The blogger at Postre Literario [es] writes about this focus, “To talk with Ciro Alegría is to feel the pride in the indigenism that we have in our blood and that makes us different, unique, grand because of our history.”

Perhaps, Alegria's best-known work is Broad and Alien is the World (1941), which according to the La República newspaper, is “brilliant from the beginning. The novel Broad and Alien is the World takes place in a mountainous community in Northern Peru, troubled by the resistance of its residents and its wise mayor troubled by the plundering by the political bosses, the Holocaust, and the emigration by the victims.” The novel was awarded the Grand Prize for Continental Novel in 1941. The blog Desafío Perú [es] summarizes the work:

la aldea de Rumi, auténtica protagonista de la novela, cuya vida se describe maravillosamente, es objeto de la codicia del terrateniente blanco; destruida, sus habitantes se dispersan: unos mueren, otros son reducidos a esclavos o marchan a las grandes ciudades. El mundo es ancho y ajeno es así un gran cuadro épico de las luchas de una arquetípica comunidad indígena contra los tres poderes que quieren destruirla: la oligarquía terrateniente, el Ejército y el Gobierno al servicio de los intereses estadounidenses.

Gonzalo Espino of the blog La Alforja de Chuque [es] writes the following in an analysis of the book:

Un aspecto descuidado por la crítica es la singularidad de lo maravilloso -lo mágico maravilloso- que aparece a lo largo de la novela. Se trata de pasajes que resultan extremadamente sospechosos, por que cuestionan nuestro esquema de realidad, y aun siéndolo, los ubicamos como aspectos extremadamente ficcionales. Pongo, aquí solamente dos casos: el de la comunidad Muncha allí donde no hay agua, pero sin embargo una joven tiene “macetas de claveles” que crea esa sensualidad olfativa en medio de la sequedad o el otro caso, es el diablo que atraviesa los andes y que en el relato sabemos que es el Mágico.

Eduardo Jiménez of the blog El Observador [es] takes stock of his writing and notes that his other works did not reach the level than his most famous book:

siempre me pregunté porqué llegó Alegría a un silencio casi total luego de la publicación de El mundo es ancho y ajeno. Siguió escribiendo, sí, y publicando uno que otro libro desperdigado en el tiempo, pero sin llegar jamás a esa cúspide que significó El mundo… Sólo queda la especulación para dar una respuesta. Posiblemente sintió que ya había llegado a su límite, a ese non plus ultra que los escritores de verdad reconocen en su fuero interno y ser conciente que lo publicado después no estaría a la misma altura. Con El mundo es ancho y ajeno terminado y publicado, su pathos ya estaba agotado, salvo que hubiese repetido fórmulas, lo que un escritor auténtico jamás haría.

Alegría spent a large part of his life in exile in Chile, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. As a member of the APRA political party, he was also jailed twice. It was here where he developed ideas for his novels. Writer Eduardo González Viaña tells an anecdote in his blog El Correo de Salem [es]:

Cuando lo conocí, varias décadas más tarde, Alegría me contó que allí, entre sueños y en medio de las cuatro paredes carcelarias, había visto a Rosendo Maqui y a los diversos personajes de su épica novela “El mundo es ancho y ajeno”. “Me moría de ganas de salir de allí para escribirla”.-me dijo. A Ciro le fue conmutada la pena de muerte por una prisión que padeció algunos años para luego exiliarse en Chile.

There were several events honoring the life and works of Alegría, such as a ceremony at the San Marcos Cultural Center on November 4, according to the blog La Torre de las Paradojas [es]. In addition, in the city of Cajamarca, the IV Gathering of Peruvian Storytellers “Ciro Alegría.” More information can be found on the event's blog [es].

Photo of Chimbote by Edgar Asencios and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version.

The Lima blog La Fortaleza de la Soledad [es] published a post about those responsible for these blogs:

Augusto Rubio Acosta y Milton Rojas vienen desde la rica ciudad de Chimbote a darnos un ejemplo laudatorio de que aún hay mucho por hacer. Augusto y Milton no se han contagiado de la apatía capitalina, recorren el Perú en busca de las voces, mayores y jóvenes, de nuestro ambiente cultural, demostrando que es mucho más saludable “hacer” que el mero acto de “quejarse”, sacándole el jugo a la herramienta por excelencia de la promoción, Internet.

And in the blog Círculo D.M. [es] from Holland, Rómulo Meléndez interviewed Augusto Rubio about the project Marea Cultural and other topics, here are some excerpts:

El proyecto MAREA CULTURAL nace en 2003 en Chimbote (Perú), … surgió primero como el programa radial que conducía en la desaparecida Radio Universidad San Pedro. Después, en 2004 el programa se mudó a Radio Santo Domingo, donde estuvimos al aire hasta el mes de mayo de este año. En el camino surgió la idea de publicar revistas y libros de literatura (publicamos cinco números de la revista “Mundo cachina” y dos libros), … Surgió también el Blog MAREA CULTURAL, nuestro programa de TV en un canal local (2008), una experiencia en prensa popular con la creación del primer periódico mural cultural callejero de Chimbote (surgida en 2005 y aún vigente),

Nuestra fuerte presencia en redes sociales (gracias a la alianza estratégica establecida con Milton Rojas, de Viadescape.TV) obedece a la necesidad de estar más cerca de los jóvenes, ellos son los que van a cambiar la realidad cultural que hemos heredado”. … Desde enero de 2009, con la creación de mi página en Facebook he abandonado el correo electrónico tradicional. Ahora habito en Twitter, la forma de contactar a los autores es distinta. De igual forma la búsqueda de información de carácter literario o cultural ha cambiado. Antes visitaba páginas webs o blogs especializados, ahora eso me llega automáticamente vía Twitter y Facebook”.

Marea Cultural's Facebook page can be found here [es], as well as its Twitter account [es]. A brief account of the interviews conducted by the blog from among the more than 100 published include the writers Braulio Muñóz, Fernando Cueto (1 and 2) Marco Cueva (1 and 2), Iván Vásquez (1 and 2) and Dante Lecca. There are also interviews with cultural promoters, Silvia Diestra, Jaime Guzmán and Paulino Meléndez, as well as the singer Lucho Oliva and social activists Jorge Noriega (1 and 2).

Milton Rojas, in addition to working on Marea Cultural, is also responsible for the blog La Ignorancia Mata [es], which addresses Internet issues, cyberjournalism, and Viadescape.TV [es], in which he publishes the video interviews from Marea Cultural. It might appear that the projects are on the right track, including the quality of the content. However, this is what Rojas wrote:

desde que empecé con Viadescape y en particular con el blog “La ignorancia mata” en el 2005, muchas cosas para bien han ocurrido, cosas que jamas me imagine, aunque muchos de esos triunfos personales no han logrado cubrir la sensación de vacío que siento y lo que empezó siendo un proyecto personal e intransferible, ha comenzado a ser una iniciativa grupal y siento que a diferencia del pasado ya no estoy solo en esto, ya no es más mi cruzada personal, incluso buscando últimamente un modelo de negocio rentable al trabajo que realizamos,

And then later, he writes:

voy a la ruina económica de seguir invirtiendo en proyectos web que no me retornan rentabilidad, solo la satisfacción de hacer lo que me gusta y de liderar e inspirar a muchas personas que siguen lo que hacemos en Internet, pero de momento no hay marcha atrás, estamos decidimos a encontrarle vuelta al asunto muy pronto

And it can be difficult to complete the work that one enjoys without considering the economic factor or without having another job as backup. There are numerous initiatives and projects that have been left half-started in the country because of a lack of economic support or because of the unwillingness to conform to editorial standards. Many hope that the Marea Cultural project can find a way to solve their inconveniences and continue to provide cultural information.

