Global Voices » Portugal

“The Most Misterious of Brazilian Writers” Receives Camões Award

Luis Henrique — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:15:30 +0000

Blog Semióticas [pt] celebrates this year's Camões Award - “the highest honor” for a Portuguese language writer - given to Dalton Trevisan from Curitiba, Brazil, for his “extraordinary contribute in the art of short stories”. Trevisan, “the most misterious of Brazilian writers”, is well known for his mystical reclusiveness, and refuses being photographed, interviewed and participating in ceremonies.

Germany: #Blockupy Protests Against Pan-European Austerity

Sara Moreira — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:16:32 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis

‘Blockupy‘ protests against “the widespread impoverishment and denial of democratic rights occurring in the Eurozone as part of a global systemic crisis” shook the financial epicenter of Europe - Frankfurt - last week.

Following the global action days on 12 and 15 May, 2012, (12M and 15M), activists from across Europe were called to converge in Frankfurt in an international solidarity demonstration. The ultimate goal was to blockade the European Central Bank (ECB) and other crucial global capitalism institutions. On May 4, however, the Frankfurt Municipal Department for Public Order announced that all actions planned were deemed illegal, except for a rally on Saturday, May 19.

Occupy Frankfurt in front of ECB. Photo shared by Roarmag.org (copyleft).

Still, thousands of activists decided to take a stand against the ban and claim the constitutional right “of unarmed assembly, without either prior registration or permission”.

While international mainstream media didn't give much attention to the events, online social networks buzzed with citizen reports on the mobilizations that occurred under massive police presence and repression.

On Twitter many videos and photos were shared under the hashtag #Blockupy. Netizens and collectives from different countries, such as Occupy Brussels and Belgium, livestreamed the protests, marches and assemblies, as well as the cultural program and diverse debates on labor, ecology, economy among others.

“Demonstrate for the right to demonstrate”

Blockupy started on the same day that newly elected French President Hollande met Chancellor Merkel [fr] in Berlin, May 16. Meanwhile in Frankfurt, the police complied with the order of eviction of the seven month long Occupy Frankfurt settlement around the Euro sign near the ECB headquarters. The blog Critical Legal Thinking, which had a comprehensive coverage of the four days of protest, described the city as “effectively in [undeclared] State of Exception“.

Police intercept three Berlin buses on the way to #Frankfurt. Photo by @Blockupy on Twitter.

On May 17, a bank holiday, as mainstream media directed the spotlight to the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble - who was awarded the Charlemagne Prize for his major role in the definition of the austerity policies mostly imposed on the periphery European countries - buses filled with activists from different cities heading to the anti-austerity demonstration in the center of Frankfurt, were stopped from entering the city and escorted back by the police.

Despite the attempts of intimidation, around 2,000 activists managed, at least for a few hours, to occupy the historic Roemerberg square where the city hall is based, and which represents the birth of democracy in Germany.

Blockupy protesters take action against banking and finance system. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

The square was soon surrounded by the riot police:

Protesters sit down and lock arms in opposition to police presence. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Soesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

At the end of the day riot police evicted the square with violence, as different photo reporters [de] illustrated:

A protester is detained by police. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser, copyright Demotix (May 17, 2012).

The detention of at least 400 protesters of different nationalities triggered solidarity protests in different cities across Europe:

Embassy of Germany in Rome - Protest against repression and arrests in Frankfurt during the protests against the crisis. Signs against the Rome-Berlin axis, the ECB and Merkel. Photo by Simona Granati, copyright Demotix (May 18, 2012).

A video report by Finnish user of YouTube sydansalama1, with interviews subtitled in English, sums up the events of the day:

The staff of banks were told by their employees to take the day off or work from home to avoid having to come into the city on Friday, May 18 - the day when the blockade to the financial district was expected to take place. However, as Jerome Ross from Roar Magazine wrote the night before, “Frankfurt [is] on lock-down as over 5,000 police [are] deployed in an unprecedented operation to keep protesters out of the city and away from the banks”:

as the activists here prepare to physically block the headquarters of the European Central Bank, the police already seems to have done the job for them.

"I block! You too?" Photo by ateneinrivolta on Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0).

That day, international mainstream media reported on Goldman Sachs being hired by the Spanish government to evaluate banking conglomerate Bankia, taken over by the state earlier in May, and also about rumors of a referendum in Greece to ballot the membership in the Eurozone. In Frankfurt, while banners read messages of support to the European southern countries (such as “We are all Greeks“), the city remained “affected by massive police presence, identity checks and road blocks“.

When the legal day for protesting finally arrived, May 19, around 20,000 protesters (according to the police, or more than 25,000 according to the organization) rallied the city center.

Blockupy Demonstration in Frankfurt. A large banner held up by protesters reads: 'International resistance against the Austerity Imposed by the Troika and Governments.'. Photo by Michele Lapini copyright Demotix (May 19, 2012).

Blockupy Frankfurt: More than 20,000 against financial crisis politics. International participants in the demonstration. Photo by Patrick Gerhard Stoesser copyright Demotix (May 19, 2012).

