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Peru: Controversy and Tributes on 120th Anniversary of César Vallejo’s Birth · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Google
On 16 March, 2012, Peru celebrated [es] the 120th anniversary of the birth of the great Peruvian poet César Vallejo, who, as Wikipedia in Spanish points out, is “considered amongst the greatest innovators of poetry of the 20th century. He was, in the opinion of the critic, Thomas Merton, ‘the best poet, worldwide, after Dante‘.”
In Peru, the date was commemorated [es] with numerous activities, such as recitals, lectures and new publications.
One of the things that greatly surprised Peruvian lovers of Literature was Google's doodle, which was made available only for Peru and the United States, and which paid tribute [es] to the writer. This tribute was driven by numerous netizens [es] on Facebook, and was supported by the The House for Peruvian Literature [es], who also gathered numerous other proposals for Vallejo doodles [es] that were to be sent to Google. However, the doodle that was finally decided upon, was an original by Google.
The blog Debae Pedagógico reproduces [es] one of the doodles which had been proposed and what inspired its creator, the artist from Lima Javier Aquino:
me concentré en la personalidad reflexiva y la tristeza de los poemas de Vallejo aludiendo al dolor humano. Por ser un escritor de antaño es que los elementos aluden a algo antiguo y precario refiriéndose también a la situación económica poco favorable que vivó el poeta.
César Vallejo – Alternative Doodle
#BlameVallejo
But this anniversary has not been exempt from controversy. Controversy has risen from an article [es] in a local newspaper that alludes to the celebrated sadness of the Vallejan poetry; in the sense that it has damaged the national sub-conscience and is guilty of the supposed defeatism of the Peruvians. The author of the article, Diego de La Torre, later attacked J.R. Ribeyro, another Peruvian writer, who praises liberal theories. According to him, these are the things that contribute to achieving “a citizen with a winning mentality and lack of complexes.”
The reactions on social networks were immediate and devastatingly in Vallejo's defense. Above all, reactions were most frequent on Twitter, where Twitter users posted sarcastically under the hashtag  #CulpadeVallejo (#BlameVallejo) [es],  throwing blame at the poet for everything bad that has happened.
A copy of the entire article was made public [es] on Facebook, but it is in the blogs where one can truly see the debates against the article. For example, Gustavo Faverón wrote [es]:
El artículo de Diego de la Torre dice que estaríamos mejor si en lugar de tener a uno de los cuentistas magistrales de la tradición hispana y en lugar de tener a quien fuera, posiblemente, el mayor transformador de la poesía en español en los últimos trescientos cincuenta años, hubiéramos tenido una serie de epígonos de Paulo Coelho. […]
Diego de la Torre's article says that we would be better if instead of having one of the magisterial writers of Hispanic history and instead of having who was, possibly, the oldest transformer of Spanish poetry in the last 350 years, we would have had a series of imitators such as Paulo Coelho. […]
Diego de la Torre, whose reading capacity does not go much further than interpretations of letters (similar to the instance where the celebrated character of Ribeyro killed his lover because of her inability to comprehend a metaphor). He supposes that life is quite literally a competition with  distributions of medals upon the finish line, and that, someone like Vallejo, who perhaps died without money and without having achieved in life full celebrity status, or perhaps simply did not exhaust the logic of the capital as the last measure of all moral, is no more than a failure.
Later, he concludes:
Tonterías, obviamente. Tonterías que equivaldrían a decir que por culpa de Sófocles los griegos creían que el esfuerzo humano era inútil, o que por culpa de Kafka los germanos suponen que un hombre es en el fondo una cucaracha, o que debido a Melville y a Hawthorne y a Poe y a Faulkner los americanos se creen condenados a la desgracia y al horror, o que Camus y Sartre han convertido a los franceses en fatalistas o en nihilistas.
In the group blog Mil Inviernos, a similar opinion [es] is shared:
Para de la Torre, César Vallejo ha sido más nefasto que Fujimori o Guzmán porque se insertó en el inconsciente y, para poderlo discernir, sería necesario un psicoanalista. Habría que preguntarle al columnista peruano qué influencia ha tenido “Las once mil vergas” de Apollinaire en el comportamiento de los franceses o si Passolini por haber hecho “Saló o los 120 días de Sodoma” es el culpable de que Italia tenga a Berlusconi.
Iván Thays points out, with regards to the outraged Twitter users, that many of them ” have not read, nor will read, a line of Julio Ramón Ribeyro or of César Vallejo.” Later on, he gives his own opinion [es] about the article:
No solo sustenta una idea improbable, como decir que una obra puede dañar el subconsciente nacional, o prejuiciosa, como dar a entender entre líneas que los autores representativos deben escribir libros optimistas para favorecer la autoestima de sus países, sino que, además, ha leído de manera superficial y frívola los autores que menciona, y en especial a César Vallejo, quien está muy lejos de ser un derrotista […]
debe quedar claro que cuando César Vallejo escribe: “Yo nací un día en el que Dios estuvo enfermo” no está expresando una idea derrotista sino su disconformidad frente al mundo, atestiguando que existe una idea de justicia implantada por un superior (llámese Dios o quien sea) contra la que se subleva. En ese poema la frase se reitera una y otra vez (de ahí el título “Espergesia”) aumentando el nivel de indignación del poeta y llamando al lector a indignarse también.
It sustains an improbable idea; like saying that a work of literature can damage the national subconscience, or prejudice; like making one understand that representative authors must write optimistic books in favour of the self-esteem of the countries. But also he has read of the superficial and frivolous manners of the authors that he mentions, especially César Vallejo, who is infact quite far from being a defeatist. […]
it must remain clear that when César Vallejo writes: “I was born on a day when God was ill,” that he is not expressing the defeatist idea, but his discomfort against the world. He is testifying that there exists an idea of well-established justice by a superior being (calling himself God or whoever he may be) against he that infuriates himself. In this poem, the phrase  is repeated over and over again “Espergesia”, increasing the level of indignation of the poet and calling to the reader to become indignant himself.
Finally he manifests that:
Hace 120 años nació César Vallejo y, por lo visto, la incomprensión que obtuvo de sus compatriotas contemporáneos (que lo hizo refugiarse en París y no regresar jamás) sigue vigente en este nuevo país puesto al servicio de la “Marca Perú”.
Virtual tributes
But not everything that has been written about Vallejo these days has turned into a provoked debate over the aforementioned article. In her blog, Sonia Luz Carrillo recalls [es] and compiles previous articles that have been written about the poet.
In Cinencuentro they review [es] points of intersection between Vallejo's poetry and cinema, and post a compilation of videos [es] with his declaimed poems also proves to be quite interesting.
The aforementioned Gustavo Faverón writes [es] about “Nueve Monstruos” (“Nine Monsters”), one of Vallejo's most famous poems:
Vallejo, como escritor y como intelectual, se estrelló muchas veces contra los obstáculos de una educación limitada y las escaseces que afronta cualquier peruano de la clase media provinciana que además se va empobreciendo a lo largo de su vida; luchó y fracasó en muchos géneros (no fue un gran novelista, no fue un gran dramaturgo, aunque tratara), pero no desfalleció ni renunció, probablemente porque entendió que los fracasos temporales eran inevitables en una empresa como la que se había planteado, que no era la pequeña empresa de triunfar como escritor, sino la inmensa empresa de inventar un lenguaje que le permitiera decir lo inefable o por lo menos señalarlo, dibujar el gesto que nos permitiera intuirlo.
The linguist Nila Vigil recalls [es] her first time reading a work by Vallejo:
Yo lo conocí en el colegio, me encantó (lo de Paco Yunque no lo cuento). En casa de mis padres había dos libritos de él de editorial Losada y me los devoré. No sé cuánto entendería de sus poemas pero los leía y leía con pasión porque me dejaban un no sé qué en el alma. Han pasado más de 30 años desde la primera vez que lo leí y me sigo emocionando cuando lo leo. Creo que es uno de los mejores poetas que han escrito en castellano.
In the blog Marea Cultural, Augusto Rubio recalls [es]:
César Vallejo se reconcilia en el alma y en el corazón de su patria cuando abrimos sus libros y les damos lectura. Él representaba emblemáticamente el alma mestiza peruana y latinoamericana que prefiere la marginación dolorosa a la humillación de la servidumbre.
Finally, on Youtube you can find this musical version of “Masa”; another of the most recognized poems of César Vallejo.

author: Juan Arellano


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Philippines: Electric Jeepneys · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Prime Sarmiento writes that the Philippines has recently launched the largest electric public transport fleet in Southeast Asia with its first commercial franchise of electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys). The jeepney is the most popular public mode of transport in the country

