Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2010 November 30

30 November 2010

Daily archive · 9 posts

Stories from 30 November 2010

Cablegate: Lessons on tech for transparency

Written by Renata Avila · Technology for Transparency Network

Wikileaks' release of over 250,000 United States embassy cables is one of the hottest subjects in media and government right now. Renata Avila looks at what Cablegate can teach us about technology for transparency.

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Russia: Leading Activist Blogger on How Internet Changes Politics

Written by Gregory Asmolov · Eastern & Central Europe

Marina Litvinovich, is one of the most influential activist bloggers in Russia. In an interview with Gregory Asmolov, she shares her vision of the future role of the Internet in Russian politics.

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Pakistan: The Desperation Cards

Written by Farhan Janjua · South Asia

There has been a lot of mismanagement of the donations collected for flood relief in Pakistan. The methods of distribution of reliefs and utilizing those funds for other purposes have also been questioned. One such controversial project is the "Watan Cards" project.

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Africa: Cablegate: Does the US care about Africa this much?

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa, North America

Bloggers react to documents published by WikiLeaks (Cablegate) that disclose classified communication between the US State department and its embassies worldwide. The documents make reference to African countries and its leaders.

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Caucasus: Revelations & Confusion over Cablegate

Written by Onnik Krikorian · Middle East & North Africa, Eastern & Central Europe

As the media worldwide reveals revelation after revelation with the gradual release of over 251,000 leaked U.S. Embassy cables over the coming weeks, there were also some items of specific interest in the South Caucasus.

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Russia: Competing Models of Internet Politics

Written by Alexey Sidorenko · Eastern & Central Europe

RuNet becomes an arena of the competition of at least two concepts of the usage of the cyberspace: "United Russia"'s formula "Internet instead of democracy" and independent, grass-roots formula "Internet as a free environment for civil society initiatives." Alexey Sidorenko analyzed the recent trends of the role of the Internet in contemporary Russian politics.

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China: “Hang the Slaves of the West”

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

A new website that vilifies Chinese political liberals, including 2010 Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, has caught the attention of the Chinese internet for its extreme views. Why has it not been removed by censors?

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Fiji Water closes the tap and leaves Fiji

Written by Michael Hartsell · Oceania

After squabbling with Fiji's government, the US-based premium water company Fiji Water closed its bottling plant and canceled its contracts. While the company's leaders hope to strike a deal with Fiji's military government, an estimated 4,000 people are affected by the closure. Fiji's bloggers and commenters provide their take on the matter.

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Central & Eastern Europe: Initial Reactions to WikiLeaks' Cablegate

Written by Veronica Khokhlova · Eastern & Central Europe, North America

While other regions feature a lot more prominently in the collection of U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks thus far, a few countries of the CEE region do appear in the kickoff edition of Cablegate. Below is a small selection of initial reactions from the region's bloggers.

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Updates from 30 November 2010

Brazil

Natalia Vianna reports [pt] for WikiLeaks on how US embassy cables reveal Brazilian security forces have cooperated with US intelligence on counterterrorism in the country, arresting individuals with links to terrorism on various other charges, particularly narcotics.

• Thiana Biondo

Mexico

“Mexico is showing real leadership on this issue, unilaterally setting ambitious goals to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and implementing policies that have already begun to make a dent in that number,” writes Boz from Bloggings by Boz, adding that, “Unfortunately, few people expect a major breakthrough at the Cancun meeting.”

• Silvia Viñas

Venezuela

LluviasVe.com [es] uses crowdsourcing to map events caused by the heavy rains in Venezuela. Users can report on floods, landslides, victims, road blocks, shelters, places to make donations and more.

• Silvia Viñas

Sri Lanka

Groundviews discusses about the Wikileaks papers on Sri Lanka and its possible impact.

• Rezwan

Sri Lanka

“Weddings are awesome, as long as you are not the groom!” comments Sri Lankan Blogger Rakhitha Karunarathne, who is getting married recently and is troubled by the massive arrangements to be done.

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

Mahfuzur Rahman Manik shares his frustration over the delay in enacting the National Education Policy 2010 of Bangladesh.

• Rezwan

Haiti

Dying in Haiti continues to comment on Sunday's election, here and here, saying, even as the OAS announces that the vote should be deemed valid: “The methods that I witnessed on Sunday morning sure wouldn't give robust results choosing new Haitian leaders.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Along the Maleon says that the “Cablegate” cables that pertain to Cuba appear to be about the country's “political affairs, the country's relations with other countries and human rights.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Afra Raymond tells of “amazing scenes” as the CLICO bailout debacle reaches the showdown stage.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

As the Cardinal of Havana declares that the release of the remaining political prisoners is not in his hands, Uncommon Sense says: “The difficulty he faces in understandable. But what is indefensible is that at least publicly, he never comes across as a champion for those Cubans…”

• Janine Mendes-Franco