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Popular YouTube channel documents what it is like to be black in Japan · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Fukuoka residents Ruth (L) and Grace (R). Screencap from “There's Life Beyond the White Supremacy Narrative” on Black in Japan official YouTube channel.
Popular YouTube channel and website The Black Experience Japan features interviews with dozens of black residents of Japan.
Launched in 2017 by Laranzo “Ranzo” Dacres, a Jamaican living in Japan, The Black Experience Japan interviews people from a wide variety of backgrounds, from a man who “found exactly what he needed in Japan” to Tsietsi Monare, a meteorologist and weather anchor for NHK, Japan's national broadcaster.
In this clip taken from one of our MFiles episodes, Tsietsi, a South African Meteorologist and Weatherman at NHK World Japan, shares his journey from South Africa to the Japanese news channel, with us.
FULL interview: https://t.co/yYbKrT6BIO@naomiosaka #nhk #日本@TsietsiMonare pic.twitter.com/nCOomRtAEy
— The Black Experience Japan (@theblackexjp) July 11, 2020
The website and YouTube channel got its start in 2017 following the launch of Ranzo's documentary “The Truth About Being Black in Japan“, in which he answers common questions he gets asked as he goes about daily life in Japan.
From that start, The Black Experience Japan continues on with a singular mission:
We still have a burning desire to share a plethora of experiences (and all things black in Japan) in an effort to paint a more accurate picture of life in Japan for the black individual.
The Black Experience Japan website also includes live podcast broadcasts, forums where members can share travel advice or generally discuss life in Japan, and a link to a mobile app with a directory of Black-owned businesses across Asia.
In this video, Fukuoka residents Ruth, from Kenya, and Grace, from Tanzania, talk about how they arrived in Japan, what it is like to work at a traditional Japanese-style pub or izakaya, mastering the Japanese language at a high level, and how Japan shows “there's life beyond a white-supremacy narrative.”


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The day Liberia shut down freedom of expression amid a mass protest · Global Voices
Mark Neywon Mengonfia

Protester poses for a photo under the banner “Save the State,” photo by Mark N. Mengonfia, June 7, 2019, Monrovia, Liberia, used with permission.
This article is part of UPROAR, a Small Media initiative that is urging governments to address digital rights challenges at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
An internet shutdown last year on the day of a major protest in Monrovia, Liberia, continues to generate tension between citizens and the government over the right to freedom of expression online.
On June 7, 2019, a  group of predominantly young people gathered in the capital Monrovia, under the slogan, “Save the State,” to protest against poor governance and make demands of President George Weah’s government to account for some missing $16 billion Liberian dollars — about $80,282,272 United States dollars.
Throughout the day of the much-publicized protest, the Liberian government disrupted access to social media services for hours.
Social media has taken over traditional forms of communication in Liberia since the late 2000s, and Facebook, in particular, has been an eye-opener to the world. A 2018 social media statistics in Liberia report showed that 10 percent of the country’s estimated 3.5 million citizens use social media, specifically Facebook, with men accounting for about 60 percent of users and women, about 40 percent. Youth between 25-34 years old accounted for 184,000 of these users.
These new opportunities for free expression across a wide range of online platforms have pushed the government to adopt measures to restrict users’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. According to critics, the Liberian government resorted to disrupting social media access on June 7, to prevent live protest coverage and the mobilization of protesters.
Fidel Saydee, a Liberian journalist and former manager of Roots FM, told Global Voices that the disruption prevented his radio from effectively covering the protests:
The action, which was condemned by a cross-section of the Liberian society, made it impossible for the services on our website, my tuner and other outlets to be broadcast.
At the time, Saydee was the co-host of the “Costa Show,” an online platform operated by Henry P. Costa, a strong critic of the Weah government and lead organizer of the June 7 protest. Saydee told Global Voices that their “listeners could not have a feel of the events.” He continued:
Onsite reporters could not file in live reports through our social media platform for onward transmission on air. On-air personalities were left to wander in oblivion as to what was happening outside of the studio.
Boakai Amara Kamara, who also works for Costa, described the action by the Liberian government as saddening, saying that it was “an act against freedom of speech.’’
The “Costa Show” was a provocative radio talk show that also streamed online via Facebook. The show — and the radio itself — have been known for their criticism of poor governance by administrations of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and her predecessor, current President George Manneh Weah.
Saydee said their live social media broadcast was disrupted many times whenever he and Costa started to speak on perceived ills in Liberian society. Saydee did not specify how many times their broadcast was disrupted. However, Roots FM was shut down by the government last year due to alleged licensing issues. The move was slammed by press freedom groups.
Others also decried the disruption of social media during the June 7 protest.
Some citizens told Global Voices they could not communicate with their relatives abroad via Facebook Messenger and other messaging and VoIP apps. Many also viewed the government’s decision as a total violation of their right to freedom of expression and information in keeping with international human rights instruments, as well as Article 15 (a) (b) and (c) of the 1986 constitution of Liberia, which speaks to freedom of speech, information and expressions.
Diana Teah, a resident of the Township of Johnsonville and a student of the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU), told Global Voices that the June 7 protest was very historic:
The government of Liberia, which is supposed to uphold freedom of speech, took on a very bad trend on that fateful day.
She described the disruption as an “embarrassment to the people of Liberia” and other nationals living in the West African nation:
Not only for us but the international observers, those who were present here that day, [they] were all embarrassed, maintaining that social media is one of the important places where we receive and give out information! I advise that the government of Liberia pays attention to the growth and development of our country that is dying rather than focusing on shutting down Facebook.
Other Liberians, however, defended the government’s decision to disrupt internet access, holding the view that it is the government’s prerogative to provide security. Alicemae Kwapo, a Liberian who currently resides in the United States, said the ‘’government was right, they performed their responsibility.’’
Via a Facebook Messenger interview, Kwapo indicated that shutting down social media services “on that day actually had far less impact on the people than the demonstration did. …The general public did not know the risk and reason for which the Liberian government acted the way it did during the protest day,’’ she added.
While the government did not provide a reason for the shutdown, intentional internet disruptions are considered a violation of international human rights standards.
Liberia, a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), should refrain from ordering such disruptions and take steps to ensure the rights of users to freely express themselves and access information online.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mark Neywon Mengonfia


