Global Voices » Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau: President Passes Away Amidst Political Upheaval

João Miguel D. de A. Lima — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:33:49 +0000

After being hospitalized for almost three months, the President of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanhá, passed away in Paris on Monday, January 9, 2012. He was 64 years and died of diabetes, leaving the small Portuguese-speaking African country in a delicate political situation.

Malam Bacai Sanhá, deceased president of Guinea-Bissau. Photo from António Aly Silva (used with permission).

A familiar political figure in the country, Bacai Sanhá was a member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). He had served as acting president of Guinea-Bissau from 1999 to 2000. He then tried for the presidency twice before winning the presidential elections in 2009.

The government decreed seven days of national mourning during which, the flag will be flown at half-mast. The repatriation of Sanhá's body for burial, is also underway.

The constitution stipulates that an election must take place within 90 days. Meanwhile, the President of the National People's Assembly, Raimundo Pereira, has begun serving as the pre-election, interim president.

Recent upheaval and political tension

On December 26, 2011, the capital city Bissau was the stage of an intense political turmoil. A dissenting section of the military conducted an upheaval, considered a preamble to a coup d'état, as this group had the support of a number of politicians.

Antônio Aly Silva, the most visible face of the Guinea-Bissauan blogosphere, had followed these activities closely on his blog [pt], as they had unfolded throughout the day:

Bissau acordou soalheira, mas estranha. E sobretudo confusa.

Bissau woke up sunny but strange. And above all, confusing.

"Military moving around in Bissau". Photos by Aly Silva, used with permission.

The word “confusing” gives a good idea of the perception of the events that followed the alleged attempt of coup d’état. Military personnel on the streets, sounds of gunshot and the cut on public lighting, built the scene of instability - together with rumors, accusations and arrest warrants.

The population even followed the chase of Major Iaia Dabó, who was said to have willingly turned himself over to the police and was later announced dead [pt]. Dabó was shot in cold blood inside the car [pt] of Deputy Conduto de Pina by the Police of Rapid Intervention. Iaia Dabó's brother, Baciro Dabó, was killed in similar conditions in 2006, involved in another attempt of coup d'état.

Rear Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto was accused of leading the upheavel and was arrested [pt] on December 26, by orders of the Army Chief, Antonio Indjai. They were both involved in recent political events in the country. In August 2008, Bubo Na Tchuto tried to organize a coup, but was pre-empted and arrested. He escaped and later returned to Guinea-Bissau under the protection of the UN.

In 2010 however, military unrest was responsible for the arrest of Bubo Na Tchuto (from inside the UN building) and of the Prime Minister Carlos Gomes. The Army Chief Antonio Indjai conducted the unrest, and said that he would kill the prime minister if his supporters kept on with the demonstrations for his release. President Bacai Sanhá intervened and put an end to the unrest, calling it a confusion between soldiers.

Aly Silva reported the general feeling [pt] that remained in Bissau, after what he called a day of ‘96 hours':

Quase quatro dias depois de uma suposta sublevacao nas casernas, Bissau ainda guarda o medo. O medo desta noite, da noite de amanha e de outra noites. Ha avenidas que ainda sao cortadas a noite, ruas ainda mais escuras. No entanto, as declaracoes parecem unanimes, quer falemos do Governo, quer da classe castrense, quer ainda das organizacoes internacionais: “a situacao esta controlada”. Mas nao, nao esta.

Nearly four days after an alleged uprising in the barracks, Bissau still has fear. The fear of tonight, tomorrow night and other nights. There are still closed avenues at night, even darker streets. However, the statements seem unanimous whether from the Government, the military class or even international organizations: “The situation is controlled.” But no, it isn't.

"Calm returns to Bissau". Photo shared by Léo Diouf (@dioufleo) on Twitter (December 26, 2011).

Providing an outlook [pt] of the aftermath of the upheaval, Aly added:

55 pessoas estao detidas, repartidas por 3 unidades militares e uma civil: Marinha de guerra (29 detidos), base aerea (24 detidos), quartel de Mansoa (1 detido - Bubo Na Tchuto) e Policia Judiciaria (Marcelino Cabral - Djoi). Por este andar, o fim-de-ano sera…una mierda!

55 people are detained, across three military and one civilian units: Navy (29 detainees), air base (24 detainees), barracks Mansoa (1 arrested - Bubo Na Tchuto) and Judicial Police (Marcelino Cabral - Djoi). At this rate, the year-end will be … una mierda (shit)!