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Mong Palatino


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Russia: “Anatomy of a Protest” Film Causes “NTV Lies” Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
On Sunday, March 18, 2012, there were old TV sets, a mock coffin, and plenty of flowers and cookies outside the Ostankino TV tower in Moscow, where a few hundred protesters gathered for a mock funeral of the “truthful television.”
The unsanctioned rally was organized via social networks [ru] in response to “Anatomy of a Protest,” a film produced by and aired on the state-controlled NTV channel on Thursday, March 15, which claimed, among other things, that those who attended recent opposition rallies had received “money and cookies” for their participation.
NTV's mock grave at the Funeral of the Truthful Television rally at Ostankino, Moscow. Photo by EVGENY FRANK, copyright © Demotix (18/03/12).
On Friday, March 16, public outrage sparked by NTV's film gained momentum, with the hashtag #НТВлжет (“NTV lies”) soon becoming one of the top trending topics on Twitter.
Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) wrote:
#НТВлжёт – “NTV lies” is trending hard on Russian Twi after ridiculous smear documentary about Russian opposition […]
Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) wrote [ru]:
I'm watching yesterday's NTV “film.” And these people are called “journalists” too. I can't stay silent. But I can't allow myself to [use bad language] either ((.
Nikolaus von Twickel (@niktwick) commented on Novaya Gazeta‘s online reaction to the scandal:
Nice: @novaya_gazeta no longer writes NTV but only NTVlies (#НТВлжет) […]
Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) wrote about the reaction of another Russian media outlet, the Expert Magazine:
Expert mag cutting all cooperation w NTV after false use of ed-in-chief interview in yesterday's hitjob https://www.facebook.com/ExpertOnline/posts/316335338428051 v @Yenisei23
Alex Sidorenko (@sidorenko_intl) wrote about the reaction on the Russian social networks:
Bloggers got completely tired of accusatory #NTV journo-crap. DDoSed #NTV servers and completely trashed Vkontakte page: vk.com/ntv
Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) noted the reaction [ru] by Ashot Gabrelyanov, the editor of LifeNews.ru online tabloid:
Chief Executive of lifenews.ru @gabrelyanov says to those complaining about NTV attack on the protests. “Watch Facebook” if u don't like TV.
@NatVasilyevaAP tweeted about NTV's surprising counter-reaction to the public outrage:
NTV is set to show a re-run of its hatchet job on the oppossion in the evening of the planned rally against NTV http://t.co/Y8WhQZjt
@BBCDanielS pointed out that, according to NTV, the film's re-run was scheduled “due to popular demand.” He wrote:
NTV has decided to wind the protestors up. It is going to RE-BROADCAST the controversial documentary on Sunday night after the demonstration
Both @NatVasilyevaAP and @BBCDanielS were referring to the March 18 protest at Ostankino. On Saturday, March 17, however, a smaller protest took place at Pushkin Square in Moscow. On his Facebook page, Andrei Jvirblis posted a few photos from the gathering and wrote [ru]:
[…] [A rally] either for freedom to political prisoners, or against NTV's lies, or just to have a chat. Spring is here, finally!
Journalist and activist Olga Romanova, whose husband, businessman Alexei Kozlov, was sentenced to five years in prison on March 15, attended the March 17 gathering at Pushkin Square, and later explained [ru] on her Facebook page why she was against boycotting NTV:
[…] First, good, honest people remain there and continue working […]. Second, you shouldn't share links to the stupid film – its ranking is only growing because of that, i.e. [the money continues to flow in]. If you don't like it, ignore it. […] Third, the honest employees of NTV will attend the rally at Ostankino tomorrow, and it's the toughest for them now, by the way. […]
A reader, Marina Mirlina, responded [ru]:
I know, too, that there are some wonderful and honest journalists at NTV. […] And I'll go to the rally now. I think that this way we'll be able to help those honest journalists who still work there. And they understand perfectly well that these rallies are not against them but for them…
Vera Lurie wrote [ru]:
Olga, I used to think differently, but I admit that you are right and I'm not. It's impossible for everyone to resign. Teachers at all schools, because there are dishonest ones, those who took part in falsifying [the election results]; journalists, because there are many corrupt and cynical, with no shame and consciousness; all the judges, because a huge number of judges have lost their human qualities. As [Niels Bohr] used to say, at least tiny pockets of decency should be preserved. Everywhere.
A number of online anti-NTV initiatives have emerged in the past few days.
There is now a “Boycott NTV” Facebook page, with 1,566 members; its mission statement reads [en]:
In Russia, tv channel NTV (НТВ) issued a false statement alleging that the opposition to the ruling party is being paid by “money and cookies”. This group was created in order to call for a boycott of NTV and its advertisers.
Tomsk-based user Sergey Maltsev posted [ru] a list of NTV's advertisers, both domestic and foreign, with their contact info and a sample appeal letter:
[…] I am writing to inform you that I refuse to buy and use [your] products, because your company, as an advertiser, supports the Russian TV – NTV channel in particular – which broadcasts absolutely dishonest and offensive programs. […] The [latest NTV show], an absolutely dishonest “Anatomy of a Protest,” has affected me personally, since I am a participant of all the political rallies “For fair elections!” that took place in Tomsk from Dec. 2011 to March 2012. I am an ordinary citizen and I do not have any means of exerting pressure on NTV's executives, except for one: boycotting the products and services of the channel's advertisers. I'll be calling everyone who shares my views to such actions, via my personal blog, social networks, mass media outlets accessible to me, etc. I hope that when our numbers have grown noticeably enough, your company will refuse to advertise on NTV. […]
@sidorenko_intl reported on a similar initiative on LiveJournal (the LJ post [ru] mentioned in the tweet below now has over 2,000 comments):
Bloggers continue attacking #NTV: @ottenki_serogo had created a list of NTV advertizers in order to boycott them http://ottenki-serogo.livejournal.com/248162.html [ru]
Another Facebook group, “I do not watch NTV,” has 1,607 ‘likes’. Alfred Koch, who headed Gazprom-Media at the time of its controversial takeover of NTV in 2001, argued [ru] on his Facebook page that “our opponents understand the language of money well” and that it might be a lot more efficient to stop watching NTV than to “go out in the freezing temperatures to yell something anti-Kremlin for two hours”:
[…] Just in Moscow, around 2 million people could support the “I do not watch NTV” action. Such a significant loss of audience cannot be ignored by the Gallup Media, and this, in its turn, will become public. Which means that the advertisers will learn about it. NTV losses due to such an action will amount to millions of dollars a month. […] The conditions to be met for the action to stop are also simple […]: clear and unambiguous apologies for the “Anatomy of a Protest” show […]. […]
In another Facebook post [ru], Koch provides some financial projections:
[…] According to my estimates, NTV earned approximately $700-$800 million from advertisement last year. Even a 10-percent shrinking of the audience (and I think we can achieve this, if about 40 percent of the population voted against Putin and we could get at least every fourth person involved), this would mean a year-end earnings loss of about $80 million. Or around $6-$7 million a month (the action's approximate duration). Trust me, it's a significant blow! […]
Riot police at the Funeral of the Truthful Television rally at Ostankino, Moscow. Photo by EVGENY FRANK, copyright © Demotix (18/03/12).
Back in the offline world, at the March 18 Ostankino rally, the riot police, quite predictably, ended up detaining “about 100 protesters.” The echo of these detentions was best heard online, of course.
Fedor Kemenov (@fkemenov) posted a picture of a protester being detained and tweeted [ru]:
Participants of the rally at #Ostankino, tired and cold, are being helped into a warm bus by the caring policemen […]
On Facebook, Vyacheslav Yegorov posted a photo of an elderly man being detained in a very rough manner and wrote [ru]:
Yesterday at [Pushkin Square], this [old man] kept asking the police: “Don't you see what's happening to the country?” Today, they dragged him […] to a [prisoner transport vehicle]. How can it be???!!! What's he so dangerous for?? […]
Artem Ayvazov (@shegolll) tweeted [ru] his own detention:
Oh, I've been detained, am sitting in a [prisoner transport vehicle]. [Detained] for the “Trained to Broadcast Lies” poster […]
He tweeted throughout his ride to a police station (during which he and other detainees were joking [ru] and singing [ru] Yuri Shevchuk‘s songs, as well as Katyusha, a Russian wartime song), and throughout his stay there [ru], and was released approximately four hours later, along with others.
A young woman is being detained at the Funeral of the Truthful Television rally at Ostankino, Moscow. Photo by MARIA PLESHKOVA, copyright © Demotix (18/03/12).
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Trinidad & Tobago: Same Old Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Eternal Pantomime is disillusioned with Trinidad and Tobago politics, saying: “A lot happened this week to paint both the ruling Government and the Opposition in a bad light, if you ask me. And in all instances the public’s reactions and responses revealed that as a country many of us are frustrated and despondent….and  even more of us are enabling and encouraging a particular old style of politics.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bangladesh: The Plight of the Indigenous People · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

This post is part of our special coverage on Indigenous Rights.
In Bangladesh there are more than 45 indigenous tribes (adibashis) [bn] of which 11 reside in the Chittagong hill tracts. The rest are scattered in other parts of the country. Many of them are not faring well. Every day some of them are being subjected to discrimination, oppression and abuse.
A report by Kapeng Foundation and Oxfam [bn] entitled “Human Rights Situation of the Adibashis – 2011″, reveals that last year violent racial clashes related to land disputes resulted in the burning down of 111 indigenous homes. Seven tribal people were killed and 12 houses were ransacked. Eleven tribal women were raped in different incidents and five of them were killed.
Tribal indigenous people of Bangladesh. Image by Anwar Hussain, copyright Demotix (9 August, 2010).
Mithushilak Murmu [bn] commented on the motivation of these attacks:
It seems that our neighbors, the bigger communities are being mobilized by racial thoughts. The father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's secular thinking and non-racial and inclusive perspectives are being blacked out by his successors. The indigenous people are afraid most of the times, they are living in fear.
Malobika Tudo [bn] said:
The tribal children learn their first words in Bangla, which is not their mother tongue. And it seems there is nobody in this country to speak for them.
Ajal Dewan came to Dhaka from Chittagong Hill Tracts for higher studies. He wrote [bn] in the Adibashi Bangla (Indigenous Bengali) blog how he faced problem with his tribal features:
Most of my experiences in this short lived life are bitter. But the most bitter ones include being bullied for my distinctive face and language. The waiter at the restaurant frowns at me and if I sing a song in my own language in the street I face the same consequence. If I sing or recite in Bangla, there is no problem. [It seems] it's a crime to speak in my language.
There is no respite even in university. My classmates think that we savor snakes and frogs as we live on the hills. I have to answer questions all the time on whether we eat cockroaches or sleep in treehouses. […]
Antoni Rema [bn] has similar experiences:
We are bullied [by men] when we walk down the streets. Especially the fair skinned tribal [women] like us are facing this trouble the most. On the streets, we are being frowned upon with nonsense words (like chang, chung), we are being teased, taunted and distracted. Do they know how much it hurts us?
We can get a feeling about the type of repression the tribal people are subjected to from the posts of Ajal Dewan and Antini Rema. This is not only true for the indigenous people of the hills – all tribes of the country have similar stories to tell.
The oppression on them is motivated by mainly the urge to grab and occupy their lands and livelihoods. Journalist Biplob Rahman wrote in an article [bn] after visiting a tribe in the north of Bangladesh:
In recent times the minority Santal tribes of Birganj, Chirir Bandar, Fulbari and Nababganj of Dinajpur Zila have continued to lost their lands to occupiers. Almost 500000 indigenous Santals have virtually no assets after losing everything over the years.
On the other hand Mithushilak Murmu [bn] writes about the plights of the indigenous labors who work in the tea gardens of Sylhet after visiting them:
They get a wage of Taka 30 (35 US Cents) after a day's hard work. In the early morning they start to pluck tea leaves and fill the bamboo buckets and continue till the evening takes them to the factory. […] The price of tea has increased day by day, but their benefits and wages haven't.
The plights of the discriminated, abused and oppressed tribes were deepened by a remark [bn] by the country's foreign minister. Several months ago in a discussion with the delegates of development organizations and diplomats she mentioned “there is no indigenous people in the country“.
In her opinion, because in the past centuries several tribes have come from neighboring countries to settle in the hills of Bangladesh, they should not be termed as indigenous, but tribal minorities. The indigenous tribes reacted strongly to this statement; they took the streets to protest and claim constitutional recognition.
Indigenous people of Bangladesh are demanding constitutional recognition in Dhaka. Image by Abu Ala, copyright Demotix (29/4/2011).
Odong Chakma in a post in Mukto Mona blog depicts how a poster on indigenous people in the Dhaka (Hajrat Shahjalal) International Airport has been altered. A white band has been placed on the caption “smiling indigenous women of Chittagong Hill-Tract” under the picture and it reads now “.. women of Chittagong Hill-Tract”.
The blogger says:
Can you wipe out the indigenous population by wiping the name?
It may be mentioned that although the tribal and Bengali people have lived together for centuries, after the partition of India (in 1947), Muslim settlers came pouring in from India and started to settle in the Chittagong Hill tracts. The confrontations started from there, which became acute when in 1979 the government undertook a program to settle almost half a million people in the indigenous lands.
Ramdaschand Hasda [bn] says in this context:
After living hundreds of years together, the Bengalis and the indigenous people could not be friends.
This post is part of our special coverage on Indigenous Rights.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Bolivia: New March Against TIPNIS Road to Start in April · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Dario Kenner, a blogger based in La Paz, reports that “a majority of community leaders from the TIPNIS indigenous territory and national park decided to begin a march towards La Paz on 20 April to oppose a road project through their territory. This is the second time these communities will protest the road proposed by the Bolivian government led by President Evo Morales.” Further information can be found at Dario's blog or Facebook page.

