Global Voices » Louella Mahabir

Colombia: President and Indigenous Leaders Meet to Discuss Cauca Conflict

Louella Mahabir — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:54:03 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

After unsuccessful meetings [es] between indigenous leaders and government delegates on the ongoing conflict in the Cauca department, the Cauca indigenous people demanded a dialogue [es] with the presence of President Juan Manuel Santos. On August 15, 2012, the President met with indigenous leaders in a meeting [es] in which no solid agreements were made regarding the grievances of the indigenous people.

At the meeting's venue, the reservation of the Nasa people at la Maria, more than 16,000 indigenous people from various regions around the country showed up with the intention of speaking with the President and putting forward an initiative of peace, intending to send away armed groups participating in Colombia's armed conflict in the region.

At the meeting, the President gave signs of peace and asked for forgiveness, as Servindi [es] reports:

Durante la reunión, Juan Manuel Santos pidió perdón por las víctimas indígenas del conflicto entre las fuerzas del orden público y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc).

“Pedirles perdón y al mismo tiempo pedirles que trabajemos juntos para que eso deje de suceder y no suceda nunca más”, expresó Santos al iniciar su intervención.

Sin embargo, reafirmó que no retirará a la fuerza pública de esa zona, como lo piden los indígenas. Las comunidades, por su parte, entregaron al presidente un documento donde exigen el retiro del ejército del cerro Berlín.

During the meeting, Juan Manuel Santos asked for forgiveness for the victims among the indigenous people in the areas of conflict between the armed forces and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

“I am asking for forgiveness and that we work together for this to stop and to never happen again”, expressed Santos at the beginning of his intervention.

However, he reaffirmed that he will not ask the armed forces to stand down from this zone, as the indigenous people request. The communities, for their part, handed the President a document that demands the expulsion of the army from Cerro Berlín.

Besides presenting their proposal [es], the indigenous communities asked that the agreements signed in 1995 [es] be revised, as well as other policies governing indigenous people and dealing with issues like autonomy, human rights, peace, territories, health, ethno-education and communications.

Servind also refers to one [es] of the grievances of the indigenous people:

Entre las demandas de los indígenas se cuentan el retiro de las concesiones para explotación de los recursos mineros y energéticos de sus territorios y no entregar más tierras para la realización de proyectos multinacionales.

Among the demands of the indigenous people is the withdrawal of mining and energy concessions in their territories, and no more handing out lands for developing multinational projects.

Days before the meeting, Jenny Manrique wrote about “The value of dialogue for the indigenous people of Colombia” on the blog Americas Quarterly [es]:

Es lógico. El único interlocutor válido para resolver el conflicto desatado por la presencia de grupos armados y fuerza pública en territorio Indígena de los Nasa-Páez en el norte del Cauca, es el presidente Juan Manuel Santos. Mesas temáticas, delegados ministeriales, despliegue de fuerza pública, son medidas además de controversiales, inútiles. La presencia de ONGs internacionales y los informes de los relatores de derechos humanos sobre la situación de los pueblos Indígenas, respaldan el proceso y lo blindan pero terminan siendo insuficientes porque el estado colombiano no se anima a reconocer lo que la Constitución del 1991 le dio a estas comunidades: Autonomía.

It's logical. The only valid mediator [es] to resolve the conflict that broke out due to the presence of armed groups and the national armed forces in indigenous territory of the Nasa-Páez in northern Cauca, is President Juan Manuel Santos. Dialogue tables, ministerial delegates, the deployment of armed forces, are not only controversial, but useless. The presence of international NGOs and reports from human rights rapporteurs [es] on the situation of the indigenous people, back the process and reinforce it but end up being insufficient because the Colombian state does not bother to recognise what the Constitution of 1991 gives to these communities: Autonomy.

Manrique concludes:

Que la deuda del Estado con estas comunidades es histórica e inmensa se ha dicho hasta el cansancio. Masacres (como la del Nilo), desplazamientos, asesinatos selectivos han sido denunciados ante organismos como la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos que ha condenado al Estado colombiano por su acción u omisión en los hechos. De la reunión de este martes depende que se reconozca el valor del diálogo para los Indígenas y la necesidad de una interlocución seria y definitiva con el Gobierno que medie en el tema de la Autonomía contra el mandato constitucional que determina la presencia de la fuerza pública en todo el territorio nacional.

Cauca puede ser ahora un escenario piloto de un modelo pacifista, o seguir apareciendo en los medios por cuenta de una violencia que a pesar de tener múltiples calificativos de los actores, parece que sólo tiene uno para las víctimas: Indígenas.

That State's debt to these people is historical and immense has been said to weariness. Massacres (like that of El Nilo) [es], displacements, and selective assassinations have been condemned by The Inter-American Court of Human Rights which denounced the Colombian state for its actions or omission of facts. The meeting on Tuesday depends on the recognition of the value of dialogues for the indigenous people and the necessity of a serious and definitive talk with the government to mediate the theme of autonomy against the constitutional mandate that determines the presence of national armed forces in all Colombian territory.

Cauca can now be a pilot scenario for the pacifist model, or continue appearing in the media because of accounts of violence that in spite of having multiple epithets for all involved, seem to only have one for the victims: Indigenous.

On Twitter, Alfredo Niño Rico‏ (@AlfredoNi_rico) [es] asks for results:

@AlfredoNi_rico: Sr. Presidente necesitamos resultados en su reunión del cauca con los indígenas solución de problemas inmediatos

@AlfredoNi_rico [es]: Mr President, we need results in your meeting in the Cauca with the indigenous, solutions to immediate problems.

In a similar manner, Nerea Antia Vinós‏ (@belartxa) [es] asks that the President's request for forgiveness be put into action:

@belartxa: El presidente colombiano Santos pide perdón a los indígenas del Cauca. Espero que sus palabras se acompañen de hechos y derechos.

@belartxa [es]: The Colombian President Santos asks for the forgiveness from the indigenous people of the Cauca. I hope that his words are accompanied by actions and rights.

Apart from highlighting the request for forgiveness from Santos [es], the majority of traditional media have also brought forward the President's affirmation of a plan by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to kill him. Isabel Londono‏ (@isalondono) [es] refers to this declaration by the President:

@isalondono: Santos sale de hablar con l@s indígenas y l@s invalida declarándose amenazado por FARC no será porque salió de la reunión con manos vacías.

@isalondono [es]: Santos comes out to speak to the indigenous and invalidates them by declaring that he is threatened by the FARC. Could he be saying that because he left the meeting empty handed?

Despite not reaching any concrete results, President Santos “qualifies the meeting with the indigenous communities of the Cauca as an important step”, as reported on the official website [es] of the Colombian Presidency.

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

Peru: Conflict in Espinar Creates Rift in Ruling Party

Louella Mahabir — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:32:02 +0000

In the morning of June 4, 2012, the conflict between the Espinar community and the mining company Xstrata Copper took a toll on Peru's ruling party when congresswoman Veronika Mendoza [es] resigned from the Peruvian Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Peruano) and her seat in the Gana Perú parliamentary alliance.

The congresswoman published two letters on her blog, one of them titled “I'm with those who still believe that another country can be made, with solidarity, justice and peace“[es], and mentions, among other things:

Hemos pasado de la promesa de un Ollanta Humala que declara en la plaza Dos de Mayo el día de su elección que “su único jefe es y será el pueblo peruano” y que se compromete a realizar cambios profundos, a un gobierno que continúa el modelo neoliberal. Un modelo primario exportador que no genera desarrollo intercultural y democrático, ni mercados locales articulados, que mantiene la precarización del trabajo y que defiende los intereses de los grupos de poder económicos, entre los que destacan los intereses de las industrias extractivas, las cuales imponen sus proyectos sin licencia social y afectan gravemente ecosistemas valiosos.

We have gone from the promise declared by Ollanta Humala in the Dos de Mayo Plaza on the day of his election that “his only boss are and will be the Peruvian people” and that is committed to big changes, to a government that is continuing the neo liberal model. This model primarily focuses on exports and doesn't encourage intercultural or democratic development, nor diverse local markets. [It is a model[ that maintains precariousness in the job market and defends the interests of powerful economic groups, among them those greatly interested in extractive industries which impose their projects without the approval of the people and heavily affect precious ecosystems.

Congresswoman Mendoza actively participated during the recent events in Espinar, seeking calm and talks [es], and afterwards, the resignation [es] of the Prime Minister Óscar Valdés, for employing the “wrong” strategy in Espinar. However, she was also involved in the controversy when it was discovered that she had alarmed [es] the mayor of Espinar with a report pertaining to another mining project and not the Tintaya one. As a result [es], the Parliament's Ethic Committee proposed opening an investigation on the congresswoman.

With respect to these reports, the congresswoman declared [es] that the issue was not “a problem with reports”, and rejected the affirmations that there was no contamination and that the public's concerns be ignored. Along these lines, Mendoza also shared a video [es] on Facebook [es] “that clarifies the string of lies put forward by some media houses.”

But it doesn't end there, as it was later reported that two other members of congress from Gana Perú, Javier Diez Canseco and Rosa Mavila, also submitted their letters of resignation [es]. The text [es] reveals, alongside motives for resignation, the following:

Los que habían sido derrotados en las elecciones pasaron a cogobernar y a imponer sus criterios autoritarios y de subordinación a los grandes grupos de poder económico, en espacios decisivos, contradiciendo lo prometido al país

Those who were beaten in the elections are now co-ruling and imposing their autocratic criteria of subordination to big groups with economic power, in important spaces, contradicting the promises made to the country.

It appears that this resignation had been considered days before, since in his newspaper column in La República, congressman Diez Canseco mentions:

Van 12 muertos en conflictos sociales en este gobierno. Lamentable, inaceptable. Expresión de falta de atención y prevención, incapacidad de diálogo e incumplimiento de compromisos y esperanzas frustradas, que crean terreno propicio para violentistas de uno y otro lado. […] No es posible ser cómplice ni compartir este manejo que genera gran malestar entre sus votantes y descompone los bloques que lo llevaron a la victoria.

There are 12 dead in social conflict during this government. Lamentable and unacceptable. Expression of a lack of attention and prevention, inability to dialogue or fulfill promises or frustrated hopes, which create a breeding ground for agitators from all sides. […] It isn't possible to be an accomplice or condone this management that encourages great unrest among voters and undoes the blockades that lead them to victory.

The events of Espinar have confirmed the differences that were already brewing within the ruling party, instigated by a presidential move [es] towards more pragmatic tendencies inspired by the Right, and emphasized by the government's position in cases like Conga and now Espinar.

The crisis was accentuated [es] when the block of congress members from Cusco, the region where Espinar is located, were emphatic in the request for the resignation of the Prime minister in reaction to this conflict. Congresswoman Mendoza belongs to this group of congress members. According to reports [es], up to six congress members from the ruling party could be withdrawing. For its part, the government has minimised [es] these resignations.

Meanwhile, Óscar Mollohuanca, mayor of Espinar, after being detained and transferred to Cusco for questioning before the Peruvian National Police, is now facing [es] charges for rioting, kidnapping, damages and coercion. Later Mollohuanca was transferred [es] to Ica for security reasons, since some 500 people were protesting in front of the Palace of Justice in Cusco and various judges and prosecutors had been threatened [es] with respect to this.

On Saturday, June 2, the Magistrate's Court of Ica, by order of the Director of Public Prosecution ordered [es] five months of preventive detention for the mayor of Espinar, who could be condemned to [es] up to 8 years of prison. The mayors of Cusco have classified it as [es] “cruel” and “unusual” punishment of their peer in Espinar, and that it was “evidence of authoritarianism”.

The Judiciary said [es] that the proceedings from Cusco (Espinar) and Cajamarca (Conga), due to crimes related to social convulsion, may be referred to the Court or Higer Chamber of the Judicial Districts of Ica and Lambayeque, respectively, a measure that has also been a source of controversy [es].

Former Minister Juan Sheput reflected [es] on all this in his blog, indicating that the government is suffering from a credibility crisis:

Hemos vuelto a las épocas de dudas y detenciones arbitarias. En horas de la mañana en Ideele Radio se denunciaba la detención de pacíficos dirigentes sociales a los cuáles se les habría sembrado pruebas falsas, cartuchos de balas y dinamita, con el objeto de detenerlos. Si así fuera pues habríamos retrocedido a prácticas fujimontesinistas […] Oscar Valdés debe irse. Los que lo defienden se niegan a ver la realidad de una incompetencia y afán militarista que hoy se convierte en el principal enemigo de la inversión. El gran problema es que como van las cosas el clima de violencia social se puede generalizar por todo el país por culpa exclusivamente del gobierno del presidente Humala.

