Global Voices » Issa Villarreal

Mexico: Fighting Drug Trafficking With ‘Magic Wands'

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:05:28 +0000

Blogger Juan Antonio [es] uses reliable sources to report on the situation of the GT200 in Mexico, a drug and explosive detector recognized as ineffective by several countries. Despite warnings from the British government, Mexico has spent more than 250 million pesos ($20 million USD) in these devices.

Mexico: Two Deaths on the Border in Ten Days

Issa Villarreal — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:53:48 +0000

Citizens of Mexico are in shock over the unexpected deaths of two Mexicans as a result of two separate clashes with the United States Border Patrol. These incidents occurred less than a month apart: the brutal attack of Anastacio Hernández [es], a Mexican worker who lived in California for 20 years, in the international crossing of San Ysidro-Tijuana, and the shooting of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández in the border of El Paso-Ciudad Juárez [es]. The similarity of the two deaths have provided new grounds for citizen media to evaluate the actions of the Mexican government towards the United States in terms of migration and foreign policy.

Newspaper La Jornada reported [es] that Anastacio Hernández was beaten up on May 28 by the Border Patrol in the international crossing of San Ysido-Tijuana, after he was apprehended because he lacked migration documents. He was a Mexican worker who lived in California for 20 years, where he fathered his children. La Jornada also says [es] that about 20 officers from the Border Patrol used both physical force and stun guns against the worker, provoking cerebral death; one day later, Anastacio died.

The brutal attack on Anastacio Hernández was recorded on video with a cellphone by a student from California who was at the border at the time. The video can be viewed on YouTube. The student, a witness that will be declaring on Anastacio's case according to CNN Mexico, told newspapers that Anastacio was handcuffed all the time and never resisted to the patrol officers.

Border US-Mexico. Photo by Flickr user PhillipC. Used under a Creative commons license.

The situation for Sergio Adrián Hernández was similar to Anastacio's in many ways, with the exception that he was in Mexican territory when he was killed. CNN Mexico reported that [es] on June 7, Sergio and other three persons threw rocks at the Border Patrol officers after they were caught sneaking into the border. In the struggle, the police shot Sergio in the head, an act they described as “self-defense”.

A clip from a news program replays a video of Sergio and others trying to cross the border and the response from the Border Patrol.

Both deaths are a reflection of the tension between Mexico and the United States after the controversial immigration law S.B. 1070, approved in late April by the state of Arizona in the United States. The law states that under reasonable suspicion that a person is residing unlawfully in the United States, ”a reasonable attempt” shall be made by law enforcement to determine the immigration status of the person. After much criticism that this law would lead to racial profiling, changes were made to the wording so that law enforcement cannot consider race, color or national origin as a factor in implementing this law.

Reflecting on the two clashes between Mexican citizens and Border Patrol agents, blogger Franz from El Arcangelino considers the relationship between the countries as a very delicate matter:

El hecho de que los americanos estén respondiendo de esta manera nos habla de que se está radicalizando la protección fronteriza de los vecinos hasta las consecuencias más severas.

The fact that the Americans responded this way speaks to us about the radicalization of our neighbor's border protection up to the most severe consequences.

Although the Mexican government has condemned the actions that caused the death of Anastacio and Sergio [es], and demanded a thorough investigation of the events, citizens recognize that the reaction from Mexican officials towards the issue of immigration is still condescending and weak, as blogger TRC criticized [es] in his blog:

A la luz de estos indignantes acontecimientos no nos queda más que preguntarnos ¿hasta cuándo mantendrá la SRE [Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores] una política exterior condescendiente (por no decir agachona)? ¿Cuándo se tomará una represalia pacífica pero contundente contra los EUA por los actos de racismo y discriminación que viven día a día los mexicanos de los más bajos estratos sociales que radican en la frontera norte? ¿Cuándo entenderá Patricia Espinosa [Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores] que un “tibio” comunicado no es una reacción suficiente ante la sistemática y reiterada violación de derechos fundamentales contra mexicanos por parte del país vecino?

In the light of these shameful events there is nothing left but to ask ourselves, until when will the SRE (Foreign Policy Secretary) have a condescending foreign policy (not to say submissive)? When will a peaceful but convincing reprisal be made against thee US for their acts of racism and discrimination lived daily by the Mexicans of the lowest social spheres that live in the Northern border? When will Patricia Espinosa [Secretary of Foreign Policy] understand that a “warm” press release is not enough of a reaction reaction against the systematic and reiterative violation of the fundamental rights of Mexicans by the neighbor country?

On the other hand, blogger Daniel Muñoz believes that what happened to Sergio, who was killed in Mexican territory, brings a complete new set of circumstances [es] within the context of Mexico's foreign policy to the United States:

Creo que el gobierno mexicano debe hacer a niveles internacionales, lo que comúnmente conocemos como un “señor pancho”, si la violación a nuestra frontera y peor aún, el asesinato de un civil en suelo mexicano, no es motivo para levantar la voz, entonces resignémonos a ser el eterno patio trasero norteamericano, aquel concepto que Aguilar Zinser inventó acertadamente siendo embajador de la ONU.

I think the Mexican government needs to “cause a ruckus” [out of the event] at international levels, if the violation of our border, and even worst, the murder of a civilian in Mexican territory, is not a reason to speak out, then let's resign ourselves to be the eternal backyard of the Unites States, that concept so appropiately created by Aguilar Zinser when he was a UN ambassador.

For blogger Roberto from La borla del Hombligo, Sergio's death is a reminder [es] of all the young people that are vulnerable to bullets from drug traffickers in their own country and from their neighbors, the Border Patrol:

No, Sergio no murió cruzando la frontera, Sergio murió en su país y ahora su país tendrá que ver por él.

No, Sergio did not die crossing the border, Sergio died in his country and now his country will have to respond for him.

Finally, following the fondness Mexicans have for using parody and humor even in the most difficult of situations, Twitter user Miguel Burgos (@burdolab) joined the protest under the hashtag #MurderPatrol, referring to Sergio's death with a parody version of a biblical phrase [es]:

El que esté libre de #murderpatrol que arroje la primera piedra

He who is without the #murderpatrol cast the first stone

Mexico: One Year Since the Tragedy at Guardería ABC

Issa Villarreal — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:10:23 +0000

A year has passed since the tragedy at Guardería ABC, a daycare center in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora. On June 5, 2009 a fire consumed a warehouse next to the daycare; the fire spread out of control, taking the lives of 49 children and leaving more than 70 with respiratory problems and other permanent conditions. President Felipe Calderón has declared [es] June 5 as a national day of mourning, but a year later, the family of the victims are still seeking formal justice.

