Stories about Spanish from August, 2010
Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes
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.
Guatemala: Three Indie Publishers Reviewed
Alan Mills, in his blog Revólver, reviews [es] three Guatemalan independent publishers: Editorial Catafixia [es], Vueltegato [es] and Mata-mata, Ediciones Latinoamericanas [es].
Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts
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.
Nicaragua: The Result of the 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media
The 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media took place on August 12 and 13 in Managua, Nicaragua. Here we summarize the even't results through images, podcasts, videos and blogs.
Mexico: Fleeing Monterrey
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
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.
Costa Rica: University Students Protest Budget Agreements
Some University of Costa Rica students took hold of the social sciences building in protest of the budgetary agreement that was reached between the government and university officials where a 7% budget increase was agreed upon after negotiating the original 4% the government proposed.
Latin America: Blog Day Celebrated through Web Conferences
Celebrate Blog Day today with a day long online summit. The III Virtual Blogger Encounter will have speakers from Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Spain engaging through webcams with an international online audience about blogs, branding and other social networks.
Colombia: Cat Launching Video by Radio DJ Causes Outrage
A video uploaded by DJ Yohan Melguizo on popular social network Facebook two months ago is causing outrage among animal lovers in Medellin, Colombia.
Guatemala: Attack Against a Blog?
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.
Chile: Miners record on a video their living conditions
Through a video camera lowered down to them, the 33 trapped Chilean miners have recorded their living conditions in the refuge that kept them alive for the 21 days before they were found. In the video they send messages to their families and explain how they spend their days.
Ecuador: Journalist Jorge Ortiz Leaves Important Television Channel
“It is really a pity […] We are not only losing a critical voice on TV, the citizenry is losing another space in that ‘fight’ between the top and bottom.” This is how blog La Hueca [es] reacted to the news of journalist Jorge Ortiz leaving television channel Teleamazonas.
Guatemala: Indigenous Teacher and Artist Kidnapped and Murdered
An increasing spiral of violence has impacted different communities in rural Guatemala. This time, the victim was a respected rural teacher, spiritual guide, dancer and artist from Sololá: Lisandro Guarcax.
Mexico: Wikileaks Releases Mexican Documents
Vivir México [es] reports that Wikileaks has released Mexican documents which the government has not commented on.
Chile: Strong Citizen Response Against Thermal Energy Project
The approval of a thermal energy project sparked a strong online and on-the-ground citizen response; the plant was to be built near the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and Punta de Choros, a small beach town known for its natural beauty and rich biodiversity. The announcement mobilized unprecedented numbers of protesters in one of the most successful instances of online organizing carried out in Chile.
Cuba: Censorship, Technology and Memory
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
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.
Puerto Rico: Live Blogging About Teacher Strike
Michael Castro announces in his blog Poder 5 [es] that he will be live blogging from a teacher strike in San Juan. He is also tweeting about the strike at @MichaelDCC.
Uruguay: Journalist Álavaro Alfonso Sent to Prison for 24 Months
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
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.
Mexico: What About the Dead Women of Juárez?
Ximena Vega says [es] Mexicans have forgotten about one of the most important problems the country is currently facing: femicides in Ciudad Juárez.
