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Solidarity Arises from the Rubble of a Demolished House in Madrid  · Global Voices
Elena Arrontes

Neighbors started rebuilding the demolished house on Ofelia Nieto street in Madrid. Photo by Juan Carlos Mohr. Used with permission.
A group of citizens gathered on the morning of March 1, tools in hand, at 29 Ofelia Nieto street in the Tetuan district of Madrid to start rebuilding a house that had been expropriated by the city and demolished. With shovels and gloves, they joined in solidarity with three generations of one family that had been evicted, collecting and sorting the rubble to rebuild.
The evicted family have relied on the support of neighbors and anti-eviction organizations since they were informed in 2013 that they would have to leave their home, due to the decision of the Madrid City Council. That strongly symbolic act on Sunday was the epitome of the good will they have received.
“Solidarity is born from the rubble”: poster calling for the reconstruction of the demolished house.
The campaign blog Ofelia Nieto — named after the street the house is on — was created to prevent the eviction. Activists had managed to postpone the eviction several times by camping out on the premises, creating petitions and organizing assemblies. The blog explains the reason for the demolition:
En virtud de un plan urbanístico aprobado en 2004, el Ayuntamiento (a través de la antigua Gerencia de Urbanismo) pretende derribar la casa. El pretexto: una superficie de 5,98 m2 que se interpone en el diseño de la acera contemplada por el plan.
Sin embargo, el verdadero motivo del derribo se adivina nada más observar la zona. Detrás de la casa hay un solar que, en caso de ejecutarse el derribo, dejaría una amplia parcela urbanizable junto a la calle Ofelia Nieto, una zona que en los últimos años ha sufrido un fuerte proceso de remodelación. Aunque el Ayuntamiento sea el responsable de la expropiación, la parcela está catalogada como zona residencial de vivienda privada, por lo que el único beneficiario será la inmobiliaria que la adquiera. Una oportunidad perfecta para la especulación, en la que las instituciones públicas ponen una alfombra roja al interés privado, pasando por encima de la vida de tres familias.
According to a development plan approved in 2004, the City Council (through the former Planning Department) intends to demolish the house. The pretext: an area of 5.98 m2 that stands in the way of the sidewalk design imagined for the plan.
However, you can guess the real reason for the demolition by looking at the area. There is a lot behind the house that, if the demolition is carried out, would leave a large urban plot next to the Ofelia Nieto street, an area which in recent years has suffered a major remodeling process. Although the City Council is responsible for the expropriation, the plot is classified as a residential area for private housing, therefore, the only beneficiary will be the real estate company that acquires it. A perfect opportunity for speculation, for which public institutions put out the red carpet to private interests. Taking precedence over the lives of three families.
So far, their different actions had stalled the demolition, but authorities eventually came for the house and successfully demolished it, which was widely discussed on social media under the hashtag #ON29. Dozens of people tried to prevent the destruction of the house by standing on top of the excavator that later collapsed the door of the house; some were inside the house and others outside. According to the family, this was done without prior notice, and with at least six arrests.
La policía acude sin haber notificado para derribar ON29. Todo un símbolo de lucha. ¡Madrid, acude a Tetuán!
— Asam Vivienda Madrid (@AlertaDesahucio) febrero 27, 2015
The police arrived without notice to demolish ON29. A symbol of struggle. Madrid, go to Tetuan!
In addition to these organizations, some political parties and politicians, such as Izquierda Unida member of parliament Alberto Garzón, commented on the news on Twitter:
Mucho ánimo a todas las que están en #ON29 evitando que se produzca el derribo, una injusticia más. @mvalienteots pic.twitter.com/A5lG37Ke8T
— Alberto Garzón (@agarzon) febrero 27, 2015
Much encouragement to all who are at #ON29 preventing the demolition, another injustice.
The legality of the intervention and detentions has been questioned. Periodismo Humano, an alternative online magazine, together with Reporters Without Borders have condemned the attack on freedom of expression involving the arrest of journalist Jaime Alekos, who for several years has documented evictions in Spain:
#ESPAÑA | Reporteros Sin Fronteras critica la detención del videorreportero @JaimeAlekos en un #desahucio http://t.co/UBcg93P5VJ — Reporteros SF España (@RSF_ES) febrero 28, 2015
#ESPAÑA | Reporters Without Borders criticizes the arrest of video journalist @JaimeAlekos in an eviction
Two videos, the first one recorded by citizen journalist Juan Carlos Morh the day of the eviction, and the second by the detained reporter, show the involvement of agents in the operation and the citizen support for the evicted family:
After the demolition and arrests, demonstrators returned to the Tetuan district of Madrid to defend the residents and begin the home's reconstruction. However, they were forced to stop when they realized that the rubble could contain asbestos. Nevertheless, they reflected on new ways of mobilizing.
#Madrid Hoy Centenares de vecinas y activistas comenzaron la #ReconstrucciON29 #OfeliaNieto29 http://t.co/awi7m36dSS pic.twitter.com/ey49Npa1Qs
— Manel Márquez (@manelmarquez) marzo 1, 2015
#Madrid Today, hundreds of neighbors and activists began the #ReconstrucciON29 #OfeliaNieto29
Estamos acompañando en la reconstruccion de ofelia nieto. pic.twitter.com/Ps1wLbv0uR
— PAHmadridsabadellcam (@Afecsabadellcam) marzo 1, 2015
We are helping in the reconstruction of Ofelia Nieto.
Creen que han ganado pero lo que no saben es que mucha gente bonita volverá a reconstruir #On29 #ReconstrucciON29 pic.twitter.com/SM6WZkiEGQ
— Lau (@shul_evolution) marzo 1, 2015
They think they won but what they don't know is that many beautiful people will rebuild #On29 #ReconstrucciON29
Similar actions in Barcelona and Burgos last year made headlines at the time. In the district of Sants in Barcelona, a group of citizens came together to rebuild the self-managed social center Can Vies, after an attempt to demolish the building in November 2014. In Burgos, in the neighborhood of Gamonal, 21 intense days of demonstrations in January managed to stop the construction of a boulevard that would have cost 8.5 million euros (about 9.1 million US dollars).
Although the house on Ofelia Nieto street in Madrid did not have the same luck, the residents have announced that they will continue to mobilize in defense of the evicted family and of other neighborhoods threatened with the same fate.


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The Houthi and Hadi Confrontation is Taking Yemen to a Dangerous Place  · Global Voices
Osama Abdullah

Major General Mahmoud alSubaihi, Minister of Defense the day he arrived arrived in Aden. Tweeted by @Yemen411 on March 8, 2015.
Another key member of Yemen's government has escaped the Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a in the north for the southern port city Aden. Defense Minister Major General Mahmoud al-Subaihi arrived in Aden on March 8.
The Houthis, a ten-thousand strong tribal militia from the north, forcefully occupied the presidential palace in Yemen's capital city on January 21.
Since they first entered Sana'a on September 21, 2014, the Houthis have taken over key government buildings, the airport, Yemen Central Bank, and income-generating national corporations like the Safar Oil Company.
General Al-Subaihi's March 8 escape is seen as a big boost to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is building a rival power center in the south with loyal army units and tribes against the Houthis.
On March 7, a Hadi aide claimed the president said, “Aden became the capital of Yemen as soon as the Houthis occupied Sana'a.”
Hadi escaped the capital Sana'a with his family after being under Houthi-imposed house arrest for a month.
Hadi tendered his resignation a day after the Houthi took over his presidential palace. When he escaped and reached Aden, 400 kilometers away from the capital on February 24, Hadi released a statement saying Yemen’s parliament had not accepted his resignation, so he is still president. Hadi then denounced all political agreements made by the Houthis in Sana’a since they took over.
Anti-Houthi voices celebrated Hadi’s prison break from Sana'a. Some worry that Hadi might have motivated the Houthis to invade Aden. And others believe Hadi is recklessly hijacking existing tensions between the north and south of the country.
The separatist sentiment remains popular in the south, where Yemenis feel economically and politically marginalized by the north.  The Houthis belong to tribes from the north, and Hadi belongs to a southern tribe.
The once-thriving coastal city Aden is Yemen’s second largest. Aden is the former capital of South Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, when it unified with North Yemen. Unhappy with Sana’a in 1994, South Yemen declared its secession again from the north. A civil war ensued, and the north ended up occupying the south.
The Houthis’ unilateral excessive use of power in Sana'a and our northern provinces has led the south to refuse any orders coming from them and they are organizing their own armies to defend themselves if the Houthis attack.
The Houthi uprising against the government started in 2004. Since then, Yemen's power center in Sana'a has alleged that the Houthis want to overthrow them and implement Shia religious law. The Houthis have maintained that they are “defending their community against discrimination” and government aggression.
Most Houthis adhere to a branch of Shia Islam called Zaidism. Zaidis make up one-third of Yemen's population and ruled North Yemen for almost 1,000 years until 1962.
Yemen's government under previous President Ali Abdullah Saleh and current President Hadi has accused Iran of financing the Houthi insurgency. From 2004-2010, the government brutally tried to crush their rebellion.
In 2011, the Houthis joined a mass uprising against Saleh. They soon expanded their territorial control in Saadah and neighbouring Amran province.
Before September 21, 2014, no one in Yemen thought that the Houthis could possibly reach the capital Sana’a and no one thought that the Houthis would even consider waging a civil war that they were bound to lose.
It was shocking when Sana’a was surrounded by the Houthi militias. They demanded that subsidies on fuel prices stay in place.
They also promised to fight corruption and to implement the outcomes from the unprecedented National Dialogue Conference (NDC), which took place after the 2011 uprising in Yemen. This also helped fuel Houthi popularity.
The NDC was a 10-month deliberation process between Hadi, and representatives from the Houthis, political parties, and youth and women organizations. The conference was supposed to help Yemen transition fairly from 33 years of Saleh rule, but the various groups failed to reach consensus about addressing concerns of the south.
With the Houthis popularity and power increasing, President Hadi gave into their demand to set up a technocrat government.
But that wasn’t enough; they marched into Sana’a.
Many young Yemeni citizens have questioned how the Houthi easily managed to take over the capital with little resistance. It took the group several months to finally displace the Salfies, a conservative Sunni group that was controlling Damaj, last year. The district is within Yemen's Saddah province, a Houthi heartland. Saadah is where the Houthi's first launched their armed uprising against Yemen's government in 2004.
Yemen’s army is mainly made up northern tribes that were loyal to former President Saleh, who ruled the country for 33 years. Saleh made sure his supporters got prestige and entitlement within the army.
Saleh invested heavily in building the Republican Guards, through his son, who was the head of that division.
Saleh’s cousin, General Ali Muhsin, who later joined the 2011 uprising and was known to have influence over most of Yemen’s politicians, commanded the First Armored Division. Following the uprising these brigades were merged and swapped, because Hadi had to re-construct the military, according to the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, which was rolled out when his predecessor President Saleh stepped down.
The Republican Guard were taken aback by this decision and felt they had lost some of their privileges: better pay, training and arms. When Hadi took over, he paid close attention to army commanders from the south. This further alienated the powerful martial tribes in the north. More fragmentations happened within the army.
Houthi power was reinforced and fortified by pro-Saleh’s martial tribes. Eventually, Houthis took over most military camps that did not resist except for the First Armored Division. The commander General Ali Muhsin fled Yemen and he is still trying to take over the military from outside.
When the Houthis moved to occupy the capital, President Hadi's power had already shrunk. He couldn't defend the Presidential Palace or his own residence.
Some analysts say that the Houthis did not want to run the country, rather just control Hadi and be the upper hand in the country. The resignation of President Hadi and the Prime Minister forced them into this role.
After they joined the uprising, the Houthi militias started to build coalitions with political powers and reached some agreements that they would build the state together. The agreements never came through. Now other political parties view the Houthis as a deceiving group, who did not live up to their commitments, so brokering deals with them are seen as a waste of time.
While all this was happening in the northern part of Yemen, the south, which is economically and politically marginalized, was removed from the conversation, until Hadi entered Aden.
Following the 2011 uprising, southerners were sidelined in the transitional political process. Their representation in the NDC and other national assemblies was minimum, northern political leaders dominated.
The Houthis have turned Yemen’s political fight into social confrontations, which might trigger sectarian conflict. This could lead Yemen into more fragmentations.
Unfortunately, Yemen’s curse will not vanish until there is an equal playing field for all political players in our country.
Osama Abdullah is a young blogger from Yemen.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Hadi was from a northern tribe.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Osama Abdullah