Mourning the victims of the Guardería ABC. Photo by Darinka, taken from photographer's blog and used under a Creative Commons license.

There were several important factors that made the tragedy possible, as newspaper El Universal noted [es]: poor infrastructure of the daycare (the ceiling fell creating a “rain of fire”), problems with availability of the main exits, and lack of employees to carry out an appropriate emergency response (there was one adult for every 8-10 children). The mainstream media has mentioned [es] other security requirements that were violated, such as the lack of fire extinguishers and proper smoke detectors.

Guardería ABC was a subrogated daycare center: their private service was sold to the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS; in English, Mexican Social Security Institute), the governmental organization in charge of health care and social security. The IMSS was responsible for supervising and maintaining quality control of the daycare, as it does with other governmental services.

One year after the event, the Supreme Court of Justice has released a proposal to hold 14 governmental employees responsible [es] for the tragedy; among them, a federal secretary and employees from the presidential staff, as well as the former director of the IMSS (up to 2009), Juan Molinar Horcasitas, and its current director, Daniel Karam. The court will review the proposal after June 14.

However, the parents and family of the victims criticize the inefficiency of the federal government to determine who is responsible and reach out to the families of Guardería ABC. As newspaper Excélsior notes (cached story [es]), only one person was incarcerated, the IMSS area coordinator of the daycare –and she was freed on bail after six months.

The movement 5 de Junio [es] (Twitter account @cincodejunio), created by the families of the victims, demands justice and compensation, public apologies, as well as medical attention and monetary retribution to the survivors. Several marches in the city of Hermosillo [es] and other Mexican cities (including Mexico City [es], Saltillo, Coahuila [es]) have taken place to remember the victims and to address the authorities regarding the pending justice.

National television news programs have covered [es] the solidarity shown through social networks and citizen media. These messages primarily reflect impotence and sadness over the tragedy, in both explicit and symbolic ways.

User Paty Duarte (@MADREABC [es]) writes on Twitter to her son [es], one of the victims of the tragedy:

Te amo mi plinchipe guapo por ti siempre luchare, tu eres la razon de mi fuerza por seguir a pesar de no tenerte, te amo hasta el cielo.

I love you my handsome prince for you I will always fight, you are the reason of my strenght to go on even though I do not have you, I love you up to heaven.

User @LeoAgusto [es] shares on Twitter [es] a symbolic tribute to the victims, with 49 crosses representing each child:

[†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] †††† Un año ya.

[†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] [†††††] †††† A year already.

The anniversary of Guardería ABC has been contrasted to the World Cup because of the attention drawn by the latter. User @carrillazo takes both events humorously [es] as cases of loss:

Tan poco probable que México llegué al sexto partido, como que en el caso de la guardería ABC alguien acabe en el bote. ¿Apuestas?

It is equally unlikely for Mexico to reach the sixth game as anyone to be taken to jail in the case of Guardería ABC. Any bets?

More comments on Twitter can be found by following the hashtag and trending topic #GuarderiaABC [es].

Elizabeth Palacios, journalist and civil rights advocate, considers that the response from the government to declare June 5 as a national day of mourning is not enough [es]:

De que sirve declarar un dia de luto nacional, cuando la impunidad es la unica ganadora en medio de este caso. Recibir a algunos de los padres de las victimas en Los Pinos un anio despues de la tragedia es una respuesta de Estado? La indiferencia del gobierno federal es insultante ante el dolor por el que han tenido que pasar las familias que perdieron a 49 bebes en medio del fuego.

What is the point of declaring a national day of mourning, when impunity is the only winner in the middle of this case. Receiving some of the parents of the victims in [presidential residence] Los Pinos a year after the tragedy is a response from the government? The indifference of the federal government is insulting to the pain that the families have been through after losing 49 babies in the middle of the fire.

A reader of the blog Hazme el chingado favor [es] comments on how other daycares reacted to what happened with Guardería ABC [es] by paying more attention to their infrastructure:

Yo trabajo para una constructora, y recuerdo que cuando sucedio esto de la Guarderia ABC llamaron un chingo de guarderias para queles hcieramos trabajos.
Para que esperarse a que sucedan hechos tan lamentables como lo que sucedio en la guarderia ABC?

I work for a constructor, and I remember that when this event of the Guardería ABC happened a lot of daycares called us to make some projects.
Why would they wait for that such unfortunate events occur like what happened in the Guardería ABC?

Users have also shared their emotive tributes to the victims on YouTube [es].

Mexico: Revelations of Crimes by Father Maciel

Issa Villarreal — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:57:16 +0000

Recent investigations have brought about controversy regarding the crimes of Mexican priest Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Roman Catholic Order the Legion of Christ, who received multiple accusations for child abuse from the mid 1990s up until his death in 2008. Despite the crimes, the priest was known to have been protected by important religious leaders close to Pope John Paul II and figures of the Mexican economy and politics, according to a series of articles of The New York Times.

Photo by midiman. Used following a Creative Commons License. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/midiman/90232391/

Although Maciel died in 2008, his victims have continued to search for public acknowledgment of the crimes and for justice. Without the protection of Pope John Paul II, new details of Maciel's crimes have reached mainstream media and have helped make up a comprehensive panorama of the depth of the damage caused by the priest. In March of 2010, two supposed sons of Maciel talked to a journalist [es] about how they were abused as children by his father for 8 years, with explicit details.

When the news broke, it was already reported that Maciel had a daughter and that he had at least 9 accusations of sexual abuse from former seminarians of the Legion. In March, the lawyer of Maciel’s sons assured [es] that the Mexican priest had passports, bank accounts, and credit cards under three different names, and that he utilized the the millionaire fundraising activity of the Legion [es] to “buy” Vatican leaders and friendships. These facts complemented the investigations of the past year that documented the connections between the religious leader and the drugtrafficking groups [es] and even Maciel's plagiarism of the primary book of the Legion [es] El salterio de mis días (The psalmbook of my days).

It was not until May of 2010 when the “double life” of Father Maciel was publicly acknowledged by the Vatican [es] and was labeled as “immoral”.

The crimes of the Mexican priest have been discussed thoroughly in citizen media for the last years. In the blog Atrio a discussion from 2006 can be found after Maciel was condemned by Pope Benedict XVI because of the child abuse. User Emilio commented on the post [es] regarding the safety of the children that are in the seminars:

quisiera recordar a los que somos familiares de Legionarios. Tenemos el derecho y queremos que la Iglesia nos garantice que no enviamos a un hijo, hermano… al seminario para ser violado por sinverguenzas. Si la investigación se cierra en falso, la perjudicada será la Iglesia misma, y la Legión misma. ¿Quién querrá ser sacerdote?

