now pretends to say he meant the civil contract. Back then he said ‘gay marriage ’, and if he says now he was refering to the civil contract, technically it's the same thing. The only thing he is doing is disguising a doctrine that is contrary to the Church [es]”, he declared.

[…]

Nonetheless, he noted that ecclesiastical authorities won't reveal the motives for not renewing the licenses, as Cannoic Law demands “absolute reservation on behalf of the dignity, honor and fame of that person.

The blog Pastores y líderes publishes [es] the explanation of Father Jose Chuquillanqui, episcopal vicary of the Archbishopric of Lima:

[…] no renovación de licencias ministeriales al padre Gastón Garatea no ha sido una decisión tomada de un día para otro, sino tras un proceso de diálogo y advertencias.

Por ello, dijo que a Garatea “se le ha llamado la atención desde hace seis años” por sus opiniones polémicas, y que el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani ha sostenido constantes conversaciones y diálogos con el supuesto afectado.

“No podemos juzgar abruptamente y decir que ha sido una decisión intolerante e impronta. Se le pidió que tenga cuidado en sus expresiones”, dijo Chuquillanqui en RPP.

[…] asserted that the decision of not renewing Father Gaston Garatea's ministerial licenses hasn't been a decision made overnight, but after a process of dialogue and warnings.

So, Garatea was “warned for six years” because of his controversial opinions, and that Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani has talked constantly with the alleged affected [priest].

“We can't judge abruptly and consider this has been an intolerant and sudden decision. He was asked to be careful with what he said”, declared Chuquillanqui on [local radio station] RPP.

Meanwhile, Twitter is abuzz with comments using the hashtag #GastonGaratea [es]:

Eduardo (@edurpeque) [es] expresses surprise:

Q #Cipriani no le haya renovado el permiso a #GastonGaratea me parece hasta benigno,no creen? Raro es q no lo haya recriminado o excomulgado.

That #Cipriani hasn't renewed #GastonGaratea's licence seems benign to me, don't you think? It's odd he reproach or excommunicate him.

‏@eromanp [es] is ironic:

El padre Gastón #Garatea ha recibido la mejor carta de recomendación que pueda existir: #Cipriani le ha prohibido ejercer su labor pastoral.

Father Gaston #Garatea has received the best cover letter ever: #Cipriani has banned him from practicing his pastoral labor.

Victor Mantilla (@yourjournalist) [es] recommends:

Cierto, no olviden el #FF para #GastónGaratea y el #ReportSpam para Juan Luis.

Right, don't forget the #FF for #GastónGaratea and #ReportSpam for Juan Luis.

Elí Castelo R. (@primerafuente) [es] wonders, a little annoyed:

Buenos dias, siguen con lo del Padre #GastonGaratea. Que lo resuelvan los catolicos y no los convenidos. Parece lo mismo, pero no es asi.

Good morning, still talking about Father #GastonGaratea? Let the Catholics solve it and not the freeloaders. They may seem the same thing, but they are not.

Santiago Correa Jara (@SantiagoCorreaJ) [es] adds some international context:

Que feo día en #Perú. Expectoran al Padre #GastónGaratea y fallece #DonnaSummer. A veces la vida, por mas que protestemos NO TIENE SENTIDO!!

Ugly day in #Perú. Father #GastónGaratea is expelled and #DonnaSummer passes away. Sometimes, no matter how much we protest, life MAKES NO SENSE!!

Thumbnail image by Flickr user Alex E. Proimos, under Creative Commons license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Video: Indigenous Video Festival Open for Submissions

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:23:11 +0000

The XI International Film and Video Festival of Indigenous Peoples to be held in Colombia during last quarter of 2012 is putting out a call for entries for audiovisual material about indigenous and first people issues and topics.

The Center for Indigenous Cultures in Peru is promoting the festival through their blog, and this is how they summarize the event:

Colombia será la sede del XI Festival Internacional de Cine y Video de los Pueblos indígenas a realizarse en Bogotá del 23 al 30 de septiembre y en Medellín del 03 al 06 de octubre del presente año. Con el lema “Por la Vida Imágenes de Resistencia”, el festival tiene como objetivo visibilizar la extinción de los pueblos indígenas, la violación del territorio y a sus sitios sagrados naturales, como un espacio de análisis de la crisis humanitaria que atraviesan los pueblos indígenas.

Colombia will be hosting the XI International Film and Video Festival of Indigenous Peoples to take place in Bogota from the 23 to the 30 of September and in Medellin from 03 to 06 of October of the running year. With the theme “Images of Resistance for Life”, the festival has as an objective to visibilize the extinction of the indigenous peoples, the violation of the territory and their natural sacred places and as a space for analysis of the humanitarian crisis the indigenous people are going through.

Videos or films submitted to the Festival should have been made after January 1, 2010 and should not have previously participated in the International Festival of Film and Video of Indigenous Peoples. They should focus on the topics of child labor, ecology, education, history, indigenous medicine, identity, land and territory, political participation, rights of indigenous people's, women and worldview and they can be animation, docu-fiction, documentary, fiction, experimental video, music videos, video art, television programs. Deadline for submissions is May 21st, 2012 and information on where to mail the submissions and application forms can be found on their page.

Latin America: Art from the Colonial Period in 2.0

Jon Lindsay Miles — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:47:59 +0000

All links lead to Spanish-language websites, unless otherwise noted.

The long colonial period that resulted in what we know today as Latin America, has left its traces in the colonial art still preserved throughout the continent. Citizen media attests to this. Many online spaces are dedicated to the sharing of photographs, video, texts, specific works and other examples of artistic expression from this period, at the same time explaining how these images today make up part of the landscape and identity of the countries they belong to. As one would anticipate, the images from each region show an enormous diversity in response to the inspiration that arrived from Europe.

We present here a sample of the many 2.0 websites dedicated to this colonial art, that serves as the common denominator adopted by indigenous cultures across most of the continent, before being adapted by each as its own.

The Portal de Arte (Art Gateway) from Colombia, provides us with a context for the definition of what is understood by the term Colonial Art:

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Reproduced under the Creative Commons licence

Este arte se caracteriza por la fusión de cosmovisiones y técnicas de conquistadores y aborígenes […] En cada pieza escultórica, catedral y pintura, los motivos religiosos son los gobernantes, así como los parámetros de representación europeos; pero éstos fueron sutil y subterráneamente “digeridos” por los aborígenes americanos, quienes colocaron en cada obra elementos propios de sus culturas (símbolos religiosos y espirituales, figuras antropomorficas, zoomorficas y fitomorfas) de modo tal que se entremezclaban con los imágenes católicas importadas, manteniendo de este modo, la voluntad de forma de la producción artística indígena subsitiendo [sic] por debajo del arte europeo impuesto a la fuerza.

This art is characterized by the fusion of the world views as well as the techniques of both the Spanish Conquistadores and the indigenous people. […] European religious motifs and representational parameters govern each piece of cathedral sculpture and painting, but these are then subtly and surreptitious “digested” by the indigenous people of the Americas, who placed elements of their own cultures into each work (religious and spiritual symbols, anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and other biomorphic figures) in such a way that these mix with the imported Catholic images, assuring that the expressive forms of indigenous artistic production survive beneath the forced imposition of those of European art.

In Ecuador, Iván Petroff shares some of his work, done for his studies in artistic expression, pointing us to some characteristic features of the colonial plastic arts:

La plástica colonial, al comienzo fue repetitiva, o mejor, recreativa de los modelos europeos, sin embargo, pese al control español, el artista indígena introdujo pequeños elementos de su arte y religión, especialmente en los rasgos físicos de los santos provincianos y en la carga cultural no europea de los retablos y algunos motivos ornamentales de capiteles y frisos.