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Video: Campaign to Stop the Sale of Steve Biko’s Autopsy Report · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Artist and social entrepreneur Nomsa Mazwai (Nomisupasta) and some friends got together to collect signatures for a petition to stop the sale of Steve Biko‘s autopsy report. Watch the YouTube video of the campaign:

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Worst Drought In A Decade Hits Taiwan · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

8 municipalities in Taiwan started second stage water restrictions (area in orange).
As a subtropical/tropical island, Taiwan usually covers with wetness and green. However, last year, there were only two typhoons, the island is now facing the worst drought in a decade.
Independent reporter Chu Shu Chuan reported that the storage of 12 major reservoirs is reduced to less than 50%, according to the Waer Resources Agency on its February 8 press release. 8 municipalities in Taiwan have started second stage water restrictions since Feb 26.
Chu's follow-up report highlighted that the storage of one of the major reservoir, the Shinmen Reservoir has dropped to 27% and the water supply of its major industrial users will be reduced by 7.5% from March 13.
If the drought cannot be eased when rains come in spring, the industrial parks in Taiwan may face the shortage of water that cannot be simply solved by adjusting the manufacturing schedules.

author: I-fan Lin


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You Will Never Find Stories About Famine, Idi Amin or Joseph Kony on This Site · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Talented Ugandan writers take to the Internet to tell positive stories about the country:
We will be honest with you. Stories about poverty porn, hunger, Ebola, tribalism and all negative stories about Uganda, you will never find them here. This is a site to celebrate the positive stories about The Pearl of Africa through poetry, stories, profiles, opinions, music, dance and drama.
This is Uganda (ThisIs256), is a platform of talented writers from Uganda who are determined to tell stories about Uganda and for Ugandans aimed at demystifying stereotypes from people who do not know the real story of Uganda all over the world. The platform is loosely composed of diverse array of Ugandan writers who desire and seek to represent and reclaim an authentic, reflective, honest, and objectively balanced study about Uganda you will never find anywhere else in the mainstream western media.


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A Dialogue About Communication — Not Political Change — in Iran · Global Voices
Advox

A cellphone charging station in Iran. Photo by Ben Piven via Flickr (CC BY-ND-SA 2.0)
Jillian York, Mahsa Alimardani, and Fred Petrossian contributed to this report.
Nearly all Western media coverage of Iran seems to focus on regime change and politics — even when it comes to issues like access to information. Yet it is not the head of state in Iran that is the concern of Internet freedom activists and researchers — rather, we want to talk about how Iranians can easily access information communication technologies that connect Iranians to each other, and to the rest of the world. The Iranian government has built an Internet policy regime reflecting the complexities and contradictions that exist within the institutions of the Islamic Republic — these merit careful attention on the basis not just of political power structures and change, but also in economic, social, and cultural contexts.
Scholars and technical researchers committed to this approach gathered last week at the Iran Cyber Dialogue in Valencia, Spain. Participants included members of government, such as the Persian spokesperson for the United States State Department Alan Eyre; corporate representatives such as Google Idea’s Scott Carpenter; members of civil society, such as Amir Rashidi of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran; and technical experts such as Dan Meredith of the Open Technology Fund.
Collin Anderson, an Internet researcher who spoke at the event, framed the discussion with three key concerns: economic development, national security, and regulatory capture. His input into a panel entitled “Technology as a Catalyst” effectively aided the dialogue to move beyond the typical human rights framework. He urged, “You need to be concerned with things that are more myopic, but translate into greater access.” He made an example of the government’s aim to create a local SSL certificate authority. At the moment Iranian companies, as well as certain government entities, rely on foreign certificate authorities for the security of their websites. Anderson argued that this was a legitimate state endeavour, since reliance on foreign certificates creates a national security concern.
Golnaz Esfandiari, a journalist and editor of the popular blog reporting on Iran, Persian Letters, explained the political context of Internet policy and described the polarity on Internet policy that exists between the Rouhani administration, and institutions outside of the President's control, such as the judiciary.
Jillian York, a Global Voices member and international director for free expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, brought on a broader perspective from the Middle East. York pointed out that other countries in the region have similar struggles for online freedom to those happening in Iran. For example, Palestine is restricted from access to 3G by Israel, which can have an effect on economic growth. Furthermore, like Iran, Syria and Sudan are both impacted by sanctions that restrict the import and use of certain technologies in the countries.
Other discussions centred around the contradictions of Internet companies. Panelists pointed to companies that publicly advocate for free flow of information and freedom of expression, yet maintain policies antagonistic towards Iranian users. In the panel “Moving Forward: Building Effective Responses,” the Director of Impact Iran, Mani Mostofi, noted that Twitter does not allow two-step verification for its Iranian users inside of Iran. Twitter has been very vocal about Iranians being able to access and use their platform unfiltered inside Iran.
Twitter says everyone should tweet in Iran but doesnt allow 2 step verification so is not safe: thats a contradiction. @manimostofi #ICDIran
— Negar نگار (@NegarMortazavi) March 5, 2015
Ahmed Shaheed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights condition inside of Iran, told the audience, “my lifeblood is ICT.” The rapporteur is denied access to Iran, and connects to Iranians through platforms such as Skype. Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the EU parliament, explained that learning how to connect to a VPN was the first piece of advice she received upon her arrival in Tehran. Iranians’ use of Facebook as an everyday tool in their lives, and their participation such things as the parody videos of Pharrel Williams’ “Happy” indicates that many Iranians do have a strong a sense of belonging within global media culture.
Schaake remarked:
We should plug in more knowledge about technology as a vital oxygen for Iranian people to connect to the rest of the world, while aware of our role about technologies that can be used for repression.

author: Advox


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Cartoons Condemn State Brutality in Myanmar After ‘Police Thugs’ Attack Student Rally · Global Voices
Juan Cebu

