Global Voices Online » Issa Villarreal

Mexico: The Internet as a Necessity, not a Luxury

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:31:27 +0000

An increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico to be enforced in 2010, which will include the Special Tax on Products and Services (or IESPS for its initials in Spanish) that will add a 3% tax to Internet and cable services.

A month earlier, as part of the discussions of the IESPS taxes, the Public Tax Administration Secretary, Agustín Cartens, recognized that half of the money spent on telecommunications belonged to 20% of the richest households in the country, according to a story by Mexican magazine Proceso [es]. He stated that since rural and public telephony services are exempt from the IESPS, citizens in difficult economic situations would not be affected by the tax. However, those low-income families that do use these services at home will be hit harder because of the assumption that the Internet is a luxury only used by those able to afford the service. With these words, the Mexican electronic community condemned the idea of Internet as luxury and began their protest on Twitter with the hashtag #internetNecesario (“Internet is a Necessity”) with great urgency because the final debate and vote started on October 20. The law was passed in the early morning on October 21.

Photo by Mark Schoneveld and used under a Creative Commons license.

The protest movement displayed the importance of Internet to Mexicans, and received coverage from national television and newspapers, as well as from high-audience blogs, such as Boing Boing. The Twitter service WhatTheHashtag estimates that the protest has gathered around 35,000 tweets from more than 7,000 participants.

These are some of their comments on Twitter.

MexiComunicado @mexicomunicado [es]:

Me voy a ir a finlandia a twittear haya [sic: allá] es un derecho y me cuesta 3% menos hacerlo #internetnecesario

I’m going to Finland to tweet, [because] over there it is a right and it costs 3% less

Luis Macedo @Luismacedo [es]:

Lujo es el suel[d]o que se imponen como los bonos de fin de año y aguinaldo, nola comunicación #internet necesario

Luxury is the salary they enforce to themselves, like annual bonuses and benefits, not communication

Citlali Avilés @missblissdior [es]:

Por que debo de pagar por algo que es necesario para mi profesión? No nos dejaremos!!!! #InternetNecesario!!!

Why should I pay for something that I need for my work? Let's not allow them!!!!

@Neodevelop [es], quoting another user [whose account is now closed]:

Internet es nuestra única opción para llegar a tener un gobierno transparente #internetnecesario

Internet is our only way to be able to have a transparent government

The Mexican Internet Association (AMIPCI for its initials in Spanish) also showed their disagreement through Twitter [es] joining the protest:

Aprobación del IEPS a Internet alejará aún más a los gobiernos y a los legisladores de los ciudadanos. #InternetNecesario

Approval of IEPS on Internet will create more distance between governments and legislators to the citizens.

Moreover, Mexican bloggers also rose against the tax before its approval. In Pixelaris [es], blogger Jitten considers tax increase as an error, especially in comparison with the actions of other countries:

Las propuestas de qué tipo de productos y servicios gravar suponen medidas inteligentes y planeadas en las cuáles los ciudadanos paguen lo que consumen pero recibiendo servicios de calidad.

El gran problema de los impuestos en un país como México es que las políticas fiscales van en contra de la lógica de otros países e incluso expertos en los temas económicos, en las que, por una causa u otra, se grava lo que en otros países se le considera un derecho humano e incluso un servicio básico garantizado.

Proposals on what products and services to tax assume intelligent and well-planned measures in which citizens pay what they consume, but receive quality services.

The big problem of taxes in a country like Mexico is that tax policies go against logic of other countries and even experts on economic subjects, in which, for one reason or another, they tax what in other countries is considered a human right and even a basic guaranteed service.

Blogger Darinka publishes in her blog a manifesto [es] about the importance of Internet during difficult economic situations:

Somos nosotros, los blogueros y twitteros, los que nos despedimos para siempre del papel, no por convicción ecologista o afán ambientalista, sino porque leemos el periódico on-line a falta de diez pesos para el diario impreso y nos hacemos de libros en pdf ante el encarecimiento ruin de la industria editorial.

We, bloggers and twitterers, are those who say our permanent goodbyes to paper, not because of ecological ideals or environmental motives, but because we read on-line newspapers when we don’t have ten pesos to buy printed newspaper and we make our own PDF books as we face the menacing rise of the costs of editorial industries.

A recent study from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society of Harvard University (available online) about broadband Internet compared Mexico to other 30 countries, showing that it is the country with the least amount of broadband and 3G penetration from the whole group. In addition to this, Mexico appears at the top of the list of countries with higher prices for lower speeds-tier, as Internet users pay approximately twice of what it costs in the United States.

This affects approximately 30 million Mexicans who have access to Internet nowadays, an equivalent to one fourth of the total population of the country, following numbers from the Mexican Internet Association [es], as quoted by El Universal. Although there has not been a detailed study of Mexican Internet users, reports have given several key facts that cannot be ignored about their distribution in the different socioeconomic levels: in one, National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) in 2001 [es] reported that half of all computers in the country belonged to families that earned less than 800 pesos per month (approximately 62 USD). In AMIPCI's report of 2006, it was recognized that at least 10% of the Internet users live in rural areas and that more than 40% of the Internet users come from the two lower socioeconomic levels in Mexico.

Mexico: Reactions to Drug Decriminalization Law

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:07:08 +0000

In April, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico approved a retail law for drug selling [es], known as Ley de Narcomenudeo [es], that decriminalizes use of drug consumption in small dosages. According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, the law includes a comparative table to specify the maximum quantities that can be carried for personal use, among these, 5 grams of marijuana and 500 milligrams of cocaine.

The law was approved during the national alert of the AH1N1 virus, and it received notably lesser coverage compared of that of the flu. During the chamber session, more than 60 reforms of law were accepted without much debate in a move that several Mexican newspapers [es] call “a marathon vote” and “a race against time”.

Photo by splifr. Taken following a Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/splifr/3603388416/

Reactions are mixed, but certainly two things always came up in discussions: the situation of violence and murder in several Mexican cities related to the narco and drug trafficking, and also the haste approval. It can be said that an important part of the distribution of the story was “hand to hand” through social networks and re-publishing in independent media, but not properly from newspapers, which also carries some critique. Among the discussions, the difference between legalization and decriminalization was a frequent one, considering that the latter holds specific limits of use.

Twitter user Dx [es] comments on how the law approval was made “silently”:

ni nos dimos cuenta cuándo clavaron la ley de narcomenudeo, con eso de que solo se habla de #influenza

we didn’t notice when they nailed the drug retail law, considering that there’s only talk about #influenza

In the blog Seduciendo con Palabras [es] , Judith reflects about the other changes in Mexico's policies:

También aprobaron diversas reformas: una considera el tráfico de armas como tema de seguridad nacional —propuesta de Fernando Castro Trenti— y otra obliga a perseguir de oficio la piratería en programas de computación, videogramas, fonogramas o libros.

Nos chamaquearon

They also approved several reforms: one considers the gun trafficking as a national security manner -suggested by Fernando Castro Trenti— and another to prosecute piracy in computer software, videograms, phonograms, or books.

We've been fooled.

Blogger La Espantosísíma X (The Horrible X) understands [es] the approval of the law as a sign of the infiltration of drugtraffickers (narco) to the government, and compares them to the AH1N1 virus:

Tal vez no tenga nada que hacer y todo sea producto de que mis neuronas (gracias a Dios, completamente ajenas al consumo de cualquier estupefaciente estupidizante) padecen esa impopular tendencia a pensar, pero estoy segura de que en México durante los últimos días de abril se desató un foco de infección que aniquilará a gran parte de la población, y no es otro más que la evidente infiltración del narco poder en las huestes políticas y mediáticas nacionales.

Maybe I don't have anything to do and everything is a product of my neurons (thank God, free of use of any stupidifying drug) that suffer from that unpopular tendency to think, but I'm sure that in Mexico during the last days of April got loose an infection that will kill an important part of the population, and it is not other than the obvious infiltration of the power of narco to the media and political entourages.