The colonial plastic arts at first repeated, or rather, recreated European models. Nevertheless, and in spite of Spanish control, indigenous artists introduced small elements from their art and religion, particularly in the way of physical features given to the images of provincial saints, and in a non-European cultural charge expressed in altarpieces and in ornamental motifs given to capitals and friezes.

In the same way, Iván uses his blog to open access to a musical piece from the epoch, placed on YouTube by denesago. The song was composed by the Spaniard Juan de Araujo, who was confirmed as one of the most important musicians of the colonial epoch in what is now Bolivia. The video images show something of baroque architecture and painting from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru:

In Venezuela, Janeth Rodríguez manages a blog dedicated entirely to colonial art in Venezuela and its different expressive modes. The sources of her posts are various academic pieces, the principal motivation being to gather, celebrate and bring to people's attention the preservation of these pieces:

Este blog nace con varios objetivos: difundir nuestro patrimonio artístico de los siglos XVI al XVIII con la intención de promover su preservación; servir de vehículo para promocionar la investigación que los estudiantes de la Escuela de Artes de la Universidad Central de Venezuela producen en torno a este tema; y lograr una comunicación más efectiva entre todos los interesados en el mundo colonial.Nuestra meta es presentar a los visitantes una breve historia de diversas obras de arte venezolanas, e incluso de algunas extranjeras que llegaron a nuestro territorio durante ese período.

Several objectives are behind the birth of this blog: to disseminate information about our artistic heritage from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in order to argue for its preservation; to serve as a vehicle for the promotion of investigation of this material by students of the School of Arts at the Central University of Venezuela; and to open up the most effective communication we can between all those interested in the colonial world. Our aim is to present to those visiting our site a brief history of varied Venezuelan objects of art, as well as others that arrived here from other lands during this historical period.

Meanwhile, the blog Romanticismo, launched by students of Spanish and Literature in the Colombian capital Bogotá, shares examples of the characteristic forms of literature from the colonial epoch:

La literatura en lengua española durante la colonia comenzó a desenvolverse en Nueva España desde un principio. La literatura de la conquista son mayormente coplas y romances, burlas hacia los gobernadores, ayudantes, etc. mientras que la de colonia son textos que incitan a la libertad y revolución.

Literature in the Spanish language during colonial times quickly began its particular development. Literature from the time of the conquest is mostly in the form of verse and romances, poking fun especially at those who governed and those around them, while that from the colonial period comprises texts urging liberty and inciting revolution.

Then there is Optimusomnium, which shows several examples of Peruvian painting of the colonial period in a video:

Finally, user LordArchibaldHartley gathers a number of artistic and cultural images that have served as the inspiration for much of the art made in Mexico today.

These are just a few of the many examples of sites offering information on colonial period art in Latin America in 2.0. If you'd like more information and to investigate other similar sources in the Spanish language, visit the Wikipedia article Arte colonial latinoamericano.

Peru: The Festival of the Peruvian Cajon

Greg Ahlswede — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:16:04 +0000

The Peruvian Cajon is a very commonly used instrument in Afro-Peruvian music and Peruvian music in general. It is believed to have originated in colonial times but it took its definitive form in the 20th century. In 2001 it was declared to be a “Cultural Heritage of the Nation”. Its use has extended to other parts of the world, most of all as a part of Flamenco music, stemming from Paco de Lucía's and his band's contact with this instrument in Peru in the 1970's.

The renowned Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña is one of the people who has helped this instrument to become known throughout the world. Here we can enjoy it with a cajon solo in a concert:

Regarding the Cajon's use in contemporary Peruvian music, the web page Cajón Peruano [es] (Peruvian Cajon) tells us:

el cajón está presente prácticamente en todos los géneros de raíz afro (lundero, landó, festejo, alcatraz, toromata, panalivio, ingá, etc.), así como también acompañando al vals peruano, a la polka criolla, al one step, al pasodoble, al tondero y a la marinera.

Asimismo, el cajón es adoptado por los habitantes costeños de origen andino y empieza a ser utilizado por ellos para reinterpretar algunos géneros “tradicionales” y crear nuevas expresiones de música popular de la ciudad. Luego, coquetea con el rock y de ahí salta a las corrientes llamadas de música fusión, World Music y música étnica, entre otras.

The cajon is present in practically all genres of Afro-based music (lundero, landó, festejo, alcatraz, toromata, panalivio, ingá, etc.), as well as accompanying the Peruvian Waltz, the Peruvian Polka, the One Step, the Paso Doble, the Tondero and the Marinera.

Also, the Cajon has been adopted by coastal inhabitants of Andean origin; they have begun to use it to reinterpret some “traditional” genres and create new expressions of popular city music. Moreover, it flirts with rock and from there it makes a connection with other trends of music such as Fusion, World Music, and Ethnic Music among others.

This video showcases an example of the cajon played to a northern Marinera beat.

However this does not give us an idea of how popular the instrument is among Peruvians, above all along the coast, where there is no shortage of “cajon specialists” [es]. These are people whose work is teaching others to play this instrument and help with the Cajon festivals [es]. But what is a Cajon festival and what takes place during one? These specialists explain:

Un Festival de Percusión que tiene al Cajón Peruano -instrumento de percusión de origen afroperuano- como anfitrión. Conciertos, conferencias, muestra de videos, clínicas musicales y clases maestras que tienen a la percusión como protagonista. Diversos géneros y escuelas, variedad de instrumentos. Cajón, batería, congas, tabla india, timbal, cajita, marimba, tamborete, checo, pandeiro, y percusión sinfónica, criollo, jazz, cantautor, afroperuano, fusión, etc.

It is a Percussion Festival that showcases a Peruvian Cajon -a percussion instrument of Afro-Peruvian origin. Concerts, conferences, video exhibition, music clinics and classes in which percussion plays a leading role. Various genres and schools, a variety of instruments. Cajon, drums, congas, Indian tabla, timbal, cajita, marimba, tamborete, checo, tambourine, and symphonic percussion, native music, Jazz, singer-songwriters, Afro-peruvian, Fusion, etc.

The festival's fifth anniversary took place this year and it was a complete success; particularly for the activity known as “La Cajoneada” which consists in bringing together the largest number possible of cajon players. This time more than 1,400 cajon players were brought together [es], which beat the previous Guiness Record from the 2009 festival that brought together 1,050 cajon players. Rafael Santa Cruz [es], the event's organizer, commented [es] on the reason for the Cajon's popularity to a local news station: “it's very therapeutic, in fact they are using it often in music therapy. It can also be used in a group setting.”

In the following video I was able to capture the last part of the final Cajoneada that was performed in the Plaza de Armas in Lima this year:

Tribute was paid [es] only moments before to the previously mentioned musician Alex Acuña with the Medalla de Lima (Medal of Lima) for having dedicated the whole of his life to music and spreading Peruvian culture abroad. The event had not even finished when the cajon players began to party among themselves; I was able to record some of it:

Two other videos show how the event continued.