The recent violent crackdown of student protests in Myanmar has undermined the country's justice system. Cartoon by Kyaw Thu Rein. Widely shared on social media.
Cartoons are being widely shared on Facebook to condemn the government's violent methods in handling student protests in the former capital city of Yangon in Myanmar.
The Facebook page Brainwave (Nyanhline) is collecting some of these cartoons, which quickly spread online when about 200 students and activists were attacked by the police on March 5, 2015.
The youth protesters in front of the Yangon city hall were waiting for the arrival of students from Mandalay who had been marching towards the capital city since January 20 to press for education reforms.
The 400-mile march from Mandalay to Yangon attracted nationwide attention to the students’ demands including their rejection of the Education Bill which was introduced by the government last September. The new measure, according to students, would restrict human rights in campuses.
The march grew bigger as it passed several towns and cities. But it was often blocked or intimidated by the police and other government forces.
On February 11, the government negotiated a dialogue with the students, who asserted their right to reach Yangon. But the government rejected it and ordered a blockade to prevent the march from arriving in the country's premier city. The march kept moving forward, however, until it neared Yangon.
To support the marchers, Yangon students gathered in front of the city hall to demand the removal of the blockade.
This is the moment when a group of civilian police known as Swam Ar Shin, which literally means power owner, dispersed the students.
Swam Ar Shin is regarded by many residents as thugs who are backed by the government to fight and arrest protesters. The red band they wear on their arms, with an inscription that reads “on duty”, has become a symbol of oppression and state violence. Swam Ar Shin became infamous for their brutal and violent crackdown of the protests during the Saffron Revolution in 2007.
It is hoped that Myanmar's so-called democratic transition will render this group irrelevant. Unfortunately, they were mobilized once more to enforce law and order, which led to the brutal dispersal of a peaceful student-led protest.
A member of the notorious civilian police arrests a female student activist. Photo became viral on Facebook.
The use of civilian police to attack a rally was denounced by many. Cartoonists were among those who criticized the government for using excessive force against the young protesters. Their cartoons, gathered on Facebook page of Brainwave (Nyanhline), reflected the anger of many citizens and rising cynicism to the political reforms that the military-backed civilian government are allegedly implementing.
For example, cartoonist Kyaw Thu Rain depicts the Swam Arr Shin as the main threat to the country's democratic transition.
The label of the graph reads Myanmar's transformation.
The X axis shows the year 2010 to 2015. Cartoon by Kyaw Thu Rein. Widely shared on Facebook.
The cartoonist Saw Naing Htut believes that the police force is being misused.
The cartoonist AAW Taung Gyi  also questions the government's sincerity through his short cartoon stories.
The text reads “OK, let's start our business, while they [police] have their attention on the other side”. Cartoon by Saw Naing Htoo. Widely shared on Facebook.
Left: In our country, we train dogs to take care of violent acts. Right: In our country, we train people to conduct violence. Cartoon by AAW Taung Gyi. Widely shared on Facebook.
Top: Dear beloved citizens, for those who want to regress, we will have to leave them behind. Below: Hey, hey, wait for me. Cartoon by AAW Taung Gyi. Widely shared on Facebook.
For cartoonist Kar Lu Pyi, he believes education reform is a very important step to train a new breed of leaders.
Top: To be able to keep up with international standards, we need to raise our quality of education.
Middle: Good leaders only emerge when people are educated.
Bottom: If not educated, we will have these kinds of leaders.
Cartoon by Kar Lu Pyi. Widely shared on Facebook.

author: Juan Cebu


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Internet Doodles as a Gauge of Women’s Status in China Today · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Baidu's and Google's doodles on March 8. Screenshots.
“Women hold up half the sky,” said an image from China's Communist Revolution in 1949, celebrating the liberation of women from the feudal system. And how are women treated in China today? It's hard to answer objectively, but a look at the doodle on Baidu, the country's biggest Internet search engine, for International Women's Day on March 8 gives some indication: a doll inside a music box.
Baidu's doodle offered quite a contrast from the Women's Day artwork at Google. One famous Chinese blogger, who writes under the name “Pretending in New York,” addressed the difference:
平心而论，谷歌的图也算不上有多优秀，只是刚好政治正确而已，但是这样原本没有什么好说的政治正确，一和百度的图比起来，就显得很可贵了。
To be fair, Google's doodle is not really brilliant, it's just politically correct. But such mundane political correctness, when compared with Baidu's doodle, is very precious.
Highlighting some of the comments from Weibo and WeChat in a blog post, the blogger explained why China could use more political correctness:
@鲸书
高下立判。
百度的图，把女性当成柔弱、可爱，需要被保护的小女孩；
谷歌的图，尊重女性职业、年龄、生活状态等的多样性。
It's so easy to tell which is better.
In Baidu's doodle, the woman is a fragile and adorable girl who needs to be protected.
In Google's doodle, it shows respect for women with different occupations, ages, and lives.
@lilyzoo
百度的图是个装在漂亮盒子里的玩具，连人都不是。
@lilyzoo
Baidu's doodle is a doll in a beautiful box, it's not even a human.
@匿名用户
苹果给系统加了几百个各色人种、性向的表情；谷歌为所有职业、所有年龄的女人一起庆祝节日，百度还在把女孩装在盒子里，漂漂亮亮结婚生子，任人赏玩。
@anonymous user
Apple adds a few hundred emotional icons for people with different colors and sexual orientation in its system; Google celebrates the festival with women with different occupations and ages; and Baidu puts girl in a box. She just needs to stay pretty, get married, give birth, and let others look at her.
@acel rovsion
某些互联网商在性别观念上显得相当愚昧，所以在性别表现上倾向了父权社会的刻板印象，甚至是某种矮化，用消费主义论调包装了一个男性中心话语视角下的空壳形象[…]完全忽视了女性本身的主体性。当然，这么做的原因，是因为大量相关的电商广告和节日活动的消费。
@acel rovsion
Some Internet companies are very backward in their perception of gender. That's why their representations of gender are full of the stereotypes of a patriarch society. Some even devalue women by wrapping them in empty images under man's gaze for his consumption. […] women's subjectivities are neglected. Of course, they do this to serve the needs of e-commercials and holiday consumerism.
@金子
为什么我作为一个女性会感到反感呢？嗯，因为我并不想当一个“公主”啊。我对音乐盒、珠宝、儿童玩具通通没兴趣，我只想做个独立自主的普通女性罢了[…]百度已经不是第一次在伤我的心了。我记得在上初中时上网查找资料，才在搜索框中打出“怎样”两个字，下拉栏中自动显示出一些内容，其中排名第一（抑或是是第二）显示的是“怎样生儿子”。知道那时一个13、4岁的女孩子心中是怎样的心情吗？不开心，真的很不开心。
@Jingzi
Why do I feel offended as a woman? Because I don't want to be a “princess.” I'm not interested in music boxes, jewels, or toys. I just want to be an ordinary independent woman. […] This is not the first time Baidu has insulted me. I still remember using the website once, when I was a junior in high school. When I typed “how to” in the search engine, the automatically suggested search was “how to give birth.” Do you know how that affects a 13- or 14-year-old girl? I felt so bad, really bad.
@Dora Chen
妇女节的意义应该告诉世界人人平等，不是女人需要特别的（尤其是金钱上的）关爱。百度准确地投影了中国社会对于女性“玩物性质”的定义，其实这也无形中增加了男性的负担，比如说“屌丝跪舔女神”，而“女神则倾心于高富帅”。所以说男人们，解放女性，也是解放你们自己啊！
@Dora Chen
International Women's Day is about telling the world that people are born equal, not that women need special (monetary) caring. Baidu reflects how the Chinese society defines women as “toy.” Actually, this definition is also a burden for men. [It reinforces the beliefs] such as the idea that “Diaosi [poor, ordinary looking guys] have to kneel down and lick their goddesses,” and “goddesses only love the best, most handsome, and wealthiest guys.” The liberation of women also sets men free.
“Pretending in New York” highlighted @LinaliHuang's workplace experience, which she shared on WeChat:
和某數一數二的互聯網公司合作，畫婦女節主題圖。畫了各行各業高矮胖瘦的女性，大家都笑得很開心。文案大概是「做你喜歡的自己」。前期審稿團隊基本是女性，過得特別順利，最後關頭被大老板腰斬，換上一張小女人在花叢中喝荼的圖，文案是你值得呵護。右圖是剛看到的今日 Google，我覺得很悲哀。
Worked with a big Internet company on the thematic image of the Women's Day. The drawing included women with different body sizes in different occupations. The team enjoyed the process and was very happy about the outcome. The image's caption was “Be yourself.” Most team members were women and everything went very smoothly initially. But the boss rejected the idea and changed the image to one of a little woman drinking tea in a garden. The new caption says, “You deserve special care.” I saw Google's today, and I just feel sad.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Iran’s Foreign Minister Responds to Letter from Republican Senators · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif responded on Twitter with a response he wrote on his website to the 47 Republican Senators who oppose President Barack Obama's nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif penned a response to the letter 47 Republican U.S. Senators sent to Iranian leaders. The letter was in opposition to nuclear negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.  Zarif was quick to pen the response, and tweet back to the Republican Senator Tom Cotton who originally tweeted the letter to Zarif, President Hassan Rouhani, and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
.@JZarif also, in case you need a translation… http://t.co/NVWL4PSFi1 pic.twitter.com/LfOl16gWiu
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 9, 2015
.@SenTomCotton ICYMI my response. In English. http://t.co/jEleaAjGaG pic.twitter.com/9482aLbSC6
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 10, 2015

