text:
China: Not Tweeting a Revolution · Global Voices
John Kennedy

It seems premature, Anonymous speculated on February 20, for the Jasmine Revolution to spread to China. Although seen by some as a joke from the onset, Chinese Twitter users tweeted furiously for two weeks and created a stir the main result of which has been numerous arrests, assaults on journalists, and the 50 Cent Party‘s expansion onto Twitter. References to the Kaohsiung Incident have stopped.
So, are the people who feigned to stand up to the all-powerful Chinese authorities to demand freedom and democracy crazy, irrelevant, or just cowardly? Below are a number of tweets which represent much of the discussion leading up February 20, the first day of China's Twitter-based ‘Jasmine Revolution’.
February 16, before the initial anonymous call to gather had been made:
https://twitter.com/kielboat/status/37837151110434816
去年的研究即发现，推特已经成为当局统治的工具之一，用来收集异议者和社会活跃人士的言论和活动信息。所以，推特革命与推特统治是推特政治的两个方面。
7:34 PM Feb 16th
https://twitter.com/kielboat/status/37887037289799681
埃及之后，中国的互联网和社运将面临更艰险、诡谲的环境。光诚事件，禁乞事件，只是开始吧。
10:52 PM Feb 16th
February 18, when the anonymous post had already appeared but was yet to receive much notice:
https://twitter.com/zeroyeung/status/38291154021777408
@myen 民主只需要8岁的智慧,另外需要不精明不世故,不被封建古文化污染的年轻的心,我想中国的民主可能最能依靠的是青年人了。据说90后很自私，我想自私是民主可能发生的最好原因.民主就是有效率的自私.
1:38 AM Feb 18th
https://twitter.com/startime/status/38528431352193024
我怎么觉得茉莉花革命有点像国宝为了经费编出来的呢？
5:21 PM Feb 18th
February 19:
https://twitter.com/qiuqiuaibaozi/status/38811105337806848
明天茉莉花革命集会？谁发起的？感觉好莽撞都没有准备；至少该先攻占（技术攻占）电视台来蛊惑下大众效果会比较好吧
12:04 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wentommy/status/38630103810310144
新浪脖友：有开枪的政府，不一定有跪倒的民众；有跪倒的民众，一定有开枪的政府。
12:05 AM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wentommy/status/38631600128270336
一个决定对民众开枪的政府，不会制造冤案，只有赤裸裸的屠杀。
12:11 AM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/cxzj/status/38813823561498624
当局因“中国茉莉花革命”消息攻击博讯网站纯属吃饱撑得，放开了传明天上街也都是去购物的。
12:15 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/cxzj/status/38816438282240000
中国现在根本就不具备“茉莉花革命”的群众思想基础，你连大学生在学校里“罢灶”的革命都掀不起来，哪来的革命？空喊“革命”只能损害异议群体自己本来已经不多的公信力。
12:25 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/startime/status/38829181391478785
说实话，所谓的茉莉花革命，越看越像经费行动
1:16 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/startime/status/38832689306013696
作为国宝，发动革命宣传攻势不仅可以增加收入，而且可以对上说这是“狼来了”的战术，多次虚假革命消息可以让反动分子不相信任何革命消息。
https://twitter.com/zuola/status/38838373128863744
什么 茉莉花革命 啊，又是山寨版。抄袭国外模式，抄完google、facebook、youtube、twitter，现在又抄groupon、quora，连人家诺贝尔和平奖和茉莉花革命也要抄，哪个热闹抄哪个。什么时候抄全民选举啊。
1:52 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/FreeManchuria/status/38842672173027328
以后茉莉花革命这种网上动员可以常搞，上不上街不要紧，网上一放话，土共就着急，就紧张，就严阵以待，就气急败坏，过个把月搞一次，让土共惶惶不可终日。他要是时间长了习惯了放松了警惕，就干一票真格的！
2:09 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/messagerl/status/38882885540777984
中国能不能发生“茉莉花革命”不在于群众有没有这个思想基础，而是要有信仰基础。我们这个没有信仰的民族，没有“革命”，只有“起义”。“革命”是在有信仰的基础上对社会制度强烈的变革要求；”起义”是因吃不饱，穿不暖而对进行的反抗，谁打江山谁做主。
4:49 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wentommy/status/38885990433034240
一个把枪口对准民众的政府，自己先变成了鬼。
5:01 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/higuain1984/status/38900730425389056
昨晚算计了一下如果真发生革命或经济崩溃时我的处境会如何，结论是对我一点好处都没有，我们家难以出国，会更惨。
6:00 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/zsjiangjun/status/38925497626796032
明天的”茉莉花之约”持续发酵，百度的众多贴吧都相继进入无敌状态。这反而让更多的人开始从研究贴吧为何开无敌进而开始研究“茉莉花之约”，虽然我也认为这次约会来得太过仓促，但看起来也未必是见坏事。
7:38 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wenyunchao/status/38925305091457024
茉莉花開不開不知道，倒是我觀察當局如何進行信息管制和封鎖的好機會，除了斷網，能使的手段也就今天這樣了吧。
7:38 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/zsjiangjun/status/38925986640695296
所以我希望，对此次约会有想法的朋友，可以用一些比较温和的词语来加以描述，以便跃过障碍。比如说“茉莉花之约”、“相约茉莉花”，希望有才的朋友们能够组合出更多有创意的词汇。
7:40 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/jason5ng32/status/38928538715422720
明天是否有中国版茉莉花革命没人知道，但看到今天政府的各种行动，它们就是热锅上的蚂蚁。
7:51 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wenyunchao/status/38934699170729984
突然就到身邊了，突然就含苞待放了，突然就零距離了。
8:15 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/noooo0000/status/38941869522157568
有人在拼命论证茉莉花革命不成呢^_^我笑了。 Rt @lihlii2 @noooo0000 茉莉花革命成功已成定局。哈哈，连奴才《明报》都报道了。
8:43 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/lihlii2/status/38943478410907648
@noooo0000 一个明显的正面效果，是把“革命”这个词，和中共国的现实联系起来了。就算你是反革命，只要谈论革命问题，那就已经是进步了。哈哈
8:50 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/leewua/status/38944535463735296
传说中的茉莉花革命，谁看了都像笑话，可是让官方如此恐惧，看来他们之前内心中就已经很恐惧了。RT @zokio: 茉莉溜土共的喜剧效果，堪比2000多年前的烽火戏诸侯，俺像褒姒一般地笑了。
8:54 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/leewua/status/38945087572410368
据说警察都累得像小狗一样，都忙不开了。茉莉花革命的玩笑让那些非法占有权利的强盗们恐惧的不得了，他们知道他们手里的权利是根本不应该是他们的， 强盗最怕别人把自己手中的东西又抢走。RT @nuochan: 每个月搞一次茉莉花集结，一年之后警察和国宝就该成我们的人了
8:56 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wufake/status/38947230731739136
一朵虚拟的茉莉花，尽然惊动了党中央。
9:05 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/Toxsch/status/38954427368873984
网上热传茉莉花革命，本来只是觉得大概又是一种行为艺术，不打算去掺和，熟料今天茉莉花就成了敏感词了。好吧，既然政府这么重视这次行动，不参加多浪费已经被花掉的维稳费用啊。明天一定去围观！
9:33 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wenyunchao/status/38961468103852032
目前來看，當局的應對手段，一是嚴密封鎖境內網站防止消息傳播，二是嚴密監控重點活躍人士。流傳中的集會地點現場現在有沒有加強戒備還沒有消息。
10:01 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/majunspace/status/38964340308578304
茉莉花的价值在于她喊了一声，狼来了，，，，，
10:13 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wangningnick/status/38967728639442944
为什么要用茉莉花？不如改用玫瑰花，并把所有的情侣都发展成运动成员，最糟不过是政府把把情人节禁了，也是个不错的结果
10:26 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/liulen/status/38969929692610560
满眼尽是茉莉花…可是这恐怕是一场梦吧！他国能用网络革命，我们却总被网络忽悠。刚刚接到在青岛北海舰队任副营的哥们电话，说明天可能在各地出现类似法轮功的活动，劝我远离…我只能劝他不用紧张…你们上级被忽悠了！
10:35 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/xiaocao07/status/38971167721132032
茉莉成了高危花种，明天茶室要不要禁销茉莉?莫谈国事，莫喝茉莉，一朵小花疯魔一个国家，盛世中国新型疫病：恐花症
10:40 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/jason5ng32/status/38972423248289792
每次有什么风吹草动，就让微博审查人员加班加点，真灭绝人性。
10:45 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/2011u/status/38975329997430784
声东击西是草泥们比较喜欢的一个策略.在对方的武装力量有限的情况下,草泥马们的人数优势可以充分发挥出来..网上放风大家都去人民广场.政府部署2000武警封锁广场.但是不知道拿个人说,大家去电视台,于是草泥马们占领了到电视台..宣布革命成功.呵呵,意淫一下
10:56 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/jieaodeheipi/status/38985277275901952
紧急通知：明天茉莉花活动的时间提前到今晚24点，地点改为各大城市主要干道上的加油站，排队的都是自己人！
11:36 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/huyong/status/38988441538666496
今日凌晨接到新浪微博小秘书通知：最近形势紧张，请您少发或不发国外骚乱信息，特告知！/中国的事情很有意思，国外有了情况，一律呼之为骚乱；国内有了情况，绝不能叫骚乱，那叫群体性事件。
11:49 PM Feb 19th
https://twitter.com/wufake/status/38989551678529536
感觉党中央对茉莉花的敏感度已经不亚于炸药奖和河蟹宴。
11:53 PM Feb 19th
February 20, the day of the initial gatherings:
https://twitter.com/cxzj/status/38991198236577792
看起来这次“革命”的直接后果是一堆人被喝茶，一堆微博账号被删，一堆推特客户端被墙，而国内微博也将迎来更严厉的管控——而99.9%的国内民众对这次“伤亡惨重”的“革命”闻所未闻。
12:00 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/mottled_shadow/status/39007864739598336
@XY5 现在这帮明珠斗士除了嘴炮根本就搞不出什么把戏，明天的散步也不会有什么效果，因为现在国内的矛盾还没尖锐到不革命就不能活下去的地步
1:06 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/analysiser/status/39020621065240576
但愿今天的活动顺利，希望能和平地示威游行，希望共产党党卫军不要开枪，希望没有伤亡，希望中国能变好！茉莉花革命也好，牡丹花革命也好，希望能开启中国宪政、民主、自由的新时代。#jasmine #China #JasmineRevolution
1:56 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/wenyunchao/status/39022167660302336
五毛還是辛勤工作，就像是魔術師在當著早知道他底細的觀眾在表演，看著都累得慌。
2:03 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/HeQinglian/status/39099233533558784
中共当局的内心脆弱，于此次应对20日网上流传的“茉莉花革命”可见一斑。正所谓“网上一帖流传，中共心惊胆战”，高压维稳能得逞于一时，不能得计于长远。如此杯弓蛇影、风声鹤唳，还不如趁早还权于民。
7:09 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/HeQinglian/status/39118126352171008
对220茉莉花革命的一点感想：此次事件可谓“一条推文引发的维稳高潮”。某推友鼠标一点，中共维稳费用如海水一样哗哗流走。因成本太高，不太象是中共“烽火戏诸侯”。但如此后隔三岔五来上这么一次，各级政府最后对此视同“狼来了”，维稳前景也不大妙。
8:24 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/fansy/status/39146389116166144
我觉得如果中国现在革命了，经济崩溃，到底对百姓有什么好处呢？何况那些命运分子除了抱怨似乎不大会治理国家啊。你们怎么也要有治理国家的能力再谈翻身做主人吧？要不然不就是搞破坏么？
10:16 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/cxzj/status/39152546459291648
所谓“中国茉莉花革命”实际就是一次2B挑逗精神病的无聊行动，后果是一堆无关群众和花花草草因精神病发作被误伤。
10:41 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/even5435/status/39163284733173760
中国永远不会发生颜色革命，这是中国人的本质决定的：没有信仰、没有公德心、没有正义感、没有对自由的热切向往、没有身为奴隶的耻辱感，有的只是贪婪、狡黠、自私自利、蝇营狗苟、追腥逐臭，所以这片神奇的土地上什么花都开不了，只能是一起毁灭、黄祸。
11:23 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/yinxingongzi/status/39163648790233088
现在很怀疑这个神马花革命就是那些反民主的推友搞的，目的就是想推上的民主人士都被喝茶，他们就好偷着乐鸟～
11:25 AM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/inntran/status/39175064259665920
报告首长，今天Twitter精神病院里民主斗士和往常一样，继续YY，一切正常，形势都在我们掌握之中。钓鱼贴已逐渐显示其威力，特别适合这群爱“独立思考”的精神病人群，起到了引蛇出洞的良好效果。//刚从别人电话里听到的。
12:10 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/harrygg/status/39178438002753536
“@FifthDimen: 据说，茉莉花革命这一天，主要是警察、便衣及熊猫们上街聚会。”
12:24 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/shixb90/status/39178709101453312
转自我同学：这次茉莉花革命的幕后黑手绝对是肯德基，希望通过茉莉花，成功做掉在王府井的麦当劳总部！
12:25 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/meirushui/status/39184378709934080
即使国内的青年人不怕死，他们的父母也不准孩子去参加牡丹花革命。因为老年人认为，自己的退休金还得靠共产党发，如果中共垮台，他们的生活没着落了。何况二三十岁的青壮年中，一大部分是独生子女，父母一代人还得靠他们照顾。
12:47 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/cn220/status/39184471370629120
很多人说中国不具备革命的基础，但看看这两天当局的反应就知道现在是什么情况了，当局对形势掌握得更加清楚。
12:48 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/Jessy_Dior/status/39196396187820032
苹果日报今天要闻是“中国茉莉✿革命，解放军严正以待”，笑死我了，其实我想说99%的人压根不知道，我们的报禁、互联网监管制度还是很有成效的。
1:35 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/jk4tt/status/39200033823924224
很好玩，茉莉花革命日，全国警察熊猫都上街散步了。
1:49 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/taotaochong/status/39206836305395712
“目前社会上有一些境外不法分子到处非法集会，请各位同学一定要提高警惕，不相信谣言，不传播谣言，不要围观，不参与各类集会以免给你们带来不必要的麻烦。”选自本人收到的新学期开学通知
2:16 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/lymikko/status/39207039456645120
作为一个整天发生活推的人，想说如果你把自己生活过的不好归罪于国家体缺问题，并寄托于xx革命，那还是算了吧。我等老百姓最怕这种小人得志的人。我个人希望致力于国家体制完善的人应当是艾未未这种目的单纯，为了完善体制，暴露体制问题而做些实践的工作。
2:17 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/wufake/status/39217068851077120
茉莉花革命的博讯文章很有可能是官方自行炮制的，为的是进行一次包括党、政军在内的实兵演练。
2:57 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/cxzj/status/39217685585854464
这一次无厘头的“狼来了革命”不但不会让当局对微博客和社交网络的传播动员能力脱敏，相反，会让他们更加警惕。接下来将是对国内各微博更严厉的管制，而GFW也将越筑越高。
2:59 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/jason5ng32/status/39218211719352320
前几天有报道说中国将有茉莉花行动时，我认为那肯定是假的，事实上直到现在我都认为那是个笑话。想不到有人会当真，并做出最高戒备。事情是被政府的紧张感弄假成真的。
3:02 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/daxa/status/39218580490813440
希望裆中央政府理性看待“茉莉花儿”，正确对待广大追求自由、公平和正义的“人民群众”，不要盲目使用军队、警察、冲锋枪、坦克车对待手无寸铁、持无论神马花儿的民众。国保、警察、军队不要盲目对民众使用暴力，开枪杀人也许适合毛时代邓时代，但不适合你，因为这不是你个人的时代，杀人要偿命的。
3:03 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/xazei/status/39220489037549568
中午便衣男（疑似国保）说，他4点就上班了，就是为了防范今天有人上街扰乱社会秩序。你要认识到你转贴的后果，这是很严重的政治问题，谈什么不好，在网上谈政治，能有什么用。好好珍惜你的工作，别谈政治。
3:11 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/Pengxiaoyun/status/39223169445265408
如果一个社会被各种粗鄙价值观裹挟，那么，其中年长而手握资源的社会成员，往往易成为既得利益者而不愿意放手，不愿意“知错就改”。基于此，也许今天要发出一种不同的声音：中年智则国智，中年富则国富，中年强则国强，中年独立则国独立，中年自由则国自由，中年进步则国进步！
3:21 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/wufake/status/39224481474035713
昨日上午境外网站关于“茉莉花革命”的信息，当日晚间警方就开始集中行动，今日更是大费周章，按照以往的经验，官方反应不可能这么迅速敏捷，唯一的可能就是“茉莉花革命”的本身就是官方自行制造，通过这一大规模实兵演练制造恐怖气氛和对未来的不确定情况防范于未然。
3:26 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/RebelZhao/status/39225020798607360
@quarterback123 从来都是只要在北上广深搞倒，全国就定了~现在的经济形势就是这样~茉莉花革命只能在北上广深这样的地方搞~才能引起最大的效果~然后其他地方就可以了~
3:29 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/wenyunchao/status/39227300696436736
這次折騰，最惱火的應該是中宣部國新辦，辛辛苦苦封鎖北非中東革命的消息，警方這么大張旗鼓一折騰，經過咱們愛八卦的民眾口耳相傳什麽的，豈不是馬上街知巷聞？
3:38 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/LoveHideMe/status/39236336380674048
哎，猛宣传茉莉花，但终究只有这里的人看到，有意思吗？需要宣传的是不能来这的人。既然这么想革命，有可行的计划吗？有团队吗？下一朵茉莉花，切忌鲁莽。
4:14 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/Pangoo/status/39236448653819904
今天一场“茉莉花革命”闹剧，动用了多少党国的维稳经费，又浪费了多少纳税人的钱。 #CN0220
4:14 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/Jessy_Dior/status/39237560345567232
今天极限也接到上级主管部门的通知了，公安部要求屏蔽一系列词汇，貌似也没看到今天有什么动静，严查期为20日，可怜死了好多API，这又是何必呢
4:18 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/79Ting/status/39239994707156992
新浪微博真的开始限制功能了，随之而来的满屏幕原本不关心时事的人在互相问：出什么大事儿了？
4:28 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/79Ting/status/39243321486491648
越来越觉得这事儿像是哪个有理想有抱负的四有新人，为了报复请他喝茶的国宝而发动的恶作剧。
4:41 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/kafeiyanlei2010/status/39247292770955264
新浪微薄都不能发图片和连接了，原来的搜索框也没有了，难道是怕有人闹革命
4:57 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/zishe0/status/39251760396763136
甭管这一次是不是鸟贼们故意演习，吃饱饭没吃饱饭的人们每周上街散一次步，无组织无纪律无口号无标语，花开不革命，锻炼身体，很不错。有人担心浪费纳税人的钱，那钱，有没有这些事情他们都收走的，不用在这儿，也花不到你头上。
5:15 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/crimethink/status/39260602941706240
下次可以用蔬菜，比花好找多了，比如人手一片白菜叶子。RT @mozhixu: 话说这次的茉莉花行为艺术还是有破绽的，二月间哪里去找茉莉花嘛，唉，现在的都市青年看来都没养过花嘛。
5:50 PM Feb 20th
https://twitter.com/engengpu/status/39257095182221312
警察说即使玩笑，也要当回事。我笑说：可能一大帮警察去了，发现有一大帮警察在那儿，互相以为是网友扮的，就打起来了。这就是茉莉花革命。警苦笑。
5:36 PM Feb 20th