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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China: Reactions to India’s Poor and Homeless · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens’ reactions to a set of photos that show India's poor and homeless.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Shanghai International Adult Products Expo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The 9th Shanghai International Adult Products Expo kicked off with pole dancers and adult movie stars from Japan on March 18, 2012. Off-beat China has posted a set of photos on the exhibition's opening.


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Colombia: Interactive llustrated Tour of Medellin  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Take a virtual tour of Medellin, Colombia through illustrations, picture composites and images of the different locations around the city, all placed within a clickable map in Medellin Illustrated [es].

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Colombia: Video Contrasts Ads Vs. Reality of Oil Extraction Companies · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In Is Pacific Rubiales Really Colombia? [es] the people of Puerto Gaitán contradict the statements made by oil and mineral extraction corporation Pacific Rubiales’ television ads where community members state they are better off and happy with Pacific Rubiales.


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Cuba: Diverse Opinions on Pope Benedict’s Visit · Global Voices
Elaine Diaz

All links lead to texts in in Spanish unless otherwise stated.
Since November 10, 2011, when the Vatican announced  Pope Benedict's trip to Cuba and Mexico, the only countries in Latin America he will visit, Cuban bloggers began to display their views.
Nine days after the official communication, Yasmín Silvia Portales published in Letters from Cuba, Fernando Rasvberg's blog, an article that questioned the hegemony of the Catholic religion in Cuba:
Opino que puestos en plan de identificar una religión nacional, nadie podrá negar que la competencia está entre las de origen africano, porque acá devinieron algo nuevo, porque sus símbolos y sesgos culturales atraviesan el sentido común de “lo cubano” sin respeto a clases, razas o géneros, porque es popular -en el mejor sentido de la palabra.
Preparations in the Revolution Square for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. Photo courtesy of Jorge Luis Baños.
In addition, this Cuban blogger, who calls herself a Marxist, non-heterosexual and Afro-descendant, criticized the positions of Pope Benedict XVI with respect to “the recent scandals of pedophiles faced by the Catholic Church, the use of condoms, and the right to divorce.”
The visit precedes the pilgrimage of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, declared Patroness of this Caribbean island on May 10, 1916, and crowned by Pope John Paul II in January 1998.
For the blogger and advocate of sexual diversity Francisco Rodríguez, popularly known as Paquito el de Cuba, “the Virgin of the Charity is certainly much more than a religious symbol. Her legend is part of Cuban culture, source of spirituality for many people and a source of inspiration and unity throughout much of our national history.”
However, according Paquito:
Benedicto XVI no es la Virgen, ni es un santo, ni creo que represente absolutamente ningún valor humano del cual yo me sienta parte. Comprendo, sin embargo, que su presencia en Cuba podría ser positiva y contribuir desde el punto de vista político a las relaciones exteriores del país y al diálogo con un sector de nuestra población.
The LGBT community of the island confesses to “expect nothing from this visit.” The blog El Nictálope reminds us:
Desde hace años [Benedicto XVI] atrae la atención del público a causa de sus obsesivas manifestaciones contra los derechos de los homosexuales y transexuales. Casi no transcurre un mes sin que el pontífice, de súbito, arremeta contra las familias homoparentales y el matrimonio igualitario. Como paradoja, parece haber sido tardo y reticente ante los casos de abuso infantil por parte de sacerdotes.
On the other hand, the blog Santiago en mí, written from the Cuban province where first mass will be held, take it with the typical Cuban sense of humor when describing the significance of the Pope's visit.
Lo cierto es que, hoy por hoy, la visita del Papa, y todo cuanto se mueve alrededor de la misma, está en el centro de la mira de los cubanos, quienes, sin renunciar jamás a la jocosidad que los caracteriza y que ha llevado a algún “reconocido sabio maestro” a afirmar que los cubanos “toman en serio los chistes y hacen chistes de lo serio”, achacan a la visita del máximo exponente de la iglesia católica cuanto bien o mal les ocurre por estos días.
Simultaneously, the opposition based in the island recently starred occupations in churches of Havana and Holguin. Although there are different versions of these events, various media reported that dissident groups sent a letter to the Archbishop of Havana to be delivered to Pope Benedict XVI. According to a report from IPS:
Los reclamos del grupo del Partido Republicano Cubano incluyen excarcelación de presos, alza de salarios y pensiones, cese de persecución a opositores, derecho a propiedad privada y a crear medios alternativos de información, acceso a Internet, “marco legal para un estado de derecho” y libertad de viajar al extranjero.
However, a press release issued by the Archdiocese of Havana rejected the occupation of the churches:
Nadie tiene derecho a convertir los templos en trincheras políticas. Nadie tiene derecho a perturbar el espíritu celebrativo de los fieles cubanos, y de muchos otros ciudadanos, que aguardan con júbilo y esperanza la visita del Santo Padre Benedicto XVI a Cuba.
The publication of an editorial in the official newspaper Granma has also raised a variety of opinions. In the article, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba called to welcome Benedict XVI with “affection and respect.”
In a post titled “Strictly personal confession“, the blogger Luis Toledo Sande says:
Dejemos a un lado el llamamiento a sentir afecto, opción que debe decidir cada quien según su conciencia y sus nociones manden.
Subsequently, Sande highlights the work of the Cuban authorities to ensure a respectful reception of the Pope:
A la vista está, construido al pie del monumento a José Martí en la Plaza de la Revolución que lleva su nombre, una arcada temporal que, además de mostrar respeto al visitante, lo protegerá del fuerte sol caribeño, que ya a las 9 de la mañana provocará por estas fechas.
Despite the political and religious disagreements, for some Cuban bloggers this visit will be positive: it “is seen as one of the highlights from this still young 2012.”

author: Elaine Diaz


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Cuba: Black Spring, Nine Years After   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Cuban Black Spring – a term that has come to describe the government crackdown on dissidents that took place in 2003 – marks its ninth anniversary this year. Seventy-five people were imprisoned after the repressive move, accused of acting as agents of the United States.
All the political prisoners detained during the Black Spring were eventually freed, starting in 2010, with exile to Spain being a condition of their release. The dissidents that refused this condition were among the last to be set free.
The injustice of the sentences inspired the formation of Cuba's most famous and well-respected opposition group, Las Damas de Blanco (The Ladies in White), made up of the wives and other female relatives of the dissidents, which lobbied via peaceful protest for their release.
The ninth anniversary of the Black Spring has many Cuban bloggers remembering their history and wondering whether anything has fundamentally changed – especially in the context of the impending papal visit and the pontiff's apparent inability to meet with opposition groups to discuss the country's human rights record.
Reinaldo Escobar, writing at Translating Cuba, notes that:
On the ninth anniversary of the Black Spring of 2003, and in the environment leading up to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba, the Cuban political police have intensified their repressive activities against the Ladies in White.
It is at least paradoxical that State Security acts as if it has the conviction that the ecclesiastic authorities are not going to protest. It gives the impression that an understanding has been reached, or is being reached, between the government and the Catholic church, under which the police have a free hand to repress, and the religious to expand their prerogatives with regards to worship. There will be more processions, more permissions to rebuild churches, seminaries and convents, in exchange for a commitment to look only to heaven.
Luckily, faith does not depend on these blunders. What will be damaged over the long term is the influence of the Catholic church in a future without a dictatorship.
Pedazos da la Isla notes that nine years later, the crackdowns continue:
On the ninth anniversary of Cuba’s Black Spring (where 75 dissidents were arbitrarily arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2003) and only one week before the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the island, a number of human rights activists throughout the country were repressed and detained, especially the Ladies in White who were attempting to go to mass in their respective local churches, this past Sunday. This oppressive wave also extended itself into the city of Pinar del Rio..
While Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter wonders whether another Black Spring is imminent, another Translating Cuba contributor – and one of the Black Spring 75 – Juan Adolfo Fernández Sainz, shares a moving testimony:
The same day, March 18, 2003 I went to Chinatown, in downtown Havana, to exchange ideas with colleagues in the independent press. The issue was the Iraq War, which had been declared unilaterally, and without the strong international support there had been for Operation Desert Storm, after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.
Like the previous day there had been numerous arrests of opponents, it crossed my mind to burn some papers but I decided not to. My articles, my comments, I wrote to be published. They were my views and had nothing to hide. I did not feel guilty. The afternoon of the 19th my house underwent a thorough search.
My room was filled with soldiers until dawn. I noticed that the people who had invaded my space did not know anything about us. They had previously been poisoned. To them I was a traitor in the service of a foreign power.
In the process of the criminal investigation, it was the same. All they cared about was that I incriminate the U.S. government…I concluded that they were not even interested to get to the truth only to condemn us by all means.
It was a brutal sentence. One day in prison I amused myself adding up the sentences of all the 75; we had almost 1500 years in total, an average of twenty. None of us had committed violent acts, or incited violence. There have been worst waves of repression, but nothing so cruel against proven civil and peaceful opposition. All the major projects proposed by the opponents were for a peaceful transition to democracy.
I spent seven years in prison and have no regrets. After I chose the easiest route and went abroad. Hence my commitment to those who decided to stay. And my decision to do whatever my conscience tells me to, to support the fight we have chosen. Not to impose any idea. I know them, they want the best for Cuba.


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Egypt: Baheyya Weighs in on Khaled Ali  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Renowned Egyptian blogger Baheyya writes about Egypt's youngest presidential candidate – Khaled Ali, who turned 40 last month. “In this maiden presidential race, electability is hard to gauge. But if credibility is a criterion, then Khaled Ali has it in spades,” writes the blogger.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Pope Shenoda’s Funeral  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Egypt, Zeinobia covers Pope Shenoda's funeral in Cairo in this blog post.