We've returned to a time of doubts and arbitrary arrests. During the morning hours Ideele Radio condemned the arrests of peaceful social leaders on false evidence, bullet and dynamite cartridges, with the intention of detaining them. If it were so, we would have taken steps backwards into “fujimontesinista” (referring to the former president Alberto Fujimori, who employed authoritarian practices in the ruling of the country, along with his right hand man, Vladimiro Montesinos, in the 1990′s) practices […] Oscar Valdes has to go. Those who defend him refuse to see the reality of his incompetence and the militant haste that turned into the main enemy of investments. The problem is that the way things are going a violent climate can diffuse through the entire country and it would be entirely the Humala administration's fault.

Silvio Rendón of Gran Combo Club perceives [es] some sort of interference from the United States in the harshness of the repression of social conflicts related to mining. He bases his argument on a cable revealed by Wikileaks which requested that United States embassies provide a list of countries and industries considered top priority for national security:

Es decir, hay una huelga de trabajadores en Yanacocha, una protesta que limita la actividad de Xstrata en Ancash, un bloqueo contra la minera San Rafael en Puno, etc., y en la embajada de los Estados Unidos se ponen nerviosos porque interpretan que estas protestas afectan su “seguridad nacional”. La embajadora comienza a presionar al gobierno peruano a que acabe con las protestas. La voluntad de los ciudadanos peruanos no cuenta ni para el gobierno de los Estados Unidos y, lamentablemente, tampoco para el gobierno peruano, representante más de los poderes fácticos que del poder que emana de la ciudadanía.

So, there's a labour strike in Yanacocha, a protest that limited the activities at Xstrata in Ancash, a blockade against mining in San Rafael in Puno, etc. and in the US embassy they get nervous because they think it is a threat to their “national security”. The ambassador starts to pressure the Peruvian government to stop the protests. The will of the Peruvian people doesn't matter to the United states, nor, sadly, to the Peruvian government, a representative of de facto powers rather than of the power which emanates from the citizenry.

Meanwhile President Humala guards his silence on these matters, and tactfully backs Prime Minister Valdés. But there are those who say that the Mayor of Espinar, Óscar Mollohuanca, would be the government's first [es] political prisoner, a fact that could hurt his image and that of the country as well.

Original post published on the personal blog [es] of Juan Arellano.

Thumbnail image of Peruvian Congress from Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons License.

Argentina: Controversy Surrounding Labour Conditions in Production of Yerba Mate

Louella Mahabir — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:31:46 +0000

The Province of Misiones, which features one of the natural wonders of the world, the recently selected Iguazú falls, is a current area of controversy concerning working conditions of the employees in the cultivation of the popular yerba mate in Argentina.

Yerba mate was the centre of controversy in March of 2011 when the Federal Administration of Public Income (AFIP, an entity in charge of implementing policies enforced by the Executive arm of government in taxation, imports and exports, and collection of social security resources) discovered slave labour in a yerba mate field. The website Fortuna Web [es] published the results of an investigation done by Argentina's tax agency:

La Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP) detectó mediante inspección el trabajo de niños en la recolección de la cosecha y la ausencia de sanitarios, agua potable y energía eléctrica en el campo ubicado en Puerto Esperanza, a 260 kilómetros de Posadas.

The Federal Administration of Public Income discovered children working in the collection of harvest during an inspection and the absence of bathrooms, potable water and electric power in a field situated in Puerto Esperanza, 260 kilometres from Posadas.

On the other hand, the website Artículos y Debates de Política [es] (Articles and Political Debates) published an article with respect to the working conditions of the yerba mate workers:

Hacinamiento, insalubridad, trabajo en negro, incumplimiento del jornal diario, trabajo de menores, pago con vales, algunas de las irregularidades que se pudo relevar en un campamento de tareferos en Caraguatay. El Sindicato de Tareferos denuncia la ausencia de los inspectores del Ministerio de Trabajo para controlar las condiciones de la cosecha y la complicidad del poder político de la zona.

Overcrowding, unhealthiness, unreported employment, incompletion of daily working hours, employment of minors, payment vouchers, some irregularities that can be uncovered in a tarefero (*Yerba mate field workers are called tareferos) camp in Caraguatay. The Tarefero Syndicate denounces the absence of inspectors from the Ministry of Labour to regulate the harvesting conditions and the complicity of politicians in the zone.

Yerba mate farmers protest in Misiones – photo by Pablodf (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

In a post from April 2012, Global Voices published citizens reactions to the increase in the price of the popular yerba mate. One of the motives in the authorisation of the rise in this raw material is to improve the marketability of the industries and the working conditions of the employees. Increases are approved on a six-month basis. The Resolution of 119/2012 of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries [es] of Argentina, published by the National Institute of Yerba Mate, [es] says:

entre las funciones del INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE LA YERBA MATE (INYM), la de acordar semestralmente, entre los distintos sectores participantes del mismo, el precio de la materia prima.
Que el Artículo 12 del Decreto Nº 1240 del 12 de julio de 2002 establece, como períodos semestrales, a los comprendidos entre los meses de abril a septiembre y de octubre a marzo de cada año.
Que el precio de la materia prima debe resultar de un acuerdo en el INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE LA YERBA MATE (INYM), basado en el precio promedio de venta al consumidor de los productos elaborados con yerba mate,

Among other duties of the National Institute of Yerba mate (INYM), is to settle every six months, among other participating sectors, the price of the raw material.
Article 12 of the Decree law No. 1240 of 12 July 2002 establishes that after every six month period, as agreed to including between the months of April to September and between October and March each year. The price of raw material will be a result of an agreement in the National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM), based on the average selling price to consumers of products manufactured from yerba mate.

This regulation of increases at six month intervals was put into place since 2002 through the Decree law Nº 1240 of the same year. However, there have been reactions referring to working conditions that seem to persist. Dario Aranda's blog [es] writes about the situation of the worker:

La distancia entre el hogar y el yerbal determina la hora de levantarse, siempre de madrugada, entre las 4 y las 6. Un camión recorre los barrios, sube a los trabajadores al acoplado y comienza la travesía. Pueden ser veinte kilómetros, también 40 o 50. A las 7 están en el yerbal, mojados por el rocío y la helada. Tijera o serrucho en mano, cortan las ramas pequeñas de la planta, acumulan las hojas sobre plásticos abiertos como mantel que esperan en el piso. Luego se unen las puntas del plástico y forman una gran bolsa, el “raído”, cien kilos, 20 pesos. Un tarefero experimentado, y con suerte, puede hacer cuatro raídos al día, 80 pesos de salario bruto, con descuentos se transforma en 60 pesos en mano, por jornadas de nueve a doce horas: equivale a tres kilos de yerba.

The distance between the home and the yerba field determines the hour they wake up, always in the wee hours of the morning, between 4 and 6. A bus passes through neighborhoods, picks up the workers at the muster point and the journey begins. It could be 20 kilometres, or even 40 or 50. At 7 they get to the field, wet with dew and freezing. Scissors or hand saws in hand, they cut the small branches of the plant, collect the leaves on open plastic sheets like table cloths spread on the ground. Later, they pull the ends of the plastic together to form a bag, the “raído”, or yerba bundles, 100 kilos, 20 pesos. An experienced tarefero, and a lucky one at that, can make four raídos a day, 80 pesos in gross salary, which ends up being 60 pesos in hand, for a nine to twelve hour day: that is equivalent to three kilograms of yerba mate.

Alternatively, the Secretariat of the Federation of Agriculture, a private entity that deals in the labour issues affecting small and big producers, declares in Urgente24.com [es]:

imposible mantener en blanco al personal. Esto más allá de que la AFIP diga que se debe mantener en blanco a los tareferos, que son quienes hacen la cosecha de yerba mate.

[it is] impossible to keep the personnel registered as legal employees. Altough the AFIP says that the tareferos, who harvest the yerba mate, ought to be registered as employees.

The Universidad Nacional de Misiones [es] (National University of Misiones), a public and free institution, presented research [es] of the sector in the province of Misiones [es], its point of reference being new recruits in the area of Jardin America [es]. The results revealed the following:

fueron 1131 tareferos registrados, de los cuales el 84 % son varones cuyas edades oscilan entre 18 y 50 años.

De los datos registrados también se desprende que los jóvenes de 11 a 17 años, representan el 10 % de los tareferos (tarea u obra que se debe concluir en tiempo determinado; se hace por empresa o a destajo) de esta localidad, de los cuales el 50 % comenzó a tarefear entre los 5 y los 14 años y aprendió la tarea mayormente con sus padres.

De ese total de 1131, el 60 % alcanzó un nivel educativo -primaria o EGB- y casi el 83 % lee y escribe.

En cuanto al pago más del 80 % manifestó que se le paga en dinero y por familia recolectan un promedio de 1300 kilos por día.

there were 1131 registered tareferos, of which 84% are male and are between the ages of 18 and 50 years of age.

From the registered data, youths between 11 and 17 years of age account for 10% of the tareferos (a tasks that must be finished at a determined time; it is either done for a company or on contract) in this area, of which 50% begin to do this kind of job between the age of 5 and 14 and they learn mainly from their parents.

Of this total of 1131, 60% have reached one level of education- primary or Basic General Education (EGB)- and almost 83% read and write.

In terms of salary, more than 80% manifested that money is paid in cash and each family collects a daily average of 1300 kilos.

The Misiones controversy seems endless with the issue of the price of yerba mate and the conditions of the workers.

Garganta del Diablo – Iguazú Falls- Photo by: Laura Schneider

Peru: Iquitos Faces Aftermath of Record Floods

Louella Mahabir — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:04:07 +0000

The recent floods that ravaged the Amazon regions of Peru as well as the city of Iquitos, and reached and surpassed the highest point [es] recorded in history since 1986 (see illustrative photos of the reported floods taken by a member of the Red Cross), began to subside at the end of April [es] and started visibly draining away in the first days of May.

Rodrigo Rodrich, correspondent residing in Iquitos commented [es] in the middle of this month:

Al día de hoy los ríos llevan un par de semanas en descenso sostenido, pero aun por encima de sus límites de desborde. Son síntomas de esperanza. Sin embargo, hay poblaciones que fueron inundadas durante tres meses y se dice que lo peor es lo que ahora viene, cuando el agua se retire y deje evidente el desastre.

As of today the rivers have been running for a few weeks in a constant decline, but still above the limits of their banks. These are symptoms of hope. However, there are towns that have been flooded for three months and they say that the worst is yet to come as the water subsides and reveals the real damage.

Flooded zone in Belén, Iquitos. As the floods rose, the villagers built paths with wood boards to move around. Photo by Juan Arellano.

The consequences left by this natural phenomenon, beyond the number of the victims, which is estimated to be about 200,000 people [es], should raise concern due to the lack of foresight [es] and disaster management plans [es] on part of the authorities of the regions. Once the waters began to recede, the victims returned to their homes in the flooded zones and the scenery is prime for the next possible flood.

One of the more controversial measures taken to quell the disaster was the suspension of classes for various primary schools in the city of Iquitos to serve as temporary shelters [es] for the victims. This, plus the classes suspended in schools affected by floods, affected the school year, and although classes have resumed [es] progressively in schools, it has been said that there will be no vacation time in the month of July and that classes would be extended until December 28.

Classroom converted into a temporary shelter for victims. Photo by Juan Arellano

Among the things most feared during the period of flooding, and even now, was the quick spread of diseases, starting with dengue fever, for which fumigation has been [es] and is still being done [es]. Later, there was an outbreak of leptospirosis [es], a disease mainly spread through the urine of rodents. Recently, the Contamana zone has various reported cases [es] of pertussis or the whooping cough. As a supporting measure, the central government has transferred funds [es] to the regional government for measures to be taken against dengue, yellow fever, hepatitis and malaria.

Support initiatives for the victims are not lacking either. Some from the private sector, such as from PetroPerú [es], others form the educational sector, like the drive [es] by the teachers and students of the National University of the Peruvian Amazon or UNAP (Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana), whose Flickr account comments [es]:

El jueves y viernes los alumnos, docentes y trabajadores administrativos de la UNAP tuvieron largas faenas de trabajo. El jueves recorrieron calles y avenidas tocando puertas para solicitar alimentos, ropa y medicinas, con gran acogida. El viernes el trabajo tuvo lugar en la plaza Serafín Filomeno y allí se recibieron los donativos, mientras los estudiantes demostraron su talento artístico.

On Thursday and Friday the students and teachers and administrative workers of the UNAP had grand tasks to accomplish. On Thursday they coursed the streets and avenues knocking on doors asking for foodstuff, clothes and medicine, and were largely welcomed. On Friday, the drive took place at Serafin Filomino Square and there they received donations, while the students displayed their artistic talent.

Shelter for victims at the Parque Zonal, Iquitos. Photo by Juan Arellano

But the people from UNAP did not only ask for donations, (watch the video displaying the activities here) they also carried out service projects, seminars on prevention and orientation, and organised brigades [es] for the collection of debris:

Desde tempranas horas, los estudiantes levantaron carpas y se instalaron por grupos para dar atenciones a los damnificados. Las Facultades vinculadas a las ciencias de la salud dieron tratamiento a los dientes, desparasitaron, sensibilizaron, fluorizaron y atendieron en medicina general; también realizaron triaje [...] lo que permitió detectar a varios niños con serios problemas de salud que fueron llevados con prontitud a un hospital por los males que presentaban.