Blockupy demo (May 19, 2012). Photo by strassenstriche.net on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

John Halloway, writing for the Guardian, described Blockupy as “a glimmer of hope in times of austerity“, and argued that it would bring momentum to “explosions of creative anger that will follow”. International policy analyst Vinay Gupta, finalizes:

Those people in the streets rioting, the protesting classes, are fighting not for internal political change within their own countries, but (whether they know it or not) for a re-arrangement of the political balance of an entire continent.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

Portugal: Eviction Prior to Freedom Day Awakens Squatting Movement

Sara Moreira — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:13:29 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis

As the pent-up frustrations of citizens in Portugal keep growing a year since the international “bailout” of the country's public debt, the annual celebration of Freedom Day on April 25, marking the Carnation Revolution that ended a 41-year dictatorship in 1974, gained renewed momentum.

A few days earlier, on April 19, the forceful eviction of a self managed community center in Porto, meant that many would celebrate April 25 in solidarity with those evicted, as well as with others struggling under the ongoing economic crisis.

Illustrating the tension over this new inspiration for marking Freedom Day, the historic Association April 25 (founded by the military who staged the 1974 coup) refused [pt] to participate in the traditional, government organized celebrations this year in protest over national policies and harsh austerity measures that the former soldiers believe go against the democratic ideals of the Carnation Revolution. They, along with many others, participated in unofficial celebrations instead.

A man with carnations, a symbol of Freedom Day (Lisbon, 25/04/2012). Photo by Fernando Mendes copyright Demotix

"Don't let yesterday's carnation carve today's revolution". Photo by Filipa Sequeira on Facebook. Porto (25/04/2012)

Thirty-five percent of youth in Portugal are unemployed despite austerity measures imposed by the European Commission, Central European Bank and International Monetary Fund. And while 26 families a day have their homes repossessed [pt] by the bank, there are thousands of abandoned housing facilities in the major cities of Portugal (see the overview for Lisbon (pdf)).

The Food Bank Against Famine recently announced [pt] that it has reached a critical point concerning its ability to attend to the growing number of families and institutions who need food.

Against this backdrop, the city government's order to evict Es.Col.A (an acronym for self-managed collective space, meaning “school”), where communal meals, recreational activities, and after-school classes were provided for free in a squatted public building of an impoverished neighborhood in Porto, has triggered people's indignation on a national scale.

As João Martins (@jpsmartins) said on Twitter:

@jpsmartins: Eu sei o que responder quando me perguntarem onde estava no 25 de Abril: na #fontinha

@jpsmartins: I know what to say when they ask me where I was on April 25: at #fontinha

Reoccupy march

Despite a government announcement of zero tolerance from the police during Freedom Day demonstrations, supporters of Es.Col.A supported by the Clown Brigade, an improvised sound system, rallied to the Fontinha neighborhood in Porto to reoccupy the building.

Protestors singing remixed traditional songs in front of the City Hall, Porto (25/04/2012). Photo by José Ferreira (used with permission)

Around 2,000 people joined the march, as the following video published on YouTube by olhorobot shows:

As the march arrived at Fontinha, citizens took over the school once again:

The opening of the boarded up doors and windows at Es.Col.A. Photo by José Ferreira (used with permission)

And then the celebrations of April 25 proceeded in the school yard:

Citizen photo reports that summarize the day can be seen in Renato Roque's album on Picasa, on Indymedia's special coverage, on the blogs of Gui Castro Felga, Joana Maltez and José Pacheco Pereira, and all around Facebook.

Photo by Jorge Almeida on Facebook (used with permission)

Void in the aftermath

The next morning, Es.Col.A was boarded up once again. Gui Castro Felga blogged [pt] about what happened:

Photo by Joana Maltez

desafiando claramente todos os ocuparam ontem o es.col.a, a CMP entrou pela escola vazia adentro e rebentou com canalizações, sanitas, arrancou portas e emparedou, já não com chapas, mas com tijolos e cimento, e cortou a água e a luz ao edifício.

clearly defying everyone who occupied es.col.a yesterday, CMP [the City Hall] entered inside the empty school and burst pipes, toilets, pulled out doors and walled them, not with boards this time, but with bricks and cement, and cut off water and light of the building.

Theatre company Visões Úteis (Useful Visions) [pt], located on the same street as Es.Col.A, states on Facebook:

A nossa rua, quando chegam os ocupantes da Escola da Fontinha, enche-se de pessoas a sorrir; ouve-se música e palavras como “sonho”, “cultura” e “comunidade”.

A nossa rua, depois de vir a polícia com os seus tapumes, enche-se de um silêncio baço e temeroso. Como se tivesse levado uma grande descompostura por tocar em algo que não lhe pertence.

When the squatters of Escola Da Fontinha arrive, our street is filled with people smiling; one listens to music and words such as “dream”, “culture” and “community”.
After the police comes with their enclosures, our street is filled with a dull and fearful silence.
As if [the school] had gotten a great scolding for touching something that does not belong.