I would like to remember those who are related to Legionaries. We have the right and we want the Church to guarantee us that we did not send a son, a brother… to the seminary to be raped by crooks. If the investigation concludes without consequences, both the Legion and the Church will be affected. Who will want to become a priest?

In a more recent post, blogger immorfo noted the poor response [es] from the religious organizations when it comes to the victims of abuse:

Si a los esquemas de retribución para las víctimas agregáramos también la disolución de aquellas organizaciones que, de forma comprobada, sirven de soporte para la ejecución de delitos que parten del abuso de la confianza de los líderes entonces estaríamos hablando de verdadera justicia y no sólo de cuensuelos efectistas.

If we could consider the dissolution of those organizations that, with proof, function as support of the achievement of crimes that abuse the trust of leaders in the system of retributions to the victims, then we would be talking about real justice and not only comfort done for effect.

On the same line, Twitter user Jose Pablo (@pouch15) used sarcasm to criticize the choice of words [es] reserved for religious leaders who are not treated as criminals:

Me encanta q los violadores son animales, degenerados, pero M Maciel y los curas pederastas son solo pecadores

I love that rapists are animals, degenerates, but M Maciel and pedophile priests are only sinners

Catholic blogger Fray Nelson wrote about how time extends Maciel’s crime [es] to include the secrecy of authorities and blind following:

Por supuesto, ningún Papa tiene super-poderes, a la manera de la visión de rayos X de Supermán, y por eso los engaños pueden suceder en cuanto a las opiniones de comportamientos morales, buenos o malos, de personas específicas. Y sin embargo, ya vemos cómo el tiempo es juez de mirada más profunda.

Of course, no Pope has super powers, similar to the X-ray vision of Superman, and that is why deceiving can happen regarding opinions on moral behavior, good or bad, of specific persons. However, we can see how time is a judge of deeper appreciation.

On the other side of the story, in the blog Mera Defensa de la Fe, written by Eleuterio Fernández Guzmán, a discussion unfolded whether the organization Legionaries of Christ, which Maciel founded in 1941, should also be held accountable for the crimes. The author replied a comment distinguishing [es] Maciel’s actions from the ones of the organization:

Los legionarios de Cristo no son Marcial Macial. Eso, simplemente, no puede ser. De ser así, seguramente nada se salvaría de las instituciones creadas por el ser humano.

The Legionaries of Christ are not Marcial Maciel. That, simply, cannot be. If it was so, surely no one could be safe from the institutions created by human beings.

However, the Legion has been subject of investigations due to its relationship with businesses, education, and even politics: the order extends to more than 20 countries and has 70,000 members, as Mexican journalist Raymundo Riva Palacio mentioned in a column for Eje Central [es].

In the same column, the journalist detailed an investigation of Maciel made for television in the late 1990s that important businessmen and even politicians like the staff of then-Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo tried to impede its release through a series of threats of canceling advertisement on the transmitting station. Moreover on the subject, a recent NYTimes follow-up article exposed the strong connections of the Legion of Christ order with large Mexican corporations and business leaders, like Telcel (businessman and millionaire Carlos Slim used to appear publicly with Maciel), Coparmex, Grupo Alfa, among others organizations that helped actively to cover-up the crimes of the priest.

User Ivonne commented Riva Palacios’s column [es] with her experience as reporter ten years ago:

Recuerdo mis días de reportera en REFORMA, donde (…) tocar el caso Maciel era como clavarles un dardo en el corszón. (…) Era, por desgracia, un acto ideológico revestido de ceguera fe católica. (…) Diez años después de aquel agravio personal (…), me doy por bien servida al atestiguar que han perdido todas sus batallas de pretendido dominio ideológico.

I remember my days as reporter in [grupo] REFORMA, where (…) to talk about the Maciel case was like stabbing a dart to the heart. (…) It was, unfortunately, an ideological act dressed by blinding Catholic faith. (…) Ten years after that personal attack (…), I feel pleased to witness that they have lost all their battles of pretend ideological governance.

Global: Concerns About Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:07:23 +0000

The last meeting of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has provoked the protest of online communities against both its content and the circumstances of their negotiations. The main point of the agreement, which currently involves more than 11 countries, is to deal directly with the piracy on Internet through the construction of a legal framework that will strengthen the protection of the intellectual property rights in each country.

Those behind the agreement cite the need to combat all forms of piracy of intellectual property. Twitter user Juan José Burciaga (@jjbfigueroa) agrees with the basic reasons for an agreement, but not at all costs.

La piratería es un cancer contra el cual debemos de luchar, pero no pisoteando las garantias individuales de las personas #ACTA #OPENACTA

Piracy is a cancer that we all must struggle against, but not stepping over the individual rights of the people #ACTA #OPENACTA

With this, many users are worried about whether their user data will remain private if Internet Service Providers (ISP) are forced to provide that information, and whether the penalties would be too harsh. In addition, much has been said about the way that negotiations have been carried out, since the agenda and the advances of each meeting have been regulated under confidentiality clauses.

Current countries involved in the negotiations include Australia, Canada, members of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. Recently, a leaked document revealed details of the enforcement system to be implemented in several of them: anti-circumvention tools beyond the DMCA, take down notices, a liability scheme for Internet Service Providers and the three strikes rule that will allow any service provider to disconnect the user from the Internet.

Calls for Greater Transparency

Michael Geist, professor of the University of Ottawa and one of the leaders against ACTA, offered an unofficial summary of the seventh meeting, which took part during the last days of January in Guadalajara, Mexico and the stances of some countries regarding transparency. You can follow further discussions on ACTA by Prof Geist by subscribing to his RSS on ACTA.

During the seventh meeting, many from the Mexican online community protested in Twitter under the hashtags #Acta and #openActa, demanding ACTA to make the agenda public and the documents of the agreement available for public scrutiny.

Photo by Neto González. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/netogonzalez/4270933008/

After the movement of #InternetNecesario that defended the Internet from being taxed by the Mexican government, the dialogue between Twitter users and authorities was more direct, and it included participants such as the president of the Science and Technology Commission of the Senate, Javier Castellón, who appealed through Twitter the need of transparency of the agreement [es], as the negotiations were held in his country:

Informo al grupo de las negociaciones de ACTA y de la demanda de mayor transparencia e informacion al senado. Manifiestan interes

I inform the group of the ACTA negotiations and of the demand for an increase in transparency and information for the Senate. They are interested.