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: Outrageous sexual harassment in Chinese wedding · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Olivia from China Hush reported an outrageous sexual harassment case happened recently in a Chinese wedding. 9 bridesmaids were allegedly molested by the bridegroom’s escorting friends in front of relatives and friends.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Cuba: Discussing the Crackdowns · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers continue to discuss the crackdown on the Ladies in White and other dissidents, following the first anniversary of the death of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Ghana: Interview with Kajsa Hallberg Adu · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

It has been a little over a decade since Peter Merholz coined the word “blog” from Jorn Barger’s “weblog.” As tech-savvy hands nimbly explored this platform that facilitated personal diary-like entries, newbies caught on, and so did developing countries. Certainly the world has witnessed the transformation of blogs into strong political and social platforms; it is interesting how much Africa is advancing in its garnering of avid bloggers, one of them being Ghana-based Swedish lecturer and freelance writer, Kajsa Hallberg Adu.
Kajsa Hallberg Adu
Adu is the founder of GhanaBlogging, “a group of bloggers in/outside Ghana who blog about Ghana,” the site clarifies.
A few weeks ago, I got the chance to conduct an e-mail interview with Adu about her experience as a blogger in Ghana as well as her thoughts on the future of blogging in Ghana:
What's your professional background?
I have a Masters in Political Science and currently teaching at a small liberal arts college in Ghana, Ashesi University  College.
How and why did you get into blogging? And why Ghanablogging?
In 2006 I was living in Paris and started blogging to keep in touch with family and friends and write about my impressions of my new life. At the time, some Swedish friends had blogs at home. I have always loved to write and thought it was a brilliant forum, but couldn't really find my own tone or topic. However, when I knew I was going to move to Paris, I found myself reading blogs, not books, about Parisian life. I think that spurred the decision to start blogging myself.
In Paris, I was invited to a blog meet-up, hosted by blogger Petite Anglais (who later got a book deal out of her blog). It was great to meet with other bloggers and it turned out two of them worked within the same big organization as me at the time!
So in 2007, when I moved to Ghana I continued blogging and was always on the lookout for Ghanaian blogs. When I had found enough of them, I organized the first meet-up with a friend. It was in July 2008, and eight bloggers came. We decided on the name GhanaBlogging as we wanted the action in the name. We are all doers.
Kajsa Hallberg Adu giving a talk about blogging
Where do you see the future of blogging in the context of Ghana?
It is just starting out. The first year of Ghanablogging we grew from 8 to 61 blogs, and now…well, we are struggling with handling all the applications to come onboard. As Internet gets more accessible, more people in Ghana are given the opportunity to blog. Ghanablogging is this year going to register as a legal entity and I hope that with that we can apply for funds and maybe hire someone to help us out in organizing ourselves better. We would also like to educate young people and journalists on blogging, spread it even further!
Personally, I love the shift from online presence to real life meetings. I have gotten more friends out of blogging than I ever hoped for!
What are you referring to when you say you love the shift from online presence to real life meetings?
When people think of blogging, they think about a lonely person in front of a computer, when in reality it really is a network! Blogging comes with belonging somewhere, blogging is an activity that has strengthened my relationship to Ghana. So yes, my blog is online, but many real life meetings have come out of it!
What happens when Ghanablogging becomes a legal entity? Will anything change?
Yes, we can do projects with budgets. Maybe in the future we can hire someone to manage the now large group of bloggers that are members and maybe think about new ways of providing them service. With a formal structure, we can also be clearer towards the world about what and who Ghanablogging is, we get invited to many programs and initiatives, but at the moment do not have the capacity to attend all of them or the founding documents to judge if that program is something we want to do.
How do you think active blogging can affect Ghanaians, especially if Ghanablogging.com is able to accomplish its goal of creating more bloggers?
I just think more voices needs to be heard. There can be political effects if many Ghanaians realize they are not alone about thinking something. Then there is also the issue of creating local content online, as of now, many things Ghanaian are not reflected online. So many great Ghanaian blogs have not been written…I'd love to read the blog of the water seller, the boarding school student, the university lecturer, the fashionista, the father, the chop bar owner…
Do you consider yourself a writer, blogger or journalist? What are the differences in your opinion? What is your take on the debate about journalism vs blogging?
Oh, what do I consider myself? I feel like a woman who loves writing and currently does so mainly on a blog. On my blog I call myself “lecturer, freelance writer and blogger in Ghana”, this means that apart from blogging regularly, I also do academic writing and sometimes sell my texts, for instance to the newsletter University World News and to Swedish publications.
Is there a debate on journalism vs. blogging? I think too few journalists blog in Ghana, I just know of a handful, and maybe too few bloggers sell texts? Ideally there should be no division. Same thing with academics and bloggers, I think more academics ought to blog!
Does your not being a Ghanaian native influence your tone in political pieces?
My first years of blogging in Ghana, I had expressed [a] positive view of the country, something I have now purposely changed as I cannot feel positively about everything in Ghana. I do not hesitate to write what I think, something I feel many of my Ghanaian blogging colleagues are more cautious of…I think so they will not be put in a box or because they just have more knowledge and are more entangled in all kinds of issues. For instance, it is easy for me to write about how the traditional belief in witchcraft in Ghana hurt women and is a serious human rights issue.
Then at other times, I also feel disconnected, like I do not understand the society fully and that hinders me from maybe criticizing certain political issues. But then again, then I might write that “I don't get this!” like my recent post on one year of paying road tolls, yet the roads are deteriorating…
This week, I'll be writing my 500th post, and I think this interview is a good way of celebrating in advance. Thanks to you and to Global Voices for your interest in us!