“What if it becomes fashion?“

"My heart lives in Fontinha. We occupied Coimbra with Fontinha in our heart". From the Facebook page Jardins de Abril (Gardens of April)

Celebrating the 25 April in solidarity with Es.Col.A, protestors in Coimbra and Lisbon ended up squatting new spaces. In Coimbra, a public garden is being set up in the city center, while in Lisbon, a group of activists occupied an abandoned building in the street of São Lázaro. Their manifesto was published on the blog Spectrum:

Antes emparedado que ocupado parece ser o último argumento de um poder que conseguiu sem grande esforço esvaziar as cidades dos seus próprios habitantes, empurrados para os subúrbios ou mesmo para a rua. São centenas de milhares de fogos vazios, deixados ao abandono. Abandono que também vemos nos olhos de quem fez da rua a sua casa. Cada vez mais olhares de abandono, cada vez mais abandono nos olhares. Decretamos, neste dia que se quer de liberdade, tolerância zero a este processo de requalificação urbana, que à custa da miséria de muitos ergue mansões e hotéis para alguns.

Better walled than occupied seems to be the latest argument of a power that was able to effortlessly drain cities of their own inhabitants, [who have been] pushed to the suburbs or even to the street. There are hundreds of thousands of empty, abandoned homes. Abandonment which is also seen in the eyes of those who have turned the streets into their homes. More and more eyes of abandonment, more and more abandonment in the eyes. We hereby decree, on this day meant for freedom, zero tolerance to this process of urban renewal, which at the expense of the misery of many, puts up mansions and hotels for some.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis

Ana Vasquez collaborated in the writing of this post.

Portugal: Citizens Prepare Peaceful Protests for April 25

Sara Moreira — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:22:56 +0000

Though peaceful protests are scheduled for April 25 throughout Portugal (a national holiday that marks the end of dictatorship in 1974), mainstream media reported [pt] that “police prepares zero tolerance”. For Miguel Cardima from the blog Arrastão, the news intends [pt] to “insufflate fear” and to “justify violence in anticipation”. In Porto, citizens have organized Meditation for Change and a Clown Brigade.

Portugal: Video of Guinea-Bissau coup protest in Lisbon

Janet Gunter — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:56:58 +0000

Youtube user MinisterioDaVerdade published a video of a large parade on Saturday by Guinea-Bissaun residents of Lisbon, and their Portuguese families and friends, protesting the military coup which took place April 12. Marchers occupied the streets of Lisbon's Baixa neighborhood. Signs read “We have a consensus: No to dictatorship” and simply “peace.”

Portugal: ‘You Cannot Evict an Idea' Without Borders

Sara Moreira — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:27:15 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

The violent eviction of a self-managed community center in Porto by the police, on April 19, 2012, triggered a wave of solidarity beyond the borders of the former working-class neighborhood of Fontinha, left to oblivion for years.

After 15 police cars arrived with masked and armed riot police to evict the project (three participants were arrested and five were injured), and emptied the school destroying all material in the building (such as books, computers and furniture), only to board up doors and windows in the end, around 300 people took to the streets in Porto, and several dozens more in Lisbon.

Educational materials and furniture destroyed in the school yard before the garbage truck came. The windows and doors were boarded up afterwards. Photo shared by Antonio Serginho on Facebook.

The events opened the newscasts on TV, and social media was buzzing with reactions; the hashtags #Fontinha and #ocupai trended on Twitter in Portugal.

Building on an idea

Es.Col.A (meaning school) [an acronymn for self-managed collective space, pt] was formed on April 2011, by a group of citizens who squatted a public school that had been abandoned by the municipality of Porto in 2006. Journalist Nuno Ramos de Almeida reported [pt] on April 20, that there are more than 25,000 housing buildings in the city left abandoned (about one in every five, which can be seen in this illustrative photo report) - many of them under the responsibility of the City Hall.

Under the slogan “Free spaces, create alternatives”, the collective proposed to bring back to life a disused building with after-school classes, communal food and recreational activities (ranging from yoga, music and capoeira, to film and debates). All based in principles of self-organization, free accessibility, non-discrimination, and practices of direct democracy and consensus through weekly Popular Assemblies.

Staircase of Es.Col.A. Photo by the Group of Artistic Studies.

Viva Filmes, a video-activism collective from Porto, published a short documentary in which community members tell the story of Es.Col.A to the brink of eviction (with English subtitles):

Poster by Gui Castro Felga

In the beginning of February, the City Hall sent a note of eviction to Es.Col.A, urging the collective to empty the building by the end of March. While Es.Col.A released an open letter [pt] rejecting the eviction, mobilization started under the motto “You cannot evict an idea” (which might have been inspired by the Global Voices post with that same headline about the Bank of Ideas in London, UK, January 2012).

Under pressure, the City Hall sent a proposal of a new contract, which was also rejected [pt] as it simply implied the legitimation of a later date for eviction of the collective - scheduled for the end of June.

The directions from the City Hall were clear: if not signed by April 12, from April 13 on, Es.Col.A would be removed. On that day Anonymous Portugal released a video in support.

The expulsion would eventually take place in the morning of April 19, as around 120 riot police entered the building [another video from a member on the ground here], and put an end to the work of one year of the community.