An important part of the protest was channeled through Open Acta [es], both website [es] and Twitter [es], which has the objective of making public the documents of the agreement [es] “so a real public and democratic discussion about its content and its reach can be begin.” It started its activity 2 years ago when the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property [es] (IMPI, in Spanish) regarding ACTA [es] announced that it would join to the ACTA negotiations by asking citizens to send their suggestions to the agreement.

One citizen who tried to give her input was Twitter user, Geraldine Juárez, representative from the civil organization Mexican Pirate Party [es] and known in Twitter as Miss Pirata (now offline), , who shared a story about how she tried to become involved through contributing her input to the IMPI. She wrote about the meeting with the IMPI and how she protested by abruptly leaving when she was asked not to tweet about the meeting:

Me salí, enojada sí. Pero también me quedó claro que esto es un asunto serio en el cuál la autoridad apoya a la industria públicamente y que no esta dispuesta a ceder por una ciudadana con una postura que disiente completamente, no solo en cuanto al proceso de negociación del ACTA, sino de la penosa injerencia de la industria del entretenimiento en para controlar la libertad de mi país y en mi mundo: Internet.

Yes, I left angry. But it was also clear that this is a serious matter where authorities openly support industry, but it is not willing to concede to opposing approaches from citizens, not only in the negotiation process of ACTA, but the shameful interference of the entertainment industry in order to control the liberty of my country and my world: Internet.

For the seventh meeting, Open Acta called for emails to the Senate [es] to “demand transparency, rights and liberties and respect to the fundamental principle of the web.”

Possible New Legal Frameworks

There are other concerns about the agreement. Alejandro Pisanty, one of the leaders of the #InternetNecesario movement, commented on his blog about the repercussions of ACTA [es] on legal structures in each of the countries:

En lo que se sabe, de manera parcial, extraoficial e informal, hay bases para temer que ACTA pueda llevar a la necesidad de que algunos países creen legislación nueva (por ejemplo, un país puede tener que crear legislación, ahora inexistente allí, que permita la persecución de la piratería como un delito, persecución ex-officio cuando ahora sólo es mediante acusación), a aplicaciones draconianas de la legislación existente, a la supresión o debilitamiento de la presunción de inocencia, y a la creación de un ambiente poco conducente al acceso al conocimiento, a compartirlo y a la creación colectiva de nuevos arte, ciencia, reflexión y conocimiento. No es posible en este momento confirmar o desmentir con base en documentos oficiales que esto ocurra, ni lo contrario. El tema requiere vigilancia constante.

What it is known, partially, unofficially and informally, that there are reasons to fear that ACTA might lead countries in the need to create new legislation (an example, a country might have to create a legislation, now nonexistent, that allow the prosecution of piracy as a crime, ex-officio prosecution, although currently that can happen only through an accusation), to draconian exercises of the existent legislation, to the elimination or weakening of the presumption of innocence, and to the formation of an environment that does not facilitate access to knowledge, to sharing, and to the collective creativity of new types of art, science, reflection and knowledge. It is not possible in this moment to confirm or deny with official documents that this could happen nor the opposite. The subject needs constant surveillance.

Protection of User Data and Harsh Penalties

Another subject of discussion was the access to sensitive information of Internet users, as pointed out by one of the official documents leaked. However, the AMIPCI publicly rejected [es] any chance of forcing the Internet service providers to share private user data about those users suspected of illegal activities.

There are also reports that there is a proposal to implement a three strikes policy for any user that engages in illegal file sharing. The penalty for this is disconnection from their internet service. Cory Doctorow, blogger and journalist, argues in this video (available in English, French and Italian) that the Internet is too central to our lives to be taken away for three accusations of copyright infringement, like a death penalty.

The eighth meeting for negotiations will be held on New Zealand, in April 2010. Different organizations like EFF, Reporters without borders and IP Watch, are concerned with the future of the Net, the lack of transparency and openness that should be implemented by exemplary democracies in the world like the countries involved in the negotiations. Furthermore, citizens are demanding their authorities transparency and access to the negotiation and a public consultation to have a word on it by organizing meetings in different locations, blogging-twitting in different languages, and sharing documents and concerns via the web.

Renata Avila contributed to the article

Graffiti and Urban Art: Voices from Latin American Streets III

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:46:35 +0000

Editor's Note: This is the third and final in a series of posts about graffiti and urban art around Latin America. To visit the other posts in the series, please click here and here.

In public spaces, street art (or urban art) represents the voice of the community, marginal groups, and young people that strive to be heard, often defying the notion of private property. Latin America is not an exception for this. Some of Latin American street art is distinct from what is created by the hip-hop movement, focusing on political messages and stories of struggle that speak directly to the viewer.

Through the lens of bloggers, Flickr users and communities, and contributors on YouTube, we offer you an online tour of the art of the streets that communicate secrets and passions at every turn.

Venezuela

Venezuelan graffiti has extensive documentation on the Internet, and a notable part comes from users that act as collectors for all kinds of purposes. In Crónicas de un Aprendiz de Periodista blogger Jorge González interviewed graffiti writers [es] from several cities about the main characteristics of this type of urban art as an exercise to practice journalism. He presents inside opinions from the artists themselves, like writer MK 21 from Catia:

«mucha gente se encuentra segura y a gusto cuando escribe su nombre. Tenemos la sensación de afianzarnos, de identificarnos con nosotros mismos. Cuanto más escribes tu nombre, más piensas en ti y comprendes cómo eres. En cuanto empiezas a hacerlo te reafirmas como individuo, tienes identidad».

«many people feel comfortable and secure when they write their names. We have feelings of high esteem, and identification with ourselves. When you write your name, the more you think of yourself, and understand how you are. When you start doing [making art] you reaffirm yourself as an individual, you have an identity».

Another collecting approach comes from blogger BlogZup, who gathered some of the best graffiti works in Venezuela [es], creating an avalanche of responses (100 comments). On the other hand, the blog Solo en Venezuela compiled graffiti and written messages with humorous content [es] found on streets around the country.

Photo by blmurch. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296870012/

Graffiti and street art can also be subjects of academic study, as a part of contemporary art forms. For example, the Network of Scientific Journals of Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal (Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal) has an interesting collection of articles related to graffiti [es], available to download in PDF format. One of them is the study “El graffiti en la V República Venezolana. Estudio del graffiti sobre asuntos públicos”, which analyzes the political content of 740 explicit graffiti pieces [es/en] on the streets of Caracas as a way to evaluate the public opinion.