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Hungary: An Eventful Celebration of the National Holiday · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Last week, Hungary celebrated the 164th anniversary of the 1848 Revolution. On March 15, 2012, the opposition elected a rapper as the ‘alternative president’ – while the prime minister compared the country to a frog jumping out of a pot of hot water at the very last moment – and a group of far-right protesters broke into the office of the International Monetary Fund. On March 16, a techno party was held at Budapest's Heroes’ Square. On March 17, new members of the Hungarian National Guard took their oath at the same location.
Before the national holiday of March 15, the Hungarian media devoted some coverage to the news of the Polish and French supporters coming to attend the demonstrations. Véleményvezér blog posted [hu] about this with the title, “March 15: thanks but we don't want to import protesters!”:
[…] It looks like the Hungarian national holiday's commemorations will turn into real international events. Gazeta Polska, a right-wing weekly, reports under the title of “A Long Voyage to Hungary” that several thousands Poles are traveling to Hungary to rally for Viktor Orbán. French left-wing intellectuals have published a public invitation that says it's a cause of conscience to come to Hungary and attend the Milla protest against the ‘nationalist’ Fidesz government. […]
Polish supporters of Jaroslaw Kaczinsky's party, the PiS, have arrived in Hungary to support the Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán on the National Day. Photo by DAVID FERENCZY, copyright © Demotix (15/03/12).
Guest representatives of the two nations attended the day's two largest events. The Poles mainly attended the official governmental celebrations and the main event in the afternoon of March 15, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke. The French guests mainly attended the largest opposition demonstration together with the citizen movements.
The latter was organized through the Facebook group ‘One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary‘ (the English mirror page is here), often dubbed as ‘Milla’. Milla started their event also in the afternoon, with a speech by Dopeman, a popular rap musician, who had successfully re-positioned himself from a popular musician to an artist expressing the opinion of a strong citizen opposition by publishing an explicit song partly using the words of the Hungarian anthem [hu].
Starting from the national holiday of October 23, Milla has been running a highly criticized and incoherent contest for the ‘alternative president’ position – which Dopeman ended up winning. (They admitted on their blog [hu] that the contest's process was not perfect.)
The rapper cited the many problems of the Hungarian society in his opening speech [hu] on March 15, also quoting his own lyrics about the struggles of living in Hungary. Afterwards representatives of those social groups that have been affected by the current government's politics – students, journalists, members of the civil society organizations, etc. – also spoke.
A military parade in Budapest on the National Day of Hungary. Photo by DAVID FERENCZY, copyright © Demotix (15/03/12).
At the same time, in front of the Hungarian Parliament, PM Orbán compared the Hungarian society's loan-taking to a frog that feels comfortable in a pot of slow-boiling water until it's almost too late.
His criticism of the EU was highlighted by the international media, and here is what Eva Balogh had to say about it on her blog:
[…] As for the current political atmosphere in Europe Orbán lashed out with a few harsh words on that topic. Hungarians understand that “the European Union is not an alliance of saints but they cannot watch with folded arms while some political and intellectual trend forces an unholy alliance on Europe.” […]
By the end of the Milla event, a far-right group ‘Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement‘ (the name refers to the 64 counties that existed before the Treaty of Trianon, a resentful memory in the Hungarian history) rallied at the same place, generating a conflict which was solved by the presence of the police. The youth movement then went to the local office of the International Monetary Fund, where they wanted to hand in a petition to the representatives of the organization, and when they were told they could not do it, they lit firecrackers inside the building. Egyenlítő blog recorded their actions and shared the video on YouTube.
March 16 was still about celebrating the 1848 revolution, but some Budapest youths decided to do it their own way. ‘More Techno To The Parliament‘ is a movement opposed to the current political situation, but is reacting to it by using some key terms of political speech. They hold parties on national holidays where they talk about the ‘techno question’ and promote the idea of a ‘state techno radio’, not missing out the issue of the need for professional speaker systems and a DJ in each village. This time the party was at Budapest's Heroes’ Square:
On March 17, also at Heroes’ Square, some 130 people took an oath [hu] as new members of a paramilitary group called the Hungarian National Guard. The ‘guardists’ have become popular in the past few years in Hungary, but because of their radical activities the core group,the Hungarian Guard, had been banned. Similar groups re-appeared in some villages in northern Hungary (Global Voices posts about this are here and here), threatening the Roma population with their presence.
This video shows the anti-far-right protesters, too, holding posters saying ‘No Garda’, ‘No Racism’.

author: Marietta Le


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Israel: “We Love Iranians”  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Paul Mutter blogs about the newest permutations of a social media campaign started over the weekend by two Israeli graphics designers that is called “We Love Iranians,” aimed at raising public awareness against the steady march to war the Likud government has been taking Israel on towards Iran. The meme, which uses cat pictures, has “gone viral” in Israel.


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Macedonia: Blogger Reviews “In the Land of Blood and Honey” · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Vnukot joined the debate about Angelina Jolie's movie by emphasizing the technical imperfections, and was especially unnerved [mk] that “all the characters in the film speak the languages related to Bosnia, the Serbo-Croatian as it was known then, or today's Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian language. However in Angie's ‘masterpiece’ all of them, from a general… to the victims that have only one line before they get a bullet in the head, literally everybody, speak like Russian mobsters in some cheap American movie filmed in a cellar for USD 5,000. If this concept is remote to you, imagine a broken English interview of a Macedonian miss/mister universe/world candidate in China [1, 2, 3] – this film is worse!”

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Macedonia: Making a Humanitarian Book of Interesting Tweets · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

DarjanR, ArsovaM, and Angie_Mkd have issued a call [mk] for participation in creating a pocket-size book with the most interesting tweets, and invited other Macedonian Twitter users to submit their favorites. They are also trying to crowdsource the design, printing and publishing. Proceeds will go to charity. One of the first users to respond was i999y, who started posting [mk] excerpts from his collection of funny tweets on his blog.


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Macedonia: March for Peace as “First Step.” What Now? · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Thousands of people turned out to express their willingness to live together in peace by walking the streets and bridges of Skopje during the March for Peace on March 17, 2012.
Estimates of the number of the march's participants by the various media range between 2,000 [fr, en, en] and 4,000 people. The only certain number is that the Facebook event [mk] had 2,225 confirmed participants, and few hundreds more “maybes,” and about 17,000 more invitees who did not respond.
The people first gathered in the Skopje City Park, at the open stage called Školka (Shell).
March for Peace: People gathering in Skopje City Park. Photo: Filip Stojanovski (CC-BY 3.0).
Public figures of different ethnic backgrounds read the short manifesto quoted in the announcement for the Peace March in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Roma, Serbian/Bosnian, and Vlach (Aromanian).
Organizer Petrit Saracini – a musician, a journalist and a writer – speaking at the beginning of the March for Peace. Photo: Vančo Džambaski (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The walk proceeded “without flags and symbols” along Ilinden Boulevard, by the building of the Government, over Goce Delchev Bridge, by then turned left and passed the ancient Stone Bridge, and returned along the River Vardar to the park. The event concluded with a concert of several bands.
March for Peace on Ilinden Boulevard. Photo: Vančo Džambaski (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Several photo galleries were published right after the event by:
Political exploitation & media spin
During the opening, one of the participating celebrities, Esma Redžepova, a renowned singer but also a local politician on the payroll of the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE, greeted the President who happened to be present in the crowd from the stage. Human rights activist Xhabir Deralla wrote [mk] the following day:
…I doubt that the number of 2-3 thousand people who gathered yesterday is enough to persuade the political figures who hurried to appear at the event that it is up to them to stop the policies which brought us to this situation. I even heard a greeting to the President from the stage… Oops! I said to myself. On Facebook some tried to explain that it was just Esma's urge and personal style, not the official position of the organizers. OK, but to accept this, can someone explain why the organizers did not issue a retraction of Esma's greeting?
When I was approached with an offer to support the initiative of the March for Peace as the representative of Civil NGO, nobody told me that it would provide space for the representatives of politics that violates human rights and freedoms, and directly incites deterioration of inter-ethnic relations and tensions between communities in Macedonia. I wrote countless e-mails and had many talks with colleagues, collaborators and friends about the noble background of the March, regardless of the [critiques]. I insisted that as many people as possible attend the March. I firmly believe in the motives even now, but I am not so sure that the goal has been achieved. I still want to remain positive this sunny Sunday morning, partially believing that the March is a good first step. Albeit a belated one…
I knew that the spinners would allow the politicians to turn the event to their own advantage. In the evening news, the government-controlled TV stations pushed the conclusion that the inter-ethnic violence of the previous weeks had resulted from the destructiveness of individuals who went against the wonderful efforts of the current government to build cohabitation in the country. The initiators did not take this into account, even though they should have.
Twitter user MirkoSlav wrote [mk] to “all the haters” that the most important thing is that the March for Peace was successful:
Big deal if some politicians had their photos taken – what else do they do anyway?
Deralla referred to his previous writing on the responsibility for the current situation by the nationalist parties in power to point out:
I am not persuaded that there were enough people in the audience who really understand what stands behind the government practices, and that this March for Peace should have been a warning to the political parties in power, and all political parties in general…
I am not persuaded that the people who climbed onto the stage to recite messages for peace in different languages and sing Bob Marley songs are aware of this. Or they are, but their personal motive and desire for peace were stronger than this awareness? It is legitimate to succumb to noble feelings, but how much did this bring us closer to the goal – peace and cohabitation?
I admit that before arriving at the City Park with my family and colleagues, I secretly hoped that politicians would not attempt to hijack the event. I hoped that the evening news wouldn't spin the information. I hoped that those who support the destructive policies of the main centers of political power (everybody knows who they are), and were in the procession, will come with just a bit of conscience that such initiatives are for the benefit of their families and descendants.
What Now? In Macedonian and Albanian – the logo and slogan of the 2001 post-conflict campaign by NGO Civil – Center for Freedom.
What now?
In his day-after article, Deralla reminded that in 2001, before the outset of most intense hostilities of the military conflict in Macedonia, Civil organized the concert Rock for Peace in Skopje, attended by thousands of youths. Even though it did not influence the course of events, he did not regret it, and wrote that one should continue supporting pro-peace activities, no matter how hopeless they might seem – while the “Nazi machinery continues to work on its dark designs.”
Prior to the March, Djordje Djordjevic from Serbia expressed similar sentiments, in a Facebook note [sr] with reminiscences about the pro-peace efforts in 1991, when he, as a nine year-old child, accompanied his aunt to gather signatures for peace before the break-up of Yugoslavia. They gathered bags of notebooks by people who were signing to appease their conscience (akin to ‘liking’ progressive content of Facebook these days), but also saying that all was in vain.
He wrote:
I grew up near a refugee camp for people from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the nineties. When you see a whole family losing everything they had, when you see that a person is eternally grateful for receiving your old shabby sneakers, or that the whole family has to share one can of “humanitarian beans” for the whole meal, when you hear a woman crying over her whole slaughtered family, no action for peace or for living together seems amateurish or irrelevant.
Imagine if all the people who were signing those notebooks in 1991 went in the streets, stood up in front of the tanks, and said one joint NO for war and one joint YES for peace. Imagine how many lives would have been saved, how many tears would not have been shed!
—
During the walk and through the Facebook event, the participants expressed appreciation for the support by the Global Voices community, which translated the announcement in over a dozen languages (mk, sq, hu, de, fr, sv, es, nl, it, mg, bg, sr, tr).