These are other blogs from Chimbote, and within the same cultural wave, there is the blog Soy Como Agua y Fuego [es] written by Carmen Alejos, one of the cultural promoters from Chimbote. Her blog is dedicated mainly to the musical style of trova, as well as her weekly radio program. One can hear her thoughts in this video interview she did with Marea Cultural. However, this is a sample of social sensitivity demonstrated in her writings about Rural Women's Day:

Las mujeres son las encargadas de trasmitir los conocimientos ancestrales de generación en generación, logrando conservar los cultivos tradicionales e innovarlos, en su afán de garantizar la alimentación de las familias en sus comunidades. Lamentablemente los gobiernos de turno no implementan políticas que busquen un desarrollo sostenible de la agricultura, mucho menos fomentan el desarrollo de capacidades que permitan que las mujeres puedan compartir conocimientos y mejorar su calidad de vida. En algunas comunidades de la cuenca del Valle de Nepeña, las mujeres rurales han iniciado un proceso de concientización alrededor del tema ecológico impulsado desde sus familias. Este 15 de octubre es el Día de la Mujer Rural y desde este espacio queremos reconocer el trabajo de miles y miles de mujeres -muchas de ellas solas- que de sol a sol se esfuerzan para cultivar sus tierras, criar su ganado y construir una familia y una sociedad distinta. ¡Feliz Día Mamá!…

There is also the blog called Matríz Musical [es] by poet Denisse Vega, who was also interviewed by Marea Cultural, who writes about her literary production and posts about cultural activities. The blog Mujer: El Más Bello Arte [es] by Victoria Fuentes is dedicated to women's issues. A blog from the Social Justice Commission from the Diocese of Chimbote [es] writes about human rights by giving voice, via video interviews, to individuals that work in this field.

Other blogs from Chimbote include De Todo Un Poco 2.0 [es], which is dedicated to posting notes relating to the utilities, gadgets, movies, and other topics. The blog Law & Iuris [es] by a group of law students at the Los Ángeles University in Chimbote, write about legal issues. A musical blog called Herederos de Nada [es] y Escena Chimbote Rock [es] post about rock music and concerts in Chimbote, and other cities in Peru. Chimbote ♫♫ [es], on the other hand, deals with the promotion of various genres of music. Periodismo Responsable [es] was a blog that wrote about news in Chimbote, but it has not been updated in more than a year.

Another blog can be considered from Chimbote is called Mis Aventuras en Perú, maintained by Jane Silcock, a volunteer from the United States, who can be seen in this video interview by La Ignorancia Mata. Even though the title of the blog is in Spanish, the blog is written in English. She writes:

I can’t believe I am more than half way done with my volunteer experience. There are times that I never want to leave, and then moments where I miss all the familiar people, food, and music of yesterday. My time in Peru has definitely confirmed my passion and desire to dedicate my life to social justice work. I am also realizing now more than ever the beauty and importance of mass communication in helping to make change.

At Cecopros, the journalism NGO, I am currently working on TV news stories for local channels about the problems in small towns around Chimbote. We’ve done two so far, one about how an illegal city trash dump is causing nearby residents to have skin fungus and respiratory problems. The other is about misuse of government funds that should go to building water and pluming systems for those who don’t have access to water, but instead are being used, among other things, to build a 500,000 soles (about $170,000) park.

There are problems with environmental pollution in Chimbote, however, there are no blogs that deal with the issue. In YouTube, there are videos uploaded by various institutions that can attest tot he serious problems caused mainly by fishing activities. For example, the Natura Environmental Institute [es] based in Chimbote, deals with these issues, but do not have a blog.

Finally, this video that contains interviews with Chimbote residents who talk about their favorite dishes, and the video can also show various spots around the city. More Chimbote videos here.

The current Peruvian legislation (Penal Code 1991) stipulates [es] (.pdf format) the criminalization of all forms of abortion, except for therapeutic and includes such mitigating figures, as the ethical or sentimental abortion, and eugenic abortion. Even though there are no trustworthy official figures about abortion, it is estimated that there are between 350,000 and 400,000 abortions each year [es] in Peru.

Protests for and against the decriminalization of abortion have already reached the streets of the capital city Lima [es], and since the debate still has a long way to go, the protests are expected to remain for more months. Surveys show that opinions are almost equal regarding the issue, and the digital survey conducted by Peru.com [es] shows that 54% believe that eugenic abortion due to congenital disorders and rape should not be decriminalized, and 43% believe that it should be. Another survey conducted by the company Apoyo [es] for the newspaper El Comercio shows similar results: “53% disapproves of abortion when the pregnancy is the result of rape. 41% approves. 48% say no to abortion when the fetus shows defects. 46% state that they agree.”

This national controversy has also had repercussions abroad, but it is on the internet where there are many opinions, for example in Foros Perú (Peru Forums) there is a thread called “Eugenic Abortion. Are you For or Against? [es]” There is also discussion from bloggers, such as Isabel Guerra of La Burbujas Recargadas [es], who states her position on the issue:

creo que la principal razón por la que me opongo (al aborto) es porque la muerte es irreversible. No tiene retorno. Abortar o aplicar la eutanasia, o enviar a alguien al patíbulo, son generalmente situaciones a las que se llega bajo un tremendo estrés, en las que se llega a sentir que esto es la única solución. Ojo, que digo sentir, no pensar, porque cuando uno está pasando alguna de esas situaciones extremas es muy fácil no pensar con claridad, es terriblemente fácil equivocarse.

Hay muchísimos testimonios (libros, páginas web, etc.) de mujeres que abortaron y que años después se arrepintieron. Les dijeron que con un aborto se libraban de un problema en media hora. Pero no les dijeron que el recuerdo no las abandonaría nunca. Y cuando años después se arrepintieron, ya no había vuelta atrás. Lo que tienen casi todos estos testimonios en común es que las mujeres señalan que no recibieron ninguna ayuda, y que de una u otra forma fueron inducidas, por las circunstancias, por la desesperación o por terceras personas, a creer que el aborto era la única salida.

Daniel Salas of the blog Gran Combo Club [es] describes the problem's ethics from an opposing position:

La discusión sobre el aborto no debería estar enfocada en las motivaciones terapéuticas, ya que estos criterios crean severas contradicciones. Por ejemplo, conozco algunas personas que se oponen al aborto por razones morales pues consideran que el óvulo fecundado debe ya ser considerado una persona pero, a la vez, admiten que hay ciertos casos (como la violación o malformaciones severas) que pueden justificar tal práctica. Si el aborto fuese injustificable e inmoral, no debería tener excepciones, ni siquiera como respuesta posible a una violación, ya que el nuevo ser debería ser considerado enteramente independiente de tal acto que le dio origen; tampoco se debería permitir en casos de que el embarazo pudiera causar la muerte de la madre, ya que el niño por nacer, con todos sus derechos plenamente constituidos, no podría ser considerado responsable de tal consecuencia.

Entonces, quien admita que el aborto es admisible “en ciertos casos” o “bajo ciertas condiciones” debería reconocer que la inviolabilidad de la vida humana aplicada a un feto no es tan absoluta como en principio se anunciaba. La discusión debería estar, en cambio, enfocada en dos cuestiones de índole ética, a saber:

1. El derecho que posee la mujer de continuar con el embarazo de un ser que depende enteramente de ella.
2. La posibilidad de otorgarle al no nacido los mismos derechos que a un nacido.

In the blog Tinta Roja [es], Cristina Andrade adds her grain of sand to the debate stating the problem of informality that prevails in the country:

otro problema en esta posible legalización del aborto, es la criollada, la ilegalidad de algunos médicos, quienes bajo el pretexto de que la muerte de la madre peligra, o que es un bebé con malformaciones, falsearán exámenes y documentos, para justificar el aborto, claro dependiendo de cuanto les paguen, porque en este país todo se compra, todo se vende y lamentablemente como existen médicos buenos, también hay malos y sin ninguna ética, quienes por dinero son capaces de todo.

Esos son los riesgos de legalizar el aborto, estamos en el Perú, no en Europa ni otros países civilizados en los que la ética, los valores y las leyes se respetan. Aquí siempre están buscando como violar las normas, así que en ese sentido, creo que sería muy peligroso legalizar el aborto.