User MarioMty comments in a blog post of Vivir México [es] that “legal” drugs (like tobacco and alcohol) have properly maximized their capacity to put health at risk:

Me sorprende que los noticiarios esten tomando esta importante noticia con apenas una mencion mínima, sin embargo me queda muy claro que es una forma de entrar al negocio de la droga de manera “legal”, a costa de nuestros jovenes, no les importa que condenen a las nuevas generaciones a una vida con drogas de fácil acceso, como pasa con el tabaco o el alcohol. En muy poco tiempo veremos cada vez mas cerca, a personas con serios problemas de salud, y a familias destruidas por este mal.

It surprises me that the news shows are taking this story with a minimum mention, however it is clear that it is a way to enter the drug business in a “legal” manner, taking advantage of young people, [news shows] don’t mind condemning new generations to a life of easy access to drugs, like what happens with tobacco and alcohol. In very short time, we will see people with serious health problems and families destroyed by this ailment.

In August, the law was enforced in Mexico. Changes in everyday living are hard to notice. MCF of Cabezas Underground [es] publishes the news and commented in a humorous manner:

Yo tengo que comentar, que en caso de que alguien en este país le importaran las pinches leyes, esto se me hace demasiado confuso, es legal portarla, pero no venderla, ¿y luego de donde la saco pues?…no me da buen espina.

I have to say that, in case someone in this country cares about the shitty laws, I think it’s too confusing, it is legal to carry [drugs], but not to sell, and then where do I get it from? I don’t have a good feeling about this.

The community of the blog Hazme el chingado favor! [es] are indifferent to the law: in a recent post, user JF calls for the legalization of drugs, provoking a thread of more than 100 comments, and without making any reference to Ley de Narcomenudeo. On the other hand, Twitter user AramBarra retakes [es] a recent story of the growth of drug selling from 2006 to 2008 to put in question the latest actions:

Narcomenudeo en df crece 700% < --ya cambiamos la estrategia?

Retail drug selling in Distrito Federal grows 700% < -- have we changed the strategy already?

Initially the drug retail law was presented 4 years ago by then president of Mexico Vicente Fox. It acknowledges the personal use of more than seven drugs, both organic and synthetic. According to Agency Narco News, the quantities specified are random, conceding multiple dosages to certain drugs and incomplete dosages to others.

Mexico: Telling Secrets on Twitter

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:34:14 +0000

Rafa Saavedra, writer and connoisseur of underground culture from the border city of Tijuana, in México, has turned each one of his electronic media channels into literary sandboxes. On one hand, he publishes short stories and projects in his blog Crossfader Network [es] (and its transmutations); on the other, as compulsive user @rafadro, he has taken to Twitter as a source for creation. His last literary-electronic project, “Soweird”, combines micro-fiction, secrets and Twitter.

“Crossfader Network is my home, a place where I gather my thoughts, imagine better worlds and offer advances of what I do”, tells Rafa in an e-mail interview, “Twitter is my bachelor’s apartment: an eternal party with friends and followers, a source of (almost) first-hand information, a cluttered creative lab, hard irony, and genuine sincerity in 140 characters”.

In July of this year he asked his more than 200 Twitter followers to contribute with their biggest secret (or even a little secret, as he conceded moments after) to create a text told by multiple voices. With more than 40 secrets received through Twitter he came up with “Soweird”, where fiction and truth told 22 intimate moments of sex, shame and crime. The final story, available through his blog in both spanish and english, is planned to be published in the Mexican literary magazine El Perro [es].

In the section of “Soweird” dedicated to the topic of family, we found the following secret:

11. Mauritz engañó a su novia con la mujer de su mejor amigo. Al tronar éstos, la chica se casó con su hermano. Ahora no puede explicarle a su novia porque no pueden asistir a las reuniones familiares sin temor a causar una desgracia cuasi bíblica.

11. Mauritz cheated on his girlfriend with the girlfriend of his best friend. When they split up, she married his brother. Now he cannot explain to his girlfriend why they cannot attend family gatherings without fear of provoking a tragedy of biblical proportions.

In the crime section, we found this other secret:

17. Elwin empezó chingándose en cómics el cheque que su padre le mandaba para pagar la universidad privada a la que nunca asistió. Luego, tomó y gastó una cantidad considerable de dinero de su primer trabajo; argumentó que lo asaltaron. En otra ocasión necesitaba un trámite rápido en una dependencia municipal y pidió en la empresa una cantidad excesiva para sobornar al burócrata en turno (gastó la mitad en cervezas).

17. Elwin started spending the checks his father sent him to pay a private university he never attended on comic books. Then, he took and spent a considerable amount of money from his first job; he alleged he had been mugged. Another time he needed a quick procedure at a municipal office and he asked his company for an excessive amount to bribe the bureaucrat on duty (he spent half of it on beer).

Saavedra's view on the microblogging service goes beyond telling trivial details: “In Twitter, people frequently confess things so absurd, ludicrous and shameful. Come on, there's even a hashtag for #yoconfieso ("I confess"). So, instead of extracting a secret from my personal files, I decided that it would be very interesting to work with someone else’s secrets. I was interested in knowing how far they would dare, how much it would contrast with the image I have of Twitter users with the one they show to their followers. Writer’s voyeurism 2.0.”

Although he cannot reveal his followers’ real names, Saavedra characterized the users that joined him in the project: “There are a couple of foreigners, the age group is 19-40 years. As it can be read in the text, there are eight sections that divide the secrets (Sex, Shame, Ex Lovers, Family, Crime, Guilty Pleasures, Temptation and Ex Friends). The secrets from the Twitter users are more related to family, sex, shame and temptation. A couple of secrets were very shocking.”

“Soweird” is not the first crossover between Twitter and literature that Saavedra has achieved. In 2007, he was in charge of the collaborative project Microtxts, that collected 238 microfictions through the username @microtxts, and which has been published (as selections) in the Mexican publications Replicante [es] and Balbuceo. “I invited friends that were writers, journalists, Communications students and people that I thought could be interested in the creation of anonymous and serial micro-texts. The basic principle of this workshop was ‘Writing is sharing.' In the beginning, they could not understand fully the dynamics of Twitter nor the writing process and anonymity. Later, we reached up to 100 participants”, commented in the interview.

“Right now I couldn’t understand my life without Internet, without social networks, without everything generated by both”, explained, “But at the same time, I can turn off the computer and live my life without any fear. Online lives, electronic media and its use are also a border we can cross with and without restrictions. The same thing happens with my life in Tijuana”.

As a farewell, Saavedra shared a “truth” about himself in 140 characters (or less):

“Nunca he querido ser otro que no fuera yo; sin embargo, cambio tan a menudo que a veces me cuesta trabajo reconocerme: Sí, una contradicción”.

“I’ve never wanted to be someone that is not me; however, I change so often that sometimes I cannot recognize myself: Yes, a contradiction”.

Mexico: Voters Share Their Null Ballots on Twitter

Issa Villarreal — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:42:43 +0000

Twitter users in Mexico showed discontent with the political system of the country by participating in the recent Null Vote campaign for the July 5 elections. Following their vote, they took their cellphones and cameras to polling places and photographed their null votes. Opting out of the secrecy of the vote, some Mexican citizens shared their protest ballots through the web.

Although photographing votes is a federal crime to prevent frauds as Mexican newspaper Milenio warned [es], "creative" ballots were shared publicly using the tags #votomx and #anulArte (wordplay on "null" and "art"). However, in Twitcaps -one of the services that helps Twitter to publish photos using microformats for links- is where the mosaic of null votes can be fully appreciated: ballots crossed out, Twitter's icon Failwhale, ballots in support to the satirical campaign of Dr. Mono as promoted by the Bunsen blog [es], several obscene drawings of penises and curse words, and even Shakespeare's allusions scribbled in crayons.

