17 February 2014

Stories from 17 February 2014

Invisible Walls and Protests in Venezuela

  17 February 2014

The Berlin wall was not just physical. There was also an idealogical wall that prevented people from seeing reality clearly. The East Germans were told that the Wall protected the population from Fascist elements conspiring to prevent the peoples’ will from building a socialist state, so it was officially called...

Race as a Political Weapon in the Caribbean

  17 February 2014

Of all the offensive – and unintelligent – statements made in the politics of the post-independence Caribbean, an assertion, that Dr Keith Rowley, the leader of the Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago, is ‘too black’ to be Prime Minister, has to rate as the worst. Bajan Reporter explains why such...

Collecting Data About Possible Web Censorship in Venezuela

  17 February 2014

Marianne Díaz, lawyer, digital activist and Global Voices Advocacy author, has been making constant appeals from her Twitter account asking users to collaborate on collecting data related to access to some websites and online platforms from Internet service providers in Venezuela, due to growing reports of partial or total blockage...

Correction to Chosun Newspaper in South Korea

  17 February 2014

In an article that lists Global Voices as one of several “non-legitimate”, “foreign media websites” who “spread rumors about South Korea” abroad, South Korean pro-government newspaper Chosun falsely describes our Korean editor Yoo Eun Lee as, “a dark-haired Korean-American blogger, who goes by a last name starting with L”. Lee's...

On the 11 Wives of Convicted Zimbabwean Preacher

  17 February 2014

Following the conviction of End Time Message church leader Martin Gumbura on multiple charges of rape, Sibusisiwe Bhebhe asks whether his 11 wives are victims, villains or victors: In past weeks, Zimbabwean gossip – from the mainstream media to social media to bars and public transport – has been dominated...