The post generated a lot of posts, and Andrade adds in another post [es]:

Leer los comentarios a favor y en contra en mi primer post, solo me han hecho llegar a una conclusión: la mujer debe tener la libertad de decidir si aborta o no. Y creanme, yo no estoy a favor del aborto, pero tampoco puedo obligar a alguien a pensar como yo. Es sencillo, en mi caso, por mas que despenalicen el aborto, no lo haría, porque mi convicción, mi forma de ser no lo permitiría. Es decir, quien está en contra del aborto, simplemente no lo hará, con o sin ley a favor o en contra, simplemente no lo hará. En todo caso, quienes piensan distinto, tienen la libertad de decidir, y no ser juzgadas.

Laura Arroyo of the blog Menoscanas [es] cites the need for debate and respect for differing opinions:

El problema en este país es justamente que somos incapaces de reconocer en la opinión distinta de la propia una opinión válida. Problematizar temas polémicos como el aborto, la eutanasia, preguntarnos si el Estado debiera ser o no laico, etc. es, en buena cuenta permitir que se desarrolle la democracia. En ese sentido, ¡a buena hora el tema del aborto ha sido puesto en la mesa!

Regarding the debate, Daniel Salas of GranComboClub [es] asks the following:

Un asunto en este debate al que nadie ha podido responder es qué se entiende exactamente por penalizar el aborto.

Con la penalización del aborto hay una enorme discrepancia entre el discurso que lo sanciona y el castigo que reciben efectivamente quienes lo ejecutan. Así, quienes se oponen a despenalizar el aborto sostienen que la interrupción voluntaria de un embarazo equivale a un homicidio. La consecuencia práctica de tal juicio debería ser que las personas involucradas en el aborto, incluyendo la madre, reciban la misma condena que recibe quien asesina a un nacido. Esto, sin embargo, no ocurre. Una madre que asesina a sus hijos va a la cárcel y recibe mucha publicidad en los medios.

Pero una mujer que aborta no.

Este tipo de discrepancias revelan las verdaderas intenciones de la ley. … controlar la capacidad de las mujeres de tomar decisiones sobre su cuerpo. Permitimos que el aborto se practique, pero no de manera abierta porque esto último daría demasiada libertad a las mujeres en una decisión que sentimos que afecta el sostenimiento de la sociedad.

For David Ramos of the blog Yo, (DASH) [es], there are not many worthwhile arguments:

las organizaciones feministas y pro-elección, en general, parecen considerar que el ser humano inicia su vida con el nacimiento. Antes de eso, solo era poco más que un riñón. Vale anotar que no hay ciencia que sustente esto, más que una frívola y equívoca percepción de la realidad: no te veo, por lo tanto no existes.

la defensa de la vida debe ser prioridad: así como defendemos delfines, perritos callejeros, flora y fauna amazónica, con mayor razón debemos defender la vida humana en cualquiera de sus etapas. Ningún honor hay en defender más la vida de una foca o de una ballena que la de un congénere humano.

As is clear from the views above, the positions on abortion are difficult to reconcile. It is understandable because the discussion revolves around life, ethics, morals, values, science, with decisions based on practicality and privacy. On the other hand, there are many material interests at stake. The debate will continue, and even more so with the recent announcement of the State ban by the Constitutional Court for the free distribution of the “morning after pill.” [es] It is obvious that things will not calm down.

- Hi Sylwia, tell us a bit about you and your life, please.

I was born in Poland and at the age of 18 moved to Hungary to study, and later to work in Budapest. I studied Hungarian, German and American linguistics. During studies and first years of employment at Nokia and TCS Hungary I supported a Montessori high school helping talented youth from local Romani minorities to reach higher education - basically teaching English during evening class. I worked with local Polish scouting group and stayed involved in organising subcultural cultural events. I also started my adventure with photography then.
In 2006, when my son was born, I relocated to the UK and joined a word of mouth agency, 1000heads, where I am until now using my personal passion for blogging in daily work.

- How did u get involved with GV?

I read about GV Summit 2008 in Budapest on a brilliant Polish blog written in Hungary and really regretted that I missed it (I already lived in the UK at the time). I noticed that GV Lingua had no Polish translation so I suggested helping out. I also posted few articles about Poland, but my main focus so far was ensuring the Polish Lingua goes live and grows gradually. Once this is accomplished I hope to spend more time on articles about Poland. I also want to get involved in Global Voices Advocacy one day fairly soon.

- What are the challenges you have faced at GV in Polish?

The first challenge was to create a dedicated team and I think that after few months we are there now. I think it's an on-going process though - the more content we have, the more exposure we get and thus more volunteers. There are eight girls working on GV Polska now - we all support each other not only in translating GV content but also outside of this voluntary work. It takes a certain amount of content for audience to understand what GV Polska is about, so I am glad we are working on this now. GV Polska went live recently and we have started working on other supporting mechanisms (mapping out the countries we post about on a Google map, so we do not focus on few regions too much, but try to show events in all parts of the world; engaging in conversations outside of Twitter and gradually establishing more personal relationships with Polish bloggers and social media fans). I think in another six months, we will see the results of our current work outside of the main platform.

- How do you insert GV Polska on the local blogosphere, have you had problems with it?

I think establishing an on-line presence is a lengthy process, and we are beginning to gain readership on the site, but also discussion in other platforms - Twitter, Facebook, Blip (Polish Twitter) and Flaker (also a Polish site). Our presence on Twitter has given us an amazing push in terms of readership, but also interactiveness - we talk about our articles there. Now we need to bring those discussions on to the Lingua blog :) Flaker is a good site for incorporating GV Polska's presence in Polish social media, so we work on that too. I also think it's a very complex process and consists of different elements (I would love to see what other Lingua teams think!). I think one, probably the most important factor is the demand for information. I think we need to target the right people and gradually we are doing so. Our challenge at the moment though is the fact that we only have one of our team members is based in Poland, so it's difficult to spread the word about the site in local communities if our private networks are based elsewhere. You also need to remember that we are reporting on discussions, we do not generate them, which restricts us in taking active part in discussions in local blogosphere. I think we need to gradually build up our content and think outside the box on how we can establish on-going strong relationships with Polish bloggers. What proves effective at the moment are the Twitter and Flaker engagements and our personal relationships with local bloggers. I think it's a good starting point.

- Sylwia, as a lingua editor what do you perceive will be our challenge in the near future?

With GV Polska, we will now gradually work on other tools around the main blog to reach out to different audiences and to relate our articles to different topics in Poland. Now that we have reached our first 100 posts, we have something to show and we can develop a stronger presence in Polish social media. Our next challenge will be to encourage our readers not only to read, but also to comment on our posts and with this to have a large community of GV Polska readers who spread the word about GV's message, although with current trends of moving away from commenting on blogs to discussing blog content in other places online, we might instead invest our time there. I really hope that we will be able to do something offline for our Polish readers soon, to bring our message closer to every day reality of Polish citizens - simply to show them who we are, why we do it all for free and what is the aim. Quite frankly, I want to use my other projects, like Bar Mleczny and Barcamp Transparency (next year planned for Poland too) to help to spread the word about GV Polska. I also think that posting in English about Poland will help promoting work of GV Polska better, so that will be my next, personal task.

Now, in general terms, I am not sure if it's a challenge or just something to think about, and it depends on resources too, so might not be a short term plan but I think there is one bit of communication missing from the current model, which is addressing local issues and conversations in local languages. Somehow I feel it's a missing bit in closing the entire circle of information sharing. I also think it would help Lingua sites in addressing the local audience and promote Global Voices‘ message locally - I mean if I talk about discussions related to other countries in Polish to Polish audience it's great, but I think it would be also very exciting to be able to address Polish issues there. Now, I am not sure how the model would work - that would be another project, ‘Lingua Local' if you like. We could have a separate team in place to post updates on local conversations, or engage translators (who are also authors in many cases) in this additional activity. I am confident that if the rest of the community is up for it, one day we will be able to consider this option too.

