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Peru: Reactions Following Ollanta Humala’s Electoral Victory  · Global Voices
Isabel Guerra

Humala addresses his constituents in the Dos De Mayo Plaza, Lima. Photo: Courtesy of Gana Perú Press.
More than a week after nationalist Ollanta Humala's tight victory in the Peruvian presidential elections, with 100% of the votes already counted, official numbers say [es] 51.489% went to Humala and 48.511% went to Keiko Fujimori.  Reactions of all sorts continue to arise in the press [es], blogosphere and Peruvian social networks [es].
With his victory barely secured, Humala went on his South American tour beginning in Brazil [es], a tour that is seen in Peru as “a gesture of Latinamerican integration [es],” but is also interpreted by some as an indicator of Humala's desire to dissociate himself from the influence [es] of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
In Libremente [es], Yesenia Alvarez Temoche expresses a number of fears on behalf of Peruvians who do not agree with the election's results:
Así como la mitad de peruanos están preocupados, la otra mitad está demasiado confiada. Una vez más, a mi criterio, subestiman la propuesta política que ha ganado. Han olvidado de un día para otro que Ollanta Humala no queda santificado por los yerros de su contrincante. Esas mismas personas que hablan de democracia, reivindicación y concertación no se atreven a tan siquiera dudar o poner en tela de juicio que Humala se mostró siempre cercano a esa franquicia autoritaria latinoamericana, con bastantes visos de estrategia militar que viene aplastando y debilitando la sociedad civil en varios países hermanos.
Parallel to this, Ricardo Alvarado celebrates Humala's win in AveCrítica [es], but takes precautions against the danger that the frailty of the coalition which led Humala to win the elections can represent:
Después del 5 de junio, ¿hay razones para estar contento? Las hay, sin duda; el fujimorismo ha sido derrotado en las urnas, junto con sus analistas y encuestadoras alquiladas, sus periodistas y medios cómplices, su descaro y su matonería para imponernos la impunidad. ¿Hay razones para estar preocupado? También; porque la mafia ha sido vencida, pero va a intentar volver a toda costa, y porque es posible que el frente único encabezado por Ollanta Humala no dure más allá del 28 de julio.
Una Bitácora de Jomra [es], a blog of a Peruvian based in Spain, reflects on voters’ expectations regarding Ollanta Humala's future administration:
Salvo pateando el tablero, Humala no podrá cumplir con todo lo que prometió, ni podrá solucionar todos los problemas habidos y por haber, y tiene una tarea realmente difícil por delante, la cuestión no es tanto si va a realizar punto por punto su programa… sino en el rumbo que toman las cosas, en las modificaciones que propone (aunque no las consiga), en cómo las propone (el nivel de participación en las propuestas o si todo viene ya en paquete cerrado) y en cómo articule la resolución de conflictos, esto es, en si genera un marco institucional dentro del cual encauzar los conflictos sociales…
Jorge Rendón analyzes the elections’ results in Nuestra Bandera [es]:
La derecha peruana… asumió a Keiko Fujimori como su candidata. La apoyó con dinero y con su prensa y TV… Esta campaña impactó en mayor grado en los centros urbanos de la costa centro y norte. (…) En Lima y en el puerto del Callao, que concentran un tercio del electorado nacional, Ollanta Humala no ha ganado en ningún distrito. Su victoria se debe, en su mayor parte, al voto de los departamentos del sur, de la sierra y de la selva, cuyas mayorías han escapado al control de la propaganda de la derecha (…)
The day following the election, the Lima Stock Market suffered a 12.51% drop [es], the worst in its history, forced to close transactions earlier than usual. Nevertheless, it quickly recuperated [es]. Shortly thereafter, a number of representatives from the corporate unions visited the elected president [es] to express their support. Twitter users commented on these events:
Carlos Rivera Paz (@IDL_Rivera):
Los de CONFIEP [principal gremio empresarial peruano] hasta el sábado hacían campaña contra Humala …y ahora se van en mancha a saludarlo.
Others ask themselves how Humala will reconcile [es] his interest for integration with Brazil with the interests of Peruvians [es] that reside along the frontier zones with said country. Concretely, the first question is the viability of Brazilian-Peruvian hydroelectric projects [es] in the Peruvian Amazon (like Inambari and Pakitzapango), taking into account that a large percentage of settlers in the area under the influence of these projects are opposed to them [es].
Cesar Combina (@cesarcombina) tweets:
Gente de puno: si votaste por ollanta, olvidate que te van a parar INAMBARI. Han visto a donde fue primero Humala? #mentirashumalistas
Federico Harman (@jfharman) also shares his opinion on this topic:
@roxcanedo @UnAymara @Sr_Quest Inambari es parte de la deuda de Humala con Lula… ahora veremos la muñeca del gobierno de Gana Peru
On the networks, specifically post-electoral comments are the most diverse.
Isabel Vida celebrates:
Gracias a Dios acabamos con la corrupcion descarada y las ambiciones anti-nacionales de los Fujimoristas, esperemos ahora que el senor Humala haga del Peru un pais democratico…
Héctor Raúl Chávez Juárez laments:
Despuès que la bolsa cayò, ya hablaban de meter a Fuji a una carcel para reos comunes, ahora dizque nunca Humala dijo que el balon de gas costaria 12 soles, empezamos mal, malisisisimo.
José Vargas (@Josevargas_89) does not hide his distaste:
yo queria que ganara #fujimori esta victoria de #humala es un triunfo #chavista,
Maga (@la_magacha) observes:
Qué pena leer comentarios de mis propios amigos diciendo que los que votaron por Humala son unos “hijos de puta, serranos, resentidos”, etc.
Oscar Torres expresses total skepticism in the political class:
Da igual si ha ganado Ollanta Humala. Daba igual su hubiera ganado Keiko, total al final todos los políticos son la misma m….. solo que envuelta en diferente papel…
Other users were happy that the electoral process finally came to an end and expressed their desire for the polarization in recent weeks to fade away, as Fernando Rodríguez [es] comments:
Pienso que con el triunfo de Ollanta Humala se ha llegado a un punto donde tenemos la oportunidad, los que lo apoyan y los que se oponen, a concordar, a darle una oportunidad al Peru y trabajar y dejar trabajar por el bien del pais. Nuestras familias en Peru son las que importan y la polarizacion jamas fue buena en ninguna instancia. Creemos armonia y esperemos que todo sea para bien..
Pilar Ica expresses that:
ELECCIONES PRESIDENCIALES EN PERU: el Sr Humala es el nuevo presidente con 55% de votos exprimidos. El pueblo lo ha elegido, espereeemos [sic] que sea lo mejor para nuestro lindo Peru.
Juan José Leguía (@jjleguia) invokes:
Mensaje a los que votamos por Keiko: Reconozcamos a Ollanta como nuestro Presidente electo democraticamente y sigamos trabajando por el Peru
Veronica Janet (@VeronicaJanet) is optimistic:
Tengo fe en que el nuevo gobierno de Ollanta Humala va a ser mejor que este. Ojalá los medios de comunicación lo dejen trabajar bien!
Atea y Sublevada (@AteaySublevada) expresses a concrete wish, remembering the deceased in the Bagua incidents of 2009:
Nada impedirá que el Congreso investigue el Caso Bagua cuando Ollanta Humala asuma presidencia del P : 0z.fr/DmjIZ
Fernando Giorlando ( @CapitanPlavinil) speculates:
tengo la leve sospecha d q Humala, cuando le caiga la 1º comitiva del FMI, no va a resultar tan “zurdo” como el stablishment peruano temía
And others, such as Rosa Quispe Litardo (@Manyus), joke that:
mas tarde pasare por el aeropuerto a ver si cumplen su palabra todos lo que dijeron que se iban si gana Humala
Ollanta Humala will officially assume the role of elected president on July 28, the day which Peru will commemorates the anniversary of their independence as well, amidst grand expectations, but also suspicions and distrust.
Taking into account the truly tight margin by which he won, the fact that he does not have the majority in Congress either, and remembering that more than 220 social conflicts [es] currently exist, Peruvians expect that the new president will know how to arrange a cabinet in consensus with other political forces and build bridges between those who voted for him and those who did not, so that the country can be viable.

author: Isabel Guerra


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Philippines: Old Manila photos · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Old Manila Nostalgia Flickr group is a rich source of old Manila photos from the Philippines.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Puerto Rico: Barack Obama Visits the Island · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Netizens can follow the discussion on US President Barack Obama's flash visit today to Puerto Rico under the hashtags #obamapr and #obamaenpr.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Russia: New Initiative to Enforce TV Morality · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