The Cajon spreads joy and fun among people of all ages and transcends racial and social backgrounds, as is mentioned [es] in the Corresponsales Escolares (School Correspondents) blog from the newspaper El Comercio (The Commerce), where a father and son who are cajon players are interviewed:

“Es un orgullo tocar el cajón, especialmente cuando salgo fuera. Me gusta mucho la idea de esta congregación de gente”,

“Esta es una oportunidad de motivación para reencontrarnos con nuestros antepasados”

“It is an honor to play the cajon, especially when I play outside. I really like the idea of this congregation of people”,

“This is a very motivating opportunity to meet our ancestors”

Although it could seem somewhat anecdotal, this is very important with respect to the cultural identity of members of the Afro-Peruvian community. As Rafael Santa Cruz points out [es]:

Así como existe en el Perú una “historia oficial” que prácticamente excluye a los afroperuanos de la vida pasada del país, existe también una posición de no reconocimiento a los aportes de los mismos. En el caso del cajón este aporte es claro, contundente e indiscutible. El cajon es un elemento real y vital de la resistencia de los afroperuanos.

Just as in Peru there is an “official history” that practically excludes Afro-Peruvians from the country's past, there too is a lack of recognition of the contributions of these people. In the case of the Cajon this contribution is clear, convincing, and undeniable. The Cajon is real and vital element of the Afro-Peruvian struggle.

Post originally published on Juan Arellano's personal blog.

Peru: Report on Conga Mining Project Released

Chellsy Alis Manning — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:27:01 +0000

Update 21 April, 2012 : President Ollanta Humala announced [es] to the nation that the Conga project will continue, but with better environmental conditions.

The technical report commissioned by the Peruvian government to survey the Environmental Impact Study of the Conga mining project in Cajamarca was finally delivered [es]. However, lots of things related to this controversial project have happened since, ranging from the unsuccessful attempts at discussion between those against the project and the government, to the ignored “March for Water.” (More on this can be found on Scribd on the Report on the Great National March for the Right to Water in Peru by the International Mission of Observers.)

After the march, Wilfredo Saavedra, President of the Defence Front of Cajamarca, pointed out [es] that the government had until the third week of March to declare the Conga project to be non-viable. If the government did not do this he stated they would declare a national strike.

It was discovered that apart from the survey commissioned by the central government, the regional government of Cajamarca had also negotiated an international survey at the same time [es]. Until that moment this report had included some observations [es] into the environmental impact [es] of the mining project.

Message against Conga during the Water March, February 2012. Image from Flickr user Ricardove04 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

In the middle of March, Wilfredo Saavedra was detained [es] in Tacna and moved to Cajamarca where he was freed [es] after 10 hours of detention and not before taking his protest to the Public Ministry.

The National Assembly for the Peruvian people started [es] in Cajamarca towards the end of the month amidst rumours [es] of new strike action. The Assembly agreed [es] on a strike for April 11. It was reported [es] that this meeting had accentuated the division between the different movements that form the Environmental Defence Front of Cajamarca, allegedly because of differing political interests [es].

Since April 7, the central government has sent [es] a strong military contingent to Cajamarca to prevent any disorderly behaviour that would arise out of the strike. The strike eventually was problem-free [es], although there were reports [es] of the occupation of the University of Cajamarca and reports [es] of road blocking in Jaén. It was also reported that a “flag-washing” [es] took place in the Plaza de Armas in Cajamarca to reject the Conga project.

More recently, the Constitutional Court upheld [es] the cries of unconstitutionality by the Prosecutor's Office against the bylaw implemented by the regional government of Cajamarca. This bylaw declared the Conga project to be non-viable. The Court also established that it is the National Authority for Water that should be in charge of determining which coal-mining areas should be declared to be intangible and not regional governments.

The Conga project is attracting a large amount of opinion in the media by different people. The opinions range from announcements [es] of a great clash between the government and the anti-mining protestors, analysis [es] of the wearing away of the movement, analysis [es] of the communication errors made by the government, to mere damaging remarks [es] made by those that oppose the Conga project. There is some evidence that suggests [es] that the report indicates that the loss of the lagoons would not have any significant impact on water flow in the region. However, it is noted [es] that the report did recommend not using two of the four lagoons that the project had previously intended to use.

In blogs the analysis and reports are just as varied. For example, the blog Celendín freely reproduced [es] a statement from the NGO Oxfam:

5. Asimismo, Oxfam invoca a las autoridades regionales y locales de Cajamarca a retomar el diálogo, escuchando, resolviendo las dudas de la población y, buscando el bienestar de quienes los eligieron. Esto no representa limitar sus derechos a decidir sobre sus circunscripciones y recursos.

6. Oxfam invoca al Gobierno peruano a formular políticas de largo plazo que permitan que la inversión pública y privada se realice en una forma armoniosa con la biodiversidad y las dinámicas sociales y culturas de las poblaciones indígenas y campesinas. En esa línea, impulsar políticas económicas alternativas, que reduzcan la fuerte dependencia del país con el modelo extractivista vigente, constituye una prioridad.

5. Similarly, Oxfam calls on the regional and local authorities of Cajamarca to resume dialogue, to listen and resolve the doubts of the population and to ensure they are looking for the well-being of those who elected them. This is not to limit their rights to decide on their constituencies and resources.

6. Oxfam calls for the Peruvian government to formulate long term policies that allow public and private investment to be made in a harmonious manner, with the biodiversity and social dynamics and cultures of the indigenous people and country people at its heart. In the same vein, they must make it their priority to boost alternative economic policies that would reduce Peru's heavy reliance on existing extractive industry.

From Cajamarca the blog Radio Alfil informed [es]:

Entre las 4 y 8 p.m. del día martes 17 de abril, unas 3 000 personas se concentraron en la Plaza de Armas de Cajamarca para iniciar un recorrido por las principales calles de la ciudad en respuesta a la presentación del peritaje de la parte hidrológica del EIA del proyecto minero Conga. Hubo movilización y luego vigilia.

On Tuesday April 17 between 4 and 8pm, some 3000 people gathered in the Plaza de Armas in Cajamarca to start a march through the city’s main streets in response to the presentation of the experts’ report of the hydrological part of the EIA of the Conga mining project. First there was a protest then a vigil.

Vigil in Cajamarca

On the other hand, there have been complaints [es] regarding the difficulty in accessing the experts’ technical report via the Internet. The blog Crónicas from the city of Cajamarca in Perú comments [es] on this:

Luego de descargar [en informe] me topé con lo que ya esperaba: el documento tiene el texto como imagen, de tal manera que no se puede hacer búsquedas de palabras. Pero hubo una sorpresa adicional: el documento está protegido contra impresión… bajo Windows, porque bajo Linux es posible imprimir.

After downloading the report I was confronted with what I had expected: the document’s text is formatted as an image, in a way in which one cannot search through the document for words. But, there was an additional surprise: the document was protected against any printing…under Windows, because you can print when you use Linux.

The blog of Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom), the political movement of Marco Arana – one of the leaders of the anti-mining movement- issued [es] their statement to a local radio station about the attitude of the government:

“La decisión política ha sido: ‘mire, el peritaje es nuestro, lo vamos a dar a conoce en los términos q nosotros queremos, y los demás tienen que acatar, y a la prensa le vamos a transmitir la imagen de que el debate técnico ya está resuelto, aquí está claro, lo que falta es solamente la decisión política’”

“The political decision so far has been of: ‘look, the experts’ report is ours, we are going to release it under our terms, and the others will just have to live with it, and we are going to show the press that the technical debate is over with – it’s clear, what is missing is only the political decision’”

The blog titled Environmental Defence Front of Cajamarca reproduced [es] part of the opinions of Robert Morán, one of the experts in charge of the alternative report commissioned by the regional government of Cajamarca:

Es totalmente irreal discutir los impactos de Conga sobre el agua sino se habla también de los impactos acumulativos que tendrán otros proyectos mineros en las mismas cabeceras de cuenca que Conga. Como mínimo, estos incluyen a la mina Yanacocha y sus futuras ampliaciones de Amaro y La Carpa; Galeno de Lumina Copper(China), y Michiquillay de Anglo American (Sudáfrica y Reino Unido)

It is completely unreal to discuss the impacts of the Conga project on the water without also talking about the accumulative impacts that other mining projects will have on the same lagoons. As a minimum, these include the Yanacocha mine and its future expansions in Amaro and La Carpa; Galeno of Lumina Copper (China), and Michiquillay of Anglo American (South Africa and the United Kingdom).