He later announced that three soldiers who had been detained in the prison of Marinha da Guerra were released on January 6.

Finally, Aly Silva expressed his worries [pt] with “Bissau under siege”, with many of the avenues and roads closed by the military at night:

O País não está bem, nota-se, ainda que os que mandam tentem mostrar alguma serenidade, e normalidade, no meio do caos que se instalou a 26 de dezembro. Percebe-se. Eu entendo-os. Num País onde a oportunidade tende a ser a mãe de todas as batalhas - desgraças - um descuido, um limpar de espingarda pode ser a morte do artista…

The country is not well, you can tell; even if the ones who rule try to show some composure and normality amid the chaos that was installed on December 26, it can be sensed. I understand them. In a country where the opportunity is likely to be the mother of all battles - misfortunes - an oversight, cleaning the shotgun can be the death of an artist…

Sara Moreira collaborated on this post.

Online Highlights from the Portuguese-Speaking World in 2011

Maisie Fitzpatrick — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:11:32 +0000

2011 has been another year in which bloggers and activists from a number of Portuguese-speaking countries have come together to report, translate and promote blogs and citizen media from all over the world. This article selects the highlights in the coverage of Lusophone countries on Global Voices over the last year.

Portuguese language and culture

In February we covered several blogs that gave voice to their love of the Portuguese language, paying tribute to the great variety of dialects spoken by more than 200 million people worldwide.

Hau nia lian, hau nia rain (My language, my country). Photo by Sapo Noticias Timor Leste (public domain)

In May the newspaper @Verdade, our partner in Mozambique, described Portuguese as a language that is bound up in what it means to be Mozambican.

In its coverage of Timor Leste, Global Voices examined the role of languages in asserting the identity of a country which has 16 national languages and dozens of dialects. Some blogs on Cape Verde also suggested that there are “distinct social functions” for both the language spoken by the people, Crioulo, and the official language, Portuguese.

Online demonstrations brought a more political dimension to bear on this issue, with heated reactions to the proposal for Equatorial Guinea to become a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, despite having a poor track record on human rights.

Brazil: Paths towards Development

In spite of the current global crisis, Brazil is experiencing a period of economic optimism fuelled by domestic consumption. In order to maintain this growth, ongoing development policy in the country has been putting pressure on the environment and human rights.

The social cost of the rising demand for biofuels: the indigenous Guarani Kaoiwa community of Laranjeira Nhanderu were expelled from their lands 14 months ago to make way for sugarcane plantations. Photo by Annabel Symington, copyright Demotix (10/21/10).

The Amazon rainforest is seen as potential land for agriculture and as a source of raw materials and energy. Brazil's new forestry code, which regulates the use of the country's forests, has led to concerns and public demonstrations against the encouragement of farming and deforestation. “Green” agribusiness focused on biofuels and the replacement of felled trees with eucalyptus plantations have been shown to be unsustainable practices in both social and environmental terms. The dispute for land provoked by agribusiness led to the killing of activists and indigenous leaders during 2011. Yet Brazil is persisting in exporting its agribusiness model to other countries, such as Mozambique, regardless.

Coverage of events surrounding the Belo Monte Dam certainly caused the greatest outcry this year, uniting environmentalists, indigenous people and Brazilians living alongside the affected rivers. Protests in the immediate area of the dam and in major cities attracted international attention and challenged the human rights policy of Dilma Rousseff's government. This action did not wane after construction of the plant began, but rather took on different forms, including an Occupy protest by the Tupiniquim people and court cases.

These and related issues have been organised into four special features: Forest Focus: Amazon, Dossiê Belo Monte [only in pt], Indigenous Rights and Global Development.

Portugal: Crisis, Austerity and Protests

From the “Scraping-by Generation” protest in March to participation in the global protests on 15 October, Portugal has seen its political and economic crisis reach unprecedented proportions in 2011, with the fall of a government and the EU committee coming into the country to effect the financial “rescue” of public debt.

Keep calm and protest: outraged protesters outside Porto Town Hall. Photo by the protest organisers, 15 October.

Netizens took to social networks to mobilise action against severe austerity measures and to speak out in opposition to the racket conducted by the rating agencies, but also to gain inspiration from other countries, such as Iceland, on other forms of public participation.