Priscilliana uses the famous Twitter icon Failwhale [es] in her ballot, suggesting what other users call “an Epic fail for the system”:

Image taken from http://twitpic.com/9el5l

Hernandezz voted in favor of Dr. Mono [es], a character from an online comic strip [es] that parodies Mexican political candidates:

Image taken from http://twitpic.com/9f5ww

“Todos con Dr. Mono!!1 (O una prueba de que tengo pésimo pulso)”

“Everyone with Dr. Mono!!1 (Or proof that my hand shakes)”

Hgsantarriga goes for a straighter message in his ballot, with a figure that resembles a Zapatista rebel:

Image taken from http://twitpic.com/9ekc7

Aquí comienza la revolución.

The revolution begins here.

These null ballots had media coverage in several national newspapers such as Milenio [es], El Universal [es] y Reforma, such as the following published by Jordi of a paper ballot that someone sent to him [es], whose author is unknown yet his message is quickly understood:

Image taken from http://twitpic.com/9ex9j

Mexico: The Campaign to Protect the Vote

Issa Villarreal — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:49:51 +0000

A new website is planning to protect the votes of Mexicans in the elections of July 5 from “old enemies”: violence, false IDs, ballot rigging, damage to ballot boxes and other obstacles for transparent elections. “Cuidemos el voto [es]” [“Let’s protect the vote”] is a project following the “citizen journalism” spirit that will watch discrepancies during the elections through reports from text messages (SMS), Twitter and its own website.

“Cuidemos el voto” is built on Ushahidi, an open-source platform that allows citizens to send information in a quick and easy way through cellphones and Internet with the purpose of coverage during crisis: it collect reports, links, photos and video, and places them on a map where the information can be filtered. The “motor” has been used recently for media coverage: in early 2009, news network Al Jazeera used it for reports on the war on Gaza and later an independent project used it for surveillance on swine flu.

This is the first formal project of Ushahidi in Latin America. This project in Mexico was developed by an eclectic team with knowledge of telecommunications, urban planning and electronic media, with the help of the Center for Future Civic Media of the MIT. Leaders for this project include Óscar Salazar (from Colima, MX; Twitter) and Andrés Lajous (from Federal District, MX, Twitter, blog), with Jorge Soto (Monterrey, MX) and José Oviedo (Colima, blog). The team helped translate the Ushahidi platform into Spanish, making it easier for other Latin American teams to organize a similar effort.

“Cuidemos el voto” calls for Mexican citizens to report any irregularity they witness or they learn through media. Reports can be sent in several ways:

Using an electronic form at the website of “Cuidemos el voto [es]”
Sending an text message to SMS number 55-3269-0062 (in Mexico), including electoral section, city or town, and the type of irregularity to be reported
Sending an e-mail with same information to reporte@cuidemoselvoto.org
Reporting an incident through Twitter using the tag #cuidemoselvoto

To know more about how to make a better report during Sunday elections, their article “How to report incidents? [es]” gives some basic tips on recognizing electoral crimes and how to quick-type them according to their four-letter code.

Mexico: Null Ballots and Low Turnout Expected on Election Day

Issa Villarreal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:33:24 +0000

Sunday, July 5 will be a day for elections in Mexico. Positions for governors in several states, more than 600 positions for mayors and other public representatives will be filled. However, an important percentage of the Mexicans citizens are expected to forgo their right to vote and some have decided to turn in a null ballot.

According to Mexican newspaper Milenio [es], 10% of the ballots of the elections are expected to be nullified as a way to express political discontent. According to the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación , TEPJF), abstinence could reach 70%, as declared to newspaper El Norte [es, requires subscription].

There are many known reasons to avoid voting for any political party. They include feeling a lack of representation by the candidates and their proposals, the inefficiency of the current public representatives, the lack of credibility in the Mexican electoral system, and media manipulation of the electoral campaigns. Illustration artist and blogger Edgar Clement explains in his blog [es] that he will nullify his vote unless four conditions are met:

…que los diputados y senadores se bajen el sueldo por lo menos un 50%…
…que se eliminen las candidaturas plurinominales. Queremos que nos gobierne aquel por quien votamos, no el que al partido se le antoje…
…Que nuestros trabajadores en el Estado vayan al ISSSTE, que es gratuito, y si no les gusta, que paguen su doctor particular con su sueldo y/o que se pongan a trabajar para arreglar el ISSSTE…
…que ni el IFE [Instituto Federal Electoral] ni ningún partido anuncien nada en ninguna televisora durante todo este proceso electoral y que ningún comentarista ni “comunicador” intente manipular mi tendencia al voto o mi derecho a la anulación de éste…

…that the deputies and the senators lower their salaries by at least 50%…
…that plurinominal candidacies are eliminated. We want to be represented by those who we vote for and not for someone chosen by the party…
…that our workers in the State go to ISSSTE [public health services], which is free, and if they don’t like it, they should pay their private doctor with their own salary and/or work to fix the ISSSTE…
…that neither the IFE [Federal Electoral Institute] nor any political party promote their campaigns on any television network during the electoral process and that no commentator or “analyst” try to influence my vote or my right to nullify it…

This proposal is known as “I will nullify my vote” [“Yo anularé mi voto”] and is capturing the attention of the Internet public through a video created by user Tona Moreno, which is shared on YouTube:

In the video, Tona says:

Yo me considero un ciudadano responsable. Voto en todas las elecciones, pago mis impuestos, cuando me ha tocado ser funcionario de casilla voy con mucho gusto, y así como ciudadano responsable, creo que ya tenemos que ponerle un alto a esto. Creo que ya estamos hartos de estarles legitimando a estos funcionarios, a estos diputados, que lo único que hacen es subirse los sueldos estratosféricamente y proteger los intereses de ellos y de sus amigos.

I consider myself a responsible citizen. I vote in all elections, I pay taxes, when I’ve been chosen as an electoral observer, I gladly attend, and as a responsible citizen I think we should stop all this. I think we had enough of legitimizing these representatives, deputies, who only raise their salaries up to the sky and protect their own interests and those of their friends.

Although it seems that nullifying a ballot (selecting more than one option on the paper ballot, turning it in blank, etc.) and not voting at all are similar ways of electoral protest, among the citizens there is much discussion about their different meanings. JoséCh comments on his Twitter account [es] on the difference:

Anular el voto no es bajarse del barco. Si vas a demostrar tu hartazgo tienes también que mostrar compromiso como ciudadano.

To nullify a ballot is to stay in the boat. If you are going to show that you are tired of it all, then you also have to show your commitment as a citizen.

Intervention in ballot paper for the 2006 elections, by Felipe. Image used following a Creative Commons License: http://musica.nmty.org/2006/07/02/boletas-artisticas/

In the blog Hernando y la Silla [es], Ricardo Martínez replies to an editorial by Javier Corral published in newspaper El Universal in defense of the blank ballot:

Si en esta elección un movimiento ciudadano anónimo está sugiriendo desafiar a la partidocracia, eso sólo pone en entredicho su estructura inmoral de apropiación del poder, no a la democracia ni los valores que representa.

(…) Las elecciones en este momento son el único momento cuando los ciudadanos verdaderamente podemos ser escuchados. El resto del tiempo pasamos a tercer o cuarto término. Ante las pocas posibilidades, debemos aprovechar este momento para respaldar lo que todos sabemos en el fondo: los partidos políticos se han distanciado peligrosamente de los ciudadanos, y no al revés. No quieran ahora culparnos por lo que como partidos dejaron de hacer.

If in this election an anonymous citizen movement is growing to challenge the particracy, it is only because it defies its immoral structure of appropriating power, not democracy or the values it represents.

(…) These elections now are the only time when the citizens can really be heard. The rest of the time we are considered at third or fourth instances. Facing these few possibilities, we should take advantage of this moment to strengthen all we know deep down: political parties have dangerously distanced themselves from citizens, and not the other way around. They should not blame us for what the political parties did not do.