- As a translator, how has GV improved your skills?

First of all I do not work in translation at the moment so it's great to keep doing it for GV Lingua. My jobs were always related to translation but not specifically based on it, so it's good I can keep this learned skill active and practice it in my free time. It's one of those things that is worth keeping alive, and while you are doing it you develop constantly.
As a team we always discuss any problems in translations and support each other, which I find really helpful because there is sometimes need for second opinion. We use our Google group to post questions and quite recently we started weekly meet-ups on IRC to discuss GV related issues and gossip a bit;)
I also think I translate faster now, because I want to do the posts and all the other activities related to it - tweet it, map it, etc. The great thing about Global Voices content is that it is very rich in different topics and cultures - so we not only learn while working, but become exposed to various types of information which we might not always read about elsewhere.

- This is going to get a long answer I think. Sylwia, what other internet activities do you have?

Well, I have few on-going presences and more current projects. My first blog, written in Polish is very personal. My English blog is related to my work and interests (social media, ethics, activism, photography). My Hungarian blog is written for friends, but not too often. My son's blog is updated for his UK based family, but also for my friends outside the UK. I am considering bringing them all to one, self-hosted platform now.
I use Twitter (@presleysylwia) and FriendFeed for business networking and communicating with the local community, learning and sharing insights. Flickr is my photo sharing place where I meet interesting artists. Qik and YouTube are places where I share video updates - rather diary of what I do. I use Facebook, Nasza-Klara (Polish social network) and LinkedIn for networking - depending on whom I want to reach. And no, I do not spend all day on all those sites:) I use them each in its own rhythm, whenever required ;)

As for projects there is Bar Mleczny - blog aiming to bring UK-based Polish bloggers together and cross the bridge between British and Polish cultures. It's still a small, one-year-old baby, but with dreams to grow big and one day open an actual dairy bar in Oxford combined with arts, music and support for the local Polish community.
I have co-organised Barcamp Transparency this summer, where we talked about transparency issues in open government, social media and cyber-activism. We want to take this barcamp to Italy, Poland and Spain next year, as well as repeat the one in Oxford. I think barcamp is the best format for creative meeting of people from different business areas on a specific topic. It's free, flexible, but also very specific and practical.

I also got involved in Oxford Twestival in February and have repeated it now, in September. This event brings together all the important aspects of my life really (maybe apart from motherhood;)) - charity work, art and social media in real life. Sometimes people think or actually practice on-line presence completely separating it from every day life, but for me all the online places I am in simply document and enhance my reality. Thus, I am happy I can do a party for similarly minded people who all come over to a pub in Oxford to listen to good music and poetry and all this to raise money to support Oxfam's work in Mali. I am also happy that Oxford can be a part of this global initiative. We have managed to raise £1,570, which is a great sum for such a small community (60 attendees!). And we had fun! I am sure there will be another Twestival in Oxford in spring and I hope I can get involved in it too.
I have also helped out in social media strategy on few other voluntary projects, like World University Project for instance, and I hope to do so in the bear future.

I am very passionate about social media and the positive effect it can have in supporting work of individuals, as well as organisations. I am trying to feed as much information as possible to the GV community, but I also do not want to be monotonous:) so I am trying to feed the information which can be crucial for us. I am a strong supporter of Twitter in our work too, and I think it's great we are gradually moving to other types of social media and reaching out to different audiences. Global Voices as a site and as a community has a great potential and I am very happy I can be a part of it!

- Not all of us manage to succeed at promoting our sites on Facebook and Twitter. What suggestions can you give us?

I think one point is not to push it if you do not feel you enjoy doing it. So the first step is to check your options - mainly the local community of Twitter, Facebook or other online places. If you think you have good audience there and you can bring value to their community (you have people on Twitter who talk about citizen journalism, current events, social media, etc) it's worth trying to build a GV Lingua profile there. You do not have to update it on a daily basis - everyone has their own rhythm, but it's worth doing it in a genuine, natural, personal way. With the site content, which is strongly related to online communities we all bring value. And I am sure once you start talking to others and networking you will see that the presence is not only fun but also works in both directions - you will get fed with interesting facts, local social media events, projects. Just do it;)

- You mentioned photography as a personal interest, what is your approach to it?

Photography and poetry (recently also video) are my passions. I believe in harmony in life, and without art my life would be unbalanced - photography is a way of showing the world how I see it, how I feel about things, what stage of my life I am in. It is my private mirror, but also my statement, if that makes sense. I like experimenting with different ways of communication - it might be the linguist blood in me (my mother is a linguist;)), but generally the photos I take reflect the way I see the world: in details, working out the general trends form little bits and pieces - a mosaic of a kind. I take photos when I feel like, but I do have a target of one exhibition per year to ensure I do not neglect this bit of my life. So far I managed to over deliver on that front, so I can relax and invest more time in social media projects.

- What about other interests? Let's say books, movies, the usual thing?

I like fusion jazz and anything related or created in post-modern style, maybe this is why I like the interactiveness of the web so much. And I have my ‘the best'-lists:) Books: Umberto Eco ‘Name of the Rose' (1), Anne Rice ‘Interview with the Vampire' (2), basically everything from Erich Fromm and Jean Baudrillard (3). Films: ‘Total Eclipse' (1), ‘Before the Rain' (2), ‘28 Days After' (3). Painters: Van Gogh (1) William Wharton (2), Georgia O'Keffee (3). I better stop now, it starts to look like a Facebook meme:D.

Thanks Sylwia.

However, in recent days there have been two related developments that have increased the attention on the Shining Path. One of these is the premiere of the Peruvian film Tarata [es], which deals with the events surrounding the 1992 Tarata Street terrorist bombing in the Miraflores district in Lima. The trailer can be seen here.

The film, which follows crucial events of the period and their modern-day consequences, has become a minor blockbuster in Peru, and as Gabriel Quispe of Cinencuentro [es] notes that the film drew 46,000 in its first weekend in release. However, in the post's comments sections there are disagreements about the quality of the film.

In addition, Carla Ciurlizza of the blog C3 [es] writes about the movie:

Hace un par de días veía por televisión local un reportaje sobre la película que actualmente se exhibe en los cines, “Tarata“. Incluyó también imágenes y videos del hecho real, … con testimonios de vecinos que aún viven en esa calle. Vecinos que, como yo, vieron sus casas destrozadas y con suerte salieron vivos (otros muchos no tuvieron tanta suerte). Vecinos que hemos quedado traumatizados de por vida.

En otra parte del reportaje, para comprobar la mala memoria colectiva de los peruanos y la poca información que manejan las nuevas generaciones, se le preguntó a una chica sentada en una banca en esa misma calle si sabía lo que había sucedido allí, y totalmente despistada respondió “ah sí, el incendio, ¿no?”. La pobre tenía una vaga idea de lo que pasó, mencionaba un “coche bomba” y estoy segura que no tenía ni idea de lo que realmente es eso. Increíble.

The second recent development involving the Shining Path is the publication of the book “De Puño y Letra,” in which its title has a double meaning of both “Handwritten” and “By Word and Fist,” which was written by Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the Shining Path. Guzmán was captured by the Peruvian government in 1992 and is currently serving a life sentence. The book's manuscript was smuggled out of prison by Guzman's lawyers and contains statements from Guzman justifying his actions during the armed conflict.

Yet, Guzmán has generated a mountain of controversy due to the many politicians that have spoken out [es] against [es] the book's publication [es]. The director of San Marcos University's Cultural Center was forced to resign [es] his post after attending a public book launch.

The Peruvian Ministry of Justice has announced that it would be calling for the books to be seized, and denounced those who distributed the book [es] as apologists for terrorism.