author: L. Abena Annan


text:
Haiti: Manigat’s Chances  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“We might have a race after all”: Toussaint on Haiti thinks that Mirlande Manigat's campaign “might be picking up steam”, while Dying in Haiti wonders “if the registered voters in [a particular] tent city are going to vote for Madame Manigat, Michael, or….nobody?”


text:
Iran: Protests to Free the Opposition Leaders (Videos) · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Demonstrations in Iran on Tuesday in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad and several other cities were sparked by reports this week that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi have been jailed, a claim which is denied by the authorities.
Tehran: “Death to the Dictator”
Tehran: Supporting Mousavi
Tehran: “Free Karrubi and Mousavi”
Shiraz: “It is Seyed Ali Khamenei's Turn”

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Jamaica: You Gotta Have Faith · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Our society is so riddled with corruption and frustration-inspiring situations that Jamaican people seem to have lost faith in a LOT of things and people”: Ruthibelle blogs about some of them.


text:
Japan: Controversial documentary The Cove released free online · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Joi Ito announced on his blog that the award-winning documentary The Cove has been dubbed in Japanese and released for free online. In the post, Ito-san wrote: “Why the online release of the film in Japan is so important is that the Japanese people should watch the movie and make up their own mind. Regardless of what you think about the film, banning it is unexcusable.”
Last year right-wing activists opposed to the screening of the documentary and some theaters refused to show it.
Here is the link to the movie.

author: Scilla Alecci


text:
Libya: The African Mercenary Question (Videos) · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
One of the more distressing sub-plots in the ongoing two-week uprising against Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi in Libya has been reports of the Libyan leader's alleged use of “African mercenaries” to prop up his falling regime.
Global Voices has covered stories of mercenaries from Serbia bombing civilians from airplanes. But the majority of speculation regarding mercenaries portrays them as “foreign” or “African” — meaning from Sub-Sahara Africa and “Black”. This storyline is echoed everywhere in international media, in Arabic media, and in online citizen media and videos.
Why put a Black face on the mercenary story when people in Libya are both light and dark skinned?
In an open letter to Al Jazeera posted on the blog Sky, Soil & Everything In Between, KonWomyn worries that the broadcaster's shorthand description simply has become “mercenaries from Africa”, instead of looking deeper into who these people actually are, and that this description is being copied in media around the world.
Fear is another reason these claims are widely perpetuated. In a comment on a blog post on Arabist.net about mercenaries in Libya, “Benedict” writes:
… in a climate of fear and scarce information, rumours that violence is being carried out by shadowy outsiders often spread widely (e.g. the rumours of ‘Arabs’ beating protesters in Iran in 2009). Secondly, there are plenty of African migrants in Libya who may be seized as scapegoats by angry crowds, and there are also black Libyans, some of who may be members of the security forces.
Nonetheless, captured mercenaries in Libya have so far included people with identification papers from Tunisia, Nigeria and Guinea (Conakry) and Chad. In Ghana there are rumours that people in Accra had been offered as much as US$ 2,500 to fight for Gaddafi. And in Ethiopia local people have reportedly also been hired to fight. Here is a video of an alleged mercenary captured by locals in AL Barqa, Libya.
Map of Libya and the Mediterranean Sea
Destination Libya
For many in Sub-Saharan Africa, Libya has long been an employment magnet and also acted as a port of call for those wanting to migrate to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. An estimated 1.5 million people from south of the Sahara live in Libya, working mainly in the oil and construction industry.
Gaddafi is also financially and politically involved with governments south of the Sahara. The Libyan military has trained several rebel groups in the past, and has also recruited mercenaries on previous occasions.
In the early years of his rule, Gaddafi, who was affectionately known as “the Guide,” attempted to unify and Arabize the swath of land just south of the Sahara desert by pressing young migrants everywhere from the Sahel to Pakistan to fight as a single unit in wars in Chad, Uganda, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
Attacks on migrants
The immediate problem is that people in Libya from Sub-Saharan Africa have been attacked simply because people assume they are mercenaries. On the Ethiopian Review blog, several people commented on a post about Ethiopian mercenaries with fears that innocent refugees would become targets of mobs.
One commenter, “Ganamo” wrote:
Some of those could be innocent refugees. During uprising in a mob mentality people most often do not differentiate well between criminals and innocent foreigners. I have to say this because I believe it from learning it through an experience. While revolution must go on we must be carefully to stand for refugees. Specially Ethiopians in Diaspora since their government cares only for their money and abandons them on their times of need, while other countries are evacuating their citizens. Where will Ethiopian Refugees in Libya go?
Some bloggers and activists from Sub-Saharan Africa see the mercenary issue as opening a window into the chauvinistic attitudes of those from North Africa.
In the pan-African Myweku blog, N Thompson writes:
Africans in the main have been sympathetic and supportive of the desires of Tunisians and Egyptians in their protests. However, the African media and forums are beginning to ask if the prominence and publicity given to so called African mercenaries running amok amongst Libyan protesters pillaging and raping is beginning to tell a rather interesting story about the motives of some Libyan protesters.
On Sudan.net a question posted by a member of the forum – Is Libya racist? – has generated many emotional responses. Surely, isn’t the first rule of any revolution to garner as much international support from all quarters as possible?
That thought is echoed by Tommy Miles in New York, writing in the West-Africa focused, Tomathan blog:
In all honesty, I support the people of Libya’s righteous anger against the brutal Gaddafi regime. It will not be going out on a limb at this point to say they will succeed, and that the entire region (including Tchad, Mali, & Niger) will be better off without Gaddafi’s almost constant destabilization of his African neighbors.
But like much of northern Africa, in Libya there is a long history of fear, hatred, and oppression based on skin color. There is a distinct minority of “black” Libyans whose slave origins mean they are still regarded with contempt by some, as there is a large number of political and economic refugees in what is a relatively prosperous state.
One commenter on this post, going by the name “Arab”, disagrees:
A purely manufactured controversy. Libyans have also reported that there are European mercenaries and you conveniently forget that because it doesn’t suit your racism agenda. The point of making it known that they are African is identification, it has nothing to do with skin color (a classic case of projection of Western biases), but with identifying a threat (based on language, since “African” denotes a non-Arabic speaking person from the continent rather than a black person as you seem to think). Libyans are more than aware that there are Libyans killing them, after all fighter jets are not being flown by mercenaries nor is the elite army corps that is headed by Gaddafi’s son a foreign one. You would have served yourself better if at this time of great distress for the Libyan people, you remained silent until all the events are known, rather than push an agenda to insult people fighting and dying for their liberty based on nothing but speculation.
People in Libya have also shown compassion to some captured mercenaries. This video shows more than one man protecting an alleged fighter from an angry crowd (Warning: These are disturbing images).
One young mercenary from Chad, claimed in an interview with UK newspaper The Telegraph, that he had met men who said they would fly him to Tripoli in Libya for work. Instead, the plane was diverted to Al-Bayda, where he and his fellow travelers were handed weapons and told to kill protesters.
The Ridja blog from the island nation Comoros in Africa, takes up that theme [Fr]:
Dans une vidéo postée sur YouTube, un homme noir, présenté comme un mercenaire, reconnaît avoir été recruté par Khamis, l'un des fils du Guide, pour massacrer le peuple. Aveu véritable ou tentative désespérée d'un pauvre diable de se sauver d'une foule qui menace de le lyncher? D'autres films sur Internet montrent les dépouilles de supposés soldats de fortune morts au combat. Les sites des Libyens en exil parlent eux aussi de ces soldats étrangers, évoquant les rumeurs les plus folles, comme des salaires de 30.000 dollars.
Vincent Harris in the blog Colored Opinions, a blog exploring African migration politics, says European leaders share some of the blame:
Europe has a heavy responsibility for the well-being of refugees in Libya. The reason I say this is obvious, European governments, like the Netherlands, helped Libya to create a buffer against subsaharan African immigrants to Europe. Who does not remember Gaddafi's recent visit to Italy? It seemed funny to see [Berlusconi] one of the most xenophobic presidents receive Gaddafi, but in reality the visit of Libyan president Gaddafi was in line with European policy to use Libya as buffer to counter immigration.
Of great concern to many, is that the mercenary problem may have only just begun. From the Arabist blog:
… if the regime suddenly collapses, how will the successors of the regime deal with several thousand heavily armed and unpaid mercenaries in Libya’s major cities?
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: John Liebhardt