Abstinence and nullifying ballots are movements of national reach. Several opinion leaders have publicly admitted their support, among them Carlos Loret de Mola, journalist and news-anchor for an important national news show (as he stated in his column for El Universal [es]) and Denise Dresser, journalist (video [es] . There are also civil organizations that call for protest. For example, the website “Cross them all out [es]” [”Tache a todos”] promotes taking the ballot paper and crossing out all of the candidates to show their lack of support to “neither political parties or any registered candidate”. Other campaigns in this direction include “Vote in blank [es]” [“Vota en blanco”] and “Nullify your vote [es]” [“Anula tu voto”].

In a more comical approach, there are campaigns that call to vote for ‘characters’ or parody candidates. In the blog Bunsen [es], a cartoon promotes candidate Dr. Mono [Dr. Monkey], supported by the slogan “He is sadistic, he is ignorant, he is a cartoon monkey and still… he is your best option”.

In a similar way, Esperanza Marchita [es] [roughly translated as ‘Hope Withered’] is a virtual candidate promoted by the organization Propuesta Cívica. Through her Twitter she comments [es]:

Voto nulo, blanco, válido, razonado, entusiasta, conservador, liberal, idealista, alegre, rudo y cursi… pero ¡¡¡voto al fin!!!

Nullified vote, blank, valid, well-thought, enthusiastic, conservative, liberal, happy, tough and corny… but in the end, vote!!!

In her blog, she shares a story of attending the National Assembly for the Null Vote [Asamblea Nacional por el Voto Nulo], in the Federal District, where more than 30 organizations “disappointed of the political representation system” met.

Papanatas [colloquial expression for ‘dumb’] is another “virtual” and parody candidate, with the shape of a potato. Its campaign, based on its Facebook profile and blog [es] invites people to write “Papanatas” on the paper ballot to send “a clear message to political parties that enough is enough.”

According to newspaper El Universal [es], during the elections for deputies in 2006, more than one million votes were null, from a total of 77 million registered voters in the electoral roll.

Mexico: Water Shortages Affecting Nearly 2 Million Residents

Issa Villarreal — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:30:10 +0000

Nearly two million citizens have been affected by the recent reduction of water services in the Valley of Mexico. According to Mexican Newspaper El Universal [es], the Cutzamala System, which manages 20% of the drinking water for the valley, is not working at full capacity and cannot supply its own region: 10 districts from the Federal District and 13 municipalities from State of Mexico.

To prevent drought and more severe problems, the first action of reduction was taken during Holy Week and affected more than 700 thousand people. Those suffering from shortages have used the water for domestic use from tanker trucks that visit each neighborhood regularly, says blog Vivir México [es]. In May, the reduction extended to 25% of the water supply throughout the weekends [es], and will prevail that way until further notice.

However, with the aggravating circumstance of the rupture of a water pipe in the State of Mexico [es] the water service was reduced by 50% in several blocks for 48 hours during the last days of May.

Photo by Flickr user Wonderlane. Used following Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/3388022312/

Jessica Uribe, from the blog Vivir México [es], writes about the uncertainty of the government's actions regarding the water problem:

A pesar de todas estas afectaciones y de que es obvio que se necesita el gobierno federal no ha podido dar una respuesta al gobierno capitalino sobre la inversión que necesita el Sistema Cutzamala para ser rehabilitado y modernizado en su totalidad, esperemos que sea pronto cuando decidan el futuro del más importante sistema de abastecimiento de agua de la Ciudad de México, pues cada vez son más los problemas que tiene y más tiempo el que se tardan en solucionarlos.

Despite all of the impacts and that it is obvious that the federal government has not been able to respond to the capital's municipal governemnt about the economic investment to completely repair the Cutzamala System, let’s hope they will soon decide the future for the most important water system in Mexico City, because there are more and more problems and it takes more time to solve them.

Blogger Lesley Tellez of The Mija Chronicles shares her experience in her first day without water in April:

Then today, we woke up to find we had no water. It’s a problem throughout our neighborhood. Undeterred in my quest to become the cleanest woman in Mexico, I ended up taking a medieval-type shower, heating up water on the stove and then carrying it into the shower in my largest mixing bowls. It actually worked pretty well, to be honest. Something tells me tomorrow it won’t be as fun.

Despite the delicate situation of the neighborhoods with short water supply, some citizens question whether this is the best way to solve the problem. Blogger Daniel Hernández in his blog Intersections reviews some inequalities in the water shortage:

That's 12 days of sporadic, low-pressure water at the tap for who knows how many millions of people. And no water — none — for perhaps millions more. That means dead toilets, no showers, panting plants. Some boroughs and specific neighborhoods have not been affected much (you can guess which), and others have been so severely (guess which again).

(…) Time to make some serious offerings to [prehispanic god] Tlaloc?

Jesús Chaírez comments on his personal blog the contradiction of the water shortage and urban sanitation methods from the government:

Then, like every morning, I looked out my window – this time in amazement: With all the talk of there being a water shortage here in Mexico City I look out my window to see a city crew cleaning the sidewalks of the park across the street, Alameda Santa Maria la Ribera, not with brooms but WATER! The Mexico City government at work using precious water to hose down and clean sidewalks. This is insane, but this is Mexico.

In the blog The Mex Files, the authors mention that the massive reduction of water supply in Mexico City should be considered a warning to cities growing rapidly without taking care of the most basic services:

Of course, “¡Como México no hay dos!” when it comes to geographic and geological challenges, and the strain on a water system in a city that’s grown exponentially over the last half century, coupled with what was considered good engineering practices for the last 500 years (draining Lake Tezcoco) made Mexico City’s water system more vulnerable to dramatic problems than others.

(…)

This should be a wake-up call to start paying attention to the basics, but I expect we’ll wake up one morning in Chicago, or New York or London shocked, shocked that OUR systems have just stopped working and we won’t have a clue how it happened. Same way it’s happening in Mexico City. Just not paying attention to the basics of life.

Workers from the Comisión Nacional del Agua (Conagua, Water National Comission) declared to newspaper El Universal [es] that the stability of the Cutzamala System should be regained partially with the repair to several dams that started in April.

Mexico: Young Graffiti Writers Arrested in Monterrey

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:44:30 +0000

Thirteen teenagers and young adults from the metropolitan area of Monterrey, city in the North of México, were sent to prison after a “graffiti attack” on an overpass along one of the busiest avenues in the city. They were part of a group of 300 graffiti “writers” that organized the event through Fotologs (a social network similar to Flickr to upload photos) and websites. During the afternoon of May 17, they covered three lanes on Constitution Avenue with graffiti, with the paintings measuring one kilometer in length on walls on both sides of the lanes, taking on the name “macropinta” [macropainting].

According to Mexican newspaper Milenio [es], of the thirteen young boys arrested, 7 have paid 20,000 pesos [approx. 1,520 USD] individually in bail and fines in order to be released. However, the ones that have not covered the bail are still in prison and, as newspaper El Porvenir [es] warns, they could spend more than 10 years in jail for causing damage on third-party property, with the aggravating circumstance that it was made as part of a “gang.” In sum, fines and bails have reached 200,000 pesos [approx. 15,200 USD] for these young boys of medium and lower socioeconomic levels.

The event caught media attention because the 300 graffiti writers aged between 11 and 21 years old (in Mexico, legal age is 18) and their “attack” was made in order to record it for their graffiti video series called “Destrucción visual” [Visual destruction] [video]. Publishing flyers in Fotologs [example, es] and invitations as comments in the Fotologs of their friends, they organized meeting points for the “attack” that would take place on a Sunday afternoon.

This is a video taken by one of the participants:

In the coverage of the arrests, the media compared the event to the protests of “los tapados” [“the blockers”] (violent groups that blocked the transit of avenues a couple of months ago) and to the elaborated system of drug-trade and organized crime in the city.