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Anti-pandemic measures in their home countries deter EU tourists from visiting North Macedonia · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A beach in Ljubanishte, Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia on July 24, 2020. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC BY.
North Macedonia has opened its borders to tourists from the European Union (EU) and other European countries, but measures related to COVID-19 prevention are discouraging visitors from choosing the country as a travel destination.
A big factor is that some EU countries, Hungary for example, require their citizens returning from North Macedonia to spend two weeks in self-isolation upon arriving home. Germany requires travelers returning from 130 countries designated as risky to conduct mandatory diagnostic tests. These rules vary from country to country and the EU has set up a website Re-Open EU to keep track of them all.
North Macedonia has been praised by WHO for its high level of transparency in reporting COVID-19 cases. In a population of about two million, the country has recorded 10.617 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, with 480 deaths so far. In recent weeks, the number of new cases has ranged between 100–200 daily.
Tour operators bringing foreign tourists into North Macedonia must conform to local anti-pandemic regulations, starting with the requirement that buses must provide physical distancing for passengers, with a limit of 50 percent of bus seats occupied. So, each full tour bus coming from Poland, for example, must be met by an empty local bus right after crossing the border, and half of the passengers must transfer to the local bus to continue the journey. Renting extra vehicles increases the overall price of the arrangement, making it less appealing to tour operators.
So, unlike in previous years, most foreign tourists visiting the country's prime tourist destination—the Lake Ohrid area—are those whose main destination is Albania, which has been much more open to visitors, and which, consequently, has a better financial outlook this tourist season. Some EU visitors to the Albanian coastline, however, do make day trips into the scenic UNESCO-protected region in North Macedonia, including the old town of Ohrid and surrounding natural beauty spots.
Daniel Medaroski, a tourist guide with Experience Balkan, explains the current hardships:
Daniel Medaroski, tourist guide from Ohrid. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC BY.
“I work with an incoming agency and as an authorized tourist guide; I haven’t earned any money since New Year. I share these difficulties with about 5,000 people like me who are in this sector. This season is certainly over and we are focusing on 2021, but what shall we do till then? Lately, I have been trying to rent my boat on Lake Ohrid, but the domestic tourists cannot afford it, and I still hope that some individual travelers or smaller groups will come to Ohrid, so that I can be of service to them for touring the area or renting my boat. And I am very much sure that the travelers will remember the beauty of the Ohrid region and will go back to their countries with pleasant memories and revelations of new destinations.”
The country has instituted pandemic-related protocols to protect visitors and tourism workers. The beaches, which are mostly leased by private operators, must provide physical distance between sunbeds; bars and restaurants may sit only four persons at a table, and waiters and other workers all have to wear face masks and institute other prevention measures.
The Lake Ohrid area features a number of attractions, including some that are accessible only by boat, such as so-called “wild beaches” under the cliffs of the Galichica National Park.
The beachfront of Lake Ohrid, where waters touch the front yards of 19th-century homes at the core of the Old Town, which is crowned by a citadel dating from the early 11th century. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC BY.
Meanwhile, citizens of North Macedonia face closed borders, except with neighboring Albania and Serbia. They are not allowed to visit Greece or Montenegro, while in order to enter Bulgaria or Croatia, where the sea is much farther away, they must show negative results of recent PCR tests at the border. For Croatia, they also have to show proof of booking arrangements.
For that reason, the tourist sites get many domestic visitors, especially during the weekends, when cities empty and lakes or mountain resorts get somewhat overwhelmed with visitors and garbage (and where a local initiative is trying to counter the littering of Ohrid beaches through voluntary cleaning actions).
Domestic visitors often use their own weekend houses or low budget rented rooms instead of hotels, and, therefore, bring in much lower profits. They also buy fewer souvenirs, and are much less interested in guided tours explaining the cultural or other aspects of the country's heritage because most of them have already experienced the sights or feel they know all the information they might get from paid guides.
The real lifeline for the tourism industry in North Macedonia is foreign guests, but there's little chance they would arrive in force this year. This has become apparent in the other big tourist destination in the country—the capital, Skopje. Its old town, with a well preserved Ottoman Old Bazaar which in size is second only to Istanbul's in the Balkans, had been bustling with tourists in previous years. However, since the pandemic started, even after the curfews and travel restrictions had been lifted, shopkeepers have been having a difficult time making ends meet.
Since the pandemic, the Old Bazaar in Skopje has been receiving far fewer visitors than in previous years. Photo by Facebook page Ristorante Don Giovani-Skopje. Used with permission.
“We have been forced to pause work on Sundays, which before used to be one of our busiest days of the week. We also close much earlier, at around 6 or 7 p.m., instead of 10 p.m., because the bazaar is empty of people in the evenings,” says Xhemal Bajrami, manager of Don Giovani restaurant, located in one of the busiest streets in Skopje's old town.
Tourism workers protest in Skopje, North Macedonia, on July 29, 2020. The sign reads: “Only in this way in 2021 would you be able to travel, would we be able to work, and  would the state be able to charge taxes.” Photo by Julijana Daskalov. Used with permission.
While 2019 was on record the most successful year for tourism in North Macedonia, the official statistics from May this year indicate severe losses for the tourism industry.
Many companies have cash reserves that can last only through the summer, and have been warning that unless they get substantial support, layoffs will have to be made come September.
On July 29, tourism workers held a peaceful protest in the capital Skopje, demanding state aid, under the motto “tourism is on ventilators,” referring to the final stage of treatment of COVID-19 disease.
They called for state subsidies to pay their minimum salaries until the end of the year, as well as various forms of tax relief that would prevent the bankruptcy of these companies.
The caretaker government, which has been running the country since the elections that took place on July 15, provided some subsidies for tourism companies during the spring, including granting citizens receiving minimal salaries 50-euro vouchers. However, they haven't responded yet to the latest round of demands by tourism sector representatives.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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A city shackled: How Beijing’s security law transformed Hong Kong in one short month · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong police wave a purple banner warning of violations against national security law. Photo from Stand News, used with permission.
The original post was written by Jennifer Creery and published on the Hong Kong Free Press on August 1. The following edited version is published on Global Voices via a content partnership agreement.
Once a vague spectre, national security legislation became a reality in Hong Kong last month when, in less than six weeks, Beijing imposed a law granting authorities sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent.
Drafted behind closed doors without local legislative input, the law ostensibly targets acts in the city deemed a threat to state security, including terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, following months of sometimes violent democracy protests.
With broad, catch-all provisions that encompass acts committed abroad and charges punishable with up to life imprisonment, the law has sent shivers down the spines of activists who fear it will chip away at the territory’s treasured civil liberties.
The move was welcomed by the pro-Beijing camp as heralding the return of social “stability,” but activists and nongovernmental organizations have warned it will spell the end of One Country, Two Systems.
Within a fortnight, local authorities have outlawed select protest phrases and arrested activists for allegedly inciting secession. Critics warned of a “chilling effect” as foreign governments, such as Australia and New Zealand, suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong; former lawmaker Nathan Law fled to the UK and Downing Street created a “lifeboat” citizenship scheme for British National (Overseas) passport holders looking to emigrate from Hong Kong.
As some 7 million residents wake up to a radical shift in the city’s political order, HKFP rounds up some of the key developments in Hong Kong as the new legislation was rolled out.
Despite the newly-gazetted law and the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings, thousands took to the streets on Hong Kong Island on July 1. Under the new law, police made their first arrest of several individuals including those who carried Hong Kong independence signs. On the same day, police introduced a new purple flag warning crowds that they may have violated the security law.
Reverberating through shopping malls across the city, the chant “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times,” came to define last year’s protests.
Two days after the enactment of the security law, the government singled out that popular protest slogan as implying separatism; anyone found uttering or displaying it could be arrested, it warned.
Legal experts have questioned whether the ban is binding in nature. But police swiftly cautioned pro-democracy political group Tin Shui Wai Connection at a street stall and arrested a demonstrator for holding a placard featuring the forbidden slogan in Yuen Long on July 27.
Protesters have responded using creative workarounds, such as near-homonyms, a geometric typeface of the eight characters, or using initials of the romanised slogan. Some voiced their opposition by holding up blank signs, while others pasted blank Post-It notes on walls to mimic “Lennon Walls” – public display boards once filled with messages of support for the protest movement.
Days after the enactment of the law, at least nine pro-democracy titles disappeared from public library shelves, prompting fears over censorship.
Among the books removed for “review” included incumbent democrat Tanya Chan's “My Journeys for Food and Justice,” activist Joshua Wong’s coauthored “Unfree Speech,” as well as Horace Chin’s “On the Hong Kong City-State and Hong Kong State-survivors,” penned under the name Chin-Wan.
Hong Kong Education Secretary Kevin Yeung declared on July 7 that no one in schools should “hold any activities to express their political stance,” and teachers must not allow students to play, sing or broadcast the popular protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” on campuses.
Police with a warrant descended on the offices of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Institute (HKPORI) on the night of July 10 with the objective of seizing computers.
The raid over a suspected data leak coincided with the pollsters’ involvement in self-initiated democratic primaries to select candidates to run in September’s legislative election, which went ahead as planned the following weekend. Officers left without removing any electronic devices.
Taiwan’s top acting representative in Hong Kong Kao Ming-tsun left the city on July 16, after refusing to sign an affidavit of support for “One China” for his visa extension application.
“One China” is a diplomatic principle acknowledging only one Chinese government and Taiwan as part of China. Taiwan has been ruled by the Republic of China government since 1945 and considers itself to be an independent country.
Kao has been the acting top representative after the designated official Lu Chang-shui's visa application was left pending since 2018. Taiwanese officials have accused the Hong Kong government of imposing “additional political conditions” when processing visa renewals and applications since the enactment of the security law.
The New York Times suddenly revealed on July 14 it was to relocate its Hong Kong digital news team – equalling about a third of its staff – to Seoul, South Korea. It cited press freedom fears arising from the new legislation and unusual difficulties securing work permits, “rarely an issue” before, it added.
The paper said it would keep some of its correspondents in the territory to chart its morphing political landscape.
On July 29, police arrested four former members of the pro-independence group Studentlocalism, including ex-convenor Tony Chung, ex-spokesperson Ho Nok-hang, as well as ex-members Yanni Ho and Chan Wai-jin, on suspicion of inciting secession, in the first major roundup following an investigation under the security law.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, the department's Senior Superintendent Steve Li pointed to social media posts created after the law’s enactment that allegedly advocated the “joining of all pro-independence forces” to establish a “Hong Kong republic.”
Studentlocalism announced a day before the government gazetted the security law that it would shift all local operations overseas. Critics sounded the alarm over potential retroactive application of the law following the arrests.
Less than 24 hours after the student arrests, returning officers invalidated the nominations of a whopping 12 democratic candidates seeking to run in September’s legislative election.
The list included prominent activist Joshua Wong, long a thorn in the side of the government, as well as incumbent lawmakers Kwok Ka-ki, Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung, previously considered moderates. Others included district councillors Tiffany Yuen, Lester Shum and Fergus Leung, and newcomer Gwyneth Ho, a former journalist.
One of the reasons cited as grounds for disqualification was expressing opposition to the security law which, “in principle,” meant the candidate did not sincerely intend to uphold the Basic Law.
In an ominous statement, the government said it would not rule out the possibility of barring more candidates in the future. Wong on Friday warned authorities were attempting to scrub the legislature of opposition figures in order to maintain the pro-establishment camp’s majority.
On July 31, Hong Kong police reportedly ordered the arrest of six pro-democracy activists, Nathan Law, Simon Cheng, Ray Wong, Wayne Chan, Honcques Laus, and Samuel Chu who is a US citizen on suspicion of violating the national security law.
The controversial legislation includes passages which make it applicable worldwide, putting Hongkongers overseas at risk of arrest should they return to Hong Kong or Chinese jurisdiction.
Also on July 31, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Hong Kong would postpone September’s legislative election by one year owing to a resurgence in untraceable coronavirus cases.
Hong Kong democrats, however, said the government was conspiring with pro-establishment lawmakers to stall the poll, using COVID-19 as an excuse.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Amid threats of mass arrest, Filipino protesters rally during Duterte’s State of the Nation Address · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Thousands of individuals from various groups join a national protest against the Filipino government on the occasion of the 5th State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices, used with permission.
On July 27, despite an official ban on demonstrations, Filipino activists gathered at the country's premier state university to express their frustration at their government on the occasion of President Rodrigo Duterte’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).
On that day, all roads leading to the campus of University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City filled with protesters defying threats of arrests and the deployment of over 6,000 policemen in the national capital. An estimated 8,000 people gathered in the national capital, while hundreds more joined protest actions in other major urban centers across the country.
The main gathering place was UP Diliman campus, a special place given that an agreement secured by the protest movement against the Marcos dictatorship in the 1980s prohibits police and military from stepping foot on it. This has made the university one of the few remaining places where people can exercise their right to assembly. Yet on July 27, police checkpoints were set up at its gates, but that did not deter people from assembling.
The protesters gathered to slam the slow, incompetent and militarist response of Duterte's government to the COVID-19 pandemic. The activists were also denouncing the intensifying state repression marked by recent passage of the anti-terror law  which is widely feared as a signal to further crackdown on government critics. The confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has spiraled to 93,000 at the end of July but the Duterte government continues to dismiss all criticism of its efforts, and insists that everything remains under control.
Here are more images of the demonstration:
“Fight for employment, wages, and rights”, the placard on the left reads. Photo by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices, photo used with permission.
The spinning wheel features the words pahirap (burden), traydor (traitor), korap (corrupt), and pasista (fascist) to describe the Duterte government. Photo by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices,  photo used with permission.
Frontliners leading the health contingent at #SONAgKAISA pic.twitter.com/jXCwvSDpwC
— MENCH (@menchongdeee) July 27, 2020
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights recently raised the alarm on the rising cases of red-tagging, harassment, arrests, and killings of activists falsely accused as “communist-terrorists” in the country. This policy has not stopped amidst the pandemic: the Duterte government has in fact stepped up efforts to shut down independent news sites such as Rappler and continues to harass smaller alternative media outfits. The Philippine Congress, which is dominated by Duterte allies, denied on July 10 a franchise to operate for ABS-CBN, the country’s largest TV and radio broadcaster. Police also swooped down on the office of the NGO Kadamy that fights against urban poverty, arrested its members, and confiscated copies of alternative news magazine Pinoy Weekly which were tagged as “subversive documents.”
On the day of the president’s address, the Department of Interior and Local Government headed by its secretary, former General Eduardo Año, issued an order banning protest actions.
But demonstrators went ahead, and, as can be seen in the following photos, wore face masks and strictly followed rules of physical distancing to ensure their own safety.
Dubbed the united people's SONA, the mass protest featured #SONAgkaisa as a theme. The hashtag combines the words SONA and nagkaisa (united) to emphasize the coming together of various political forces and persuasions. Photo by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices, used with permission.
Photo of the July 27 demonstration by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices, used with permission.
The gays really be quick with #folklore‘s impact ? Because Taylor Alison Swift is what? An anti-fascist! #SONAgKAISA pic.twitter.com/9ooOFdGUXz
— Philip Jamilla (@pmjamilla) July 27, 2020
One of the highlights of the event was the singing of a Filipino adaptation of “Do You Hear the People Sing” from the theatrical production of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, “Di Niyo Ba Naririnig?”:
During the day of protests, Metro Manila police chief Debold Sinas ordered the arrest of anyone seen carrying protests placards and streamers. In total, 141 people were arrested nationwide for participating in the protests. This includes 4 urban poor women in Pandi, Bulacan who were jailed for joining an online protest. Some 64 individuals were also arrested on their way to SONA protests in Cavite province south of Metro Manila:
LOOK: The Cavite 64 remains held for no explicit reason at a covered court beside the Carmona Police Station in Brgy. Maduya, Carmona, Cavite.
Photos of Cavite 64 from Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Cavite#SONAgKAISA#FreeCavite64 pic.twitter.com/XW24fB4QvI
— UPLB Perspective (@uplbperspective) July 27, 2020
They were later released for lack of charges.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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As a Salvadoran, the U.S. symbolized safety for me. Now, that is crumbling · Global Voices
Amanda Obando