author: Mahsa Alimardani


text:
Katsuo Ningen, the Humanoid Severed Fish Head That Won Japan’s Heart · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Katsuo Ningen promoting a 2015 contest to vote for Kochi's best eateries. Photo courtesy Marugoto Kochi / Kochi Tourism and Promotion Agency
In a country used to whimsical mascots, even Japanese people are somewhat surprised by “Bonito Man,” better known in the country as Katsuo Ningen, the loincloth-clad, humanoid skipjack tuna that represents Kochi, one of Japan's most isolated prefectures.
Why the surprise?
When viewed from behind, it's apparent that Katsuo Ningen is a giant severed fish head:
【グロ注意!!】恐怖のカツオ人間の画像ギャラリー【高知県ご当地マスコットキャラ】 – NAVER まとめ http://t.co/3lpHeBEwLB この断面に惹かれましたw pic.twitter.com/FcHG8BZ6Pm
— ひつじめ (@666_Lamb_G) April 24, 2013
Gross-out alert: Here's a scary Naver Moteme gallery (http://t.co/3lpHeBEwLB) of local Kochi mascot Katsuo Ningen. This cross-section is totally cool.
Katsuo Ningen was created by the Kochi Prefecture's government in 2011 to work as an ambassador mascot in the prefecture’s tourism promotion office in Ginza, Tokyo. Katsuo Ningen has since relocated from the big city lights of Tokyo to Kochi, where he spends his days travelling to different siteseeing spots and promoting all the things that make this largely rural prefecture so great.
From his home base in Kochi, Katsuo Ningen continues to run a popular Facebook page and an even more popular Twitter account. The mascot is also the star of a series of web movies promoting Kochi Prefecture, called “Katsuo Ningen: the Movie – Let's Go to Hariyama Bridge“:
All in all, Katsuo Ningen's popularity is a triumph for rural Kochi Prefecture. The mascot takes its name and shape from the skipjack fish that people all over Japan have traditionally associated with Kochi Prefecture.
Dried skipjack is a core ingredient of Japanese cooking, and is used in many regions to create soup stock and as a garnish. The fishery in Kochi has long provided the country with the bulk of this key staple of Japanese cuisine.
When it comes to katsuo, Kochi is the first place that comes to mind for many people in Japan.
A replica of a katsuo, or skipjack, at a souvenir shop in Tatsurahama in Kochi Japan. Photo courtesy Nevin Thompson
Keeping Kochi top of mind in Japan is a priority for the prefecture's residents. Located on the Pacific coast of the island Shikoku, Kochi is surrounded by mountains and far from any high-speed rail links. The prefecture is hard to get to, and so there is an ongoing battle to keep tourists — and the money they spend — flowing into Kochi.
Plastic replica for display of seared katsuo with sea salt, garlic and citrus dip – a Kochi speciality. Photo courtesy Nevin Thompson.
Promoting industries such as tourism is also a priority. The prefecture regularly reports the lowest hourly wages and annual household income of any prefecture in Japan, with some of the highest youth unemployment rates.
The ongoing brain drain to Tokyo also means Kochi is ageing more rapidly than other prefectures.
However, all regions in Japan, down to the smallest villages, have created mascots to in turn create a strong local brand that appeals to visitors.
While Katsuo Ningen has become a bona fide cult personality in Japan, other mascots have become superstars.
Kumamon, a mascot created by rural Kumamoto Prefecture in 2010 to promote new high-speed rail service linking that prefecture with Tokyo, has since become ubiquitous.
Savvy licensing deals have ensured Kumamon's visage appears on everything from underwear to vinyl toilet slippers:
①◆未使用◆くまモン ヘッドフォン・リールキーホルダー他5点 http://t.co/0C5CNNLjN4 pic.twitter.com/fX1jPprttO
— くまモンちゃん (@kumamonchan888) March 3, 2015
Kumamon headphones and keyholder for sale online.
Japan's regions will go to almost any length to generate some good PR coverage with their mascot ambassadors.
Here, Funabashi City's homegrown, unofficial mascot Funassyi (an anthropomorphic pear, a key Funabashi crop) addresses the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo:
The Wall Street Journal asks how much Funassyi charges per hour. (We wonder for ‘what services'?) 1000 pears per hour pic.twitter.com/Fj1pw4s2Vq
— Jake Adelstein/中本哲史 (@jakeadelstein) March 5, 2015
Sometimes it's not immediately apparent what the attraction of a particular mascot might be.
Okazaemon, the unoffical mascot of Okazaki City in Aichi Prefecture, was originally created as an installation for an art show in that city.
おかざえもんってご当地キャラベスト5入りしてるんだって。。 pic.twitter.com/6sDBSbxo1E
— 植竹っけだよ〜 (@Kekke_dayo) January 2, 2015
Okazaemon has to be one of Japan's top 5 local mascots…
Despite Okazaemon's unusual appearance and slightly ironic origins, the character developed a cult following in Japan as well as a follow-up female counterpart, Okazaennu.
Proof, perhaps, that mascots are a powerful way for regions to capture the attention of potential visitors all over Japan.
御当地キャラ全員集合！スマブラww pic.twitter.com/QwpOSmHOaQ
— 啼 -Naki- (@nakkiii666) September 13, 2014
It's a mascot meetup!
In an era of declining tax revenues and increasing costs for delivering services as Japan's population ages, some have pointed out that there are better things for local governments to be spending money on.
So, 2014 marked Japan's mascot cull, where cuddly characters gauged to have little public recognition faced the axe.
However, Katsuo Ningen still continues to survive and thrive, likely due in part to Japan's love of eating seared bonito.
カツオ人間…!? いや！カツオのたたき人間!!!Σ(ﾟﾛﾟ! #土佐のおきゃく #カツオ人間 #皿鉢祭 pic.twitter.com/XedjffuZ81
— 一誠 (@02issei27) March 8, 2015
Can this be Katsuo Ningen? Oh no! It's Katsuo Tataki (seared bonito) Ningen! Σ(ﾟﾛﾟ! #visitingKochi #katsuoningen #sawachimatsuri

author: Nevin Thompson


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Leaked Wiretaps Appear to Confirm Election Fraud Suspicions in Macedonia · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Front page of the Macedonia elections 2014 monitoring report “Democracy Disqulified” by CIVIL – Center for Freedom. (PDF)
The Macedonian wiretapping scandal continues to shake the country's already fragile political scene. Since mid-February 2015, opposition leader Zoran Zaev and representatives of his Social-Democratic Party (SDSM) have held weekly press conferences during which they leak new excerpts from what they claim is a vast cache of surveillance tapes allegedly collected at the behest of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
The so-called “Seventh Bomb”, tapes that the opposition leaked during a March 6 press conference, seem to confirm allegations of electoral fraud during the 2014 elections. At the time, non-governmental organization CIVIL – Center for Freedom had observed “numerous irregularities, abuses and manipulations during the election campaign” while monitoring the vote, in which Prime Minister Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party claimed victory.
As with other independent voices who attempt to criticize the Macedonian government, CIVIL was the target of a negative propaganda campaign, which the organization took note of in their reaction to the revelations:
Despite pressures and threats, CIVIL kept on fulfilling its societal role and objective, and publicly presented all findings on the unscrupulous and large-scale abuse of institutions in an enormous electoral manipulation and fraud during the local elections in 2013, and during the presidential and early parliamentary elections in 2014.[…]
CIVIL held numerous press conferences and presented, in details, numerous irregularities, abuses and manipulations during the election campaign, the days of voting in the days after the elections. From these public presentations and final reports of CIVIL, the conclusion is that the elections in 2013 and 2014 are illegitimate, that the institutions are completely politicized, and media are controlled and under terrible pressure.
CIVIL – Center for Freedom expresses its indignation and utter condemnation of those responsible for this longstanding practice and once again directs the public to consider the reports, analyzes and recommendations published in 2013 and 2014.
Although international media outlets, including the Guardian, Radio Free Europe, and Deutsche Welle, have covered the story, the lack of coverage in mainstream media in the country itself is troubling and demonstrates the lack of media and political pluralism in Macedonia. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said that “press apathy over Macedonia wiretaps is symptom of failing democracy”.
Individuals like journalist Vladimir Petreski have pointed out the lack of resources and pressure that the few independent media and news services in the country are working with, adding to the pressure from the government in their work:
There is no free #media oulet in #Macedonia with capacity to translate & publish the wiretaps in English for international audiences. None.
— Vladimir Petreski (@VPetreski) March 9, 2015
There has been evidence of the Macedonian government threatening some media with criminal charges and defamation lawsuits against media that embed the audio files, so it is not surprising that very few online media dare to post even transcripts of the leaked conversations. The very few exceptions include news portals like Libertas and online magazines like Okno.
One such leaked conversation refers to “production” of fake voters in critical districts, “imported” from the region of Pustec, a small portion of Albania inhabited by an ethnic Macedonian minority, or from smaller towns in rural Macedonia:
1. Разговор помеѓу Гордана Јанкуловска и Кирил Божиновски
КБ: Освен во случај ако не, ова им е една фаза од приказната, знаеш. Ама, не верувам, пошто тоа би значело дека ќе имаат докази. Па сега да кажат една вест, утре уште една, па задутре да извадат нешто, знаеш. Ама они шо може да извадат, што викаш, ова е затворено од пред 20 дена.
ГЈ: Абре Избирачкиот список е затворен.
КБ: Не знам дали се печати сега нешто во меѓувреме. Ова картиве сите се испечатени.
ГЈ: Види, знаеш….Да, да, да.
КБ: Колку што знам.
ГЈ: Тие им се испечатени, луѓево си ги имаат. Има една ризична работа, ама таа ја знаевме ние и затоа инсистиравме да дадат повеќе адреси Комитетиве. Како што знаеш, имаме по 50 души у стан од 40 квадрати. Е сега, тоа е.
КБ: Добро, ама тоа е. Они може да го видат сега тоа како адреса?
ГЈ: Може, тоа го пишува во избирачки список.
КБ: Аха.
ГЈ: Зашо, нели пишува адреса Кирил Божиновски, таа и таа адреса, број тој и тој.
КБ: Да, да, да. Е тоа може, да.
ГЈ: Ама, тоа е. Ние го знаевме. Ти знаеш и кога бевме кај премиерот, јас инсистирав да дадат Комитетиве адреси, ама Комитетиве не даваа.
КБ: Да, да, добро. Дадоа и поише, ама нема врска бе, нема врска. Мислам дека…
ГЈ: Тоа е сеа.
КБ: Како да ти објаснам, тоа е тоа. Ок.
ГЈ: Ок, ајде поздрав. Чао.
1. Conversation between [Minister of Interior] Gordana Jankuloska and [Secretary General of the Prime Minister's Cabinet] Kiril Bozhinovski
KB: Unless in case it does not, this is one phase of their story. But I don't believe they'll continue, they cannot find proof. They post one news story today, tomorrow another, the day after another, you know. But they cannot do anything because the case was closed 20 days ago.
GJ: Hey, the Electoral List is closed.
KB: I don't know if something is being printed in the meantime. But these [ID] cards are all printed out.
GJ: You see, you know… Yes, yes, yes.
KB: As far as I know.
GJ: They have been printed and given to the people. There's one risky thing, but we were aware of it and therefore we insisted for local committees to provide more addresses. As you know, we have 50 people ‘residing’ in 40-square-meters apartments. But, that's done.
KB: Okay, that's it. Can they check the addresses?
GJ: Yes, the addresses are in the Electoral List.
KB: Aha…
GJ: Because, the List contains the name, like Kiril Bozhinovski, address, number…
KB: Yes, yes, yes. That's possible then.
GJ: Yes. But we knew that. You know, when we talked to the Prime Minister, I insisted that the committees provide addresses, but they didn't.
KB: Yes, yes, OK. They gave more than that, but, never mind…
GJ: That's it now.
KB: How can I explain, that's done. OK.
GJ: OK, regards! Bye!
In another conversation from the same batch, the minister of interior talks about a “madhouse” at voting boots and refers to these fake voters as “homunculi”, the original term in Macedonian being “човечиња” and translating to “little people”, which she claims are “led by the hand” of their party handlers.
The language used by those speaking on the tapes is often full of derision, profanities and racist slurs. For example:
9. Разговор на Гордана Јанкулоска со Васил Пишев
ГЈ: Види, му кажав на Славе, таму кадешто мислите дека е тенко, не пишувајте записници, остајте простор за приговор, неаме контрола таму, остајте простор па после за уши циган по циган ќе ги вадиме…Сега мора така, оти затворени се избирачките места…Океј Васе…
ВП: добро, добро..
9. Conversation between [Minister of Interior] Gordana Jankulovska and [VMRO-DPMNE politician] Vasil Pishev
GJ: See, I told Slave [a common name in Macedonia], in places where you think [our lead] is slim, do not sign the reports, leave space for objections, we have no control there. Leave space for afterward, we'll drag the Gypsies by the ears one by one… We have to do it this way, the voting booths are closed now… OK Vase…
VP: All right, all right…
Referring to racists slurs, a Roma rights activist wrote an open letter to the minister, asking, “What kind of exam should you pass so we can be certain that there's no place for racists in the public administration of Macedonia?”
Official election monitoring missions of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) addressed only some of the issues with diplomatic language, even though the qualification “fair” was absent from their reports.
The 13 April 2014 presidential election was efficiently administered and the campaign was active.
The candidate registration process was inclusive and candidates were able to campaign freely.
Although fundamental freedoms were respected, bias media coverage and a blurring of state and party activities did not provide a level playing field for candidates to contest the election, contrary to paragraphs 5.4 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document and Council of Europe standards.
Some Macedonian Twitter users have taken to the social network to ask the OSCE whether it would retroactively update its assessments after hearing some of the leaked materials.
#OSCE #ODIHR should come up with a statement after scandalous revelations for elections fraud in #Macedonia. #бомба #тиктактиктак
— Andreja Bogdanovski (@BogdanovskiA) March 6, 2015
Good morning @OSCE! No reaction yet on Macedonian Prime Minister's election fraud? http://t.co/mLCdIBtzfJ
— tania (@tanjatania) March 7, 2015
Macedonia's opposition continues to hold weekly press conferences, in which some of the alleged wiretap tapes are played. The entire conversations are then published on their YouTube channel.