Nonetheless, a week after the “attack,” a debate was held on the television show Cambios [Changes] on local channel 12. In the transmission, government employees, teachers, activists and graffiti artists recognized publicly that the sanctions to the young boys had been inappropriate. It was mentioned that two minors remained arrested for more than two days while the authorities processed the event, violating the Convention On The Rights of the Child.

Alejandra Rangel, President of the Social Development Council of the State of Nuevo Leon, argued the following in the debate [video]:

Somos una sociedad, específicamente en este estado de Nuevo León, muy excluyente. Porque si revisamos a niveles internacionales y en otros estados, aquí hay verdaderamente un exceso y una reacción exagerada frente a los jóvenes [que hacen graffiti] que además están protestando por algo.

We’re a society, specifically in the State of Nuevo León, very discriminating [exclusionary]. If we review levels internationally and in other states, we have been excessive and overreacted to the young boys [involved in graffiti], even though they are protesting about something.

Graffiti attack on monterrey. Photo by La Pola. Used following Creative Commons License: www.delapola.com

The reactions of the citizens are mixed: some call for an increase in the sanctions for those who practice graffiti, increased fines and detention time; others consider that graffiti is not a crime that deserves imprisonment.

User @paulinoo shares through Twitter [es] his encounter with the paintings the same day they were made:

Ayer, venta de discos en bazaar. De regreso, me llamó la atención el nuevo macro-graffiti. “Siempre paso y no me había fijado”, pensé.

Yesterday, vinyl sales in the bazaar. Returning, the new macro-graffiti caught my attention. “I always pass by and have never noticed it.”

MexMen writes very straightforward against graffiti in his blog Mexablog [es]:

Que poca madre de esta gente, pinches cholos vale madre, nada más dan dolores de cabeza a la sociedad. Hasta los padres andan de llorones por su ‘angelito’ como si no supieran lo que hacen, cárcel a todos, hasta a los menores.

These people don’t care about anything, damned cholos they don’t give a f*ck, they only give headaches to society. Even the parents are crying for their ‘little angel’ like if they didn’t know what they do, prison to all, even minors.

In a comment to the article written by blogger SinFUL regarding the macropainting [es], user Roxx considers that illegal graffiti could difficult [es] to obtain more “cultural” spaces and projects for young people:

mientras se sigan haciendo las cosas asi al chile de forma ilegal el gobierno, los fondos de cultura, arte o a quienes correspondan fomentar espacios para este tipo de acciones, seguiran sin tomar en cuenta o realizando apoyos minimos a quienes de vdd quieren hacer las cosas bien. somos una sociedad, debe existir el respeto pero la marabunta esta acostumbrada a arrebatar o perjudicar creyendose en su derecho…

while things keep like this, illegal and without planning, the government, the funds for arts and culture, and whoever is responsible to develop spaces for these type of disciplines, will not take in account nor give economic support to those who really want to do things well. we are a society, respect should exist, but the mob is used to take or affect as if it is its right

On the other side of the story, YouTube user reggaeesmivida12, advocates for the crew involved in the attack in one of the videos he recorded that Sunday [es]:

No somos delicuentes
Solo expresamos lo qe sentimos con aerosol (Y)
saludos para la bandera qe fue y para loqe a atoraron qe mal pedo pero ps (Y) ni pedo asi es estoo y asi va seguir siento a darle para adelante bandaa sbrs

We are not criminals
We only express what we feel with aerosol spray paint
Greetings to all who were part of it and those who were caught it is a shame… but that is the way it is and that is the way it will be, so let’s move forward you all

Fotolog user Noktur_one, also part of the graffiti attack, questions the younger boys of the group [es] that revealed details of “Destrucción Visual” videos to the media:

ESE DE TODA LA BANDA KE FUE A DEJAR SU MARKA
CHIDO POR AIIER FUE EL ATAKE MAS VERGA NUNKA ANTES VISTO..
(…)
KE MAL PEDO POR LOS KE AGARRARON FUE POR LA KULPA DE LOS MORROS PALETAS KE IVAN Y NO VALEN VERGA..

TO THOSE WHO WENT TO LEAVE THEIR MARK
COOL FOR YESTERDAY IT WAS THE MOST AWESOME ATTACK EVER SEEN
(…)
BAD LUCK TO THOSE WHO WERE CAPTURED, IT WAS THE KIDS' FAULT THAT WERE GOSSIPING AND ARE NOT WORTH A F*CK

User @ivanramos from Twitter considers that what happened in the overpass of Constitution Avenue is part of a movement in the city [es]:

más que jóvenes divirtiéndose, los graffiteros son una muestra de que mty está viva, hay gente que se quiere expresar y no caer en represión

it is more than young people having fun, the graffiti writers are an example that mty [Monterrey] is alive, there are people that want to express themselves and avoid repression

In the Mexablog article, user LUEGONE comments that there is no way to stop the graffiti movement [es], and taking spaces is similar to what is seen in political campaigns:

Chingon lo que hicieron esos lokos…
LOS POLITICOS HACEN LO MISMO PERO PARA SU PUBLICIDAD
ellos estan dando el ejemplo…
“DE QUE SE KEJAN”
Que legalicen el graffiti o no,
el movimiento seguira
en todos lados,
por todos lados
y siempre!!!

Awesome what those crazy dudes did …
POLITICIANS DO THE SAME BUT WITH PUBLICITY
they are giving the example…
“WHAT DO YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT?”
Graffiti legalized or not
the movement will continue
everywhere
and through every way
and
forever!!!

After the growing attention to the “attack”, several videos have been published in YouTube to encourage the young boys imprisoned because of their participation on the overpass on Constitution Avenue. Their videos include amateur recordings [example] taken with the cellphones by those who were part of the “attack”, as well as photographs of the paintings before they were cleaned by the municipality government. Also, videos of “Destrucción Visual” can be found in YouTube, featuring examples of the graffiti made by them.

At the same time, local television shows focused on recognized “legal” graffiti, street art and murals created with permission from the owners, in an attempt to understand this type of artistic activity.

Mexico: Television Comedy Show Makes Light of Actor's Mental Disability

Issa Villarreal — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:31:20 +0000

The Human Rights Commission of the Federal District of Mexico [es] has asked the television network Televisa to apologize the actor known as Sammy, after the contestants of the comedy game show “Hazme reír [es]” [“Make me laugh”] played a prank on him, even though it is widely known that he suffers from moderate mental disability. According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, during the May 17 transmission of the game show, TV presenter Galilea Montijo and comedian Roxana Castellanos pretended that Sammy had an audition for a show [es], where they were asked to appear in lingerie and changed clothes in front of him. It also included “temptations” from the women contestants, and the prank extended to the point of convincing Sammy to dance in his underwear in front of the cameras of national Channel 2.

The pranks on “Hazme reír” are one of the ways the contestants have to gain points in order to keep playing in the Mexican game show. Following the show protocol, after the video of the prank by Montijo and Castellanos an evaluation of their comedy skills was made by a jury that included actor and comedian Rafael Inclán and actress and comedian Consuelo Duval. The judges immediately recognized the lack of respect to Sammy.

The following dialogue happened in the evaluation.

Judge Rafael Inclán: “The prank was well done but long. And with all due respect… [it was] an offense to Sammy’s condition. I’m sorry.”

Contestant Galilea Montijo: “Oh, which is?”

Inclán: “Don’t you know Sammy’s condition?”

Montijo: “Well, he is a person …” (she looks for Sammy in the public seats) “Sammy, where are you? Are you normal?”

Inclán: “No. We all know that.”

Montijo: “Oh, no, sorry. What you just said is the offense. To tell him in his face that he is not a normal person. (laughs)”

Inclán: “Sammy is a television accident. To me, it was cruel. Do the prank to someone else.”