Having launched a page devoted to special coverage of the current situation, Europe in Crisis, in September, Global Voices has acted as a bridge between different languages and has facilitated greater dialogue between outraged citizens from European countries that are suffering similar problems.

Angola: 32 Years in Power sparks Protests

In Angola the sense of revolt against the 32-year government led by José Eduardo dos Santos is becoming increasingly palpable in the streets and on the internet. Protests would have begun in March had the government not been successful in pre-empting them.

In September the police used heavy force to break up a protest, resulting in at least 18 protesters receiving prison sentences. Against all expectations, the movement has regrouped, while the number of citizen reporters in the country is also on the increase.

Video uploaded to the post Angola: Videos of Repressed Youth Protest in Luanda

Internet and the digital culture in Brazil

The fruits of increasingly widespread access to the internet in Brazil were borne out in 2011 by many creative, collective and effective examples of action. One such case was the mobilisation of social networks to take down a paedophile blog, and the call put out on Facebook to join in the unique “Different People's Big Barbeque Protest” in an upscale São Paulo neighbourhood.

Protest poster which reads "We want to be Maria Bethania", organised by Leon Prado on Facebook.

The online arena has also been the scene for a number of less auspicious episodes related to digital culture. In January the Ministry of Culture announced that it was abandoning Creative Commons licensing on its site, a blatant step backwards in public policy on the internet and copyright. Shortly afterwards, in March, the same ministry allowed the famous signer Maria Bethânia to raise 1.3 million reais tax-free for the creation of a poetry blog, thereby rousing the ire of bloggers, the twitterati and activists involved in the cultural sphere.

Cases of online censorship continue to crop up and, on occasion, overflow into the non-virtual world, with attacks on bloggers who are critical of the authorities.

In December we became aware of renewed death threats made against Ricardo Gama, who blogs against cases of the abuse of power and other irregularities by the Brazilian police. Gama had already been shot in an attack in Rio de Janeiro in March. Towards the end of this year, many were not convinced by the reason of “suicide by hanging” given for the death of Hamilton Alexandre, a controversial blogger from Santa Catarina, and social networks are being used to call for a thorough investigation of the case.

In 2012 we will continue to listen to the stories that are being told by the citizens of the world through the internet, and to amplify them so that they reach a global audience. Our doors are always open to anyone who wants to get involved in what Super magazine earlier this year dubbed “one of the 10 coolest projects on the internet”.

http://pt.globalvoicesonline.org/?p=25165

João Miguel Lima collaborated on this post.

Lusophone Heritage of “Portugality” Around the World

Sara Moreira — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:50:21 +0000

A Facebook group and a mapping website called “Portugality” have been created to explore the cultures that result from the “global cultural fusion started by Portuguese navigations of the XVth. century and lasting to this day in places like Brazil, Mozambique, East Timor or Malacca”.

Guinea-Bissau: Community Radio Launches a New Blog

Sara Moreira — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:09:31 +0000

The community radio Voz de Queléle (Voice of Quelélé) [pt], from the Quelélé neighborhood in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, launched a new blog in October 2011. The radio was created in 1994 and has played an important role especially in providing public health information to the community.

Brazil: Protest Condemns Violent Death of African Student

Sara Moreira — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:31:00 +0000

All links lead to Portuguese language pages.

Around 100 people gathered in Cuiabá, the capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, on September 23, 2011, to protest against violence and call for justice in the wake of the murder of Toni Bernardo da Silva, a 27 year old Economic Science student from Guinea-Bissau on Thursday, September 22.

The protest, which took place in front of the pizzeria where Toni was beaten to death, was organised by a group of African students who are part of an exchange program between the Brazilian government and lusophone countries in Africa. Toni was a a student at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT).

Toni Bernando. Photo from personnal archive.

Vicious attack

According to the civil police, the former student arrived at the restaurant around 11pm and started asking clients for money. While passing one of the tables, Toni bumped into a woman.

The woman's boyfriend, a 27 year old business man, and two military policeman who were in plainclothes at the site, forcibly removed the university student from the establishment and began to attack him with punches and kicks. The medical report indicates that death was caused by disruption of the trachea, caused by a sharp blow by a person who practices martial arts.

The suspects were charged in the act and will respond in court for the crime of murder. In a statement, they said that they had only immobilised the youngster.