text:
Mauritania: Will protesters take to the streets tomorrow? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Protesters took to the streets in Mauritania on Friday calling for political reforms and an end to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz rule. Young people continued a sit-in the following day. @abbassbraham reports that protesters will be back to the streets tomorrow.
The Moor Next Door reflects on the protests by sharing a map of the political parties and social groups that took part and the notable ones that did not participate in the 25 February protests.
(RFD refers to Rally of Forces for Democracy; UFP the Union of Forces for Progress; RUF to the Rally for Unity and Democracy; UPR to the Union for the Republic (President Ould Abdel Aziz’s party); and APP to the People’s Progressive Alliance (Messaoud Boulkheir’s party. “FB organizers” refers to Facebook groups (of which there are many) and their followers who turned out to the demonstrations the largest of which have some thousands of members (two of these are mentioned by name).)
Why did people protest?:
1. Background. Mauritania shares several problems in common with those Arab states experiencing demonstrations and uprisings namely a crisis of political legitimacy (its president came to power first through a coup and then by disputed elections), rising food prices and precarious living standards and a popular sense of disenfranchisement. Discontent with the President predates both Friday’s protests and the wave of  unrest spreading across the region. Many Mauritanians are weary of government so frequently dominated by military men and their pliant apparatchiks. Ould Abdel Aziz is widely seen as having usurped the country’s nascent democratic process in 2008 (even if many saw the previous president as ineffectual and weak). Economic pressures, floods, near famine-like conditions and a risky water situation add to popular irritation, especially among youth. Protests are not uncommon in Mauritania, which has a lively and diverse opposition. The tone and content of this week’s protests differ from past protests in that they have been led by youth of various persuasions rather than political party leaders.
Amar responds to The Moor Next Door:
This posting seems good. It reflects in a condensed manner, the mauritanian political landscape with more or less accuracy.
However, nowhere, in the post, mention is made of close relations between the AZIZ’s regime (junta members, relatives and businessmen etc …) and France (françafrique team) and what, in reality, underlies these ties?
Perhaps, the response is this well organized Mauritanian wealth outflow to France (oil, gold, uranium, rare earths of Taoudeni basin) as well as various lucrative contracts with a strong smell of ”franceafrique”.
Moreover, it would have been interesting to attempt to correlate the genesis of French colonialism in Mauritania at the dawn of the 20th century versus the new form of “modern” colonialism adopted nowadays in order to achieve the same purposes, as before, but with less damage, today.
Tidinit argues that the main political parties in Mauritania will not abandon President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz:
As I have said before, unless Aziz does an inthinkable mistake such as shooting people, France, the US and the main political parties will not abandon him and will even support him for the next elections in 2014 because most benefit from Aziz’s patronage and money and that what they are looking for. Moreover, he has been in power for less than two years (he fooled the opposition, proof that they are a bunch of useless people) and I do blieve it is better he continues until next election and lose if he does bad or win if he does bad. People are kind of tired of change of power through coups since 1978.
Jackie Cohen says that Mauritania’s protests show the wave of revolutions in the region may begin to slow down:
Regardless, the more peaceful nature and smaller number of participants in Mauritania’s demonstration compared to neighboring countries in northern Africa might signal that the wave of revolutions in the region might begin to slow down. That would seem like a good thing, given how violent things have gotten in nations like Libya. And the more peacefully these changes come about, the better not only for the citizens involved but also for Facebook, which has gotten flack from people who exaggerate the site’s role in the Middle East.
#Mauritania tweets:
@abbassbraham:
Mauritania youth are back to the streets tomorrow. Bad night for the military junta and their hanger-ons.
@johntmorgan:
@abbassbraham Any link to that? Trying to keep on top of #Mauritania for an English speaking Facebook page, no luck – any pg to follow?
@Kengeo_com:
Tell us, where is #Mauritania on the map http://ow.ly/1bxljY
@Abdarrahmen:
11 millions as a gift by qatar to #mauritania will surely transfered to #aziz [President Mohammed Aziz] acount and his friends !
Will people take to the streets tomorrow? Let's wait and see.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Mexico: Subcomandante Marcos on President Calderon’s “War from above” · Global Voices
Deborah Esch

During the final week of an eventful February in the Middle East and North Africa, many on Twitter have taken to tweeting and re-tweeting an epigrammatic quotation attributed to the iconic spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), Subcomandante Marcos.
Its English translation, circulated by @EagleIreports, @culturatist, @paperstargirl and many others, reads: “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution.” The applicability to circumstances in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia and around the region is all but self-evident. In Mexico, the Subcomandante has come to the forefront of netizen's discussions with the recent publication of a letter about the country's current problem with organized, drug related crime.
Subcomandante Marcos
Those seeking a refresher course on Marcos and his role in the Zapatista insurgency and ongoing campaign for human rights for the indigenous peoples of southeastern Mexico need only watch a recent interview with Marcos on the history of Zapatismo's long struggle for dignity in the name of this forgotten segment of Mexican society.
Just as readers around the globe grasp the humor and urgency in “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution,” they now respond with fresh eyes and ears to Marcos’ declaration in the interview that “History is a battleground in this war.”
Subcomandate Marcos in Zapatista Caravan. January 29, 2006. Image by Flickr user orianomada, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license
The Latest Letter: “About the Wars”
Meanwhile, on February 14, the website Enlace Zapatista [es], the online arm of the EZLN, opened another front with the publication of “Sobre las Guerras.” This was translated overnight by blogger Kristin Bricker as: “About the Wars: A Fragment of the First Letter from Subcomandante Marcos to Don Luis Villoro, beginning the correspondence about Ethics and Politics.” The text, dated January-February 2011, is part 2 of 4 which will appear in the next issue of Rebeldia magazine” (forthcoming at the time of this posting).
The recipient of the letter, Don Luis Villoro, is a long-time professor of philosophy at UNAM and the author of The Challenges of the Society to Come. The correspondence has as reference point, an earlier exchange of letters between Marcos and author John Berger.
Readers familiar with Marcos and the EZLN (which has not engaged in military operations since its initial insurgency in Chiapas in January 1994) may anticipate some of his argument: that the U.S will be the only winner in the Mexican government's war on drugs; that President Calderon's battle with organized crime was doomed from the start because it was conceived, “not as a solution to a problem of security, but to a problem of legitimacy”. The specifics of Marcos’ language in this fragment of a letter to Villoro defy easy summarization.
What follows are several citations from Bricker's translation of the fragment of the first letter [find the text in Spanish at Enlace Zapatista]. Global Voices will track the correspondence as it unfolds.
As Mexican native peoples and as the EZLN, we have something to say about war.  Above all if it is carried out in our geography and in this calendar: Mexico, in the beginning of the 21st century….
And in all of Mexico, thanks to Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's sponsorship, we don't have to look towards the Middle East to critically reflect on war.  It is no longer necessary to turn the calendar back to Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, always Palestine.
I don't mention Chiapas and the war against Zapatista indigenous communities, because it is known that they aren't fashionable (that's why the Chiapas state government has spent so much money so that the media no longer puts it on war's horizon; instead, it publishes the ‘advances’ in biodiesel production, its ‘good’ treatment of migrants, the agricultural ‘successes’ and other deceiving stories that are sold to editorial boards who put their own names on poorly edited and argued governmental press releases).
The war's interruption of daily life in current-day Mexico doesn't stem from an insurrection, nor from independent or revolutionary movements that compete for their reprint in the calendar 100 or 200 years later.  It comes, as all wars of conquest, from above, from the Power.
And this war has in Felipe Calderon Hinojosa its initiator and its institutional (and now embarrassing) promoter.
The man who took possession of the title of President by de facto wasn't satisfied with the media backing he received, and he had to turn to something else to distract people's attention and avoid the massive controversy regarding his legitimacy: war.
When Felipe Calderon Hinojosa made Theodore Roosevelt's proclamation that ‘this country needs a war’ his own (although some credit the sentence to Henry Cabot Lodge), he was met with fearful distrust from Mexican businessmen, enthusiastic approval from high-ranking military officials, and hearty applause from that which really rules: foreign capital….
It is not insignificant what is at stake…
In the first four years of the ‘war against organized crime’ (2007-2010), the main governmental entities in charge (the National Defence Ministry – that is, army and air force – the Navy, the Federal Attorney General's Office, and the Ministry of Public Security) received over $366 billion pesos (about $30 billion dollars at the current exchange rate) from the Federal Budget.  The four federal government ministries received:  in 2007 over $71 billion pesos; in 2008 over $80 billion pesos; in 2009 over $113 billion pesos; and in 2010 over $102 billion pesos.  Add to that the over $121 billion pesos (some $10 billion dollars) that they will receive in 2011.
The war (which was lost from the moment it was conceived, not as a solution to an insecurity problem, but rather a problem of questionable legitimacy) is destroying the last redoubt that the Nation had: the social fabric.
What better war for the United States than one that grants it profits, territory, and political and military control without the uncomfortable body bags and cripples that arrived, before, from Vietnam and now from Iraq and Afghanistan?
Wikileaks’ revelations about high-ranking US officials’ opinions about the ‘deficiencies’ in the Mexican repressive apparatus (its ineffectiveness and its complicity with organized crime) are not new.  Not only amongst the people, but also in the highest circles of government and Power in Mexico, this is a certainty.  The joke that it is an unequal war because organized crime is organized and the Mexican government is disorganized is a gloomy truth.
What exists is an imposition, by the force of weapons, of fear as a collective image, of uncertainty and vulnerability as mirrors in which those collectives are reflected.
What social relationships can be maintained or woven if fear is the dominant image with which a social group can identify itself, if the sense of community is broken by the cry ‘Save yourself if you can'?
The results of this war won't only be thousands of dead…and juicy economic gains.
Also, and above all, it will result in a nation destroyed, depopulated, and irreversibly broken.
[…]
Alright, Don Luis.  Cheers, and let critical reflection inspire new steps.
To date, the letter has been circulated on Twitter via links provided by @burgerchrist and a host of others. It has been reproduced in full on blogs including My Word is my Weapon –which is maintained by Bricker– Censored News, The Speed of Dreams and el Kilombo.
The blog post that has generated the most commentary – some of it heated, even hateful – can be found on blog del Narco [es], which excerpts a few passages from the letter and provides links for key terms. The 946 comments (as of 26/02/2011) make for difficult, sometimes chilling reading (one instance among others is a response posted by nuek [es]). Others, like that of Rvillareal [es], are more simply pragmatic:
El hecho es que Calderon ha actuado de una forma pertinente.  La guerra es dura y el pais no lo es.  No estamos listos para una guerra como esta, simplemente ataco desprevenidamente.

author: Deborah Esch


text:
Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega Accepts Nomination to Run for Third Term · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mike reports that President Daniel Ortega was renominated as the presidential candidate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party: “Ortega's seventh campaign for the presidency is widely seen as unconstitutional and has been condemned by the Catholic Church and former Sandinistas. The Constitution prohibits both consecutive presidential reelection and a third presidential term.”

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Russia: Moscow Prosecutor’s Office Requests to Acknowledge LiveJournal As ‘Extremist’ Website · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

LJ user nb_licantrop posts copies of court request filed by Moscow district prosecutor's office in which the prosecutor asks to recognize LiveJournal as “extremist website” based on the title of nb_licantrop's personal blog title “Hail to the Russian Riot – Wise and Merciful.” If the court acknowledges it as extremist, providers would be obliged to block LiveJournal.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


text:
Sri Lanka: Two Fighter Planes Have Crashed · Global Voices
Rezwan

Two Kfir fighter jets of Sri Lankan Airforce have crashed. Indi.ca comments: “Wikipedia says that the SLAF had 12 Kfirs as of 2009, meaning that we just lost a significant percentage of our fleet.”

author: Rezwan


text:
Suriname: On Beauty  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Srananart's Blog republishes Wim de Pauws’ views on the true meaning of beauty.


text:
Yemen: Thousands Protest on Day of Wrath  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Thousands of protesters are marching across Yemen today, Tuesday, in a Day of Wrath to condemn Friday's attacks on protests in Aden, and to call for the end of the Ali Abdullah Saleh regime. According to Amnesty International, clashes on Friday claimed the lives of four Yemenis, and left 26 wounded.
Saleh's call for national dialogue to end protests that have been taking place for weeks have been snubbed by the opposition, who only want him and his regime out of power.
In the capital Sana'a, protests by both anti and pro-Saleh groups took place, while Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, accused both Israel and the US for standing behind the current wave of protests across the Arab world.
On Twitter, the world continues to watch and react to developments in Yemen. Following are some reactions from Yemenis and tweeple paying close attention to developments on the ground:
@Dima_Khatib: #Yemen government says will form a national unity government within 24hours. Opposition says: no thank you. We want to overthrow regime!
@Dima_Khatib: Opposition parties in #Yemen rejected government's offer to dialogue (at last) and now want a revolution with the people !!!
@steveturtle: #Yemen's Saleh accuses Israel and US of fomenting revolts. Clearly he hasn't been listening to Gadaffi. He knows its all Al-Qaeda and drugs
@Sareh1357: That's funny! “AJA: Yemeni president #Saleh: What's happening in the Arab world right now is being orchestrated by Tel Aviv & White House.”
@lars_akerhaug: Ok, mr. Saleh, lay off the red pills. One madman is enough.
tsolami notes (Ar):
And gadelkareem (Ar) adds:
Meanwhile, massive protests are continuing across Yemen.
Al7anote tweets (Ar):
Rasdyemen adds (Ar):
@al3ini: Pix for the day of wrath protest at the change square in #Sanaa #Yemen #Aden #Taiz http://yfrog.com/h0mqwoxj http://yfrog.com/h8xisanj
@MacroAnt: Massive Anti-regime Protest Underway In Yemen Capital
South_Arabia notes (Ar):
@lalkilani: Pro-Saleh demonstrators heading from Tahrir towards Saylah…where are they going? #Yemen #Sanaa
@alnitak250: Helicopter now circling very low over Sana'a as protesters are streaming to the streets #Yemen #YF
South_Arabia tweets (Ar):
@AkramAlodini: government protester @ Hayel Saeed Street #yemen http://twitpic.com/44xz75
@AkramAlodini: anti government protester @ change square #yemen http://twitpic.com/44xycu
South_Arabia says [ar]
@AlaaIsam: URGENT: the Security Director of Radfan district (name: Haidrah) been killed by army now #Lahj #South #Security #Yemen
@bithack3r: #Yemen: “Libya has taken up our attention.. But in Yemen they we also trying to get rid of regime.” #ArabicEgo
@BobLaBricole: LIBYA……………..█████████░░░░ : In progress….. YEMEN……………█████████░░░░ : In progress…..
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Azerbaijan: Internet outages reported ahead of 11 March protests · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