Artwork from Pamela Chavez, from her short animated film Caracol Cruzando, used with permission.
This piece was originally published on Central American News.
At 12 years old, my best friend, whose dad worked at the American Embassy, moved back from El Salvador to Washington D.C. We caught up sporadically as teens and on one occasion we had a text conversation about immigration.
As a US citizen, she viewed immigration as national security — whereas, from my perspective as a child of the post-conflict era in El Salvador, which was subjected to a proxy war during the Cold War, immigration to the United States was always viewed as a human rights issue. My family members received refugee statuses, citizenships, green cards, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Essentially, through my eyes, immigrating to the United States promised safety. That is what I was looking for when I arrived in the U.S. in 2019 on a student visa. Since then, however, my perspective started to change.
The root of my questioning starts at the hopelessness that overwhelms me once in a while for being an immigrant in the U.S. It is a quiet thing that I rarely discuss. This feeling has been amplified by the incessant U.S.travel restrictions and temperamental changes of the U.S. immigration system, and by how these policies now interact with the blocked borders in various countries abroad due to COVID-19.
In the U.S., the Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced, and then withdrew, that international students must leave the country if not attending in-person classes. Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to start accepting Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA). The printing of Green Cards has been delayed, putting permanent residents at risk of being deported. Tourists stranded in the U.S. due to their country’s border closures are in danger of having their visas expire before they are able to go home. Equally and perhaps more alarming are the reports that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) need a $1.2 billion bailout from the government to keep itself from furloughing 13,400 employees. This does not even take into account all kinds of policies aiming at stopping refugees and deporting undocumented people.
My home country of El Salvador has had its airport closed since the lockdown order was announced in March. For those who are stranded in the U.S. like me, the situation is difficult. Avianca, the only airline providing repatriation flights, only offered two flights in July. Just to get on the Salvadoran government's list of citizens who are allowed to reenter El Salvador’s closed border, we have to call the consulate, wait for months, and pay our flights if given a seat in the few planes out of the U.S.
I can see the tension. The Trump Administration is pushing people to leave when it doesn’t have the capacity to carry out the processes, and meanwhile, due to all its rules to regulate the lives of immigrants, many are stranded without a capacity for self-sustenance.
For example, you could say that my status on an F1 student visa provided a sense of both safety for my queer identity and opportunity for my educational development. However, this visa will expire before the airport in El Salvador reopens. After deeply searching and interpreting the USCIS webpage, I filled a form to change my status to a visitor visa. Even though it was confirmed that I could legally stay while this process occurs, I won’t get a notice on the status of the application for 2.5 to 4 months, and potentially even longer. This is without having the ability to work or study. As a consequence, my family has been having to scramble for money to help me out.
These situations are not new. Immigrants have always been seen as an unsolvable problem, their lives held up in the air. In my opinion, it wasn’t until ICE had to reassess international students’ stay in the country that many U.S. citizens woke up to the bullying of the United States immigration system.
Yet, even though I would like to say that the Trump Administration’s play with immigration laws in the context of the pandemic is cruel, it was already brutal before. The reality is that immigration laws can be changed whether you’re in the process of entering, already live in the country, or are nearing the end of your visa. All this power holds us in limbo. COVID-19 has simply put a magnifying lens to this situation.
This topic is no stranger to the conversations that we, immigrants, have quietly, for fear of being deemed ungrateful. They happen over dinner, or with university international services, and at times with our U.S. friends who don’t understand the lingo of the US immigration system. As of late, these conversations have started to take a different tone—one that reflects a sense that the U.S. does not want us here and how deeply that is affecting our decisions and psyches.
I have come to observe that no matter what class of immigrant you are, the immigration system in the U.S. can easily alter your ideas of hope, opportunity, and safety. Even though I have learned by now how to manage the stress that comes with the restrictions of being an immigrant, it is still a shock to my system when I confront a new obstacle like having to spend months unemployed and without financial backing because I’m waiting for a document to arrive. The loneliness of this limbo—not just the one where everyone’s plans have come to a halt, but the one where the government you live under has so much power over you and applies it so arbitrarily—is even more excruciating.
As a final thought, when my family members fled El Salvador as refugees of the war and my school in El Salvador promoted colleges in the U.S., a long-term life up north seemed to be a viable option, even if not a permanent one. Yet I did not expect that the implementation of Trump’s views would cause such a paradigm shift in me. From my perspective, the push by the Trump administration is absolutely challenging the long-held view that the United States is a place for safety and opportunity. Now I question whether I have a place in this country. Definitely, the laws and regulations, and the capricious changes make me feel like I do not.