Given that apparently the two sides seem to be irreconcilable, it has been suggested [es] that a technical debate be carried out concerning the topic. In his blog Lacritaprecisa, Lucho Aguirre comments [es] with humour:

Debate técnico: Intercambio de puntos de vista entre dos partes antagónicas prescindiendo de palabras que sugieran algún tipo de emotividad o compasión. Es más, se recomienda prescindir por completo de palabras y usar, en cambio, tablas, gráficos de barras o pictogramas. En el debate técnico está prohibido el uso de megáfonos o sombreros que puedan contaminar la información.

Technical debate: Exchange of viewpoints between two antagonistic sides disregarding words that suggest any hint of emotion or compassion. What is more, one recommends disregarding words completely and in exchange using tables, bar graphs or pictograms. In the technical debate the use of megaphones or hats that can contaminate the information are forbidden

Some other bloggers claim [es] that the report clears any doubts and that the anti-miners are stubborn characters, such as Diego Yépez from the blog Cínico ¿yo?:

Esto es un levantamiento cultural, es el indio contra el blanco, el anti sistema contra el sistema. Así de simple. No hay confrontamiento racional de propuestas sino una pelea ideológica entre el chiquito y el grande, y lo que la gente que se opone al proyecto no entiende es que esa batalla hace tiempo ya la perdieron. […] Santos, Saavedra y su gente están a punto de cruzar la raya entre diferir con el gobierno y la anarquía, y ahí, viendo que Humala es cachaco de corazón, ayayay, va a correr sangre. Es jodido, vamos a joder nuestra imagen en el exterior, pero es necesario.

This is a cultural awakening, it is the native against the white-man, the anti-system against the system. It is that simple. There is no rational confrontation of proposals, rather an ideological fight between David and Goliath, and what the people who oppose the project do not understand is that they lost this battle a long time ago. […] Santos, Saavedra and their people are about to cross the line between not agreeing with the government and anarchy, and from there, seeing that Humala is from the military in his heart, blood will be shed. It’s messed up, we are going to mess up what people think of us from abroad, but it is necessary

What is evident is that no matter whether there is a report or not, the problem is far from being resolved. Such as Hans Rothgiesser mentioned in an article [es] in Semana Económica, “none of this would have been necessary had we had a credible mining ministry that when it approves an [Environmental Impact Study] it is because the [Environmental Impact Study] is being approved”. You can read a full version of the specialist technical report commissioned by the government on Scribd [es].

Originally published in the personal blog [es] of Juan Arellano.

Video Highlights: Syrian Activism, Children's Issues and Dolphin Deaths

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:36:50 +0000

This section aims to showcase interesting and recent posts in Global Voices that show the many ways in which videos are helping people tell stories all around the world. You can follow the activity by regions in our YouTube channel.

Middle East, North Africa:

As part of the special coverage on the Syria Protest 2011/12, these two posts sadly deal with the detention of yet more bloggers and activists.

Syria: Ali Mahmoud Othman, the “Eyes of Baba Amr”, Detained

Video activist Ali Mahmoud Othman, was seized by the Syrian Government. Othman, the head of the media office of Baba Amr, used to be a vegetable vendor who started documenting unrest in Homs when the revolution started, and continued assisting those covering the conflict. His detention is seen as a huge blow to citizen journalism in Syria, and the activists from the Baba Amr office are possibly at risk.

The following video [ar] shows Othman, fondly known as the “eyes of Baba Amr,” telling the world about the suffering of the population of Baba Amr. He talks to the camera without concerns for his identity. He believed his message would be more reliable and reach a wider audience if he showed his face:

Syria: Activist Rima Dali Arrested in Damascus for Calling for End to Killing

From Sunday 8 April, 2012 to Tuesday 10 April, 2012, Rima Dali was detained, Saffana Baqle and Assem Hamsho, who were with her at the time of the arrest, are still missing.

“Stop the killing. We want to build a country for all Syrians.” These were the words on the banner that Rima Dali held in front of the Syrian Parliament in Damascus on Sunday, April 8. Activists say she was arrested right after that. The following video shows Rima bravely holding the banner in front of cars while a group of women applaude [sic] her gesture.

Two other activists, Ali Dahna and Hussam Zein, were arrested 10 April, 2012 for holding the same banner during a sit-in near Qasr el-Adli, in Damascus.

South Asia and East Asia

Videos: Female Gendercide and Infanticide in India and China

In China and India, the strong cultural preference for male children instead of female children has resulted in a gender imbalance, brought on by female infanticide and selective abortions of female fetuses. A wide sample of videos, documentaries and even songs show the different implications of this problem: for the female children who are abandoned, for the women pregnant with female fetuses forced to abort or give the child for adoption, for those women who decide to raise daughters in spite of the cultural and economic hardships attached and for the people and organizations trying to change this phenomenon.

With the tagline of “The three deadliest words in the world”, the “It's a Girl” documentary is one which through interviews and on-location filming is figuring out why 200 million girls are “missing” in India and China, and why there has been no effective actions to this problem.

Latin America

Mexico: Children in Viral Video Shake Up Presidential Campaign

In the presidential race in Mexico, the Uncomfortable Children became viral through a video [es] showing young children inhabiting a city full of crime, violence, corruption, kidnapping and other problems that have become issues for Mexicans while asking for candidates to actually do something to change the situation and guarantee a better future for the children.

Reactions have been varied, between citizens who agree that the situation is unacceptable and is more like reality than people would comfortably admit, to others who would like to know who is behind the making of this video, and who criticize the use of children for this type of political message.

Si éste es el futuro que me espera, no lo quiero. Basta de trabajar para sus partidos y no para nosotros. Basta de arreglar el país “por encimita”. Doña Josefina, don Andrés Manuel, don Enrique, don Gabriel, se acabó el tiempo, México ya tocó fondo. ¿Sólo van a ir por la silla o van a cambiar el futuro de nuestro país?

If that is the future that is waiting for me, I don't want it. Stop working for your parties and not for us. Stop fixing the country superficially. Ms. Josefina, Mr. Andrés Manuel, Mr. Enrique, Mr. Gabriel, time has run out, Mexico has already hit bottom. Are you only gunning for the seat of the presidency or are you going to change the future of our country?

Peru: What Is Killing the Dolphins?

The death of more than 625 dolphins in 135 Km of beach to the North of Peru has made the headlines and has the international community concerned. Evidence seems to link the Sísmica 3D underwater exploration for oil and natural gas to the death of dolphins, due to the damage evidenced in the dead marine mammals which match with acoustic decompression. Dr Newborns, calves, juveniles, lactating females, pregnant females, adult males and female dolphins have all been affected. Links in this post lead to Spanish articles unless otherwise noted.

Dolphin and baby by Vincent Teeuwen CCBy

Hardy Jones, the founder of BlueVoice.org [en], filmmaker and activist for the conservation of marine life, went to Peru to experience Dr. Yaipén-Llanos' primary reports of the 25th March. Already on Peru's northern coast, he tweeted [en] on the 27th March:

Found 615 dead #dolphins on 135 kilometers of beach N of San Jose, Peru. Tragedy unspeakable. Please retweet. This must be investigated.

