Silvia Viñas · August, 2010

Latest posts by Silvia Viñas from August, 2010

Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes

  31 August 2010

Franklin Brito, a farmer who had been on a hunger strike since July 2009, died from a respiratory arrest in a military hospital on Monday night. Brito had lived through several hunger strikes protesting the confiscation of his land. Venezuelans reacted to the announcement of his death through Twitter and blogs.

Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts

  31 August 2010

Juan Arellano writes [es] about quenoteroben.pe [es], a site that allows users to report thefts in Lima using Google Maps technology. The post includes two video interviews with the site managers, Gabriela Quevedo and Rudy Jordán.

Mexico: Fleeing Monterrey

  30 August 2010

Hernando y la Silla writes [es] about why people are leaving Monterrey, a city that “has become the center of the conflict between the various criminal gangs.”

Latin America: Blogging at Los Superdemokraticos

  30 August 2010

Coinciding with several Bicentennial Independence celebrations in Latin America, from June to October 2010 German and Latin American bloggers [es] will be writing for Los Superdemokraticos about their “daily lifes [sic] in international political contexts.” Posts are published in German and Spanish; five texts are translated into English each month.

Guatemala: Attack Against a Blog?

  28 August 2010

Luis Figueroa reports [es] that blogger Guillermo Pineda wrote on Twitter, “My blog in WordPress.com was hacked. Anyone knows if I can recover it? #Hacked #Wordpress.” Luis wonders if this is an attack; in June Guillermo received threats [es] both in person and through email.

Cuba: Censorship, Technology and Memory

  26 August 2010

George Gautier writes [es] about censorship in Cuba. He says that technology has helped leak some things, but he hopes that someone is keeping track of everything that is happening in Cuba so that nothing will be lost.

Peru: The Little Girl Drawing on a Street in Huancayo

  26 August 2010

Juan Arellano writes in his blog Globalizado [es] about a girl on a street in Huancayo who captured his attention because she didn't act like other children working on the street: she was drawing on the ground. He recorded a short video of their conversation.

Uruguay: Journalist Álavaro Alfonso Sent to Prison for 24 Months

  25 August 2010

Qué Pasa Uruguay? [es] points out that local media have ignored the sentencing of journalist Álvaro Alfonso to two years in jail for libel, and the confiscation of his book “Secretos del Partido Comunista” (Secrets of the Communist Party). The blogger posts an article by the The Inter American Press...

Dominican Republic: Frequent Power Outages

  25 August 2010

Rull Fernández writes [es] about the frequent power outages he experiences at home. He says that as far back as he can remember, the problem of electricity and power outages is something that has always concerned the people of the Dominican Republic.

Paraguay: Day of the Guaraní Language

  25 August 2010

Juan Carlos Rodríguez writes [es] in his blog about the day of the Guaraní language. He says that on August 25, 1967, Guaraní was recognized as a national language. He also shares a short ebook on the “sacred book of the Guaraní”, Ayvu Rapyta.

Uruguay: The Night of Nostalgia

  25 August 2010

Ana Rita Franco writes [es] in her blog about The Night of Nostalgia (in Spanish, La Noche de la Nostalgia), a night when Uruguayans dance to old songs and remember things that make them feel nostalgic. Ana lists some of these things.

Chile: Thermoelectric Plant is Approved Despite President's Promise

  24 August 2010

Today, the Regional Environmental Commission of Coquimbo (in Spanish, Comisión Regional del Medio Ambiente de Coquimbo) approved a project to build a thermoelectric power plant in Marine reserve Punta de Choros. Pablo Astudillo writes in his blog, Astu's Science Blog, about the project and its environmental implications; he also posts...

Puerto Rico: When Legalizing Abortion is not Enough

  24 August 2010

“Legalization has not been enough for poor women who, despite the formal right they have, don't have the means or the access to the clinics to carry out procedures in a safe and risk-free way,” writes [es] Érika Fontánez, as she comments on a recent screening of a documentary about...