An initiative to create a Public Oversight Board for media control in Russia may seem like a passage from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four but it is a reality in the country, which still struggles to accept the concept of democracy and free speech.
The letter [ru] behind the initiative, complaining about low standards of morality on television, is addressed to Russia’s President Dimitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. It has been signed by many prominent actors and “workers of art” with Nikita Mikhalkov, an Oscar-winning director and “favorite” of Russian bloggers, among them.
Moral degradation
Throw Away Your Television! Photo by Flickr user Rex Dingler (CC BY-NC 2.0).
The letter draws attention to immorality of Russian media and ties the rising level of “moral degradation of a large part of our society” to the lack of control from the state:
Продолжаются попытки предать забвению и намеренно исказить отечественную историю, культуру, традиции. Нравственные идеалы, гражданственность и патриотизм в процессе воспитания и обучения детей и молодежи формируются слабо. Приходится с сожалением констатировать утрату многих базовых ценностей, падение общего культурного уровня. Во многом «благодаря» новой культурной политике государства поползла вверх кривая роста преступности, алкоголизации, наркомании, педофилии, суицидов, коррупции и прочих социальных пороков. Возрастает степень моральной деградации значительной части нашего общества. На призывы неравнодушных людей к властям остановить нравственное разложение нации мы слышим: Извините, у нас – демократия.
The letter proposes the creation of a Public Oversight Board responsible for controlling the level of morality in media:
Считаем необходимым приступить к созданию Общественного наблюдательного совета, осуществляющего контроль за соблюдением средствами массовой информации исторически сложившихся норм нравственности. Такой контроль, связанный с возможностью общественного порицания, не имеет ничего общего с политической цензурой недавнего исторического прошлого.
Objective censors?
The initiative has not found a lot of support among bloggers. Although most agreed with the lack of taste in the Russian media, they condemned any efforts to openly censor its content.
Blogger helenova wonders [ru] about the motives for the letter. “Of course, the text of the letter by worker of culture regarding censorship, spirituality and church is horrible in its helplessness and limited view,” she writes. “I cannot understand why it has been signed by respected grown-ups many of whom probably experienced all advantages of censorship.”
helenova is sceptical about the future of this initiative and explains why it would not work:
But one can understand them: streams of tastelessness from TV screens have flooded all good and kind a long time ago. All that should be stopped at some point but these letters won’t help. […] Because the policy of a TV channel is determined by the management that brought this idea of what people need. It is also determined by Almighty Dough.
Eugenyshultz expresses [ru] criticism of the initiative and condemns any effort to censor media content (the general feeling amongst bloggers):
It is clear to me that every stand-alone or group (with not many members) organ of censorship – even with the best intentions – will eventually become “choker of freedom.” Mikhalkov’s ideas on censorship, as far as I understood from the text, wonder in search of a good censor. But this approach goes nowhere. Objective censors do not exist.
Some bloggers couldn’t help but criticize film director Nikita Mikhlakov, who famously went to war with bloggers over their comical versions of posters for his new movie “Burnt by the Sun 2.”
Blogger master-radar calls [ru] Mikhalkov “The Great Inquisitor” and batanin accuses [ru] the director of forgeting about censorship under communists.
New reality and old thinking
Dissatisfaction with low standards of media content in Russia does go far back and revolves mainly around entertainment programs on television. Notorious reality show DOM 2, for example, has long been a subject of fierce “What people need vs what people want” debate.
The Internet is no exception. Efforts to present the platform as a place for pornography and pedophiles come from the top. Vladimir Putin once said that 50 percent of Internet content was pornography and diminished its role as a trusted source of information.
Nevertheless the initiative to create a Public Oversight Board will probably go nowhere. As depressing and tasteless as the media content in Russia (like in many other countries) is today, it will be almost impossible to go back to the days of the old kultsovet, the board responsible for content of art products in the Soviet Union.
But this proposal to control the media content is an indication of a long-lasting conflict between new media realities and Russian old-school thinkers in power. While the younger generation doesn’t seem to mind current media and Internet content, the older generation fails to grasp the situation that people are free to choose what to watch, listen and read.

author: Vadim Isakov


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Sao Tome and Principe: Hip Hop to Provoke Thought · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Abri os olhos São Tomé (Open your eyes Sao Tome) [pt] is an intervention mixed song with “controversial lyrics” by santomean rapper PekaGBoom. On the blog Nação hip Hop (Hip Hop Nation) [pt], PekaGBoom's message is described as an invitation “to meditate”.

author: Sara Moreira


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Singapore: Anger Over Mistreatment of Elderly Patient  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

It’s called Nightingale Nursing Home but it seems some of the nurses there are far removed from the real Florence Nightingale.
Singaporeans are shocked and upset after a spy video exposing the mistreatment of a 75-year-old lady in that nursing home was uploaded to YouTube last week. The video shows a nurse slapping the elderly patient who was lying in bed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7kkJ2Glxko&feature=related
Many Singaporeans want the abusive nurses punished. Javert's World writes:
The public should know what are the punishments given to the staff too, maybe just a verbal warning? The head of the Nursing home should also be punished and the victim and her family should be compensated.
This could happen to anyone and I am disappointed it actually happened in Singapore.
Reuben Chan notes that only few Singaporeans want to take care of their elderly relatives:
What do you expect when we outsource old folks care to these transient labour who are doing jobs that Singaporeans don't want to. Nursing is a unglam vocation and not a career that Singaporeans want to go into. To be a cool rich doctor, yes. To be a nurse wiping patients’ arses, no. Nurses have to deal with cranky old folks that their own kids don't want to deal with. If they know that the patients’ own children might not treat these old folks with dignity, why should they. Not everybody is a Florence Nightingale or a Mother Theresa.
Loh and behold suspects there are also cases of abuse in other nursing homes:
The retards behind Nightingale Nursing Home should be identified, thrown into jail the same way that poor old lady was dumped into that bed, and the key disposed of permanently.
How many more cases of abuses must come to light before something really serious is being done?
In nursing homes such as these, with mainly un-educated inmates with dementia, I can only imagine the horrors within.
I am sure there are other cases of abuse the public knows nothing about.
It was discovered that the son of the elderly patient in the video reported the incident to health authorities more than three months ago. Some writers think the government ‘silenced’ the issue during the campaign period last month.
In a recent development, the government has suspended the nursing home from accepting new patients. mrbrown.com finds it odd that suspension was the only punishment given to the nursing home:
No one was persecuted, no heads rolled for this, and the home was merely suspended from taking new patients.
Outrageous.
Some comments from Twitter and Facebook:
@Evan_Lby: Nightingale Nursing Home trying to breed new Singapore wrestlers? slamming old folks on to the bed, slapping the mouth…
Chan CL: The MOH should shut down this nursing home. The name of the home is a shame in itself
The issue has sparked a discussion on the quality of healthcare in Singapore. Therese Leung and Sumytra Menon discusses some measures to improve the delivery of health services to Singapore’s aging population:
Over the long term, Singapore must redesign the incentives for local workers to commit to the long-term care sector in order to lessen our dependence on foreign workers. We suggest a combination of structural changes to these jobs in terms of wages, career development, and supervision.
Research shows that increasing wage levels can improve the attraction and retention of local workers in the long-term care sector. Wage increases should not be given as a one-time bonus but rather integrated into a step-wise pay scale which rewards years of experience.
According to the authors, one out of twelve Singaporean residents is at least 65 years old today but by year 2030, one out of every five will be a senior citizen.


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South Korea: Petition Filed to Punish Brutality against Animals · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Public anger rose as an animal TV show aired a story of a dog brutally beaten with a stick by a stranger for no reason. Net users have filed an online petition [ko], calling the authority to focus more on capturing the culprit. Over 50 thousand people have signed the petition in less than two days.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Syria: Reactions to the Gay Blogger Who Wasn’t  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Andy Carvin shares a timeline of stories and reactions to Amina, the Gay Girl in Damascus, that wasn't.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Trinidad & Tobago: Planning for an iPhone 4? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There is no mention of local access to iTunes or the app store and no mention of trinidad or bmobile on the apple website”: TECHTT has the details on the iPhone 4 plan options, while Triniberry adds: “The Bmobile 4g My Hotspot plans for iPhone has been structured in a way that seems strange, but at least if you really wanted an iPhone, now is your chance.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Two earthquakes hit Sumatra · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Two earthquakes hit Sumatra Island in Malaysia Tuesday morning. Tremors were also felt in Indonesia. Use the hashtags #earthquake, #tremors, and #sumatra to monitor news reports.


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Africa: 10 of Africa’s Best Food Blogs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Here are 10 Africa's best food blogs: “MyWeku makes its inaugural annual picks of the African food blogs we can’t live without. This list comprises 10 of our favourites. Most of these African food blogs are slick with their own Flickr photo portals, Face Book fan pages and twitter following.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bahamas: Transformation of Nassau · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith blogs about “three interesting environmental projects..that could have a big impact on our landscapes and lifestyles  – at the eastern, western and southern extremities of Nassau.”


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Bahrain: Lost and Disgusted · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif blogs: “Reason, it appears, has disappeared. The benefit of the doubt has no place. Will a dialogue ameliorate these feelings? Will it put the country back on a reconciliatory track? Will we ever think of an inclusive “us” rather than solidify an already created and maintained cantons of rage?”


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Benin: Meet Benin’s Rising Star · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Chale writes about the rising star of Benin's music: “Kiinzah is certainly one of the rising stars in the African music scene. We discovered the Benin singer recently through a Gabonese Youtube channel, that alone signifies how she's crossed over her country's borders and is making a mark on the African continent.”


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Bermuda: Corruption Allegations  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermudian bloggers weigh in on corruption allegations that were made recently in the Bermuda Supreme Court.


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Bolivia: Traveling Through the Chaos · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“The power is in the streets, the law is carried out with blockades, the  state has almost lost authority, people do what they want and there is  no order. Worse, there are a lot of racism, much resentment from the  indigenous to the ‘white’ man…”: Maria Eugenia Robles [es], a Bolivian student from the University of Mississippi, blogs about her exodus traveling through the Peru-Bolivian border and shares her frustration about difficult situations she frequently experiences in Bolivia.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Brazil: The Chilling Beauty of the Green Desert  · Global Voices
Paula Góes