author: Amanda Obando


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As Armenians and Azerbaijanis clash worldwide, activists petition for peaceful dialogue · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A house in Tovuz District, Azerbaijan damaged by artillery attack from the Armenian Armed Forces on July 14, according to the Azerbaijani side. Photo: Voice of America / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.
Against the backdrop of a pandemic, armed conflict has broken out once again in the South Caucasus. Unlike previous skirmishes on the frontline between Armenia and Azerbaijan, what started as violent border clashes on July 12 has since turned into the deadliest fighting in years, killing 17. The tension has spilt over into the diaspora: Armenian and Azerbaijani migrants clashed in various cities across the world. In Russia, traders from the two countries have even boycotted each others’ apricots.
What is clear is that the recent escalations represent a massive step back from any prospect for peace.
Peace has seemed even more elusive in recent years. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh, a mountainous territory which was an autonomous region in the Soviet era, spans three decades. It continues to be a source of instability, inflamed by constant accusations made by politicians from both sides. It has caused extensive financial loss and hardship to ordinary Armenians and Azerbaijanis alike, who have been displaced from their homes en masse.
According to data by the International Crisis Group (ICG), 239 people have been killed or wounded (including both civilians and military personnel) as a result of the conflict since 2015. These figures do not include the clashes in April 2016 when some 200 were killed. The fighting which broke out last month was the deadliest since the April 2016 confrontation. But a key difference was that while previous clashes have mostly taken place on the “Line of Contact” in Nagorno-Karabakh, the latest occurred on the internationally recognised border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, some distance to the North. It was also the first time in years that two high ranking servicemen were killed: Major General Polad Hashimov and Colonel Ilgar Mirzayev of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
On July 14, two days before the fighting finally quieted down, the news of Hashimov and Mirzayev's deaths reached the general public. That day, some 30,000 residents of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku took the streets of the capital to march in support of the country's armed forces and call on President Ilham Aliyev to take a tougher approach to the conflict with Armenia. One group of protesters even stormed the country's parliament building.
Officials in Baku have been critical of international mediators. Earlier in July, President Aliyev said that no negotiations of any substance were taking place and that the video conference calls between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan were not important. The country's leadership is frustrated with a lack of progress towards resolving the conflict, particularly around the return of seven adjacent Azerbaijani territories surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region, which are currently under Armenian control.
An International Crisis Group recap of the recent war explains the situation well:
What’s new? Deadly July 2020 clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces left dozens dead, civilians among them, and forced villagers to flee their homes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border. Shooting across the trenches along the border is more frequent today than anywhere else on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s front lines.
Why does it matter? Efforts by Baku and Yerevan, including through limited diplomacy, a communication channel set up in 2018 and an agreement between the two sides to safeguard farmers, have largely failed to create conditions that would deter people from leaving border areas. Violence there also risks permanently damaging wider peace efforts.
What should be done? The two sides should use the communication channel to warn each other about planned engineering works or other activities that might be misconstrued and lead to escalation. They should begin talks on limited cooperation to allow farmers to harvest crops, repair water networks and clear mines.
But the scale of clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis across the world was also noteworthy. After the first shots were fired, reports of diaspora clashes and fistfights started coming in from abroad. In Russia, where both Armenians and Azerbaijanis have a significant diaspora presence, the weapon of choice turned out to be apricots. In her reporting on the “apricot war,” journalist Liana Aghajanian writes:
The fruit fight began when Azerbaijanis bought pallets of perfectly luscious apricots – Armenia’s largest fruit export and treasured national symbol – and filmed themselves destroying the crops by stomping on them – videos of which were shared across social media networks including TikTok and Twitter.
A market in Moscow then refused entry to an estimated fifty drivers who arrived from Armenia and who normally trade at the market, wrote Aghajanian. The subsequent scenes of physical violence among the two communities that followed suit left many (including the author) wishing that the fighting had only continued with apricots.
EurasiaNet reported that gangs of men wielding clubs started attacking Armenian and Azerbaijani restaurants across Moscow and several other cities in Russia. Clashes were also reported in London, Brussels, and Los Angeles (the latter is home to one of North America's largest Armenian communities.)
As third party mediators and international organisations called for peace and calm, stars like Kim Kardashian did quite the opposite. Somewhere between stories on nudity and and her make up routines, Kardashian shared a post about the recent war on her Instagram account. Immediately, calls to report the account for spreading misinformation and hateful content spread across social media platforms, encouraging Azerbaijani users to respond to the American celebrity of Armenian descent and report her account. The story was not taken down but did expire, after which Kardashian shared the same text under one of her posts.
But one of the most aggressive standoffs was yet to come. On July 21, a group of Azerbaijani emigres was attacked by the members of the Armenian American diaspora. Not only did the pictures from the scene result in outrage in Azerbaijan and across the Azerbaijani diaspora community, but divided members of the community into those who condemned any violence and those who fully supported attacking the other side.
As protests continued across other capitals, a group of diaspora representatives from each country decided to address the ongoing violence and call on the representatives of both communities to respect universal principles of peaceful assembly. United under the hashtag #WordsNotSwords, the campaign was originally signed by six members of the diaspora community on July 23.
It takes the form of a statement shared on Twitter and social media, which reads as follows:
As members of the Armenian and Azerbaijani emigrant communities across the world, we condemn the ongoing acts of violence and bigotry perpetrated by individuals within our communities towards one another, in the name of patriotism.
While our societies have fundamental disagreements regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, fistfights in streets across the world do nothing to advance the cause of either side. Instead, they are an affront to basic safety and human dignity.
As fellow immigrants, we call upon all members in our Diaspora communities to engage in peaceful activism, to respect the rights of others to do the same, and to reject violence, dehumanisation, and discrimination.
To date there have been no responses to the initiative from officials or state institutions in either Armenia or Azerbaijan.
In just a few days, the number of signatures grew to include over 160 representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani emigre and diaspora communities. GlobalVoices collected testimonies from the original co-authors of the statement:
Cavid Aga, an Azerbaijani student and journalist, reflects on the importance of shattering preconceptions and engaging with the other side face to face:
It is too early to say whether with all the signatures collected #WordsNotSwords will change much of the negative rhetoric that continues to this day. But it is heartening to see that among the two communities there are at least 160 who condemn violence and respect people's right to peaceful protest.
Editorial note: The author would like to add that she is a signatory of the #WordsNotSwords declaration