SEMIÇKA – OLUBDUR, OLUR, OLACAQ… reports that residents of Sabirabad, an area which recently had protests dispersed by police, say that Internet connections have been restricted ahead of 11 March. The blog quotes an Azerbaijani opposition representative who alleges that the difficulties are related to the use of online social networking sites and are political.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Bahrain: Schools Break Out in Protest (Videos) · Global Voices
Yacoub Al-Slaise

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
A number of secondary (high) schools broke out into anti-government protests across Bahrain on Tuesday March 1. Both boys’ and girls’ schools in Isa Town, Hamad Town and Jidhafs marched out of their schools in the middle of the school day in support of protesters camping at Pearl (Lulu) Roundabout.
Schools in Isa Town headed towards the Ministry of Education demanding the resignation of the education minister and venting their anger on the volunteer teachers’ scheme put in place when teachers went on strike in support of the Pearl Roundabout protesters and the fallen martyrs.
@mShareeda i got them on video http://yfrog.us/5hc0wz in Isa Town High School!!!! #bahrain
*Click on hyperlink to view video
This video shows the names of the schools who joined the protest and marched towards the Ministry of Education gates. Uploaded by YouTube user MMulti2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ALC1Waz9M
Students in Hamad Town took to the streets carrying their school bags, calling for an end to political naturalization of foreign citizens of the right background, which is particularly evident in the towns where applications for government housing units have been fast-tracked in order to be given to nationalized Arabs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKiETTBTaFY
Uploaded by YouTube user AloOoOy93
Some tweeps expressed their frustration at the protesting students saying that they should focus on their studies rather than protesting.
@Teema_K What's the hell is going on n schools today!! Where's Ministry of education!! Till when the ignorance!! These teachers should be punished!
@Shirley_Riffa It is a teachers responsibility to guide students to live in peace and harmony and not to promote division in society
@RshRsho “Al Had AlZaher” (correct name: Al-Ahd Al-Zaher) students leaving school to protest! Who is responsible for this educational crime! #Bahrain http://bit.ly/dSutNB
Al-Ahd Al-Zaher Girls Secondary School students marching towards the Ministry of Education in Isa Town
At the same school, a 17-year old girl was allegedly caught in a fight with a school nurse. Pro-government website Peace Bahrain published images of the girl's bruises.
Image courtesy of Peace Bahrain website
Bruised nose of a student at Al-Ahd Al-Zaher Secondary Girls School fighting with the school's nurse who was protesting inside the school
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Yacoub Al-Slaise


text:
Bolivia: More Ways to Help Victims of Massive Mudslide · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Pablo Andrés Rivero [es] lists aid related information netizens can spread on social networks to help the victims of the massive mudslide that destroyed hundreds of homes in La Paz.


text:
Brazil: Communities in Rio Blame Olympics for Evictions · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

Communities in the West Zone (Zona Oeste) of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil have been earmarked for eviction and removal by the City Hall in preparation for the 2016 Olympics. Recently, at least two of them, ‘Vila Harmonia’ and ‘Vila Autódromo’, have witnessed the presence of tractors, government staff and police.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, prepares for to host the 2016 Olympics, but at what cost to local communities? Image by Flickr user JorgeBRAZIL (CC BY 2.0).
According to Brazilian citizen media, the removals are taking place forcibly and in many cases are illegal. Small businesses affected have not received any compensation and home owners are likely to get paid less money than their houses are worth.
On the top of that, the authorities have not complied with the Lei Orgânica do Município [pt] (municipal law) regulations, which state that communities should only be removed if people's lives are at risk.
A video on Youtube uploaded by RioOnWatch.org , a communal blog created by the non-government organization Catalytic Communities, explains the case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDEPEOErtpI&feature=autoplay&list=ULvnRra-NpS18&index=2&playnext=1
Consciência.net [pt] live-reported the eviction that took place in ‘Vila Harmonia” on February 24, 2011:
Neste momento, a guarda municipal impede que moradores saiam e entrem na comunidade, já que colocou um cordão de isolamento em frente a casa de um moradora, que fica no meio da localidade. Há notícias de que duas pessoas foram ilegalmente presas e não se sabe para onde foram levadas.
‘Burden’ Communities
People have also complained about the violence on social microblogging site Twitter:
@Branquela_nago
…Ontem moradores da #VILAHARMONIA no RECREIO estavam apreensivos, devido a ordem de despejo com direito a tropa de choque e tudo!…
@ddornellas
A SMH do @bittarpt vai se responsabilizar pelos danos causados a moradora removida que acaba de sofrer um AVC? #vilaharmonia
The issue has made the blog Movimento dos Trabalhadores Desempregados (Unemployed Workers Movement) [pt] wonder about the benefits of the 2016 Olympics:
Estranho que as comunidades mais antigas e mais pobres das regiões afetadas (como a área do Recreio, Barra e Jacarepaguá), ao invés de serem vistas como o alvo principal de possíveis benefícios desses projetos, são vistas apenas como “estorvo”, como obstáculos à especulação imobiliárias e à segregação urbana que tais projetos estimulam!
Neste momento mesmo, um imenso aparato da Prefeitura (guarda municipal e funcionários das secretarias de obras e habitação), do Estado (polícia militar e bombeiros) e da construtora Odebrecht (contratante da Transoeste e uma das principais beneficiárias dos contratos relacionados aos jogos) acabou de demolir uma casa na comunidade Vila Harmonia e avança agora sobre um terreiro de candomblé que ali existe há décadas.
It is weird that instead of being seen as a major target for the benefits [of the Olympic Game] the most traditional and poorest communities in those affected areas, such as Recreio, Barra and Jacarepaguá regions, are seen only as a ‘burden’, as an obstacle to the real estate speculation and urban segregation that such projects encourage!
At this very moment, massive force applied by the City Hall (municipal police and staff of the departments of engineering  work and of housing), by the state government (military police and firefighters) and by the construction company Odebrecht (contractors of the ‘Transoeste’ road project and a major beneficiary of the 2016 Olympics contracts), has just resulted in the demolition of a house in the community of ‘Vila Harmonia’ and they are now heading towards a candomblé [Afro-Brazilian religious] temple which has been there for decades.
Shaping the Olympic Legacy
Injunctions against the evictions in ‘Vila Harmonia’ were suspended last week and so was the injunction protecting the ‘Vila Autódromo’ community. As a consequence, a formal letter of complaint was sent to the Organization of the American States (OAS). The communities have been relying on public legal aid to avoid the eviction, but it seems that the legal battles have been lost.
The city planner and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Ronik [pt], suggests that rather than being removed, the ‘Vilas’ concerned should be urbanized:
(…) a Justiça autoriza as remoções, sem compromisso com uma solução habitacional que respeite o direito à moradia adequada da população que será atingida.
Desde os Jogos Panamericanos a comunidade da Vila Autódromo vem resistindo às ameaças de remoção. O fato é que ela está localizada na área onde será implantado o projeto olímpico, assim como ações de urbanização e reestruturação imobiliária. Para os interesses empresarias envolvidos na construção e remodelamento da região, as comunidades precisam ser removidas porque elas representam um empecilho à “limpeza” da área.
(…) The Tribunal authorizes the removal without taking into account a housing solution for the given population who has the right to adequate homes.
Since the Pan American Games (2007), the community of ‘Vila Autódromo’ has resisted the eviction threats. The point is that they are located in an area where the Olympic project will be implemented, as well as urbanization and real estate restructuring works. For the business interests involved with the development and region re-shape, the communities need to be removed because they are a barrier to the “cleanliness” of the area.
The reason behind the evictions and removal of Vila Harmonia and Vila Autódromo is an infrastructural project called ‘Transoeste’ [pt], which will account for 56 kilometers of road extension and a new bus service worth R$ 800 million (approximately US$480 million).
Ironically, the Transparência Olímpica [pt] website set up by Rio City Hall to monitor the expenditure and legacy of the Olympic Games boasts of the Transoeste project leaving an excellent social and economical legacy. But these communities facing eviction and removal have an altogether different perspective.
The social movement Mundo Real (Real World) criticizes sports mega-events in a whole:
Mega-events like the Olympics always involve displacements, evictions and gentrification, sometimes on a massive scale. This occurs as cities attempt to remove of all visible signs of poverty (or anything else deemed ugly) from areas in and around the event venues, hotels and tourist attractions. Fifa and the IOC hold host cities highly accountable in guaranteeing adequate transportation and hotel infrastructure, as well as security. In cities like Rio this translates to massive forced evictions and shipping thousands of poor families and the homeless off to far removed areas. According to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) The Olympic Games alone have displaced more than two million people in the last 20 years, mostly the homeless, the poor and minorities.

author: Thiana Biondo


text:
Brazil: Outrage of Brazilian Woman Deported from Spain · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