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Mexico: Videos of the 7.8 Earthquake Felt in Mexico · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

On 20 March, 2012, an earthquake struck off the coast of Acapulco in Mexico, reportedly between 7.6 and 7.8 on the Richter scale. So far, no casualties have been reported. Following, some videos of how the quake was felt in different regions of the country. All audio is in Spanish.
In Puebla:
El temblor del 20 de marzo del 2012. Intensidad de 7.9 grados en la escala de richter (en el epicentro). Epicentro:Ometepec,estado de Guerrero, Mexico. Hora 12:06 PM, lugar de grabacion: Ciudad de Puebla…
In Mexico City:
El sismo duro alrededor de 2 minutos y medio. Ya todos en la calle aun nos seguíamos movie do de un lado a otro.
Up in an office building in Mexico City:
In front of Tlatelolco square in the middle of the city:
More videos of the Earthquake are being shared through Twitter.


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New Book on the African Fashion World · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Helen Jennings wrote  on the editor's blog of Arise Magazine: ”  New African Fashion is the first good-looking coffee table compendium of the most talented African and diaspora designers, models and street style photographers putting African style on the map today.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Norway Hosts First Journalism Award for Indigenous Broadcasters · Global Voices
Simon Maghakyan

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
Norway is widely known for hosting the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Awards. This month, the Scandinavian country is hosting the debut of another important yet largely unknown journalism award ceremony for the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network (WITBN) on March 29, 2012.
Nine finalists have been selected out of 24 entries in the indepth reporting category of the WITBN Indigenous Journalism Awards (2012 WIJA). The ceremony will be held in Kautokeino, Sápmi, Norway.
The official announcement from WIJA explains:
2012 WIJA is the first international Indigenous journalism award dedicated to presenting Indigenous perspectives through journalism in television and audiovisual media. While journalistic standards and ethics are the essences of this honor, the awards in particular look for the portrayal of Indigenous perspectives on stories of local, national or international impact.
This videos shows the 2012 finalists from indigenous networks in developed countries such as Taiwan, Australia, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
One of the nominated programs, from Māori Television, Aotearoa New Zealand, covers what should be labeled as “Occupy Easter Island” (it started a year before the Occupy movement in the U.S.), a rarely reported protest by Rapanui activists who occupied a government-owned hotel for half a year, demanding recognition of Indigenous rights and demonstrating the unfairness of occupation.
'We are ready to die for our land' says Rapanui activist in program broadcast by Maori Television of New Zealand
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is a land where colonization has forced the indigenous population to a small corner of the land, and where tourism had created an unsustainable economy. The sustainability problem is widespread in indigenous peoples’ struggles all over the world to survive and preserve their culture.
The indigenous use of broadcast journalism and modern technology to promote the rights of their communities is a step forward. Read more about the finalists and their programs, here.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Simon Maghakyan


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Panama: “I’m Ngäbe, I’m Bugle, I’m Panamanian” · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
This year, the struggle of the indigenous Ngäbe-Bugle have become more visible than ever before, thanks to social networks. In February, as Ariel Moreno reported on Global Voices, members of the Ngäbe-Bugle community had blocked the Pan-American highway to protest against mining and also “to demand that the government comply with the agreement reached last year with respect to mining in the region.”
Ariel later wrote:
Panama went through one of the biggest crises it has seen since democracy was restored in 1989, when the indigenous people of Ngobe Bugle decided to take over the highway on January 31, 2012, protesting mining and construction of hydroelectric facilities in their district. They stayed there until February 5, when national police removed them by force.
The crisis has been alleviated for the moment with an agreement between the indigenous group and the government. Even so, the uncertainty of what could happen if there is hydroelectric construction or mining in these districts is still on the minds of Panamanians.
Now, to raise awareness about the excessive force used by police, Cooperativa Audiovisua has created the video campaign “Soy Ngäbe, soy Buglé, soy Panameñ@” (“I'm Ngäbe, I'm Bugle, I'm Panamanian”) under the direction of director Guna Orgun Wagua.
The blog Prensa Ngäbe-Bugle [es] explains:
Yomira John, Kanabiz, Lucy Cristina Chau, Said Isaac, o Nelva Reyes son algunas de las y los panameños reconocidos que han prestado su vos y su rostro a la campaña “Soy Ngäbe, soy Buglé, soy panameñ@”. En ella, denuncian con templanza las violaciones de derechos humanos registradas en el informe de varias organizaciones de la sociedad civil que han documentado el uso excesivo de la fuerza, la arbitrariedad y la violencia sexual empleada por la Policía durante la represión de las protestas antimineras de febrero en el país.
In the video, these well-known Panamanians give voice to the testimonies of the indigenous protesters that were affected by police repression. The whole report can be downloaded as a PDF [es].
In the video's description [es] Cooperativa Audiovisual adds that the campaign aims to,
mostrar que la lucha por la defensa de los recursos minerales, hídricos y ambientales no es un deber exclusivo de los Ngäbe-Buglé, sino de todos los panameñ@s.
You can see pictures of the making of the video on Facebook. Follow indigenous leader Silvia Carrera on Twitter [es] and Facebook [es] to stay on top of the news related to the Ngäbe-Bugle.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Poland: The ‘Web Kids’ Manifesto’ · Global Voices
Samy Boutayeb

Originally written by the Polish photographer and poet Piotr Czerski [pl] (see Wikipedia for his biography in Polish), the ‘Web Kids’ Manifesto‘ is now appearing on the web in many other languages since its publication on February 11, 2012, in the Polish regional newspaper, Dziennik Baltycki.
The manifesto expresses the sense of community of a whole generation born alongside the arrival of the networks and Internet. It also proclaims the affinity of young people around the world with the emergence of an original global culture and the desire to participate in the circulation of cultural goods, beyond the legal or geographical frontiers arbitrarily imposed.
According to Czerski, the manifesto is evidence of this generation’s desire to distance itself from the power relations inherited from the established authorities [pl]:
Piotr Czerski, author of 'Web Kids" Manifesto'. Photo from his blog, under licence CC 3.
Nie ma w nas tej wynikającej z onieśmielenia pokornej akceptacji, jaka cechowała naszych rodziców – przekonanych o nadzwyczajnej wadze spraw urzędowych i odświętnym charakterze interakcji z państwem. Nie czujemy tego respektu, który brał się z odległości między samotnym obywatelem, a majestatycznymi szczytami „władzy”, majaczącymi gdzieś pośród mgieł.
This generation opposes private interest groups’ institutional regulations and the control these groups exert over personal information and common cultural goods. It also expresses its need for transparency, freedom, and a “true and real democracy” [pl]:
Być może nie nazwaliśmy tego dotąd, być może jeszcze sami nie zdajemy sobie z tego sprawy – ale tym, czego chcemy, jest chyba po prostu prawdziwa, realna demokracja. Demokracja, o której być może nie śniło się nawet waszym publicystom.
It is a demand more current than ever within the context of the opposition to the ACTA agreement, where the risk of curtailing freedoms is intensely perceived, especially in Eastern Europe [fr].
This manifesto and the reactions it has sparked off everywhere in the world in such a short time, are proof of the desire for freedom, democracy, and transparency that deeply questions our societies. This desire is expressed by those who, from now on, are the willing protagonists of globalization, and who will be the critical citizens of the web over the next decades. The tide has turned, no doubt about it.

author: Samy Boutayeb


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Portugal: Picket to the Prime Minister on the Day of General Strike · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Citizens from Porto are organizing a flash picket [pt] via Facebook to “welcome” the Prime Minister of Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho, on the day of the anti-austerity general strike, March 22. The Prime Minister will be on an official visit to the University of Porto [pt], that celebrates its 101st anniversary this year.

author: Sara Moreira


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Postscript to East Timor Presidential Elections · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nobel Laureate and East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta conceded defeat in the recently concluded presidential elections. The top two candidates are Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres of the leftist Fretilin party and former military chief Taur Matan Ruak. They will both compete in the run-off elections next month.
Former President Ramos Horta conceding defeat in the elections. Photo from Twitter page of Brian Thomson
Alex Tilman of Di'ak Ka Lae? recognizes the peaceful conduct of elections:
The presidential election has been a success so far, and conducted in an atmosphere of peace and optimism, with a palpable desire to show the world the great leap Timor-Leste has taken since self-rule
There is a general mood of triumph in these messages and others like them, hand in hand with the most basic of expectations a people can ask of their leaders. By taking part in this election peacefully and enthusiastically, the people of Timor-Leste have shown the world, and more importantly, proved themselves before their leaders that they are conscious of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and they want nothing more than a democratic country where they can exercise their choices freely and follow whatever dreams they may have. Now it is up to their elected leader to make good of his or her promises, and lead them towards a better future.
The author also gathers reactions from voters who are satisfied with the election turnout. Below are the reactions of Estanislau Saldanha, Abuty Soares, and Josh Trindade (translations provided by Alex Tilman).
Estanislau Saldanha praises the victory of Timorese citizens:
It is not the victory of presidential candidates, but rather the victory of Timorese people because the presidential election was going on safely and peacefully. We need to come together in delivering our prayer to the god in order to achieve a peaceful, safe and prosperous situation for the people and the nation of Timor Leste.
Abuty Soares notes the absence of violence during the election period:
Many congratulations and respect for the people of Timor-Leste (grandparents, uncles and aunts, and the youth, as well as the politicians) who took part in the first round of presidential election yesterday in Timor-Leste. The greatest success in this election is peace. Yesterday you showed your love for this country to take part in the election, removed from violence. With this event, it is our hope that Timor-Leste will be better than what it had always been. Viva Timor-Leste.
Josh Trindade notes that the international media has not been providing adequate coverage of the historic presidential elections:
Congratulations to all Timorese who took part in the campaign and the ballot peacefully and calmly! Let's change the depiction from violence to peace… We note that the international media is not providing an adequate coverage during the campaign and election process, which has been marked with peacefulness. I am proud as a TIMORESE!
Vote counting center. Photo from Twitter page of Edward Rees
Here are some Twitter reactions using the hashtag #eleisaun2012:
@meaganweymes: lu olo says ‘support is coming in from everywhere’ RE other candidates supporting him in second round election
@ashbetteridge: a thing that struck me about the campaigns here over the past week or so is that they are predominately male #eleisaun2012
@malaebulak: Will President Jose Ramos Horta pardon anyone before he leaves office?
@MikhailShoaib: President Jose Ramos-Horta, I admire your humility.