Community outrage

The crime has caused outrage among the academic community, which is demanding justice and greater security for the students. In 2010, Global Voices reported [en] on another case of aggression against a student from Guinea Bissau.

Photo of protest, by Deivison Almeida (used with permission).

UFMT released a message regretting the incident and contacted the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs, who coordinate the exchange program, as well as the Federal Police.

Toni was a fellow at the university and should have been graduating later this year in the course that he began in 2006. However, according to a spokesperson of the institution, he had abandoned the course:

Em 2010, a Pró-Reitoria de Ensino de Graduação apoiou o então aluno e tentou auxiliá-lo para resolução de seus problemas acadêmicos e pessoais, que geraram o abandono dos estudos e a reprovação. Foi prestada assistência e oferecido acompanhamento psicológico ao estudante, por meio da Coordenação de Assistência e Benefícios (Cabes), sem a sua adesão satisfatória. Consequentemente, o desligamento ocorreu em fevereiro de 2011, conforme as exigências estabelecidas pelo Convênio PEC-G/MEC/MRE, entre as quais o abandono dos estudos e a reprovação.

In 2010, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies supported the student and then tried to help him to solve his personal and academic problems that had led to the abandonment of his studies and eventual dropout from the course. Assistance and counselling was offered to the student, through the Coordination of Assistance and Benefits without satisfactory accession. Consequently, the “shutdown” occurred in February 2011, according to the requirements established by PEC-G/MEC/MRE Agreement, which include the course drop-out.

According to student Catende Malan Domingos, 23, who is also part of the international exchange program, Toni had abandoned his studies due to discouragement or to some diesase. On the other hand the police state that he was a drug addict and had a record of theft. Since February 2011 his family had been sending him money to survive on while he was looking for a job. He has left a Brazilian girlfriend who is pregnant.

“The biggest threat is the silence”

The journalism student Adoniram Magalhães, on his blog Jornalismo Liberto, has written an analysis that sums up the way the case was covered by the local media:

Students light candles in mourning for Toni. Photo by Deivison Almeida (used with permission).

(…) alguns veículos publicaram e ainda publicam o fato de uma forma estranha, parecem até que estão procurando justificativa para o fato, desvirtuando o foco da morte de um ser humano que poderia ser brasileiro, africano ou iraquiano.

some [media] vehicles have published and are still publishing the fact in a weird way, it looks as if they are trying to find a way to justify the fact, distorting the focus of the death of a human being who could be Brazilian, African or Iraqi.

The photographer Lucas Ninno, on his blog, has published an audio interview with a Cape Verdean student in Cuiabá, a friend of Toni's, telling a “version that the media doesn't show” about the case:

An email in circulation that talks about the climate of fear that has been instilled amongst African students at UFMT, for whom “the biggest threat is the silence” asks:

que a Universidade (UFMT) [tome] alguma atitude no sentido de os representar, bem como ao jovem assassinado, pressionando a justiça brasileira a não permitir que o caso [seja] (mais uma vez) abafado e que os culpados recebesse a punição merecida. Fizeram uma passeata a pedir Paz. A polícia não deve estar confortável com esta atitude. Há indícios de que a polícia esteja a tentar silenciar as testemunhas e a fazer contra-informação. A polícia ronda o bairro escuro e pobre onde a maioria destes estudantes moram. Por alguma razão estes jovens não se estão a sentir mais seguros com isso.

the University (UFMT) [needs to take] some attitude towards the representing them as well as the murdered boy, pressing the Brazilian justice system not to allow the case [to be] (once again) muffled and the guilty to receive the deserved punishment. They marched to ask for peace. The police should not be comfortable with this attitude. There is evidence that the police are trying to silence the witnesses and make counter-intelligence. Police round the black and poor neighbourhoods where most of these students live. For some reason these young people don't feel safer with it.

Friends and university colleagues of Toni have put candles in front of the crime site. Photo by Lucas Ninno (used with permission).

And finalises:

Se ninguém mais no mundo souber do que se está a passar ali o que será que lhes pode acontecer mais? O medo instalou-se. A História conta-nos que o medo é inimigo da razão, da sensatez. Quantos não são os casos de escaladas de violência nas ruas que começaram exactamente assim?

If no one else in the world knows what is happening there, what more can happen to them? Fear has settled. History tells us that fear is the enemy of reason, of prudence. How many cases of street violence have begun exactly like this?