(…)

Judge Consuelo Duval: “In my own personal point of view, Sammy is a good soul. And that’s why he is not normal. Sammy sees everything beautiful. Sammy sees everything in beauty.”

Montijo: “We all know that he has a… well… well, yes, he has a…”

Inclán: “That’s why.”

Montijo: “Sammy’s mental abilities are working at 100%. You’re at 100% sir, right?”

Actor Sammy: “Yes.” (nods)

Inclán: “Don’t ask him.”

Montijo: “…That he has natural humor.” (laughs)

Duval: (starts to cry)

Sammy is a Mexican actor that has appeared in several comedy shows on the Televisa channel –among them, the ones from veteran comedian Eugenio Derbez and the variety show El Calabozo–for the last 10 years. One of the recurring themes during his acts is that the presenters mock him constantly.

Although it has been implied since his first appearances that the actor suffers some kind of mental disability, recently the sister of Sammy, Martha, has declared to Mexican newspapers that he only suffers dyslexia [es]. “You cannot defend someone if you don’t know what he has,” she stated.

For Jessica Uribe, from the blog Vivir México [es], [“To live Mexico”] which also contains the video of the prank, the responsibility of the television-aired prank belongs to the line of content aired on the Mexican network:

La mayoría de nosotros sabemos que televisa es una mierda, no concede programas de calidad, sus actores cada vez más parece que son sacados de una mala broma y en fin, sobrarían mis palabras en contra de esta televisora que está en decadencia y que ella sola se dispara en el pie a diario. Esta vez la regaron al no revisar el contenido de un programa con la nula idea de lo que son los Derechos Humanos y el respeto a personas que sufren de alguna incapacidad (sic).

Most of us know that Televisa is shit, that they don’t make quality television shows, their actors seem to be a bad joke, and overall, there are enough words against this decadent network that shoots its foot everyday. This time their mistake was not to review the content of a program that lacks any knowledge about Human Rights and respect for the persons that have some incapacity (sic).

Vuarnet, from the blog Isopixel [es] comments that working on the television network does not mean that an actor can be humilliated:

Gracias a su participación en diversos espacios dentro de la televisora se hace vivir y mantiene a su madre, pero el hecho de que le den trabajo ¿les faculta para denigrarlo de ese modo? No hay derecho en serio…

Thanks to his participation in several shows on the network he [Sammy] has found his way to make a living and economically supports his mother, but the fact is he has the job enables them to humiliate him like that? There is no right…

User Regiodelnorte replies in a comment [es] to the Regioblogs [es] article of the same subject that the apologies of “Hazme reír” should be only the beginning:

La merece [Sammy], pero tambien que sean retroactivas las disculpas: Desde Jorge Van Rankin Arellano, Esteban Arce [ambos de El Calabozo], pasando por Eugenio Derbez.

He [Sammy] deserves it [the apology], but also the apologies should be retroactive: From Jorge Van Rankin Arellano, Esteban Arce [both from El Calabozo], all the way through Eugenio Derbez.

In response to the same article, user RBN suggests that mocking others is common in Mexican television [es]:

Cuántas veces se ha burlado de los homosexuales con sus interpretaciones donde se exagera la condicion amanerada.

How many times have they mocked homosexuals with their exaggerated interpretations of the effeminate condition?

Twitter user @Uchalas thinks that the actor has no choice but to subject himself to the ridicule [es]:

Yo creo que Sammy si entiende lo que pasa a su alrededor, pero si la hace de pedo perdería el trabajar en Televisa. ¿Como ven?

I think Sammy understands what happens around him, but if he causes controversy he would lose his job in Televisa. What do you think?

@Elmeollodlasnto, from Twitter thinks that it was not adequate the way the apologies were given [es]:

Televisa ofreció disculpas por su broma para Sammy. ¡¿Alguien las aceptó? Sin embargo, el video ahí estará. Debió ser Galilea y no Regil [el presentador].

Televisa offered apologies for their prank to Sammy. Someone accepted them? Regardless, the video will be there. It should be Galilea and not [the presenter] Regil [who should apologize].

Aside from the real situation of Sammy, the prank and its reactions have brought to the surface a whole generation of characters from the Mexican television that have become popular because of the mockery around them, rather than their comedy skills. Among them, “el Changoleón [es]”, a homeless alcoholic man that became popular through the show Toma Libre, y “el Furcio [es]”, another mocked character from the show No Manches.

Mexico: Scenes From an Outbreak

Issa Villarreal — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:42:01 +0000

Almost two weeks after the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, Mexico City was declared in “state of emergency” suspending activities at closed populated spaces, such as schools, workplaces and restaurants, as well as large public events, such as concerts and football matches. In order to control the transmission of the virus, wearing a mask became an obligatory measure, and it painted a unique and devastating landscape of the streets of Mexico. These are some of the stories of the Mexican people.

Raúl Zepeda of the blog Banalidades y Algo de Teoría [es] (Commodities and Some Theory) describes streets of the city after the Friday's first health warnings:

El casco de Santo Tomas tiene un cariz espectral, los estudiantes que deberían estar llenando las escuelas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional se han quedado en casa, los rumores nocturnos de la suspensión de clases dejaron desiertas las escuelas Diego Rivera, Rabindranath Tagore y Frida Kahlo, así como la Normal Superior.  

Las calles están inusualmente poco transitadas a pesar de ser un viernes, que en la Ciudad resultan tumultuosos, ruidosos, poblados y caóticos. Hay mas adolescentes en la calle, algunos en patinetas practicando en la avenida, otros caminando despreocupados.

The Saint Thomas quarter has a ghostly look, the students who should be at the National Polytechnical Institute have remained at home, the nightly rumors about the suspension of classes have left the Diego Rivera, Rabindranath Tagore and Frida Kahlo schools closed, as well as the Superior Teacher's College.

The streets are unusually empty even though it is a Friday, which in the City usually mean tumultuous, noisy, full and chaotic. There are more teenagers in the street, some are skating along the avenue, and others are walking without worry.

Photo of Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral by El Enigma and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marca-pasos/3483280250/

Gitana Mojada [es] shares about one of her trips in the Metro without using the facemask that authorities suggested to be worn in public spaces:

Subi al metro justo las 2pm el TRANREALISMO en su maxima expresion me rodeaba, este es realmente mi ambiente, la gente cubierta de mascaras… los hibridos miedos-humanos, me rodean. Huele a que despertaron, parece que hoy la gente sabe que morira, pero caray…. Olvidaron la primera parte aun estan vivos!

Entonces miro a un niño, su cara reflejaba el maximo panico, sus ojos brillosos, transparentaban la serie de comentarios que su madre le dio antes de salir de casa, me sente a su lado me miraba, asombrado, por mi “valentia” al no traer cubrebocas. Yo asombrada veia a su madre con un semi remedio esquibador del virus, pues su cubremiedos estaba sobre su garganta y no sobre su nariz y boca…

I boarded the Metro exactly at 2pm, the TRANSREALISM in its maximum expression surrounded me, this is really my surroundings, people covered with masks… the human-fearing hybrids surround me. It seems like they’ve just awoken, it seems like people know that they will die today, but hell… They forgot the first part, they’re still alive!

Then I looked to a kid, his face reflected maximum panic, you could see through his shiny eyes the series of comments that his mother gave him before going out of the house, I sat by his side, he looked at me, amazed of my “bravery” for not wearing a facemask. Amazed, I looked at his mother who wore a semi-remedy to avoid the virus, because her fearmask was over her throat and not over her nose and mouth…

Blogger Agridulce recounts frictions after coming back from the Federal District of Mexico City [es]:

Y como todas las veces que voy al D.F. me dediqué a lo mío, salí poco de casa, consentí, fuí consentida y poco ví las noticias. Al regresar a Guanatos City el taxista me preguntó: “¿Oiga y usté de donde viene?, si no es indiscreción”, -De la Ciudad de México- le contesté. Por el retrovisor ví que puso ojos de plato y en todo el recorrido noté sus ganas de salir corriendo del taxi… al final me preguntó que si no le tenía miedo a la influenza, le dije que le tenía más miedo al sistema de salud.