author: Danica Radisic


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Political Pollution Polarizes Public Opinion Over China’s Environmental Crisis · Global Voices
Gloria Wong

Polarized public discourses over Chai Jing's documentary make it impossible to build consensus on China's air pollution problem.
“Under the Dome”, the sensational documentary on the air pollution crisis in China produced by former state media CCTV reporter Chai Jing, was taken down from major Chinese video websites on March 6, just one day after the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.
Before the takedown, it had already drawn more than 200 million views and stirred intense debate among the Chinese public.
The documentary was well received. Many compared it to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006) and Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” (1962) and praised Chai Jing’s initiative and persistence. The full English translation of the video is now available:
Yet, within more politicized circles of online opinion leaders, there has also been a myriad of criticism. Some peeped into Chai Jing’s private life, accused her of hypocrisy – smoking and driving, giving birth to her daughter in the US – while some questioned her motive for making the documentary, suspicious of her funding resources. And others criticized her investigative report as unprofessional and full of data flaws.
Though the public dialogue triggered by the documentary is unprecedented in China, whether or not the conversation will lead to a public consensus in today's China remains an open question. He Qinglian, a well-known Chinese economist and author, believed such consensus is no longer possible due to the extreme inequality with which social benefits are allocated in China.
Zhao Yifang, a student at London School of Economics, found the skepticism in public discourse frustrating:
这种非黑即白的思维说明一个现象就是，我们总在忽略人性的复杂。一个个体，做一件事情的动机难道
往往是多元的吗?一个公众人物决定做一件事情的时候，很可能是因为他或她的理想因素，虚荣心因素，利益考量等等综合在一起的结果。那有如何?为何公众不能坦诚面对人性的多元而要去计较一个绝对的伟大或者卑鄙?
The black-and-white mindset ignores the complexity of human beings. Why can’t we be tolerant of it? Does it matter if the public figure has various motives, including their ideals, desire to be famous, and their benefits? Why not accept the complexity of human beings instead of getting bogged down in expecting the absolute great or petty?
Famous Twitter-like Sina Weibo critic “Pretending in New York” (@假装在纽约) was also fed up with all the conspiracy theories about the documentary:
我甚至不在乎柴静拍这部视频是不是有炒作自己或者捞钱的目的。我不在乎。我对这个问题完全不感兴趣。这完全不重要。 柴静做了这么一次调查，形成了全社会呼吁解决雾霾问题的压力。这本身已经是一件功德无量的事。我心存感激。我甚至希望她能够从中因此获利，因为这样会激励更多的人走上她这条路。
I really don't care whether Chai Jing wants to make herself famous or to earn money from the documentary. I only appreciate her for her work which has pressed society to think about an air pollution solution. I even hope that she will benefit from the documentary, which would encourage more people to take up the cause.
Others pointed out that the controversy and questioning might be a necessary step in the Chinese public learning how to debate and discuss publicly. Murong Xuecun (慕容雪村), a writer in China, wrote on China Digital Times:
在公共事务的讨论中，诉诸情感或诉诸道德，常常是理据匮乏、语言匮乏的表现。但以宽容的心态视之，也可以把这当成是中国人学习如何参与讨论的必经阶段。而这才是真正应该“从我做起”的事，其中包括：尊重自己的论敌，尽量使用数据和事实说话，尽量不使用过激的语言，等等。
In public discussion, distorting with either emotional anecdotes or moral virtues could be regarded as a lack of supportive evidence or persuasive language. But we should also be tolerant, since it’s a necessary stage for Chinese to get to know how to be involved in public discussion, including how to respect the opposite sides, use data and facts, avoid aggressive language, etc.
Moreover, Murong also noticed that the black-and-white mindset may be an outcome of the ongoing repression of online speech in China:
很少有人注意到当前的分歧与言论环境的关系。在过去的两年间，中国的言论空间空前压缩，大量的账号被注销，许多原本可以存在的NGO被强令注销，大量的人被捕入狱。在日益艰难的环境中，言论者群体和社会公众都开始了明显的分化，一部分人投向主旋律的怀抱，一部分人闭上了嘴，还有一部分人则开始抛弃温情话语，走向激烈甚至极端.
During the past two years, the public discussion space has been greatly shrinking, many public figures’ social media accounts were closed, and NGOs were shut down. Under such circumstances, both public figures and netizens began to adopt extreme ways, some of them embraced the mainstream themes, some closed their mouths, and others moved away from the mild words toward aggressive or even extreme behaviors.
Murong concluded that Chai Jing, who is a typical figure of moderate groups that mildly criticize social problems and don't stand with either side of a debate, is doomed to be attacked fiercely, and the trend is here to stay.
Zhang Tiezhi, a Taiwanese writer echoed Murong on the dwindling public discussion space in China. He stated that compared with air pollution, politic pollution is more severe. He rightly pointed out that without a vigilant civil society, the documentary will at best serve as a wake-up call for some individuals to tackle with pollution, instead of provoke any fundamental changes in the system.

author: Gloria Wong


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#Pyrawebs: Online Activism Against Metadata Retention Bill in Paraguay · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

The retention of metadata coming from the digital environment has special relevance in Latin America, where throughout history several dictatorships have spied and collected private data to implement a policy of terror. Paraguay is not an exception. Nowadays, Paraguay is a democracy, but the use of data recalls the dangers of when dictator Alfredo Stroessner was in power. The draft bill, dubbed “Pyrawebs” (“pyragüés” means “informant” in Guarani), is generating resistance and discussions among Internet users.
Paraguay: quieren q proveedores de internet guarden por 1 año los datos de usuarios #pyrawebs http://t.co/ciCnErHY57 pic.twitter.com/rNyj8Z4UWs
— Derechos Digitales (@derechosdigital) March 5, 2015
Paraguay: They want Internet providers to keep users’ information for a year
The activist website Pyrawebs.tedic.org explains:
El gobierno paraguayo está a punto de ordenar a los ISP a rastrear y almacenar los datos de tráficos de los IP durante 12 meses. Estos planes se hacen con el pretexto de combatir el terrorismo, pedofilia y narcotráfico, pero que en realidad pertenecen en un Estado policial. Las políticas de retención de datos obligatorias tratan a cada uno de los ciudadanos como sospechosos con una constante e intrusiva vigilancia masiva.
Además compromete el anonimato en línea, que es crucial para los investigadores, periodistas, movimientos sociales, ONGs de derechos humanos, todos y todas aquellas que se dedican a la expresión política.
The Paraguayan goverment is at this point ordering ISPs to track and record IP information for 12 months.These plans are made with the excuse of combating terrorism, pedophilia and drug trafficking, but they really belong to a state policy. Obligatory retention policies treat every citizen as a suspect withconstant and intrusive monitoring.
Moreover, it compromises online anonymity, which is crucial for researchers, journalists and social movements, human rights NGOs and every person who makes political expressions.
Opponents of the project object to the magnitude of the information that will be stored:
Solo esto van a saber de vos si se aprueba la Ley de #pyrawebs… ¿Qué lo que tanto? pic.twitter.com/vSKACL6Suz
— Patricia Vargas (@patriciavargasq) March 4, 2015
This is what they will know about you if the law is approved #pyrawebs… How much they want to know?
INFOGRAPHIC: What information does metadata tell about you?
-What you search for on the Internet and the sites you visit
-Where you work and study and all the places that you've visited
-What time you wake up
-Your political and sexual preferences
-Who you know and with whom you communicate
-Where you live
Opponents also want to follow the example of Germany, Austria or Argentina, where metadata retention has been declared unconstitutional:
MT @derechosdigital: Muchos países han eliminado las normas de retención de datos ¿por qué implementarla en Paraguay? pic.twitter.com/xALdTAShxj
— Mariana Cunha e Melo (@MariCunhaMelo) March 4, 2015
MT @derechosdigital: Many countries avoid regulations on metadata retention. Why do they want to use it in Paraguay?
The topic was on the March 5 agenda at the Paraguayan Congress, but the vote was postponed:
Se posterga por 8 días el proyecto #Pyrawebs. Tenemos una semana para dar guerra a que burros como Tuma no tengan nuestros datos.
— Ariel (@TuitdelaFont) March 5, 2015
#Pyrawebs is postponed for 8 days. We have a week to fight and prevent idiots like Tuma having our information.
Pyrawebs invites people to sign a petition to stop the law's passage. Keep tabs on any updates by following the hashtag #Pyrawebs.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


