Stories about Portuguese from April, 2012
Guinea-Bissau: International Reactions to the Military Coup
Following the military coup in Guinea-Bissau, on April 12, Angolan Foreign Policy Professor Belarmino Van-Dúnem wrote an analysis [pt] on the roles of the Armed Forces and the international community. ECOWAS talks to restore civilian rule during the weekend resulted on the decision to impose sanctions on the military junta....
Portugal: Eviction Prior to Freedom Day Awakens Squatting Movement
As the pent-up frustrations of citizens in Portugal keep growing a year since the international “bailout” of the country's public debt, the annual celebration of Freedom Day on April 25 marking the Carnation Revolution that ended a 41-year dictatorship in 1974, gained renewed momentum.
Brazil: The sale of America's smallest city and thoughts of buying the Amazon
Janio, from Brazil, has written in his blog (“Made in Blog” [pt]) about the auctioning off of the smallest city in America, Buford (Wyoming), which has but one inhabitant. He draws a parallel “with a time when some activists from the developed world threatened to buy the Amazon, in order to...
Thirty three top Brazilian businesses ranked in the Forbes list
In her Brazil Global blog, Hildete Vodopives named thirty three Brazilian businesses found on the Forbes Top Business list, stating: “Energy makes number one among them with Petrobras (oil, gas and ethanol). Another interesting highlight is the leading presence of banks: Itau (and Itausa, its holding), Bradesco and Banco do...
Angola: Youth Demonstration Against Alcoholism Violently Repressed
According to Facebook reports, today's youth demonstration against alcoholism, prostitution and domestic violence (April 28), was violently repressed, informed [pt] the blog Angola Resistente. On April 23, an opinion article [pt] from Makuta Nkondo stated that in a year of elections, the ruling party since 1975, MPLA, organizes “food and drinks...
Brazil: Activists Protest in Memory of Military Dictatorship
A number of cities throughout Brazil held both real and virtual events to remember Brazil's Military Dictatorship (1964-1985). Activists held protests to push for punishing the Dictatorship's criminals and to fully open the still classified files.
Brazil: Journalist and Blogger Executed in São Luís, Maranhão
On the night of April 23, Brazilian journalist and blogger Décio Sá was shot dead in a bar in the most crowded avenue of the city of São Luis, in the northeastern state of Maranhão. He had ties with political figures of Maranhão and his blog was the most accessed in the state.
Portugal: Citizens Prepare Peaceful Protests for April 25
Though peaceful protests are scheduled for April 25 throughout Portugal (a national holiday that marks the end of dictatorship in 1974), mainstream media reported [pt] that “police prepares zero tolerance”. For Miguel Cardima from the blog Arrastão, the news intends [pt] to “insufflate fear” and to “justify violence in anticipation”. In...
Portugal: Video of Guinea-Bissau coup protest in Lisbon
Youtube user MinisterioDaVerdade published a video of a large parade on Saturday by Guinea-Bissaun residents of Lisbon, and their Portuguese families and friends, protesting the military coup which took place April 12. Marchers occupied the streets of Lisbon's Baixa neighborhood. Signs read “We have a consensus: No to dictatorship” and...
Brazil: Passer by Injured and Arrested by Police in Demonstration
Brazilian blogger Conceição Oliveira reproduces [pt] a Facebook note [pt] from Pedro Urizzi (an actor from São Paulo), who denounces that he was injured and arrested by the Military Police when he was passing by a demonstration against corruption on April 21, 2012, on his way for dinner. The detention...
Sao Tome and Principe: Memories of a Lonely Navigator
Follow the blog Odisseia nos Mares (Odysseys in the Seas) [pt] and navigate through the stories of Jorge Trabulo Marques – a retired Portuguese journalist and photographer who lived in São Tomé and Príncipe for 13 years during colonial times. Trabulo blogs on his memories of São Tomé, including lonesome...
Angola/Mozambique: Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production
Blog of African contemporary culture Dá Fala shared a call for proposals on Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production in Angola and Mozambique, to be published on an issue of Critical Interventions that will explore “recent scenarios of art platforms as extensions and articulations of state, private, and individual power”, and...
Portugal: ‘You Cannot Evict an Idea’ Without Borders
The violent eviction of a self-managed community center in Porto by the police, on April 19, triggered a wave of solidarity beyond the borders of the neighborhood of Fontinha, left to oblivion for years. Sympathy is coming from many cities in Portugal and beyond, following the motto "you can not evict an idea".
Portugal: Community-occupied school violently evicted
Community members resisted eviction from the Es.Col.A in Fontinha [pt] in Porto this morning. The abandoned, disused school was being used by a self-organized collective for after-school classes, recreational activities – watch their story (with English subtitles). While broadcast media report the violent police eviction, protest continues. #Fontinha and #ocupai...
Mozambique: Police Detain Blogger During Mayoral By-Election
Mozambican human rights lawyer and blogger Custodio Duma was detained by the police during mayoral by-election in Inhambane, on April 18, allegedly due to taking photos. Five hours later, he was released. According [pt] to @Verdade newspaper, 53 citizens (mostly supporters of the opposition party, MDM) were arrested during the scrutiny....
Brazil: Aquarium Project Sparks Transparency Debate
In Fortaleza, the fifth largest city in Brazil, the recent start of construction on an aquarium has prompted discussions over public resources, state government priorities and the city's future, as well as some creative forms of protest.
Brazil: Homage to the Victims of the Amazon in Washington, D.C.
President Dilma Rousseff's official visit to Washington, D.C. attracted around 100 people to the Brazilian embassy in an act of solidarity with the Amazonian victims. Learn a little more about the Brazilians who were killed and are being persecuted for protecting the rainforest.
Guinea-Bissau: Military Attack Citizens in Demonstration
According to Simão Mendes National Hospital [pt], the military attacked citizens in a demonstration this morning, April 15, in front of the National Parliament of Guinea-Bissau. On Facebook they have posted a picture of a stabbed patient who arrived at the hospital, “before they [the military] come and take our...
Guinea-Bissau: Hospital Suffers “Collateral Damages” from Coup d'Etat
Simão Mendes National Hospital employees have been posting photos and reports [pt] on their Facebook profile [pt] which illustrate “collateral damages” from the coup d'état that took place on April 12 in Guinea-Bissau. Power cuts, lack of medicine and fuel shortage for ambulances jeopardize the work of doctors, whose moves...
Mozambique: First African Board Book Gathering
Maputo is playing host to the first ever African meeting of publishers of board books. These are sturdy books, published on a small scale (often for children) with strong covers and resistant bindings. Culture reporter Inocêncio Albino wrote about the event [pt], and has been tweeting photos of books by Kutsemba Cartão, the first...
Guinea-Bissau: Coup d'Etat and the Angolan Military Mission
At nightfall on April 12, the military started yet another coup d'etat in Guinea-Bissau. In recent weeks, allegations of "generalized fraud" in the presidential elections, and the announcement of the withdrawal of the Angolan military mission in the country, had raised the tension levels in the military and political arenas.
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