More photos can be found on the Flickr group Mural paintings and graffiti in Venezuela, which is joined by more than 100 members.

Mexico

On the ground, sharing the message of the street art might be as important as the work itself. As a user, Mexican artist Mr. Fly has a complete website [es] for his work, and supports his portfolio with videos on YouTube and his work on Flickr and Fotolog. He works with stencils, posters, and stickers to leave traces of his imagination on public spaces throughout the city, flying from one spot to another:

The intro of the video reads the following:

En esta puta ciudad caótica, donde el arte es privilegio, recorrer las calles es una necedad, una necedad necesaria en busca de la libre expresión.

In this f*cking chaotic city, where art is a privilege, walking the streets on a whim, a necessary whim in search of freedom of expression.

Collective Lapiztola, from Oaxaca, mixes stencils and serigraphy to create political images with contrasts of textures. In their blog, they document [es] both their contributions to “formal” events and what they create for the streets.

By Lapiztola. Used with permission. Taken from http://lapiztola.blogspot.com/2008/08/mujeres-de-maz.html

The above work is presented in the post “Mujeres de maíz [es]” (”Women of corn“) with the following explanation:

Estencil pintado en la curtiduria con motivo de la presentación de una exposición itinerante formada por artistas mujeres que buscan usar su arte para llamar la atencion sobre el tema del Maíz y que es lo que significa para el futuro de México; el aumento del precio de la tortilla, el desinteres del gobierno por la economia campesina indigena y la identidad cultural.

Stencil painted on tanned hides for a presentation of an itinerant exposition by women artists that use their art to call attention to the subject of corn and what it means to the future of Mexico; the rise in the price of tortillas, and government indifference to indigenous agricultural workers and their cultural identity.

An interesting video interview in Spanish [es] is available in the Mexican blog Andamos armados.

From Monterrey, Los Contratistas is a collective of street artists who present their works on their blog [es], as well as events, photo galleries, and details of their installations using mixed techniques (including objects, disassembled parts, recycled material).

By Screw. Used with permission. Taken from http://loscontratistas.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/mty-saltillo/dscf6241/

On their blog, they share a manifesto [es] that explains their name (”contractors”) and their collective philosophy:

Entiendas[e] como contratista cualquier persona que demuestre el oficio, la rudeza y buena vibra para realizar cualquier proyecto de electricidad, arte, plomería, albañilería o expresión personal; ya sea en las alturas o a nivel de “cancha”.

“Contratista” (”contractor”) is understood as any person that shows the workmanship, the strength, and good vibes to create a project of electricity, art, plumbing, brickwork or personal expression; whether is it from the top or at ground level.

Despite its frequent clashes with legality, the graffiti and street art scene in Mexico is strong. A complete documentary of the Mexican street art can be found on YouTube [es], created by Aiwey.tv [es]. More artists and works can also be found in the Flickr groups Street Art Mexico [es], Mexican Bomber [es] and Stencil + Arte Urbano (Mexico) [es], the latter with +500 members.

Afterword

These examples of contemporary expression defy and contrast with the common idea of art, which is usually portrayed as something so valuable that it needs to be protected and kept in a safe place, like high-security musems and elite galleries. With a growing acceptance of community, Latin American graffiti writers and urban artists take the Internet as they take any other public space: with the strength of unique voices that reach out to others by any means possible.

Graffiti and Urban Art: Voices from Latin American Streets II

Issa Villarreal — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:50:11 +0000

Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of posts about graffitti and urban art around Latin America. To visit the first series, please click here.

Through the lens of bloggers, Flickr users and communities, and contributors on YouTube, we offer you an online tour of the art of the streets that communicate secrets and passions at every turn.

Cuba

As in any organized community, graffiti has its own rules. Graffiti’s primary medium of creation is aerosol paint (or spray). Experienced graffiti writers use different sizes of spray valves to control the spread and pressure of the paint, and refill the cans to save money. Thus, it is not uncommon to find artists that consider street paintings that use other medium or techniques (like acrillic paint, brushes, and such) as not part of the graffiti community. These type of paintings might be considered more “art-oriented”, as Guatemalan artist NEARsyx from Hemisferio Urbano expressed in part I of this article. In other words, the variation of medium in graffiti is usually related to the term “street art”.

However, the case of Cuba stands in the middle of this, as shown in a short documentary film called “Havana Bombings” (created and shared by Camila Fernández) about the Cuban graffiti:

One of the interviewees explains a unique characteristic of Cuban graffiti:

Por las características de la economía, se hace muy caro. Lo que supuestamente se hacía con spray porque el resultado es barato, aquí es todo lo contrario. Aquí el spray se encarece mucho. Se usan recursos alternativos. En el festival de Alamar, Rudolfo Renzoni, que fue el creador del festival internacional de rap, la gente, los graffiteros, decían “¿cómo vamos a hacer graffiti si no tenemos spray?”. Y él decía que no, para hacer graffiti no necesariamente necesitas spray.

Due to the characteristics of the economy, it makes it very expensive to do what typically is done with spray paint, because in the United States [spray paint] is cheap, here it's the opposite. Spray paint is very expensive, so they use alternative resources. At the Alamar festival, Rudolfo Renzoni, the creator of the national rap festival, said that the graffiti artists asked how they could do graffiti without spray paint. And he said that no, you didn't necessarily have to do graffiti with spray paint.

The documentary features artists Ink (César Rojas) and NoNo12 (Yanelis Valdés) using paint brushes to create their work on murals.

Another video (provided by user vadebike) shows a gathering in Alamar, one of the cities where the movement has higher activity, with urban artists that use these “alternative” means to create graffiti.