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Five months after the elections, Guyana swears in new president · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana's new president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, at his swearing-in ceremony on August 2, 2020. Screenshot from a YouTube video of the event posted by Guyana Uncut.
Five months to the day since Guyana's 2020 general elections took place on March 2, the country has a new president.
On August 2, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair Claudette Singh declared Mohamed Irfaan Ali as the country's ninth executive president as she confirmed the results of the election in favour of the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP).
The incumbent coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) had insisted the votes it received in its stronghold electoral district of Region 4 were tantamount to a win, but the entire process was stymied by the manner in which that region's results were tallied — by spreadsheet, rather than by Statements of Poll, which is the legally sanctioned method.
The impasse induced a drawn-out process involving verifications, injunctions, intervention by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a recount and court actions challenging its results, some of which went all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice, Guyana's highest appellate court.
When, however, the Guyana Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that the recount votes should be used to determine and declare the result of the general elections — and that GECOM's official report must be based on that tally — the end was finally in sight.
Less than two hours after Singh made the official GECOM declaration, President Ali was sworn in at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in the capital, Georgetown. General Secretary of the PPP and former president Bharrat Jagdeo was sworn in as vice president, and former Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff Mark Phillips took the oath as prime minister. The new PPP government is expected to announce additional cabinet appointments at a later date.
Stabroek News, well regarded as the country's paper of record, noted that things moved at a dramatically expeditious pace once the declaration had been made, but described the statement made by GECOM's public relations officer, Yolanda Ward, as “terse”:
[The Chief Election Officer] CEO submits report to Chairperson using results of the recount of ballots cast at the General and Regional Elections.
On March 6, Stabroek News had published an editorial accusing GECOM of “working in the interest” of the government and “rigging the 2020 general elections right before our eyes”.
A GECOM communiqué explained that after Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, following the instructions of the appeal court, submitted his report based on the results of the recount of ballots, the commission met on August 2 “to deliberate on the report”.
A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency read:
President David Granger, this morning, received a call from the Chairman of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh who invited him to a conversation with Opposition Leader Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo to discuss the way forward.
The President explained that he had no objection to speaking with Mr. Jagdeo but as far as a proposed declaration is concerned, he recognised that the Commission has a legal obligation as a result of the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal, to proceed with a declaration.
President Granger said that notwithstanding that declaration, the APNU+ AFC coalition maintains that the anomalies and irregularities which have been uncovered during the recount process cannot be accepted and will form the grounds for an election petition.
The GECOM statement, however, said that the PPP preferred to opt out of any discussions until GECOM had made its declaration. Once this was done, Bharrat Jagdeo said, the PPP would be “committed to talks on a governance model”.
GECOM reconvened at 2:00 p.m. Guyana time “to deliberate on the [Chief Election Officer’s] report,” and after “careful examination,” the release continued, “Justice Claudette Singh declared Mohamed Irfaan Ali as President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.”
Outgoing president David Granger subsequently issued the following statement:
The APNU+AFC Coalition respects the lawful consequences of the “declaration” as announced by the Chairman of the Elections Commission. I maintain that the Report ordered by the Court and presented to the Commission contains significant anomalies and irregularities.
The APNU+AFC Coalition cannot endorse a flawed Report and will continue its campaign to ensure that the votes of all Guyanese are accurately recorded, tallied and reported.
The APNU+AFC Coalition will challenge the declared results lawfully, peacefully and purposefully.
That pending challenge, however, doesn't seem to have many people concerned.
On Twitter, Acting Assistant Secretary for the United States’ Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael G. Kozak, acknowledged the new president:
Democracy rules in Guyana! Today, Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in as president, reflecting the will of the Guyanese people.
We congratulate President Ali & look forward to working with all to support Guyana’s development for the benefit of all its people. https://t.co/kVSHQ6Dl1l
— Michael G. Kozak (@WHAAsstSecty) August 2, 2020
Mere days before, on July 30, Kozak had tweeted his dissatisfaction with Guyana's lengthy democratic process, leading some to speculate that US pressure may have hastened the APNU+AFC's decision to stand down:
Today we took action to bar additional senior officials responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Guyana from entering the U.S.
The U.S. will not stand by as the Granger administration continues to defy the will of the Guyanese people. Democracy must prevail.-MK
— Michael G. Kozak (@WHAAsstSecty) July 30, 2020
The U.S. government had already applied sanctions in the form of visa revocation on “individuals responsible and complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana”, and was pressuring its allies to join them.
There was also concern that the political impasse would negatively affect the country's economic future.
Despite estimates that the newly discovered resources at Guyana's Stabroek Block are estimated to be more than eight billion barrels of oil, and a July 30 announcement by Hess Corporation — which is developing the interest in conjunction with ExxonMobil and CNOOC Limited — saying that recent appraisals identified two more high-quality reservoirs, Forbes magazine confirmed that “for oil and gas companies […] looking to do business in Guyana’s offshore, the resolution of this election and a return to government stability is a key factor.”
As Guyana's new president, it will now become Mohamed Irfaan Ali's responsibility to protect the Guyanese people's patrimony and transparently manage those billions of dollars in new oil revenues, which have the potential to transform the country completely.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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New Facebook Oversight Board must remove content of notorious Sudan militia · Global Voices
Mohamed Suliman

Anti-government protesters in Sudan. Banner reads, ”Thirty years of oppression.” Credit: Hind Mekki on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
In April 2019, the Sudanese people deposed military dictator Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled the country for 30 years. However, as in many cases when there are major shifts in history, part of the old regime—in this case, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—remained.
The Rapid Support Forces is a rebranded name for the “Janjaweed militia,” notorious for the crimes it committed against civilians in Darfur. International rights organizations have published several reports documenting these crimes, including “Men With No Mercy,” by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The RSF militia, born and nurtured inside the ousted regime for many years, is still active in the political scene in the region. It also maintains an active presence on Facebook.
Most recently, the militia was involved in using children as soldiers in the Yemen war. Its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemeti), is on the “partial list of individuals who should be investigated by the ICC.”
However, Hemeti is not only free in Sudan, but he is also playing a role in state governance. He serves as the deputy chairman of the Sovereignty Council, sworn in last year as part of a power-sharing agreement to guide Sudan’s three-year transition toward civilian rule.
Following the fall of al-Bashir, the RSF was accused of orchestrating and executing a brutal crackdown on June 3, 2019, against protesters gathered at a sit-in that demanded an end to military rule. Dozens of protesters were raped, and hundreds of peaceful protestors killed, with some corpses thrown into the Nile River.
In the aftermath of the crackdown — later referred to as the “Khartoum massacre”— independent international human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International published reports detailing evidence that pointed to a series of violations by the RSF militia.
Days after the dispersal of the people taking part in the sit-in, an Egyptian company called New Waves launched an influential campaign on social media—including on the Facebook-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram— aimed at presenting and marketing a good image for the RSF militia and its leaders.
Despite the harrowing violations, the RSF maintains a presence on Facebook, which has been its main platform for spreading messages and gain legitimacy to manipulate the public. The RSF leader’s verified page and the official page of the militia are both still active, posting content about the militia’s activities and speeches by its leaders. There are also many other unofficial pages supporting Hemeti. The platform maintains that it did not remove the pages because Hemeti is a state actor, even though it did remove the accounts of state officials in the past, including that of a top general in Myanmar.
For more than a year, I have been coordinating a project that aims to remove the RSF militia content from the internet. More than 20,000 Sudanese people have so far signed an online petition requesting Facebook to remove the pages. The comments section of the petition says a lot about people’s anger against the idea of giving space to the militia on such a prominent platform.
Facebook has so far not removed the content, despite continuous flags through the platform's reporting mechanism.
Facebook Community standards clearly state that they “do not allow any organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on Facebook.” The standard defines violence as “mass murder (including attempts) or multiple murder” and “organized violence or criminal activity.”
Because of its past violations, and war crimes documented by human rights groups and the UN, I see few cases that better fit the previous description than that of the RSF militia. It is also obvious to many that the long-term interest of the RSF militia is to destabilize the Middle East, acting at the behest of those who pay them to continue recruiting soldiers, including children, for wars elsewhere in the region.
The launch of the Facebook Oversight Board, which will start operating later this year, will give our campaign a mechanism to appeal the social networking giant’s decision not to remove RSF militia pages and content. The board will have the power to overrule Facebook on moderation decisions relating to contentious content. Once this process is open, we plan to appeal to the board, and as a corollary, I call on it to adhere to the community standards and remove the militia from the platform.

author: Mohamed Suliman


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Despite attacks on press freedom, Nicaragua’s digital media landscape is still flourishingMedios digitales se desarrollan en Nicaragua pese a represión  · Global Voices
GV Contributor

