Stories about Portuguese from January, 2011
Guinea-Bissau: Ready to face the truth?
Journalist Helena Ferro de Gouveia, in her blog Domadora de Leões [Lions Tamer, pt] reflects on what could be the impact if Guinea Bissau decides to create a Truth and Reconciliation Comission. She adds that “when the present is not resolved it is not easy to heal the past”.
Brazil: Exclusive Internet Interview with the Founder of WikiLeaks
Brazilian netizens were invited to participate in an exclusive and collective interview with Julian Assange, founder and editor of the polemical WikiLeaks. Assange explains why he works with mainstream media – though he never fails to criticize it.
Brazil: Ministry of Culture abandons Creative Commons
Brazilian Minister of Culture's decision to remove a Creative Commons license from its website provoked all sorts of reactions on social networks and among bloggers. It is the first instance of undoing of the previous government inclusive public policies regarding Internet, digital culture and authorial rights.
Brazil/Tunisia: Cartoons on the Tunisian Revolution
Provos Brasil [pt] shares a series of cartoons by the Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff on the Tunisian Revolution, in two blog posts: The Fall of the Dictatorship in Tunisia and Cleaning Tunisia.
Brazil: Neo-Colonialism in Africa
Leonardo Sakamoto refutes [pt] the statement of the foreign affairs adviser to the Brazilian presidency, Marco Aurelio Garcia, that “A neo-colonial relationship is only established if neo-colonizer and colonized are in agreement.” For him, it is necessary to examine the complicity of local elites and the situation of colonized countries...
Brazil: Micro Grants for Transparency Hackers
Esfera [Sphere, pt] has launched the second round of micro grants for transparency hackers in Brazil. Find out what they are looking for and apply until February 5.
Brazil: Belo Monte Dam returns to the spotlight
The Brazilian government expressed its wish to start building the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in 2011. Immediately, a virtual mobilization against the project broke out. In spite of the intense flow of information on the Internet and other media, clarifications on the socio-environmental impacts of Belo Monte are still to be provided by the government.
Brazil: Chief of Police assaults man on a wheelchair
A physically disabled lawyer was assaulted and threatened with a gun by a chief of police in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, after having complained that the officer had left his car in a reserved parking lot for the disabled, reports [pt] Renato Rovai.
Brazil: Salary increase for parliamentarians in discussion
As every end of the year, the Brazilian federal deputies legislated for themselves and approved another salary increase to approximately 52 times the minimum salary earned by most part of the population. In 2011, the expected ripple effect of wages has been confirmed causing a sparked discussion in the blogosphere.
Brazil: Protest for quality transportation is a crime?
While Leonardo Sakamoto wonders [pt] if protesting for quality transportation is a crime, Conceição Lemes interviews [pt] one of the organizers of the demonstration against the price increase of bus tickets in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The student protester was brutally repressed [en] by police last week.
Brazil: The Brazilian who invented the radio
Ricardo Kotscho reproduces [pt] a letter by Hamilton Almeida in which he tells the story of the inventor of the radio Roberto Landell de Moura – a Brazilian priest born 150 years ago (January 21, 1861). According to Almeida, though Landell “patented the radio in Brazil (1901)” it was Guglielmo...
Brazil: Any questions for Julian Assange?
Natalia Viana, WikiLeak's journalist in Brazil, invites [pt] bloggers and readers of her blog to formulate questions for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange until 6pm, on January 21. The most original 10 questions will be selected for an interview to be published next week.
Lusophone Culture: Buala “Giving Voice” to Contemporary African Cultures
They propose “to create new views, free from prejudice and colonial judgment,” of contemporary African cultures, and in an interview with Global Voices, Marta Lança and Francisca Bagulho talk about the creation of Buala: “an interdisciplinary web portal for reflection, critique and documenting Portuguese-speaking Africa.”
Brazil: Thousands on the street against price increase of the bus tickets
Panópticosp posts a series of photos [pt] in the Brazilian Independent Media Center from the manifestation against the price increase of the bus tickets. On January 20, more than 3 thousand students went to the streets of São Paulo showing that they are not affraid of the police brutality seen...
Angola: Listing blogs that talk about the country
Jota Cê Carranca calls all netcitizens to help him reach the number 500 in a list of “Blogs that Talk about Angola” [pt]. Until today he has gathered 443.
Guinea-Bissau: Construction Works meet Public Health
Guineense, from the blog Made in Bissau [pt], shares two videos from construction works taking place in the main avenue of Guinea Bissau's capital, while describing the poor respiratory conditions of the ones who pass by due to the dirt on the air.
Brazil: Flooding in the Mountainous Region of Rio de Janeiro Devastated Cities
The mountaineous region of Rio de Janeiro is suffering what is being considered Brazil’s most-deadly natural disaster: there are more than 500 fatal victims and countless people left homeless so far. This tragedy, which gives only its first steps in the aid of the victims, still doesn't allow us to assess the damage and the work to be done, but it already brings back the debate about the urgency of creating a policy for climate catastrophes in the country.
Brazil: Police brutality during student protest
The blog Vi o Mundo [Saw the World, pt] shares a video by the cartoonist Carlos Latuff and a letter from the Workers Union of the University of São Paulo about the police brutality against students who were protesting in the streets on January 13 against the price increase of...
Brazil: São Paulo annual floods and the biased media
Following the floods this week in Brazil, Hugo Albuquerque, from the blog O Descurvo, comments [pt] on the urban problems of the city of Sao Paulo. He also criticizes mainstream media's biased coverage of the issue – the same does Maurício Caleiro, from the blog Cinema e Outras Artes [pt]
Brazil: Still the Guerrilla Against Folha de São Paulo
Update on GV's post Brazil: Newspaper Folha de São Paulo censors satirical blog: Not happy with the newspaper's Ombudsman accusations [pt], saying that the satirical blog was “coarse”, “appealing”, “insulting” and from “guerrilla fighters”, one of its creators, Lino Bocchini, answers back in the blog Desculpe Nossa Falha [Forgive Our...
Brazil: Does democracy respect its religious minorities?
Sakamoto reflects [pt] on the news by Folha de São Paulo about Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's withdrawal of a bible and a crucifix from her office: “State must ensure that all religions are free to exercise their worship”. The news was biased , as Cris Rodrigues explains [pt] in #dilmafactsbyfolha.
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