Since early in the morning, the students have constructed tents and worked in groups to give attention to the victims. The Faculties affiliated with the science of health care have been giving dental treatment, treating parasites, sensitising, fluorizing, and administering general care; they also created a triage [...] which permitted the detection of serious illnesses in children who were promptly sent to a hospital for their apparent symptoms.

Flooded houses in the south zone of the Boulevard de Iquitos. Hauma, an aquatic plant, can be seen growing on the water. Photo by Juan Arellano

In Lima, Unicef Perú [es] has organised a charity drive and in this manner aids and contributes to alleviating the needs of the victims, above all the children, by distributing basic hygiene kits, supplements and school supplies. They have until now produced two videos, one [es] with actress Monica Sanchez, and the other [es] with popular singer Gianmarco.

To get a better idea of the level of damage these floods have done, here are some videos filmed at the ending of April, when the water had begun to subside. This is in the market zone entering Plazuela de Belén.

You can see a continuation of this video here. The following video is of a boat ride from Plazuela de Belén to the river Itaya. Normally only the final stretch of the river, already reaching the river, is flooded.

This next video, filmed at the beginning of this month, is in the Nanay zone, to the outskirts of Iquitos. The zone is normally a road with transit of buses and other types of transportation.

With the end of the recession of these waters comes the beginning of a possible drought [es] in the Amazon region. What once again may severely affect not only Iquitos but the entire eco-system. While the flood, as well as causing death in land species, leaves the soil rich in sediment coming from the Andes, the drought brings death and desolation to plant and animal life as well as aquatic creatures.

However in this recent flood, not everything was negative, as biologist José Álvarez narrates [es] in his experience in a community on the river bank of the Napo:

La gente de Yarina Isla nos recibió cálidamente, y en los días que estuvimos ahí no escuchamos ni una queja, ni un reclamo, ni un pedido de ayuda más allá de apoyarlos con sus proyectos educativos y de ecoturismo. [...] Pregunté si no faltaba comida. Me dijeron que no: “Hay pescado, y todavía tenemos algo de plátano, algunos se han salvado. Además, todas las familias han guardado masa de yuca, algunos en panero, otros la han enterrado. Así dura varios meses, hasta que salga la yuca nueva”. [...] Me sorprendió escuchar que por acuerdo de asamblea se había respetado a los animales refugiados en las restingas [*] de la comunidad. “Nuestros niños, hasta los más pequeñitos, conocen a los animales y los respetan, nosotros queremos que también nuestros nietos los conozcan. Anda vete a ver a otras comunidades, todititos los han terminado en las restingas, luego no van a tener animales ni para que conozcan.”

The people of Yarina Island received us with warmth, and the days that we were there, there was never a word of complaint or reproach, nor a plea for help other than asking for support with the educational and ecotourism endeavours. [...] I asked if they didn't need food. They said no: “There is fish, and we still have plantains, some have been salvaged. Also, every family has kept yuca flour. That way, it will last two months, until there is new yuca.” [...] I was surprised to hear that by an agreement of a town meeting they have respected the surviving animals in the restinga [high altitude zones that don't normally flood in the rainy season] in the community. “Our children, even the youngest ones, know the animals and respect them, we want our grandchildren to know them too. Go and see other communities, all of the animals in the restringa have been killed, and they won't even have animals to know anymore.

Before elaborating development and disaster preparedness plans that are completely out of touch with reality, there is a need to appeal to the local people's ancient and traditional knowledge of their environment.

The original versión of this post [es] was published on the personal blog of Juan Arellano.

Puerto Rico: Kike Estrada's Cartoons Live on the Internet

Louella Mahabir — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:50:06 +0000

Enrique “Kike” Estrada is a cartoonist of an endangered species in Puerto Rico. He is the kind of cartoonist who makes observations and humorous commentaries, caustic at times, about events and news in Puerto Rico. His work has been exhibited in Greece, Argentina, Serbia, Germany, the United States, and Puerto Rico. He has published at least two books of cartoons, but the best space to appreciate his work is through his web page www.planetakike.com [es].

He received me very warmly to talk about his caricatures and the Internet at his home, where he also has a graphic design studio and his own garden, from which he obtains the best possible quality of produce for his kitchen.

Kike started talking a little about how he chooses the themes that he develops for his drawings:

Kike Estrada

Kike Estrada (KE): Antes yo dibujaba todos los días reaccionando a las cosas que pasaban en Puerto Rico. […] Pues, ya yo no dibujo ese tipo de cosa. Hay un momento en donde pensé que en lugar de estar haciéndolo bien lo estaba haciendo mal porque era parte del ruido en vez de parte de las soluciones. Y entonces eso como que me alejó un poco del trabajo. Cuando lo he retomado ahora, pues, dibujo más de cosas que son muy pertinentes en Puerto Rico, pero trato de que sean pertinentes para no puertorriqueños; o sea, tratando de trabajar los asuntos en vez de las situaciones. […] Yo sé que habría una demanda por dibujar de lo específico del día, pero hay tanto ruido con respecto a esas cosas, que añadir ruido no es saludable.

(KE): Before I drew every day, reacting to the things that were happening in Puerto Rico. [...] I don't draw like that anymore. There was a point when I thought that instead of doing good I was doing something bad because it was part of the noise instead of part of the solutions. And so, I stepped back a little from work. When I started again recently, I draw things that are more pertinent to Puerto Rico, but I try to make it not only relevant for Puerto Ricans; in other words, I try to work on issues instead of situations. [..] I know that there would be a demand for drawing about issues happening on a specific day, but there is so much noise regarding these issues, that adding to the noise isn't healthy.

But Kike didn't always draw cartoons. His creative capacity was mostly occupied with graphic design, and for a time he didn't work on caricatures at all:

"Another water increase?"

KE: ¿Tú sabes cuándo yo volví a dibujar caricaturas? Yo volví a dibujar caricaturas el día que le metieron los dos aviones a las Torres Gemelas. […] Yo puse el televisor. Cuando vi que un segundo avión le estaba dando a una torre, yo dije, “Se jodió el mundo. El mundo cambió hoy”. Y eso me causó una ansiedad tan cabrona, mano, que me puse a dibujar. […] Me volví loco dibujando. Y de ahí no he vuelto a parar.

KE: Do you know when I started drawing cartoons again? I returned drawing cartoons the day that the two planes crashed into the Twin Towers. [...] I put on the television. When I saw the second plane crashing into a tower, I said, “The world is fucked. The world changed today.” And this gave me such a damn anxiety, man, that I started to draw. [...] I went crazy drawing. And since then I never stopped.

For a cartoonist with his sense of humor, ironical and satirical, and his ability to broach and highlight the absurd side of the issues that affect Puerto Ricans, the Internet happens to be the perfect place to exhibit his work. In this space, as the sole editor, he found freedom to express his point of view, which otherwise would be almost impossible to express:

"Proportion…"

KE: Como yo soy diseñador gráfico, hubo un momento en donde empezamos a aprender Internet porque el mundo había cambiado, y los clientes que antes yo tenía que hacían anuncios de prensa o cosas, pues todos ahora querían tener presencia en el Internet. Así que nosotros fuimos aprendiendo de eso. Y yo dije, “Bueno, pues yo voy a hacer una página de mi trabajo”. Y ha sido bien chévere porque no es censurable. O sea, yo hago lo que yo quiero hacer ahí, y digo lo que yo quiero decir ahí.

KE: Since I am a graphic designer, there was a time when we started learning about the Internet because the world was changing, and the clients that I had before that did news advertisements and things like that, all wanted a presence on the Internet. So we started to learn. And I said, “Okay, so I'm going to create a webpage for my work.” And it has been great because nobody can censor it. I mean, I can do what I want there, and say what I want.

However, Kike doesn't see himself as someone who has mastered the art of drawing cartoons. According to him, his contribution lies not so much in the quality of his drawings, but in the message he tries to send:

"How many more?"

KE: Yo soy miembro de la Asociación de Caricaturistas [de Puerto Rico]. Ahí hay unos chamacos jóvenes que son unos virtuosos, mano […] En el caso mío, yo no soy un virtuoso. Yo soy en todo caso un dibujante como sui generis. Yo no dibujo bien. Yo dibujo mal. Lo que pasa es que ya desarrollé una forma de dibujar mal que me gusta cómo se ve.

KE: I am a member of the Association of Cartoonists [of Puerto Rico]. There are some young kids there who are geniuses, man. [_] In my case, I'm no genius. I'm a sui generis sort of artist. I don't draw well. I draw badly. It's just that I developed a bad drawing style that I like how it looks.

On the cartoonists trade in journalism and how it has gradually disappeared in many newspapers in Puerto Rico, he thinks:

KE: Yo creo que los periódicos han ido prescindiendo de los servicios de los caricaturistas porque los caricaturistas pueden herirte más que una foto.

KE: I think that newspapers have done without the services of cartoonists because cartoons can hurt more than a photograph.

Kike sees the Internet as as an important resource for cartoonists. For him, the Internet is among the greatest inventions ever created. He marvels at the possibilities it can offer. Thanks to the Internet, cartoons can survive despite its disappearance from traditional spaces in the newspapers. Furthermore, the Internet eliminates the filter that news goes through before it hits the presses. But the benefits of the Internet are not only for cartoonists:

"My electoral proposal"

KE: El Internet ha sido bien bueno porque le ha dado voz al que no tenía voz. ¿Cómo carajo yo hubiera podido dar a conocer mis dibujos si no existiera el Internet? Tendría un paquete de dibujos ahí que nadie hubiera visto porque no había salida; el Internet te da la salida. Y por eso es que hay que enseñarle a todo el mundo el Internet. Hay que enseñarlos a que programen páginas y a que diseñen sus propias cosas y que después digan los disparates que les dé la gana de decir, o que hagan las genialidades que les dé la gana de hacer, pero que la gente tenga la opción de agarrarse del Internet como el medio más accesible que tenemos.

KE: The Internet has been good because it has given a voice to many people. How the hell could I have made my cartoons known if the Internet did not exist? I had a portfolio of drawings that no one could ever have seen because there was no way to release it; the Internet gives you a way. And for this reason, everyone should be able to learn about the Internet. People have to be taught how to program and design, and say all the silly things they feel like saying, or all the cool ideas that they feel like creating. But what is important is that people should be able to to hold onto the Internet as the most accessible medium that we all have.

All images have been published with permission.

Venezuela: Rumours About President Chávez's Health Continue

Louella Mahabir — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:47:24 +0000

In Venezuela the rumours are far more numerous than reliable information, especially those surrounding the president. Since his cancer diagnosis made some months ago, opinions and forecasts have not stopped. Numerous notes and information that allegedly come from reliable sources but not identified [es] insist that the illness is serious, meanwhile official spokespersons assure that Hugo Chávez has sufficiently recuperated to continue his long presidential career.

Once again, there are apparent forks in the road that leads to the future. However, a mood of uncertainty remains in political discussions with presidential elections coming in October of this year, and in response to the results of the preliminary round [es] of the election of the opposition.

President Hugo Chávez from Angostura, in Bolívar. Photo from Flickr user chavezcandanga, 15th February, 2012 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

For those who favour the new presidential term with Chavez at the helm, new campaign strategies that permit the effective recuperation of the president are necessary, as Carola expresses in her post “Chávez somos todos” (We are all Chávez) [es]:

Nos enfrentamos a una campaña electoral justo ahora cuando mi Presi necesita, por primera vez en tantos años, descanso y tranquilidad [No necesitamos] una campaña reposando en un solo hombre, sobre todo cuando ese hombre necesita que la campaña repose en otros hombros, digamos por ejemplo, en los míos, los tuyos, los hombros de todos los chavistas, millones de nosotros haciendo campaña en nuestras calles, oficinas, mercados, panaderías, plazas, universidades…

We face a new presidential campaign, just when my president needs, for the first time in so many years, rest and tranquillity [We don't need] a campaign resting solely on one man, when above all this man needs the campaign to rest on the shoulders of others, let's say, for example, on mine and yours, and the shoulders of all us chavistas [Chávez supporters], millions of us campaigning on the streets, in offices, in the markets, the bakeries, town squares and universities…

However, others are less optimistic. As Naky states, in “Con él muere todo,”(Everything dies with him) [es] a post in which she recounts part of a conversation with a newspaper delivery man who actively supports the government.

No debieras preocuparte mucho [...] esto muere cuando él muera. Todo va a morir con él. No hay hombre nuevo, no hay un cambio [...] Sólo él. Y con él se muere todo.

You shouldn't worry too much [...] this dies when he dies. Everything is going to die with him. There will be no new man, there is no change [...] Only him. And with him, everything ends.