In Foros Peru [es], there are conversations [es] and many forumists have published photos of the book. In blogs, Javier Fernandez of Javi 270270: Que pasa? [es] posed the following question:

Se ha creado una controversia por la edición de un libro de ABIMAEL GUZMAN. Personajes de la política parecen “horrorizados”. Tan fariseos como desinformados hacen de la hipocresía el pan de cada día. El precedente lo puso VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS, quien es vecino de ABIMAEL GUZMAN en la celda de ALTA SEGURIDAD DE LA BASE NAVAL. Tres libros, sin mayor trascendencia pero que si merecieron despliegue informativo, son los frutos de la intelectualidad de Montesinos…

¿Qué diferencias merecen los libros de un ejecutor por terrorismo de estado y alguien condenado por terrorismo?

For his part, Silvio Rendon of GranComboClub [es] deals with the matter in the context of modern day politics:

Guzmán no está llamando a la lucha armada. Su lógica es la amnistía general para su gente como para las FFOO. Por eso, se habría esperado una protesta de parte de quienes rechazan a Guzmán y lo que significó Sendero Luminoso. Sin embargo, esta presentación se da en un momento de crecida de la lucha anti-narcóticos. Al gobierno le viene bien agitar el miedo a Sendero Luminoso.

In another post, Rendon identifies [es] an interesting fact:

¿Por qué no hubo protestas contra Abimael Guzmán? Las ONGs de derechos humanos bien hubieran podido organizar una protesta contra la tan anunciada presentación del libro del líder terrorista. … Guzmán puede presentar su libro y expresarse, pero también se esperaria que hubiera una protesta democrática contra él.

Perhaps inspired by all this, and the 17th anniversary of the day when Guzmán was captured, presented before the Peruvian people, jailed on September 24, 1992, Claudia Cisneros of Sophimania [es] published an extensive post about 10 myths about the Shining Path and the war against subversion, including this one:

4) Lo que queda de Sendero está en el VRAE

Falso.

Sendero sigue existiendo en Lima y en las principales ciudades del país. Se hace sentir y se infiltra, sigilosamente, en universidades, sindicatos e instituciones populares. No tienen la beligerencia de antes y apelan a ser “amigos del pueblo” asumiendo como propias agendas reivindicativas legítimas, pero no para buscar soluciones sino para boicotearlas, promoviendo el pensamiento errado de que la única salida es la violenta. Ese Sendero, silencioso y poco atractivo para la cobertura mediática, es tan peligroso como el del VRAE. ¿Están los servicios de inteligencia haciendo su trabajo de infiltración y desactivación? ¿Hay siquiera un Servicio de Inteligencia Central? No y no.

In the blog Notas desde Lenovo [es], Jacqueline Fowks writes about howdistrust and poor coordination can explain the attack in San Jose de Secce:

La zona del ataque está localizada en el VRAE, foco de las acciones del grupo de SL que nunca salió de su reducto de Vizcatán (Huanta) después de la captura en setiembre de 1992 del líder fundador del grupo, Abimael Guzmán. Autoridades y analistas han demostrado que el grupo está articulado e involucrado en el cultivo de coca y el transporte de droga hacia la costa peruana. […] No estamos como en 1983, ni el Sendero de antes es el de ahora, pero la historia a veces ayuda a mirar mejor lo que tenemos al frente. Aquí, un interesante documento desclasificado de la embajada de EEUU -de febrero 1983- menciona la ausencia del Estado, la labor de la policía y del Ejército, y el desempeño de los medios -entre otros factores- en la lucha contra SL luego de los asesinatos en Uchuraccay.

A recent post from Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es]includes an analysis of the situation in VRAE and how the Shining Path continues to: stir up fear:

hay que diferenciar claramente la dinámica de los grupos instalados en el VRAE: por un lado existe el movimiento Proseguir, que se adscribe al fin original de Sendero; y por otro lado está instalada una serie de guardias paramilitares al servicio de las cadenas de tráfico de drogas. Son cosas distintas que necesitan soluciones específicas. Proseguir no es, como erroneamente se dice, un grupo estancado en el VRAE, sino una serie de columnas que se desplazan por la sierra de Junín, Huancavelica y Ayacucho. Contrario a esto, son únicamente los grupos de servicio al narcotráfico (protección paramilitar) los que sí están perennemente desarrollando sus actividades en el VRAE.

Por lo demás, el mundo institucional se ha mostrado complaciente con el terrorismo de Sendero Luminoso, reduciendolo incluso a la categoría de guerrilla, viendo sólo el componente subversivo y no la estructura insana del mismo; o peor aún justificando su trasfondo al calificar su accionar como político o ejecución en “una guerra”. Este gobierno al confundir los fines, los objetivos y los trasfondos de una inexistente pero necesaria política sobre el terrorismo está igualmente perpetuando el real problema, que sigue creciendo y extendiéndose, mientras busca ganar réditos con la bandera del miedo.

Even though it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, it is currently in poor condition and under continuous threats of invasion by looters and the damaging effects of nature. However, there are several efforts from governmental and civil society groups trying to preserve the archeological site, as well as the history of this culture.

Photo of Chan Chan by Martinoy and used a Creative Commons license.

The blog Trabajamos por Chan Chan [es] (We Work for Chan Chan) published news about another facet of this preservation work currently being done in Trujillo, near the sands of Huanchaco, and which won an award from the government. This project called “Citizens of Chan Chan” is directed at schoolchildren so that they identify with and participate in the preservation of their historical past:

Frente a la circunstancia de que los monumentos históricos y el patrimonio general se encuentra olvidado y descuidado, es necesario que exista un nuevo tipo de ciudadano que conozca, ame y engrandezca su legado histórico; por esta razón, es que creamos el Programa “Ciudadanos de Chan Chan”, en donde primero se les enseña a conocer y amar el pasado; para luego involucrar a los escolares en los trabajos de conservación; así engrandecen su propia identidad”, señaló Cristóbal Campana, director de los trabajos de conservación del Complejo Arqueológico Chimú y creador de esta experiencia educativa.

Some of these preservation works have resulted in new findings, such as the ones described by the blog Trabajamos por Chan Chan [es] regarding the discovery of “small wooden statuettes and bone remains (that) form part of the ritualistic world of the Chimú.”

These efforts of preservation are needed because of the effects caused by climate change, erosion caused by heavy rains during natural phenomena like El Niño. However, it is also human that have caused adverse effects on the archaeological site as described by the blog …en Perú:

Repeated illegal land invasions by locals one of the principle problems for the ancient site … The INC, charged with protected the so-called “intangible” archaeological area, states that some 263 people claim to be land owners there. Each of these people has been ordered to move, but until now, none have. Instead they fence off and work the land, demanding that the government issue them with titles.

However, it is the work from a local group of housewives that have attracted a lot of attention. As reported by the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio [es], a group of women from the neighborhood of Villa del Mar have been working in the city of Chan Chan since 2006. “They perform the same work men, carrying adobe mud-bricks, climbing ladders up to eight meters high, moving wheelbarrows from one side to another, from top to bottom. All with the aim of restoring all that time and humans have damaged.”

These women have also appeared in blogs, such as the Trujillo blog Especiales en Intermedia [es], whose author Róger Montealegre writes about these conservationists from “a world of mud”:

En el monumento de barro, capital de la civilización Chimú, hoy Patrimonio Mundial de la Humanidad, existen alrededor de sesenta mujeres, antes dedicadas a los quehaceres del hogar, ahora convertidas en potenciales conservadoras, especialistas en monumentos de tierra. Trabajando a la par con sus compañeros. ¿Sexo débil? Ni que hablar. Basta contemplar sólo unos minutos su trabajo “en la tierra, en el cielo o en el agua” para darnos cuenta de su fortaleza; su empeño es el mismo en cualquier espacio, no pierden su feminidad, por el contrario incrementan su maternidad. Un periodista le pregunta a una mujer que trabaja en la conservación de Chan Chan qué siente por el monumento, ella responde: “Lo quiero como a mi marido porque me da de comer. Y como a mi hijo, porque lo ayudo a crecer”.