The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio de Aguiar Patriota personally presented his apologies to Ambassador Queta, Chancellor and future Minister of Justice of Guinea-Bissau, on behalf of the Brazilian government for the violence committed against the youngster.

The heads of state are in New York because of the 66th annual meeting of the United Nations.

Guinea-Bissau: Celebrating Independence with a Tribute to Aristides Pereira

Sara Moreira — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 09:08:52 +0000

On the 38th anniversary of PAIGC's (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) declaration of independence of Guinea Bissau, many bloggers are paying tribute to the leader of the struggle at that time, Aristides Pereira [pt], who later became the first President of Cape Verde. Pereira died two days ago, on September 22.

Mozambique: Sant'Egidio Community Fights Back Against HIV/AIDS

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:58:28 +0000

Lack of access to care for HIV positive people has been well documented on the African continent. Many initiatives strive to show that things could improve with collective effort, and among them is the Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition (DREAM) program.

DREAM was created in 2002 by the Sant'Egidio Community in Mozambique, and takes a comprehensive approach to fighting HIV/AIDS. Cristina Cannelli, leader of the Guinea DREAM program, explains the special relationship [it] with the African continent, especially Mozambique:

"Free care here". Image by Sant'Egidio photo service.

La Comunità di Sant'Egidio è profondamente legata all'Africa, anche perchè la Comunità stessa è una realtà africana. Esistono Comunità di Sant'Egidio in 26 paesi del continente con più di 20.000 membri africani. Un legame particolare con il Mozambico, dove nel 1992 fu firmata la pace che pose termine ad una terribile guerra civile grazie alla mediazione della Comunità, condusse a scegliere il Mozambico qualeprimo paese in cui lanciare il programma DREAM.

The Sant'Egidio community is deeply linked to Africa, in part because the community itself is anchored on the continent. The community is present in 26 African nations and has more than 20,000 members. A special relationship exists with Mozambique because in 1992, the Sant’Egidio community contributed to the peace treaty agreement that ended the civil war. That's why Mozambique was the first choice for implementing the DREAM program.

Today DREAM is present in Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea (Bissau), Nigeria, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The basic philosophy of the program is:

… DREAM has been created to achieve excellence: excellence in treatment and diagnostics, in computerization. DREAM demands that western standards be adopted in Africa too; the programme routinely uses viral load assessment, and has introduced Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART)

A DREAM success

The sheer numbers of the DREAM activity throughout the continent are impressive: 150,000 people have been treated of which 25,000 were aged 15 years or younger, 65,000 patients have benefited from anti-retroviral therapy of which 6,000 were children. DREAM also successfully interrupted vertical mother-to-child HIV transmission for 14,000 births from HIV positive mothers.

Since the beginning of the program more than 1,000,000 people have benefited from the DREAM program via health education, water filtration, food supplies, mosquito nets, prevention programmes on television, radio and the workplace. In total, the DREAM centers have performed 1,300,000 medical consultations, 276,000 viral load tests and 540,000 CD4 tests.

Celebrating the good health of the children at the mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention centers. Image courtesy of the Sant'Egidio community.

For such a large organisation to run properly in so many countries with many different spoken languages, qualified personnel is a must, which is why the community has organized 18 workshops throughout the continent for 4,000 health professionals. Mobile teams travel to reach the most isolated patients.

In order to engage the local institutions, DREAM states that:

Some of these structures are operational thanks to collaboration and agreements reached with local health centres that have replicated the programme.

However, patients also are actively contributing by committing to actively fight the HIV pandemic by becoming volunteers:

In each and every DREAM centre, medical and paramedical personnel are flanked by local men and women who have decided to commit themselves to working for patients who come to our centres. They decided to do so when their own lives were remarkably transformed after they came in contact with our services.
There are relatively large groups of such people and they constitute an indispensable resource for the success of the programme. Most, but not all, of them are sick. They are our “campaigners”.

Guinea-Bissau: Unique Footage from 1969-74

Sara Moreira — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:55:57 +0000

Pierre Fargeas, a former aircraft technician from France, shared a unique film footage of daily life in Guinea Bissau from 1969-74 on Youtube.

Blogging in Portuguese on Special Education

Sara Moreira — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:20:39 +0000

The blog Grito de Mudança (Cry for Change) [pt] gathers several articles and resources on special education and children with special needs in Portuguese language.