In the meantime, Antonio Aponte, in Un grano de Maíz (A grain of corn) [es] emphasizes the importance of continuing the fight, even if it is extreme:

Súbitamente caímos en cuenta de que Chávez es humano y, por lo tanto, es mortal. La política juega con esa posibilidad, es un factor en la contienda, la derecha lo manipula, lo magnifica, lo trata con crueldad. Los Revolucionarios lo lamentamos, nos preocupamos, convertimos la adversidad en fortaleza.

La respuesta es sólo una: el imperio y sus lacayos locales crean las condiciones para un zarpazo.

Si se pasan de la raya un tantico así, debemos cerrar los medios de difusión que llamen a desconocer el orden constitucional y nacionalizar los bienes de los golpistas. La Revolución está en el deber de defenderse, de defender al Comandante, al Socialismo y las conquistas del pueblo.

Suddenly it dawns on us that Chavez is human and, therefore, is mortal. Politics plays with this possibility, a contending factor, the right manipulates it, magnifies it, and treats it with cruelty. The revolutionaries lament, we worry, we convert adversity into strength.

The only answer: the imperialists and its local footmen create the conditions for its own thrashing.

If the line is crossed to even a little bit, we ought to close off the mediums of diffusion that call for disregarding constitutional order and nationalising the resources of the golpistas [people in favour of a coup]. The revolution must defend itself, it must defend the Commandant, Socialism, and the conquests of the people.

Many discussions have centred upon the obscurity of official information with respect to the President's health. People discuss whether he only has a few months left, whether he can continue with the electoral campaign, whether he is in a position to rule, or whether he is in a state of denial. Wikileaks has also published emails in which the diagnoses are less optimistic, and these have been spread over the web after the announcement of a new surgery in Cuba.

The author of The Devil's Excrement describes it in these words:

Chavismo can do little to change the feeling that something is not right.

And finally, a critical vision from the outside, on Twitter, from @byciclemark:

Chavez is more greedy than I realized. A responsible leader would not run for re-election while combatting aggressive cancer.

Ecuador: Citizens React to Verdict Against Newspaper El Universo

Louella Mahabir — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:22:13 +0000

On Thursday, February 16, the highest Ecuadorian court upheld a verdict in favour of President Rafael Correa in a libel case against newspaper El Universo, one of the major dailies in this South American country.

It's been less than a year since President Correa sued the newspaper, it's directors and the editor for slander against him for an opinion column [es] written by Emilio Palacio. The column refers to the alleged directive of the president to fire shots at civilians during a revolt on the September 30, 2011. Palacio [es], author of the column and former editor, is now seeking asylum in the United States; while journalist and former director Carlos Pérez is currently exiled in the Embassy of Panama in Quito [es] after the news broke and the sentence against the newspaper was confirmed.

Correa's lawsuit is the first action taken by the highest court of justice in Ecuador, the new National Court of Justice, which was initiated just three weeks ago. The sentence against El Universo demands $40 million U.S. dollars in damages and 3 years in prison for each offender. Ruptura [es], a political news source in Ecuador, compares the economic value of the sentence:

cuarenta millones equivalen a 40 veces el caso más importante de desaparición y crimen de Estado, como es el caso Restrepo; o son el equivalente de 600 años de sueldo presidencial.

40 million equates to 40 times the cost of the most important cases of disappearances or crimes against the state, as in the Restrepo case; or it's the equivalent to 600 years of a presidential salary.

President Rafael Correa and Carlos Pérez, ex-director of El Universo –Photo reproduced under authorisation of the newspaper El Comercio, Quito – Ecuador

Lawyer and blogger Silvana Tapia, who writes in the blog Lunas Azules [es] (Blue Moons), analysed the legal proceedings from which the sentence was arrived. Silvana believes that, “the law must correct concrete actions, not repercussions much less the characters of persons”, and outlines:

Del universo de conflictos que pueden aparecer en la vida de una persona, una mínima parte debería resolverse mediante la aplicación de la ley penal: conductas que vulneran bienes jurídicos esenciales como la vida y la integridad física y sexual. Por supuesto que el buen nombre y el honor son atributos de la personalidad, pero es el derecho civil, que se ocupa de los perjuicios que pueden causarse unos particulares a otros, el que está llamado a restablecer el equilibrio cuando se presentan polémicas como la generada por un artículo de opinión que utilizó con descuido e incuria, los adjetivos y los epítetos.

In the universe of conflicts that can occur in the life of a person, a minimal part should be resolved with the application of the legal system: conducts that threaten essential judicial privileges like life, personal and sexual integrity. Of course, a good reputation and honour are personal attributes, but this pertains to civil law, which handles prejudices directed at others, and is called upon to re-establish equilibrium when controversies arise due to opinion articles in which certain adjectives and epithets are used indiscriminately and in negligence.

Despite efforts by organisations like the Human Rights Foundation and Human Rights Watch to eliminate the penalty for defamation in Ecuador [es], the National Court of Justice declared it would follow through with its decision. However, the Ecuadorian population remains unsure on whether this is a good judgement or a bad one, brought forward by the criticism and haste [es] with which the final decision was taken.

Manuel Ignacio López in the blog Today and now [es] believes, just as Fernando Balda [es], that Correa's government has a team of followers lined up in an organised system on social networks which allows results like the one from last Thursday in the National Court of Justice. But López points a finger at those who defend Correa's actions as agents of the government:

…Unos repiten su discurso de los sábados. Otros escriben cartas a los diarios y organizaciones diciendo que aquí no pasa nada. Otros lo acompañan a las audiencias, avalando el abuso con su presencia. Otros, que incluso fueron periodistas o editorialistas, prefieren ser cómplices con su silencio. No quieren perder sus privilegios. A ellos se suman periodistas de medios del Gobierno que defienden estos abusos que antes hubiesen rechazado a toda voz. Cambian su defensa de la libertad de expresión por la defensa de sus puestos.

Some repeat Saturdays’ drivel. Others write letters to newspapers and organisations saying that nothing is going on here. Others, accompanied by audiences, swallow the abuse with their presence. Others, including journalists or editors, prefer to be accomplices with their silence. They don't want to lose their privileges. They are all a bunch of agents of the government who defend this abuse that they themselves rejected with all their might in the past. They would trade their freedom of expression to keep their posts.

While the Ecuadorian Association of Editors and Journalists (Aedep), the National Journalists Union (UNP), and Fundamedios (Andes Foundation for the Observation and Study of Media Arts) question the sentence [es] some Ecuadorean Twitter users [es], like Economics and Finance student Sebastián Lucero (@gamuzeins) [es], disagree:

Ser periodista no da carta libre para injuriar y lanzar epítetos sin fundamentos. La falta de ética y profesionalismo se paga.

Being a journalist doesn't give anyone the right to insult and throw names without due cause. Serves them right for their lack of professionalism.

On the other hand, lawyer and Twitter user Pablo Garzón (@pgarzon) published a series of tweets on the day of the sentence:

@pgarzon [es]: En tu casa, con tus amigos, déjales saber que lo de El Universo no fue un juicio justo, se violaron normas y procedimientos elementales.

In your house with your friends, let it be known that the El Universo judgment was unfair, norms and basic rules were violated.

@pgarzon [es]: Si no leías El Universo, si te cae mal Emilio Palacio, no importa. Ahora podrán cometer el mismo atropello a cualquier diario, entiéndelo!

If you didn't read El Universo, if you don't like Emilio Palacio, it doesn't matter. Now, it can happen to any newspaper. Get that into your head!

Other Twitter users used #ElUniverso [es] and #LibertadDeExprexión [es] (“Freedom of speech”) when referring to the sentence. Byron Mayorga (@bmayorga) [es], editor general of the tech blog Bitscloud [es], wrote:

El tema #ElUniverso debió haberse resuelto bajo otras instancias: mediación, arbitraje.

The El Universo matter ought to have been dealt with in a different manner: mediation, arbitration.

To which Ivan Danilo (@monoarre) [es] responded:

@bmayorga Mediación cuando ambas partes quieren negociar, aqui no hubo tal.

Mediation is when both parties want to negotiate, here, there was no such thing.

At the root of the release of the news of this sentence, the comments in an article [es] in newspaper El Comercio have hinted at a national march being organised for the March 8 in rejection of the court's ruling. The management and staff of El Universo organised their own protest in Quito and Guayaquil [es]. On Twitter, journalists Roberto Villavicencio (@robvillavicencio) and Gabriela Fajardo (@GabyFajardo) (1, 2, 3) shared photos of the two hour protest in Quito during the night of February 16.

But not all Ecuadorians support these protests. From Guayaquil, Josue Castillo (@Azulito0) [es] writes:

Se los ve bonitos a los payasos que trabajan en el#Universo en lugar de trabajar están parados como todas las cosas.

The clowns that work at El Universo look good instead of working they're just standing, just like everything else.

From Quito, Victor Constante (@viconst) [es] says that the protests show that there is freedom of expression in the country:

Estos plantones confirman que en Ecuador sí hay libertad de expresión. Celebro la condena a los difamadores de EL Universo!

These protests confirm that in Ecuador there is freedom of expression. I celebrate the condemnation of defamation at El Universo.

This conversation around freedom of expression in this Andean country will continue to be a heated topic of discussion in the upcoming days. However, Nila Velásquez, the new director of El Universo, has said that there will be no significant changes [es] at the newspaper.

Parts of this post are based on a post published of February 17 on Silvia Viñas’ personal blog.

Argentina: President Cristina Fernández’ Controversial Cancer Diagnosis

Louella Mahabir — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:28:24 +0000

On December 27, 2011, the Casa Rosada revealed that Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was suffering from a papillary thyroid carcinoma in the right lobe of her thyroid gland. The cancerous growth had been detected during a routine checkup on December 22.

During the following days, the most important newspapers reported [es] on this subject (many of whom made it a headline) and explained [es] that the operation would take place on January 4, 2012; a day after, vice president Amado Boudou would act as President for the following 20 days.

Headline of Argentine newspaper La Nación on December 28, 2011,"The President will have an operation for thyroid cancer."

Many users reacted to the news on social networks by showing their affection for the President and wishing for her recovery using the hashtag #FuerzaCristina [es] (Be Strong Christina), which quickly turned into a trending topic on Twitter. Also, hours after the operation, a group of active Kirchner supporters gathered in front of the Austral Hospital, where the operation was scheduled to take place, as reported by the daily La Nación [es].

Journalist Florencia Etcheves (@fetcheves) tweeted [es] in response to this movement:

Me parece un delirio la vigilia, pero deseo q esto que le pasa a la Presidenta sea sólo un mal momento y que pase rápido #FuerzaCristina

This vigil seems mental to me, but I wish that this is but a bad moment for the president and that it will blow over soon

User Nicolás Aboaf (@nicodebrandsen) said [es]:

Sea cual sea tu identidad política, es nuestra Presidenta… #FuerzaCristina.

Whatever her political identity, she's still our President

On the other hand, quite a number of political officials including those of the opposition expressed their support for the President via Twitter. National Deputy Fernando Iglesias (@feriglesias), from the Coalición Cívica (Civic Coalition), said [es]:

Le deseo a la Señora Presidenta una pronta recuperación. Al país, también.

I wish our Madame President a speedy recovery. The country too

Presidential candidate, Hermes Binner (@HermesBinner), said [es] on his Twitter account:

Pronta recuperación de la Sra. Presidenta es nuestro deseo.

A quick recovery is what we wish for you, Madame President

On January 4, as planned, the surgical intervention of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner took place in the Austral Hospital. During the following days, post-operation procedures were published on the President's official Twitter account (1, 2, 3, 4) [es]. These medical reports were also read in front of groups of journalists and militants by the presidential spokesperson, Alfredo Scoccimarro, announcing the success of the operation. The next day, Ámbito Financiero published [es] in their online version:

Cristina de Kirchner fue operada ayer en una clínica de Pilar de un carcinoma en la tiroides, en una intervención que los médicos responsables calificaron de exitosa. La Presidente ingresó al hospital a primera hora de la mañana y fue internada para los preparativos de la operación, que comenzó a las 8 y se prolongó durante tres horas y media. [...] En ese piso hubo sólo médicos, asistentes y algunos familiares (hijos, cuñada). En un segundo círculo se movieron el secretario presidencial, Oscar Parrilli, y el vocero Alfredo Scoccimarro, quien cerca del mediodía dio un informe de los médicos en el que se detallaba que se le había extirpado la glándula tiroides, que la mandataria se había recuperado de la anestesia y que la intervención podía considerarse un éxito.

Cristina de Kirchner was operated in a Pilar clinic specialised in carcinomas of the thyroid, in an intervention that the doctors declared a success. The president was admitted in the first hours of the morning and was stabilised in preparation for the operation, which commenced at 8 and lasted 3 and a half hours. [...] On that floor there were solely doctors, assistants and some relatives (her children and her sister in law). In a second circle there were presidential secretary Oscar Parrilli and the spokesperson Alfredo Scoccimarro, who at about midday gave a report from the doctors detailing the removal of the thyroid gland, the recuperation of the Head of state from the anaesthesia and that the surgery was deemed a success.