The deportation from Spain early this year of Brazilian holidaymaker Denise Severo, a 34-year-old university researcher, has once again raised the issue of immigration between the two countries.
Severo has written an open letter about her experience which has been widely disseminated by various bloggers, and prompted many reactions to her treatment by Spanish immigration authorities.
- "And what are  the  requirements to enter in your country?" -"Article one: Not to be a Brazilian." Cartoon by Amarildo, used with permission.
“Pure Prejudice”
Rogério Tomaz  Jr., from the blog Conexão Brasília-Maranhão reproduced [pt] Severo's open letter, published on  January  30, 2011, in which she explains what happened:
Acho que muitos de vocês sabiam   que eu estava saindo de  férias junto  com minha amiga Gracinha para a   Espanha. Pois bem,  planejamos tudo,  compramos passagem, reservamos hotel   e tudo mais.  Porém, fomos em  vôos separados. Depois de 15 horas de   viagem EU fui  INJUSTAMENTE  DEPORTADA pela imigração da Espanha! Fiquei   15 horas  PRESA numa sala  da polícia federal sendo tratada como   criminosa! Sem  direito à  telefonema, sem nenhuma informação sobre os   motivos pelo  qual estava  detida e somente depois de 7 horas tive contato   com um  advogado e uma  tradutora. Fui revistada fisicamente e  revistaram  e  retiveram minha  bolsa e minha bagagem de mão, tudo isso  antes de ter   um advogado.  Eles arbitrariamente decidiram que eu não  entraria naquele   país e  fizeram de tudo para arranjar algo para me  deportar.
Denise  says  that while  being held without the right to an attorney, she shared  a  room  with  other detainees, all black or Latino, which she saw as a clear show of prejudice and xenophobia:
Havia cerca de 10 pessoas  presas  nesta situação e todas  elas eram  latinas e/ou negros da  África!!!  Ou  seja, é XENOFOBIA  PURA!!!! Mas  XENOFOBIA CONTRA LATINOS E  NEGROS!!!!  PURO PRECONCEITO!!!
Blogger Tomaz Jr., commented  on  the  difference in the way Brazilians treat tourists compared to Severo's experience in Spain:
Daqui a três anos o Brasil receberá muitos espanhóis que  irão   acompanhar a “Fúria” na Copa do Mundo. Como fazemos com todos os  povos   que nos visitam, iremos tratá-los muito bem, com hospitalidade e    cordialidade. Mas é bom que o mundo saiba como a Espanha trata os    visitantes de outros países que chegam para conhecer a terra de Miguel    de Cervantes
Isolated Incident?
- "Now, for a Spanish to enter Brazil, among all documentation, we demand that he knows how to dance samba." Cartoon by Lute, used with permission.
The  Spanish ambassador to Brazil, Carlos  Alonso  Zaldivar, has spoken about the  case, stating  that [pt], “An isolated incident cannot give  rise  to classify Spain as racist or  say  that  we  pursue the Brazilians at our airports.”
He added, giving  the  reasons  for  the deportation of Denise Severo:
O primeiro é que a sra. Severo, apesar da sua boa  vontade, não dispunha  de alguns dos documentos ou comprovantes  necessários.
Segundo, porque não se usou adequadamente o mecanismo previsto para   esses casos, mediante a intervenção do Consulado-Geral do Brasil em   Madri.
Despite Severo having proof  –  in the name of her friend – of a hotel  booking and her Spanish police-appointed lawyer calling to confirm the reservation, and her being in possession of a TravelMoney card from the Banco do Brasil [Bank  of  Brazil], Ambassador Zaldivar stated [pt] that Denise did not have all  the documents necessary to enter the country.
Simone Severo, Denise's sister, also published [pt] an open letter attacking the Spanish government, here reproduced by Blog do Nassif:
O Brasil devia exigir que  a Espanha peca desculpas a Denise Severo e a todos os outros cidadaos  que foram inescrupulosamente acusados de mentirosos e foram  desrespeitados em seus direitos humanos.Eh preciso discutir, sim,  eh preciso questionar, e porque nao dizer EXIGIR que o governo nos  defenda. Afinal, nao eh para isso que se vota? Para que todos tenhamos  os mesmos direitos e para que o pais nos defenda e olhe por nos?
O Brasil levou 50 anos  lutando por democracia, por seu espaco no mundo e para ter voz. Que esta  voz nao se cale, que ninguem baixe a cabeca, porque ninguem tem direito  de  brincar de policia e ladrao com a vida alheia do cidadao de bem,  muito menos para escolher quem eh bandido.
Espanha: desculpe-se!
Brasil: mostra tua cara!
Brazil  should  demand  that  Spain  apologize to Denise Severo and all  other  citizens  who  have  been unscrupulously accused of lying and  had their  human rights trampled upon. One has to argue, question, and  why  not, DEMAND that the [Brazilian] government defend us. After all, is it not  what we  vote for? For all to have the same  rights  and for our country to defend us and look  after us?
Brazil fought 50 years for its democracy, for its  space  in  the world and to have a voice; that  this  voice may not be silent, that no one need lower their head, because  nobody  has the right to play cops and robbers with  the  life  of another citizen,  much  less to choose who is a criminal.
Spain: apologize!
Brazil: show  your  face!
Denise Severo has answered Ambassador Zaldivar [pt] in a post reproduced by the blog Vi o Mundo (Saw the world) [pt], commenting  on the way she was treated, the humiliation of being  escorted as  a  criminal in a armored car to the plane, and of being held  captive for 15 hours – 7 of which without any outside contact. She finished by asking if Spain respects human  rights:
Evidentemente que todas as nações são soberanas para decidir quem entra  ou não entra em seus territórios, mas os direitos humanos precisam ser  garantidos.
[…]
Excelentíssimo Sr. Embaixador, gostaria de saber se tais atos refletem a  garantia dos direitos humanos pela Espanha? Gostaria de saber se a  Espanha concorda e avaliza tais atos da Polícia?
[…]
Por fim, uma pergunta não cala: será coincidência do acaso o fato de  somente estar detidos latino-american@s e/ou negr@s?
Obviously, all  nations decide who does or does not enter into  their  territory, but  human  rights must be guaranteed.
[…]
Dear Mr Ambassador, I wonder  if these acts reflect the guarantee  of  human  rights by Spain? I wonder if Spain  agrees  and  endorses  such  acts by the police?
[…]
Finally, a persistent question: is it just a coincidence that only Latin  American and/or  blacks were detained?
She also  spoke  about  the  various concerns raised by the Ambassador, rebutting – point  by point – the arguments that she was to blame for  the treatment she had received.
The practice of  deporting Brazilians from Spain is  not uncommon [pt]. In 2009, one out of every five  foreigners  deported from the country was  a  Brazilian  (21% of the total), and in  2008 the percentage was 23%. In  February 2008, Brazil determined a policy  of  reciprocity given the large number of  Brazilians  deported  without justification  by  the  Spanish  government.
At the time, former Brazilian President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva declared [pt]:
Domingo termina a eleição e no início da semana eu espero ter um a  explicação do que houve. Isso pode ser coisa dos partidos conservadores  que, se pudessem, não deixavam pobres de outros países entrarem na  Espanha.
Marcos dos Santos, a Brazilian deported in 2008, declared [pt]:
Fomos tratados praticamente como animais, sem saber porque estava  acontecendo aquilo com a gente
It  remains unclear whether Spain will  return  to  the  practice of mass expulsion of Brazilians, or  whether  Brazil will respond, like last time this issue arose.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


text:
Cameroon: The Will for Change, Interview with Kah Walla (Audio) · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This page is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011.
Since the beginning of February it was rumoured on the internet that Cameroon would launch it's own Egypt-inspired protests on February 23, 2011. Once the Egyptian president fell, the call for demonstrations spread even more rapidly.
Among those who relayed and responded to the call, was Ms. Kah Walla, a candidate in the upcoming presidential election in Cameroon in October 2011. She is the founder of Cameroon Ô Bosso (Cameroon Let's Go), a civil society organisation that supports free and fair elections in the country.
Cameroon's President Paul Biya, has been in power for 28 years and is running for re-election later this year. His Special Intervention Brigade crushed the protest with force.
Kah Walla was among the protesters in the capital city Douala who were beaten on February 23.
Around 300 protesters showed up initially, but most fled when police began arresting people before they even got started. In the end they were less than 50 people.
At the end of this video of a protester's beating uploaded to YouTube by le cameroun libre, she can be seen facing a water cannon with her arms raised high.
The sequence of events that led to this confrontation is shown in this video uploaded by Cameroon Ô Bosso on YouTube. Protesters wore red shirts, and formed human chains at a busy intersection blocking traffic.
An email Kah Walla wrote about the events of the day was posted by Mougoué Mathias, a Cameroonian living in Milan, on a Facebook group called THE LARGEST CAMEROONIAN GROUP ON FACEBOOK!!
She writes:
Finally a big boss in civilian clothes shows up. He wants to “teach me a lesson” as he said. He asks that I be put on the median in the middle of the street. Then he turned the entire water cannon truck on for my personal benefit. Note my two fists up in a victory symbol under the water cannon. That’s the lesson I learnt. The power is within us. No amount of violence and hysteria can remove it.
The icing on the cake is that as we choked and burned from the chemicals on the water, they then asked us to climb onto their truck. As we climbed up, with our backs turned, they hit us with their clubs. The only feeling I had was sadness that those whom you and I’s taxes pay to protect us show such extreme cowardice and meanness. After climbing onto the truck they let us catch our breaths then set us free. What was the point of climbing onto the truck? Just so they could beat our backs? Sad.
Military was deployed in different parts of Douala. Photos appeared on Mboa Blog [fr] a Cameroonian web portal.
Kah Walla
Interview with Kah Walla
In the following interview, Kah Walla shares her thoughts on the political and social situation in Cameroon, and the possibility for an “Egypt Like” revolution. She says the protests that began on February 23 are the beginning of a political process which is headed in the right direction:
Although she thinks that Cameroonians have entered a new “process” the female politician doesn't think that the time for an “Egypt Like” revolution has come. Her movement mainly wanted to show through this action that people should and can demonstrate in spite of “huge repressive force”:
Africanews website also reports that other political figures were arrested, like Member of Parliament Jean Michel Nintcheu, Deputy of Douala.
Kah Walla further explains that she and her organisation are not calling for Paul Biya, President of Cameroon since 1982, to step down; but that they wish to foster a “systemic change” in the country:
According to the presidential candidate, in spite of the violence endured, in spite of arrests, many Cameroonians are more determined than ever to put an end to this system:
This page is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011.

author: Julie Owono


text:
Chile: Taking Stock a Year After the Earthquake · Global Voices
Paulina Aguilera Muñoz