This post and Other Forest Stories are part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Global Development 2011.
The term “green desert” was coined in Brazil at the end of the 60s, and refers to the vast monoculture tree plantations which were designed for producing cellulose. At this time, the term already alluded to the future consequences these plantations would have on the environment, including desertification, erosion, the elimination of biodiversity and human displacement.
The 60s saw the emergence of the first eucalyptus plantations in the north of the Minas Gerais state and in the south of the Bahia state. According to estimates from Brazil's forest farming association (Associação Brasileira de Produtores de Florestas Plantadas) in Brazil, 720 new hectares of eucalyptus monoculture plantations currently appear each day, which is equivalent to 960 football pitches. The most heavily planted areas are the Minas, São Paulo and Bahia regions, but the green desert is also spreading to other states in the north-east and the south of Brazil.
All the links in this post lead to Portuguese language pages, except when otherwise noted.
A densely planted Eucalyptus plantation. Photo: Cássio Abreu (CC BY 2.0)
When travelling through the Minas Gerais state last April, the blogger known as the Viajante   Sustentável (The Sustainable Traveller) spoke to inhabitants of the Jequitinhonha valley [en], and discovered how the region's visual and social landscape has changed over the last twenty  years:
A  catastrófica monocultura de eucalipto pelas empresas  privadas nas  cabeceiras dos rios e riachos, além de envenenar o solo,  expulsou a  fauna e flora do local, secou as nascentes e o lençol  freático. O  deserto verde do eucalipto tornou-se uma calamidade  socioambiental. A  região já foi auto-suficiente em alimentos  essenciais, cultivados pela  agricultura familiar, integrados com a  natureza. A situação mudou  radicalmente, exibindo riachos completamente  secos, sem olhos d’água,  rios cada vez mais baixos e assoreados,  praticamente toda a alimentação  proveniente de distribuidores em Belo  Horizonte, pastos abandonados.  Enquanto isso, as transnacionais de  eucalipto e celulose engordavam os  lucros.
In Montes Claros [en], the situation is no different:
Nada plantado, com a exceção lamentável de cerca de  trinta quilômetros  do triste deserto verde. As pragas do eucalipto e  pinus se alternavam,  envenenando, esgotando as nascentes e o lençol  freático. Utilizando  pouquíssima mão de obra, a monocultura de  exportação em nada contribuía  para a diminuição da miséria local, ao  contrário, concentrava os lucros  na mão de uma ou outra grande empresa  transnacional.
Poet Anna Paim got a horrible shock when visiting her family home, the state of Espírito Santo, for the first time in 19 years:
Triste  porque encontrei os mais belos locais de paisagem   nativa totalmente  destruidos e ocupados pelos eucaliptos. Deixo   registrado aqui o meu  protesto, a minha raiva, a minha pena, sei lá…
Beco da Velha (Old Woman's Alley) remembers natural eucalyptus as being very present in southern Brazil. He says, the damage began and worsened when GM plants were grown because they consume much more water, which causes them to grow at an accelerated rate:
O que há hoje de diferente no plantio do eucalipto, além de sua atual transgenia, é a intensidade com que isso se faz, a falta de qualquer  critério   ou bom senso na implantação das lavouras de eucalipto em  qualquer lugar, em   extensões assombrosas, e, principalmente, as  intenções estratégicas que estão   por trás dessa súbita paixão pelo  “reflorestamento” – termo muito impróprio   para o que hoje se faz,  porque reflorestamento presume que se vai repor a floresta que existia no local,   reconstituindo-se o ecossistema devastado. E é justamente o contrário que se   passa.
Upwards and onwards
Image source: Centro de Estudos Ambientais
After spreading throughout the Atlantic jungle in the southeast, the green desert arrived in the arid zones in the north and northeastern areas of the country. In Piauí, the construction of a paper and cellulose factory comes with a promise of development for the state. This is contested by blogger Leo Maia, who argues that according to facts from IBGE (The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 41% of the state's population is malnourished, while local farmers do not have the incentive to grow food.
Despite this, 160 thousand hectares of Piauí land (equivalent to 1 600 km² or 1.57% of Piauí land) was transformed into eucalyptus “forests” in order to produce paper and cellulose for export. In his blog, Leo republishes an article which appeared in a local newspaper and denounces the contrast between commercial interest and the needs of the population:
(…)  árvores de  crescimento acelerado, como o eucalipto, dependem de grande quantidade  de água para se desenvolver e por isso provocam o secamento do solo,  diminuem os mananciais e aumentam a possibilidade de desertificação  dessas regiões. Sendo assim, a instalação da Suzano mais uma vez  contradiz as reais necessidades da população do Piauí, já que o estado  sofre, praticamente todos os anos, com os efeitos da estiagem. Só no  início deste ano, mais de 155 municípios declararam estado de emergência  por causa da seca, alguns deles tiveram a safra comprometida em 90% por  falta de água.
Environmentalists and social campaigners still denounce the risk that the dangerous combination of eucalyptus, monoculture and pesticides has on people's health. Besides occupying land which could be used for agricultural purposes, growing eucalyptus even hinders those who farm food in nearby regions, because their land ends up being invaded by wild animals in search of food. Mariana Brizotto highlights the fact that plantations are not forests and asks:
O que faremos quando não houver mais água? Vamos comer papel?
Despite farmers losing land to the eucalyptus monoculture, Bahian Sumário Santana‘s poetry draws inspiration from the sadness and beauty of the green desert:
Onde existia uma comunidade tradicional, de nome Marília, hoje é a fábrica de Celulose. Ali em Mundo Novo, onde trabalhavam contentes as famílias com as suas pequenas olarias, hoje existe apenas uma grande olaria. Foram embora as famílias, secou o rio, sumiu a argila e agora, a fábrica ameaça fechar. Ali onde antes era uma colônia agrícola, com centenas de pequenos proprietários, hoje são latifúndios cercados, guardados por seguranças de motos.
Ali onde era imensa, diversificada e úmida a floresta, hoje é um deserto verde.
O supostamente feio, caótico e emaranhando de plantas, cipós, nascentes, bichos, ninchos, centopéias, gosmas, barro, limos e fotossíntese, deu lugar
Ao supostamente belo, um único mosaico, bem desenhado, mapeado, registrado, uma única espécie, repetida em série, na solidão do deserto.
There is now a Cellulose factory where the traditional community of Marília once existed. There, in the New World, families happily worked in their small brickyards. Now, there barely one large brickyard left. The families left, the river dried up, the silver disappeared and now the factory is threatened with closure. Instead of the farming colony with hundreds of small-scale owners which was there before, there are now large estates nearby which are guarded by motorbikes.
Instead of an awesome, diverse and humid forest, there is now a green desert.
The supposed ugliness of chaotic, tangled plants, lianas, springs, insects, bugs, centipedes, slime, mud, silt and photosynthesis gave way
To the supposed beauty, of singular, well-designed, mapped out, patented mosaics: One single species, repeated in sequence, in the desert's loneliness.
Charge de Santiago, published with permission.
This post and Other Forest Stories are part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Global Development 2011.

author: Paula Góes


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Cuba: Guidelines on Rights  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Despite new party guidelines on the rights of Cubans, Laritza's Laws says: “Although it touched on but did not recognize the theme of human rights, the reforms were not significant.”


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Jamaica: The “Coke” Commission’s Findings  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Girl With a Purpose posts a summary of the long-awaited Manatt/Coke Commission of Enquiry's findings, saying that the report “failed to impress”.


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Kenya: KCB Safari Rally 2011 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

KCB Safari Rally 2011 is here: “Yes, the Safari Rally is racing round town again! Having been edged out of the World Rally Championship circuit, the Rally has been struggling to regain some worthy status. Kenya Motorsports Federation(KMSF) has been working tirelessly to get the Rally going and this year the route has been scaled down moving to environs not too far from Nairobi…”


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Kenya: The Winners of Pivot25 Mobile App Developer Conference · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mark announces the winners of Pivot25 Mobile App Developer Conference: “We’ve covered Pivot25 for the past two days. You can follow the goings on through our live blogs on Day 1 and Day 2 and it’s been a blast. We’ve had a great time here and built up to it with sneak previews of some of the startups and apps in 160 characters. And now…for the winners! With a trip to the Demo Conference in Silicon Valley at stake worth over $20,000 this is it.”


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Lebanon: Lady Gaga’s Latest Album Sparks A Rumor · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Lady Gaga‘s latest album,  Born This Way, stirred a small storm on Lebanese social networks. An article published by the  Sun on 4June 2011, and commented on by one of the Los Angeles Time blogs, stated that Lebanese authorities had banned the album. Lebanese fans immediately mobilized against this decision forcing the Sûreté Générale (National security) in Lebanon to deny the ban.
Lady Gaga's new album cover
It all started with the lyrics of the song entitled Judas, alledgedly considered by authorities as offensive and blasphemous.
Ohohohoh
I’m in love with Judas
When he comes to me I am ready
I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs
Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain
Even after three times he betrays me
A Facebook Page We  Want Born This Way, in Lebanon – Stop The Lebanese Media Law in Lebanon was created on the spot. Some members even called for a protest by way of a flash-mob in Beirut.
Facebook Group We  Want Born This Way in Lebanon  – screen capture
Lebanese had reasons to believe this piece of news  [fr] reminds blog Libanaiseries. Article 75 of Lebanese law on the distribution of  media has been often used:
Au Liban, toute œuvre qui critique donc un tant soit peu la religion est  automatiquement censurée. Comme me le disait un ami, dès que les  censeurs entendent le mot “God” et/ou “Sex” dans un film ou une chanson,  ils censurent…
The ban was denied on June 9 by Lieutenant Colonel Kamal Safa, head of the publishing control department of Lebanon’s Sureté Générale. Lebanese and foreign netizens had already expressed their opinion about this issue, some hailing the decision, other showing fierce opposition.
Elie Fares explained on his blog why he considers the Sureté Générale ban useless:
Simply because most Lebanese have either listened to the album already or have very simple ways to purchase it, or listen to it: YouTube, illegal downloading, etc…..
Seif [en], a Lebanese-Canadian, although a Muslim, expressed his shock at the song and  the video-clip where Lady Gaga appears in a Virgin Mary outfit.
There are limits to how much religion should be played in a video and Gaga my dear, your video had no limits.
However, he states his opposition to the ban, which goes against his principles:
Let's un-ban this lady, and give people the choice who they  want to listen to – after all Lebanon does have a lot of Gaga’s  “monsters”.
Dizzy Rumklit [fr], a Lady Gaga fan wasn't pleased at all :
The double standards in Lebanon have got to stop. Lebanon tries to portray the idea that we have more freedoms than other countries in the  Middle East, but clearly we have a long way to go to becoming a civil state. In the meantime, I will enjoy my Lady Gaga album on iTunes.
Below are some tweets on the issue [fr]:
@isleymm Islem อิสแลม ไทย : Lady gaga interdite au Liban je dis OUI
@CoralieFenty L'album de Lady Gaga interdit à la vente au Liban. C'est méchant si je rigole?
@NicolasMC_ Don't call my name †Le Liban ainsi que La Malaisie censurent le nouvel album de Lady Gaga. Bah dis donc, le monde avance..
RT @JeanZeid Le nouvel album de Lady Gaga interdit au Liban // On peut demander l'asile politique au Liban pour raisons esthétiques?
RT @JeanZeid: RT @jordangrevet: Le nouvel album de Lady Gaga interdit au Liban http://ti.me/lBMsmA#BornThisWay / OMG les chanceux
@MonsterChoclate Le Liban a interdit l'album de Lady Gaga ? Ok, là, j'ai honte d'une partie de mes origines…

author: Thalia Rahme


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Lebanon: Raving about Goran Bregovic’s concert · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Famous Serbo-Croatian musician and composer Goran Bregovic performed in Lebanon on June 12 during the Beirut Music & Art Festival  – BMAF. His performance is hailed by his Lebanese fans as “unbelievable” and “amazing”.