The City Hall issued a statement [pt] citing the necessity to “enforce laws” and calling the collective's squatting of the school “abusive” and “savage”, forcing authorities to intervene “coercively.” The statement made mention of the video above calling it “threatening” and “provoking disturbances and challenging [government] institutions.”

Meanwhile, a hiphop music video made by the youth of Fontinha sums up both the activities that used to take place in Es.Col.A, the April 19 events, and the popular reaction in Porto that followed:

Solidarity exceeds borders

Sympathy is coming from many cities in Portugal, where citizens have organized demonstrations via Facebook, such as the following that took place in Lisbon, in the evening of April 19:

A call on Facebook to make the cause go transnational was made by M31 (March 31), an European collective against capitalism that gathers groups across 12 countries. Messages of support, and in some cases translations, came from Spain (through the independent media collective La Haine [es]), Sweden (the Anonymous collective @AnonOpsSweden), United Kingdom (Socialist Workers Party via @tedsplitter), Australia (@OccupySydney), Greece [el], Poland [pl], and Germany, where an open letter to the Mayor and the city government of Porto was published on Indymedia:

Es.Col.A's Assembly, April 20. Photo by Renato Roque on Facebook.

You should know that the project and its activities are followed and supported with sympathy of many people outside Portugal. (…)
We ask that you reverse the eviction and repair the damage. Negotiate immediately with Es.col.a.-collective to reach peaceful and socially just solutions!

A petition [pt] is in circulation. The Assembly of Es.Col.A gathered on the evening of April 20 with around 200 participants, and decided to reoccupy the building on April 25th, a national holiday that represents the end of the dictatorship in Portugal in 1974.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis

Janet Gunter collaborated in this post and translated Es.Col.A's documentary to English.

Portugal: Community-occupied school violently evicted

Janet Gunter — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:09:30 +0000

Community members resisted eviction from the Es.Col.A in Fontinha [pt] in Porto this morning. The abandoned, disused school was being used by a self-organized collective for after-school classes, recreational activities - watch their story (with English subtitles). While broadcast media report the violent police eviction, protest continues. #Fontinha and #ocupai are the hashtags on Twitter.

Global Voices ‘Europe in Crisis' Coverage Shortlisted for Award

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:29:18 +0000

Thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers, Global Voices special coverage of “Europe in Crisis” has been named a national winner for the European Charlemagne Youth Prize. The final winners for all of Europe will be announced in Aachen, Germany in May 2012. The award aims to encourage a European consciousness among young people.

Portugal: Police Prevents Workers From Writing a Banner for the General Strike

Sara Moreira — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:23:51 +0000

Francisco da Silva, on his blog Artigo 58, shares a video [pt] that shows a group of domestic workers in Lisbon preparing a banner for the general strike (March 24, 2012). The police enter the scene and put an end to the freedom of expression in a public square, preventing the workers from writing their slogan.

Portugal: Prayers on Twitter for April Fools' Day “Coup d'Etat”

Sara Moreira — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:08:37 +0000

A false rumour of a coup d'etat became a trending topic - and a worlwide joke - on Twitter with the hashtag #PrayforPortugal. The Spanish newspaper El País and The Associated Press released the news that “the Portuguese President dissolved Parliament and called for calm”; netizens replied with funny messages and images of “tanks and troops” getting ready for revolution.

Brazil: “Kilombos”, Stories of Slaves Bridging Three Continents

Eleanor Staniforth — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:26:29 +0000

A few days after the Brazilian government suspended for five months the reinstatement of ownership requested by the Brazilian Navy of the land of the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos in Bahia - one of the oldest communities of slave descendants in Brazil, inhabited by around 75 families [pt] -, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Lisbon, the international conference “The Passage of the Quilombos: from Africa to Brazil and the return to origins” [pt] was held at the beginning of March. This meeting saw the release of the documentary Kilombos, produced by the Portuguese journalist Paulo Nuno Vicente, and described [pt] by him on the website ‘Buala' as “a rescue film about the Quilombos of Brazil”, which “transports us through the oral history of the African roots of the Quilombo communities, showing the intersection of these roots with contemporary cultural practices”.

O sentido de pertença a uma identidade extravasa a fronteira do medo. Ser quilombola é estar para lá do lugar. Uma imagem perdura para lá do que representa. «Kilombos» é uma tentativa de cartografia antropológica para os antagonismos do Brasil contemporâneo, metonímia oral do globalizante e do ancestral em fluxo.

The sense of belonging to an identity breaks down the barriers put up by fear. Being ‘Quilombola' goes beyond place. An image lasts beyond that which it represents. ‘Kilombos' is an attempt to trace an anthropological cartography of the frictions within contemporary Brazil, that is to say, of globalising forces on the one hand, and ancestral traditions in flux on the other.