Senator Anibal Fernández (@fernandezanibal), among other political figures, tweeted (1, 2) [es]:

Gracias a Dios, concluyó sin complicación alguna la intervención quirúrgica que se realizó en el Hospital Austral a @CFKArgentina

Thank God, @CFKArgentina's surgery concluded with no complications at the Austral Hospital

La Presidenta ya está despierta y la atienden en el área de atención general del Hospital Austral.

The President woke up and is being attended to under observation at Austral Hospital

Finally, on January 7, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner thanked (1, 2) [es] the people for their well wishes:

Ya desde Olivos, agradecemos a todas las personas, ciudadanos, militantes y personalidades, por las muestras de afecto y preocupación.

Right now from Olivos, we would like to thank everyone, citizens, supporters and personalities, for their well wishes and concern

Agradecemos a Dios y a todo el pueblo argentino por las bendiciones recibidas…

We thank God and all the people of Argentina for the blessings received…

Controversy

However, the same day, Argentine daily Perfil reported [es] that the last part of the submitted medical report of the procedure unexpectedly changed the diagnosis of the President: it no longer mentioned a papillary carcinoma, but rather a follicular adenomas, a benign tumor.

Se esperaba un alta médico, pero no un cambio en el diagnóstico. [...] En su lugar, el informe de los médicos del Hospital Austral de Pilar leído por el vocero presidencial, Alfredo Scoccimarro, hablaba de “adenomas foliculares”.

“El adenoma puede estar en cualquier órgano, es un tumor benigno. Uno de los más comunes son los que se encuentran en una mama (en el caso de la mujer) o en la próstata (en el hombre)”.

A medical record was expected, but not a change in the diagnosis. [...] Instead, the medical report from the doctors at the Pilar Austral Hospital, read by the presidential spokesperson, Alfredo Scoccimarro, spoke of “follicular adenomas”.

“An adenoma can appear in any organ, and is a benign tumour. One of the most common are the ones that appear in the mammary glands (in the case of women) and the prostate (in the case of men)

La Nación published [es] a medical testimony from an anonymous source about the change of the diagnosis:

“Fue un falso positivo”, resumió a LA NACION una fuente muy cercana al equipo médico de Cristina Kirchner. [...] ”Esto sucede en un porcentaje mínimo de pacientes y, en este caso, le sucedió a la Presidenta, pero fueron cuatro y no sólo uno los especialistas que coincidieron en que la punción era compatible con un carcinoma papilar”, sostuvo la fuente.

It was a “false positive”, as a LA NACION source very close to Cristina Fernandez’ medical team summed it up. [...] “This happens in the minimum percentage of patients, and in this case, it happened to the President, but there were four, not just one specialist who agreed that the symptoms were conclusive to a papillary carcinoma”, the source maintained

Jorge Carrascosa, the director of the Maipú Diagnostic Centre explained [es] that this was the first case of a “false positive” in the entire history of the establishment, since 1983. Similarly, because of this turn in the President's diagnosis, netizens reacted with all kinds of comments. Google+ user Ana Inés Hermida, commented [es]:

[...] inventar un cáncer, nada menos. [...] Mientras tanto, el hospital cancelaba turnos de gente para quimio en serio.

Inventing a cancer, no less. [...] Due to all this, the hospital cancelled people's appointments who seriously needed chemo.

On the same note, in La Nación user Charlot stated [es] her opinion by saying:

Con o sin cáncer todo esto fue un circo. Y una falta de respeto total para con las personas internadas en el Hospital Austral.

Cancer or not, this was a total fiasco. And a lack of total respect for patients at the Austral Hospital.

In view of the controversy, the Austral Hospital expressed its stance about the faulty diagnosis, explaining [es] that the results of the exam on December 22 were not sufficiently detailed, and that the original report was yet to be changed.

Upon final inspection, Twitter user Jorge Asís (@CayetanoAsis) tweeted [es]:

Salud, comunicadores oncólogos. Que Cristina no tiene cáncer no puede convertirse en una noticia más impactante que el anuncio de tenerlo.

Cheers, oncologist-journalists. That Cristina doesn't have cancer can't be more shocking news than the announcement that she had [cancer].

Colombia: Palestinian Leader Mahmud Abbas Visits President Santos

Louella Mahabir — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 12:48:02 +0000

Since the month of September, the Palestinian state has stepped up its attempts to achieve one of its most fondest wishes: to be recognised by the United Nations as a member state. The president of the Palestinian territories, Mahmud Abbas, expressed this great desire at the last UN General Assembly, and although the great majority of member states recognise Palestine as a state, countries like Israel and the United States continue to oppose their inclusion– especially when the latter has the power of veto in the Security Council.

In Latin America, the countries that don't recognise Palestine are few –including Colombia. As a result, President Abbas visited Juan Manuel Santos in Bogota to discuss relations between Palestine and Israel, which also includes The West Bank, The Gaza Strip and Eastern Jerusalem territories.

President Santos showed his continued support for the creation of a Palestinian State under the condition that these countries guarantee peace through negotiations. Abbas thanked Colombia for its interest and willingness to initiate new talks on the matter, so much that President Santos reported the results of this meeting to the Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Mahmud Abbas visited various Latin American countries, Colombia included, in search of support to consolidate Palestine's desire for recognition before the UN. Image by flickr user cvrcak1. (CC-BY NC 2.0)

The blog La Polémica [es] reaffirmed the Colombian government's opinion on the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis:

Tuvimos razón en el año 1947: se creó el Estado de Israel y el conflicto lleva 60 años. Lo que no queremos y no nos parece, y tal vez por ser un país que ha vivido un conflicto interno nos llega más al fondo, es que sin un acuerdo de paz, no se debe crear un nuevo Estado.

We were right in 1947: the state of Israel was created and the conflict has lasted 60 years. What we don't want and don't see as appropriate, and perhaps this is so important to us because we are a country that has lived through internal conflict, is that without a peace treaty, a new state cannot be created.

La Silla Vacía [es] adds that Abbas’ visit to Colombia was a waste of time, according to an article from a well-known news organization, because of the close relations between President Santos and Israel.

Así lo reconoció en un artículo la cadena Al-Jazeera títulado ‘Mahmud Abbas pierde su tiempo en Colombia’ que reveló los negocios de armas entre Israel y Colombia. El artículo -escrito por Sebastián Castañeda, columnista sobre Colombia en esta cadena- cuenta cómo, desde 2006, cuando Juan Manuel Santos fue nombrado Ministro de Defensa, la relación Israel-Colombia se fortaleció.

That's the way they see it according to an article from Al-Jazeera titled ‘Mahmud Abbas is wasting time in Colombia’ that reveals arms-dealing operations between Israel and Colombia. The article- written by Sebastián Castañeda, who reports on Colombia for this news outlet- reports that since 2006, when Juan Manuel Santos was named Minister of Defence, the relationship between Israel-Colombia strengthened.

The blog Nzazaoth [es] points out that convincing Colombia, who is an non-permanent member of the UN's Security Council at the moment, to vote in favour of Palestine is an arduous task :

La tarea en Colombia del presidente de la Autoridad Nacional Palestina (ANP), Mahmud Abbas, no parece fácil. Llegó ayer a Bogotá, en una visita privada, con el propósito de convencer al Gobierno colombiano, como miembro no permanente del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas (ONU), de respaldar el reconocimiento del Estado palestino.

The Palestinian National Authority's president, Mahmud Abbas, has no easy task. He arrived in Bogota yesterday, on a private visit, to try to convince the Colombian government, as a non-permanent member of the security council of the United Nations, to back the recognition of the state of Palestine.

On Twitter, RCN Radio (@rcnlaradio) reported on the reaction of Israeli nationals due to Abbas’ visit:

Israelíes protestan en Plaza de Bolívar por presencia de Mahmud Abbas en Colombia http://turl.co/i/peltz

Israelíes protest in Plaza de Bolívar because of Mahmud Abbas’ presence in Colombia http://turl.co/i/peltz [es]

Santiago Pelaez (@SantiagoPelaezH) combines all the sentiments of the aforementioned bloggers:

#SebastianCastañeda: “#MahmoudAbbas está perdiendo su tiempo en Colombia” http://ow.ly/6U5LF#Internacional #Politica #Diplomacia

#SebastianCastañeda: “#MahmoudAbbas is wasting his time in Colombia” http://ow.ly/6U5LF#Internacional #Politica #Diplomacia

Pilipe Anakaleki (@The_Whitedemon) uses humour to show that the only thing that Abbas could get out of a visit to Colombia was a visit to the historical centre of Bogotá:

Colombia ofreció mediación en conflicto entre palestinos e israelíes http://bit.ly/pMDYbG // #Hecho Abbas vino de paseo a conocer el centro.

Colombia offered mediation in the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis http://bit.ly/pMDYbG // #Hecho Abbas went for a walk to see the centre.

On the other hand, a tweet from the Communist Party (@notipaco) defends Abbas’ objective on Colombian soil:

Abbas no viene a tratar de cambiar la posición de Colombia en la discusión, sino a buscar salidas para el conflicto con Israel

Abbas isn't trying to change Colombia's stance, but looking for solutions to the conflict with Israel

And Andrea Bernal (@abernalNTN24) believes that despite Abbas’ affirmation that despite Colombia's position relations with the country will not change, he isn't leaving Bogota satisfied:

No creo que Mahmud Abbas, quede muy contento con la posición de Colombia. Santos insiste en sentarse a negociar.

I don't believe that Mahmud Abbas, is very happy with Colombia's position. Santos insists on sitting down to negotiate.

Colombia: Mining Debate Continues as New Minister is Appointed

Louella Mahabir — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:13:44 +0000

Among the many riches of Colombia are gold, silver, emeralds, coal and nickel deposits; however, safety concerns have led many to question the management of the country's mining industry. Not only because of the tragedies [es] that have occurred in the mines themselves, but also because of environmental [es] concerns, possible problems of sustainability [es] and the lack of economic, political and social benefits [es].

President Juan Manuel Santos nominated Mauricio Cárdenas Santa María Minister of Mining and Energy, aiming to initiate [es] a significant restructuring [es] of the Ministry. However, reactions on social networks, blogs and YouTube continue to flood the Internet.

Most of Colombia's gold is produced from alluvial operations, by local artisanal miners. Image by Alzbeta Jungrova, copyright Demotix (26/11/09).

Reactions to new minister

La Silla Vacía [es] reports on the new minister:

Fue director de Planeación Nacional durante el gobierno de Andrés Pastrana y Ministro de Transporte, donde se vio envuelto en el escándalo de Dragacol por una conciliación laboral realizada de manera irregular.

He was the director of National Planning during Andrés Pastrana's administration and the Minister of Transportation, where he became wrapped up in the Dragacol scandal for a labour conciliation that was badly executed.

Under Mauricio Cárdenas, in 1998 the Ministry of Transportation signed a fraudulent contract for 26,000 million pesos (US$ 12.5 million) to the Society of Mining and Construction of Colombia and the Caribbean S.A (Dragacol) [es], for a series of mine-sweeping operations. The group MUMA (@Mumismo) is now questioning the new Minister about this case:

PAÍS SIN MEMORIA… Miren quién es el nuevo Ministro de Minas y Energía: “Se cae Dragacol” http://bit.ly/pi9EaR

THIS COUNTRY HAS NO MEMORY… Look who's the new Minister of Mining and Energy: “Dragacol collapses” http://bit.ly/pi9EaR [es]

Effects of mining

Looking at mining from another angle, @TuiterosBoyaca shares a link from newspaper El Tiempo [es] on the latest news [es] from the department of Boyacá, when on September 21, 2011, an accumulation of gas produced an explosion that in turn caused the coal mine ‘El Diamante 3′ to cave-in, leaving seven dead and several injured:

Tras 52 horas, rescatan cuerpos de los siete mineros en Socha (Boyacá) http://bit.ly/qIg1Pw

After 52 hours, the bodies of seven miners in Socha (Boyacá) have been rescued http://bit.ly/qIg1Pw

The following video from August 28, 2010, which has been shared by thousands of netizens, resonates today given the ongoing issues related to mining. ‘Open-pit mining contamination in Colombia’ was produced due to the concern of various Colombian television actors and actresses. The video includes their opinions in favour of conservation of the environment, and their positions against contamination; they explain that during extraction elements used in the mining of gold affect the air, rivers, population and general ecosystem:

The University of el Rosario of Bogota (@urosarionews) wonders [es] about the consequences of mining on the environment and adds a link to an article published on July 19, 2011, by Sala de Prensa [es]:

En Yanacocha, Perú, la minería de oro a cielo abierto afectó la naturaleza. ¿Podría suceder esto en Colombia? http://bit.ly/qnTaP1

In Yanacocha, Perú, open-pit mining of gold affects nature. Could this happen in Colombia? http://bit.ly/qnTaP1 [es]

The blog El Salmón [es] also expresses worry over sustainability and the environment:

Ahora, a la lenta muerte del nevado del Tolima pretenden sumarle la amenaza de destrucción de los ecosistemas de la cuenca y un futuro incierto para miles de familias que deberán salir de sus fincas para abrirle paso a la locomotora minera…

Now, to the slow death of the Nevado del Tolima they intend to add the threat of the destruction of the ecosystems of the basin and an uncertain future for thousands of families that have to leave their farms to open their doors to a mining locomotive…

Activist's murder

Finally, the murder of Father Reinel Restrepo, an activist who lead and spoke out against the extraction of mining in Marmato, Caldas, where multinational Gran Colombia Gold operates in the extraction of gold, has raised several concerns. The parish priest was opposed to his parish being subjected to the development of a mega-project for the extraction of gold, and had been warned that it would cost him his life.