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Mexico City’s Female Cab Drivers · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“It’s frustrating that there aren’t more women cab drivers in a city that’s supposedly so cosmopolitan, and in a city where women desperately need jobs. And in the larger scheme of things, it’s sad that women here need female cabbies to feel safe” writes Lesley Téllez in a post where she describes her experience with a female cab driver in Mexico City.


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Nigeria: Let’s Monitor President’s 105 commitments on HIV/AIDS  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What can Nigerian citizens do about Goodluck Jonathan's 105 commitments on HIV/AIDS?:” We urge you to download these [commitments] from here and keep them. In 2015, and every year between now and then, we will read them and ask our president how he is doing. As the President himself has said….this era cannot be business as usual.”


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Peru: Controversy Over ‘Cristo del Pacífico’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

President Alan Garcia's announcement that a giant Jesus Christ would be installed on top of the Morro Solar in Lima has drawn both criticism and praise from bloggers and social media users. Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan Arellano links [es] to several bloggers who have discussed the announcement.


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Russia: Southstream as a hoax · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Streetwise Professor questions whether Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom will actually build the Southstream gas pipeline – the main competitor to the Western-financed Nabucco pipeline.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Yuri Budanov’s Assassination Exposes Deep Wounds of Chechen Wars · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

The June 10, 2011, assassination of Yuri Budanov, the former Russian army colonel convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old Chechen woman during the Second Chechen War, has reignited inter-ethnic tensions both online and offline, and reinforced the feeling of bitter disappointment with what appears to be a permanent state of lawlessness in the country.
Moscow-based journalist Miriam Elder has described Budanov's case as “the single loudest legal case to emerge from the Chechen wars, when Russian troops were accused of widespread human rights abuses as they attempted to put down a separatist insurgency.” Below is her summary:
[…] Budanov was convicted in 2003 of murdering Heda Kungayeva, an 18-year-old Chechen woman. He maintained that he thought she was a rebel sniper when he took her in for questioning in 2000. Initial forensic examinations found evidence of torture and rape.
His case took many twists and turns, with the charges repeatedly reformulated. He was one of very few Russian soldiers taken to court for human rights abuses and many critics said the fierce attention paid to his case allowed the government to let further investigations fall by the wayside. He was released on parole in 2009, after serving nine years of his 10-year sentence, sparking protests in Chechnya. Yet to Russia’s active nationalists, Budanov was held up as a hero.
While Budanov's case has been a cause célèbre for Russian nationalists throughout the past decade, his murder is currently being discussed in every ideological corner of the Russian blogosphere.
Looking for culprits
Yuri Budanov's funeral, photo by Oleg Kashin at Twitpic
Right after the assassination, many bloggers began pointing at the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov as the figure likely to be behind the crime.
Alexey Navalny, a popular Russian anti-corruption activist, who is also known for his nationalist stance, wrote this [ru]:
[…] Есть все основания полагать, что эта казнь была прямо или косвенно организована той бандитской группой, которую сейчас принято называть “руководство Чеченской республики”.
По крайней мере,  Р. Кадыров ранее прямо и публично заявлял о намерениях осуществить такую казнь: “мы найдем возможность воздать ему по заслугам” […]
Blogger efa2007, came up with a more general explanation [ru]:
виноват тот, кто сделал все от себя зависящее, что бы эта ситуация состоялась, что бы конфликт становился все более и более межнациональным, кто манипулирует людьми как фигурками на шахматной доске сидя на вершине выстроенной им вертикали. В ней мы все заложники – и русские и чеченцы, и военные и мирные граждане, и бандиты и честные люди – всех держит намеренно на крючке банда бывших КГБ-шников, захвативших страну – это их единственный способ управления людьми, они по-другому просто не умеют и ситуация избирательности выгодна им – бояться должны все.
The semi-official version that Budanov could have been killed by the nationalists – who consider him as somewhat of an icon – was uniformly rejected by the Russian bloggers.
Who gets impunity?
As in any other war narrative, a significant part of the discussion focuses on whether Budanov should be perceived as a hero or a war criminal.
The question of photoblogger aleshru – “Please tell me, why Budanov is considered a hero? I really want to know” – has generated nearly 420 replies. In addition to the usual justification that Budanov killed Kungayeva because he thought she was a sniper, blogger max_kozhevnikov wrote [ru] about an episode when Budanov's actions helped save the lives of 160 soldiers (the award he received for this was recalled after Budanov was found guilty of Kungayeva's murder).
The Chechen perspective on Budanov is quite different, however. Vainakh's Veras, a North Caucasian Vkontakte.ru group with over 8,000 members, used [ru] the following language to summarize the significance of what happened on June 10:
Буданов был символом насилия в Чечне,угнетения и покорения Чечни! Да ,сам по себе он всего 0.00001 % от тех кто заслуживает отомщения за геноцид в Чечне. Но его смерть – это идеологическая победа над всей зверствовавшей российской армией! СЕГОДНЯ БЫЛО УБИТО ЧУВСТВО БЕ3НАКАЗАННОСТИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ВОЕНЩИНЫ! запомни,Кавказ!
Russian nationalists, on the other hand, believe that it is the Chechen separatists who enjoy impunity. Nationalist blogger kon-budennogo wrote [ru]:
Проблема в том, что при Путине у нас судят только Будановых, Ульманов и Аракчеевых, а если стороне, против которой их послало воевать государство, его приговоры не нравятся, то их еще и убивают. Где суды против бандитов, державших русских рабов в Чечне? Они где-то проходят? […] Где суды против убийц русских стариков? Против тех, кто держал заложников? В нашем государстве подобные суды невозможно даже представить.
utnapishtim2008 commented [ru] on the question of whether there had been convicted war criminals on the Chechen side:
Их там полно, просто потом перестали пленять – местные присяжные оправдывают, мочат и все тут.
In a long post on war crimes, ethnicity and an officer's honor, LJ user colonelcassad concluded [ru]:
Моя позиция проста – наши предки смогли оказаться выше чувства мести,  можем и мы. Не месть нужна, а суд – беспристрастный и неотвратимый. Именно отсутствие неотвратимости государственного возмездия вызывает к жизни фрагментарные призывы к мести, как орудия справедливости.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Syria: 2.3km Flag at Pro-Government Rally in Damascus  · Global Voices
Lulu Ahmed

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Supporters of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad held a pro-regime rally today, carrying a 2.3km long Syrian flag in Mezzeh, in the capital Damascus, and chanting “The People Want Bashar Al Assad.”
On Twitter, Daniel shares a photo from the rally, and tweets:
2300 meters long Syrian flag showcased on Mezzeh Autostrad in Damascus. People are gathering. http://twitpic.com/5bsc3a
Daniel shares a photograph of the 2.3km flag on Twitter
Anan Tello adds:
“Hold With Us the Biggest Syrian Flag” youth campaign started at al-Mezzeh Highway in Damas
Nai wishes he could be there at the rally:
I wish I could be in Mezzeh for the march with the 2300 meters flag tomorrow. #Syrian #Damascus
Others on Twitter are not as excited. Haneen AlHassan notes [ar]:
Also on Twitter, Foreign Policy editor Blake Hounshell shares his opinion that not all Syrians are on the same page. He tweets:
@emile_hokayem @abuaardvark @acrossthebay Personally speaking, I am still not convinced a majority of Syrians want Bashar gone.
This split is evident on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, where pro and anti-regime pages have popped up since the beginning of the protests on March 15. There is an estimate of around 15 pages in support of the Syrian regime on Facebook alone. Among them is the Damascus News Network (DNN), which has more than 3,000 followers. It updates them on daily events and discredits and attacks the protesters at every opportunity.
On today's rally in Mezzeh, the DNN notes:
Almost Million Syrian people gathered spontaneously to participated in raising the Syrian flag (2300 Meter long and 18 Meters wide) to defend our president Bashar Alassad at Almazzeh Autostrad in Damascus. Aljadeed Lebabese TV , Addounia and the Syrian State TV channels aired live from the spot.
Meanwhile, ShaamNews, which is the main provider of user-generated footage and videos on the Syrian revolution and which also functions through a page on Facebook, does not mention today's pro-regime rally. It has more than 127,000 followers.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Lulu Ahmed


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Syria: Crackdown Continues Despite International Outcry · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Protests are continuing across Syria, as the Syrian regime shows no signs of loosening its brutal crackdown despite an international outcry.
On Twitter, netizens continue to follow and react to developments on the ground. Dima Khatib writes:
People flee their homes before the army of their OWN country reaches their towns —- only in Syria. So sad ! #syria #mar15
In another tweet she mocks the Arab League, a political bloc for leaders of the 22 Arab countries, who have just issued their first statement regarding Syria since the violent crackdown on protesters started last March. Khatib tweets:
Arab League finally turned on the TV to watch the news ! #Syria Just 3 months, 10000 refugees & 1000++ killed LATE ! #mar15
Tweets from foreign correspondents and anchors are an important means of getting reliable news from Syria.
Al Jazeera‘s correspondent Cal Perry tells us:
The Syrian government has run out of space in it's prisons, and is now using outdoor stadiums and schools. #Syria
Another Al Jazeera correspondent, Alan Fisher explains:
#Syria security forces reportedly widening operation in country's north to crack down on anti-government protests
Meanwhile, back in Egypt Nasry Esmat wonders where Syria's president Bashar Al Assad is:
Diary from #Syria: Where is Assad? http://bit.ly/mHlsqr Where he is indeed: to reforming, stepping aside, or losing power?
And Revolution Syria shares a video showing protesters celebrating the withdrawal of tanks from Homs.
The Twitter user comments:
What happens in #Homs when tanks leave the city? A protest party! #Syria http://fb.me/PhMFRZUD
The user shares another video of a protest, also from last night, and also in Homs:
In this video, the protesters are seen clapping and signing national chants.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Violence & Healing  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Even the gentle souls here brush up against the face of violence. And some of us carry our scars outside but there are many more of us carrying our scars inside”: Attillah Springer is “even more acutely aware of how powerless we all are to confront the growing diseases of violence…”