31.3% of African slaves were transported to Brazil. Photo by Hollywoodsmille78 on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The documentary, filmed mainly in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, but also in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, forms part of a triannual project[pt] promoted by the Portuguese NGO Instituto Marquês Vale de Flor (IMVF), in partnership with local organisations:

A escolha destes três países reside no seu passado histórico comum. Os navios que transportavam a mão-de-obra escrava vinda da costa africana rumo ao Brasil fazia a sua primeira paragem em Cabo-Verde. Esta rota marítima, que ligou os três territórios há mais de quatro séculos, deixou marcas ainda hoje visíveis. Estes navios não transportavam para o Brasil apenas homens e mulheres africanos, transportavam igualmente tradições, crenças e costumes, ainda hoje respeitados e praticados nos três países.

The choice of these three countries lies in their common historical past. The ships which transported the slave labour force from the African coast to Brazil used to make their first stopover in Cape Verde. This maritime route which linked the three territories more than four centuries ago has left marks which are still visible today. These ships didn't just transport African men and women to Brazil. They also transported traditions, beliefs and customs, which are still respected and practised in our three countries to this day.

Since Cape Verde was populated by Portuguese settlers in the second half of the 15th century, the islands have served as “a turntable for the slave trade between Africa and America”, says José Semedo, from Praia, in an interview [pt] for the documentary ‘Kilombos'. “According to data from that time, half of the African slaves who arrived in Maranhão between 1774 and 1799 were taken from Guinea-Bissau”, notes[pt] Eduardo Mello, from the blog Jovens Diplomatas (Young Diplomats), in a text which gives his impressions on the return of the Quilombolas to their origins in Cacheu three centuries later, funded now by the IMVF project.

Quilombo Santa Joana - interview with João Baptista. Image captured from the documentary Kilombos.

“We witness and suffer the black holocaust”, comments[pt] Mello on the celebration at Cacheu, in which a play was staged depicting the trafficking of slaves in the 17th century, protagonised by descendants of African slaves themselves, the members of Quilombo communities in Maranhão - “in the horror of the ships, about to transform America and Brazil, they sang. They wept”:

Perto da sagrada Floresta de Cobiana, uma multidão celebra o reencontro com os retornados, que a cada frase, receita, som ou expressão, redescobrem origens e destinos. Hoje, a cidade está decorada com instrumentos musicais, artesanato, frutas, e histórias em comum. O cuxá, prato maranhense, é idêntico ao “baguitche” guineense – mas a etnia mandinga sempre chamou de cuxá mesmo. A noite começa a banhar em prata o caudaloso Rio Cacheu. As apresentações das etnias guineenses misturam-se às dos quilombolas brasileiros, à voz de Eneida Marta, e aos discursos. (…) Os grupos cantam, dançam, sobem em árvores, celebram o estranhamento de parentes separados pelos séculos. A matriz é guineense, mas muito mudou: nosso canto não é da e pra terra, é de procissão; o compasso marcado de cada etnia mestiçou-se, no Brasil, com a percussão de inúmeros outros povos do continente africano, no caldeirão dos entrudos (ou “N’tturudu”, como se diz aqui).

Near the sacred Cobiana Forest, a crowd celebrates being reunited with the returnees, who with each phrase, recipe, sound or expression, rediscover origins and destinations. Today, the city is decorated with musical instruments, handicrafts, fruit, and common stories. The ‘cuxá' dish from Maranhão is identical to the Guinean ‘baguitche' - although the Mandinga tribe have always called it ‘cuxá'. Nightfall begins to bathe the fast-flowing River Cacheu in silver light. The performances of the Guineans merge with those of the Brazilian Quilombolas, the voice of Eneida Marta, and the speeches. (…) The groups sing, dance, climb trees, celebrate the strangeness of discovering relatives separated by the centuries. The matrix is Guinean, but a lot has changed: our songs are not for and about the earth, they are processional; the beat kept by each ethnic group has intermixed in Brazil with the percussion of numerous other peoples of the African continent, in the cauldron of the carnival-goers (or “N’tturudu”, as they say here).

“The history of the Quilombos is one of liberty and dignity”

Screenshot of the documentary Kilombos.

As Mello says, “a lot has changed” in the identity of this culture which, in the words [pt] of the producer of ‘Kilombos', “crosses borders and brings continents closer together”. However, and returning to the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article, the current struggle of the Quilombolas has shown that there is also a certain continuity in the violation of the human rights of these communities, such as the right to land. Alan Tygel, from Vírus Planetário [Planetary Virus], draws a historical parallel, and speaks of “modern practices” [pt] which transport us once again on a journey between times and territories:

O sol já vai se pondo, e os escravos aproveitam o fim de tarde na senzala para descansar da jornada extenuante. O trabalho no engenho de cana é duro. Açoitados, acorrentados, longe da terra natal, separados de suas famílias, os negros ainda assim jogam capoeira e cultuam seus orixás. Nesse mesmo dia, houve duas fugas na fazenda: Zé Preto tentou sair por trás das amendoeiras de baixo. Almeida, o capitão-do-mato, não teve muita dificuldade: o negro não tinha mais forças, fugiu por desespero. As chibatadas que levou ali mesmo, no mato, foram suficientes para encerrar seu sofrimento e levá-lo para a outra vida. Gangá não teve a mesma sorte: foi para o tronco, e deve ficar lá por dias. Para todo mundo saber o que acontece com escravo fujão. Num lugar não muito distante dali, cerca de 300 anos depois, a situação não mudou muito. Para os moradores do Quilombo Rio dos Macacos, foi como se a escravidão tivesse acabado e depois voltado. Alguns ainda possuem fotos de seus bisavós vestidos com trapos trabalhando na fazenda. Os mais idosos se lembram do jongo, da capoeira e do samba-de-roda na comunidade. Da época em que eram felizes, na sua roça, com seu pescado, sua dança e sua religião. Há cerca de 30 anos, voltaram a ser cativos.

