13 July 2009
Stories from 13 July 2009
Bolivia: The Return of the “Minister of Cocaine”
During the military dictatorship in Bolivia in the early 1980s, Minister of the Interior Luis Arce Gómez had a bit of advice for dissidents, “walk around with their written will under their arms.” After serving a sentence in the US for drug trafficking, the "Minister of Cocaine" was returned to Bolivia where he will serve out his remaining sentence.
Congo Brazzaville: Disappointment at Presidential election
On Sunday July 12th, people in the Republic of the Congo voted in an election which opposition leaders boycotted over allegations it would be neither free nor fair. Denis Sassou...
Cameroon: Bloggers Discuss Obama's Ghana Speech
U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech in Ghana which could be considered as his Africa policy speech. Cameroonians at home and in the diaspora have been reacting to the words pronounced by the American leader with African roots via the blogosphere.
Obama's Ghana Speech Underwhelms
Two Congolese readers react to Obama's first-ever visit to Africa as president, each unimpressed by the speech he gave Saturday before the Ghanaian parliament.
Azerbaijan: Last tweet before arrest
Emin Milli, one of two youth and civil society activists severly beaten and jailed for two months for hooliganism in Baku last week, sent a tweet back on 24th June. Not only was it the last before his arrest, but it was also particularly poignant.
Azerbaijan: Citizen media in defense of detained activists, bloggers
Although most activity can be found on Facebook where users continue to update each other on the case of video blogger Adnan Hajizade and youth activist Emin Milli, detained last week and sentenced to two months pre-trial detention, less activity might be visible in the mainstream media, but the situation is changing. Nevertheless, citizen media remains the main source of information.
Kazkahstan: Public administration discussed by bloggers
The bloggers are trying to understand what is happening in the country and how adequate is the public administration in Kazakhstan. Megakhuimyak thinks over the future of the local political...




































Nice post Aparna. Good to see that Kolkata men and women are organizing against street sexual harassment. Kathmandu organized its...