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Africa: Bloggers Remember the International Day of the African Child · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
June 16 marks the annual The International Day of the African Child. The International Day of the African Child was initiated by the Organisation of African Unity on June 16, 1991.
The day honors those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 on that day and raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of quality of life for African children. The Soweto Uprising, also known as “June 16″, was a series of student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976.
The focus this year for the June 16 event is on raising awareness of street children. Bloggers remember this day.
George of Kenyan Street Children blog says that there isn't much to celebrate this year:
There will be much to mourn and less to celebrate tomorrow as the number of children on Kenyan streets keeps increasing steadily and the street children continue to suffer. They lack basic needs, have health problems and are exposed to illicit drugs, communicable diseases and sexually transmitted diseases. Street children are often involved in road accidents and victimized by local authorities, the police and members of the public. Some of the children complain of mistreatment and abuse at government rehabilitation centers. In addition, children lack due process in the courts as they are often unrepresented in legal proceedings. Children are also vulnerable to exploitation. For example, young girls and boys are often used as prostitutes and young men are sometimes used to fulfill cultural practices, such as wife inheritance rituals.
There are many organizations involved in child welfare in Kenya but their lack of resources makes them vulnerable to control by donors. Some exist merely to take advantage of donor funding. The result is year after year we mourn the Day of the African Child instead of celebrating as we should.
Children celebrating Day of the African Child in Kenya last year. Photo courtesy of www.mullychildrensfamily.org.
“It’s a sad fact that there are many street children in Kenya,” says Kirsty McLullich:
Although you might not see many of them as you walk through the main streets of the CBD in Nairobi, they are there on the outskirts. Travel to a town like Thika and you can’t walk from one end of the main stage to the other without seeing a few, often with a bottle hidden up their sleeve to “hide” the fact that they are sniffing glue. There are a number of great organisations trying to help street children in Kenya. Often these children need a lot of rehabilitation and many find it hard adjusting to a life with rules and authority figures having been fending for themselves for months or even years…
Projects like Kandara Children’s Home have also given shelter to children who have been living on the streets. These are children who have not been on the streets for too long and don’t require intensive rehabilitation but nevertheless, they still have their stories to tell. Some of them have been incredibly bright young children who have been able to settle down in school and focus their attention on their studies and their future rather than surviving day to day, not knowing where the next meal will come from or what they will be driven to do in order to stay safe.
Jemilla notes that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in Ghana has done a “good” job of clearing  streets of street children. She asks, “…where exactly have the street children relocated to?”:
In Ghana, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly has done a “good” job of clearing major streets of hawkers and street children. Now one has to wonder – where exactly have the street children relocated to?  The Osu Children's home abuse scandal in late 2010 highlights a key defect when it comes to checks and balances for programs purported to protect and provide basic necessities for orphans, street children and other vulnerable African child groups. Many-a-street-child is subjected to human predators who unleash a plethora of increasingly innovative mechanisms for exploiting children: physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse, it's all there.  I daresay that the Oliver-Twist-gets-rescued scenario doesn't play out too often in most African societies, although the community is usually charged with taking care of vulnerable and orphaned children.
In late April I went on a work-related field trip to the Agbogbloshi market here in Accra – which, as it turns out, has one of the biggest onion markets I've ever seen – and was approached by a kayayo or woman (more like girl) porter. Thinking I was shopping, she offered to carry my purchases. I explained to her in Dagbani (language spoken predominantly in Northern Ghana) that my colleagues and I weren't buying anything, and thanked her for her offer. Visibly astounded that I spoke the same language as her, she reported excitedly to her peers that “Madam” understood their language. Now, I hardly regard myself as a “Madam” by any standards.
Diasporadical discusses lessons to be learned by Kenyans from the Soweto Uprising:
The kids in Soweto were fueled by their parents and sparked by circumstance. What about us? I was blessed enough to have a revolutionary activist as a parent, but how many Kenyans do? I venture to say there are more children of filthy rich politicians and tycoons than there are of activists. Put it this way, how many Kenyan activists survived long enough to raise children?
We’re still cowering in the shadow of the torture chambers at Nyayo House and the bodies that still litter our forests and rivers. We’ve been cultured into thinking that “Opening your mouth will get a gun shoved in it after your tongue is cut out to create space. Besides you know what: we’re not living so badly”. Right?
As comfortable as we may be now, it’s important to remember that your inaction now will affect the actions of your child or grandchild. Ndlovu Hastings, Hector Pieterson, the hundreds shot and beaten in cold blood, the others tortured and raped in bile and rage – this is the future that we pass on to our children because one day, kids in Kibera, Huruma, or somewhere in this country will get tired of having to share desks and stationery.
Louise Meincke believes that this is an opportunity for African governments to focus on the full potential that street children have:
The fact is there are many questions about street children that remained unanswered and often ignored. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), who are organising the Day of the African Child, is using it as an opportunity to call for all individual states within the African Union to compile in-depth reports on street children and present them to the committee. By laying emphasis on this specific category of children the ACERWC recognise the urgency and need for increased actions and of adapting intervention strategies directed at them, through the allocation of significant resources.
Our network’s members and their local partners on the ground in Africa will be celebrating this commemoration, through a variety of events, meetings and media engagement. It will be an opportunity for African Government’s to focus on the full potential that street children have, rather than the so often negative labels.
A number of children in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe are not aware of the International Day of the African Child, Sokwanele reports:
Asked about the significance of the International Day of the African Child, a number of children in Bulawayo said that they had no idea that such a day even existed. “I don’t know anything about that,” one pupil said.
“It is not children alone, but the majority of people in Zimbabwe that do not know their rights,” a lawyer said.  “The Ministry of Education must play its role in this regard. Children’s rights should be taught as a subject at schools; our education curriculum needs a paradigm shift,” he said.
A youth Programmes manager explained that the problem is that there is a lot of emphasis on sovereignty issues, at the expense of human rights:  “Various activities can be done to inculcate this knowledge into our syllabi.”   He emphasized that advancing young people’s civil liberties called for a multi-stakeholder approach.
The co ordinator of an orphaned children-based organisation reiterated that teachers and civic organisations must educate children on the International Day of the African Child. They also believe that the media should publicize it for children to fully comprehend its significance.
Bino and Fino remember the day by highlighting the need for quality free education:
The sad thing is that free primary education provision for the majority of African children is far from being available especially in the Sub-Saharan region. Especially when it comes to girls. Also it’s one thing to provide education and another to provide quality education. But things are progressing all be it slowly. One of the Millennium Development Goals is to achieve universal primary education. Apparently in Sub-Saharan Africa 42 million children were sent to school between 1999 and 2007. More girls are now being enrolled. However about one fourth of children in the region are not enrolled in school and there is a high drop out rate.
To commemorate the Day of the African Child thousands of children around Kenya read aloud together from the same story starting at 9am:
To highlight this the story that will be read has been co-written by two street children. The story has been deliberately not finished. Please download it below and let’s read it together on Thursday, 16th June, 2011 at 9.00am. All of us together!
The Bino and Fino African Educational kids cartoon launches its African Educational Kids Cartoon in Abuja, Nigeria to honor the Day of the African Child:
Bino and Fino, the educational cartoon will finally get its premiere in Nigeria. The first showing will take place in Abuja on Saturday the 18th . The Abuja launch will is timed to highlight the International Day of the African Child which takes place on June the 16th . The Bino and Fino cartoon project was initiated because of the need to provide Nigerian, African and African Diaspora children with educational media that also reflected positive aspects of their social culture and heritage.
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.


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Angola: Past Meets Present in a Series of Photo-Chronicles  · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Throughout the month of June, António Trabulo, a portuguese doctor retired from work, on his blog De cá e de lá (From here and from there) [pt], has been publishing a series of photoposts and chronicles about the past and the present of Angola, following a trip he did three decades after he left the country.


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Barbados: Environmental Sham  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Environmental Protection Department celebrates its 40th anniversary, Barbados Free Press asks “why Barbados has no Environmental Protection Act.”


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Bhutan: Advertisement And Deception · Global Voices
Rezwan

Namgay77 at Writers Association Of Bhutan is concerned about the proliferation of deceptive advertisement messages in Bhutan.

author: Rezwan


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Chile: More than 70,000 March in Santiago Demanding Improvements in Education  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

According to the online version of Chilean daily El Mercurio, more than 70,000 people [es] are marching in downtown Santiago demanding improvements in education. Using the hashtag #junio16 (“June 16,” a local trending topic), netizens are sharing photos, reports [es] and reactions [es].


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China: Leftover women, do not get married!  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translates an article on feminist debate about a Beijing erotica artist set of painting on “Leftover women, do not get married! Let’s enjoy ruining men!”

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Sina Weibo Controversies · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sunny Ye from Techrice reports on two recent controversies on Sina Weibo regarding content plagiarism and closing of user accounts.


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China: Tibetan Arrest List · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that provides details about Tibetan writers and teachers who have been arrested or imprisoned since 2008.


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Cuba: Cervantes Continues Strike  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Protest by suicide is never an acceptable option,” says Uncommon Sense as he blogs about the failing health of a hunger striker, “but it is important to remember that Cervantes is fighting back against his jailers by the only weapons at his disposal — his health and maybe his life.”


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El Salvador: Anti-Mining Activist Killed in Cabañas · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim's El Salvador Blog reports that another anti-mining activist in Cabañas, “where conflict over proposed gold mining continues”, has been killed. Voices From El Salvador also blogs about the news.