Montage of screenshots and logos from Nicaraguan and Central American media outlets by Global Voices, used with permission.
Press freedom in Nicaragua faces multiple challenges, including political persecution by President Ortega's administration coupled with a lack of access to public information. Despite these hurdles, at least 24 new media outlets have been created since April 2018 according to a report published by Literal Periodismo Ciudadano.
In April 2018, the largest popular mobilizations in the last 30 years were sparked in response to proposed social security reforms. However, following the severe government response, the protesters also began taking to the streets against political repression at the hands of Daniel Ortega government, increasingly seen as authoritarian. The protests from 2018 received a wide level of support, even in cities and sectors that were traditionally in favor of the Sandinista movement led by Ortega.
On May 30, 2018, the day when Nicaragua celebrates national Mother's Day, 18 young protesters were killed and 218 were wounded, according to local press reports. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, at least 328 Nicaraguans were assassinated during the turmoil in 2018. The political situation after the protests has led to at least 80,000 exiles.
Following the April 2018 protests, there were 1,080 attacks on freedom of expression and the media.
In 2020, Daniel Ortega is still in power and journalists in Nicaragua continue to face police harassment, customs blocks of press supplies as well as physical assault. According to Reporters Without Borders—which, since 2019, has lowered Nicaragua by three ranks in its annual ranking of press freedom—“journalists are often victims of harassment campaigns, arbitrary arrests and death threats.”
Despite these challenges, Nicaraguan journalism has managed to carry on, adapting to the new political, economic and technological circumstances.
Below are multimedia projects developed by new digital media, traditional print newspapers that have adapted to multimedia formats, and initiatives from the survivors of the 2018 protest crackdowns. Despite the ongoing threats to press freedom, Nicaragua's media outlets are using digital media to publicly reflect on the history of state violence and the forces that oppose it.
The Mothers of April Association was founded to bring together the mothers and families of the victims from 2018. The organization created a series of initiatives focused on memory, reparations and justice. One of its projects is the Museum of Memory, a multimedia gallery about the victims of the 2018 state repression, a forensic reconstruction of the May 30 massacre, and a podcast about the memory of the victims. The first episode relives what happened in the city of Masaya during the protests in 2018.
??? Memoria para no olvidar, memoria para resistir ???
? ¡Encontrá todos los episodios de la ????? ????????́? ???????? en nuestro podcast ?????????? ?? ?? ???????! ✊??
??????? ???? ⤵https://t.co/CydfklA6uA
— AMA y No Olvida Museo de la Memoria (@museomemoria_ni) July 8, 2020
Memory to not forget, memory to resist.
Find all the episodes of Serie Operation Limpieza (“Operation Clean-Up Series”) in our podcast Barricadas de la Memoria (“Barricades of Memory”).
The investigative digital media outlet Expediente Público developed a series of reports, timelines, and galleries on the peasant movement's opposition against the government during the 1980s and its history until the end of the “Nicaraguan Revolution” in 1990. The documentary “Nicaragua campesina, la nación ajena” (“Peasant Nicaragua, a Foreign Nation”) is a summary of this story.
Nicaragua is a country with a large rural population whose economy depends on agricultural exports. During the 1980s, with an agro-industrial export policy, the Sandinista government developed programs of agrarian reform and set up companies “owned by the people.” However, in practice, this vision meant land expropriation, forced cooperativism, and cultural imposition from the capital Managua, according to Expediente Publico. This situation generated discontent among the peasants, who not only questioned the government but also mobilized and were part of the armed conflict. At the end of the conflict, 71% of the Contras who stopped fighting were peasants, but they did not receive reparations nor sufficient support to reintegrate socially.
The newly created Central American website Divergentes (which includes multimedia formats and news “from other perspectives”) was launched in May 2020 and recently published three profiles of families affected by state violence in 2018. The profile titled “Los Vacíos Que Dejo Abril” (“The Empty Spaces Left by April”) includes interviews with three families about how they handle mourning, and photo galleries and a special podcast edition about the rooms, furniture and spaces that are no longer occupied by their murdered relatives. There is a multimedia report, and a special edition in podcast.
“Aquí —dice pisando con fuerza la tierra— Gerald pensaba construir su cuarto para darle privacidad a sus hermanas y a mí. De vez en cuando viene mi papá a limpiar, a quitar las hojas, aunque ahora de poco sirve”, recuerda Susana.
El relato completo en https://t.co/WFclADhqC3 pic.twitter.com/hDrmhJreeM
— Divergentes (@DivergentesCA) July 13, 2020
“Here,” she says, stomping the ground, “Gerald thought to build his room to give privacy to his sisters and me. Occasionally, my dad comes to clean, to remove the leaves, although now it is of little use,” recalls Susana.
The full account at https://t.co/WFclADhqC3 pic.twitter.com/hDrmhJreeM
A media alliance (including Confidencial, and two Costa Rican media outlets—“La Voz de Guanacaste” [‘Voice of Guanacaste’] and the University of Costa Rica’s “Interferencia” radio network) produced a report about the communities on the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. These communities have been affected by economic conditions, difficulty in accessing public services, legal and illegal migration, and response strategies to COVID-19. A special video report was published on the social networks of these media outlets.
Montaje de capturas de pantallas y logos de medios nicaragüenses y centroamericanos hecho por Global Voices.
En Nicaragua, país donde periodistas denuncian que son víctimas de persecución política y donde los ciudadanos no tienen acceso a la información pública, se han creado al menos 24 nuevos medios de comunicación desde abril 2018, según un reporte publicado en Literal Periodismo Ciudadano.
Las protestas que empezaron en abril de 2018 fueron las movilizaciones populares más grandes en los últimos 30 años en Nicaragua, con el resultado de al menos 328 nicaragüenses asesinados (CIDH) y al menos 80,000 exiliados en este contexto político.
También hubo una política de represión y persecución a medios de comunicación, con 1,080 ataques a la libertad de expresión y medios de comunicación en el primer año de esta crisis socio-política. Las protestas tuvieron gran apoyo popular, incluso de ciudades y sectores que tradicionalmente apoyaban al sandinismo, como las ciudades de León, Estelí, Monimbo (Masaya), entre otras.
Estas protestas iniciaron en contra de reformas al seguro social, pero ante la represión desproporcionada se desataron movilizaciones respecto a la forma autoritaria de gobierno de Daniel Ortega, conflictos sociales y represión política acumulada durante 13 años de gobierno.
Daniel Ortega sigue en el poder, y el periodismo en Nicaragua todavía enfrenta múltiples desafíos en el 2020, como acoso policial, retención selectiva de inventarios de insumos en aduana, y agresiones físicas. Según Reporteros Sin Fronteras, que bajo a Nicaragua de 3 rangos desde el 2019 en su clasificación anual de la libertad de la prensa, “los periodistas suelen ser víctimas de campañas de acoso, detenciones arbitrarias y amenazas de muerte”.
A pesar de esto, el periodismo nicaragüense no se ha detenido y se ha adaptado a las nuevas circunstancias políticas, económicas y tecnológicas.
Aquí una selección de productos multimedia desarrollados por nuevos medios digitales, medios tradicionales que se han adaptado a nuevos formatos multimedia, e iniciativas “autoconvocadas” que se formaron de manera horizontal a partir de los sucesos de abril de 2018.
La Asociación de Madres de Abril es una organización formada para reunir a madres y familiares las victimas de la represión estatal en 2018. Esta organización ha creado una serie de iniciativas de rescate de la memoria, reparación y justicia. Entre sus proyectos está el Museo de la Memoria, galería multimedia de las victimas de la represión, una reconstrucción forense de la masacre del 30 de Mayo, y un podcast con la memoria de las víctimas. En el primer episodio reviven lo ocurrido en la ciudad de Masaya durante la represión de ese mismo año.
??? Memoria para no olvidar, memoria para resistir ???
? ¡Encontrá todos los episodios de la ????? ????????́? ???????? en nuestro podcast ?????????? ?? ?? ???????! ✊??
??????? ???? ⤵https://t.co/CydfklA6uA
— AMA y No Olvida Museo de la Memoria (@museomemoria_ni) July 8, 2020
El portal Expediente Público ha desarrollado una serie de reportajes, líneas de tiempo y galerías sobre el rol del movimiento campesino a partir de su oposición al gobierno durante los años 80s, y su historia al finalizar la “revolución sandinista” en 1990. Expediente Público acaba de estrenar el documental “Nicaragua Campesina, La Nación, Ajena”, como resumen de esta historia.
Nicaragua es un país con alta población rural cuya economía depende de exportaciones agrícolas. El gobierno sandinista en los años 80s desarrollo programas de reforma agraria y creación de empresas “propiedad del pueblo” bajo una visión agro-industrial exportadora, que en la práctica significaba expropiación de tierras, imposición del cooperativismo, e imposición cultural desde Managua, de acuerdo al portal Expediente Público. Esto genero descontento entre el campesinado, que no solo cuestionaba al gobierno sino que se movilizo y fue parte del conflicto armado, y llegaron a representar el 71% de los “desmovilizados” al terminar el conflicto, pero que no recibieron reparación ni apoyo suficiente para reintegrarse socialmente.
El nuevo portal centroamericano Divergentes, que apuesta a formatos multimedia y noticias “desde otras perspectivas”, desarrollo 3 perfiles de familias afectadas por la represión en Nicaragua en 2018. En “Los Vacíos Que Dejo Abril” entrevistan a 3 familias y como manejan el duelo, con galerías fotográficas y una edición especial para podcast sobre las habitaciones, muebles y espacios que ya no están ocupado por los familiares asesinados. Pueden ver aquí el reportaje multimedia y la edición especial en podcast.
“Aquí —dice pisando con fuerza la tierra— Gerald pensaba construir su cuarto para darle privacidad a sus hermanas y a mí. De vez en cuando viene mi papá a limpiar, a quitar las hojas, aunque ahora de poco sirve”, recuerda Susana.
El relato completo en https://t.co/WFclADhqC3 pic.twitter.com/hDrmhJreeM
— Divergentes (@DivergentesCA) July 13, 2020
Una alianza de medios (Confidencial, La Voz de Guanacaste, e Interferencia de Radios UCR) produjeron esta crónica sobre las comunidades de la frontera entre Nicaragua y Costa Rica. Las condiciones económicas, dificultad de acceso a servicio públicos, la migración (legal e ilegal), y las estrategias de respuesta al COVID-19 han afectado a estas comunidades. Un reportaje especial en video fue publicado en las redes sociales de los medios que colaboraron.