Guinea-Bissau: Films From Guinea-Bissau

Ndesanjo Macha — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:17:37 +0000

Kris introduces his readers to films from Guinea-Bissau: “As African cinemas go, Guinea-Bissau is not well researched and there’s not that much about written about its history in film. I submit to you some of the films I’ve seen and some of the links that might be useful.”

Global Voices Podcast 1: Who do we believe online?

Jamillah Knowles — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:15:00 +0000

Hello World!

It’s not easy to summarise what is happening with Global Voices writers and communities worldwide in a half-hour podcast, but we’re going to try and bring you a handy audio version reflecting the flavour of our writers, editors and themes. I'll be hassling people for audio from all the corners of the Global Voices universe. In this first episode, we hear about…

Global Voices Podcast 1: Who do we believe online? by globalvoices

What to believe on the internet

Both bloggers and the media were fooled in June 2011 by hoaxer Tom MacMaster who pretended to be “Amina” a lesbian blogger in Syria. The Gay Girl in Damascus incident made us all think about how we read and verify blogs. Jillian York, volunteer representative to the Board and author on the Middle East and North Africa team, Aparna Ray, a South Asia author and Tarek Amr covering Egypt joined me in a lively discussion.

Sounds of Guinea Bissau

Eddie Avila, director of Rising Voices brought home audio from his recent visit to Guinea Bissau in West Africa. Tune in for some musical entertainment from Bandim and Enterramento, neighborhoods that are famous for their dance troupes, and to hear Eddie’s thoughts on a new youth blogging community there established with support from Rising Voices.

What's it like to be a Global Voices editor?

To finish up our first edition, I took a moment to chat with our Spanish Language Editor, Firuzeh Shokooh Valle who juggles her part time Global Voices work alongside motherhood, teaching and studying for a Phd. What is it like to cover places like Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Spain for Global Voices? Firuzeh told me what she enjoys about her work.

Tell us what you'd like to hear next time

That’s all we could fit into the first edition of the reboot. But the podcast is bound to grow and evolve as we keep working on it. I’d like to hear more from you about what you think and what you would like to hear - that way I can start chasing down our editors and writers to share more with us to listen to in each episode.

Making the podcast is a lot of fun and a fair amount of work. The cool thing is - I get to work with so many amazing people worldwide who are willing to give their time, go out and record wonderful things and put up with my constant demands for more audio. Each tiny clip was recorded by different people around the globe - that’s not a bad journey for just under thirty minutes.

Music credits

In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. If you want to find out more about these artists here are the links for you. Thanks to Orb Gettarr for the atmospheric Return of the Atlanteans Lemurian Candidate, to Mark Cotton for his Spiritualized Homage, to Superbus feat. NS for Fujjad! Most of the music was found via OpSound.Org, The Free Music Archive or directly from the artists. Thanks also to all of the utterly wonderful voiceover performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together.

Thanks for listening and I look forward to sharing the next Global Voices podcast!

Guinea Bissau: A Step Forward Towards Women's Rights

Sara Moreira — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:29:31 +0000

On June 6, the Parliament of Guinea Bissau passed a bill that forbids female genital mutilation [pt], known as “fanado”. For journalist and blogger Helena Gouveia [pt] “although the law alone is insufficient, this is an important step to combat a barbaric ritual that violates the basic rights of women.”

Africa: Drug trafficking and African politics

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:17:17 +0000

Ken discusses drug trafficking and African politics. He notes that Kenya, Gambia, Ghana, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea have experienced allegations that people high up in government are involved in drug trafficking: “The latest news on this subject is the jailing of Sheryl Cwele, the wife of South Africa’s intelligence minister.”

Guinea-Bissau/Sao Tome and Principe: A Collection of Visual Arts

Sara Moreira — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:13:56 +0000

A collection of projects and experiences on visual arts in Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea-Bissau, by the french illustrator and author Alain Corbel, including illustrations, paintings and photography, is featured on the blog Noticias do Quelele (News from Quelele) [en, fr, pt].

A Blog on Music in Portuguese and Lusophone Artists

Sara Moreira — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:14:01 +0000

To learn about music in Portuguese or by Lusophone artists, visit Caipirinha Lounge [en, pt], a bilingual blog “born out of a sincere belief that Lusophone music should reach a much larger audience”.