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Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania: 70th anniversary of deportations · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Otto's Random Thoughts commemorates the 70th anniversary of deportations from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania following the June 1940 Soviet occupation of the countries, whereas Itching for Eestimaa reflects upon the political and social legacy of the deportations for Estonia.


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India: Kids Reality Shows, Neo-Child Labour? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Devika Mittal at Youth Ki Awaaz argues that the kids reality shows in Indian TV are exposing children to high-level competition by selling their childhood, talent and working hard at an early age.


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Iran: “One year suspended jail sentence for being a Facebook user” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several sites reported[fa] Mostafa Akhavan was sentenced one year sentenced jail sentence by an Iranian court. Among his accusations we can read acting against national security,publishing slogans in Facebook, sharing news about Green Movement and being a Facebook user.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Mexico: Photo essay: Final Day of Javier Sicilia’s ‘Peace Caravan’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Photographer ‘KT’ put together a photo essay documenting the last day of 7 day ‘peace caravan’ led by poet Javier Sicilia: “I’ve seen Javier’s marches on youtube and on the news and in  newspapers, but to be there was a life altering moment for me. You hear  about the violence, you read about it, you feel for the people who  suffer, but yesterday I got to touch it.”


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Pakistan: Remembering The Golden Era Of Pop Music · Global Voices
Rezwan

Spring Of Autumn reminisces about the golden era of Pakistan pop music, which was the late 80's and the early 90's.


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Pakistan: Tax On Textiles · Global Voices
Rezwan

Deadpan Thoughts criticizes the imposition of 17% sales tax in this years budget on the import of machinery and equipment of textile mills, a major earning and employment sector of Pakistan.


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Panama: The Indigenous Ngobe-Bugle’s Struggle to Defend the Rio Tabasara · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Intercontinental Cry publishes an exclusive report by independent journalist Richard Arghiris, who “takes an in-depth look at the controversy surrounding the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam in Panama and the Ngobe-Bugle’s struggle to defend the Rio Tabasara along with their own right to survive as Indigenous Peoples.”


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Russia: Ministry’s Online Blunders · Global Voices
Marina Litvinovich

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) has recently started to mobilise on the Internet and in the past weeks two important events have taken place online to draw attention to the Ministry's activities.
The VKontakte group
On May 18, 2011, the MVD announced the creation of an the department's official group [ru] on the popular social network VKontakte, a site similar to Facebook.
The moderator of this community goes by the name of Uncle Styopa, a character whose image, thanks to Soviet cartoons and books, is a positive one for many generations of Russian citizens. The aim of the group, as stated by the page's profile is to “unite those who have a connection to the police, the interior forces and other units of the MVD of the Russian Federation or anyone else who is interested in their activities.”
Image from the official MVD group on the site "Vkontakte". Top caption reads: "In Service of the Law. We Serve the People", and lower caption: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation".
However, in comments made to the Itar-Tass news agency a representative of the MVD stated [ru], that the group's aim was to “organise new channels of information and communication which will allow for contact to be established with those who practically bypass traditional channels such as television, radio, and print news and who prefer to receive new information and socialize via their favourite social network.”
Twelve thousand people have already joined the group in just a short period of time. So far the group's increasing numbers are not particularly interesting: the group's  official news feed on the MVD's activities has been republished in the form of quotes taken from the original site or news agencies, in other words without any adaptation of its officious language to a younger audience. For example: “The Realisation of Composite [Investigative] Measures”; this language is not of great value when communicating with an Internet audience, and even less so with the young users of Vkontakte.
Unfortunately, the absence of unique content  is unlikely to be able to retain the audience which has been gathered so far, nor will it capture the interest of newer members.
However, the MVD's representative states the contrary: “The selection of the social resource which lies at the basis of the groups creation was no accident. Using young rhetoric, common phrases and expressions and vibrant personalities,  the ministry purposefully obtained the support of the youngest and most active part of the country's population since, after all, the average age of the users of “Vkontakte” is 18 to 25 years.”
Search conducted at police-russia.ru creator's office
On the same day, May 18, two events took place that had a connection with both the Internet and the MVD. The MVD's Internal Security Service led a search of the office of a senior inspector of the Department for the Coordination of Government Spending of the Russian MVD, a Russian police major named Dmitri Vorobyev.
Vorobyev, according to the commander of the Department of Internal Security MVD (see here for the official order on the carrying out of the search), “had created a site called police-rassian.ru, in order to counter the official site of the Russian MVD”  where, according to Draguntsov, “false or slanderous data was knowingly hosted regarding the employees of the Central Apparatus of the Russian MVD. The site explained the specific activities of the different subdivisions of the Russian MVD, which are not to be published in readily accessible sources of information, and in an insulting form criticized the Ministry's work.”
These arguments formed the basis for the decision to carry out the search in Dmitri Vorobyev's work office, which, to all appearances, was carried out in order to find additional ‘evidence’ for the case about his criminal doings.
Within the limits of the search the police were assigned the task of “inspection, studying and removal of articles”, including electronic media, documents concerning illegal activities, which in practice means removal of the computer's hard disk, all other disks, flash drives and other media as well as piles of paper and even books, which more often than not bear no relation to the case. [I speak from the experience of many of my friends who have had searches carried out in cases of so-called political extremism].
An extract from the police order. Screenshot from the website Police-Russia.ru.
The most interesting thing is that the site that is being talked about in conjunction with this decision does not actually exist under the domain police-rassian.ru.
Dmitri Vorobyev, in actual fact, is the creator of the police forum police-russia.com [ru], which is also available at the domains police-russia.ru, police-russia.com, militia-russia.ru.
Whoever wrote what appeared in the decision-making process for the search could not even correctly indicate the site's name. Yet another question which has been brought up is the spelling of the country's name – the second mistake afforded by the document.
The forum police-russia.com has existed for a long time and is a popular place for MVD and other security service employees to discuss and exchange opinions. Often normal citizens join in discussions, such as those following the Dissenters’ March in 2006 and 2007, which ended in a strong crackdown on demonstrators.
On the forum there was a big discussion between the workers of the Special Purposes Police Unit (OMON) and the marchers who tried to discuss why there is always a crackdown, however law abiding they are and however properly the employees of the Security Services act during the crackdown. This discussion (which has now unfortunately been removed from the forum [ru]) was very important and showed that the demonstrators had a direct conversation with those who were ordered to hit them.
It is interesting that this forum became a place where allegations of corruption and acts of law breaking within the MVD were published. In this respect, on April 22, 2011, the thread “Corruption in the MVD's Support Division” was published, with a reference to the appeals [ru] from the workers of the Support Division to the country's leadership with discussions regarding the billions embezzled through government purchase contracts for MVD needs.
Public relations ‘vertical’ vs bottom-up initiatives
This is a comment [ru] from a current MVD employee and a participant in the forum, about the order to conduct the search and the attempt to bring a criminal case against the creator of the forum:
The creation of the forum to counterbalance the official MVD site does not contradict the existing legal system. The forum's aim was not to spread lies or offensive data in relation to the Central Apparatus of the MVD. The individuals who spread such data bear the responsibility regardless of whatever site it was distributed on. Therefore, the site's creators cannot be responsible for any offensive language or slander written by one of the site's users. Find those who spread it.  An explanation of the specific procedures of the MVD subdivisions can be accessed openly in textbooks on legal procedure,  criminal investigation, the MVD's administrative work  etc. In the forum secret government data was not expanded upon and had appeared accidentally before being quickly removed by the administration.
Transparency, as a principle of the work of our government, is one stipulated by our Constitution and by the law on government service. The suppression of transparency is a direct encroachment on the legal foundation of the country where you live. Your decision is unlawful. We would like to forewarn you that the regular participants in the forum are not only MVD employees but simple citizens, the mass media and deputies of the Duma who serve the government of the Russian Federation and its Constitution. Unlawful attempts to close the forum or persecute their creators could incite people to turn to the General Prosecutor's body, the State Duma, the President of the Russian Federation, international organisations, including  group and mass acts of protests. I call on you to prevent unlawful actions. Your challenge to propose a way of leading negotiations has been set.
The reaction of the activists on the forum  at the attempt to close it down and put pressure on its creators was interesting. By a way of a counter action the particpants began discussing registering the forum as a non-profit organisation and including former employees of the MVD. One of the participants of the forum, Plastun wrote [ru]:
With a such resistance movement it would be more efficient to oppose [the attempts of closure], since such associations would be able to defend members’ rights by representing their interests in law-enforcement bodies whatever their level and to defend the rights of those who still work, simply by receiving information about rights infringements and making a claim on their behalf.
In reply to this, the creator of the forum clarifies [ru] “This idea is already in motion I would say”.
And so what will we get as a result? An uninteresting, boring group on the social network Vkontakte, created by official MVD structures and an attempt to shut down and pressure the lively and interesting forum of MVD employees. Alas, this is a widespread bureaucratic practice, as one of the participants, Begemot, noted [ru]:
There is a police PR department. It is a powerful organization of several thousand employees, with salaries and  full expenses which has, at least, twenty to thirty experienced specialists who occupy themselves with backing the online image of the MVD. […] At one point in time a lieutenant colonel [Vorobiev] […] creates a site which gathers a group of like-minded people, with only a pitiful budget (in ministry terms) and the site becomes the COUNTERBALANCE for the whole bulky official MVD site, which cost… but yes we're not talking about money and neither is it the question at hand. The question is a person. And  a professional. […]  A first class professional who had established, almost single-handedly and almost without a budget, the competition to the whole MVD department!

author: Marina Litvinovich


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South Korea: Best Photos of Lunar Eclipse, Taken by Tweeters  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The  moon disappeared behind the shadow of the earth from 2 to 5 am in South Korea on June 16. Korean net users who witnessed the event posted photos online and South Korea's blogger/citizen news site Wiki Tree picked Twitterer @dmzkor‘s pictures as one of the best photos.


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Taiwan: A Song for Those Pro-Nuclear Power Legislators · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Political vlogger 廖小貓(Kitty Liao) made a music video with the names of the legislators who passed the additional budget of the 4th Nuclear Power Plant that is under construction. In the lyrics, Liao asserts: “Remember these legislators who poison Taiwanese people, and don't vote for them!”