Chile

There are many reasons behind doing street art. One of them deals with bringing public spaces back to life with community art instead of commercializing it, as it happens with abandoned lots and murals. Following a similar aesthetic approach to the street art is blog KELP [es] (”kultura en la pared” / “kulture on the wall”), which focuses on graffiti as way to enhance urban design in Chile. Its statement reads:

KELP.cl busca explorar y promover el trabajo plástico del graffiti, casi desde la perspectiva disciplinar del diseño. Su postura no es reaccionaria ni violenta. Rechazan el vandalismo. Tampoco profundizan en la ideología o el conflicto social que hay tras de muchas de estas expresiones. Eso les permite centrarse principalmente, en la propuesta estética, por lo que generalmente escogen los mejores ejemplos mundiales

KELP.cl explores and promotes the work of graffiti, from the discipline perspective of design. Their approach is neither reactionary nor violent. They reject vandalism. They do not deepen in the ideology or social conflict behind much of these expressions. This allows them to focus primarly on the aesthetic idea, for which usually the best global examples are selected

Earlier this year, the author of KELP profiled Grin, a Chilean artist [es] who has been active for more than a decade. Grin combines his passion for graffiti with another urban discipline: architecture. He practices both in enormous murals that play with depth and texture, and sometimes they merge with the structure of the building itself:

Photo by KELP. Used with permission. Taken from www.kelp.cl

Browsing through the large pools of photos of the streets of Chile of Street Art Valparaíso, Chile*stencil or Los Muros Nos Hablan, it is easy to find other creative examples on how urban buildings and colored fantasies live in the same space harmonically:

Photo by justin fain. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/fainspawn/2769790038/

Latin America Region

Graffiti suramericano [es], South American Graffiti and SMNR [es] are some of the Flickr groups that collect street art works for the region. Blog network Murales Políticos [es] dedicates one blog for several countries of Latin America to display an interesting gallery of political-oriented murals.

Graffiti and Urban Art: Voices from Latin American Streets I

Issa Villarreal — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:53:51 +0000

Editor's Note: This is the first in a 3-part series about graffiti and other urban art from various Latin American countries.

Although its modern incarnation originated in United States three decades ago, graffiti art can be found in the urban areas of almost every country. By now, the drawings and messages sprayed on walls, murals, and other spaces have been widely covered by both citizen and traditional media. They are also slowly gaining recognition as a controversial art, along with the rise of other urban expressions like stencils, posters, stickers, and mixed techniques.

Through the lens of bloggers, Flickr users and communities, and contributors on YouTube, we offer you an online tour of the art of the streets that communicate secrets and passions at every turn.

Perú

Photo by The/Waz. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewaz/2696394170/in/set-72157605789705430/

Internet users preserve art because photographed walls neither wash away, nor decay with time. They can also provide information of the artist's name or pseudonym, location, description, and put the art into context. In a group about Peruvian graffiti on Flickr, there is a discussion about the short careers of the artists, user DeCe-RTOR pointed out some of social responsibilities [es] of the street art in Perú:

el arte en peru necesita una reforma, pues a tenido siempre rupturas como terrorismo, corrupcion, mal sistema educativo y sobretodo pobreza,, asi con todos esos problemas es q no se avanza en ningun sentido, asi no se desarrolla ni cagando este pais, y el arte va tan de la mano con el desarrollo q si no se cultiva este pues no se puede esperar mucho, quienes tienen claro q es el graffiti y lo hacen espero q tengan conciencia del poder q es estar en la calle, por lo tanto hay q tomarlo con responsabilidad y aveces para hacer lo mejor es necesario hacer sacrificios, aveces dejando de pintar egocentricamente lo que uno desea, lo q uno solo puede entender.. y dedicar esas fuerzas y ganas en representar lo que la comunidad quiere ver, y necesita saber… siempre buscando la manera de que ademas q guste a todos, guste a uno,, ahi esta la chamba…

Street art in Peru needs to be reformed, because it has always been torn apart by terrorism, corruption, a faulty educational system, and overall party. With all of those issues, it is difficult to move forward in any direction. That is no way for this country to develop, and the art goes by the way of development. If it is not cultivated, then there cannot be any high expectations. For those who clearly know what graffiti is, and practices it, I hope that they are aware of the power of being on the streets. It must be handled with responsibility, and sometimes one must sacrifice and do what is best. This sometimes means to refrain from painting egocentrically and paint only what one wants, and what only one can understand. They must be strong-willed to represent what the community wants to see and needs know. To look for the way to make what everybody likes what you like, that is the hard part.

Photo by Luis Fonseca. Used with permission. Taken from http://cazadordegraffitis.blogspot.com/2008/11/sentimientos-ocultos.html

On a more personal level, blogger Luis Fonseca wanders through the streets of Lima taking pictures of urban art, which he shares in his blog Cazador de graffitis [es] with songs, poetry, and reflections on the works like the one shown above [es]:

Iba en el bus un poco mal por cosas de la vida y pensaba que nadie la podía estar pasando peor que yo. Levante la mirada y vi esta imagen en un muro [es], rapidamente pense que mi problema no era nada a comparación de otras personas que viven más tiempo sumergidos en problemas que en paz.

I was on the bus not feeling well because of life and thinking that nobody could be having a rougher time than me. I looked up and saw this picture on a wall [es], I quickly thought that my problem was nothing compared to others who spend more time sunk in problems, than living in peace.

Sometimes the communication is even more direct: graffiti artists like Faber take advantage of the anonymity the electronic media grants to promote their work, to show by themselves and their portfolio without any risk of being prosecuted. With minimal commentaries (“busca la sencillez de las cosas” / “look for the simplicity in things”), Faber shares through Flickr and Fotolog [es] his colorful portraits of sad characters, some of them in poverty, without revealing much of himself except his incredible abilities to create:

Related work can be found on the groups of Flickr Peruvian graffiti and Peruvian street art.

Colombia

It reads If the press makes silence, then walls should speak. Photo by Juan Arellano. Used with permission. Taken from http://es.zooomr.com/photos/cyberjuan/8272064/

Common graffiti is known for being a ‘code’: only members of the neighborhoods can understand the intricate traces and calligraphy, the “wild style”, or the code numbers used to represent names and places. However, along with these obscure messages, explicit messages can also be found on the streets, using clear and spaced letters, leaning towards protest. On his blog Globalizado [es], Peruvian blogger Juan Arellano shares photos of the graffiti he found in Pasto, Colombia, and he concedes that most of the times he does not understand it:

En realidad no soy tan aficionado a los graffitis, la mayor parte de veces ni siquiera entiendo que dicen dada la complicada grafía que utilizan muchos de los graffiteros, pero cuando el mensaje va claro y directo obviamente que si.

Actually I am not a big fan of graffiti, most of the times I don't even understand what they say because of the complex tracing used by most of the graffiti artists, but when the message goes clear and direct, then of course I do.

An extensive gallery of explicit graffiti can be found on El Blog Canalla [es], where El Reticente [es] and Alejandro [es] collect politically oriented street art on the streets of Medellín. Although they barely comment on their collection, their slogan holds a message of protest:

Si los medios son del Estado, las paredes son Nuestras

If the media belongs to the State, the walls are Ours

This is a photo taken in the streets of Bogotá, that reads “Huya, lucha, y vuelve a nacer” (”Run away, fight, and be born again”):

Photo by El blog Canalla. Used with permission. Taken from http://elblogcanalla.tumblr.com/post/290759594/huye-lucha-y-vuelve-a-nacer-bogota-colombia

Flickr groups for urban art of the cities of Cali and Bogotá share photos from almost 300 members altogether.