author: GV Contributor


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Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert remains a ‘political hostage’ inside Iran’s Qarchak prison · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Kylie Moore-Gilbert interview with The Modern Middle East October 2017- Video screenshot
The transfer of University of Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert to Iran’s notorious Qarchak prison in Tehran has focused worldwide attention on her plight.
Qarchak has been infamous for its health and security conditions. Kylie has become physically sick and mentally depressed. She also faces the real possibility of contracting COVID-19.
Kylie is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom who was sentenced in 2018 to ten years imprisonment for alleged espionage. Her incarceration was kept a virtual secret for a year as part of the Australian government’s quiet diplomacy strategy. Some of her colleagues have lost patience with this approach and have launched a petition calling on the Australian government and her university to undertake an active public campaign.
Iranian American Jason Rezaian, who was released in January 2016 in an apparent diplomatic deal after fifteen months imprisonment on espionage charges, tweeted:
Whatever the governments of #Australia and the #UK are doing to free their citizen, Kylie Moore-Gilbert from prison in #Iran, it’s failing miserably. This innocent woman should be free. Few foreign nationals held hostage in Iran have been treated so badly. https://t.co/pBlA1BlJen
— Jason Rezaian (@jrezaian) July 28, 2020
Moore-Gilbert maintains her innocence but claims that Iranian intelligence tried to recruit her in exchange for her freedom.
Radio Zamaneh, part of a Farsi language media organisation which ‘supports the efforts of human rights activists and civil society in Iran’, is closely following the case:
آزاده دواچی، پژوهشگر در دانشگاه دیکن ملبورن و از دوستان و همکاران کایلی مور-گیلبرت در گفت‌وگو با زمانه می‌گوید او انسان بسیار آرامی است و اتهام‌هایی که به او وارد شده، برای افرادی که از نزدیک او را می‌شناسند، قابل باور نیست.
«ایشان محقق و پژوهشگر در حوزه اسلام‌شناسی و مدرس اسلام‌شناسی در دانشگاه ملبورن بودند. حوزه تحقیقی ایشان در مورد شیعیان بحرین و جنبش‌هایی بود که در آن منطقه وجود دارد. به همین دلیل به زبان عربی هم مسلط بودند و به کشورهای حوزه خلیج فارس هم سفر کرده بودند. چند سال پیش هم به ایران سفر کردند برای تحقیق در مورد شیعه و اسلام. بدون هیچ مشکلی هم برگشتند.
Azadeh Dawachi, a researcher at Deakin University in Melbourne and a friend and colleague of Kylie Moore-Gilbert, told Zamaneh that she was a very calm person and that the accusations against her were unbelievable to those who knew her intimately.
… She was a researcher in the field of Islamology and a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne. Her field of research was about the Bahraini Shiites and the movements that exist in the region. She speaks Arabic fluently and also traveled to Iran a few years ago to research Shiites and Islam. She returned without any problems.
Another friend and colleague, Jessie Moritz, called for more action and less secrecy in a post on The Conversation:
I have been keeping silent in the hopes a quiet diplomatic approach would secure her freedom.
But it is hard to overstate how horrific this week’s development is. Australia needs to do more.
The recent exposure of her situation has brought some progress with the Australian ambassador promising access to Kylie. The Twitter account @FreeKylieMG has a thread:
We welcome the news that the Australian Ambassador Lyndall Sachs will visit Kylie, hopefully tomorrow. We understand that negotiations for her release may take time, but there are some non-negotiable demands that the Australian government must make TODAY. 1/ #KylieIsUs
— Free Kylie Moore-Gilbert (@FreeKylieMG) August 1, 2020
Chinese American Xuyie Wang, another who was released in 2019 in a prisoner swap after three years imprisonment in Iran, spoke to ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program. He sees Kylie as a “political hostage” held in order to make a deal such as a swap. He argues that “as much public attention as possible” is necessary in these cases.
Reza Khandan, human rights activist and husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh who was imprisoned for defending human rights in Iran, shared in his Facebook that Kylie “was transferred as an act of punishment”. He writes that during a call from prison she described conditions as very bad. “I can not eat anything … I do not know … I am very disappointed … I am very … depressed …”.
Khandan adds that in the quarantine of Qarchak prison, prisoners are kept for all kinds of reasons, including murder, drugs, and financial crimes. There is also a significant number of COVID-19 patients in the prison’s quarantine section.
The Modern Middle East, a current affairs television series, interviewed Kylie in October 2017. With considerable understatement, her reflection on her pre-Arab Spring travels in the region has extra significance in hindsight: “The Middle East was a little bit more stable than it is today.”

author: Kevin Rennie


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Ahead of elections in Trinidad & Tobago, one party promises to build a dome to limit ‘illegal outsiders’ · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago's general elections are carded for August 10, and with less than a week to go, electioneering has reached a fever pitch.
A meme making fun of the United National Congress’ proposal to “[create] a dome around T&T.” The image places the country's coat of arms under a dome, with the words “Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Ministry of Dome, Land & Marine Affairs”; shared via WhatsApp and other social media channels.
Despite the country's rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, it is not uncommon to see political supporters of both major parties — the incumbent People's National Movement (PNM) and the opposition United National Congress (UNC) — gathered around music trucks that parade through neighbourhoods canvassing votes.
While voters may be interested in hearing about candidates’ COVID-19 strategies, no one quite expected the seemingly futuristic proposal, put out by the UNC, of “creating a dome around T&T” to “protect our country from all illegal outsiders and activity.” The idea was put forward in an advertisement detailing the party's COVID-19 response plan.
Widely shared on social media, the ad claimed that the party, if elected, would have said dome “partly operational within 1 month and fully operational in 6 months”:
Screenshot of the ad detailing the United National Congress’ COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan, widely shared on social media platforms.
Reaction was swift — and humourous. In short order, a hashtag — #KamlaDome2020 — was trending locally:
The illegal outsiders trying to get in #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/reXqyEzJcX
— MizztaKe?? (@Notwithoutkhyla) August 5, 2020
#KamlaDome2020
Me forgetting we have a dome: pic.twitter.com/DqrKDgfw0T
— aggressive protagonist (@skhazell) August 4, 2020
Several Twitter users poked fun by wondering how exactly the dome would be constructed:
Construction companies trying to figure out how to build the dome #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/Jzv7DiNQUG
— Nickolas Roberts (@nickwrld1997) August 4, 2020
So Shuri from Black Panther getting the contract to construct that dome awa #KamlaDome2020
— Deep (@Griffs44) August 4, 2020
Facebook user Quweina Roberts, tongue firmly in cheek, felt that the new dome would create amazing new employment opportunities:
A whole new set of jobs to be created. Dome operator, Dome inspector, Dome janitor, Dome developer, Dome manager, Dome attendant, Dome support officers etc. #KamlaDome2020
— Quweina Roberts (@Quweina) August 4, 2020
It was only a matter of time before The Simpsons reference got a local spin:
Kamla – have you seen the Simpsons? CMO – Say no more#KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/m141eXahUW
— ? Ꮢ Λ Ι (@RaiKhanMusic) August 4, 2020
Other movie references soon followed:
The Dukes of Tobago, Watson and Winston will finally have home field advantage when they lead the troops into Venezuela East/Gulf of Paria West, in the Battle for Helms Deep. #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/10ooQIMf6b
— Republic of Anthony (@BissieSmalls) August 4, 2020
Meanwhile, one Twitter user kept thinking up scenarios of all the things that could go wrong once the dome was installed:
When current gone August 11th..and we mc steam up like fish broth #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/2DvgaydzCB
— ?Black Kryptonian (@Dao_D8z) August 4, 2020
Men trying to seduce the female security guard to open up de hatch after yuh break de Dome Curfew.. #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/DpMTK81kkF
— ?Black Kryptonian (@Dao_D8z) August 4, 2020
Several Twitter users were concerned about their health:
We need air filters in the dome for the Sahara dust tho #kamladome2020
— Shaquille Oatmeal (@Nick_Wildman91) August 4, 2020
#COVID19 #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/2qfrk8pml5
— Nickolas Roberts (@nickwrld1997) August 4, 2020
Rising temperatures were also a consideration:
I’m just hoping the Dome would have some AMAZING A/C yes because the way the sun set up these days; I’ll be unable to can. #Kamladome2020 ???
— fry_plantain (@fry_plantain) August 4, 2020
There were hilarious parallels to US President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, prompting one Twitter user to quip:
Who paying for the dome? Venezuela? #kamladome2020
— v. (@valissarae) August 4, 2020
Others had questions — so many questions:
How they gonna try to spin this dome statement? 360° radar coverage? Satellites? An actual done made of drones to watch us all? ? #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/IFaMBiL1PD
— Caleb (@d1_dadu) August 4, 2020
UNC leaders explaining to the nation how de Dome go build with Wakandan vibranium #KamlaDome2020 pic.twitter.com/w5i8erJihD
— ?Black Kryptonian (@Dao_D8z) August 4, 2020
Soon after the UNC realised the dome idea was becoming a national joke, it changed the wording of the ad, and its supporters subsequently claimed that the meaning was misconstrued and that it was really a “radar dome”.
While a handful of Twitter users were prepared to have a serious discussion about the dome idea, the majority just couldn't let it go:
It will forever live on as the #KamlaDome2020 in our hearts https://t.co/XRLsbkLpZ4
— Adrian John (@AdrianXVIII) August 4, 2020