There are also other efforts from governmental agencies, such as the Implementation Unit 110 from the Chan Chan Archeological Complex [es], which is working on different projects in Trujillo. Their website provides more information about this work. The field of academics is also contributing to this preservation work, as shown by the site Universia Perú [es], which published news about a photographic exhibit co-hosted in 2008 by the Department of Communication Science from the Northern Private University (UPN for its initials in Spanish) and Implementation Unit 100. The exhibition was titled, “Me Llamo Trujillo, Me Apellido Chan Chan.” (My First Name is Trujillo, My Surname is Chan Chan.)

In March 2009, it was announced [es] that a Brazilian construction company (OAS) would invest approximately 4 billion dollars to build a hydroelectric power station that would be located in the Inambari, Madre de Dios region. However in 2008, there was talk [es] of an even bigger financial investment. The aim of this Brazilian firm is to supply energy to the Brazilian state of Acre, producing around 2,000 megawatts.

Many people are impressed by the sheer size of this project. For example in the blog Infaestructura Peruana [es] (Peruvian Infrastructure) the blogger states that “It will be the largest electric power station in the country and the fifth biggest in South America” while the blog Desarrollo Peruano [es] (Peruvian Development) emphasizes progress being made in the region: “It goes without saying that the area will receive a substantial sum in royalties from electricity in the future. This is one of the benefits of large projects.” This optimism is shared by the commenters of this post and they believe that this hydroelectric power station will bring prosperity to the region and the country.

There are dissenting voices regarding this notion of development and earning profit, and they are now being listened to. The first concern is related to the ecological harm that will be caused by the dam that will practically be located in the area of the National Park of Bahauja Sonene, as was officially stated by the Intercultural Communication Services (SERVINDI): “The Inambari hydroelectric project directly threatens the area and indirectly the park.” This park will also be affected by the construction of an Interoceanic highway.

Many residents of Puno are also completely against the project upon learning of the project. As mentioned in the Puno newspaper Los Andes [es], local organizations like the Association of Rural Educational Services (SER) concludes that even the future Inter-oceanic highway will be affected by the power station. “According to the description of the reservoir for the hydroelectric dam, 106.1 kilometers of highway will be submerged beneath water.” According to an opinion piece, there is also a problem of lack of information [es] made worse with the absence of the region's Congressional representatives.

The blogs are not unaware of the situation. For example, the blog Cuarto Ambiente [es] (Fourth Environment) publishes a press release from the Management Committee of National Park BS from last May which mentions that:

El proyecto, amenaza directamente la Zona de Amortiguamiento e indirectamente al Parque Nacional Bahuaja Sonene, hogar de miles de especies únicas en el mundo y declarada maravilla natural por la National Geographic Society, por la alteración sin precedentes de los ecosistemas de la cuenca del rio Inambari, por la modificación de su curso principal y sus afluentes, que estaría propiciando a futuro, una posible invasión de colonos de esta área natural protegida.

Aldo Santos, who blogs in Exegesis [es], publishes a post after visiting Puerto Manoa, one of the areas that will be affected by the dam, which follows an earlier post about the subject:

Hoy, lejos ya de Puerto Manoa, sigo preguntándome, ¿cuál será el destino de las miles de familias que tendrán que dejar sus hogares para iniciar otra vida en un lugar diferente, porque el gobierno decidió construir una hidroeléctrica en sus tierras?, ¿realmente vale la pena deforestar, inundar, alterar los ecosistemas, para vender energía eléctrica al Brasil?, ¿cómo nos beneficiamos los peruanos?, ¿cuánto hemos desarrollado ahora que las cifras del canon minero o gasífero se han incrementado?

Además de discutir sobre las ventajas y desventajas de un proyecto como la Central Hidroeléctrica del Inambari, habría que preguntarse cómo este proyecto se articula con nuestra visión del desarrollo de la Amazonía en regiones como Cusco y Puno –mayoritaria y predominantemente andinas-, si existe o no dicha compatibilidad o qué otra propuesta de desarrollo alternativa tenemos como región. Discusión necesaria, para acabar con reduccionismos simplistas que ven a “la selva como una despensa del ande” y consecuentemente como un lugar al que hay que ir a explotar depredar y destruir para obtener el mayor beneficio posible.

These types of conflicts between the government and residents have historically led to roadblocks, strikes, and clashes. Maria Isabel Guerra in Las Burbujas Recargadas [es] wonders whether this will be the next battle in the country:

Los pobladores puneños actualmente se encuentran movilizándose y profundamente preocupados y con razón: la represa requerida para la proyectada gigantesca hidroeléctrica de Inambari crearía un lago de nada menos que 412 km2 … La población afectada obviamente ya está exigiendo ser informada de las implicancias del proyecto para su medio y su vida, pero al parecer estas demandas de información no estarían siendo debidamente atendidas,

Y mientras los puneños tienen muy claros sus recuerdos, parece que a nuestros políticos y autoridades ya se les olvidaron las cosas que pasaron en Ilave y el recientísimo episodio de Bagua, situaciones ambas causadas por lo mismo: por pensar irresponsablemente que se puede ningunear a la gente, especialmente la de las provincias más alejadas de Lima, sin que haya ninguna consecuencia.

There is more information in the blog Inambari Dignidad [es] (The Dignity of Inambari). In this forum [es], there is a wide range of opinions for and against. Peruvian citizen Marc Dourojeanni wrote an article that raises question about the project [es]. Another article by Javier Rodriguez Pardo, an Argentine journalist, writes that this project is part of a trend in South America of “Highway Robberies.” [es]

Many Peruvians wonder why this news was not published in many of the major national newspapers, and note that the previous presidential announcement about the “realistic solution” between the government and the miners, primarily from Doe Run, had more coverage. There are others who wonder whether the Peruvian press vetoes certain topics. However, there is always the internet to find alternative information with commentary and analysis about the implications of the IACHR's decision.

The news of this ruling has made it onto websites of Peruvian organizations concerned with environmental policy and human rights, such as the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA for its initials in Spanish), which published the news of the admitted petition on its website. As early as 2007, the IACHR had asked the Peruvian government to take precautionary measures to protect the residents of La Oroya from contamination [es], as noted by the “Runamasinchipaq” Human Rights Association (Adehr for its initials in Spanish).

Mining town near La Oroya taken by Matthew Burpee and used under a Creative Commons license.

This topic has been ongoing and has been written about in blogs for the past several years. Godofredo Arauzo of the blog Perú y Medio Ambiente [es] (Peru and the Environment) commented in 2007 about the petition to take precautionary measures in the region: “Our country's environment is more neglected and abandoned than a child orphaned from a father, mother and family.” Another past post comes Miguel Angel Valladares of the blog Mkv [es], who states that the air in La Oroyo is full of lead.

In the blog Derecho Ambiental [es] (Environmental Law), Iván Lanegra also comments about the precautionary measures:

Sin duda, este hecho, sumado a la sanción impuesta por OSINERGMIN hace algunas semanas y la posición firme que las autoridades locales y regionales vienen mostrando, generan un escenario diferente al que se ha vivido durante muchos años respecto de este caso, por lo que se abren posibilidades reales de alcanzar soluciones efectivas al problema de la contaminación ambiental de La Oroya. Esto es especialmente significativo cuando nos encontramos cerca de celebrar el décimo aniversario de la presencia de DOE RUN PERU en la operación del Complejo Metalúrgico de La Oroya.

However, the mining industry is often the only thing that keeps these towns alive. Recently, the company Doe Run suspended its activities due to financial difficulties, and it has not been able to complete the environmental requirements. As a result, many residents are faced with protesting so that the mine re-opens, regardless of evidence of contamination affecting the community. Diana Horqque of the blog Hacker Moi Belle Kotoshi [es] writes about a conversation with a resident of La Oroya:

¿Están polarizadas las cosas en La Oroya?

Ciertamente lo están. Y una situación así es insostenible. Entre dos espadas que amenazan mi vida

¿Quién es el principal responsable de la contaminación en La Oroya?