Meanwhile, environment and fishing ministers met on the 10th April to report on the link between oil exploration and the deaths of the dolphins. They also had to report on the measures being taken to avoid greater environmental impact on marine fauna, now that a report has shown that approximately 20,000 dolphins, as well as other species, are in mortal danger. Inquiries into the use of Sísmica 3d have been planned along the entire Peruvian coastline.

The producer of this video, Hardy Jones, has just returned from video taping the tragic die-off of dolphins along the coast of Peru. BlueVoice, working with the marine mammal rescue team of ORCA Peru, ran 135 kilometers of coast from San Jose north. We counted 615 dead dolphins. Dr. Carlos Yaipen Llanos, director of ORCA, conducted necropsies of several of the dead animals.

Internet Campaigns Invite Tourists to Visit Latin America

Jon Lindsay Miles — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:43:16 +0000

The people of Latin America boast of their land's fine and varied geography, with its beaches, forests and mountains; they are proud of the inheritance left them by the peoples who inhabited these lands in pre-Hispanic times, and which are standing today in the form of its archeological remains, the wonders of which are scattered all across the continent; and then there is the rich mixture of races and cultures that make up the modern cities of the region.

But if this part of the world is so magical, why isn't it also the most visited?

According to statistics of the most visited countries in 2010, Mexico has the highest ranking among Latin American nations, in tenth place on the list, followed by Argentina, which is at number 43. And if we take into account that France, which heads the list, receives 79.3 million tourists, compared with the 22.6 million that put Mexico in tenth place, and the 5.2 million that visit Argentina, it becomes clear that Latin America is not chosen by large numbers of people as a tourist destination.

However, if we look at these statistics from a historical perspective, tourism to Latin America has increased, and, even if not dramatically so, certainly enough to provide governments with reason to grant more importance to the sector. As mentioned [es] in a statement on EnlaRedRadio, there are various challenges for the region when it comes to increasing tourism:

Marco Antonio Serrato, director general de Educación Ejecutiva en el TEC de Monterrey en México, comenta que entre los temas que determinan el debate actual sobre el turismo en la región, destacan “el rol que la industria juega como motor del desarrollo económico y social en los países de América Latina; la puesta en valor de los activos, sean naturales, culturales, arqueológicos o humanos, con los que nuestros países cuentan para posicionar la actividad turística y las marcas país a nivel internacional; y la diversificación del turismo en variantes no solo de playa, sino de naturaleza, cultura, negocios, salud y congresos”.

Serrato añade que “el desarrollo de estrategias e infraestructuras que promuevan y faciliten un turismo sostenible y la mejora de servicios complementarios como los gastronómicos, telefonía móvil, renta de vehículos y hospitalarios, además de la profesionalización de los trabajadores que atienden a los usuarios, al igual que garantizar la seguridad de los turistas y reforzar la percepción de esta, son tareas que vienen aparejadas con los lineamientos de desarrollo más generales”.

Marco Antonio Serrato, Executive Director General of Education at the Monterrey TEC in Mexico, notes that key issues that shape the current debate about tourism in the region include, “the role the industry plays as the engine of economic and social development in the countries of Latin America; attaching a true value to the assets our countries possess, whether these be natural, cultural, archeological or in terms of its people, and which will allow us to locate our tourist activity and national brands at an international level; and the diversification of tourism into activities that move beyond simple beach holidays into offering the experience of our natural environment, and other activities related to culture, business, health and the staging of conferences”.

Serrato adds that, “the development of strategies and infrastructures that stimulate sustainable tourism, the improvement of complementary services in gastronomy, in the mobile telephone network, vehicle rental and hospitality services, as well as the professional training of the workforce that deals with tourists, guaranteeing their safety and security and increasing their perception of the same - all these are tasks that are entailed in the development of the most general of plans.”

Jorge Gobbi, Global Voices author and blogger specialising in tourist matters, wrote [es] in early 2012 about this growth trend in tourism in Latin America in his Blog de Viajes (Travel Blog) [es]:

se pueden señalar al menos dos cosas. La primera, las cifras de crecimiento de las naciones sudamericanas se ubica entre el 8 al 14%, dos a tres veces más que la tasa de crecimiento mundial. Segundo, buena parte de ese crecimiento se está dando gracias al aumento del turismo regional. Lo que es una muy buena consecuencia de la mejor situación económica y del aumento del consumo en nuestros países.

Con esas perspectivas, es de esperar que para este 2012 los organismos de turismo sudamericanos se van a concentrar en incrementar su promoción en otros países de la región, sin apuntar tanto a América del Norte y Europa. Esperemos que 2012 sea la consolidación de una tendencia de crecimiento económico a mediano y largo plazo en América del Sur, ya que las perspectivas globales no parecen demasiado positivas.

at least two points can be identified. First, growth figures of between 8% and 14% among South American nations, which are between two and three times the rate for the world as a whole. Second, a good part of this growth is due to tourism within the region itself. This is one very positive consequence of the improved economic situation and the growth in consumption within our countries.

From this perspective, it is to be hoped that tourist organisations across South America are going to focus in 2012 on increasing their promotional activities in other countries in the region, and not give so much attention to the North American and European markets. Let's hope that 2012 will be the year of consolidation towards both a medium and long term trend in economic growth in South America, particularly as the global picture isn't particularly positive.

A question follows: What concrete actions are governments or businesses taking to increase the flow of tourists into their countries? Apart from the infrastructure works and service sector training that needs to be carried out, one of the most common strategies is that of the publicity campaign.

Colombia is host to one of the most well-known tourist promotion campaigns, with its slogan, “Colombia, the danger is you'll want to stay“, which was preceded by the establishment of the country brand: “Colombia is passion” [es]. There is an official travel guide to accompany the campaign, which has produced various promotional videos:

Neighbouring Venezuela is also attempting to attract tourists through its Venezuela Turismo, since the country possesses many interesting [es] destinations.

Another Colombian neighbour, Panama, has recently launched [es] its “Disfruta Panamá” or “Enjoy Panama” campaign, which makes use of a YouTube channel and Facebook pages in both Spanish and English, as well as Twitter accounts, also in Spanish and English. The website Visit Panama provides an additional resource.

As for Central America, although there is a regional campaign to promote tourism within the region, several of its countries have their own campaigns, as in the case of Guatemala with its “Corazón del Mundo Maya” [Heart of the Mayan World], or Costa Rica's “Sin Ingredientes Artificiales” (No Artificial Ingredients).

Mexico is running several campaigns, one of which, Mundo Maya 2012 [Mayan World 2012, es], places the same emphasis as Guatemala on the ancient Mayan civilisation. Another is Visit Mexico. The Federal Executive Authority in this country has its own Ministry of Tourism, which initiates the development of tourist destinations and activities at the same time as promoting these among both Mexicans and those from abroad. And then there is the Mexican Tourist Board (also an arm of the Federal Government), which coordinates, designs and develops both national strategies and those targeting the overseas market.

Moving south, we find “Chile es tuyo” [Chile belongs to you, es], a campaign mainly targeted at the internal tourist market. Something similar can be found in Argentina's “Viajá por tu país” [Travel your own land, es]. But we also come across local initiatives here, as in the case of that of the Tourist Secretariat of Santa Cruz Patagonia [es] or that of Mendoza [es].

In neighbouring Uruguay there are several websites that promote tourism in the country, including Tourists Club Uruguay, Viaje a Uruguay [Journey to Uruguay, es] and Turismo en Uruguay [es].