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Real Goats. Real Stories. Bangladesh Delivers. · Global Voices
Rezwan

Screenshot from “The Goats of Bangladesh” Facebook page.
Read the full interview here at Scroll.in.
Bangladesh has now a satirical Facebook page much like Pigeons of New York, which is itself a parody site of the famous Humans of New York project. Goats of Bangladesh is only about six months old, but it boasts of almost 10,000 followers. Sahil Bhalla of Scroll.in interviewed one of the page's administrators, who preferred to remain anonymous.
[What is] the idea behind the page?
We were bored one day during Eid and decided to take pictures of goats with a DSLR camera. After seeing the outcome of the pictures, one of us decided we would open a parody page called “Goats of Bangladesh” where we would mimic the style of posts made by Humans of New York in a mocking way.
Screenshot from the “Goats of Bangladesh” Facebook Page
Read the full interview here at Scroll.in.

author: Rezwan


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Russia’s Internet Ombudsman Advocates for Storing User Data Abroad · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Dmitry Marinichev. Photo by Vpetrov-71 on Wikimedia Commons.
Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev has written a letter to President Vladimir Putin, proposing amendments to the new data retention law and suggesting that Russians’ personal data could be stored abroad with the permission of the owners.
Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports:
Marinichev has proposed allowing foreign online companies to store Russians’ personal data in a country that is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, according to Izvestia.
A total of 46 countries have ratified the convention, including Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as post-Soviet countries including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine.
“We don’t want to lose global online services, which will be unable to operate in Russia unless the law is amended. I suggest that amendments be discussed with the expert community,” Marinichev said, as quoted by Izvestia.
The data retention law that requires social networking sites and foreign companies providing Internet services (like airline tickets and consumer goods sales) in Russia to store Russians’ personal data on servers inside the Russian Federation, will come into effect on September 1.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Social Media Skewers Gambian President for Using Obama Letter as Propaganda · Global Voices
Demba Kandeh

President of the Gambia Yahya Jammeh addresses United Nations General Assembly on 24 September, 2013. UN photo by Erin Siegal. Used under Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 2.0.
A US official has reportedly denied that a letter sent to President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia is an endorsement of his rule in the tiny west African state. The letter, which noted that Gambians have “much to celebrate”, was sent by President Barack Obama on the occasion The Gambia’s 50th independence anniversary.
The pro-government Daily Observer newspaper reported that, “Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America, has felicitated the Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh.”
However, an administration official told new agency AFP, “We congratulated only the people of The Gambia, and not Jammeh.”
The official further said, “We continue to have serious differences with the government of the Gambia across a range of issues, including its human rights record.”
President Jammeh's is known for cracking down on the opposition and the media. In its submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Gambia, human rights organisation Amnesty International said, “Since Gambia’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2010, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated. The government continues to stifle freedom of expression and commit other human rights violations with impunity.”
Nigerian newspaper The Vanguard quoted Jeffrey Smith of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in Washington DC who alleged that Jammeh has long tried to burnish his image through foreign endorsements.
He said, “(He) is very unpopular in his own country, and across the region, so he often seeks to validate his reign by somehow demonstrating that the world, including the United States, approves of the sheer brutality he has used to maintain power.”
Activists have since taken to social media to ridicule President Jammeh and the pro-government newspaper, with some accusing Jammeh of trying to buy “cheap popularity”.
Sulayman Makalo, an exiled Gambian journalist, wrote on his Facebook wall:
Honestly, Jammeh is a disgrace not only to #Gambia, but #Africa as a whole, for him to shamelessly fabricate a letter just for recognition sake – recognition from people that he always castigate.
Sam Phatey, a Gambian in the US, posted on his Facebook wall his “invitation letter from Obama” saying:
Since Obama is writing a letter to everyone to felicitate them (clears throat), he wrote me one too and inboxed it to my facebook LOL! If you did not receive your letter, let me know and I will contact the White House and you will get yours shortly. Join the campaign on twitter to expose Jammeh's false publication of a letter that Obama never wrote. #RealLetterFromObama.
A screenshot from Sam Phatey Facebook page of “invitation letter” from Obama to a Gambian citizen Sam Phatey.
Fatu Camara, a Gambian broadcast journalist based in the US, also tweeted her “invitation letter” in which President Obama says he is looking forward to having cupcakes with her:
Thanks @BarackObama, I am looking to having cupcakes with you #RealLetterFromObama pic.twitter.com/SGhdwwwtOx
— Fatu Camara (@Fatushow) March 5, 2015
Sainey MK Marenah posted his “invitation letter” from Obama as well. He said:
Even a village boy from Kudang is invited by US president Obama to White House for A brief chat on state of media freedom in the Gambia. Here is my letter from Obama!
Making reference to Jammeh's claim that he cures HIV/AIDS, James Chikonamombe asked:
#RealLetterFromObama: Aw come on Yahya…how can someone who found a cure for AIDS stoop so low.
— James Chikonamombe (@Zichivhu) March 5, 2015
Fatu Camara pointed out that:
Big success! Obama “letter” to #Jammeh wasn't mentioned on state TV, which would've been #1 story had we not outed him. #RealLetterFromObama
— Fatu Camara (@Fatushow) March 5, 2015
While Foday Justice Darboe directed his tweet to Gambia's First Lady:
@ZinebJammeh please tell your dictator husband to stop lying to Gambians. 20 yrs of lying is enough. #RealLetterFromObama #Jammeh
— Foday Justice Darboe (@fodaydod) March 6, 2015
Jeffrey Smith noted that #RealLetterFromObama hashtag got traction:
Glad #RealLetterFromObama got traction. Dictators like the one in #Gambia do/say things bc they bank on no one paying att'n. Not this time.
— Jeffrey Smith (@Smith_RFKennedy) March 7, 2015
Some activists have gone to the extent of accusing the pro-government paper of publishing a fake letter from George W. Bush. According to sources, following the skewing of the real letter from Obama, activists doctored a letter, purportedly from President Bush and sent it to Jammeh.
The Daily Observer published the letter purportedly from the former US president thanking Jammeh for his “commitment to the citizens of Gambia and for your efforts to ensure a prosperous future for your country.”
While the social media debate rages on, there is no doubt Gambian authorities are considering their next move, including the option of not responding. As for the Daily Observer, the most likely option is simply to delete the “letter” by updating its website.

author: Demba Kandeh


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The Ban on “India’s Daughter” Brings India’s Sons into Focus · Global Voices
Inji Pennu

India marked the one-year anniversary in 2013 of the brutal rape of a young university student, which plunged India into a period of self-reflection and mourning whilst thousands took to the streets of Delhi in protest against gender-based violence.
Debate has erupted once again in India surrounding the issue of rape in the country, this time spurred by British director Leslee Udwin's documentary ‘India's Daughter‘ about the brutal gang rape and murder of aspiring physiotherapist Jyoti Singh Pandey in 2012 in Delhi.
The film shows one of the convicted rapists, Mukesh Singh, saying women are more responsible for rape than men, and that women shouldn't fight back when being raped. Two defense lawyers who also appear in the documentary spew similarly sexist and violent thoughts about women in India.
Before it was even shown, the film faced accusations of showing India in a bad light, that it was made in poor taste or that it treated the issue insensitively. Some even called it fake.
The right-wing Bharatheeya Janata Party government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stepped in and procured a court order banning its release in India by citing “objectionable content”. Originally, the BBC had scheduled the documentary to air on International Women's Day, March 8, but it moved forward the release to March 4 and published the film in its entirety on YouTube. The Indian government then requested that YouTube block access to the film within the country, and the site complied.
@IndiasDaughter is the saddest reality while we're busy saying”happy”women's day..crime is in the mind ..The thought . We MUST change that !
— Chitrangda Singh (@IChitrangda) March 8, 2015
The documentary mainly focuses on Mukesh Singh, who is behind bars, sentenced to be hanged for his role in Jyoti Singh Pandey's rape on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. She succumbed to her injures two weeks later. It also relies on interviews with her parents and the defense lawyers.
Criticism aside, questions were raised across social media as to why the government would ban the documentary.
To protest the ban, popular news channel NDTV, which was supposed to air the film, ran a black screen with the film's title during the hour-long slot on March 8 when it was scheduled to air.
Explaining why the channel decided not to broadcast an alternative show, editorial director Sonia Singh said in a tweet:
We won't Shout but we will be Heard @SharmaKadambini: #IndiasDaughters 9pm to 10pm pic.twitter.com/UKfqtTImL7”
— sonia singh (@soniandtv) March 8, 2015
Crimes against women are certainly a problem in India. According to the National Crime Record Bureau, every 20 minutes, a woman is raped in India. Since 2010, reported crimes against women, including rape, have increased by 7.1 percent.
At the same time, the film isn't perfect. GV contributor Annalisa Merilli pointed out some of the basic flaws in the narrative of the documentary on news website Quartz:
The documentary lacks the strength to point to the roots of the problem. Take the title, India’s Daughter. Why? Isn’t that a quintessentially patriarchal label to give Jyoti Singh? She wasn’t India’s daughter. She was India’s promising medicine student. She was Delhi’s fierce citizen, who would stop a policeman from beating up the kid who just stole her purse. She was the fearless woman who stood up against the men who would then kill her—because she would not take being bullied, she would not just do as she were told.
Kunjila Mascillamani, a film student at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, wrote on her blog that while the film is not perfect, that's no reason for it to be banned:
Nothing artistic about it. Moreover it is somewhat like Slumdog Millionaire in that it looks at India as a third world nation sinking in poverty and anti-social activities. A country which needs reformation. Glee at an opportunity to criticize a former colony is rather evident. India of slums, youth dropping out of school to earn a living, women who only seek protection from husbands- the sketch is just perfect.
[…]
I am not India's daughter. I don't think Jyoti Singh was either. India is in fact Mukesh Singh. I cannot adhere to anything which originates there. Neither as a woman nor as a human being. In this festival colours [I] am with a ‘foreign’ film. A mediocre one which posed threat to state, a film which made me part of a conspiracy. Jyoti Singh, today, [I] miss you.
Taking a look at the conviction rate of rape, India stands tall with an ‘impressive’ 24.2 percent (2012) compared to the UK's 7 percent and Sweden's 10 percent. Then why does rape continue to be a problem?
Gender inequality thrives in India, according to Anjali Joshi in the Huffington Post: “This is no pathogenic case of victim-blaming. This mentality has been bred in Indian culture as a result of generations of gender inequality. These rapists were not “rotten apples in the barrel”; rather, their way of thinking is not far from the cultural norm in India.”
Questions need to be asked at all levels of Indian society about how to rid India of this gender inequality that has gripped its very roots. Where to begin? Popular actress Twinkle Khanna tweeted in a few words on what needs to be done as a society:
It starts from aborting the girlchild to raping & killing women.We are raising tomorrow's men in our homes today.Raise them right India.
— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) March 5, 2015