La fundición señorita, la fundición… pero yo trabajo ahí. En la empresa me han dado de todo, ahí recibo mi sueldo, también ayudan al colegio de mis hijos; tengo facilidades en el hospital; y además, la empresa, ha hecho bastantes cosas por la ciudad. En las Navidades nos hacen las actividades con chocolatada y dan los uniformes para los partidos de fútbol con los demás trabajadores, señorita. Ustedes lo que quieren es cerrar la empresa. Además, si cierran la empresa, ¿A donde me voy? ¿A Jauja, a Cerro de Pasco, a Huancayo? ¿A donde señorita? Si aquí esta mi familia, aquí está mi historia de vida, mis hijos están creciendo aquí.

Pero señor, ¿sabe acaso usted que tener 5 gramos de plomo por decilitro en la sangre es altamente peligroso y que, según el estudio “Niveles de plomo sanguíneo en recién nacidos de La Oroya” [1], el 75,3% de los niños recién nacidos en la ciudad tienen entre 6 y 10 gramos de plomo en cada decilitro de sangre. Y que encima el 24,7% de los recién nacidos tienen más de 10 gramos de plomo en cada decilitro de sangre?

It is expected that the government and the workers of Doe Run to resume negotiations to see if the deadline to fulfill the requirements of the PAMA (Environmental Suitability Program) so that the mine can continue its normal activities. Nevertheless, the workers have announced a strike for August 31.

Carlos Quiroz of Peruanista writes that the situation in La Oroya “seems to be worsening”:

According to AP, Workers at the smelter said [today] that they will erect blockades in the Junin region starting August 31 to demand the government give the company more time to complete a mandatory cleanup, which could pave the way for a restart of operations. ” The workers in this case are being used by Doe Run Peru who threaten them with massive lost of jobs.

The La Oroya case is another example of what happens when weak governments in dependant countries allow private corporations -especially foreign- to do what they please. This is done in the name of free market and corporate minded development recipes, imposed by rich countries in poorer nations mostly located in Latin America and Africa.

Other links include the blog of Corey Laplante, who spent 9 months in La Oroya investigating this issue, as well as Kristian Andersen's blog with photos of La Oroya. There are also YouTube videos about the environmental contamination.

There is also the trailer of the 2007 documentary called La Oroya: Metallic Air on the blog of Acullicu Film, and the complete film on the blog of Tropósfera [es].

The blog Spacio Libre [es] commends the spirit of togetherness that emerged among the journalists in response to the issue and hopes that it does not lead to infighting:

Pocas veces he visto tanta unión en el gremio periodístico, como hoy, cuando revisando los medios y las columnas de algunos colegas, veo las reacciones frente al proyecto de Ley que la comisión de Constitución presidida por Mercedes Cabanillas, pretende hacer pasar. Dicho proyecto está referido al tema de la rectificación en los medios de comunicación, donde los medios y los periodistas podrán ser responsables hasta de la publicación de opiniones de los entrevistados.

Laura Arroyo of the blog Menos Canas [es] writes about this topic of the responsible third parties:

la mira está en los dueños y directores de los medios. ¿Cómo así? Ahora se incluye en los juicios por injuria o difamación a las empresas. … De esta manera, aquellos propietarios de medios que no quieran verse inundados en un mar de denuncias pueden optar por deshacerse de sus incómodos trabajadores. Buena jugada ¿no? Pero, ¿por qué habría un mar de denuncias por difamación? … este proyecto de ley con sello aprista indica que debe hacerse rectificación por “informaciones inexactas”. Mmmm…¿qué es inexacto? Como escribe César Hildebrandt: “¿Es inexacto o es agraviante decir que el presidente de la República miente cuando inaugura hospitales inexistentes?¿Es inexacto o es agraviante decir que Mercedes Cabanillas es la responsable de 34 muertes que pudieron evitarse?

Politician and blogger Juan Sheput comments on his blog Mate Pastor [es]:

Tiene sentido pensar que el gobierno teme el destape de varios actos de corrupción. Como los blogs se han escapado del control sumiso que el gobierno ejerce sobre algunos medios que dan vergüenza, pues también pretende controlarlos. Quiere el coro unánime que aplaude al gobierno, como si fuera un corzo de los viejos tiempos de Wong. Quiere que los blogs se conviertan en una sucursal de Andina o Canal 7.

On the other hand, Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] does not see that it is so severe and makes some points:

el derecho de rectificación corre en nuestro sistema legal como un ejercicio contra un medio de comunicación. … Obviamente: A) No todo sitio web es un “medio de comunicación”, en cuanto empresa o emprendimiento de naturaleza periodística. B) No todos los blogs obececen a los usos y costumbres de la práctica periodística. C) No todos los que escriben en un blog configuran cotidianeidad o ejercicio personal del periodismo. Obviamente habrá sitios web que calzen y configuren labor periodística, pero serán los menos. … Es necesario considerar que para la norma vigente, la Ley 26775, y para el sistema normativo peruano, no existe mayor diferencia entre una publicación “física” y otra electrónica.

Otro signo de desconocimiento: se proclama que se ataca a los dueños de medios, al considerarlos “terceros civilmente responsables”. La verdad es que el Código Civil (de 1984, por cierto) ya establece en su artículo 1981 la responsabilidad vicaria. En este concepto se entiende que el empleador es responsable por los daños que genere su subordinado.

Many of the opposition lawmakers have joined journalists and bloggers against the proposed bill, and there is speculation that it will be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the protests continue because the citizens are not content with the lack of action. The website Voces por la Reconstrucción [es] (Voices for Reconstruction) announces a regional strike for September 8 [es] and says, “The whereabouts of the numerous donations received by affected cities never arrived to their destination .. In light of this lack of information about the whereabouts of these funds … a commission has been formed to control the funds received by public and private entities in civil society. ” With all of this, a public hearing involving leaders and affected residents was called by the Reconstruction Collective. Another initiative is the Citizens Caravans, which is described by Enlace Nacional [es] in this video:

Bloggers are also distributing this information. The blog Cañete Hoy [es] writes that “the promises continue to arrive, but the reconstruction does not,” and that includes a video about this situation in the city of Cañete. More information can be found on the blog Colectivo de Periodistas de Ica [es] (Ica Journalist Collective). On the other hand, Chinganita Peru [es], Julián writes that slogans like “Trafa Perú” (Peru Deception) can be seen on walls throughout the capital city of Lima in regards to this slow reconstruction effort.

Luis Vigil of the blog Mejor Hablar de Ciertas Cosas [es] blames the government because the cities have yet to be rebuilt:

La pregunta es, ¿por qué no renacen las ciudades afectadas? ¿Qué tanto se demoran? No me explico, es más; la ayuda internacional llegó de inmediato. ¿Se repartió bien? ¿Acaso no enviaron millones de dólares para la reconstrucción de las zonas afectadas? ¿Dónde está?

Meanwhile the blog Otras Tardes [es] publishes accounts of those who experienced the earthquake. The blog WEBM [es] writes that the suffering continues in Pisco two years later:

Es increible que a dos años del terremoto muchos politicos esten contentos al decir que se han reconstruido 198 casas. Si h***** pero se cayeron cerca de 2,000! Tambien las donaciones dadas a los afectados para que puedan reconstruir sus casas fueron dadas en cheques sin fondo! Osea, encima de que no los ayudan los engañan!

However, not all bloggers are writing about complaints. Jaime Espejo Arce of Fiscalización Ciudadana [es] (Citizen Control) in addition to providing his thoughts on the attempted reconstruction, highlights some efforts to restore the Señor de Luren Church in Ica:

La entrada al Templo permanece como si el terremoto hubiera sido ayer. Algunos restos de la infraestructura amenazan con seguir desprendiéndose. … El millón de euros destinado por el Vaticano inicialmente para el Templo de Luren tuvo otro destino. Según el sacerdote Edmundo Aparcana, vocero de la Diócesis de Ica, “el millón de euros se distribuyó en tres partes: una parte fue a Ica, la otra para Cañete y Yauyos y la parte final para Huancavelica. … Por tanto, a fin de reconstruir el Santuario de Luren se llevará a cabo una Teletón este sábado 15 de agosto; mientras que la colecta nacional – a través de la campaña Compartir- se desarrollará el 21 de agosto.