Walter Rengifo (@wrengifoc) makes reference [es] to the possible causes of the death of Father Reinel Restrepo:

El párroco de Marmato caldas denuncio días antes, que temía por su vida por protestar en contra de un mega proyecto de extracción de oro y la reubicación del pueblo para lograr sus fines.

The parish priest of Marmato Caldas declared, days before, that he feared for his life after protesting against the gold extraction mega project and the relocation of the town to achieve their means.

Meanwhile, Samir Ammar (@marmatovive) shares a link [es] to the blog Marmato Vive, where a letter was published citing the Project for the Accompaniment and Solidarity of Colombia's webpage as a source:

MARMATO VIVE: COMUNICADO DE ORGANIZACIONES CANADIENSES TRAS EL ASESINATO DEL PADRE JOSÉ REINEL RESTR http://t.co/eVJDtEjs

MARMATO VIVE: COMMUNIQUE FROM CANADIAN ORGANISATIONS ABOUT FATHER JOSE REINEL RESTREPO'S MURDER http://t.co/eVJDtEjs

The blog No to mining [es], citing Noticias UNO [es] as a source, reports:

Reynel Restrepo venía acompañando desde hace dos años por los derechos de los mineros de Marmato, quienes se oponen a que multinacionales del oro los desplacen del lugar. El representante de la junta cívica de Marmato dijo que el padre Restrepo le había dicho que en los últimos días había recibido presión de la Gran Colombia Gold. La multinacional ha dicho que su trabajo no atenta contra la comunidad y en un comunicado que expidió ayer señala que lamentaba la muerte del sacerdote.

Reynel Restrepo lobbied for two years for the rights of the miners of Marmato, who opposed the multinational companies that would displace them. The representative of the joint committee of Marmato said that Father Restrepo told him that in the last few days he was being pressured by Gran Colombia Gold. The multinational company said that its work does not pose a threat to the community and sent a communique yesterday that declared their sympathy for the death of the priest.

The same entry included a video [es] with testimonies from the inhabitants of Marmato and declarations from the priest.

United States: Increase in Poverty Rate Amongst Hispanics

Louella Mahabir — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:39:36 +0000

The American economy is at a standstill and seems stuck on that plateau. The unmovable unemployment rate has been added to the poverty rate that affects more than 46 million people, 15.1 percent of the population, according to the latest Census figures. Experts confirm that this is the highest rate since 1993.

The numbers reveal a panorama that isn't very encouraging. The average domestic increase suffered a drop of 2.3 percent since 2009. The number of people without medical insurance coverage is about 50 million people, and the number of people older than 16 who haven't worked at least one week, increased from 83.3 million in 2009 to 86.7 million last year.

Homeless in San Francisco, USA. Image by Son of Groucho (CC BY 2.0).

Unfortunately, the minorities, Hispanics in particular, aren't excluded from the spectre of poverty. The average suffered a sharp decrease of 2.3 percent, from US$38,667 to US$37 ,759 in 2009, which indicates that this group still hasn't recuperated from the figures from 1999 prior to the drop in 2001. To put the severity of this issue in perspective, poverty in the United States also exceeds that of other countries in Latin America like Argentina (8.1 percent), Chile (9.8 percent), Uruguay (6.3 percent), and is getting closer to that of Brazil (19.3 percent), according to a report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

USA español [es], a blog by Cristina F. Pereda, cites the disheartening figures that avoided the advancement of Hispanics:

Mientras que la renta per cápita se redujo en 1.2 por ciento para el conjunto de la población, en el caso de los hispanos descendió un 3.5 por ciento entre 2008 y 2009. También empeoró el nivel de ingresos de las familias, que se redujo casi un 8 por ciento, sólo por detrás de las afroamericanas (con un 11.8 por ciento) y en comparación con niveles del año 2000.

While the per capita income decreased by 1.2 percent for the entire population, in the case of Hispanics the reduction was actually of 3.5 percent between 2008 and 2009. Family incomes were heavily affected, from a reduction of almost 8 percent, closely following African American women (with 11.8 percent) as compared to the data from the year 2000.

The blog GB Latino TV [es] included a video report from an Argentine reporter in which the presenter is shocked by the level of poverty in the United States. He gives a short summary with respect to this:

El 15,2% de los estadounidenses vive en la pobreza, lo que se traduce en más de 46 millones de habitantes. Su nivel más alto desde 1993, informó la oficina de censos de ese país.

15,2% of Americans live in poverty, which translates to about 46 million inhabitants. This is the highest level since 1993, according to the national census data.

InmigranteTV [es], besides offering the same census results of Hispanic families, outlines that the recent patterns in the economy have been overshadowed by the Obama administration:

Esta es otra situación muy negativa, sobre todo cuando el presidente acaba de presentar un plan de empleo con el cual se espera darle un estímulo a la economía.

It's not a very favourable situation, especially after the president just presented an employment plan in which he promises to boost the economy.

Twitter users didn't expect the results of this Census. PV Marketing (@pvmkt) [es] shares a video:

Video que habla de que uno de cada cuatro #hispanos en EU, son pobres. http://goo.gl/bKMkX

A video that talks about one in four Hispanics (#hispanos) in the US being poor. http://goo.gl/bKMkX [es]

Meredith Dodson (@dodsonadvocate) [es] isn't so surprised by these halting statistics:

Alarmante, pero no del todo :( RT @alexcawthornedc: tasas de pobreza para negros e hispanos (>27%) más de 2 veces q los blancos #povertydata #Census

Alarming, but not all of it :( RT @alexcawthornedc: poverty rate in blacks and Hispanics (>27%) more than twice that of caucasians #povertydata #Census

Carmen Ortiz-McGhee (@ortizmcghee) [es] is astounded by the state of poverty among Hispanic children:

Hispanos=37 por ciento de los niños en pobreza según un nuevo reporte del censo…espeluznante!

Hispanos=37 percent of poor children according to a new report on the census… hair-raising!

Alex Guerrero (@Vzla22 ) [es] says it all in the first word of his tweet:

Inaceptable: 15% de estadounidenses viven en pobreza. Entre los latinos el % es 26.1% = 1 de cada 4 >> http://1.usa.gov/pCOqCe #latism

Unacceptable: 15% of Americans live in poverty. Among Latinos the percentage is 26.1% = 1 in every 4 >> http://1.usa.gov/pCOqCe #latism

In conclusion, for Eileen C. Rivera (@eileencrivera) [es] the results of the census are another bad precedent for minorities in the the country:

Más malas noticias del reporte del Censo: tasa de pobreza para hispanos se disparó al 26.6 por ciento, para los negros aumentó a un 27.4 por ciento. http://wapo.st/nF4sMS

More bad news about the Census report: the poverty rate for Hispanics shot up to 26.6 percent, for blacks it went up to 27.4 percent. http://wapo.st/nF4sMS

Peru: ‘Mistura 2011′ Ends Amid Praise and Criticism

Louella Mahabir — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:10:07 +0000

Mistura, the already famous Peruvian festival of Gastronomy, has come to a close after ten days of its fourth edition with impressive figures: more than 400,000 visitors [es] (more than the year before) among which were 18,000 children and some 4,500 tourists who arrived in Lima to attend the event. Moreover, the organisers noted that a total of 233 journalists came from 19 countries [es] to report the development of the festival, besides 300 students of gastronomy from the region, and there are hopes that the 2012 Mistura festival will attract one million visitors [es]. It is important to note that Lima has 8 million inhabitants.

Outside the Mistura festival, Lima. Photo: Go!PymesFotos/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The local food blog Cucharas Bravas [es] details some of the numbers of total sales:

Más de medio millón de panes vendidos. (El 2010 se vendieron 250 mil panes)

El área de dulces y carretillas vendió más de 230 mil porciones.

Más de 40 mil porciones vendidas en la zona de cocinas regionales.

Más de 20 mil pociones vendidas en la zona de cocinas clásicas.

Al cilindro de Javi , Makatong y La cilindrada de Pedrito vendieron más de 4,000 porciones diarias.

La sección de cocinas rústicas vendió más de 95 mil porciones.

Más de 8 toneladas de frutas vendidas. Las más pedidas: Naranja, Chirimoya, Palta, Pitajaya y Poro Poro.

Los productores del Gran Mercado tuvieron ventas por más de 400 mil soles (US$ 142,857 aprox.).

More than half a million loaves of bread sold. (In 2010 250 thousand were sold)

The area of sweets and dessert carts sold more than 230 thousand portions.

More than 40 thousand portions sold in the area of regional cuisine.

More than 20 thousand portions sold in the classic cuisine section.

In the booths of Javi , Makatong and La cilindada Pedrito more than 4,000 portions were sold daily.

The rustic kitchen section sold more than 95 thousand portions.

More than 8 tons of fruit sold. Most requested: Orange, Chirimoya, Avocados, Pitajaya and Poro Poro.

Producers in the Gran Mercado earned more than 400,000 soles (US$ 142,857 aprox.).

Apart form food, one of the most anticipated events of this edition of Mistura was the signing of the declaration of Lima, done by nine world renowned cooks. The blog Perú, Pasión por la Comida (Peru, Passion for Food) [es] reported:

…si algo hemos aprendido los peruanos en los últimos años gracias al boom de la gastronomía nacional, es que la cocina puede convertirse en una auténtica herramienta de transformación social y de cohesión para la comunidad. Así lo han entendido también el brasileño Alex Atala, el italiano Massino Bottura, el estadounidense Dan Barber, el Japonés Yukio Hattori, el danés Rene Redzepi, el español Ferrán Adrià, el francés Michael Bras y nuestro reconocido Gastón Acurio.

…if we've learned anything from the Peruvians in these last years of the gastronomic boom nationwide, it is that cooking can be converted into an authentic instrument of social transformation and social cohesion for the community. This was also said by Brazilian Alex Atala, Italian Massino Bottura, Dan Barber from the US, Japanese Yukio Hattori, Rene Redzepi from Denmark, Ferrán Adrià from Spain, French Michael Bras and our very own famous Gastón Acurio.

The Declaration of Lima, or the ‘G-9′ (for the 9 chefs who signed it) as it is called, was recognised on an international scale, but not everyone celebrated it. There were critical commentaries by Jay Rayner, of the blog Word of Mouth from The Guardian newspaper:

Let's be clear. There is nothing wrong with a bunch of very talented, very serious cooks having these thoughts. [...] Yes, of course good chefs ought to be serious about their ingredients. Yes they have a responsibility to source stuff ethically. But they also need to remember that they aren't secular saints. They are chefs cooking dinner for very, very rich people.

Ferrán Adriá, the famous chef from Catalonia and owner of El Bulli, walked through the festival, summarising his visible enthusiasm in one phrase: “The best recipe you have is passion” [es].

President of Congress, accompanied by three MPs, at the inauguration of "Mistura". Photo: Congress of the Republic of Perú/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) .

Despite the great opening and the massive attendance, not everyone was happy with the event: some criticised the disorganisation [es] as well as discrimination against the elderly. Some think that Misura is an elitist event that disguises itself as something average, as Johan Espinal posted on the blog Muladar News [es]:

… Mistura es un ejemplo de lo que la democracia significa para los Gastones Acurios de nuestros tiempos: Si quieres comer tienes que pagar, si quieres pagar tienes que hacer cola, si quieres hacer cola primero tienes que entrar, si quieres entrar tienes que pagar y así se cierra ese círculo empalagoso del negocio redondo en clave gastronómica… Mistura también podría ser el Perú que algunos deseamos desterrar.

… Mistura is an example of what democracy means to the Gaston Acurios of our time: If you want to eat something, you have to pay for it, if you want to pay for it, you have to wait in line, if you want to form a line, you have to get in first, if you want to enter, you have to pay, and the circle of business surrounding the gastronomic closes… Mistura could also be that part of Peru that some of us want to eradicate.

Along these same lines, there has been a Facebook page in existence since 2010 called “Misiura” [es] (in Peruvian slang “misio” means “broke”), that says:

Misiura es la feria gastronómica del pueblo, aquí degustarás de los mas ricos y exquisitos platillos, comida tradicional, etc; sin necesidad de pagar 20 soles por persona en la entrada… Esta FERIA se hará realidad no precisamente para hacer RICO o llenar de DINERO a un grupo de COCINEROS que se hacen “AMIGOS” del gobierno de turno, es para promover la justicia alimentaria…

Misiura is the gastronomy festival of the people, where you can taste the most delicious and exquisite dishes, traditional food, etc; without paying 20 soles to enter… This FESTIVAL wasn't realised for people to get RICH or fill the pockets of a bunch of CHEFS who make “FRIENDS” with the government of the time, it's to promote culinary justice…

However, this “Misiura” page is small: it hardly surpassed 2000 followers, compared to the 319,000 followers of the Facebook page “Mistura”.

Meanwhile, chef Gastón Acurio, creator of this festival, has been responding to criticism since 2009 about the price of tickets (which don't include what you consume inside), arguing that even with the price fixed at 20 soles (US $7.50) the festival managed to bring in multitudes, so that cheaper tickets [es] would have brought in a huge flood of people, meaning that it would have exceeded the safe number of attendees as authorised by the Civil Force for the Gran Parque de Lima (the chosen venue for the event).

On social networks the development of this Festival was attentively monitored, with comments ranging from reactions to the food to details of organisation. María Mickle [es] commented on Facebook on the festive side of the event and the integral role of food in Peruvian society:

MISTURA………..LA MEJOR FERIA GASTRONOMICA DEL MUNDO, ORGULLO NACIONAL EL UNICO LUGAR EN PERU DONDE NO SE DISCRIMINA A NADIE, MISTURA, DONDE SE JUNTAN LAS MANOS SACADAS DEL ULTIMO RINCON DEL PERU, PARA DEMOSTRAR EL ARTE DE LA COCINA AL MUNDO, ALLI NO HAY BLANCOS, NI CHOLOS, NI INDIOS, NI NEGROS, NI ZAMBITOS……..ALLI TODOS SON IGUALES, TODOS SON HERMANOS UNIDOS POR UNA SOLA VOZ………EL ARTE DE LA COCINA………..VIVA MISTURA………….VIVA EL PERU!!!!!!

MISTURA………..THE BEST FESTIVAL OF GASTRONOMY IN THE WORLD, NATIONAL PRIDE AND THE ONLY PLACE IN PERU WHERE NO ONE IS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, MISTURA, WHERE HANDS FROM ALL OVER PERU JOIN TOGETHER TO DEMONSTRATE THE CULINARY ARTS TO THE WORLD, WHERE THERE ARE NO WHITES OR CHOLOS, OR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, OR BLACKS OR ZAMBITOS….HERE WE ARE ALL EQUAL…WE ARE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS UNITED BY ONE VOICE ….. TO THE ART OF COOKING……..LONG LIVE MISTURA…..LONG LIVE PERU!!!!!!

Popular Peruvian singer song writer Gianmarco (@gianmarcomusica) notes on Twitter:

Mistura, la feria gastronomica mas importante de latinoamerica! Orgullosamente Peruano! http://yfrog.com/nw46dtj

Mistura, the most important gastronomy festival in Latin America! Proud to be Peruvian! http://yfrog.com/nw46dtj

Víctor Henry Guerrero celebrates the food festival but complains about the crowds:

Mistura …… que delicia, sabor y mas de 1000 platos peruanos…. pero… para conseguir una entrada mas de dos dias… y para comer lo bueno de lo bueno mas de 3 horas haciendo cola.. no pues !!!!!!

Mistura …… how delightful, flavour and more than 1000 Peruvian dishes…but… getting a ticket took more than 2 days…to eat the best of the best, you have to stay in line for 3 hours… gosh no !!!!!!

Jesús Verde (@Jeve30) comments on the necessity to get more space:

@MilagrosLeivaG ahora mistura es una feria interesante, pero necesita un recinto mas grande…

@MilagrosLeivaG now that Mistura is an interesting festival, it needs a bigger venue…

Twitter user JuandDz (@juandedz) talks about the prices at Mistura and “Misiura”:

@Dr_GV como dijo el amigo @CarlosLobaton, para los que no pueden entrar a “Mistura” afuera también pueden comer en “Misiura”

@Dr_GV as our friend @CarlosLobaton says, for those who couldn't get into “Mistura” outside you can also eat “Misiura”

Others lament not being able to attend [es], so much so that there were expressions of hope that the 2012 version come soon [es].

Mistura, the festival organised by the Asociación Peruana de Gastronomía (Apega for its initials in Spanish, the Peruvian Gastronomy Association) has a good official website [es], and an active group on Facebook. The Mayor of Lima admonished that the festival couldn't continue in the same place [es], and the organisers are already looking for a new and more spacious venue [es] to be able to receive more people (and lower the ticket fee) in the 2012 edition.

United States: Latino Perspectives on the Anniversary of 9/11

Louella Mahabir — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 14:26:22 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices 9/11 Retrospective.

The year 2011 is an unforgettable year in regards to the 9/11 attacks. The death of Osama Bin Laden in the beginning of May, the announcement of President Obama to withdraw troop from Afghanistan for the third trimester of 2012, the advancement of the reconstruction of the World Trade Center, and particularly because it marks the 10th anniversary of the attempts in New York and Washington that changed the course of history.

Latinos (the name used by many Latin American and Caribbean people to identify themselves in the US) in the United States have honoured the victims, as there were so many of them affected as well. The radio station WNYC started a series of interviews on the “9/11 generation” which includes Latino families, and Univisión is airing a week [es] of transmissions dedicated to the 10th anniversary. And while the media remembers victims and historical days, what can be found on the Latino blogosphere are posts on the famous conspiration theories. For example, bloggers Julio Plaza, Josué Belda and Pedro Gimeno explain in a series of articles for the 11-S [es] blog the possible causes that led to the fall of the towers.

Una de las creencias más comunes ligadas a las teorías conspirativas sobre el 11-S, si no la más, es que se emplearon explosivos para ayudar a que las Torres cayeran. Dejando aparte el edificio 7 del WTC, cuya caída merece un análisis separado, vamos a dar un pequeño repaso histórico a estas afirmaciones y a analizar su mérito.

One of the most common beliefs tied to the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, if not for the most common, is that explosives aided in the collapse of the towers. Leaving apart building number 7 of the WTC, whose collapse merits a separate analysis, we are going to give a short historical flashback at these ideas and analyse their plausibility.

The blog “Movimiento Anti-NWO” (Anti-NWO Movement) makes mention of [es] one song that uses an allegory of the September 11th attacks called “Pero no lo contó la TV” (But the TV didn't say anything) which summarises, in 10 paragraphs, the alleged scheming of the U.S. government behind the attacks:

Más allá de que pueda gustar musicalmente o no, resulta admirable la capacidad de síntesis y la frescura con la que este video toca el tema de la mentada conspiración del 11 de septiembre del 2001, el día en que muchos despertaron a la conciencia forzadamente, ante la artera manifestación de un grupo élite que controla el planeta como si fuera un rebaño de ovejas —con una mezcla de brujería y lobotomía.

Besides liking it musically or not, the synthesis and novelty is refreshing and admirable in the way that this video broaches the topic of the conspiracy of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a day when many were forcibly brought to consciousness, before the evident manifestation of an elite group that controls the planet as if it were a flock of sheep- with a mixture of witchcraft and lobotomy.

Jesús Silva-Herzog Márquez‘ [es] blog cites the British/American writer Christopher Hitchens, who in his work on Slate has defended the United Staes and its authorities for its life-saving heroism:

Pero la lección de aquella mañana [del 11 de septiembre] fue para él [Hitchens] que tampoco debía olvidarse lo obvio. Para Hitchens, los atentados terroristas significaron dos novedades. Por primera vez apareció respaldando a las “fuerzas del orden,” del lado de soldados y policías y defendiendo con vehemencia a su país adoptivo.

But the lesson of that morning [of September 11] for him [Hitchens] was that the obvious shouldn't be forgotten. For Hitchens, the attacks symbolised two novelties. For the first time, he backed the “forces of law and order” on the side of police and military, and defended his adoptive country with vehemence.

Finally, Mexican journalist León Krauze in his blog [es] mentions that one of the evils that often followed the commemoration of September 11 is the relativisation of evil:

En un afán torpe de corrección política, la sociedad moderna ha tendido con alarmante frecuencia a olvidar que el mal —o alguna vertiente del mal— no permite matiz alguno: se gesta como un intento de dañar al prójimo de la manera más cruel, y relativizarlo es, inevitablemente, difuminarlo, minimizarlo.

In a clumsy attempt at political correctness, modern society has with alarming frequency forgotten that evil- or some aspects of evil- has no nuances: it is created as an intent to harm another in the most grievous way possible, and to rationalize it, is, inevitably, to diffuse it, minimise it.

On Twitter, it was the Latin American media that mentioned the September 11 commemorations most prolifically. CNN México (@CNNMex) replayed an interview of George W. Bush by National Geographic:

Si te lo perdiste: George W. Bush habla por primera vez de los ataques terroristas del 11 de septiembre http://cnn.mx/n000RWH

In case you missed it: George W. Bush speaks for the first time about the September 11 terrorist attacks http://cnn.mx/n000RWH

El Universal de México (@El_Universal_Mx) released an edition about September 11 for all it's followers:

Siga nuestro especial a 10 años del 11 de septiembre, testimonios, galerías y videos http://bit.ly/qz4ReC

Follow our special on the 10th anniversary of September 11, testimonies, photos and videos http://bit.ly/qz4ReC

The NY Latino newspaper (@eldiariony) opened a series of tweets and articles on 9/11 with the following question:

¿Quién se hizo rico tras los atentadosdeSeptiembre11? #s11latino bit.ly/nji92e

Who got rich from the September 11 attacks?#s11latino bit.ly/nji92e

Ude Picart (@UdePicart) seems to display incertitude in face of the approaching date:

Qué será de este 11 de Septiembre?

What will become of this September 11?

A reporter who calls herself DwllC (@DwllC) affirms that the U.S. government remains alert for possible reprisals during the commemoration:

Emite Estados Unidos alerta mundial por posibles atentados, en vísperas del 11 de Septiembre.

The United States is on a global alert for possible attempts on the eve of September 11.

The secretary of external relations of Mexico, Patricia Espinosa (@PEspinosaC) compiled a summary of the bilateral relations between her country and the United States on the eve of 9/11:

Les comparto unas breves reflexiones sobre la relación México-EUA a una década de los atentados del 11deseptiembre: bit.ly/qrsAbM.

I want to share some brief reflections related to the relations between Mexico and the United States a decade after the September 11 attacks bit.ly/qrsAbM.

According to a conspiracy theory shared by Mario Lopez (@MariofLopez) there is an internet page that promises new revelations about events:

115 mentiras sobre los atentados del 11septiembre- voltairenet.org/115-mentiras-s… a lo menos 6 de los supuestos secuestradores aéreos están vivos

115 lies about the 9/11 attacks – voltairenet.org/115-mentiras-s… at least 6 of the supposed airborne hijackers are alive

Various publications from the United States also commemorated the anniversary in special editions, for example New York Magazine and it's “Encyclopedia of 9/11,” the New York Times features visual arts inspired by 9/11, and Foreign Affairs magazine published a “Did you know?” series of essays related to what 9/11 means at the global level. The Washington Post shares a human interest perspective of nine families seeking normality after the attack on the Pentagon. Among all this, a wide range of television programs have honoured the memory of those involved in the events of that tragic day.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices 9/11 Retrospective.

Peru: The State of Quechua on the Internet

Louella Mahabir — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:10:41 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet and Indigenous Rights.

Quechua, or Runa Simi, is one of the original languages of Peru, said to have emerged in the middle of the first millennium of our era. Today, it is spoken by 8-10 million people and it is the most extended of the linguistic family in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador after Indo-European languages according to Wikipedia. This same source adds:

Hacia el siglo XV, el llamado quechua clásico se convirtió en una importante lengua vehicular del Antiguo Perú y fue adoptado como lengua oficial por el Estado incaico. Esta variante fue la lengua más importante empleada para la catequesis de los indígenas durante la colonia. A inicios del siglo XX, el quechua sufrió un retroceso por el avance del español a través de la escolarización del medio rural.

Towards the 15th century, the so called classic Quechua became an important lingua franca in ancient Peru and was adopted as the official language of the Inca state. This variant was the most important language used for catechism for the indigenous people during colonization. In the beginning of the 20th century, Quechua suffered because of the advancement of Spanish through the literacy and education on a rural scale.

Street name "El camino del zorro" (Fox Lane) in Quechua. Image by user geoced on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Quechua online

The Peruvian constitution [es] (article 48) gives it an official rank in the zones where it is predominantly spoken, which is basically the entire sierra region or Peruvian Andes. But its influence is felt in Spanish and various languages from the Amazon.

However, when we talk about Quechua, we mean several Quechua dialects, in Peru mainly “cusqueño” or “5 syllable”, and “ayacuchano” or “3 syllable”. Although their differences aren't vast, they aren't the only existing variants. And although many have spoken about discrimination [es] of the use of Quechua, or of the danger of it becoming a dead language [es], not everyone thinks [es] the same way.

Quechua can be found on the Internet via various sources: the most well known is the Google Quechua search engine. Wikipedia also has a page in Quechua, where you can find 16,631 articles in that language. With respect to tools, the website El quechua en internet (Quechua on the Internet) [es] has various resources, as well as Idioma Runasimi (Runasimi language) [es]. Articles of discussions about Quechua can be found on Welcome to Quechua! and on Slideshare one can see various presentations [es] on distinct aspects of Quechua.

If you are interested in learning Quechua, Runasimi.org [es] contains tips for grammar and an online dictionary, while Runasimi.net [es] provides reports on a commission formed to standardize Quechua. Idioma quechua (The Quechua Language) [es] is a site that aims to promote the learning of the language and contains various recordings of stories from the Andes narrated in Quechua. Also, there's curso de quechua (a course in Quechua language) [es] from Yachay and one from the PUCP (Pontificated Catholic University of Peru).

Blogging Quechua

But there are people in the Quechua speaking community who have taken the initiative to do something to maintain or encourage the presence of this language on the web. Such is the case of Noemi Vizcardo. Her bilingual, Spanish to Quechua blog Hablaquechua, has been in existence since 2005. I had the privilege of interviewing her in 2006, when among other things, she told me what the Quechua language means to her:

El quechua para mi es connatural, es decir siempre estuvo presente desde que fui concebida, pues provengo de un pueblo bilingüe donde el común denominador es la comunicación oral en quechua, pese a que en mi casa mi padre prohibía que lo hablemos por el casi generalizado y errado concepto de la sociedad criolla de ese entonces, que era un lenguaje de los “indios”,

Quechua is so natural for me, I mean, it has always been present since I was conceived, since I come from a bilingual town where the common denominator is oral communication in Quechua, in spite of the the fact that my father banned us from speaking it at home because of the generalised and misconstrued idea in this creole society that its just one of those indian languages,

Another blog on Quechua belongs to Dina Vela: Quechua nuestra lengua (Our language, Quechua) [es]. In one of her posts she talks about numbers in Quechua:

Las investigaciones que se han realizado sobre los números en quechua nos muestran que en el Antiguo Perú, los incas usaban el sistema decimal. Esto se ha podido determinar gracias a la interpretación de los quipus, los cuales están organizados de tal forma que los nudos nos muestran de acuerdo a su ubicación la representación de las unidades, decenas, centenas, etc. [...] acercarnos a los números en quechua nos permite dar una mirada a nuestra historia y revalorar la importancia del runasimi. En este link, podremos apreciar un vídeo de una clase sobre los números básicos, con un alumno de 7 años que está aprendiendo el quechua cuzqueño, sujeto a las normas de la Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua.

Research shows that numbers in Quechua show us that in ancient Peru, the Incas used the decimal system. This was determined thanks to the interpretation of the quipus or talking knots, which are organized in such a way that the the knots show a representation of units, tens, hundreds, etc. [...] Looking closely at numbers in Quechua gives us a clear indication our history and reevaluates the importance of Runisimi. This link [es] shows us how to view a video about a class on basic numbers for children of 7 who are learning the Quechua of Cuzco, according to the norms of la Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua (The High Academy of Quechua Language).

In Nancy Ayala writes for a blog called Tukuy niraq willakuykuna on the Radio Peru network, an important media conglomerate. Here is a brief point [es] on one of her first posts:

A modo de comentario podemos mencionar que una de las características de este bello y dulce idioma es su carácter aglutinante, porque une o abraza dos o más palabras del Español utilizando sufijos, esto quiere decir que una oración de varias palabras en Español se puede expresar en una sola palabra, por ejemplo, la oración te quiero mucho se aglutina en la palabra quechua kuyakuykim.

We can comment that one of the characteristics of this most beautiful and sweet language is its uniting character, because it unites or entwines two or more words in Spanish by using suffixes, meaning that one sentence of various words in Spanish can be expressed in just one word in Quechua, for example, Te quiero mucho, or I love you very much is entwined into kuyakuykim.

The most informative blog post is from Lorena Chauca's blog Allillanchu [es] which makes the daily communication in Quechua in Peru noteworthy:

Los peruanos usamos más palabras en quechua de las que creemos. Y es que “cancha” proviene de la palabra quechua “Kancha”, que significa patio, corralón o solar. “Chiripa” quiere decir casualidad o azar en quechua. La expresión “pucho” viene de “puchu”, que en quechua significa residuo o sobrante. El nombre de la lotería más conocida del Perú, la “T'inka”, significa juego. Al gato se le conoce como “michi” y la palabra “yapa”, que es de uso popular entre los peruanos, significa aumento.

We Peruvians use more Quechua words than we think. “Cancha” comes from the Quechua word “kancha” which means patio, gazebo or hot house. “Chiripa” means randomness or chance in Quechua. The expression “pucho” comes from “puchu” with means residue or extra in Quechua. The name of the most well known lottery in Peru is called Tinka, which means game. Cats are known as “michi” and the word”yapa”, is popularly used among Peruvians to mean increase.

Other examples of blogs on the Quechua language are: Runasimillapi [es], Runasimi ñawpa willana [es], Runasimi (Quechua) [es], and runasimi qallarisun. There are also groups and pages on Facebook, like Admiradores del idioma quechua (Runasimi) [es] (Fans of the quechua language) or Runa Simi Raymi Suyu [es]. And on Twitter there's @hablemosquechua where they teach Runasimi.

Finally, it is important to mention Runasimipi.org, which is a site dedicated to creating software in Quechua. Its manifiesto declares [es]:

Hoy en día, muchos piensan que el runasimi es sólo una lengua de nuestros antepasados y sólo sirve para cosas del pasado. Muchos niños en la ciudad tienen vergüenza de hablar en quechua con sus amigos. Se dice que el quechua no sirve para las cosas «chéveres», especialmente con las cosas de modernidad y de tecnología. Frente a ello, declaramos que el runasimi es una lengua rica que puede utilizarse en todos los contextos, inclusive en la tecnología. El runasimi no sólo representa un gran acervo cultural y lingüístico, es también una lengua viva y necesaria para el futuro andino. Pero, queremos que todos valoren esta lengua no sólo como la lengua “de los Inkas”, también como la lengua de hoy que es muy adaptable y de expresión rica.

Nowadays, people think that Runasimi is only our ancestors’ language and it is only useful for things of the past. Many children in the city are ashamed to speak in Quechua with their friends. They say the Quechua isn't associated with “cool” things, especially with things like technology and modernity. Opposed to this, we declare Runisimi a rich language that can be applied to many contexts, including technology. Runasimi doesn't only represent a great part of the cultural and linguistic heritage of Peru, it is also a living language that will prove to be very necessary in the future of the Andes region. But, we would like everyone to appreciate this language not only as one of those Incan languages, but also as a language of today that is very adaptable and rich in it's expression.

Quechua or Runasimi is a language that is very much alive and in constant evolution, part of a millennium old culture that uses the internet as a medium of consolidating itself in the 21st century. Also, it is a language that doesn't stop using whatever other means or other elements to arrive at or incorporate its own sounds and images, such as these that you can appreciate in these two videos.

This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet and Indigenous Rights.

This post was originally published on Juan Arellano's blog Globalizado [es].

Chile: Netizens Pay Tribute to Plane Crash Victims

Louella Mahabir — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:14:43 +0000

On the afternoon of Friday September 2, 2011, Chileans received bad news: the disappearance [es] of the CASA 212 airplane from FACH, the Chilean Airforce [es], headed for the Juan Fernandez archipelago.

Among the 21 passengers [es] was a team from the NGO Desafío Levantemos Chile (Mission Lift Chile) [es] which aims to continue efforts to reconstruct the archipelago, one of the places most affected by the tsunami caused by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27, 2010. Five employees of TVN (Chile National Television) [es] were travelling to support this initiative, including the well-known television presenter Felipe Camiroaga.

Felipe Camiroaga, presenter for Buenos Días a Todos. Photo by Felipe Araos on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Felipe Cubillos (@felipenavegante), leader of Levantemos Chile and a passenger on the plane, tweeted enthusiastically before disappearing:

Viajando ahora a la isla de Juan Fernandez con el apoyo de nuestra Fuerza Aerea. Seguimos trabajando en ayudar a gente de la Isla

Now travelling to the Island of Juan Fernandez with the support of our Airforce. We continue to work in helping the people of the island

Newspaper La Tercera uploaded a video of TVN's report [es] of the accident –the video was immediately shared by netizens on Twitter.

Publicist and blogger Roberto Arancibia (@RobertoA) informed:

Avioneta caída en Juan Fernández, personal de TVN: Camiroaga, Bruce y más, dice @ADNRAdioChile [es]. Informará Allamand, atentos!

Plane crash in Juan Fernández, TVN personnel aboard: Camiroaga, Bruce and others, says @ADNRAdioChile. [Minister of Defense] Allamand will be giving more information, pay attention!

Sigrid (@sigridps) confirmed:

es verdad lo del avión de juan fernández y lo del equipo de buenos días a todos, no han confirmado muertes, sólo desaparecidos.

[the news] about the plane in Juan Fernandez and the ‘Buenos Días a Todos’ team are true, no deaths confirmed, just missing persons.

Soon, netizens started reporting on the story and hoping for good news. The hashtag #Camiroaga and Juan Ferández became worldwide trending topics on Twitter.

Twitter user José Duarte (@_josesita_) expressed hope:

Los 33 también se dieron por muertos… Los milagros existen, no perder la FE #juanfernandez #camiroaga #TVN

The 33 [miners] were expected to be dead… Miracles do happen, don't lose FAITH #juanfernandez #camiroaga #TVN

Poet and student Gisella Uribe R. (@Tengo_Frio) pointed out:

Espero que los encuentren con vida, que dejen de hacer chistes, que los hipócritas dejen de rezar, y que ni un político se aproveche de esto

I hope that they find survivors, that they stop making jokes, that the hypocrites stop praying, and that not one politician take advantage of this

Sigrid (@sigridps) commented:

lancha de armada de chile se encuentra en operativo de búsqueda, condiciones climáticas adversas, alcalde está pesimista.

the Chilean coast guard is on a search and rescue mission, in adverse climate conditions, the mayor is pessimistic.

Twitter user Macuer (@franciscomacuer) said:

Felipe Paredes, Jefe Torre, de Juan Fernandez, señala que el viento impidio aterrizar avion y luego los dejo de ver #camiroaga

Felipe Paredes, tower controller from Juan Fernandez, highlights that the wind impeded the plane from landing and that he stopped seeing them #camiroaga

Immediately search parties spread out, led by the armed forces and the inhabitants of the island themselves, as graphic design student Miguel Rosas pointed out (@Matehuas):

EN JUAN FERNANDEZ LOS PESCADORES SE UNEN PARA SALIR A LAS 5 AM EN AYUDA

IN JUAN FERNANDEZ, THE FISHERMEN WILL GATHER AT FIVE AM TO HELP OUT

Exposition of Felipe Cubillos, founder of the project "Desafío Levantemos Chile". Photo on Flickr by JóvenesxChile (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Many people turned up at TVN's facilities with candles and prayers, hoping for a miracle.

However, bad news arrived on the night of September 3, when Andrés Allamand, Minister of Defence and brother in law to Felipe Cubillos, confirmed [es] that there were no survivors.

Condolences flooded cyberspace.

Paths Chile wrote on Facebook:

Con un inmenso dolor anhelamos que descansen en eterna paz los 21 integrantes que viajaban a Juan Fernández… entre ellos Felipe Camiroaga… tremendo hombre, inmensamente humano y noble

With deepest sympathy, we wish the 21 members that were travelling to Juan Fernandez eternal peace… among them Felipe Camiroaga… wonderful man, extremely humane and noble

Ketty C (@ketty_dic31) lamented:

Mis condolencias sinceras y de todo corazón a las familia de #los21 [es]Q.E.P.D. … esto es demasiado doloroso :(

My sincere condolences from all my heart to the families #los21 [the 21] R.I.P. … this is too painful:-(

Mexican singer Lucero also mentioned her grief about the news from her Twitter account (@LuceroMexico) with reference to her friend Felipe Camiroaga:

Amigo mío.Que tu vuelo cruce los cielos y nos derrame el amor, la pasión con la que viviste siempre.Vivirás en mi recuerdo PERMANENTEMENTE.

My friend. May your flight cross the heavens and spread your love upon us, with the passion that you lived your life with, always. You will live in my memory FOREVER.

Besides the fame of the victims, the humanitarian effort and their strong community ties made the tragedy even more significant for the entire country. As journalist Miguel Ortiz (@ortizmiguel) wrote:

Mi papá me solía decir: “¿Cómo ganarse el Cielo? Que la muerte nos pille haciendo el bien”. ¿En qué estaban #Los21?[es] Levantando CHILE!

My father always used to say: “How do you get to heaven? Let death catch us doing good.” What were #Los21 doing? Lifting CHILE!