And like all the times I have visited the Federal District, I kept to myself, went out a little bit, took care of and was taken care of, and almost didn’t watch the news. When I came back to Guadalajara, the taxi driver asked me: “Hey, and where are you coming from? If it is not much asking”, “From Mexico City” –I answered. Through the rearview mirror I saw how his eyes grew wide like dinner plates and during the entire ride I noticed his urge to run away from the taxi… At the end he asked me if I wasn’t scared of the influenza, I said that I was more scared of the health system.

Mac of El Rincón No Poético [es] (Non-Poetic Corner) writes about the unfortunate conjunction of the flu panic with a small earthquake in the city [es] that struck the city earlier in the week:

Minutos antes del medio día estacionaba mi coche para llegar al trabajo, y me sorprendió ver que mientras yo quería entrar, todos querían salir.

¿Alarma por influenza en la empresa? Ante esta situación, uno ya no sabe qué esperar. Al llegar a las cabinas para mi programa de radio, me informaron del temblor, mientras los operadores y productores se pitorreaban de la situación.
  - ¡Se va a acabar el mundo!
 - No, hasta 2012, según los mayas.

  Después de la emisión, mi hermana me alegró el día: 
“Hoy tembló porque nadie fue ayer a misa”.

Minutes after noon, I was parking my car to reach the office, and I was surprised to see that, while I was trying to get in, everybody wanted to get out.

Alarm of influenza in the office? At this point, one doesn’t know what to expect. When I arrived to the cabins for my radio program, they informed me of the earthquake, while the operators and producers laughed of the situation.

- The end of the world is coming! 
- Not until 2012, according to Mayas.

After the transmission, my sister made my day: 
“Today we had an earthquake because yesterday nobody went to church.”

Moreover, Twitter had also an important role when it came to opinions and understanding the humor of the victims. Published in Regioblogs [es]:

leomtxwebmaster:

Eso de la influenza es una campaña viral que me estan tratando de colar por dos o tres lados

That flu stuff is a viral campaign that they’re trying to share with me in two or three ways

nudul:

mergas! el tema de hoy en twitter son “La influenza vs. Los zombies”… ya pensaron en el soundtrack???

Shit! Today’s topic on Twitter is “Influenza vs Zombies”… Have you thought about the soundtrack yet?

laquesefue:

A mis compatriotas mexicanos les diré: Quedarse en Twitter todo el día es la manera más segura de no ser contagiado con #influenza

To my fellow Mexicans I will say: Staying on Twitter all day is the safest way to avoid the transmission of #influenza

LauraDark:

Los chilangos somos una raza en peligro de extinsión!!!! =O

We, the chilangos [habitants of Mexico City], are a race in extinction!!!! =O

Mexican newspaper El Universal also collected other curious moments from Twitter regarding the flu [es].

Mexico: Trying to Lighten the Mood About Swine Flu

Issa Villarreal — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:08:20 +0000

Even with the international concern over the health emergency of the swine flu, a Mexican band called Agrupación Cariño is trying to lighten the mood with a song called “The Flu Cumbia” as mentioned by Panamérika Blog [es].

Mexico: Foreign Artists Commenting on Internal Matters

Issa Villarreal — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:50:06 +0000

During his last visit to Mexico in March, French musician and activist Manu Chao canceled one of his concerts in the city of Guadalajara because of a rumor of an investigation by the Mexican authorities for his comments on what happened in the Mexican city of Atenco in 2006.

Photo of Manu Chao at press conference in Guadalajara. Taken by Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara and used under a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/guadalajaracinemafest/3383035071/

According to Mexican newspaper La Jornada [es], the artist used the term “State terrorism” while referring to the civil unrests of San Salvador Atenco that occurred in 2006 in the State of México. Independent commissions found that the police sexually abused over twenty women and caused the death of two persons. The Mexican press reported that the authorities were investigating Manu Chao for violating the Article 33 of the Mexican Constitution, which reads that no foreign visitors should intervene (“inmiscuirse”, roughly translated as “deal”) in political matters of the country.

Last month, another well-known musician Peter Gabriel met with the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, to talk about another sensitive subject such as the hundreds of murders of female factory workers in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Gabriel defended Chao [es] and his responsibility to speak about these issues.

Article 33 of the Mexican Constitution is controversial because some see it as an opposition to freedom of speech, as well as its ambiguous text. Pablo Vázquez Ahued comments on his blog that Article 33 “tries to not recognize the supposed unalienable rights of certain human beings” and that the article is not relevant because of international treaties [es]:

Lo cierto es que todas estas movidas de la prensa y Manu Chao no quedarán más que en el anecdotario de este mes, y serán olvidadas aproximándose mayo. Lo realmente importante es que vuelve a salir a colación la indignidad del artículo 33 constitucional, cuyo segundo párrafo debería ser derogado lo antes posible dado que México ha suscrito tratados internacionales que sencillamente lo niegan, y estos tratados, según cualquier constitucionalista de primer año, tienen el mismo estatus que la Constitución.

The truth is that all this press movement and Manu Chao won’t be regarded except as stories of the month, and will be forgotten when May arrives. What is really important is that the indignity of the constitutional article 33 surfaces again, and its second paragraph should be repealed as soon as possible since Mexico has signed international treaties that simply denies it, and these treaties, according to any first year student of the Constitution, have the same weight as the Constitution itself.

Daniel Manrique also comments in his blog Tome Chango su Banana [es] that the government should worry about more important things:

Supongo que el siguiente paso será tener micrófonos en todos los restaurantes porque la política es un tema habitual de conversación y es un hecho que el pobre desempeño histórico del gobierno mexicano, y en particular de los gobiernos panistas que azotan con el fuete de su incompetencia al país desde el año 2000, siempre deja mucho de qué hablar, y no siempre en los términos más halagadores

I guess the next step will be to have microphones in all restaurants, because politics is a regular topic of conversation and it is a fact that the poor effort of the Mexican government, particularly the strong incompetence of the governments of the Partido Acción Nacional party since the year 2000, always gives people something to talk about, not always in flattering terms.

Blogger Marichuy of Luces y Sombras [es] comments about Article 33, remembering a situation two years ago

Las autoridades gubernamentales mexicanas se distinguen por su doble moral y doble rasero a la hora de aplicar la ley. En 2006, en medio de uno de los procesos electorales más controvertidos de que se tenga memoria, [el expresidente de España] José Ma. Aznar vino a hacer proselitismo electoral a favor de Felipe Calderón, algo que supuestamente contraviene las leyes de este país, diciéndonos abiertamente que debíamos votar por él.

(…)

Y la pregunta para las autoridades:

¿la ley solo se aplica -a su sabio entender, but of course- a quien dice las verdades que no les gustan?

Mexican governmental authorities are known for their double morality and double standards when it comes to applying the law. In 2006, in one of most controversial electoral moments that can be remembered, the former president of Spain José Ma. Aznar came to the country to campaign for Felipe Calderon in the presidential elections, something that goes against the to laws of this country, openly inviting us to vote for Calderon.

And the question for the authorities:

Does law only applies –following your wise calls, but of course– who is to say the truths that you don’t like?

User Yeyahualtic Metztli comments in a story in La Jornada [es] about the rumor of Manu Chao being expelled from the country:

Si se trata de expulsar, por que no hacerlo con las personas dedicadas al narcotrafico, trata de blancas, sacerdotes pederastas, secuestradores…y de mas malotes? Pocas son las personas que se ocupan de los problemas sociales de México.

If it is about expelling, why don’t they expel those persons involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, pedophile priests, kidnappers and other villains? Few are those persons who deal with the social problems of Mexico.