It appears that the actions of the state are held up by bureaucracy, and a story in the El Comercio newspaper states [es] that the just the paperwork for some technical evaluations for some works can take as long as 6 months. As the blog Café Taipá [es] writes, “Two years after the earthquake, the government announces its achievements, but reconstruction is not part of them.”

Photo by Barbara Drake and used with permission. http://americaninlima.com/2009/07/18/andean-children-cold

However, there have been some strong and powerful images emerging from the region, including this video, that show the victims of this cold wave, which has caused quite a reaction from some Peruvians.

The harshness of the video impacted those that saw the video, which is shown in the comments section by those who criticize the journalists who made the video. For example, the YouTube user named beto1726 writes:

…cuanto morbo d stos periodistas el de ver y no aser ni mi***a si sabian q iban a encontrar a ninos sufriendo por q no llevaron ayuda de medicamentos desde lima asiendo en su canal una colecta entre tanto gerente q tienen…

The user Piacostar responds on behalf of the journalists:

No justifico … pero en honor a la verdad, los periodistas no somos médicos, ni abogados… solo informamos… es lo único que podemos hacer… e indignarnos como el resto del mundo… nuestro poder no va más allá que el de mostrar una realidad… cruda, es verdad, esperando que con eso se revele lo que sucede y quienes sí pueden y DEBEN hacer algo al respecto, LO HAGAN!

It is not only the cold and the governmental improvisation that is affecting the low-income rural population in Puno, but also the poor management of donations received from those with good intentions. Bobsparz from the blog Caviar de Cianuro [es] , writes about one example of donations not arriving to their intended destination:

hace días la SUNAT incautó 32 toneladas de arroz (en 630 sacos) de un donativo alimentario del PMA para la gente de Puno. Resulta que el organismo internacional contrató los transportes de la empresa Industria Arrocera de América (Induamérica) quienes a la vez contrataron a la transportista Flores Casas debido que excedía su capacidad logística para poder transportar los donativos hacia Puno. Las donaciones fueron de Lambayeque hacia Lima para luego enrumbar a Puno en 8 camiones de Induamérica y en 3 de Flores Casas. Los donativos llevados en la última empresa transportista nunca llegaron y parte de las donaciones se hallaron en un mercado de Ica.

Por el robo cometido 20 mil familias de la sierra sur que soportan el frío no podrán recibir su alimento correspondiente. En total no fueron 32 toneladas sino 100 las que se perdieron en el camino de Lima a Puno. Realmente vergonzoso.

Corruption is not the only problem that is presented to those who want to help the people of Puno. Barbara Drake, an ex-pat from the United States, writes in her blog An American in Lima:

In any other country, the Red Cross would be on the scene tending to victims and providing emergency services, but guess what? Peru’s Red Cross is a private, family-owned business that operates according to its own idiosyncratic methods, not those of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Society. The Peru Red Cross does virtually nothing during disasters and even less to prevent them.

Why can’t the International Red Cross intervene and help establish a true Red Cross in Peru? Because the family that “owns” the Red Cross in Peru has registered the name with SUNAT and technically “owns” the Red Cross brand in the country. If you think this is an outrage, join the club. The Peruvian government should intervene, rescind the name from private ownership and help get a real Red Cross established in Peru ASAP.

This situation is complex, and other structural problems are demonstrated during this crisis. Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] has the opinion that the government's actions in this situation leave a lot to be desired. However, this is nothing new and he writes about some of the deep-seated issues (bold type is the blogger's emphasis):

La donación es un parche. El problema real es la desatención del Estado a aquellas zonas alejadas. La real obligación del Estado es proveer servicios médicos suficientes a todos los ciudadanos. Sin embargo, enfermedades simples degeneran en muerte en las comunidades de la sierra, por la ausencia de servicios de salud que puedan prestar atención oportuna. … (pero) La mortalidad se genera por el bajo nivel de defensas que los pobladores tienen por la limitada dieta.

Otro punto: Una simple caminata por zonas altas consume miles de calorías en poco tiempo. Los ciudadanos de Puno, Cusco, zonas de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Apurimac se enfrentan a caminatas extensas y su dieta no está adecuada para compensar el extremo requerimiento alimenticio. La ingesta de proteínas y calorías es bajísima en la sierra. La ingesta de carne, por ejemplo, es limitadísima. Sin embargo se promueve mil veces el reparto de leche como un gran logro. Peor aún, se insiste en modelos como el “papapán” que terminan por ser ridículos en su aporte dietético.

Finally, Rafo León writes in his column for the magazine Somos of the newspaper El Comercio about some interesting aspects of globalization and its harmful effects in the Peruvian altiplano. For example, many people use synthetic clothing instead of wool that is much warmer. Instead of constructing houses of adobe, which is generally the traditional housing material that best maintains warmth, they now are using brick and aluminum. The tarwi and quinua are foods that being used less and less in the children's diet and malnutrition increases.

In the first video, published with the post titled ConVerGentes Group celebrates its second anniversary [es], Catalina Restrepo, member of Hiperbarrio and blogger at Cosas del Alma [es] tells about how the project started and the problems faced by La Loma in Medellín, the neighborhood where they are located. Restrepo was recently awarded with the Talented Woman Award in the field of Social Development in her hometown.

Video I

In the second video, published under the title Gabriel Jaime Venegas: rescuing La Loma’s historic memory [es] features Gabriel, one of the pioneers of the project, who blogs at Esas Voces que Nos Llegan [es], who tells why recovering the neigborhood history is so important to them.

Video II

Jacinto Lajas, one of the members of Periodismo Ciudadano and the person who produced the videos shown above, is a self professed fan of Hiperbarrio project. Lajas describes why the project in Medellín was so appealing to their site and led to the production of the videos:

Since we started with PC (Periodismo Ciudadano), besides having friends there already (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, etc.), our interest has been focused more in Latin America, which in the aspect of citizen journalism in Spanish is the logical area of interest, and where its development is more interesting at every level, because of the sociopolitical contexts from the different countries, among other things. Besides that, personally (and I guess everybody else) I’ve have always been interested about what was happening there (politically, socially…). At least, a lot of people of my generation in Spain were already interested in those themes during our own youth. Come on, we used to hear Quilapayún, Víctor Jara or Violeta Parra along with Deep Purple, Creedence (Clearwater Revival) or AC/DC, to make ourselves musically clear. :D

The first interest in Hiperbarrio came about through an article that dealt with the project as a way of taking young people to certain neighborhoods of Medellín, making the most of libraries, as an alternative to the way of weapons, something similar to computers vs. guns, to put it in simpler terms. And it was nice the touch of citizen journalism, where young people could document their own reality and thus be productive, instead of victims of a situation of deep-rooted violence, which always ends in the same way, crime and death. That was the part of the project that attracted me.

Then once I met them, my conviction about the huge injustices grew stronger. They were nice young people, intelligent, cultured, full of goals and dreams, with a lot of ability and with a lot to offer. Thanks to this path offered by Hiperbarrio, they are making it clear to the world what is happening in Colombia, as in other parts of Latin America and the world in general. It is not a problem of the people, but of those who lead people’s destiny without caring at all about the people. There are paths to fight against that sort of curse without deaths or bloody revolutions. Instead one can fight with their hearts and a free voice, in a peaceful and kind way (which now the Internet allows to spread further).

The complete series consists of five videos, two of them are posted at Periodismo Ciudadano [es], to watch the rest of them, you can do it here. Global Voices would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Hiperbarrio once more, who recently participated in Campus Party Bogotá 2009 with a workshop about videoblogging and who appeared days ago in a piece of news at the Colombian newspaper El Espectador.