Global Voices · Citizen media stories from March 2011

March, 2011

Monthly archive · 316 posts

Stories from March, 2011

23 March 2011

Venezuela: Learning to Play the Cuatro on the Web 2.0

Written by Laura Vidal · Translated by Marianna Breytman · Latin America

The cuatro - an instrument in the guitar family - is the principal icon of traditional Venezuelan music. A love for the cuatro has also reached citizen media, where songs are shared, and its history, musicians and even how to play the instrument, are widely discussed.

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Brazil: Obama's Visit Marked by Protests, Repression and Criticism

Written by Paula Góes · Translated by Kitty Garden · North America, Latin America

Intended to be a party, US President Obama's first visit to Brazil was marked by the controversial decision for his country to intervene militarily in Libya, in addition to the "covering up" of the favelas and protests followed by violent police repression.

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Philippines: World Boxing Champ Knocked-out on Twitter

Written by Julius Rocas · East Asia

Philippine Congressman Manny Pacquiao is the world's best ‘pound-for-pound' fighter but he was 'knocked-out' on twitter when netizens criticized him for being absent in an important session of Congress and for sending 'strange' tweets online. Pacquiao has since then deleted his twitter account.

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Serbia: Returning Gratitude for the Japanese Donations

Written by Sasa Milosevic · East Asia, Eastern & Central Europe

Sasa Milosevic reports on Serbian initiatives to help Japanese victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster, in a grateful return of the aid donated by Japan to Serbia.

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22 March 2011

Côte d'Ivoire: After Failed Mediation, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Written by Nemo · Translated by Suzanne Lehn · Sub-Saharan Africa

The meeting of five African Union (AU) heads of states about Côte d'Ivoire's state of electoral deadlock made it briefly possible to believe for a short while that a détente in the country's political crisis was within reach. Alas, this mediation, called by many the "last resort meeting", seems to have failed, after incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo's representatives rejected the panel's conclusions.

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Morocco: The Winds of Change

Written by Jillian C. York · Middle East & North Africa

For the past month, Moroccans have taken to the streets to call for a reform of the constitution and for the establishment of a democratic parliamentary system. On March 20, 2011, the peaceful protests, which took place in cities both large and small, continued, inspiring bloggers in Morocco and the Diaspora to share their thoughts.

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Updates from March, 2011

28 March 2011

El Salvador

Tim in Tim's El Salvador Blog reports that, “not everyone was happy to see Barack Obama on Salvadoran soil. Protesters in the streets of San Salvador and in cyberspace raised their voices against a variety of aspects of US policy impacting this tiny country in Central America.”

• Silvia Viñas

Cuba

In half-wired, blogger Ellery Biddle analyzes the Alan Gross case and the potential of ICT's in Cuba: “First, who decides what constitutes a crime? While Cuban courts say that Gross committed “acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state,” Hillary Clinton, Phillip Crowley and other State Department officials say that Gross’s delivery and installation of ICT equipment for a small group of Cubans “was not in any way criminal, in our view (my emphasis).”

• Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

Listen to the interview of the team behind the collective blog La Acera [es] in which they talk about the Puerto Rican blogosphere, and the Internet as a potential space of media democratization, and the way they work in editorial terms.

• Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

The art blog The Fractal [es] features Osvaldo Budet's documentary “More than 800 Reasons” on the student strike at the University of Puerto Rico. The title refers to the protest against the imposition of an $800 special tuition fee.

• Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

The collective blog El Faktor, dedicated to showcasing unknown and underground artists, features the art of Aslan [es].

• Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Macedonia

Bojana Jankovska blogs [MKD] on how she deals with the economic crisis at a personal level: make a deal with family members to use electrical appliances during “cheaper” hours of the day, possibly cancel central heating, locate the cheapest neighborhood store for regular grocery shopping, and lock your credit card in a drawer. Influenced by the Croatian self-help book, “Financial Rebirth,” [CRO] she considers canceling the credit card, so she would “no longer pay interest on things she can comfortably live without.”

• Filip Stojanovski

Brazil: Communities in Rio Blame Olympics for Evictions

Hi Christa, Thank you for sharing the good news. I am glad that at least one battle has been won by...
Help us bring international visibility to this issue. Please read and share the following link regarding Vila Autódromo's recent win...

Interesting indeed. I don't hear much news from Peru so this information was indeed news and something the world community...
Interesting read. Thanks for sharing!
Great article that addressed the matter concisely and with appropriate supplemental material.