author: Inji Pennu


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Access to Grani.Ru and Other Censored News Websites Restored by Digital Activists · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Image by  Iain Cuthbertson on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0
Digital rights defenders celebrated the World Day Against Cyber Censorship by unblocking access to nine news websites around the world, including the independent news outlet Grani.Ru that is blocked in Russia and Fergananews.com, blocked in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
As part of Operation Collateral Freedom, the activists used the technique known as mirroring to duplicate the nine censored sites and place their copies on the servers of large Internet companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, in order to make them available in the 11 countries where they are currently banned.
In these 11 countries that are “Enemies of the Internet,” blocking the servers of these Internet giants in order to make the mirror sites inaccessible would deprive thousands of companies of essential services. The economic and political cost would be too high. Our nine sites are therefore protected against censorship.
Grani.ru, which was blocked in Russia in March 2014, is now available at https://gr1.global.ssl.fastly.net/. Fergananews.com is available at https://fg1.global.ssl.fastly.net/. A complete list of websites is available on the Collateral Freedom web page.
Operation Collateral Freedom was launched by Reporters Without Borders in collaboration with GreatFire, a group of Chinese activists that has already created unblockable mirror sites of Deutsche Welle, Google and China Digital Times. GreatFire’s tools and technology are available online for free for those wishing to circumvent website blocking by governments.
Reporters Without Borders said they are renting bandwidth for the mirroring operation and have asked Internet users to help pay for additional bandwidth when the initial supply runs out, so that the mirror sites remain available for longer.


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How One Lebanese NGO is Helping Syrian Refugees · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Screenshot of the ongoing IndieGogo campaign by ‘Lebanese for Refugees’
It all started in December 2013 when activist and journalist Carol Malouf was contacted by the municipality of Arsal, along the Northern border of Lebanon with Syria, to highlight the plight of around 400 Syrian refugee families. They were located in a ‘no-man zone’ and a particularly devastating winter storm, dubbed Alexa, was about to hit the region. And so the NGO ‘Lebanese For Refugees‘ was born.
Lebanese For Refugees is working in the traditional manner, raising money through donations with the cooperation of several NGOs and organizations such as the Islamic Relief Committee, the US Embassy in Beirut, the European Union and Foodblessed, among others.
Despite their so-far short existence, Lebanese For Refugees can already boast numerous achievements. According to their annual report sent to Global Voices Online, they have managed to raise over 100,000 US dollars over three months from December 2013 to March 2014, and 20,000 US dollars in January 2015 as part of their ‘keep them warm’ campaign. The latter saw over 3,000 people donating clothes, shoes, toys, blankets, food and money, culminating in 22 trucks distributing the donated goods to refugees in several camps on the same day.
The ‘Keep them warm’ campaign in Hamra on January 10 (Source: Hummus For Thought)
Furthermore, in their first weeks, they distributed diesel oil to 50 families (40 liters per family per week) with 5,000 US dollars spent weekly on fuel and cooking gas for the remaining winter weeks of 2013-2014. They distributed more than 1,000 food parcels and 2,000 meters of camp lands were covered in gravel. In addition, they spent 30,000 US dollars worth of medical aid which was distributed among refugees as well as arranging medical visits with staff from the American University of Beirut (AUB). Several cases requiring advanced medical care were then sent to AUB's Medical Center (AUBMC). And this is just a summary of their overall achievements.
The NGO is currently focusing its efforts on raising 20,000 US dollars for its upcoming projects. Lack of funding is a serious problem in handling the refugee situation. As we've previously covered, the efforts of Lebanon's civil society are far from enough. Only 60 per cent (757 million US dollars), of the amount requested by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2014 (1.2 billion US dollars) had been donated by December 2014. The UN also recently announced that it is cutting food aid to 1.7 million refugees, citing “unhonoured cash pledges.”
But dealing with what can described as ‘donor fatigue’ can be very challenging. By now, the average Lebanese is used to seeing Syrian refugees in devastating conditions and with both refugees’ numbers increasing on a daily basis and the conflict nowhere near an end, it can be easy to start ‘getting used’ to the refugees’ situation. In an interview with France 24, Carol Maalouf discussed the challenge of donor fatigue:
There have been countless efforts to raise awareness concerning the plight of Lebanon's Syrian refugees. One highlighted by Lebanese for Refugees is “The Match Girl” a short Danish movie adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen‘s famous fairy tale of the same name. It was shot on location in Lebanon's Beqaa, where over 400,000 refugees currently reside. According to directors Thomas Pa Papetros and Darin “Daro Daro” Hassan, this particular fairy tale was chosen to “show that not much has changed over the last 170 years.” The film is a Turning Tables project funded by Red Barnet/Save the Children Denmark and supported by Kong Gulerod Film.
If you wish to contribute to their ongoing online fundraiser, you can do so at this link.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Is Catchy Song ‘China Is My Home’ Meant to Brainwash Hong Kong’s Children? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screen capture from the children's music video “China Is My Home”.
China China is my mother
China China is my home
China China is getting stronger
China China I love her
This three-minute children's song, with only four lines that repeat over and over, has parents worried in Hong Kong. It recently made two appearances at a Hong Kong Catholic primary school's weekly assemblies, and some adults see the catchy tune as an attempt to brainwash their children at a time when tensions between Hong Kong and China are high.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China with a high degree of autonomy from the mainland, but Beijing puts tremendous political pressure on Hong Kong to fall in line with its politics. What the Beijing and Hong Kong governments want for the city is often different than what Hong Kongers themselves want — as demonstrated by the recent pro-democracy Occupy Central protests that took over the city's downtown for more than two months.
In 2012, the Hong Kong government scrapped plans to make “patriotic education”, or so-called “national education” which promotes China, part of the compulsory curriculum in elementary education due to a series of protests. The Hong Kong Education Bureau keeps encouraging the national education program through its funding scheme, however, and many schools have introduced the program either formally in the curriculum or as an extracurricular activity.
In the aftermath of the Occupy Central sit-in, Beijing has urged Hong Kong to relaunch the national education program. Both parent and student activist groups are monitoring the situation for developments.
The principal of the Catholic school admitted that he had showed the music video of “China Is My Home” twice in a month during school assemblies, saying the images in the song fit into the theme of the assembly talks on “piety” and “culture”. He stressed he was unaware of the lyrics of the song and did not force the children to sing.
With only four verses song continuously on a loop, it is hard to imagine that one can be unaware of what the song says.
Some parents from the “National Education Parent Concern Group” on Facebook are drafting a letter to the school and the Catholic Church on the matter.
Mok Chi Wai, a writer for citizen journalism platform inmediahk.net, took a closer look at the relationship between members of the Catholic Church and mainland Chinese politics:
香港天主教會中，與香港大環境一樣，實在不乏「愛國」人士。而「愛國」分兩種：愛國民主派以及親共派。所謂愛國民主派，即擁有所謂的大中華意識，認為教徒必定要愛國，要了解國情，幫助國家發展，同時支持民主運動，而或多或少不滿共產黨統治。[…] 他們也喜歡把單純而缺乏思考的「愛國」意識，frame成為道德議題。「中國是我的媽媽」，我們是子女，大家有血緣關係，因此要孝敬。質疑「愛國」就變成不孝、不道德。他們或許自稱是「批判地愛國」，但他們的「批判」，也只流於表面。日講「愛國」夜講「愛國」，卻永遠講不清為何要「愛國」、「愛甚麼國」。[…]
另一種，就是投共派。他們基本上不只是愛國，而且也愛黨，相信習近平是好人，西方國家批評中國都是帝國主義作祟。[…]
還有些教會中人，為了要到大陸傳教，或協助中梵建交，因而處處避忌，避免得罪政權。他們當中，有些人是真正用心良苦，而且深明如此做法是有代價的，因此不會處處宣揚，反而謙卑傳教，盡力而為，也不會去批評為義而抗爭者。但有些人卻不同，自覺自己很偉大，也自以為自己的策略很聰明，認為抗爭太愚蠢，不值得為「政治」而犧牲宗教和傳福音之機會。
Similar to the political environment in Hong Kong, the Catholic Church also has many patriots. There are two types of patriots: democratic patriots and pro-communist patriots. The democratic patriots have a strong Chinese identity and think that believers should love and understand their country. They should assist the development of the country and support the democratic movement. Some of them are critical of the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. […] They like to put patriotism under the framework of “morality”. That's why “China is my mother” and we are her children — this is family by blood and we have to treat the country with the principle of piety. To question “patriotism” is against the principle and hence immoral. Even though they call themselves “critical patriots”, their critique is superficial. They keep preaching for “patriotism” but never ask why. What exactly do we love about this country?
Another type are the pro-Chinese Communist Party patriots. They not only love the country but also the party. They believe in [President] Xi Jinping and think western criticism of China is out of imperial interest.
Some members of the church avoid talking about politics because they want to preach in mainland China or to support the ties between China and the Vatican. Some of them are sincere and understand the price for keeping silent. They keep a low profile and just concentrate on preaching with a humble heart. They don't offend the ruler but neither do they criticize the protesters. Yet some of them take pride in their work and believe that they are taking the right strategy. They criticize the protesters for their silly fights and believe that “politics” would ruin the opportunity for preaching Christianity.
As pressure increases for making the national education program compulsory, the divide and conflict within the church will also escalate. Can religion and politics really remain separate?