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Senegal: Meet Cheikh Bethio Thioune, President Wade Divine Helper  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

On the blog “Teranga, ici et là”,  M-L Jossselin and M-A Boisvert share  a video [fr] of Cheikh Bethio Thioune, a prominent leader of The Mouride brotherhood, a promiment order of Islamic Sufism in Senegal.  In this video taken at a meeting on March 17, the religious leader declared that the late founder of the brotherhood Amadou Bamba told him in his sleep that they should vote for the incumbent Abdoulaye Wade. The second round of the Senegalese presidential elections is set for March 25 and will oppose Macky Sall to  Abdoulaye Wade.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Turkey: Riot Police Continue to Clash with Kurds Celebrating Newroz · Global Voices
Ruwayda Mustafah

Kurdish people are the largest ethnic group in Turkey, making up 20 per cent of the population, which is close to 20 million people. They have been subject to state-sanctioned discrimination and human rights violations. Today, in Yuksekova, which is a district in the Hakkari province of Turkey, Kurdish people were attacked for gathering to celebrate Newroz – the Kurdish new year.
One Kurdish politician, Ahmed Turk was hospitalised, and 32-year-old Alaattin Okan was hit with a tear-gas canister in Batman. Two prominent Kurdish websites were taken down earlier this morning, and have been unable to send updates regarding the clashes. In addition to this, mainstream news sites have been slow in covering this story, which is why Kurdish activists have used social networking sites to raise awareness.
Faruk Arhan, a journalist for Bianet tweeted a picture showing a Kurdish woman being attacked by Turkish riot police:
Yüksekova
Yekbun Alp tweeted that a Kurdish MP was arrested, amidst clashes between Turkish riot police and Kurds who wanted to celebrate Newroz:
@YekbunAlp: MP Özdal Ücer was a guest of a family in Cizre when police attacked the house and arrested the family.
Another Kurdish activist, tweeted this picture, showing Turkish riot police firing tear-gas and Kurdish youth responding with stones out of anger and frustration that they can't even celebrate the Kurdish new year without being attacked:
Photo: @quzzulqurt
Hawri Tofik from Sweden was among the hundreds of Kurdish activists angered by the Turkish government's brutality towards Kurds celebrating Newroz. She tweeted:
@iirwaH: Seriously, I don't understand.. Why is it a crime to celebrate Newroz? How many more Kurds gonna get injured/killed?
Jiyan Azadi tweeted this picture, saying tens of thousands gathered in Yuksekova, and later were attacked by riot police:
Picture tweeted by @jiyanazadi
Meanwhile, Meltem Ay from London tweeted:
@jin_jiyan_azadi: How foolish of Turkey! Dictatorship and oppressive methods will only unify the Kurdish people and make them stronger!
Alliance For Kurdish Rights has uploaded several pictures, showing Turkish riot police have used tear-gas and water canons to disperse protesters from the district of Yuksekova.

author: Ruwayda Mustafah


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Video: Surfers, Fishermen and Radiation in Post Earthquake Japan · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Refugees.
Journalist Lisa Katayama and filmmaker Jason Wishnow are documenting the lives of people dealing with radiation in a post-earthquake Japan. In We Are All Radioactive, they are including 50% footage made by themselves in the areas around Fukushima Power Plant that had a meltdown after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and 50% footage made by residents who were given waterproof digital cameras so they could tell their own story on surviving the earthquake and now dealing with radiation. The story comes to us via The Laughing Squid.
http://youtu.be/CMM0lOMOdks
Back in March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake off the Pacific Coast off Tohoku struck Japan. This, the strongest ever earthquake recorded to hit Japan, and the subsequent tsunami waves of up to 40.5 meters devastated great parts of the coastal regions of the country and caused the meltdown of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, irradiating the neighboring areas including the ocean waters.
Although many areas have been rebuilt and people relocated, others are struggling to return to their lives before the earthquake. For those who live to be in the water, like surfers, or those that live from the water, like fishermen, understanding how their lives may change due to radiation could be the key to their continued wellbeing.
Through crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo, We Are All Radioactive is raising funds to release the different episodes of their web series progressively: as soon as they get enough money for one episode, they release it through their site until they complete all four episodes. Since launching their campaign, they have released the first episode, launched their website on the anniversary of the earthquake on March 11 and on March 21 they will share the second episode of the series on their site.
From their fundraising site blurb:
We Are All Radioactive combines technology, entertainment, and solid investigative journalism to provide answers to fundamental questions about radiation and the complexities of disaster response on both a political and sociological level.
Our footage also touches on the work of Architecture for Humanity, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, and Safecast — all major global non-profits dedicated to helping Japan respectively with post-earthquake reconstruction, human and environmental rights, water safety, and radiation monitoring.
http://youtu.be/IkEONddlpmU
In the first episode of the series we meet transplanted American surfer Autumn, who visited Japan and decided to stay in Sendai. After the earthquake, she teamed up with other local surfers and fishermen to try and figure out how to rebuild lives through work on their beaches and communities.
http://youtu.be/11vi3ktTr7g
Updates on how crowdfunding efforts are coming along and new releases are available at the projects Facebook page We Are All Radioactive. Videos and the website are in both Japanese and English, and include information such as a timeline outlining the history of Japan with Nuclear Energy and links to meet the four characters from the series: Autumn from episode 1, surfer Konno, humanitarian worker Kasahara trying to understand the effects of radiation on the community, including the life of his unborn child and an artist collective who are exploring the impacts of the disaster with risky endeavours.
Boat launching ceremony image from We Are All Radioactive Sneak Peek on Facebook Page
This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Refugees.


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Iran: Iranians react to Obama’s Nowruz message · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

President Obama's Nowruz message to Iranians has been visited more than 62000 times in YouTube. Iranians wrote different comments for this message, from praising Obama to criticize sanctions.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Arab World: Happy Mother’s Day – Tribute to Martyrs’ Mothers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Arab world marks Mother's Day today, on March 21. On social networking sites, netizens have sent out congratulations to their mothers on the day. They also remember the mothers of the thousands of martyrs killed by the authorities as they protested against dictatorship in this so-called Arab Spring.
From Bahrain, Sayed Ahmed Al Alawi tweets [ar]:
في هذا اليوم لطف الله بقلب كل أم فقدت فلدة كبدها مقتولا ظلماأو مغيبا في المعاقلات أو مشردا في الوطن والمهجر لكل هؤلاء الامهات نقول فصبر جميل
Egyptian Salma Hegeb shares a similar sentiment. She reminds us:
@Salma_ts2al: It's the second #MothersDay for some mothers of martyrs in Egypt. Since yesterday and I'm thinking how painful is that…
And Syrian Zain has bad news:
@ZainSyr: The number of martyrs in #Syria has risen to 70, including 14 children and 7 women #MothersDay
The heartbreak many, particularly children and mothers, felt on this day is summed up by Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi, who admits:
@RedRazan: I really envy those who have many words to say to the mothers of martyrs on Mother's Day. I can't even find one word. #Syria #Mothersday
She adds:
@RedRazan: #Syria Facebookers have been campaigning 2 encourage citizens 2 visit mothers of martyrs 2day,2 show them they're not alone in their plight.
A screen shot of the Syrian martyr's mother Facebook page, which encourages Syrians to visit the mothers of martyrs killed by the Assad regime
The Facebook Page is called We are Your Children, Martyr's Mother and can be found here [ar].
Back in Egypt, Mohannad tells us [ar]:
Meanwhile, Syrians abroad are finding it difficult to connect with family back home and wish their loved ones a Happy Mother's Day. The 47th tweets:
@THE_47th: Seriously, I have to f^^&** find a satellite phone or tie a message to a pigeons feed to tell my grandma Happy Mother's Day in #Homs
Kareem Lailah adds:
@KareemLailah: Please Assad, give me the communication back just for 1 minute to tell her #HappyMothersDay mom! #Syria #iLoveYou
And Syrian Shakeeb Al-Jabri jokes:
@LeShaque: Happy Mother's Day to my motherboard, one mother without which I cannot survive.


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Arab World: Netizens Turn to Twitter to Complain About Dust  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A massive sandstorm hit the Gulf region, disrupting air traffic in Yemen, and closing schools in Saudi Arabia. Netizens from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar turned to Twitter to complain.
In Dubai, UAE, Iyad El-Baghdadi complains:
@Iyad_elbaghdadi: God there's dust everywhere, in my eyes, in my nose, on my desk, between my fingers, in my glass, on my keyboard. And I'm sealed indoors.
From Qatar, Hannah laments:
@hshurey: I am so fed up with this dust in Doha. I can barely even remember what fresh air is!
Ahmed Al Hashemi, from Abu Dhabi, UAE, notes:
@ADHashemi: Covered in so much dust I'm gonna need a car wash to get it all off. To make matters worse its really doing a number on my eyes
And Ozair Taher, from neighbouring Dubai, UAE, adds:
@Ozair25: Dust, dust, dust, dust & D.U.S.T “We should all pray for rain seriously!” #Dubai
Rain is also on Wael Al Jaber's mind. Al Jaber, from the Saudi capital Riyadh writes:
@W_Jaber: That awkward moment when people are talking about rain but all i see is dust #RiyadhWeather
Håkon Gaarder-Larsen, a Norwegian hotelier who lives and works in Riyadh, notes:
@Haakon_G_Larsen: Funny how a week of sandstorms and dust in Riyadh makes me look forward to the polluted air in Cairo next week
And Hisham Wyne jokes:
@HishamWyne: It's not a sandstorm. It's just that the dust bunnies are breeding ferociously. They're allowed four wives each too.
Meanwhile, in Sanaa, Yemen, schools are closed because of the dust storm. Noon Arabia clarifies:
@NoonArabia: Tomorrow and after will shut down too “@WomanfromYemen: dust storm in #sanaa caused schools to shut down today #yemen”


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China and Koreas: North Korean Refugees · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mary Soo Anderson writes about the North Korean refugees issue in China and urges human rights organizations continue fighting for them.


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China: Debate on Kony 2012 · Global Voices
Bob Chen