The sun is now setting, and the slaves make the most of the end of the evening to rest from the day's exhaustion in the slave quarters. Work in the cane mill is hard. Whipped, shackled, far from their homeland, separated from their families, the slaves still practise capoeira and worship their gods. On that same day, two people had escaped from the farm: Zé Preto tried to sneak out behind the lower almond grove. Almeida, the person charged with recapturing escapees, did not have much difficulty in apprehending him: the slave was exhausted, he had fled out of desperation. The lashes which he received right there, in the forest, were sufficient to put an end to his suffering and dispatch him to another life. Gangá was not so lucky: he was sent to the trunk, and had to stay there for several days. So that everybody would know what happens to a slave who tries to escape. In a place not far from there, around 300 years later, the situation is not much changed. For the inhabitants of the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos, it is as if slavery had been abolished only to return once again. Some of them still possess photos of their great-grandparents dressed in rags at work on the farm. The eldest remember the jongo, the capoeira and the Samba de Roda in the community, at a time when they were happy, in their countryside, with their fish, their dancing and their religion. Around 30 years ago, they became captives once again.

A petition [pt] remains in circulation calling for ownership of the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos to remain with the Quilombolas, who have received a guarantee for now that they will not be expelled in the next four months, during which time the Incra (National Institute for Colonisation and Agrarian Reform) [pt] must conclude a Technical Report of Identification and Delimitation with the intention of determining for how long the land has been occupied.

Portugal: Subversive Priest's “Homily” to General Strike on YouTube

Georgi McCarthy — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:26:50 +0000

This article is part of our special coverage on Europe in Crisis.

[All links forward to Portuguese articles unless stated otherwise]

Mário Pais de Oliveira, a priest and writer who celebrated his 75th birthday this month, considers all religion to be perverse and all ideology to be a lie. At the same time, he religiously uses social networks to share his very particular- and subversive- thoughts on current events.

Since creating a YouTube channel in March 2009, he has already uploaded more than 1,300 videos which strongly encourage an authentic anti-authoritarian gospel using a Socratic approach.

On his Facebook profile, where he has almost reached 4,500 friends, he also shares his “Thoughts born from Maieutic Political Practices” daily. He presents himself as a citizen of the world, a retired journalist, and a priest who answers to Mass orders from the Church of Porto, though “happily, without any ecclesiastical office”:

Mário Pais de Oliveira, also known as Father Mário da Lixa (Lourosa, Santa Maria da Feira, 8th March 1937). Photo by Leunam Max on Facebook.

De que vale fazer carreira eclesiástica, até ser bispo residencial ou papa, ou ser gestor de uma multinacional, se, para isso, temos de desistir de vez de sermos simplesmente Humanos, outros Jesus?!

What is the point of following an ecclesiastical career until you become a resident bishop, or Pope, or a manager of an international organisation, if we have to stop being human, other Jesuses, in order to do it?!

During the dictatorship in Portugal [en], which lasted from 1926 until 1974, his refutable spirit and the “suspicion that he was covering up deliberately subversive activities of students (specifically by supporting the associative movement, which was banned by the political regime at the time)”, led to the Diocese of Porto sending him to Guinea-Bissau as a military chaplain for the Portuguese Army in 1967, according to his biography on Luis Graça & Camaradas da Guiné's blog.

However, his participation in the colonial war lasted only a few months. In March 1968:

foi expulso de capelão militar, por ter ousado pregar, nas Missas, o direito dos povos colonizados à autonomia e independência, e regressou à sua Diocese, rotulado pelo Bispo castrense de então, D. António dos Reis Rodrigues, como padre irrecuperável.

he was expelled from the military chaplaincy for being so bold as to preach, during Mass, about the colonised people's right to autonomy and independence. He returned to his Diocese, branded by D. António dos Reis Rodrigues, the military bishop at the time, as a priest that was forever lost.

“We must come up with new ways to transform society”

Today's general strike- the third to take place in the last year and a half against the austerity measures and the policies of cuts imposed by the government- reminds us of the video published by Father Mário in the aftermath of the general strike of the 24 November [en], which halted, according to government data, fewer than 11% of public services, or more than 3 million workers, according to estimates from the two main unions (CGTP [en] and UGT [en]) that promoted it.

as centrais sindicais e os respectivos sindicatos que as integram parecem coincidir com as igrejas (…) que insistem sempre nos mesmos meios ano após ano para intervirem na sociedade. Não se está a revelar capacidade criativa, capacidade de inventar meios, processos, metodologias, conteúdos, posturas, práticas, que vão de encontro ao Grande Poder Financeiro, ao Grande Mercado Global, que está a arruinar-nos, que está a matar-nos, que está a asfixiar-nos, a levar-nos a pele e o osso. Não há. As centrais sindicais estão esgotadas, os seus líderes estão esgotados. Parece que a imaginação desapareceu. O sistema financeiro que nos mata, que nos asfixia, parece que esvazia as nossas mentes, não somos capazes já de gerar nenhuma saída, nenhuma solução que resulte, que o derrube, que o deite por terra, que o descredibilize. E de cada greve geral, o poder financeiro sai ainda mais fortalecido. (…)

Tenho pena porque a chamada Greve Geral não é Greve Geral coisa nenhuma. Grande parte da população continua a trabalhar. (…) Greve geral seria o país parar, parar! Ficarmos todos em casa, ninguém sair, ninguém fazer compras, ninguém frequentar os mercados, ninguém vir para a rua, não haver trânsito, nem carros particulares. NADA! Era greve geral: TODA a gente PÁRA! Ora enquanto a greve não for assim, não é sinal de nada. Só é sinal de reforçar o poder (…) é que a greve geral é autorizada pelo poder (…) quer dizer, o poder autoriza que se faça uma greve geral, se ele autoriza (…) é sinal de que percebe que essa greve geral - que de geral só tem o nome - é mais ficção do que realidade, por mais que mobilize muita gente a maior parte do país não é mobilizada porque não pára. Então o poder sai reforçado, porque tudo é consentido por ele. No início (…) as greves eram ilegais, não eram permitidas, era a perseguição na rua, a polícia, o poder tinham de mostrar a sua face e sair para a rua. (…) Eram greves a sério, assim não. Assim é um folclore (…). Parece mais uma romaria, uma procissão.

The two main unions, and the respective unions that integrate them, seem to agree with the Church (…) which year after year insists on the same way of intervening in society. They are not about to reveal a creative capacity, the ability to invent ways, processes, methodologies, attitudes and practices that go against the great financial power, the great global market, that is ruining us, killing us, suffocating us and leading us to skin and bone. No. The main unions are drained, and so are their leaders. All imagination appears to have vanished. The same financial system that is killing us, suffocating us, seems to empty our minds so that we cannot come up with an escape plan, a solution that would make it topple, fall to the ground, discredit it. And with every general strike, the financial powers are getting stronger and stronger. (…)

It saddens me that the so-called general strike is not a general strike at all. A large portion of the population continues to work. (…) A general strike would mean the whole country stopping. Just stop! We all stay at home, no-one goes out, no-one does the shopping, no-one wanders around the markets, no-one is in the street, there is no traffic, no cars. Nothing! If it were a general strike, EVERYBODY would STOP! If the strike is not carried out in this way, it means nothing. It only shows the powers being reinforced (…) and that the general stirke is authorised by powers. (…) In other words, the powers allow a general strike to take place. (…) It can be seen in this general strike (which is only “general” in name): it is a greater fiction than it is a reality, as much as it brings forward a lot of people from a large part of the country, they are not mobilised because they don't stop. And so the powers are strengthened, because everything has their consent. At first (…) strikes were illegal, they weren't allowed; it was police persecution in the streets, because the powers had to show their faces. (…) Unlike nowadays, they were serious strikes. Now it's like folklore. (…) This seems more like a pilgrimage, a procession.

Father Mário still edits the monthly Jornal Fraternizar, which since January 2011 has been published exclusively online. His book is due for release on 24th March: “Evangelho de Jesus segundo Maria, Mãe de João Marcos, e Maria Madalena” [The Gospel of Jesus according to Mary, mother of John Mark, and Mary Magdalene].

This article is part of our special coverage on Europe in Crisis.

Portugal: Picket to the Prime Minister on the Day of General Strike

Sara Moreira — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:37:25 +0000

Citizens from Porto are organizing a flash picket [pt] via Facebook to “welcome” the Prime Minister of Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho, on the day of the anti-austerity general strike, March 22. The Prime Minister will be on an official visit to the University of Porto [pt], that celebrates its 101st anniversary this year.

Portugal: Visualising Economic and Social Indicators on the Crisis

Sara Moreira — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:10:27 +0000

Conhecer a Crise (Meet the Crisis) [pt] is the name of a recently launched website with info-graphics and visualisations on the main economic and social indicators that describe the current crisis in Portugal. The website has a customisable section [pt] - “The crisis as I see it” - where users can build their own page using existing data.

Europe: Will ACTA Treaty Pass After Protests?

Danielle Martineau — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:09:08 +0000

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise.]

As of the end of the month of February 2012, the mobilization efforts of Internet users against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [en] were still going strong. In fact, they may have begun to bear fruit.

By including infringements against the author's rights in its scope, this international treaty, which addresses intellectual property rights, also affects Internet content.