On the other side of the story, Esteban Arce republishes his column for the Mexican newspaper Récord in his blog Yo soy Aquél [es] and questions the right of both artists to comment on the political situation:

Pues ambos [artistas] se animaron a declarar que el caso Atenco era un crimen de Estado. ¡Háganme el favor!, ¿qué saben ellos y qué autoridad tienen para hablar de lo que pase o haya pasado en México cuando en sus países suceden cosas peores? Como si en Francia no discriminaran a los inmigrantes, al grado que repelen las manifestaciones en Saint Denis muy al estilo Atenco y lo hacen varias veces al año; cuando los ingleses, junto con los Estados Unidos, terminaron con el pueblo iraquí, al grado del exterminio total… pero no, prefieren cruzar el océano Atlántico para reclamar causas ya juzgadas en nuestro país en todos los niveles, incluyendo la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación.

Well both [artists] decided to say that the Atenco situation was a State crime. Gimme a break!, what do they know and what is their authority to talk about what happens or what happened in Mexico when worse things happen in their own countries? As if France does not discriminate its immigrants, to the point of repelling protests in Saint Denis as they did in Atenco, and they do it several times in a year; when the English, along with United States, finished the Iraqi to the point of total extermination… but no, they prefer to cross the Atlantic Ocean to talk about causes that have been already addressed in our country at all levels, including the Supreme Court of the Nation.

Mexico: Two Musicians Selected for YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Issa Villarreal — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:44:59 +0000

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra is a collaborative project using social media through the use of auditions through YouTube videos, and filtered by a jury of musicians and other YouTube users. Recently it selected the members of the symphony who will play the musical piece composed specially for the project by Tan Dun, a Chinese composer, who also composed the score of movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero, and who is also the author of the Internet Symphony No. 1 “Eroica” to be interpreted by 90 musicians from different countries, both professionals and amateurs, in Carnegie Hall of New York.

Two Mexican musicians have been selected for the international orchestra as mentioned by the blog Vivir México [es]. One of them is violinist Manuel Zogbi, from the northern city of Saltillo. According to magazine El Mañana [es], to play in the Carnegie Hall is one of his dreams as a musician:

…desde que tenía como 10 años siempre dije: sabes qué, cuando sea grande quiero tocar en el Carnegie Hall. Con el tiempo esos sueños se esfumaron, y ahora como que me cae el veinte de que, ¡ah caray!, los sueños pueden regresar y materializarse.

…since I was like 10 I used to say: you know, when I grow up I want to play at Carnegie Hall. As the time passed by, those dreams vanished, and now I realize that, oh my!, those dreams can return and they can come true.

To celebrate his selection, Zogbi will soon participate in a concert in Monterrey, the city where he now lives.

Very little is known about the identity of the other musician selected. His YouTube username is Intisamente, and according to magazine El Mañana [es], he is from Veracruz.

However, the lack of details about the viola player has not been an obstacle for other Mexican users to be in contact and to congratulate him through the YouTube service. User SAME860331 comments on his channel [es]:

Que grata sorpresa me encuentro en el periodico cuando leo que un par de mexicanos seran parte de la Orquesta Sinfónica de YouTube!!!!! Mi primera reaccion fue de alegria pero ya que el internet puede conectarnos no importando donde estemos pues, que mejor que felicitarte.

What a nice surprise when I read in the newspaper that a couple of Mexicans will be part of the YouTube Symphonic Orchestra!!! My first reaction was joy, but since Internet can connect us no matter where we are, well, it was better to congratulate you.

Alongside the Mexicans, two musicians from Brazil and one from Colombia will participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

Mexico: Urban Artists in Monterrey Take to the Internet

Issa Villarreal — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:32:15 +0000

In the streets of Monterrey, a city best known for being the industrial and technological mecca of Mexico, graffiti and many other forms of urban artistic expression are growing. Hundreds of street artists are active in the metropolitan area of this state capital located in the northeastern part of the country. In synergy with its development and prestige in the field of technology, as it was the first Mexican city with internet during the late 1980s, these artists have started to utilize user-friendly electronic media in order to showcase their painted works and murals on the internet. With sites like YouTube, Flickr, Fotolog, and blogs, artists are finding ways to share their works with the world.

Many of these electronic sites are free and easy to use, making the cost and effort investment minimal. Artists are using these sites to document their works, promote upcoming events, and make connections with other artists. Since many of their street works are illegal - painting on public walls - anonymity and the use of pseudonyms save them from the consequences from the local authorities. For example, the graffiti artist Buster publishes his videos on YouTube about the way he makes this illegal tagging on the cement walls of certain major avenues and multi-story buildings as part of a series of videos called “The Wild Street.” The fans of this risk-taking graffiti artist also upload their tributes and homages to Buster on YouTube

For some artists, the process of painting a mural is almost as important as the mural itself. There are hundreds of videos available on YouTube, including a video, which is uploaded and constantly deleted from the web for different reasons, of a “graffiti attack” where dozens of teenagers organize to paint an underpass along the Alfonso Reyes avenue. To paint in such an exposed location without being arrested while paradoxically they are openly showing off on the Internet takes courage equivalent to a feat in an extreme sport.

On Flickr, one can find photos of works in progress. During the citywide art event “Campeones” that took place in mid-2008, the artists Fidencio, Screw, Blast (all three from Monterrey), Blair (from California) and Eltono (renowned French urban artist) came together to paint a giant whale with some wood panels on the wall of a parking lot. The images found on Flickr with a search for the words “mural” and “campeones” taken by the artists, as well as spectators who watched the painting, provides a visual narration and illustrates step-by-step the transformation of the large, previously abandoned wall to become an alternative tourist attraction.

Photo by Cambalache and used under a Creative Commons license

On an individual level, these electronic sites serve as a type of portfolio. The collective Los Contratistas use their blog [es] to publish recent works, discuss upcoming events, document past activities, present their project invitees, and share a bit of their philosophy.

One person who is part of this collective is the artist known as Fidencio, for his use of the child “saint” Fidencio of El Espinazo, Nuevo León, in his posters and stencils. Sometimes he also includes his blog's address [es] in some of the street appearances. His blog address is his business card for his work, a link of the physical world to the virtual world.

In addition to providing coverage of the work of these urban artists, social media is also important for establishing connection points and for other supporters, especially shops that are directly linked to the gangs, “crews,” or collectives. For example, Streetarte [es], located in a very busy shopping center in central Monterrey is dedicated to the art of airbrushing and graffiti. They take orders to airbrush images on t-shirts, caps and other items. They use their website and their Fotolog, another image hosting service, to showcase their items for sale and as a portfolio for the artists that work there.

On their YouTube channel, they publish videos of those graffiti artists working live, without revealing their faces:

On the same channel, they also add original content of interest to the hip-hop community, which is closely tied to the culture of graffiti. They publish video of conversations with local rappers, such as Güero, national rappers, such as Serko Fu and Caballeros del Plan G, as well as international artists such as the Spanish rappers Violadores del Verso improvising rhymes or “beatboxing.”

These urban artists are making great use of citizen media to promote and share their work. The state of Nuevo León, of which Monterrey is the capital, is the Mexican state with the most users of Fotolog. A mash-up map was recently created to link photographs found on Flickr and Fotolog of murals and other urban art with their corresponding location on a Google map. The result is a map of the metropolitan area of Monterrey showing different locations of murals, graffiti tags, stencil works, or stickers:

Ver mapa más grande

To date, there are more than 50 works from artists, via this map, can be integrated without problems to the service of Google Earth. For artists and collectives, these social media sites are becoming a very powerful tool. They have the best of both worlds: an international reach with little effort and little cost, as well as distancing themselves to protect their identity. The pseudonyms that they use when they sign their names in the form of “tags” in the street represent their usernames on the internet, known by their friends but out of reach of the authorities.