Several campaigns have been put into motion in Peru as part of the activity that takes place within its country brand, with the launch of a new campaign [es] in the coming days. One of its previous campaigns, “Perú: Vive la leyenda” [Peru: Live the Legend] was a prizewinner in Brazil last year. This is the video:

I had the opportunity earlier this year to speak with the Argentinian journalist and blogger previously cited in this article, Jorge Gobbi, and we recorded a short podcast [es] about tourism in Latin America today.

Although the above is not an exhaustive survey, it does give a rough idea of how the promotion of tourism is currently taking place in a region with an infinite number of attractions to offer to both local and international visitors.

Thanks to our Latin American collegues at Global Voices for the information and links they provided.

Post originally [es] published in Juan Arellano's personal blog.

The small image of Machu Picchu is from the Flickr account of Benjamin Dumas, used under license Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.0 Genérica (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Peru: What Is Killing the Dolphins?

Georgi McCarthy — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:23:33 +0000

[All links lead to sites in Spanish unless otherwise stated]

Dolphins [en] are among the most intelligent creatures on the planet, found in almost all the oceans in the world and with very few natural predators. In Peru they are found along various sections of the coast, including Lima's beaches where they swim alongside surfers, in the Paracas National Reservation, or on Piura's coastline, in the north of Peru, which is a spot also enjoyed by humpback whales.

This is the reason the news that in the first part of this year 3,000 dolphins have been found dead along the north coast of the country has caused such astonishment. Carlos Yaipén-Llanos, director of ORCA [Scientific Organisation for Conservation of Aquatic Animals], a Peruvian marine life conservation organisation, points out that these deaths are the result of “an acoustic impact that is created by deep-sea equipment used for the detection of oil, gas and other minerals”.

Dolphins in Pisco, Perú. Photo by Flickr user Alicia0928 under CC license. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

The director of ORCA also reveals that it has been deduced from the forensic analises of the dolphins that they suffered from “acute decompression syndrome evidenced by fractures in the periostial bones and hemorrhaging in the middle ear, disseminated pulmonary emphasema, and air bubbles in organs such as the liver, kidneys and blood vessels”.

A subsequent newspaper report mentions that it is the use of exploration technology known as Sísmica 3d which causes the acoustic impacts that affect the dolphins. The company BPZ [en], based in Tumbes (to the north of Piura), is using this form of exploration to gather information on oil and natural gas deposits. This company has denied that their research causes the deaths of marine species, but the report on environmental impact indicates that this technology does have its consequences.

President of the Congress Daniel Abugattás has declared his hopes that the ministers of environment, production, energy, and mining inform the Peruvian parliament about this case. Another source suggests that it is IMARPE, the Instituto del Mar del Perú [Peruvian Sea Institute], that should release an official report on the matter.

Hardy Jones, the founder of BlueVoice.org [en], filmmaker and activist for the conservation of marine life, went to Peru to experience Dr. Yaipén-Llanos' primary reports of the 25th March. Already on Peru's northern coast, he tweeted [en] on the 27th March:

Found 615 dead #dolphins on 135 kilometers of beach N of San Jose, Peru. Tragedy unspeakable. Please retweet. This must be investigated.

On his personal blog he describes [en] in greater detail how he found out about these events, his trip to Peru and what he saw there:

Carlos and his team performed necropsies on a couple of the dolphins. Seeing a new born common dolphin, umbilicus still attached was wrenching.
We raced along the hard sand at the edge of the surfline crying out when we saw a dead dolphin. At first they came every couple minutes. But then we’d hit intervals when the cries would go “dolphin! Delphin! Otro! Dos mas! There’s another one up by the dune.”

Later he posted [en] part of Dr. Yaipén-Llanos' report on BlueVoice's blog:

As previously reported, two species have been affected: Long beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) and Burmeister’s porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis). We counted 615 common dolphins. All age classes were affected: Adult males, females, lactating females, juveniles, calves and newborns. We counted 19 porpoises, only females and calves.

ORCA has shared photos on Facebook of their findings. Dr. Yaipén-Llanos was interviewed on Spanish CNN about the events. The following video [en] is part of Hardy Jones and Carlos Yaipén-Llanos' journey along the coast of Northern Peru:

Meanwhile, environment and fishing ministers met on the 10th April to report on the link between oil exploration and the deaths of the dolphins. They also had to report on the measures being taken to avoid greater environmental impact on marine fauna, now that a report has shown that approximately 20,000 dolphins, as well as other species, are in mortal danger. Inquiries into the use of Sísmica 3d have been planned along the entire Peruvian coastline.

Original post published on Juan Arellano's personal blog.

Peru: Rains Overflow Rivers and Flood Loreto

Rebecca Knaggs — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 05:17:41 +0000

The rain in Peru has not stopped. Due to the heavy rains during the months of February and March [es] in much of the highlands [es] and Peruvian jungle, now there are floods in the lower parts of Peru, mainly in the regions of Loreto and Ucayali. Several weeks ago, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (Senamhi) of Loreto gave warnings [es] of the high levels that the Huallaga, Ucayali, Marañón and Amazon rivers had reached.

And although some authorities had taken [es] measures, it wasn't regarding the expectations of flooding. The Regional President of Loreto only requested [es] a state of emergency when the list of injured persons had reached 40,000. The central government finally declared [es] a state of emergency when the number of people affected rose to 100,000.

The floods have affected [es] the normal development of classes in schools situated in the lower zones of the region. Classrooms have had to be improvised and now take place in local neighbourhoods and residences where the students arrive to class in small boats known as peque-peque. This is shown in the following photo which was shared by Twitter user @PacoBardales [es], and which belongs [es] to reporter David Gonzales. The photograph was taken at the school N·601536, in the country house Nuevo Campeon, Itaya river, Belén.

Fuerte: Así están estudiando los niños en Belén-Iquitos luego de las graves inundaciones http://twitpic.com/931bx2 8:13 AM - 30 Mar 12 via TweetDeck

Strong image: Children in Belen-Iquitos studying during serious flooding in Peru

Flooded school, Belén, Iquitos, Peru

More recent figures have shown [es] that those affected by the floods are somewhere around 200,000 in the Loreto region alone. These figures aren't surprising, given the level that the Amazon river has reached [es] in the last few days, causing many regions of Iquitos to be flooded. The height of the rivers has even surpassed its last record of 118,59 metres above sea level in the year 1986. Such areas are visible as in this photograph, shared by Twitter user Sebastián Faura (@SebastianFaura) [es]:

es necesario declarar el estado de emergencia en la ciudad de Iquitos. http://pic.twitter.com/DNtmALue 10:04 AM - 2 Apr 12 via web

it is necessary to declare a state of emergency in the city of Iquitos.

Iquitos flooded

On the Civil Defense page [es] on Facebook, several pictures of the floods have also been shared. The Diario de IQT blog [es] also shares pictures, while Paco Bardales comments:

En Iquitos han sido los ríos Itaya y Nanay quienes más han generado embates contra las riberas. Las zonas más afectadas han sido las comunidades rurales del distrito de Belén, el barrio, Prolongación Putumayo, Bellavista-Nanay, Av. La Marina, Bellavista-Nanay. Además, se han colocado carpas en primera cuadra de Ricardo Palma para atender a los afectados en Puerto Salaverry, debajo del Boulevard de la ciudad.

In Iquitos, the Itaya and Nanay rivers have been beating against the shores. The more affected regions have been the rural community districts of Belén, Prolongación Putumayo, Bellavista-Nanay, Av. La Marina, Bellavista-Nanay. People from these regions have been putting up tents in the first block of Ricardo Palma in order to assist the injured in Puerto Salaverry, underneath the city's Boulevard.