Last weekend marked the first anniversary of the earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale which hit Chile in the early hours of February 27th 2010, and prompted many to take stock on the country's social networks. The earthquake left more than 500 dead, around 220,000 homes destroyed and more than 30,000 million dollars in financial losses[es]. Thousands of people are still living in emergency housing and have been unable to overcome the trauma suffered. Many protest that the process of reconstruction is moving too slowly, with controversial accusations levelled at the current government and ex-President Michelle Bachelet who faces a legal inquiry [es] for prematurely dismissing the possibility of a tsunami.
The subject has been analysed on the social networks, with the focus varying from criticisms [es] of the slow pace of the reconstruction, to protests [es], memories, commemorations, vigils, and eyewitness accounts tagged #iwasthere [es].
"Houses and buildings may crumble, but our strength to help our families, friends and brothers will remain." Image from Flickr user Play, used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Mapuexpress [es] takes a look back and says:
La perdida de Vidas Humanas, el quiebre de un sistema y  modelo  considerado desarrollado, moderno, que sin embargo, dejó al  desnudo las  carencias frente a una catástrofe y sus impactos.
Roberto Arancibia from El Mundo Sigue Ahí [es] offers this analysis:
Un año después, y la esperada reconstrucción avanza demasiado lento. Un año después, muchas familias siguen viviendo en aldeas y campamentos de emergencia, y se disponen ahora a pasar ahí su segundo invierno. Un año después, y muchas familias todavía son víctimas del terremoto. Vaya para ellos toda mi solidaridad.
Un año después, ¿habremos aprendido algo?
The Chilean actor Felipe Viel (@felipeviel), who lives outside of Chile, posted an example of the messages [es] of support which are appearing on the Internet:
Hoy recordamos a todas las victimas del terremoto de Chile. Fuerza a todas sus familias .Un fuerte abrazo
Meanwhile, the Twitter user @elquenoaporta expresses a critical summary of the commemorations in three tweets (1, 2, 3):
1. Todos esperando la hora como si fuera año nuevo. Mal.
2. Una fecha que debería unir, separa más que nunca. Mal.
3. Ni se ha hecho todo, como dice un lado, ni nada, como dice otro. El blanco y negro acá no va. Mal.
Reconstruction, protests and reactions
The inhabitants of the city of Concepción have accused the government of being too slow in the process of reconstruction. They assure that the promised funds have not been delivered, and they say that the regional authorities show “little concern” for the inhabitants of the region.
The “National Movement for Fair Reconstruction,” [es] which groups together around 25 citizens’ associations from the Metropolitan Region –the capital– to the region of Biobío, called on the hoisting of black flags to symbolise “A year without reconstruction.” The movement bases its demand on behalf of citizens on three points [es]: “Construction of decent housing, with quality and participation; Reconstruction of public services such as schools, clinics and hospitals and Rejection of privatisation and speculation, especially in the coastal region and in historical districts.”
The following video shows representatives of different organizations voicing their concerns about the reconstruction process:
Black flags and balloons have been a constant feature of the protests. Inhabitants of Constitución, one of the areas worst affected by the earthquake, protested [es] while President Sebastián Piñera was making a speech at one of the official ceremonies commemorating the earthquake on February 27.
Protest "a year without reconstruction" in Concepción. Image from Flickr user Annais Ferreira, used under licence number CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Ximena Jara in El Quinto Poder [es] condemns “the government, who to put it lightly, have come off pretty badly” following various hearings carried out by the Government's Finance Office [es]. Ximena writes:
Dan deseos de invitar a todos a desplegar un esfuerzo  mancomunado por  mejorar nuestra capacidad de generar respuestas  adecuadas en caso de  una catástrofe. Es éste un problema que no conoce  de ubicación  geográfica, condición social ni menos, de color político.  Cualquiera de  nosotros puede ser víctima de una desgracia como un  terremoto, un  tsunami, una inundación un incendio.
Cualquiera de nosotros merece  estar amparado por un sistema idóneo y  moderno de manejo de crisis, de  comunicación, de ayuda, rescate,  albergue y asistencia médica. Enfrentemos  entre todos este desafío y  tengamos un poco de humildad. La soberbia,  en esto como en casi todo lo  demás es una mala consejera.
It makes you want to invite everyone to mount a united effort to improve our capacity to generate adequate responses to catastrophes. This is a problem which is not limited to a single geographical region, nor a single social or political class. Any one of us could fall victim to a misfortune such as an earthquake, a tsunami, a flood or a fire.
Every one of us deserves to be protected by an adequate, modern crisis management system, comprising communication, search and rescue, shelter and medical assistance. We must confront this challenge together with a bit of humility. Arrogance, in this as in almost everything, always produces bad advice.
The government was accused in social networks of photomontage [es] in its attempt to show the progress of reconstruction after the earthquake with images which turned out to have been taken prior to the day of the earthquake, February 27, 2010. Users of social networks, such as Alejandro Vega [es], quickly claimed to have seen these images previously. EnRuta [es] accuses:
Y ya vamos a cumplir un año de la peor calamidad que he  visto. Me refiero a la calamidad humana, al terremoto de  ladrones y  saqueadores, además de toda la parafernalia utilizada por las   autoridades y la prensa. Acabo de ver las fotos falsas de los supuestos   arreglos y mejoras hechos por el Gobierno en el año post terremoto y   pienso en el montaje que se viene este fin de semana en la VII y VIII   Región: Cobquecura, Constitución, Talcahuano, Iloca…
La Estrella de la Segunda Independencia [es] comments:
La catástrofe dejó en muchos compatriotas una experiencia  indeleble. Y  nos dejó a todos una lección: el hombre está primero. Su  vida está  primero. Su dignidad está primero. En esos minutos que  temblaba, para todos lo más importante fueron sus  hijos, sus padres, la  familia. Lo principal fue, a pesar del miedo, la  preocupación por el  otro. Aquello, lo básico, que nos hace hombres, y no  animales.
Ese es el origen de la dignidad, lo que orientó las acciones   posteriores al terremoto. A pesar de años y años en los que se procuró   la destrucción y la fragmentación de las organizaciones sociales,   volvieron a surgir los líderes auténticos, honestos, en el seno del   pueblo. A pesar de  la destrucción, se crearon casas de la unidad y  centros de reunión. A  pesar del abatimiento y la desesperanza, mujeres y  hombres sencillos,  trabajadores, levantaron la bandera de las ruinas y  del barro.  Levantaron la patria nuevamente.
The catastrophe has left an indelible mark on many of our compatriots. And it taught us all a lesson: people come first. Life comes first. Dignity comes first. In those moments when the earth trembled, the first thought on every person's mind was for their children, parents, family. The main thing was, in spite of the fear, worry for others. That basic thing is what makes us humans, not animals.
That is the origin of dignity, which characterised the actions following the earthquake. In spite of years and years attempting the destruction and fragmentation of social organisations, true, honest leaders began to re-emerge from the heart of the people. In spite of the destruction, houses of unity and meeting centres were set up. In spite of dejection and despair, simple men and women, workers, raised the flag from the ruins and the mud. They lifted the country back onto its feet again.
Marcos Canalez Nuñez (@MarcosCanales) also displays a feeling of pride for his country:
Que puedo decir? Es un orgullo ser y sentirme Chileno, porque #YoEstuveAhiun #27F 2010 a las 3:34. Yo sé lo que se siente.. #VIVACHILE
Finally, Rocio Rivera Elorza (@rrelorza) draws February 27 to a close saying:
Y así pasó un año del #27F… me siento feliz porque pude aportar con ayuda post terremoto, pero repitamos: QUEDA MUCHO! y es tarea de TODOS

author: Paulina Aguilera Muñoz


text:
China: A Deadly Train Trip · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Ministry of Tofu translated an online appeal letter written by the parent of a male student, Zhao Wei, who died in his train trip back home. His parent believed that he was beaten to death during the trip and threw down from a building Daqing, Heilongjiang Province.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Cuba: An Unnecessary Death  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It is not about ideology. It is a matter of humanity. The government of Cuba would gain credibility if, at one year after the death of Zapata, they would apologize publicly.  Out of respect and decency they owe it to his mother, so shamefully harassed”: Iván's File Cabinet says that Zapata's death could have been avoided.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Cuba: Flamenco Dancing  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times interviews Danny Villalonga, “one of the most applauded male figures of flamenco in Cuba.”


text:
Cuba: Independence or Authoritariansim? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y observes the preparations for a military parade, calling it “the choreography of authoritarianism.”


text:
Equal Representation And Nepali Beauty Pageants · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Blogger Nepali comments on the mushrooming culture of caste and ethnicity based beauty pageants in Nepal and what this trend means for equal rights and representation.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


text:
Ghana: Vice-President in on Facebook · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Follow Ghana's Vice-President John Dramani Mahama is on Facebook.


text:
Kenya: Petitioning Nairobi City Council · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Initiative to stop Mombasa Road Accident in Kenya: “Kindly sign up and tweet on the petition Construct 5 pedestrian footbridges on Mombasa Road.”


text:
Kenya: Women, Action and the Media · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Women, Action & the Media –  WAM Nairobi is an event series happening next month in Nairobi, Kenya, where local journalists, foreign correspondents, students and advocates will talk about the intersection of gender and media.


text:
Lebanon: Web Documentary About Young Lebanese Artists · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

The Libalel Project [fr] highlights the diversity of contemporary Lebanese art through web documentary. Their blog publishes  analyses, biographies,   interviews, videos and photos: “The Lebanese scene is a true laboratory of artistic experimentation  attuned with a distinctive political context rich with deep questioning. The Libalel project endeavours to decipher this creative energy, bound with  issues of memory, history and  multiculturalism.”

author: Suzanne Lehn


text:
Libya: “Breaking News: Gaddafi is Lying” · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi spoke for more than three hours on state television Wednesday, March 2, denying that anti-government protesters and members of the military were mobilizing against his regime. Instead the dictator, who has been in power for four decades, blamed Islamic terror groups, foreign nations with colonial aspirations and the international media for creating stories about the Libya's descent into chaos.
“I dare you to find that peaceful protesters were killed,” he said. “In America, France, and everywhere, if people attacked military stores and tried to steal weapons, they will shoot them.”
Speaking to loyalists and members of the foreign press at a ceremony celebrating more than three decades of “people power,” Gaddafi covered a lot of ground during his speech, including: His disdain for the Egyptian revolution in February; his anger at international media for not covering pro-government demonstrations; and the fact fleeing foreigners will create more jobs for Libyans.
Gaddafi spent much time tying the country's upheaval to a foreign conspiracy — led by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — to grab Libya's oil and enslave the country. He also told the crowd that thousands of people will die if foreign forces enter Libya.
On Twitter, people offered their commentary during the speech with a hint of ridicule that is now customary when Gaddafi speaks.
@Dima_Khatib:
Gaddafi is speaking to a crowd of mainly men, seated inside a hall. Foreign press is there. #libya #feb17
@Dima_Khatib: Signal on Libyan State TV is back but Gaddafi's voice was heard intermittently earlier, sounding more like a techno song !! #libya #feb17
@ChangeInLibya:  Whoever is responsible for jamming gaddafi is an absolute GENIUS. #libya #feb17
@JustAmira: Are all of Gaddafi's cheerleaders on drugs?
@mosaaberizing: I can understand hiring mercenaries to fight, but bringing them in to attend his speech and clap at intervals is a new touch. #GaddafiSpeech
@ChangeInLibya:
Hahahahaha, Aljazeera Arabic get bored yet AGAIN and cut off gaddafi's speech #libya #feb17
@Dima_Khatib:
During Gaddafi's speech a man in Benghazi is holding a sign that reads: “Breaking News – Gaddafi is lying” !! #libya #feb17
@hudduh:
Loving Benghazi's people. On split screen you can see them writing instant response posters to his nonsense #feb17 #Libya #Gaddaficrimes
“Breaking News: Gaddafi is Lying,” from Libyan Youth Movement's Facebook page.
@JustAmira: How many more speeches Gaddafi? We believe u: there are no protests. No one died. Move on
@Dima_Khatib:
Looking at faces of men attending Gaddafi's speech, I would say they look more bored than I am ! Some look half-asleep #libya #feb17
Even with a few technical difficulties, many people quoted parts of the speech directly:
@NicRobertsonCNN:#Gadhafi said anyone who opens door to aid to #Libya will be accused of treason — he said we have enough food and supplies.
@SultanAlQassemi:
Gaddafi: Italy didn't thank us for defending its embassy. We will bring Indian & Chinese firms to replace the Western companies in #Libya
@NicRobertsonCNN: #Gadhafi threatened attacks on US 6th Fleet and warned there will be no peace in the Mediterranean if there is no peace in #Libya.
@EyesOnAlgeria:
Qaddafi's metaphor : “If a rat comes into your cave, the best way to fight him is to burn the whole cave down” #Libya
@SultanAlQassemi:
Gaddafi: There is no more unemployment in #Libya after the Egyptians & Tunisians left
@SultanAlQassemi:
Al Jazeera showing images of Libyans holding their shoes up to Gaddafi
@SultanAlQassemi: Gaddafi: In Libya there are no political prisoners, not one. Because politics belongs to the people, we want people to take authority
@Dima_Khatib: Gaddafi explains why Arab media is not telling truth about #Libya by saying Arabs envy Libyan people because of oil and vast area #feb17
@SultanAlQassemi:  Gaddafi: They took over dangerous arms so the military started bombarding the weapons depots so the terrorists don't take them over
@Dima_Khatib: Gaddafi : Obama is not a yankee and adventurer like Bush & Clinton #libya #feb17 #obama
@ShababLibya:
Gaddafi: i was told Cameron froze the Libyan assets, I put 2 fingers in his eyes, it is not mine, they belong to Libyan banks #Libya #Feb17
@SultanAlQassemi:On Al Arabiya now. Gaddafi: I am ready to sit with any Emir (leader) from Al Qaeda & debate with him
@SultanAlQassemi:  Gaddafi: Men, women, children all over Libya went out to demonstrate for me, the TV stations didn't cover them, we have it all on tape.
After Gaddafi finished speaking, a few tweeps provided their impressions:
@TrablesVoice: too much air activity in tajoura area, also Pro-Qaddafi are outside with cars and horns celebrating their Leader.
@JustAmira: After listening to Gaddafi talk, wondering how all international media managed to convince us that anyone at all would want him out
@ToneyBrooks:
#Gaddafi is positively Nero-esque this morning. Rambling incoherently for over 2 hours while he bombs and burns his people.
@Dima_Khatib: Gaddafi deserves every condemnation possible. But how many like him and worse than him deserve it too for massacres they committed? #libya
@libi4ever: I will miss u Qadffi, no 1 can lie like u, no1 can make laugh loudly like u #libya #17feb