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Film Captures Cramped Lives of Japan’s ‘Net Cafe Refugees’ · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot from “Japan's Disposal Workers: Net Cafe Refugees” (2015)
Shiho Fukada's “Japan's Disposable Workers,” produced in collaboration with MediaStorm and the Pulitzer Centre, documents the life of Internet cafe residents who earn too little to rent their own apartments.
Internet cafes have existed in Japan for over a decade, but in the mid 2000s customers began using these spaces as living quarters. According to the film, at least 38% of Japan's workforce are temporary workers, earning 50% of their salaried counterparts.
The cost of living in Japan's large cities can be expensive, and the cramped semi-private booths of Internet cafes provide a safety net of sorts, one step above living on the street.
The documentary is part of a series of films based on “Japan’s Disposable Workers,” a portrait series by photojournalist Shiho Fukada.
The “Japan’s Disposable Workers” series of documentary film shorts explores the labor issues affecting Japan in three sections, illustrating a larger, ongoing global labor crisis at work.
Previous films in the series based on Fukada's work include “Overworked to Suicide” and “Dumping Ground.”
“Overworked to Suicide” documents working conditions in Japan after the recession of the 1990s, when Japan's white-collar salaried workers would increasingly work arduous hours for fear of losing their jobs, resulting in increased rates of depression and suicide.
“Dumping Ground” tells the story of Kamagasaki, Osaka, which used to be a thriving day laborer's town. Today, it is home to approximately 25,000 unemployed and elderly men, many of whom are also homeless.


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The Country as a Mirror: Reflections of a Young Colombian in Bristol · Global Voices
Ana Hernández

Pablo Uribe, photographed by the author in Bristol (United Kingdom).
This is the second post in a series of interviews that explore the experiences of Latin Americans who leave their countries of origin in search of new opportunities, and look back on their home countries with changed outlooks. In this post, Ana Hernández talks to Pablo Uribe, a young Colombian political scientist, who has obtained Spanish citizenship and recently made Bristol his new home. The first of these interviews, conducted with a Dominican businessman in Spain, can be read here.
Pablo Uribe has lived outside of Colombia for 14 years. For him, eating sancocho soup is a deeply nostalgic experience. He is from Medellín, and spent some of his life in Madrid, Colombia, too. Pablo left the country when he was 19 years old. Now a Spanish citizen, he's still as much an explorer today as ever, living in Bristol, where, during this interview, he reflected on Medellín and the idea of leaving, returning, and seeing oneself reflected in a single country:
[Yo] era muy de la idea de volver a Colombia, tanto era así que al principio de vivir en Madrid fui muy reticente a pensar en mi situación administrativa como extranjero. Con el tiempo finalmente me hice ciudadano español; pero cuando ya vas por la segunda migración la casa que queda más cerca es la que acabas de dejar atrás. Terminas con un caos identitario importante.
I was all about the idea of coming back to Colombia, so much so that when I first started living in Madrid, I was very reluctant to think about my legal situation as a foreigner. Over time, I finally became a Spanish citizen, but when you immigrate for the second time, the home that ends up being closest is the one you just left behind. You end up having a significant identity crisis.
The young political scientist maintains his roots by remaining in contact with his family and friends. Online social networks make help preserve these relationships. Additionally, publications like Semana, El Espectador, La Otra Orilla and La Silla Vacía, solely for political news, are also important points of reference.
Although he hadn't traveled abroad until he was 19-years-old, Pablo had plenty of time to grab a backpack and explore Colombia. He started at the age of 14, taking advantage of weekends, holidays, and school vacations:
Fue durante esos años de adolescencia que visité la costa atlántica pero también la montaña; la cordillera en la zona cafetera, todo los alrededores de Medellín. Bajé también hasta Bogotá y continué luego con algunos otros lugares. Quizá sea que Colombia no tiene grandes atractivos como el Machu Pichu, la ruinas aztecas en México o el Perito Moreno en Argentina, pero creo que en conjunto es muy atractivo, cada parte hace un todo donde su gente es lo mejor.
It was during those teenage years that I visited the Atlantic coast, but also the mountains; the mountain ranges in the coffee-harvesting areas, the outskirts of Medellin. I also went down to Bogotá and later continued on to other places. Colombia might not have big attractions like Machu Picchu, the Aztec ruins in Mexico, or the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, but I think that overall it is very attractive, each part makes up a whole where its people are the best.
Pablo also talks about how Medellín probably experienced its most tumultuous period during his childhood, when it was immersed in conflicts stemming from the drug trade:
En los años 80 y hasta que muere Pablo Escobar en 1993, fundador y líder del Cartel de Medellín, la tasa de homicidios andaba entonces casi por el doble de lo que están ahora algunas de las ciudades de Centroamérica. Eso fue una guerra abierta y total.
Throughout the 1980s and until 1993, when Pablo Escobar, the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel, died, the homicide rate hovered at around double what it is now in some Central American cities. It was complete and open warfare.
Still smiling and explaining this with pause, Pablo remembers how a bomb was planted in front of his grandmother's house, how he used to think that his father would never return from work, or how, even as a teenager, he recalled entering a restaurant for water and finding three armed guerrillas playing pool:
No siempre te encuentras un tío con un fusil en un billar, pero era algo que ya no te producía miedo. Luego sí, después la cosa se complicó y tenía su riesgo salir por ahí, el peligro era objetivo. Ahora, que lo veo con perspectiva, pienso que viajar por el país en solitario es algo que no debí haberle hecho a mi mamá.
It's not every day that you come across a guy with a gun at a pool table, but it was something that didn't scare you anymore. Later yes, after things got complicated and it was risky to go out there, the danger was real. Now that I see it in perspective, I think that traveling around the country alone is something that I should not have inflicted on my mother.
Pablo, who is 33-years-old now, cannot pass up the occasion to talk about what was happening in Colombia when he was about to leave:
El surgimiento de una extrema derecha, que se presentó ante todos con un discurso radical que apelaba al miedo y al nacionalismo, dejó poco margen para la crítica.
The rise of the extreme right, which presented itself to everyone with a radical discourse that appealed to fear and nationalism, left little room for criticism.
It was at that very moment that Pablo discovered politics and would go on to study political science in Spain afterwards:
Ahí fue inevitable no toparme con la realidad política de Colombia, y al vivirlo desde fuera creo que estuve en una posición privilegiada; por verlo con distancia y tener referentes con qué compararlo. Entonces choqué mucho con Colombia. Y aún hoy me queda reconciliarme con mi país en muchos aspectos.
There it was impossible not to run into Colombia's political reality, and I think I was in a privileged position to have experienced it from outside the country, seeing it at a distance and having references to which to compare it. So I disagreed with Colombia a lot. And even today, I have to reconcile with a lot about my country.
Pablo also drew attention to people’s reluctance to listen to criticism in certain cases:
Cuando un país, una religión o una ideología está estigmatizada, se le convierte en victima y entonces sucede que está mal visto hacer crítica. Eso ocurría en Colombia. La nación entera cargaba con el estigma de ser un país inseguro y de narcotraficantes; así cuando llegó [el ahora ex-presidente de Colombia] Álvaro Uribe e hizo un discurso derechista, muy agresivo con la crítica que venía de fuera, todo se potenció. Y al que estaba fuera no se le consideraba suficientemente autorizado, su juicio no tenía la misma validez y se le acusaba de desconocimiento y de sesgo. Hubo una vez que un periodista que no era colombiano expuso que Medellín era el burdel a cielo abierto más grande del mundo. Ahí se le cayó la reprobación encima.
When a country, religion, or ideology is stigmatized, it becomes a victim and drawing criticism becomes frowned upon. This was happening in Colombia. The entire nation bore the stigma of being an unsafe country, full of drug traffickers. So when [the now former president of Colombia] Álvaro Uribe came and made an aggressive, right-wing speech, people were more than ready to hand over power, despite what the rest of the world was saying. People outside the country weren't considered sufficiently informed, their judgement wasn't worth the same, and they were accused of ignorance and bias. Once, a journalist who was not Colombian proposed that Medellín was the largest outdoor brothel in the world. And for that, he was ostracized.
Finally, Pablo reflects on the traditional media's “narco-telenovelas,” a television genre based on stories related to drug trafficking, and how other initiatives in the world of arts and culture manage to open the spectrum of Colombians’ self-understanding:
[No obstante] aprendimos a vivir con las diferencias. Y aunque fuimos exportadores de narco telenovelas que contribuyeron a estigmatizar la población o a objetivizar y denigrar a la mujer, hoy día hay en Colombia mucha gente está haciendo cosas muy buenas. Hay cosas interesantísimas dentro de la cultura, del arte o la música. Falta que llegue la normalización política, pero llegará
[Nonetheless] we learn to live with differences. And although we were exporters of narco telenovelas that helped stigmatize the population and objectify and denigrate women, today there are many people doing very good things in Colombia. There are extremely interesting things within the culture, art, and music. The only thing missing is political normalization, but it will come.

author: Ana Hernández