Flooded neighborhood in Iquitos (Photo: Revista CETA)

Reporter and blogger Ramiro Celis from Loreto writes [es] in his blog Iquitos News about the inefficiency as well as the indifference of the local authorities in Iquitos with regards to preventing these states of emergency that have had to happen over the years:

En época de vaciante caminar por Belén zona baja es una experiencia única. Las casas son de madera y tienen techo de palma. Se ubican a unos metros de la superficie y no gozan de servicios básicos como agua o energía eléctrica de calidad, ya que las conexiones son por pequeños tubos que suben hasta las casas y la electricidad es abastecida por cables que parecen telarañas. […] Aunque su existencia data del siglo pasado, ningún alcalde belenino ha hecho un plan o un proyecto de modernización de esta zona en la que se incluya la construcción de viviendas dignas e incorporación de servicios básicos.

Punchana e Iquitos son los distritos más afectados cuando crecen los ríos y definitivamente se debe pensar o elaborar un proyecto que evite el gasto excesivo de recursos en apoyo a los ciudadanos afectados, ya que, ciertamente, existen alternativas de solución a estos problemas. […] Aunque en algunas jurisdicciones, como en el caso de Punchana, el alcalde manifestó que no era su problema si aquellas personas habían optado por vivir en las zonas periféricas, siendo duramente criticado por los medios y la población en general.

To walk in the lowland area of Belén during the dry season is a unique experience. The houses are made of wood and have roofs of palm leaves. They meet several metres from the surface and the people do not enjoy the basic necessities such as running water or quality electricity. The electrical connections are by small tubes that go up into the houses where the electricity is supplied by cables that resemble spider webs. […] Although its existence has been outdated since the last century, no mayor of Belen has ever made a plan or project of modernization for this region in terms of the construction of decent houses or the need for basic services.

Punchana and Iquitos are the most affected regions when the rivers overflow. Therefore, one must think of a project that, for once and for all, evades the excessive expenditure of resources in support of affected citizens. Certainly, there must exist a solution to these problems. […] However in several jurisdictions such as Punchana, the mayor is being harshly criticized by the media and the population in general for declaring that it isn't his problem if some people have chosen to live in peripheral regions.

While the level of the Amazon River threatens [es] to keep growing, in Iquitos the population is suffering from power outages [es]. Cutting the electricity was a precaution measure in order to avoid possible short circuits that could be caused by the flooding. In addition, some people are becoming alarmed by the the appearance [es] of strange aquatic animals, while others have had to be relocated and are now complaining [es] that they are so far away that they have been forgotten by authorities.

A TV program in Iquitos sent out this information regarding the floods [es]:

Finally, the following video shows various shots taken in the flooded city if Iquitos [es]:

Originally published in the personal blog of Juan Arellano.

Colombia: Nostalgia for 1990s Peruvian TV

Julián Ortega Martínez — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:32:06 +0000

In the 1990s, cable television was too expensive for most Colombians, who resorted to cheap satellite dish services colloquially known as perubólicas [es] (a portmanteau of Peru and [antenas] parabólicas), because they carried virtually all Peruvian networks. On the night of April 4, 2012, hundreds of Colombian Twitter users recalled their favourite TV shows, commercials and characters of the era using #NostalgiaDePerubolica.

Peru: Focusing on Technology for Social and Economic Development

Silvia Viñas — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:00:52 +0000

What if Peru were more committed to supporting and developing technology? This is what Oscar Montezuma asks in the blog Blawyer [es]. He looks at the current cabinet of ministries and suggests changes to give technology a leading role in the government's strategy for social and economic development.

‘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].

Peru: Abancay Under Alert Due to Heavy Rainfall

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:25:03 +0000

Juan Arellano gathers [es] photos, tweets and reports on the state of emergency in Abancay, the capital of the Apurímac region in southern-central Peru, due to heavy rainfall.

Peru: Controversy and Tributes on 120th Anniversary of César Vallejo's Birth

Rebecca Knaggs — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:25:53 +0000

Google

On 16 March, 2012, Peru celebrated [es] the 120th anniversary of the birth of the great Peruvian poet César Vallejo, who, as Wikipedia in Spanish points out, is “considered amongst the greatest innovators of poetry of the 20th century. He was, in the opinion of the critic, Thomas Merton, 'the best poet, worldwide, after Dante‘.”

In Peru, the date was commemorated [es] with numerous activities, such as recitals, lectures and new publications.

One of the things that greatly surprised Peruvian lovers of Literature was Google's doodle, which was made available only for Peru and the United States, and which paid tribute [es] to the writer. This tribute was driven by numerous netizens [es] on Facebook, and was supported by the The House for Peruvian Literature [es], who also gathered numerous other proposals for Vallejo doodles [es] that were to be sent to Google. However, the doodle that was finally decided upon, was an original by Google.

The blog Debae Pedagógico reproduces [es] one of the doodles which had been proposed and what inspired its creator, the artist from Lima Javier Aquino:

me concentré en la personalidad reflexiva y la tristeza de los poemas de Vallejo aludiendo al dolor humano. Por ser un escritor de antaño es que los elementos aluden a algo antiguo y precario refiriéndose también a la situación económica poco favorable que vivó el poeta.

I focused on the reflective personality and the sadness of Vallejo's poems, alluding to human suffering. To be a writer in the old days, the elements had to allude to something old and precarious, referring themselves to the less-favourable economic situation in which the poet lived.

César Vallejo - Alternative Doodle

#BlameVallejo

But this anniversary has not been exempt from controversy. Controversy has risen from an article [es] in a local newspaper that alludes to the celebrated sadness of the Vallejan poetry; in the sense that it has damaged the national sub-conscience and is guilty of the supposed defeatism of the Peruvians. The author of the article, Diego de La Torre, later attacked J.R. Ribeyro, another Peruvian writer, who praises liberal theories. According to him, these are the things that contribute to achieving “a citizen with a winning mentality and lack of complexes.”

The reactions on social networks were immediate and devastatingly in Vallejo's defense. Above all, reactions were most frequent on Twitter, where Twitter users posted sarcastically under the hashtag #CulpadeVallejo (#BlameVallejo) [es], throwing blame at the poet for everything bad that has happened.

A copy of the entire article was made public [es] on Facebook, but it is in the blogs where one can truly see the debates against the article. For example, Gustavo Faverón wrote [es]:

El artículo de Diego de la Torre dice que estaríamos mejor si en lugar de tener a uno de los cuentistas magistrales de la tradición hispana y en lugar de tener a quien fuera, posiblemente, el mayor transformador de la poesía en español en los últimos trescientos cincuenta años, hubiéramos tenido una serie de epígonos de Paulo Coelho. […]

Diego de la Torre, cuya capacidad de lectura no puede ir más allá de interpretaciones al pie de la letra (como las del célebre personaje de Ribeyro que terminó matando a su amada por su incapacidad de comprender una metáfora) supone que la vida es literalmente una competencia con repartición de medallas en la línea final, y que, en ella, alguien como Vallejo, acaso por haber muerto sin dinero o por no haber alcanzado en vida la plena celebridad, o acaso simplemente por no haberse rendido a la lógica del capital como única medida de toda moral, no es otra cosa que un fracasado.

Diego de la Torre's article says that we would be better if instead of having one of the magisterial writers of Hispanic history and instead of having who was, possibly, the oldest transformer of Spanish poetry in the last 350 years, we would have had a series of imitators such as Paulo Coelho. […]

Diego de la Torre, whose reading capacity does not go much further than interpretations of letters (similar to the instance where the celebrated character of Ribeyro killed his lover because of her inability to comprehend a metaphor). He supposes that life is quite literally a competition with distributions of medals upon the finish line, and that, someone like Vallejo, who perhaps died without money and without having achieved in life full celebrity status, or perhaps simply did not exhaust the logic of the capital as the last measure of all moral, is no more than a failure.