Guatemala

Photo by Oscar Mota. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarmota/1132340373/in/set-72157601472161317/

“Writers” is how graffiti artists call themselves because of their use of quick signatures (called tags) and bombed letters (known as bombs). In the case of Ricardo (alias NEARsyx [es]), he is a grafitti writer, and also a blogger at Hemisferio Urbano [es] he shares events, profiles of other graffiti artists, gathers media coverage of the movement, and also sums up the feeling of his graffiti crews and the community.

In 2007, he documented the situation of the graffiti in Guatemala [es] and criticized how television coverage does not differentiate “artistic” graffiti from “vandal” graffiti, the latter commonly associated with illegal tags and bombs:

Lastimosamente aquí, y creo que en muchos otros lugares, el graffiti aun se asocia bastante a las pandillas, un claro ejemplo de esto es un pequeño documental que recientemente realizo Noti7, un noticiero local, donde la edición de este fue parte crucial para dejar a todo mundo bastante confundido y con la misma imagen de que el graffiti es de pandilleros.

En el documental aparecen algunos de los que si realmente forman parte del movimiento artístico, lo malo es que las imágenes de piezas y entrevistas con ellos fueron mezcladas con imágenes del graffiti pandillero, algo que nos dejo con una mal sabor de boca a todos los que formamos parte de la verdadera comunidad del graff.

Sadly here, and I think in other places too, graffiti is commonly associated with gangs, a clear example of this is a recent documentary made by Noti7, a local news show, where the video was edited in a way that left the audience in confusion and holding the same idea that the graffiti is for vandals.

In the documentary, some appeared that really do belong to the artistic movement, the bad thing is that the pictures of the [graffiti] pieces and the interviews they did were mixed with the images of the graffiti vandalism, something that left a bitter taste for us, who belong to the real community of graffiti.

Nonetheless, both artistic and “non-artistic” graffiti share walls and prolonged murals as shown in the video from user Artesinley of some streets in Guatemala City:

More images from the urban art of Guatemala can be found on Flickr in the Graffiti Guatemalteco group and Hemisferio urbano's account.

Mexico: Marriage and Adoption for Gay Couples in the Capital

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:38:24 +0000

Gay marriage has been legalized in Mexico City, after reforms made to the civil code by the Legislative Assembly on December 21. In the same meeting, a law was passed allowing gay couples to adopt children.

This was the next step after the approval of civil unions in 2006, which gave legal recognition of homosexual couples with certain rights similar to marriage (Sociedades de convivencia [es], or civil partnership), following the state of Coahuila which months before accepted this type of union [es]. Approximatedly 600 unions were given in two years in the Mexican capital, as reported by the newspaper El Universal [es] on June.

Photo by Flickr user Esparta. Used with permission following a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/esparta/2764876870/

Mexico City is the second Latin American city to legalize gay marriage, after Buenos Aires, Argentina. Supporting gay rights and marriage defies the commonly accepted ‘macho’ figure and the conservative family structure, as well as the strong religion beliefs rooted in Mexican culture. Religious leaders have already spoken publicly against the Assembly’s decision. Catholic Cardinal Norberto Rivera has called the approval of gay marriage [es] “an immoral law” and an “abomination”.

Blogger Martxele from the blog La fuga del caos shares a softer conservative view, arguing that gay marriage and adoption only favor a few [es], as it happened on Mexico City:

Justo ahora cuando la unión libre es el paradigma entre los jóvenes heterosexuales, cuando el matrimonio se ve como una cosa del pasado y muchos lo consideran un bonito lastre, sale nuestra asamblea capitalina a “bendecir” las uniones gays.

Porque ¿qué cosa es eso sino una “bendición” legal? Ya existían las sociedades de convivencia, muy poco socorridas, por cierto (en el primer año beneficiaron a menos de 1000 personas, o sea menos de 500 parejas, en una ciudad del 20 millones de habitantes, el 0.005 % si no me equivoco), ¿qué beneficio añadido puede darles? ¿Adoptar?

Just now when free union is the paradigm of heterosexual couples, when marriage is seen as something from the past, and many people consider it as a nice burden, our capital assembly gives its “blessing” to the gay unions.

Because what is that [marriage] but a legal “blessing”? Civil unions already existed, poorly required, by the way (in the first year they favored less than 1,000 people, which means less than 500 couples, in a city of 20 millions of habitants, 0.005 % if I’m not wrong), what other benefit can be given? Adopting?

On the other side of the spectrum, the phrase “Mexico city” reached the trending topics of Twitter, as citizens like Grisel García celebrated the achievement:

Aprobaron en México City los matrimonios y la adopción de hijos para la comunidad lesbico-gay , woww que modernos nos estamos volviendo ;)

Gay marriages and adoption were approved in Mexico City for the lesbian-gay community, woww how modern are we becoming ;)

Photo by Flickr user by ORNI¡. Used with permission following a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orni68/702482232/

The community, however, remains somewhat skeptical. When it comes to defending rights, Mexican citizens share their doubts of how effective the changes would be for the gay community in a country that suffers from political corruption at all levels. Marina and Maria, a couple from Aguascalientes who blog at 2 lunas 5 estrellas, think the victory should not be taken lightly [es]:

El paso se ha dado, familias homoparentales hemos de lograr el reconocimiento total de nuestros derechos, como siempre hace falta analizar con LUPA esta disposición pues sabemos que nuestro sistema judicial no se precia de ser muy transparente y claro que digamos, sin embargo, representa un TRIUNFO para la causa LGBT en nuestro país.

The step is completed, we the homo-parental families have to achieve the total recognition of our rights, as usual we must analyze this reform with a MAGNIFYING GLASS because we know our judicial system is not known for being transparent and clear, however, it represents a TRIUMPH for the LGBT cause in our country.

For Iván Nieblas one thing is saying what is legal and what is not, and another is how it finally works out, as he expressed on Twitter [es]:

Ahora falta que el matrimonio gay sea como la ley sobre el aborto: que les nieguen el servicio.

The least of what we need for gay marriage is to happen what did with the abortion law: that the service will be denied to them.