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Taiwan: Looking forward to “Seediq Bale” · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

The long awaited movie “Seediq Bale”-a movie depicting the controversy and conflict between Japan colonial force and Seedip people in 1930-released its first theatrical trailer on Youtube.


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Lawsuit Too Late?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

When it comes to the lawsuit filed by the Central Bank against top CL Financial directors, Afra Raymond is “doubtful of the choice of targets in the apparent attempt to deal with this financial fiasco”, saying: “The early questions…are for me ‘Why this lawsuit?’ and ‘Why now?’.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Preferred Smartphone Platforms  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Triniberry provides “a snapshot of what the current mobile internet user base looks like right now in terms of device preference.”


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Africa: First Swahili iPad/iPhone App Released · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A Ghanaian company releases Swahili iPad/iPhone App: “The two-man Ghanaian language learning apps development team has just released Nkyea Basic Swahili, the first Swahili iPhone and iPad app from their startup, on the Apple App Store. Nkyea Basic Swahili, which sells for $2.99, contains more than 650 essential words and phrases and has been designed to give absolute beginners a general conversational competence in Swahili.”


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Angola: President’s Daughter with a Handful of Business · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Considered by Forbes one of the nine richest women in Africa, Isabel dos Santos, the eldest daughter of the angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, is satirically described by journalist Orlando Castro as the “Mona Lisa of Angolan Kingdom“, for the mysterious “unfolded wealth and ease of doing business”.


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Azerbaijan: Jailed activist’s mother detained · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

whatwaswritten translates a RFE/RL Azeri Service report saying that mother of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, an imprisoned youth activist responsible for a Facebook page calling for pro-democracy protests in Azerbaijan, was detained earlier today after placing her ruling party membership card on the grave of late president Heydar Aliyev in protest. The blog reports that she was released after half an hour.

author: Pervin Muradli


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Bahamas: On Fixing the Education System  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When a process in the market fails to provide the results people want, they scream for government intervention, yet when a government service fails, people call for more government”: Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas thinks that a critical part of the problem with the country's education system is “because of a failure of the the workers and administrators…”


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Bangladesh: The Hartal Legecy · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sad Hammadi analyzes the legacy of Hartal (general strike) exercised by different political parties in Bangladesh over the years.


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Brazil: Denouncement on Belo Monte to OAS · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

The journalist Leonardo Sakamoto analyzes the petition [pt] sent to the Human Rights comission of the Organization of American States (OAS) concerning the Belo Monte dam, in Brazil. The country may be judged for illegalities in the licensing process that “disrespected the right of consultation and access to information and justice for the communities” of the region.

author: João Miguel Lima


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China: Mixed Reactions to Communist Party Movie Epic · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Beginning of the Great Revival, the epic cinematic tribute to the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was released in mainland China cinema on June 15, 2011. However, the suspended release of Hollywood movies in June as a result, has enraged many people.
Angry netizens have trashed the movie through online rating platforms such as Douban Movie, resulting in the suspension of the site's rating and comment system.
Varying interpretations
With the recent social unrest and massive protests across China, the history of the founding of CCP is more than ever being subjected to all kinds of political interpretation. Prominent blogger Yang Hengjun pointed out that the movie's story is about ending dictatorship [zh] on the Sina Weibo forum on June 10, before the movie was released:
6曰15日《建党伟业》全国上映，既然花了那么多钱，大家还是去看看吧。电影是讲述一群中国人为了结束国民党一党独裁而浴血奋战，最终取得了胜利。你可以到电影院里享受一下共党是如何结束了国民党一党专政的，激动的时候可以同电影里的共党一起高呼：结束一党专政，民主自由万岁，耶——
Upon watching the below trailer of the movie, Twitter user @Fox_Tang changes his attitude towards the movie [zh]:
我错了，我真的错了，我昨天还在讽刺建党伟业来着，看了预告片后，我深深地觉得所有青年都该看看这片子，学学片子里的青年人是怎么和腐败强权斗争的，学学他们是怎么示威的，学学他们的热血，学习下他们是怎么建党推翻独裁政权的。。。
Twitter user @ymtx [zh] makes a list on what the audiences will learn from the movie:
据说《建党伟业》很有教育意义。它告诉我们：1、建党是为了推翻国民党一党独裁。2、开始人少点没关系，星星之火，可以燎原。3、光自己干不行，要有外援。可以派出去，也可以请进来。4、光靠知识分子不行，要有敢于牺牲的热血青年。4、它教育我们，只有推翻了一党专政的国民党反动政府中国才有希望
Hearsay is that Beginning of the Great Revival is very educational. It tells us: 1. The founding of CCP is to overthrow the KMT's [Kuomingtang's] dictatorship; 2. At the beginning, it is okay to have only a few people, little sparks can trigger a huge fire in the grassland; 3. One cannot depend on oneself, we need overseas assistance. We can send people out or invite people to join in; 4. We cannot depend on intellectuals, we need hot blooded youths who are willing to make sacrifices; 5. It tells us that China only had hope after KMT's one party dictatorship reactionary government was overthrown.
A satire has been circulating among social media users;  @Ludwiyk retweets the joke:
《建党伟业》上映的时候是不是考虑打个字幕：“危险！切勿模仿！ 以下表演由专业人士完成，普通观众模仿可能会导致监禁或失踪。”
Unfulfilled promise of social and economic justice
David Bandurski from China Media Project has translated a more sophisticated reading of the movie by Yazhou Zhoukan's editor-in-chief, Yau Lop-Poon:
This is a major film spangled with stars. All those beautiful leading actors and actresses, all of those explosive and thrilling scenes, all of the clever and moving dialogue is enough to move audiences for the Founding of a Party. But what most moves many people still is the slogan shouted out [in one scene] by a young revolutionary: “Long live the workers!”
Perhaps many of those Sichuanese migrant workers who were in the midst of the mass incident that broke out in the [county-level[ city of Zengcheng in Guangzhou in recent days might have thought of such a slogan. There are an estimated 250 million migrant workers in China, who can no longer stand being pressed into the lower echelons of society, whose fate has become that of “second-class citizens.” If they saw this massive film the Founding of a Party, it would certainly resonate strongly.
Here we see too a great contradiction between historical ideas and brutal realities [of the present day]. Ninety-some years ago, the people of China pursued the dream of social and economic justice, but today these are still in sight but beyond reach, they are still beautiful fictions on the silver screen.
This has also sparked controversy among Chinese intellectuals in recent years. Will Chinese development return to the [ways of] the Mao Zedong era, when “class struggle was like the ropes of the fish net and upholding the class struggle [resolved] all minor issues.” Or will it rely on mechanisms of free competition, holding up GDP before all else in the midst of international division of labor?
Angry netizens
The film may be educational in many aspects, but the manipulation of June box office schedules has enraged many people, who have collectively “trashed” the movie through the rating system of Douban Movie and other online movie sharing platforms. Eventually, Douban had to disable its rating and commenting function.
According to the observation of Sina Weibo user Hot Movie, on the morning of June 15, around 60% of audiences gave only 1 star to the movie in the 1-10 rating system on Duoban, which resulted in a sudden drop of the movie rate to 4.8.
The site later suspended the rating and comment system when the rating of the movie dropped to 2. At around 6pm, the movie rating icon had disappeared altogether. Techblogger William Long points out on Twitter that it is the first time in Douban's history that visitors have been unable to rate and comment upon a movie.
On another movie sharing site, VeryCD, the rating of Beginning of the Great Revival is 2.2, with more than 11,769 votes saying that the movie is “trash” among the 12,208 voters (screen capture at June 18, 2011 15:30):
Why people are so angry at the movie? Netizens from Hot Movie‘s Weibo thread have some explanations:
王SE7EN 其实拍没那么糟，还是满有可看性。大家也就是被它那排它性排片方式激怒了，不爽而已。发泄一下罢了，让人说话，天塌不下来。(今天 09:19)
王SE7EN: Actually it is not that bad, worth viewing it. People are angry at its exclusive gesture and want to criticize about that. The sky won't fall for letting them speak. (Today 09:19)
阳佳祈 给我钱都不看(今天 00:49)
TawhuZz 低分和电影质量本身无关。抵制的是，这是一部歌功颂德、外国人演的洗脑片，不值得看。(6月16日 21:11)
小殷颖 单位现在已经开始拉人观看了,战术开始了(6月16日 20:18)
夏时君待 这哪是百姓可以随便评论的片子！咱没那资格(6月16日 20:13)
辘辘空间 现实照进梦想，哈哈…别怕，票房有共产党撑着(6月16日 18:34)
辘辘空间: The reality is breaking in to the dream, haha… don't be worried, the CCP will take care of the box office. (June 16 18:34)


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Colombia: Dissatisfaction With TEDx Event in Medellín · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Juan David Escobar [es] writes about his experience [es] with TEDx Medellín, which he could not enter because, according to what he narrates, he was not part of any of the companies sponsoring the event –but he did have a ticket. He links to an article in GeekPlanet [es] which criticizes the lack of promotion for the event and the way the tickets were distributed.

author: Cati Restrepo


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Cuba: To Reach Havana · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Havana is a sort of forbidden city for people from deep inside Cuba”: Iván's File Cabinet blogs about Cubans who are unwelcome in their own capital city.


