Latest posts by João Miguel Lima
East Timor: Stunning Sunset Photos
Currently based in Dili, Timor Leste, the Australian media and policy professional Ashlee Betteridge shares on her blog Betty loves blogging four stunning photos of Dili sunsets, which “more often than not, put on a good show.”
Portugal: Tugaleaks Bank Account Deemed as Terrorist and Closed
Website Tugaleaks, which aims to serve since December 2010 as Portugal's Wikileaks, had its bank account for donations arbitrarily closed on July 13 with no official communication [pt]. Tugaleaks contributors were finally told the account had been closed based on Act 25/2008 [pt] of money laundering and terrorist financing, which...
Brazil/Portugal: Homophobia and the “Apparent Invisibility” of LGBT
On the blog No que tange, Maycon Lopes shares [pt] his experiences of being a homosexual in Brazil, where homophobia “motivates terrible killings”, and compares to situations he faced while living in Portugal for a year: “Portuguese society isn't violent […] however gays aren't so on sight”. He felt an...
Mozambique: Scholarship Students Kicked Out of Sudanese University
An open complaint letter published on social media by a group of scholarship holders from Mozambique at the International University of Africa, in Khartoum, Sudan, regarding their precarious social and financial situation, led to five of them being expelled and sent back to their home country.
Brazil: Video of Tribute to Murdered Forest Heroes
Watch the footage [en/pt] of Laísa Sampaio's speech at the UN on February, as she received a posthumous tribute to her sister Maria do Espírito Santo and brother-in-law José Cláudio, closing the International Year of Forests. Because of their efforts to protect the forest, they were killed. Laísa says “the...
Brazil: Navy Denies Entrance to Quilombo Rio dos Macacos
Tai Oliver reported on Quartoamarelo Ateliê studio Facebook page [pt] about recent abuses involving the Navy and Rio dos Macacos quilombo community in Bahia, Brazil, which struggles against eviction threats since February. She says the Navy, in control of the quilombo's entrance, denied access to four residents (woman, three children)...
Mozambique: Innovative Ways of Producing and Distributing News
Johannes Myburgh shared on Twitter the Mozambique Media Landscape guide, which he helped produce with Infosaid media project. Radio is considered the country's “most important channel of communication”, but Infosaid highlights independent and electronic newspapers – such as Faísca, Whampula Faz and Global Voices partner @Verdade [pt] – as...
Brazil: Activists Support Civic Framework for Internet
Internet activists are discussing the civic framework (“marco civil”) for internet in Brazil, to be voted on National Congress today. Mega Yes Movement [pt] says the framework will establish fundamental rights online, and urges netizens to read [pt], tweet (#MarcoCivil), and petition about it. Mega Yes activists previously engaged on...
East Timor: Photo Report of Vote Counting in Dili
Besides providing numbers of international observers and media correspondents on site for the July 7 elections, the Technical Secretariat of Electoral Management (STAE) used its Facebook page to share photos of personnel counting votes on paper ballots, in Dili. The procedure was followed by observers, members of political parties and...
Brazil: Fortaleza City Dwellers Demand Liberation of Green Area
Inspired by the massive “Veta, Dilma” campaign to protect the Brazilian forests, Fortaleza city dwellers launched “Libera, Luizianne“ urging Mayor Luizianne Lins to free a green area for the creation of Rachel de Queiroz Park [pt]. On June 24, supporters planted wooden crosses on the site, symbolizing the death of...
Brazil: Street Dwellers Share Their Voice on Newspaper
A Laje newspaper features complaints and stories of “street dwellers demanding respect” in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Produced by the National Movement of Street Dwellers (MNPR) in partnership with students of the group Communication and Education for People at the Federal University of Paraná, the newspaper intends to reach...
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: 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...
Brazil: University Students Make Demands and Question Budget for Aquarium
About 200 students of the Regional University of Cariri [pt], Brazil, protested on Monday, April 2, for state government resources to hire teachers and improve infrastructure. On a video of the demonstration published on Youtube, students question the construction of a 250 million reais aquarium in Fortaleza, state of Ceará:...
Brazil: Demonstration Demands President Veto on Forestry Code
On March 7, Brazilian activists organized an act (#vetadilma) urging President Dilma to veto changes on the new Forestry Code. Biologist Pablo Pessoa published photos and videos of the act, and wrote [pt] about his participation, claiming it was difficult to ensure “preservation or conservation of ecological processes without the recognition by...
Brazil: Citizens Say No to Aquarium in Fortaleza
Citizens of Fortaleza are urging the governor of the Brazilian state of Ceará, Cid Gomes, to halt an Aquarium project which has had no public bidding. Critics argue it will rise land prices and force families to leave. Mobilization took to the streets on carnival, spread on Twitter with #AcquarioNao...
Angola: Police Confiscates Computers From the Independent Weekly Folha 8
On March 12, a police raid at the Angolan independent weekly Folha 8 resulted in about 20 computers being confiscated [pt]. Editor William Tonet points a connection with the investigation on the publication of an Internet photo montage of the president and politicians from 2011. The Committee to Protect Journalists...
Angola: Activists Beaten Just Days Before Protest
Two activists tell on video how they were captured by cars without license and beaten up on a remote area of the capital Luanda. Blogger Gil Gonçalves had reported [pt] on the missing men, both involved in a protest of March 10 against the nomination of Suzana Inglês to head...
Angola: Gunshots and Clashes Against Demonstration
Blogger Gil Gonçalves reported about police violence [pt] during demonstration today in Luanda, based on updates of activists on Facebook. Freelancer journalist Louise Redvers tweeted, according to sources on site, that police attempted to disperse crowd with gunshots and clashes. Protesters claim the 2012 election process is strongly biased.
Brazil: ‘Vale’ is Elected the World's Worst Corporation
Researcher Telma Monteiro wrote on her blog [pt] about the election of the Brazilian mining company Vale as the world's worst corporation of 2011, with over 25,000 votes on the Public Eye Awards. She attributes the victory to Vale's involvement with the construction of Belo Monte Dam, in the Brazilian...