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.
The short video Kony 2012, posted on YouTube on March 5, 2012, and narrated by Invisible Children's US founders, Jason Russell, has become viral on the Internet with millions of views worldwide.
The video also drew significant attention in China. On the popular Chinese video site Youku, the same video harvested over 8 million views in a few days and people on social networks such as Weibo and Renren circulated the film widely. Chinese subtitles were also added.
Initially, comments show that most people were outrageous of the crimes committed by Kony as depicted in the video. People appealed to their friends to spread the film and “make Kony famous”, as called by the Invisible Children.
A Youku usre named SherieL said [zh]:
请耐心看完！身在信息轰炸的时代，能迅速了解未知世界的每个截面，是我们的幸运；能在滑动食指敲打键盘那一刻改变某些人某些事，是我们的力量！请善用！make invisible power visible, make Kony famous!
But soon suspicions of the validity of information presented by Invisible Children grow. As Polly Curtis and Tom McCarthy from Guardian state:
• The LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] is not in Uganda but now operates in the DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic
• In October last year, Obama authorised the deployment of 100 US army advisers to help the Ugandan military track down Kony, with no results disclosed to date.
• The LRA is much smaller than previously thought. It does not have have 30,000 or 60,000 child soldiers. The figure of 30,000 refers to the total number of children abducted by the LRA over nearly 30 years.
Chinese bloggers, moreover, widely questioned the intention of the video besides the doubt of misinformation. Many thought the purpose of the video was to keep the United States (US) army in Africa and call for US intervention in the region.
Shen Yang, a Renren user, posted a long article [zh] expressing her doubt and got thousands of views and comments debating the issue:
短短一个多星期的时间里，一个名为“Kony 2012″的短片在各大视频网站以及社交网站上被顶至首页，点击飙千万，短片中强调的”集结众人的力量可以改变世界“的想法其实并不新鲜，在我看来这样的代表雷同价值观的口号在好莱坞的电影中可能已经被喊烂大街了。混和着普世价值，国际人道主义，“悲天悯人”的心态立场的观点在今天通过短片＋网络进行铺天盖地的宣传显得尤为有感染力
Whereas the author says that she doesn't tend to point finger at the US government, she did point out that she was suspicious of the motivation of Invisible Children, the so-called “NGO”.
非洲自身的情况很复杂，不是大家派军队过去抓个人击毙几十个军人就能解决的，不适当的介入完全可能导致更糟的情况发生
对其在短片中所表达出的一些倾向非常怀疑：1.持续寻求资金援助 2.呼吁国际社会，尤其是美国，（原片中的一个情节是导演给奥巴马写了邮件）对Kony施行抓捕行动
LRA不足百余人，根本对当地构不成大规模的威胁，即便是制裁，当地政府也有足够的能力去制裁他们这样的一种抓捕行动，不需要其他国家的人去出兵，乌干达政府也没有向国际社会进行过任何正式求助
以杀死Joseph Kony的名义武装干涉乌干达已经在十几年以来反复执行并且毫无结果。每一次行动都让当地的居民损失惨重并且使得LRA人员散落在各个平民区内。
She opposes the blind belief on what the video tells and was alerted that the masses may be manipulated. She also jettisons the Chinese video description seen on Youku which states that Kony has to be captured and penalized:
我想我们大多数人大概连乌干达到底个什么样的国家都没有关注过，更别说其斗争历史了，那么这个上传视频的人又怎么能口气如此斩钉截铁地对其内容进行了如此主观臆断的描述呢？
事情不是想像中的二元对立，善恶两极这么简单，而是要复杂的多。如果单看LRA这么个历史事件，部落之间的利益冲突，还有权力斗争都是其背后形成的动因，而欧美国家的对非洲长期的介入，实际上没有带去福音，而是把斗争关系和利益关系变得更加复杂，即便有人陈词滥调地说他们是冲着资源去非洲的，这也根本不奇怪，因为历史确实重复如此的上演了这样的动机和其带来的后果。
如果大家真的一心想要帮助非洲，为什么不呼吁非洲各国人民尽快完整自己国家的主权和制宪呢？所谓的慈善机构的捐助不仅没有让非洲脱离贫困，反而助长了政府的腐败和货币的高通胀率，让社会陷入了一个恶性循环。
The name of the article, actually, is ‘Media as a Weapon’.
A more aggressive point of view [zh] questioning the US's support of the video as an excuse for future intervention is expressed by Ye Ruihong. The technique of storytelling employed in the video, he said, is very dangerous because with a good story no body cares what the truth is.
看完以后，我感到我一直以来的一个想法得到了印证：在这个娱乐为王的时代里，一个好故事就意味着一切。真相？无关紧要。
我并不是在说，这部影片中的故事都是假的…这部影片虚假的地方在于，其作为一个整体所讲述的故事：在非洲有一个Bad Guy，然后本来没有人在乎他，尽管他犯下了累累罪行，但是在热爱和平热爱人类的广大Facebook用户的呼吁之下，正义的代言人，世界警察山姆大叔终于要动手将这个Bad Guy绳之于法了。看到这个视频的你们必须继续支持我们，让山姆大叔在非洲继续待下去。
The author echoes the saying that the video is a conspiracy to consolidate US control in Uganda for the oil discovered there:
它没有告诉你至今美国军队根本就没有撤出乌干达的打算，不用劳烦我们呼吁他们留下；它没有告诉你Invisible Children不是由一群志同道合的年轻人建立的，而是由前JP Morgan的银行家建立的；它没有告诉你在2006年的时候乌干达发现了储量丰富的石油。
He connects to a series of events:
这部精彩的电影也没有告诉你，夏威夷王国是如何地被美国吞并的；它没有告诉你，美西战争之后古巴是如何被沦为美国的半殖民地并扶持着一个个的独裁者以维持其统治的，直到卡斯特罗和切·格瓦拉通过革命推翻了靠美国人支持通过一次次政变维护其统治的巴蒂斯塔；它没有告诉你菲律宾是如何在二战前沦为美国的殖民地，而在二战之后如何有通过扶持独裁者斐南迪·马科斯维持其经济殖民的；它没有告诉你美国是如何用“正义”的名义入侵巴拿马从而控制巴拿马运河的；这个故事还可以继续讲下去：尼加拉瓜、洪都拉斯、波多黎各、伊朗、危地马拉、越南、智利、格林纳达到今天的阿富汗和伊拉克，或许还有明天的乌干达。——毕竟，美国任何一次出兵他国之前，都会动用各种传媒来告诉大家，对方是一个多么反人类的人，激起公众义愤，然后大义凛然地入侵。
事实是简单的：美国从来不会为了帮助其他国家实现和平、民主或者自由而出兵。美国的军事行动从来都只是为了美国的利益。
那么，Facebook会改变这一切吗？
而这部片子最厉害也是最虚伪的地方则在于，其叙述居然试图让人们相信，一个通过娱乐而获取巨额利润的社交网络会改变这一事实。而据昨晚那么疯狂的转发量看来，它确实使许多人如此认为了。但事实是，它不会。Facebook唯一专心致志做并成功达成的，就是让人们在上面花费越来越多时间从而赚取越来越丰厚的利润。
或者，更多人的关注就会让事情变得不同？
不知道有多少人还会记得，2005年时，有一个名为Live 8的盛大活动，呼吁G8在2010年之前将对贫困国家的援助提高到500亿美元，其中一半给非洲国家。而在随后召开的G8峰会上，各国首脑也承诺要有所行动。
然后，没有行动。 至今，那些个承诺都不过是空话。而人们是善忘的，
在一个社交网络和围脖统治的网络环境中，得到传播的不会是许多网络公知所宣称的“真相”，而只会是好故事。
于是，在这个舞台上，正义不会胜利，故事王会胜利。
基于此，一个谎言的效率，就更在于其在多大程度上能让人们参与其中。明明是山姆大叔为了不久将来在非洲增强其军事存在而正名与造势，却成了一个你亲身参与呼吁美国道非洲去维持正义的故事。戈培尔说过，谎言重复一万遍就成为了真理。他已经落伍了。只要让人们在谎言中亲身参与一次，谎言就能够成为真相。所有的转发者都已证明了这个道理。
于是，就不会有人去追究，谁造就了几个世纪以来亚非拉的贫穷与支离？ 所以，真正要做的不是呼吁美国去插手，而是叫它收手。
This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

author: Bob Chen


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Egypt: Women’s Right to Divorce Debated in Parliament  · Global Voices
Ahmed Awadalla

The performance of the new Egyptian parliament continues to stir debate on social media sites. The new parliament was seen as a move towards to democracy. However, the parliament continues to discuss matters that seem irrelevant to the country’s most pressing needs – such as a request to ban pornographic websites.
There has been another controversy over an MP who claimed that English classes are a plot to westernize Egyptians. The most recent fiasco was about an MP’s request to strip women of their right to file for a divorce.
In the past, when it came to women’s right to divorce, Egyptian women were seriously discriminated against. Men had the right to divorce their wives without going to court. Women had to go through a long, complicated and bureaucratic procedure to obtain a divorce. The situation was slightly improved in 2000 when a law was passed that give women the right to file for a no-fault divorce (Khul’). Through this law, women can get a divorce but have to let go of all their financial rights.
Social media users reacted quickly to the draft law suggesting the cancellation of khul’ in parliament.
Merit Al-Sayed says [ar]:
مشروع الغاء قانون الخلع خطأ فادح. الخلع دفعة الى الامام للمرأة التي من حقها البدأ من جديد في حياتها.
Mira Samy adds [ar]:
Not only women were angry as many male supporters also shared their outrage. Wael Khalil pleads [ar]:
Ali Hagras exclaims:
And Sherif Khairy reasons:
As usual, there were many sarcastic and humorous comments. Noon Arabia has created a Storify of on the debate mainly with tweets from @Elma7roossa who wrote several tweets under the hashtag #الخلع_قوة which translates to “Khul’ is power.”
Additionally, Riham Mohamed jokes:
Muhab Talaat also offers:
اكيد الي قدم طلب الغاء الخلع عايز يلعب بديلوا وخايف مراتوا تخلعوا وعجبي
And Sally Zohney quotes her mother:
It's worth noting that the MP who filed the draft law to cancel Khul’ is not a member of Islamists parties, but a former member of the liberal Wafd Party. Ahmed Shokeir offers his viewpoint on this:
An MP’s request to cancel Khul’, which is religiously accepted, to appease the Islamists is like trading with religion. This confirms that requesting matters under the guise of religion is not for religion’s sake.
Indeed, the debate also tackled whether Khul’ is Islamic or not. Many users cited that Khul’ is indeed a part of Islamic jurisprudence. Mohamed ElGohary affirms that Khul’ is Islamic and says:
Khlo3 can't be cancelled, as long as there is an “Islam is the basic source for legislation” is in the constitution.
Finally, not everyone agrees on the matter, and not everyone thinks canceling Khul’ is a bad move. Twitter user @_ADHEM  tweets:

author: Ahmed Awadalla


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France: Protests in Marseille against the Privatisation of Water  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Babalobi wrote on eWash: “Accompanied by unarmed policemen, protesters marched through the streets of central Marseille singing, dancing and chanting slogans against ‘privatisation’ and ‘commodification’ of urban water supply.” The protests were organised by global civil society movements that include Public Service International,  Africa Water Network, European Federation of Public Service Unions, Transnational Institute, WASH United, Greenpeace and Food and Water  Watch.


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Iran: Jailed blogger released on bail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mehdi Khazali,blogger and publisher, has been released from jail on bail. You can see here his photos before and after hunger strike.


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Iranians to Israelis: “We Are Your Friends” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

An Israeli Facebook campaign to say to Iranians “We will never bomb your country. We love you” has received an answer from Iranians in the form a corresponding Facebook campaign that says to Israelis, “We are your friends.”
Israeli Ronny Edry and his wife Michal Tamir started the initiative on the Facebook profile for Pushpin Mehina, a small school for graphic design students in Tel Aviv.
The campaign has captured a lot of attention on the internet and even Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper in English, wrote that the “online call for peace initiated by an Israeli couple has managed to achieve the support of 1,000 Israelis and Iranians. And it all began with two posters.”
Now Iranians are going an extra mile by pouring their photos and messages onto Facebook on a page called, ‘From Iran for Peace and Democracy‘.
Each photo begins with a first name, followed by: “Israelis, We do not want a nuclear Bomb, We want democracy and peace, we are your Friends.”
Here is Nima's message:
Happy Nowrooz! let it be the beginning of a new era!
We, Iranians, do not want a nuclear bomb!
We, Iranians, do not want a war!
We, Iranians, do not want an Islamic regime!
We, Iranians, do not want to support terrorist groups!
We want democracy!
We want peace!
We want respect!
We want freedom
A toast for peace
Here is Amir's photo:
… and a human rights activist
Ahmad Batebi is a former prisoner of conscience from Iran. During his studies at the University of Tehran he gained international fame for his appearance on the July 17, 1999, cover of The Economist magazine, holding up a shirt splattered with the blood of a fellow protester. Here is his photo.
Perhaps one day Iranains and Israelis can reap, in the real world, what they sowed in the virtual one.


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Jordan: 50 Things to do in Amman  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Roba Al Assi shares a list of 50 things to do in Amman this month.


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Lebanon : Mothers’ Day Event in the Absence of Prisoners Detained in Syria · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

Various organisations demanding the liberation  of Lebanese prisoners detained in Syria are organising an event in the “Tent of the Families of the Missing and Detained” on Lebanese Mothers’ Day, today, 21st March 2012, in the gardens in front of the Beirut UN building.

author: Claire Ulrich


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Libya: Libyan Memes  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

What are Libyans laughing about on social networking sites? Check out this Facebook page to keep abreast with Libyan memes.


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Mali: Facing Secession and Food Crisis as Elections Loom   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.
Coverage of Mali may be absent in the mainstream media, but it is currently facing critical challenges while preparing for the presidential elections on April 29, 2012. After the fall of Gaddafi in Libya, Mali faces the return of Tuareg armed groups posted in Libya, who threaten to seek secession from Mali [fr] for the Azawad territory, or Northern Mali.
The conflict has already forced 195,000 people to flee their homes since mid-January, according to the the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA. Additionally, a food crisis threatens 3 million Malians [fr] because of a prolonged drought in the northern region.
Mali has its hands full with its current domestic issues but it understands that it also needs to take into account regional stability and its  neighbors’ wishes – Algeria, Niger and Mauritania – when handling the refugee crisis.
Screen shot of a Tuareg rebel via Azawad17Janv2012
Presidential elections in jeopardy
One of the consequences of the refugee crisis was a military mutiny in the northern region on March 20, whose participants threatened to join the Tuareg rebels.
Sandrine Sawadogo explains [fr]:
Alors que le gouvernement malien et les combattants du MNLA se renvoient la balle en s'accusant mutuellement d'être responsables de l'exode de plus de100 000 personnes, les combats font rage autour des derniers campements militaires encore entre les mains de l'armée officielle.
In the following video, some rebels explain why they deserted the Malian army to fight with the Tuareg rebels:
Jeremy Keenan provides more context about the Tuareg rebellion:
After two months of fighting, the Malian army has lost control of most of Azawad, while the number of troops that have either been killed, taken captive or deserted is now thought to be at least 1,000. In a humiliating incident, the army base at Aguelhok was overrun on January 24 when the troops defending it ran out of ammunition.
However, from a strategic point of view, the most significant fighting was at Tessalit. Close to the border with Algeria and with an army base and airport, Tessalit is a strategic town. By March 4, three Malian army units abandoned their attempts to relieve the MNLA siege of the base. A week later, the troops retreated to Algeria, leaving the base and the airport in MNLA control. The number of soldiers killed, taken captive or deserted, along with equipment destroyed or captured in these twin setbacks is thought to be considerable.
He adds:
It is conceivable that further attacks on the highly vulnerable, nomadic civilian population, may bring the rebels to submission, as has been the case in previous Tuareg rebellions. It is also conceivable that the Malian government's undercover militias, ethnic hatred campaigns, military in civilian clothing acting in mobs shouting “death to the Tuaregs” and internet propaganda might succeed in opening cleavages within the complex political, ethnic and social mix that comprises the totality of the Azawad population.
However, the signs are that the rebellion is capable of sustaining itself for much longer, especially if the MNLA receives support from Niger's well-armed and battle-experienced Tuareg, as unverified reports suggest
The prospect of a secession is unacceptable according to Presidential candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and main opponent of presidential incumbent Amadou Toumani Touré (also known as ATT). In a meeting in Kayes, Mali, Keita asserted that Mali is “one and indivisible” as Madiassa Kaba Diakité reports [fr]:
Il a réaffirmé  son attachement inébranlable au principe sacro-saint de l’indivisibilité du territoire national et a demandé à tous les Maliens de soutenir le chef de l’Etat, Amadou Toumani Touré, et de rester soudés derrière l’armée malienne pour qu’elle puisse repousser les assaillants afin de rétablir la sécurité et restaurer l’intégrité territoriale du Mali [..]  « L’élection du 29 avril est la première des solutions car voter c’est donner une nouvelle chance à la paix », selon IBK. A l’en croire, il sera sans doute difficile de faire voter tous nos compatriotes, notamment ceux refugiés à l’étranger mais voter c’est dire non à la guerre
A prolonged food crisis
The conflict makes the relief of the food crisis even more challenging. According to UNICEF:
The dry, ‘lean’ season in the affected countries is imminent, and will be marked by rising numbers of children in feeding centres who will need life-saving treatment. The agency's Regional Director, David Gressly said: “A multiple disaster is stalking children in the Sahel. Even in a best case scenario we are expecting more than a million children suffering from severe and acute malnutrition to enter feeding centres over the next six months.
On Blogcritics, Aboubacar Guindo, a WFP school feeding officer in Mali is interviewed:
The government through the Early Warning System identified 159 communities that are the most affected by this crisis. To respond to this, WFP elaborated an Emergency Operation (EMOP) with a School Feeding component to avoid important drop-outs that schools used to face in this type of crisis. The EMOP will also include nutrition, food for work, and cash components. [..] In addition to food insecurity, WFP is assessing the needs of the internally displaced due to conflict in the north. This assessment may show in an increase in needs.
The question remains whether the presidential elections will still hold. Gaousso Yah Touré is doubtful [fr]:
le Mali est une grande nation démocratique et la tenue des élections ne doit aucunement le plonger dans le KO. En d’autre terme, la cohésion sociale et la paix doivent être vigoureusement préservées. Cela passe, bien entendu, par le dialogue et la réflexion. Quant à la question de savoir si les élections se tiendront le 29 Avril prochain ou non, une réponse exhaustive ne peut être donnée pour le moment.
This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.


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South Korea: Photos of Politicians Staring at Revealing Photos of Ladies in National Assembly building · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Photos of politicians staring at revealing photos of ladies have been widely viewed in South Korea, prompting net users to express their frustration and annoyance towards lawmakers doing meaningless web searches and taking a nap in the National Assembly building mostly during their work hours.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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South Korea: Three Major TV Stations Protest for Fair Journalism · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

In South Korea, following one of biggest television network’s desperate attempt to overthrow its president over unfair news coverage and corruption allegations, the nation’s two other major TV stations have joined forces in standing up against their management, who have been siding with the government and censoring news content critical of the regime.
Since January 2012, MBC has been on an indefinite strike. Some shows have been on hiatus for over two months now and several journalists were fired by the company president before fellow colleagues resigned en masse as a sign of protest.
Now KBS, the nation’s biggest public broadcaster, and YTN, the country's top cable 24-hours news channel, have come together to rally against their own editorial censorship and support MBC's strike.
Videos of protest
This video below is entitled ‘Celebration for (Future) Resignations of Those Media Parachutes’ and starts with an image of the three presidents of each company dropping down from the sky and floating around in parachutes.The ‘Parachute’ (or ‘parachute personnel’) in the South Korean corporate world, refers to a person who got the job by a decision made by someone ‘higher’, usually through political influence or that of top-level executives, regardless of one’s ability. The video later explains how management has distorted the news in favor of the government (Read more about the strike on another Global Voices article in here).
Several video clips uploaded by mbcunion2012 explain the purpose of the strike in effective and creative ways. This one below takes the form of a song promotion video, borrowing the same melody from the song ‘Itaewon Freedom’ and switching it with different lyrics, with a new title ‘MBC Freedom’.
The scene features the inside the MBC building and MBC broadcasters actually perform, sing and dance, which is highly rare for Korean journalism, where newscasters are expected to be serious and maintain an authoritative image. You can get a glimpse of the sheer scale of the protest after 2 minutes 15 seconds, when numerous MBC workers sing together in protest.
Some of the lyrics read:
0 min 20 sec: 요즘 MBC는 안봐 나꼼수면 충분 시청자 왜 눈돌렸나, 정권 비판 뉴스 실종, 누가 MBC 망쳤나. 1 min 비판 실종 MBC, 막장 인사 MBC, 징계 남발 MBC, MB 방송 MBC. 1 min 45 sec 정권엔 충성, 진실 눈감아, 어이가 없어, 더 이상 못 참아.
MBC workers took the same song and routine to Seoul railway station, South Korea's major travel gateway, to perform a flash mob. You can take a look at the various responses from passerbys in the video clip below, from befuddled senior citizens to excited young people and people in their 40 and 50s who are genuinely interested in the message.
Even MBC's prime-time news anchor, Choi Il-gu resigned last month, showing support for his fellow workers. In the YouTube video below, Mr. Choi tearfully shout out to his colleagues “This should be the busiest time of the day for news production teams. Why are you guys [having to] doing this [referring to the protest] here?” (0 min 12 sec).
Then Choi ruefully lamented that the freedom of speech in South Korea “has shrunk back to where it was in 1987 or even worse than the past”. The late 1980s was when an authoritarian military regime ruled the nation, brutally clamping down protesters and silencing the media.
Supporting MBC’s move, the KBS Union has joined and posted this creative video of KBS workers doing ‘Sambo Ilbae’ (三步一拜), a Korean traditional way of expressing deep regret, apology and strong determination by “bowing down with knees and elbows on the ground on every three steps one takes”.
The video clip shows KBS’s past coverage that overtly humanized and praised the current president and unfairly attacked his political opponents and then switches to scenes of KBS workers doing the ‘Sambo Ilbae’ as an apology for their skewed news coverage.
This video clip entitled ‘Reset KBS’ displays KBS workers from various local bureaus calling for restoration of fairness in journalism, stressing that the first crucial step is to change the leadership that fears powerful people instead of the citizen.
Workers from cable news channel YTN also joined the strike by posting a video entitled ‘Angry YTN’, which is a video interview with Benjamin Ismail, head of the Asia-Pacific Desk at Reporters Without Borders in Paris. In the interview given in French with Korean subtitles, Ismail calls for international support for the strike.
Union workers of Yonhap News Agency, the nation's biggest news agency, also uploaded a YouTube video [ko] apologizing for their biased coverage. But the scale of Yonhap's protest remains pretty small for now.
Here are several more MBC Union video clips about the strike. The one right below is a parody of MBC's documentary on the extinction of emperor penguins, comparing the penguins’ crisis with MBC workers’ harsh situation, whereby they have to fight in cold weather for their survival.
This video below is a promotion video of a beautiful song called ‘Blue Whale’, sung by MBC's most prominent producers, journalists and anchors together. The lyrics are about encouraging people who fight an uphill battle and the singing was guided by one of South Korea's most popular rock musicians, Yoon Do-hyun.