Later, he concludes:

Tonterías, obviamente. Tonterías que equivaldrían a decir que por culpa de Sófocles los griegos creían que el esfuerzo humano era inútil, o que por culpa de Kafka los germanos suponen que un hombre es en el fondo una cucaracha, o que debido a Melville y a Hawthorne y a Poe y a Faulkner los americanos se creen condenados a la desgracia y al horror, o que Camus y Sartre han convertido a los franceses en fatalistas o en nihilistas.

Silliness, obviously. Silliness that would equate to saying that it's Sophocles' fault that the Greeks believed that human strength was useless, or that it's Kafka's fault that the Germans thought that a man transformed from a cockroach, or that because of Melville and Hawthorne and Poe and Faulkner, the Americans see themselves condemned to disgrace and horror, or that Camus and Sartre have converted the French into fatalists and nihilists.

In the group blog Mil Inviernos, a similar opinion [es] is shared:

Para de la Torre, César Vallejo ha sido más nefasto que Fujimori o Guzmán porque se insertó en el inconsciente y, para poderlo discernir, sería necesario un psicoanalista. Habría que preguntarle al columnista peruano qué influencia ha tenido “Las once mil vergas” de Apollinaire en el comportamiento de los franceses o si Passolini por haber hecho “Saló o los 120 días de Sodoma” es el culpable de que Italia tenga a Berlusconi.

For de la Torre, César Vallejo has been more harmful than Fujimori or Guzmán because he inserted himself into the unconscious and, in order to be able to discern it, it would have been necessary to be a psychoanalyst. You would have to ask the Peruvian columnist what had been the influence on the behaviour of the French in Apollinaire's ”The Eleven Thousand Rods” or it Passolini for his “Saló or the 120 days of Sodom” is guilty of Italy having Berlusconi.

Iván Thays points out, with regards to the outraged Twitter users, that many of them ” have not read, nor will read, a line of Julio Ramón Ribeyro or of César Vallejo.” Later on, he gives his own opinion [es] about the article:

No solo sustenta una idea improbable, como decir que una obra puede dañar el subconsciente nacional, o prejuiciosa, como dar a entender entre líneas que los autores representativos deben escribir libros optimistas para favorecer la autoestima de sus países, sino que, además, ha leído de manera superficial y frívola los autores que menciona, y en especial a César Vallejo, quien está muy lejos de ser un derrotista […]

debe quedar claro que cuando César Vallejo escribe: “Yo nací un día en el que Dios estuvo enfermo” no está expresando una idea derrotista sino su disconformidad frente al mundo, atestiguando que existe una idea de justicia implantada por un superior (llámese Dios o quien sea) contra la que se subleva. En ese poema la frase se reitera una y otra vez (de ahí el título “Espergesia”) aumentando el nivel de indignación del poeta y llamando al lector a indignarse también.

It sustains an improbable idea; like saying that a work of literature can damage the national subconscience, or prejudice; like making one understand that representative authors must write optimistic books in favour of the self-esteem of the countries. But also he has read of the superficial and frivolous manners of the authors that he mentions, especially César Vallejo, who is infact quite far from being a defeatist. […]

it must remain clear that when César Vallejo writes: “I was born on a day when God was ill,” that he is not expressing the defeatist idea, but his discomfort against the world. He is testifying that there exists an idea of well-established justice by a superior being (calling himself God or whoever he may be) against he that infuriates himself. In this poem, the phrase is repeated over and over again “Espergesia”, increasing the level of indignation of the poet and calling to the reader to become indignant himself.

Finally he manifests that:

Hace 120 años nació César Vallejo y, por lo visto, la incomprensión que obtuvo de sus compatriotas contemporáneos (que lo hizo refugiarse en París y no regresar jamás) sigue vigente en este nuevo país puesto al servicio de la “Marca Perú”.

It has been 120 years since the birth of César Vallejo and apparently, the lack of understanding that set his fellow contemporary countrymen (that made him take refuge in Paris and never return) remains current in this new country, posted to the service of the ”Marca Perú”.

Virtual tributes

But not everything that has been written about Vallejo these days has turned into a provoked debate over the aforementioned article. In her blog, Sonia Luz Carrillo recalls [es] and compiles previous articles that have been written about the poet.

In Cinencuentro they review [es] points of intersection between Vallejo's poetry and cinema, and post a compilation of videos [es] with his declaimed poems also proves to be quite interesting.

The aforementioned Gustavo Faverón writes [es] about “Nueve Monstruos” (”Nine Monsters”), one of Vallejo's most famous poems:

Vallejo, como escritor y como intelectual, se estrelló muchas veces contra los obstáculos de una educación limitada y las escaseces que afronta cualquier peruano de la clase media provinciana que además se va empobreciendo a lo largo de su vida; luchó y fracasó en muchos géneros (no fue un gran novelista, no fue un gran dramaturgo, aunque tratara), pero no desfalleció ni renunció, probablemente porque entendió que los fracasos temporales eran inevitables en una empresa como la que se había planteado, que no era la pequeña empresa de triunfar como escritor, sino la inmensa empresa de inventar un lenguaje que le permitiera decir lo inefable o por lo menos señalarlo, dibujar el gesto que nos permitiera intuirlo.

Vallejo, as a writer and intellectual, crashed against the obstacles of a limited education and the shortages that face any Peruvian of the provincial middle class. In addition to becoming impoverished throughout his life, he fought and failed in many ways (he wasn't a grand novelist nor was he a grand playwright, even though he tried). But he didn't become weak and he didn't resign, probably because he understood that temporary failures were inevitable in an industry such as the one where he was planted, and it wasn't the small business of achieving triumph as a writer, but the immense business of inventing a language that would permit him to say the indescribable, or at least to point it out or to draw the gesture that would allow us to sense it.

The linguist Nila Vigil recalls [es] her first time reading a work by Vallejo:

Yo lo conocí en el colegio, me encantó (lo de Paco Yunque no lo cuento). En casa de mis padres había dos libritos de él de editorial Losada y me los devoré. No sé cuánto entendería de sus poemas pero los leía y leía con pasión porque me dejaban un no sé qué en el alma. Han pasado más de 30 años desde la primera vez que lo leí y me sigo emocionando cuando lo leo. Creo que es uno de los mejores poetas que han escrito en castellano.

I was introduced to him first in school and I enoyed it thoroughly (the short story of Paco Yunque). In my parents' house, there were 2 little books of his from the Losada editorial and I devoured them. I didn't know how much I would understand, but I read them and I read them with passion, because they left something - I don't know what - inside of my soul. 30 years have passed since the first time I read his work and I still become emotional when I read it again. I believe that he is one of the best poets that has ever written in Spanish.

In the blog Marea Cultural, Augusto Rubio recalls [es]:

César Vallejo se reconcilia en el alma y en el corazón de su patria cuando abrimos sus libros y les damos lectura. Él representaba emblemáticamente el alma mestiza peruana y latinoamericana que prefiere la marginación dolorosa a la humillación de la servidumbre.

Whenever we open his books, we find that César Vallejo is reconciled in the soul and in the heart of his nation. Symbolically, he represented the soul of the Latin American and Peruvian half-breed that prefers the painful marginalization of the humillation of servitude.

Finally, on Youtube you can find this musical version of “Masa”; another of the most recognized poems of César Vallejo.

This post was originally posted in the personal blog [es] of Juan Arellano