author: John Liebhardt


text:
Mexico: ACTA Public Hearings Kick Off  · Global Voices
Geraldine Juarez

The controversial Anti-Counterfeit Commercial Agreement –widely known as ACTA–  is currently under discussion in the Mexican Senate in response to opposition from civil society to the way the treaty's negotiation process is being conducted.
ACTA in México
Blogs are publishing stories about ACTA from different perspectives. Conrado Romo [es], a blogger at Critica Pura, writes:
ACTA es más que un simple tratado, es más que una  discusión sobre piratería y propiedad intelectual, es más que un tema  centrado en la industria y los derechos de los usuarios de Internet,  ACTA (no como tratado, sino como fenómeno) es la lucha entre dos modelos  de civilización, uno que se está gestando y otro que está muriendo.
Rodrigo Camarena in the Nexos blog [es] points out:
Como varios han argumentado, la piratería en México  deriva en gran parte de la informalidad de nuestra economía, del alto  nivel de corrupción en el país, y por estas razones se debe de combatir  dentro de los ámbitos respectivos. La insuficiencia de los argumentos a  favor del ACTA nos obliga a preguntarnos: ¿Exactamente qué hace México  participando en estas negociaciones?
Public Hearings
The Mexican Senate created a legislative commission [es] last November whose main goal is to offer more transparency  regarding information about the treaty and the discussion, as well as  making sure the treaty is in accordance with fundamental and  constitutional rights. Before making a decision on whether to adopt or  reject ACTA in Mexico, the Senate is holding public hearings in order to hear the positions and arguments from different sectors of  civil society, lobbying groups, academics and Internet services  providers.
During the first session, the negotiation group led by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) revealed their reasons for joining ACTA. The complete video of the session is available on You Tube in Spanish.
A few weeks later, La Quadrature du Net released diplomatic cables related to ACTA with information about IMPI's petition to the United States to include Mexico in the negotiations.
Jenaro Villamil writes in  his blog:
A cambio de responder a la agenda norteamericana antipiratería, el gobierno mexicano pidió cooperación estadounidense, sobre todo en materia de asesoría en temas de patentes, tecnología y asesoría legal.
In light of this information, the second session of the ACTA working group was held in order to hear citizen's positions. It is important to mention that many of these citizens were involved in the #internetnecesario (necessary internet) movement that previously prevented a new tax on internet connection services.
Alejandro Pisanty [es] from Mexico's Internet Society was the first speaker:
La capacidad de la red para soportar culaquier invento o mecanismo de comunicacion y de transladar rapidamente los contenidos sin importar cual es su origen, han sido parte de la explosión creativa que caracteriza a internet [.] Internet es la mantra – literalmente –  de la innovación sin pedir permiso [.] que no puede ser detenida más que a un costo inaceptable para la sociedad.
Antonio Martínez from OpenACTA said [es]:
Discutir el contenido de ACTA ya no es la virtuosa opción que representaba hace unos meses porque una parte de las partes involucradas, es decir los negociadores  del ejecutivo, carecen de la legitimidad para hablar con los ciudadanos que han traicionado
Most of the people in the public meeting expressed their request to not sign the treaty.
The third session, held on February 23, featured academics and experts, intellectual property lawyers and lobbyist from the entertainment industry.
León Felipe Sánchez [es], an academic from the National University and Creative Commons México, told the Senators that they should not legitimize an illegal act from the executive power. Similarly, Juan Pablo Pampillo [es], from the renowned Escuela Libre de Derecho, recommended legislators to not subscribe to ACTA.
On the other hand, Jaime Campos [es] from the Association for the Protection of Film and Music considered it  necessary for Mexico to sign ACTA in order to protect the creators. In a similar fashion, lawyer Mauricio Jaliffe [es]  said that Mexico is not in a position to question the intellectual  property legislation and suggested that ACTA must be enforced to protect  author's rights in the country.
Professor Mariana Meneses [es] brought the attention to new models of microfunding and open licenses.
In the next session, to be held today, March 2, the telecommunications sector and corporate lobbying groups will present their positions towards the treaty. The agenda of the working group can be found here [es] and the Senate also set up this form [es] to receive comments about ACTA before making a decision.

author: Geraldine Juarez


text:
Nepal: Female Infanticide On The Rise · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bhumika Ghimire reports that there is an increased trend of killing or abondoning girl childs in Nepal.


text:
Pakistan: Visiting Bangladesh And The Sense Of Loss · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pakistani blogger Huma Imtiaz visits Bangladesh and shares her emotions: “we lost a beautiful city, and a wonderful nation with such rich culture and diversity, and we’ve left millions of people with a deep-rooted hatred for what happened to them at the hands of those wearing Pakistan Army uniforms – and for what?”


text:
Peru: ComparaYA Informs Voters About Candidate’s Proposals · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Juan Arellano at Globalizado [es] writes about ComparaYA [es], an online initiative by the Civil Transparency Association [es] to inform voters on candidate's proposals and their stance on issues. Voters can follow ComparaYA on Facebook and Twitter.


text:
Russia: New Crowd Sourcing Web Project Will Monitor Politician’s Promises · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Online activists from Yekaterinburg has launched DalSlovo.Ru (“Gave a Word .ru”), a new crowd sourcing portal that will report all promises made by politicians and check if these promises are fulfilled. So far, the service is available for federal and Yekaterinburg officials.


text:
Russia: Photographer Complains About Illegal Activities in Moscow Metro  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Photographer Alexei Vitvitskiy posted pictures of allegedly illegal activities in one of the central stations of Moscow metro “Komsomolskaya.” “Here they opened a market of illegal immigrants,” Vitvitskiy wrote. ” They sell drugs, fake documents (Russian passports are especially popular), diplomas, certificates, driver's licenses and offer courier services.”

author: Vadim Isakov


text:
Russia: Popular Social Platform Identified as Space for “Infringing Materials” · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

A recent report [ENG] by the Office of The U.S. Trade Representative identifies Vkontakte.ru, the most popular social platform in Russia, as facilitating “unauthorized access to allegedly infringing materials.”


text:
Russia: Social Network Initiative Draws Attention to Soldiers Killed in Army  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

New initiative of “The Right of Mother” foundation uses popular Russian social network Odnoklassniki.ru to feature the profiles of 30 young soldiers who were registered users of the network and who fell victims of hazing in Russian army, newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” reports [RUS].


text:
South Korea: Mapping Burial Grounds · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean net users have created a Google map listing where the culled cattle were buried. South Korean government dumped about a quarter of its herd on numerous spots throughout the country to slow down its worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. And worries grow that the animal blood and carcasses have already started polluting nearby ground water.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Political Financing  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Afra Raymond posts his third submission to the Commission of Enquiry into the CL Financial collapse, in which he questions political party financing.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: The Death Penalty Debate · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Rather than focus on trying to remove the perceived barriers to implementing the death penalty, the government should be focused on other things that don't need Opposition support for implementation”: KnowTnT.com blogs about the proposed re-institution of the death penalty.


text:
Tunisia: Refugee Crisis at the Libya Border · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
The border between Tunisia and Libya has seen a massive influx of refugees since the uprising in Libya began. The journey to the border is long and tough, and for most it doesn't end there. Huge crowds of thousands have been waiting for days in freezing cold weather to cross in to Tunisia. Up to 75,000 people have fled the violence in Libya to Tunisia, since February 20, and even more people are expected. The situation at the Libya-Tunisia border is at crisis point, says the UNHCR.
The IFRC have posted this video from Ras Jdir on March 1.
Many of the refugees who are trapped at the crossing point of Ras Jdir in Tunisia are Egyptians who lived in Libya. Their compatriots in Egypt have been following the events at the border closely.
Hani Mohammed (@palestinoo7) urges Egyptians to put pressure on the government to bring back home those who are still trapped at the Ras Jedir crossing point:
٧٥ الف مصري يستغيثون في منطقة العبور راس جدير ببنقردان تونس، الرجاءالإسراع في إيصال هذا النداء الى الحكومة المصرية، الوضع بدء يتفاقم هناك وهنالك خوف من وقوع أزمة إنسانية
Shady Al-Mahmoudi(@ShadyAlmahmoudi) tweets:
الانباء القادمه من الاصدقاء التونسيين..تتحدث عن كارثه انسانيه للمصريين الهاربين من القذافي في راس جدير الحدودية..والاعداد تفوق امكانياتهم
Wael Ghonim, an Egyptian protest leader, (@Ghonim) tweets:
Thanks Tunisian brothers and sisters for hosting your fellow Egyptians. You showed them more solidarity than our careless government!
Map of Libya, Tunisia, Egypt borders
Calls to come to the rescue of refugees in Ras Jdir have been spreading via social media, and campaigns to collect humanitarian aid have also been organised.
Hamdi Kadri(@hamdi_kadri) puts out a call for international NGOs to notice the situation:
Appel aux ONG du monde entier : la situation se dégrade sur les frontières tuniso-libyènne. Appel à l'aide.
HHassine(@HBHassine) tweets:
C'est le moment de faire preuve de solidarité, d'humanité et de responsabilité: à Ras Jdir,des milliers de gens ont besoin d'aide.Aidez-les!
Zied Mhirsi,(@zizoo), a Tunisian medical doctor who has volunteered to help those fleeing violence in Libya tweets:
On a surtout besoin de ressources humaines pour gerer ces milliers d'arrivant. Venez a Ras Jedir et donnez de votre temps.
He also praises the efforts of the Tunisian army:
L'armee tunisienne est en train de faire un super boulot. Les nations unies sont impressionnees.
Others, were concerned that the massive flow of refugees pay put Tunisia's interests at risk during a very fragile transition period since the President Ben Ali fled the country.
Mathieu von Rohr a Foreign Affairs Correspondent of DER SPEIGEL(@mathieuvonrohr) tweets:
refugee crisis in ras jdir is another threat to tunisia's stability – international help needed quickly.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


text:
Venezuela: 101 things to do in Caracas before you die · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mirelis Morales Tovar in Caracas Ciudad de la Furia [es] lists 101 things to do in the Venezuelan capital before you die. She also asks readers to add their own suggestions. Her list includes: admire the city from a cable car, ride a mototaxi, dance salsa at “El Maní es así,” visit the Museo Sacro (museum), and more.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Video: Impressive Urban Downhill Bike Races · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In the town of Valparaiso in Chile,  a downhill mountain bike competition has been taking place for the last 10 years; the Valparaíso Cerro Abajo cup. What makes it different from many other downhill races is the location: this race takes place in the city streets and sidewalks.
Here is a video showing a competitor doing a trial run before the actual race, zig-zagging through the streets guided by plastic lines and cheered by onlookers:
And it seems that not only dogs are  likely to walk into the cyclists’ path as can be seen in this next video where a person seems more interested in recording the race than in getting out of the way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiUja3r_EWU
And in this video, riders in quick succession are seen sorting the obstacles, racing down steps in sidewalks, riding onto walls and jumping off ramps:
But not only Chile has downhill races in urban areas: this next race, recorded through  helmet cam shows a course that crisscrosses a town in Sarajevo,  Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Or how about this one in the colonial city of Taxco, Mexico, that even goes through people's homes?
It's not all fun and games: in this race in Cuzco, Peru you can see some of the riders take spills and fall off their bikes:

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


text:
Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa censors Mideast protests · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Some African leaders do not want citizens to know what is happening in North Africa and Middle East: “As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha