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The Week That Was - Bolivian Blogs

The most comprehensive poll to date really got the ball rolling with an increase in discussion about the December 18th Presidential Elections in Bolivia. In addition to the election of a new President, Bolivia will be choosing Departmental prefects and an entirely new Congress. Miguel Buitrago (MABB) was one of the first to comment about the poll released by the company MORI.

The large number of undecided voters will be crucial as the eight candidates continue to court these difference makers. However, only the top three are receiving the most coverage in the Bolivian press. There is a full-court press to reach these citizens who have yet to decide and could need some convincing. Debates are one way to appeal to this group, but to date many forums and open invitation debates have been boycotted by some of the candidates.

The question whether there will even be a debate this cycle was raised by Miguel Centellas. In his blog Ciao!, he analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the front runner Evo Morales’ refusal to debate the other candidates. Ultimately, he believes that this tactic favors his opponent. Even Morales’ running mate, Alvaro Garcia Linera is following his lead in declining to debate PODEMOS’ candidate, Maria Rene Duchen. Centellas thinks, however, that Garcia Linera would fare fairly well against the former journalist. Others have weighed in concerning this topic. Jaime Rubin de Celis from JCR’s Place believes that if and when Morales finally decides to debate, the contrast between him and PODEMOS candidate Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga may be too much to overcome, which would end up being a risky move for the MAS candidate. He also believes that Morales has been conveniently using excuses by citing statements made by Quiroga, that has led Morales asking for an apology.

Colors are being strewn throughout the cities. On the Andean Side writes that the main road in the city of Cochabamba is being overrun by political propaganda and being turned into a “political fruit loops” because of the choice of colors of the two leading parties. The MAS party is represented by blue, and PODEMOS, which recently formed this year chose red as its colors. Mauricio writes in Bolivia Hoy that he finds it funny and mildly ironic that the right-leaning Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga’s PODEMOS party chose red with a yellow star. All that is missing, writes Mauricio, is a hammer and sickle.

The contrast between the PODEMOS and MAS goes far beyond the simple color schemes. They represent a fundamental difference in a vision for the country. As a result, the campaign ads and propaganda uses this as a reminder. Jonathan Olguin from the Journal of Bolivian Business & Politics draws attention to an interesting ad placed in the newspaper “El Juguete Rabioso” featuring a non-Bolivian politician. A group called “Young People for Dignity, Change and Democracy,” which supports the candidacy of Morales, recently printed an ad featuring President George Bush. The ad says

“If this man (Bush) lived in Bolivia, he would vote for someone that thinks like him. He would vote for Tuto Quiroga. You have dignity. Vote for real change. Vote for the nationalization of the hydrocarbons. Vote for Bolivia. Vote for Evo Morales.”

Not all the political content in blogs is written. Recently Joaquin Cuevas, editorial cartoonist from the La Paz newspaper La Razon started his blog that features some of his drawings. The new blog is called La Vida del Chico Larva. Cuevas also publishes a magazine called “El Fanzineroso”

As always, there is much more than politics around the Bolivian blogosphere. Sebastian Molina of Plan B announced that the first “Gran Encuentro Gran” meeting of Santa Cruz bloggers was a success. Pictures to follow. Finally, a new Bolivian Blogger Frappr map was created to visualize the different places that Bolivian bloggers are located around the world.

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Travels in the Kurdish Blogosphere

Deborah Ann Dilley · 23:35 · Middle East & North Africa

This week was fairly quiet in the Kurdish Blogosphere compared to week's past. Many Kurds have been focused on the upcoming/ongoing trial of Saddam Hussein. One such blogger, Kurdo from Kurdo's World remarked that after watching the first day of the trial that it was unfair…to Saddam's victims. He gave 3 reasons:

1. The trial is not live. We get 30 minutes delay. Let's hear what the man has to say. Why he did that to us LIVE and without censors.

2. The trial video is edited and censored. This is not fair. So many people have died and so many mothers and fathers and orphans want to hear the facts. Why is the video censored and edited ?

3. All we get to see is Saddam being defiant, his aids crying for help….but nothing about facts…Saddam wanted to explain what he was doing in the video and he was stopped from doing so. Let's hear what the man has to say for fairness's sake.

Another blogger writing about the trial is Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes who wouldn't be surprised if Saddam got out of the trial “clean” based on some sort of technicality like the court translators. However, other trials are looking up. For instance, a Dutch businessman, Frans van Anraat, who is charged with complicity in war crimes and genocide for selling chemicals to Iraq (knowing Saddam Hussein would use them to carry out poison gas attacks) started his trial on Monday. As promised, Hiwa also translated more Kurdish party manifestos of groups running in the upcoming December 15th elections, this week was the Kurdistan Alliance Manifesto.

The Iraqi Vote has also been commenting on topics relating to the December elections, including a short profile of Hamid al-Kiffaey head of the Movement for Democratic Society. He also discusses why Kurds are against the proposed lift of the parliamentary immunity on former Iraqi minister of defense, Hazim al-Sh’alan. The Iraqi Vote also has similar comments to Kurdo about the televising of the Saddam trial.

Roj Bash! has an excellent post with documents and evidence from the Anfal campaign, which is one of many incidents that Saddam Hussein is being held on charges for.

The Is-Ought Problem does an excellent job this week of trying to define some of the nuances of Kurdish politics in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan. For example, Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish but also the current president of Iraq, recently stated that an independent Kurdish state would not be viable. He also signed off on an agreement with the Arab League catagorizing the nature of resistance and terrorism, which could be construed as advocating the killing if non-Iraqi civilians as not terrorism, but instead legitimate resistance. Whereas Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, commented that attacks on foreign forces should not be considered as “Resistance”. It seems to be a common misconception that the Kurds are united in all things, and the Is-Ought Problem does an excellent job in showing that reality is not the case.

Moving outside of the realm of Southern Kurdistan. Bleak Blogorrhea posts about student protests in Eastern Kurdistan/Western Iran, and about some of the handicrafts that come out of that region. He also gives a link to the Ottawa Kurdish Community Association which has been newly founded.

From Holland to Kurdistan has a post about a recent press-conference where Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left the conference upon hearing that reporters from Denmark-based Kurdish Roj TV were present, while the rumor and the truth of this story is still left to be found, it has spawned a series of paranoia jokes about the Prime Minister. And while I stated that we were moving away from Iraqi Kurdistan, I would still like to direct you to a wonderful post From Holland to Kurdistan has about the Iraqification of Kurdistan.

Content on the Kurdistan Bloggers Union focused this week on the finding of several new Kurdish blogs, including a link to Wikipedia in Kurdish. While a total of four were mentioned, only two of the new blogs are in English and will be introduced in this posting. The interesting thing about these 2 new blogs is that both were started this week, and I personally find it interesting to watch the birth of both of these blogs. However, as with any new child/project you cannot always tell their full worth from the beginning. Both have postings that cover the entire region of Kurdistan in its scope and it seems difficult to try and classifiy their niche at this time, however I think that we will see a lot from Rasti and Welcome to the East of Kurdistan in the near future.

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Sri Lanka: Children in the Conflict

Apsith · 16:45 · South Asia

The involvement of Sri Lankan children in the LTTE calls for immediate action towards deterring future recruitment as well as helping children already affected by warfare. Following the 2004 tsunami and the civil war, the children of Sri Lanka have become increasingly prone to participation in the military wing of the Tamil Tigers.

The tsunami resulted in the displacement of more than 550,000 persons while the nineteen year civil war in Sri Lanka resulted in the displacement of 800,000 people, one third of who were children. Orphaned children often become targets of the Tamil Tigers organization, which is located in the area where the tsunami hit the country the hardest; thus those orphaned by the tsunami are particularly at risk for abduction and recruitment by the LTTE.

In 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) formulated an action plan in accordance with numerous organizations such as the Ministry of Social Welfare, Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Save the Children in Sri Lanka, and the United Nations to address the situation and improve the lives of Sri Lankan children affected by war. This plan called for the LTTE to cease all recruitment of children and release all child soldiers. This plan instructed the Sri Lankan government to take action to rehabilitate the basic infrastructure within the country. Additionally, this plan called for the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to accelerate and improve their implementation of programs related to children affected by war and child rights in this region. of October 31, 2004, UNICEF documented 3,516 new cases of child recruitment since the cease-fire signed in February of 2002. Only 1,206 children were formally released by the Tigers, according to UNICEF. As of November 2004, UNICEF files hold documentation of 1,395 child soldiers within the Tamil Tigers. According to UNICEF these numbers most likely remain low due to the fact that: Some families may be unaware of the possibility of registering, may be afraid to do so, or may have difficulty reaching a UNICEF office…this suggests that the total number of children remaining with the LTTE may be as much as four times higher than the 1,395 figure suggests.

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Turning Point in Venezuelan Legislative Elections

Iria Puyosa · 16:10 · Americas

Next Sunday, December 4, is election day for Venezuelan National Assembly deputies. The electoral race had been taking place without much ado from voters, and according polls projected abstention was to be around 70%. It was going to be an easy victory for President Chávez’ twin parties.

However, last week the opposition parties demonstrated to international observers that the thumbprint machines-to be used for screening citizens’ identity before they be allowed to vote- were programmed to log the choice of each one of the voters in a given sequence. Such a log may allow the government to verify whether or not a person voted for Chávez’s candidates, and use such information each time a citizen would need to conduct any business with the national administration, as has been happening with the infamous Tascón’s List. Given that precedent, the opposition has asked the National Electoral Council (CNE – Spanish acronym) to suspend the use of thumbprint machines, otherwise opposition candidates would retire from the elections.

The CNE agreed to suspend the use of the thumbprint machines. Unexpectedly, several opposition parties decided to withdraw from the elections. AD, COPEI, Venezuela Project, and several other small parties announced that they are not longer running for seats in the National Assembly because the electoral process is obviously tainted, and there is not prospect of fairness. MAS announced that they will keep running, while Justice First (the main opposition party) and Causa R have not made a public statement yet.

Reacting to these events, the Venezuelan blogosphere turned its attention to the elections, which were being overlooked until now. Many opposition bloggers call the for unanimous withdrawal of opposition candidates, while Chavista bloggers claim that the withdrawal is just a “children's tantrum” from candidates who know they were going to be defeated.

Several opposition and independent bloggers argue that the CNE's one-sidedness and the potential for fraud were widely known before the thumbprint machines issue came out. Thus, there is no reason for a last minute withdrawal. On the contrary, some bloggers allege that the opposition could be in a better electoral position now since the international observers witnessed the irregularities in the operation of the voting machines, which had always been claimed by the opposition parties but had never before been proven. In general, most Venezuelan bloggers agree that the citizens opposed to Chávez cannot depend on these unresponsive parties to represent their political views.

Venezuelans who oppose Chávez seems to be looking for leadership and creative ways to get mobilized. Along those lines, a series of e-mail and cell phone text messages inviting citizens to go to churches next Sunday instead of going to vote have been circulating widely this week¹. However, many Venezuelan bloggers think that “praying is not enough”, as Venezuelan diseased folk song-writer Alí Primera should have sung.

Update: MAS and Causa R announced that they will keep running, while Justice First (the main opposition party) is still debating internally the issue.

Update 2
On November 30 evening, First Justice announced that they are also withdrawing from the elections. Opposition parties are now demanding the CNE to suspend elections.

Most Venezuelans bloggers consider this series of events as a travesty that would undermine democracy rather than helping to overcome electoral vices. Abstention is likely to reach historical record, since people do not see the point in voting without the main opposition parties. A few bloggers are still arguing for voting to keep democracy going.

1: Although the majority of Venezuelans are nominally Christians—mostly Catholics—, most are not customary church-goers.

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Nigerian Blogosphere

Edward Popoola · 09:01 · Sub-Saharan Africa

Dabar Objects starts us up this week with “Nigeria and ECommerce: We must be joking”. He pointed out issues about Nigeria doing eCommerce successfully. He discussed why he thinks that even though about 5 million people confortable uses mobile phone in the country, only a minute do eCommerce and that most of them are in Lagos, the country's main commercial hub. He also made some suggestions on how to get PCs into every home.

Still talking technology in Nigeria, Chippla reports about Abuja, Nigeria's Capital going Wireless. In his blog entry titled “Abuja Goes Wireless” he says

“This would be the first of its kind in any Nigerian city and it is meant to be cost-effective and affordable in comparison to current internet technologies used around Nigeria which are, by any standard, prohibitively expensive”

Kazey Journal asked a very vital question about Nigeria's Technological development. He asks “Can a Nigerian Afford a PC?” He argues strongly with facts and statistics and concludes that Nigerians sure can afford PCs. He also looked into the content issue, asking whether the average Nigerian knows how to use a PC or what to use the PC for? After a long and convincing piece on why he thinks Nigerians can afford PCs, he concludes that

“Yes the average Nigerian, can afford an average specification pc, and no the government should not fund such schemes like “Computer for All Nigerians Initiative”, they should spend their funds and allocations on creating a better infrastructure and solving poverty rather. This is because never in history has an average Nigerian benefited directly from any scheme targetted to the masses, and thus it can be concluded, that such scheme, would meet the same fate of its predecessors”

On a more lighter mode, Aderemi's notebook discusses Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry. While he points to us that Nollywood rakes in as much as $200 million annually, making it the third largest in the World, behind Hollywood and Bollywood, he looks at issues plagueing the Industry. In his words:

“The film industry in Nigeria is overcrowded. Film quality have dropped significantly and the titles (e.g Pure Water, Area Scatter) have become a joke, little thought goes into it”

“Yet the demand continues to grow, why? Recurring themes like Love, romance, fidelity and family cohesiveness observed in the movies is pulling the crowd in. Nigerians aboard also feel the need to stay abreast of the hottest titles further fuelling demand.”

He concludes with the difficulty he faces in parting with his hard earned money to get any of these movies.

Naija Blog gives us an interesting letter to read and keep in our pockets for the week. He had complained to the BBC about their non-coverage of the “Change in Nigeria”. The post, titled “The BBC and Nigeria” is the respose he got from the BBC. While the letter points out the things BBC has recently reported about Nigeria, the BBC further said:

“As for the wider BBC, a search on the BBC news website on the word Nigeria produces over 200 stories which were filed recently and we have plans for both our Newshour team and our Religious Programmes to go to Nigeria in the next few months to record programmes.”

An interesting read indeed.

Black looks, among her already many posts for this week has an interesting read on what she calls “Cheap Monkeys”. In the post she looks into why researchers in the West are now using Africa as
research bases and testing ground for their work. Of a great note is the issue of Animal rights making things difficult for scientists in the West using animals as test for their work. Lack of such opposition and reduced cost have made these scientist to take Africa as a better testing ground for their work. She says

“it is the lack of legislation, lack of opposition to animal testing and the lower cost in Africa, which encourages Western scientists to work there”

Oro has an extensive report on his trip to India for the “South-South ICT-Enabled Traveling Workshop, India” Reporting on one session on the use of ICTs by a village of 2,500 he writes.

(She gave) “examples of how the villagers have been able to use ICT tools for information retrieval, agricultural practices support and access to health services (precaution, disease control, etc). The information received by women volunteers are taken to the community in their local languages”

Musings of a Naijaman comments on the “alleged attempt by the Nigerian president to force through a change in the constitution thus guaranteeing himself a third term in office” which has led to an “unwieldy coalition of would-be presidential aspirants, people who have been pissed off by Obasanjo in some way or the other, sheer opportunists and some genuinely concerned Nigerian patriots.”

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The Darfur Crisis: Bloggers Speak

Chippla Vandu · 08:10 · Sub-Saharan Africa

The western Sudanese region of Darfur made the headlines for a significant portion of last year when millions of civilians were displaced by fighting between rebel groups and the pro-Sudanese government Janjaweed militia. The Janjaweed militia was also implicated in the killing of innocent civilians and the raping of women, leaving a trail of fear and terror wherever it went. To some it was genocide – the mass killing of people who simply sought a greater say in how their lives were governed. To others, it was an unacceptable humanitarian disaster ignited by a rebellious movement in Darfur, which nonetheless had to be brought to an end. African Union troops were then sent in to keep the peace with assistance from international bodies like the United Nations, European Union and the United States. Peace talks on Darfur between the rebel groups and Sudanese government are scheduled to continue (they have been going on intermittently for while) in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Tuesday, 29 November 2005. The blogosphere has been active on the crisis in Darfur. We take a look at some bloggers and what they have to say on this.

Sleepless in Sudan, a blog by an aid worker in Darfur can be likened to the blogosphere’s premier authority on life in Darfur based on a first-hand account. Authored by a female aid worker, it contains periodical accounts about happenings in Darfur. This article posted two weeks ago laments about the fact that attacks in Darfur still continue:

“More than two years have passed since Darfur's rebel groups first began fighting, and government troops and Janjaweed militia responded by fiercely attacking villages and civilians - but the scenes of horror continue in many parts of Darfur… Not only is it acutely disturbing to hear locals tell you that 50, 60 or 70 people have been killed today - there are also concerns that the insecurity is still preventing humanitarian agencies from assisting victims with food, water and shelter.”

Sleepless in Sudan also documents and reports on the slight positives being achieved in Darfur such as the allowing back of an aid agency to camp and the seventh and final round of peace talks slated to begin in Abuja.

The blog But That’s Just My Opinion takes a rather cynical view of the conflict in Darfur, seeing it as one that reflects a long standing trend in Sudan – an Arab minority wishing to impose its views and values on a black African majority. It says:

“The Arabs have come to dominate the Sudan, and have consigned the indigenous Negroid population to the lowliest status, treating them as slaves, from a tradition which began as the Arabs moved into this stretch of Africa, which was once the site of Nubia, the great African civilization. Sudan has been mired in civil conflict, with the Christians rallying behind the [late] John Garang led Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, SPLA, fighting for control of the South from the Arabs of the North.”

But That’s Just My Opinion also traces the history of the subjugation of black Africans by Arabs on the African continent. In its final analysis, it leaves the following warning with Darfur in mind:

“Sudan remains at war, and the war is endless because the Arab Muslim population in the North is unwilling to grant the Black Negroid population its humanity.”

Sudan: The Passion of the Present focuses on the Darfur peace talks scheduled to begin at Abuja.

The blog Octogenarian asks “Darfur: Where is the American black outrage.” Also touching on the black African–Arab divide in Sudan or what it refers to as the “racial component” of the conflict, Octogenarian challenges African-American leaders to speak out against what it calls the “genocide” in Darfur:

“…I am unaware of an angry outcry about Darfur by the most prominent African-American militants, notably Louis Farrakhan, Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Most striking is the apparent absence of Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, in the effort to defend fellow black Muslims in Africa. If these activists have expressed outrage at the massacres of African blacks by Arab militias, it has certainly been muted.”

The complexity of the Darfur crisis is reflected by the diversity of voices in the blogosphere. In the long run, peace would only be achieved if the political will for it exists. We should be hopeful that the talks in Abuja will yield fruitful results.

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