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Cuba: Twitter Users Will Meet for the First Time · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

The first meeting of Cuban Twitter users was announced by @leunamrguez (Leunam Rodríguez), set for July 1st starting at 4pm on central 23rd street and 12 in La Habana. The young man, 25, currently holds a position for Cuban Radio Information and Propaganda and runs the Cuban Radio Portal.
In his blog, Twitterencuentro [es], Leunam defends “convening live meetings with Twitter users,” and urges the creation of platforms for all regions and interests.  For its creator, the philosophy that defines the event is “that which unites us as Cubans.”
In a post from June 16 [es], the blogger and organizer shows his excitement for the favorable reception that the event has had:
Se ha disparado una explosión en cadena. Desde que surgió el encuentro de twitteros en la capital de todos los cubanos: #TwittHab, los niveles de twetts y RTs se han elevado. El hashtag casi parece que llega a Trending Topic, que conste, no nos interesa pero bienvenido si sucede. La twittosfera se sacude ante un evento inédito: twitteros de #Cuba que por iniciativa propia deciden reunirse. Es increíble hasta donde hace eco la noticia, aparecen en diversos blogs todo tipo de referencias a este masivo tsunami que amenaza con rebasar los limites de la Red de redes y volverse un #twitterencuentro real. Algunos amigos del ciberespacio colaboran con sus propios Posts:
Yo estaré en #Twitthab, ¿y tú? “La Polémica Digital” de @elainediaz2003
#Twitthab para conocernos, y solo eso “Yurisander” de @yurisander
A chain reaction has been sparked.  From the moment the Twitter meeting came about in the capital of all Cubans: #TwittHab, the levels of tweets and RTs have increased.  The hashtag almost seems to appear as a Trending Topic, which, you know, does not interest us but we'll be happy if it happens. The Twittersphere shakes before an unprecedented event: Twitter users from #Cuba who, because of their own initiative, decide to come together.  It is incredible the point to which it has echoed in the news, all types of references to this massive tsunami movement appear in various blogs of all types that threatens to go beyond the bounds of the Internet networks and result in a real #twitterencuentro [#twittermeeting].  Some online friends collaborate with their own posts:
I will be at #Twitthab, and you? [es] “La Polémica Digital” [“The Digital Controversy”] from @elainediaz2003
#Twitthab to meet one another, and only that [es] “Yurisander” from @yurisander
Currently, over 451 users have been invited on the event's Facebook page [es] and 40 confirmed attendance in within the first four hours.
Bloggers living on the island and outside of Cuba have spread the message on their blogs.  Such is the case of El Yuma [es], of North American academic Ted Henken, and Roger Trabas [es], computer programmer and member of the Bloggers Cuba community.
Organizers of the blog El trapicheo online [es] additionally announced the creation of a space [es] where Cuban Twitter users outside the island  can follow the meeting in real time.
You can follow the preparation for the meeting in real time under the hashtag #twitthab on Twitter.

author: Elaine Díaz


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Ecuador: Project Aims to Bring More Green to Guayaquil · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In El Ecuador de Hoy [es] Guillermo Sornoza praises a project called ‘Guayaquil Ecológico’ [Ecological Guayaquil] which aims to bring more green spaces to the city in the form of picnic areas, parks, bicycle paths, etc.


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Ethiopia: Photographer Wins Award · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ethiopian photographer Mulugeta Ayene has won an award of excellence in photography: “Mulugeta has beaten 15 entries of eight photographers to win the award, with the jury describing his photos as “powerful and daring.” The awards, presented by the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia, recognize outstanding work by Ethiopian journalists across 3 categories”


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Guyana: Blogging Etiquette · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If somebody use work from you’ blog on their website, and make it look as if you’s writing for them, and they don’t link back you’ writing to you’ blog…you think is a form of stealing?”: Guyana-Gyal wants some link love.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Kenya: This Week in Kenyan Politics · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Updates on Kenyan politics this week: “It Is said that a single day in the life of Kenyan politics is a very long time. This week has been one of Kenyan politics at its best. The results of this week speak for themselves: Kenya now has a new Chief Justice (CJ), Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ) and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as well as 5 new Supreme Court Justices.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Macedonia: Concerns Over Anti-Protest Collusion of Facebook and Police · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The people currently protesting against police brutality in Macedonia have published an Open Letter to Facebook, expressing concern over “swift deletion policy” of their Facebook pages and events on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior under excuse that they promote violence. This hampers the peaceful demonstrations, which, by definition, are against violence, and for the rule of law.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Macedonia: Gathering Prohibited in a Public Space? · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Vnukot informs that the Ministry of Culture has forbidden the protesters to gather on a small square behind the memorial house of Mother Teresa, violating their right to free assembly enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.


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Macedonia: Protest Achievements So Far · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.
As more people act upon the awareness that the increasing visibility abroad or among foreigners within Macedonia is an important aspect of the ongoing protests, translations and original tweets/blog posts in various languages begin to appear, providing a more comprehensive picture of the developments.
For instance, Tina, a Twitter user, posted a timeline of the Martin Neshkovski case in English as “CSI: Democracy not found,” while Andre Valé posted more information in Portuguese.
No Police Brutality! – caricature by Brasilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff* made for and used as a poster by protesters in Macedonia
Marjan Zabrchanec wrote about the benefits gained from the protests so far, in Macedonian and in English (with the help of Ana Bojadzievska):
The protests, initiated after the brutal killing of Martin Neshkovski by a member of the Macedonian police forces, contributed to the Macedonian society in several ways. What we achieved was mostly a benefit for the youth, but certain influence has been exercised over political parties, civil society organizations and of course the Ministry of Interior.
For the sake of a simpler classification in the sea of information, i will try to emphasize five positive outcomes we already gained and other three, which I believe will follow.
What did we get from protests against the police brutality?
01. Empowerment of the individual
As never before, a huge mass of individuals publicly expressed their stance against the Ministry of Interior; an institution, considered to be the greatest intimidator of free citizens. Regardless whether one joins the protest every day at 18:00 pm in front of the monument of Mother Teresa, or is simply active in the online community by posting a symbolic logo against the brutality of the police on his Facebook or Twitter profile, the benefit from an open expression of discontent is enormous. The individual is encouraged and able to act against fear.
02. Unity of very diverse individuals
The great amazement by the positive atmosphere during the protests is shared by everyone. Citizens keep on noting that such unification of the different groupings has never been experienced earlier. On Friday, the [5th day] of the protest, the massiveness of the movement became evident. More than 3,000 citizens, mostly young, gathered with a joint message towards the institutions: “Stop the brutality over the individual.” As never before, a same message came from many different people. At the protests I personally recognized citizens from 50 different organizations, apolitical individuals, citizens with no political preference, members of VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM, members of DUI and DPA, members of other political parties, but also citizens that get engaged around social issues for the very first time. Although during the preparation of the protests there were no intentional calls towards the different ethnic communities that live in Macedonia, at the protests I saw Macedonians, Albanians, Roma, Vlachs, Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats and others. The protests brought a spontaneous integration of citizens of the Republic of Macedonia.
03. Clarification of the murder of Martin Neshkovski
Citizens managed to reveal a murder that the Ministry intended to hide. Pressure from citizens led to slow illumination of the details related to the murder of Martin. I am not talking about a final clarification, but about increasingly growing exposure of information in public, which would have for sure remained in the hidden files of the MOI, hadn't this outbreak of civil activism happened. The attempts of the officials to cover up the brutal murder failed, and contradictoriness is increasing with each successive statement coming from the Spokesman of the MOI, Ivo Kotevski.
04. The power of Twitter emerged
It is presumptuous to claim that Twitter is organizing the protests. Twitter is neither an organization, nor a media that possesses centralized sources of information. Behind Twitter are the critical citizens who manage to articulate their attitudes in 140-characters text. While the number of users in Macedonia is still small, Twitter emerged as a platform, a social network that is difficult to monitor, control and censor. I believe that Twitter is still unknown to the MOI which was the reason why nobody could anticipate the protests and is still not able to stop them. Although initially Facebook remained quiet, after the 6-days protests more citizens were encouraged and started using Facebook to express their discontent. The number of pages, groups and events that are calling for solidarity and protest against the police brutality is constantly increasing. At the same time, we shouldn't undermine the Facebook activity of the MOI expressed through attempts to censor the calls for protest (Fortunately, with no major consequences thus far).
05. Citizens over the parties
“We are not a party” is the message that is constantly being repeated during the protests. This is not the main message of the protest, but it is a protective mechanism which, unfortunately, must be repeated so we can prevent the attempts of political parties to marginalize or manipulate the pure civic activism. The non-partisan character of the movement was understood and accepted by all participants of the protests; those who are members of different parties and those who disagree with the principles of the pluralist democratic system in the first place. The message “We are not party” managed to unite the citizens, as much as the message “Stop police brutality” did. As quite common for non-partisan actions, this action supported the dominance of the civic over the partisan and called for activism without violence and excluding hate speech. The nonviolent protest against the police violence can serve as an example for both parties and state institutions.
I believe that this list may be expanded with other benefits gained in the last 7 days. But I also believe that the civil action”;#protestiram #martin” will not stop here, and will strive to achieve at least other three goals that I describe below.
These are the 3 most common requests of citizens, put in an order in which I think they can be achieved with continuous pressure.
I. Identification and punishment for all culprits in the murder of Martin Neshkovski
I believe that the MOI will succumb to the pressure from citizens and undertake all the necessary procedures to fully clarify the case, detect and reveal all the members of the police forces that were witnesses or accomplices in the murder.
II. Resignation or dismissal of the officials in charge in the MOI
If the protests continue, I believe that a resignation or dismissal of the Minister of Interior Gordana Jankulovska and/or the Deputy Minister and Spokesman of the Ministry, Ivo Kotevski will follow. These prospects were announced in the editor's comment [mk] of the pro-government daily newspaper Dnevnik, as well as in the statement of the sleeping President of the Republic [mk], that the institutions received the message coming from citizens.
III. Reform of the special police forces
After statements from the OSCE and the Ombudsman [mk], a continuing pressure could bring democratization within the MOI, expressed through publicly presented plan for reform of the special police force and its quick implementation.
Finally, regardless whether the protests will continue or not, regardless whether the Ministry will request the abolition of all Facebook groups calling for protests and further use the authority of foreign analysts to kill civic activism [mk], young people have achieved success, perhaps the largest in plural past 20 years Macedonia.
A caricature by Carlos Latuff* depicting Macedonian Minister of Interior Affairs Gordana Jankulovska
Meanwhile, people participating in the protest movement have launched several new blogs/websites in Macedonian, including:
* Carlos Latuff allows “free reproduction” of his cartoons.
This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.


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Macedonia: Twitter as a Vehicle for the Protests · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

NewMediaMk has published an infographic about the use of Twitter by members of the Macedonian protest movement against police brutality.