Twitter parody user elnaquito acidly questions who cast the first stone [es] against the gay marriage law:

Dice la Iglesia q la adopción en parejas gays causa daño psicológico y moral en los niños…será que no quieren competencia?

Church says that adoption for gay couples may cause psychological and moral harm on children… they say so because they want no competitors for them?

Anonymous blogger from Machete en mano believes that gay marriage might help to integrate the Mexican community [es]:

Esto simboliza para mi un buen avanze hacia una sociedad mexicana basada en la equidad y justicia. Espero ver mas y mas reformas liberales por parte del gobierno (aunque segun algunos sean aprobadas de formas “tramposas”) hasta el punto en que no existan “ciudadanos de segunda clase” o “raritos”. Ya que como mexicanos tomos somos iguales, o por lo menos se supone que lo somos.

To me, this symbolizes a step forward for a Mexican society based on equity and justice. I hope to see more and more liberal reforms by the government (although some of them are approved in a “cheating” manner) until the point that there are no “second-class citizens” or “queers”. As Mexicans we are all the same, or at least that is what we are supposed to be.

Blogger Rino, a 17-year-old gay blogger from Cancún, considers that legality is just the beginning of change [es], not the end, as the community has the last word:

El problema siento yo, que a pesar de que ya sea legal, todavía falta que haya aceptación social porque no todas las personas ven esto como correcto, pero con el tiempo tengo cambiará, o al menos se verá como algo más normal.

The problem that I see is that even though it is legal, social acceptance is still needed, because not all people consider this right, but time will change that, or at least it will be seen as more normal.

Although there has not been a formal census for the homosexual community, it is estimated that the community stands between 5 and 10 percent of the population of the country. The Mexican Society of Humanist and Integral Sexology (Sociedad Mexicana de Sexología Humanista Integral) recently reported that 20% of the total population (120 millions) has or had at some moment a relationship with a person of the same-sex, as quoted by the BBC [es].

Americas: Internet velocity in the Continent

Issa Villarreal — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:26:41 +0000

Jorge Oyhenard compares in his personal blog the Internet velocity in America [es]: Uruguay, Peru and Paraguay are among the countries with the lowest capacity to download and upload content to the web.

Nicaragua: Knowing Gestures and Body Language

Issa Villarreal — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:09:18 +0000

Typical hand expressions, gestures and body language from Nicaragua are throughly explained on Los hijos de septiembre [es].

Chile: Social Networking on Presidential Campaign

Issa Villarreal — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:21:43 +0000

An interesting summary of Sebastian Piñera's use of social networking [es] to support his current presidential candidacy for Chile (with information up to September 2009) can be found on the blog E the people.

Colombia: Celebration of Lights and Candles

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:40:11 +0000

Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*.

Día de las Velitas (Day of the candles), also known as Día de los Alumbrados (Day of the Lighting), is a traditional celebration of Colombia in honor to the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. On the evening of December 7 or early morning of December 8, Colombian families light candles and lanterns in both houses and streets, and welcome the Christmas season.

According to newspaper El Tiempo [es], December 8 was declared a festivity by Pope Pius IX on 1854, after a pilgrimage made in honor to the Virgin Mary around 431 B.C. The Pope decided to celebrate that day bringing light on the principal dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*.

This year, the Día de las Velitas was cheerfully documented by bloggers who shared collections of photos and their unique ways of celebration. For example, Madame Web explained in her blog La Lógica de mi Papá that she particularly likes this festivity [es] because it makes her feel closer to those who live around her:

Me gusta mucho el día de las velitas porque en la calle, por lo menos acá en Pasto, se siente la unidad, en los barrios los vecinos de todas las casas echando globos, música por todas partes, familias reunidas, los niños corriendo y jugando, los altares a la Virgen en los garajes, algunas procesiones, comida y festejo por todas partes.

I really like día de las velitas because on the street, at least in Pasto [San Juan de Pasto, Colombia], you can feel unity, in the barrios every neighbor from every house inflate balloons, music is everywhere, families gathered, kids running and playing, altars to the Virgin made in garages, pilgrimage, food and celebration everywhere.

Blogger Juan David Escobar from Reticente pondered on how the festivity had managed to stay with him [es] although its meaning had completely changed:

Cuando niño la abuela nos dijo que eran velitas para la virgen. Ya cuando pelaos entendimos que eran velitas para la “candelada del diablo”. Y ahora, sospecho que son velitas para que me den calor y me permitan pensar al ritmo del fuego que consume unos palos de parafina de colores.

When I was a kid my grandmother told me that the candles were dedicated to the virgin. When we were teenagers, we understood that the candles were for “candelada del diablo” [devil’s fire]. And now, I suspect that the candles are meant to give me warmth and to let me think by the rhythm of the fire that burns colored wax sticks.

Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*

Blogger Lunaisa narrated her family reunion [es] on the night of December 7:

Sin ser una persona religiosa, siempre nos reunimos en familia a prender velitas y farolitos y volar globos con un deseo amarrado al globo.
Ayer, domingo aprovechamos para reunirnos y pasar un rato muy agradable en familia y con algunos amigos. Pasamos un rato muy agradable a la luz de las velas, una buena botella de tinto y lo mejor de todo una agradable charla.

Although I’m not a religious person, we always gather as a family to lighten candles and lanterns and inflate balloons with wishes tied to them.
Yesterday, Sunday, we took the chance to gather and spend a nice time with the family and some friends. We had a nice time in candlelight, a nice bottle of red wine, and best of all, had a nice talk.

Global Voices contributor Cati Restrepo shared in her personal blog [es] a video of the scattered lights in the streets of Santa Fé de Antioquia:

A pool of photos dedicated to Christmas lighting in Medellín, Colombia can be found on Flickr. Festivities similar to Día de las velitas are celebrated in other countries, like France's Fête des lumières tradition.

All photos taken by Flowery *L*u*z*a*, and used with permission following a Creative Commons License.

México: Mercado Negro's Hispanic Albums of the Decade

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:22:21 +0000

Hosts of Mercado Negro radio program blogged their “albums of the decade” lists for three categories: Mexican indie proyects, hispanic bands and “mainstream” hispanic bands. Some of the bands included are Café Tacvba, Babasónicos, Los Bunkers and Calle 13.

Chile: Cartoon Blog Dosis Diarias Turned 3

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:26:24 +0000

“40 years of walking to the Promised Land and turns out to be this [a desert]. We're supposed to be the chosen people. I was expecting something closer to Rio de Janeiro” reads a recent comic [es] of Chilean cartoonist Alberto Montt. His blog Dosis diarias celebrated its 3rd anniversary in November.