The ratification debates which were placed on the European Parliament's agenda on February 29, were put on hold in expectation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The issue of the treaty's conformity with European Community law was brought before the court on 22 February by the European Commission.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo by Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Taurillon, the “magazine of young Europeans -France” describes “Europe's about-face on ACTA“:

Si l’avis est négatif, l’ACTA n’a plus aucune chance en Europe. Mais en cas d’avis positif, le recours à la CJUE représente le double avantage de redonner au traité une certaine crédibilité, et de repousser son adoption à une époque suffisamment lointaine pour que la polémique se soit tassée et que l’opinion publique regarde ailleurs.

If the opinion is negative, ACTA no longer stands a chance in Europe. However, if there is a positive opinion, appealing to the ECJ would mean a double advantage by giving the treaty a certain credibility, and also pushing back implementation to a time that is far enough away when public debate has settled down and the public's attention is focused elsewhere.

Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson for la Quadrature du Net urges on the European deputies:

Les eurodéputés doivent résister à la stratégie de la Commission européenne, qui cherche à gagner du temps et à transformer le débat en une simple discussion juridique, et pour cela continuer à travailler au rejet d’ACTA. ACTA vise à imposer une tendance pour une politique globale du droit d’auteur qui est toxique pour l’Internet libre et pour les libertés. Le Parlement européen est le dernier rempart : il doit agir et adopter une position claire et forte, faute de quoi il laissera le champ libre à la Commission pour imposer une répression inacceptable.

The Eurodeputies must resist the European Commission's strategy of attempting to gain time and turning the debate into a simple legal discussion, thereby continuing to work towards ACTA's rejection. ACTA aims to impose a tendency for a global policy of author's rights that is toxic for the free Internet and for freedom. The European Parliament is the last line of defense: it must act and adopt a firm and clear position, otherwise it will leave the field wide open for the commission to impose an unacceptable repression.

For trucbuntu, there is no question of remaining passive while waiting for the Court to adjudicate:

Les citoyens de toute l’Europe peuvent contacter leurs représentants dans les commissions Commerce International (INTA) et Industrie (ITRE), qui se réunissent cette semaine pour discuter d’ACTA, et leur demander de continuer à travailler au sein de leur commission pour le rejet d’ACTA.

Citizens of all of Europe were able to contact their representatives in the International Trade (INTA) and Industry (ITRE) Committees, who met on February 29 to discuss ACTA. Many citizens requested their representatives to reject the proposal.

The website of the European Parliament explains the procedure and the issues of the treaty [en] that are under scrutiny, and has published ‘What you should know about ACTA‘ [en], a page of questions and answers. The ACTA workshop of the European Parliament has been the object of a storify [en] made by the Parliamentary services (link via Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras [en]).

The organization AVAAZ submitted a petition to the European Parliament on 29 February with 2.4 million signatures against ACTA. The petition is still open:

Nous sommes vraiment proches de la victoire — notre pétition forte de 2,4 millions de signatures a ébranlé les responsables politiques partout en Europe et stoppé les censeurs. La Commission européenne est à présent en position de faiblesse et espère que la Cour de justice donnera son feu vert au traité ACTA en lui soumettant une question juridique très limitée qui recevra certainement une réponse positive.Mais si nous faisons résonner nos voix aujourd'hui, nous pouvons faire en sorte que la Cour examine tous les impacts légaux du traité ACTA et publie un avis qui fera toute la lumière sur cette attaque contre nos droits qu'est ACTA.

We are really close to victory — our petition, with 2.4 million signatures has shaken up those politicians in charge throughout Europe and stopped their censors. The European Commission is currently in a position of weakness and is hoping the Court of justice will green light the ACTA treaty by bringing before the court a very limited legal question, that will without doubt receive a positive response. But if we make our voices heard today, we will be able to get the court to examine all the legal implications of ACTA and publish an opinion that will bring to light the real attack against our rights that is ACTA.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Anti-ACTA parties continue to strengthen their resources. New protests were set for 10 March, and torrentnews gives a list, with this appeal:

La liste n’est pas exhaustive, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour la compléter ;)

si certains se sentent l’âme d’un reporter- photographe en herbe, nous recherchons également des personnes pour faire un petit article photo du déroulement de la manif, rien de bien compliqué, comme fait ici pour Nice, Marseille,Bordeaux et Strasbourg.

The list is not exhaustive, do not hesitate to contact us to complete it ;)

If any individuals see themselves as budding photojournalists we are also looking for people to do a small photo story on how the protest unfolds, nothing too complicated, as it happens in Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.

For details on the elements of the debate, see also these linked articles from the Tribune on February 29, and Myeurop, on March 3. On Global Voices, see the laws SOPA/PIPA that set a precedent in the USA, here [en] and here [en]. Since the beginning of the protests, ACTA seems to have lost a lot of political momentum.

The title of this post is inspired by the end of the article “La liberté sur Internet : le filtrage de la discorde” which was published by the Institute of Research and Legal and Information studies and Communication (I.R.E.D.I.C.). It puts into perspective Internet blocking and debates the adoption of ACTA.

The original article in French was published on March 4. For background on the ACTA proposal, more articles can be found here [en].