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Digital rights remain under threat in Malawi despite historic win for democracy · Global Voices
Michael Kaiyatsa

Celtel poster in Chirimba, Malawi, February 21, 2007. Photo by nchenga via Flickr CC BY 2.0.
This article is part of UPROAR, a Small Media initiative that is urging governments to address digital rights challenges at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Malawi made history in May when they re-ran their presidential election after an annulment by the courts of the first set of results. Subsequently, the opposition won. Malawi received international praise because it was just the second time in Africa to re-run an election after a court annulment and the very first time in history for an opposition win.
The annulment came after months of sustained citizen protests against electoral fraud. The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), which led most of the protests, frequently used social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter to organize and spread their messages.
Despite this momentous victory for democracy, however, Malawians still face lingering threats to human rights in the digital space.
Landlocked with a population of over 18 million people, Malawi has one of the lowest and slowest growing rates of internet access in the world. According to the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census, about 14 percent of the population uses the internet in Malawi while about 52 percent have a mobile phone.
Poor internet access rates are largely a result of poor infrastructure and high data tariffs, which include a 17.5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on mobile phones and services, a 16.5 percent VAT on internet services and an additional 10 percent excise duty on mobile phone text messages and internet data transfers introduced in May 2015.
Consequently, access to the internet is cost-prohibitive for the majority of Malawians. As of July 2020, a monthly data bundle for 10 gigabytes costs around $21 US dollars with both Telecom Networks Malawi (TNM) and Airtel, which is about half the minimum monthly wage in Malawi. The Inclusive Internet Index 2020, which assesses internet availability, affordability, relevance of content and readiness, ranks Malawi 97 out of 100 countries.
Apart from high internet costs, other threats to human rights in the digital space include police surveillance of online users, online content removal and harsh sentences for internet users violating the country’s laws.
The government’s practice of online surveillance is rooted in law.
In 2016, the Malawian parliament approved the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act of 2016, which restricts human rights in the digital space. Article 24(2)(e) of the Act states that online communication may be restricted in order to “protect order and national security,” while Article 24(2)(f) states that online communication may be restricted in order to “facilitate technical restriction to conditional access to online communication.”
The cybersecurity law also penalizes “offensive communication” via Information and Communications Technology (ICT) with penalties of fines or a maximum 12-month prison sentence, and places restrictions on encryption. Legally, this means encrypted messaging tools like Signal and WhatsApp are considered illegal in Malawi, at least theoretically.
Apart from this legislation, there is also a plethora of laws inherited from the British colonial era (1891-1964) and the Malawi Congress Party dictatorial era (1964-1994), which threaten human rights in the digital space. This includes Sections 50 and 51 of the Penal Code, which establishes the offense of sedition, and Section 4 of the Protected Flag, Emblems and Names Act which makes it an offense to “do any act or utter any words or publish or utter any writing calculated to insult, ridicule or to show disrespect” to ‘’the President, the national flag, armorial ensigns, the public seal or any protected emblem or protected likeness.’’
These laws combined have enabled digital rights violations in Malawi, which have lately taken many forms, including state surveillance, access restrictions to the internet and criminalization of some forms of online communication.
Indeed, there are a number of recent cases where authorities have used these retrogressive provisions to stifle freedom of expression of online users, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders. For instance, in February 2016, three opposition politicians were arrested and charged with sedition over a WhatsApp conversation they held in which they were allegedly plotting to unseat the president. They were later discharged by the High Court in March 2017 due to a lack of evidence.
In the run-up to the May 2019 election, Tumpale Mwakibinga, a bank clerk, was arrested and charged with “insulting the modesty of a woman, cyber violation and offensive communication” for a Facebook post in which he joked that the way of dressing of the then-first lady of Malawi, Gertrude Mutharika, made her look like the cartoon character “Rango.” He is now on bail pending trial. One of his bail conditions prohibits him from posting anything on social media related to the former first lady.
Earlier, on August 21, 2018, Malawi police had arrested Manes Hale, an activist, on charges of insulting the president under Section 4 of the Protected Flag, Emblems and Names Act, for critical remarks she wrote about the president on her Facebook page. The state later withdrew the case but gave no reasons for the withdrawal.
The state has also used online surveillance to monitor human rights defenders’ communications.
On August 26, 2019, a WhatsApp group conversation of members of the HRDC, the human rights group that was behind the election protests, was leaked to state authorities by ruling party supporters who had infiltrated the group, worsening the group’s already sour relations with the government and ruling party cadres.
Prior to this, the group was under increasing threats from the then President  Peter Mutharika and ruling party cadres for leading demonstrations against electoral fraud. For example, in a televised speech delivered on July 6, 2019, to mark the commemoration of Malawi’s independence, President Mutharika accused human rights defenders of working with the opposition to create “lawlessness,” “anarchy” and intent to “overthrow the government.” The president warned that he would hold each one of them accountable, and that “force will be met by force” and that “this nonsense will come to an end.”
Shortly afterward, a number of leading human rights defenders, notably Timothy Mtambo, Reverend McDonald Sembereka and Gift Trapence, reportedly received death threats. A few days later, on July 9, Trapence and Sembereka, were arrested for alleged fraud, charges widely seen by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations as politically motivated.
The Malawian authorities have an obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of its citizens, both offline and online.
Therefore, Malawi's historic change of government should be an opportunity to bring about meaningful changes to ensure that Malawians enjoy human rights in the digital space.

author: Michael Kaiyatsa


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In Chile, the school year is only halfway through — and teachers are struggling · Global Voices
Keith Bevacqua

Photo credit: Pixabay, under Pixabay license.
By April 1, nearly 1.6 billion learners across the world had been affected by school closures due to COVID-19. For school children in the northern hemisphere, the turbulent school year came to an end with the arrival of warmer weather, but for millions of students and teachers in the southern hemisphere the school year is only halfway through. All primary and secondary level schools in Chile have been closed since March 15, forcing teachers to move classes online. Teaching across Chile's structurally and economically diverse schooling system presents challenges even without a pandemic gripping the country.
At the beginning of the global pandemic, Chile was initially hailed as a leader in Latin America, due to aggressive testing and what the Chilean government called “dynamic” quarantines, or targeted lockdowns in areas with the highest number of cases. But now, the country of 19 million is still battling a growing infection rate. Over 360,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and more than 9000 people have died due to the disease.
A closed municipal school in Santiago, Chile. Photo taken by the author.
“Winter is coming strong and it is going to be tough, and I don’t think I’m going to see my students any time soon,” Francisca Alvear, a preschool teacher at a private school in Chile’s capital of Santiago told Global Voices through a Zoom video call.
In March, Alvear and her colleagues shifted to teaching entirely online by creating pre-recorded videos, conducting Zoom calls with students, and communicating through WhatsApp chats. Working completely online with young children has specific challenges. “Usually when you teach kids that young, they need contact, human contact. They need to see what you are doing, they are missing that,” said Alvear.
With all of greater Santiago under lockdown orders since May 15, teachers are having to contend with upended home schedules and the added pressures that accompany life under quarantine. “One big issue is that we have busy parents,” said Alvear. “Maybe they don’t connect because they have online meetings themselves, or maybe they have two or three other children and they cannot focus on this child to stay sitting down for an hour straight for the Zoom classes.”
In June, after teaching online for more than three months, Alvear was furloughed by her private school, citing funding issues as the likely reason for the temporary contract suspension. Alvear's school does not make their tuition fees public, but similar private schools in Chile can cost families hundreds or thousands of US dollars a month, well out of the reach of the average Chilean family. The minimum monthly wage in Chile is around $375 US dollars.
According to Education Minister Raul Figueroa the government had been preparing distance learning measures for public schools at the first signs of COVID-19 in January. Since the closing of schools in March the Chilean Ministry of Education has launched the digital platform “Aprendo en linea,” an online library of school material for students such as lesson plans, digitized books, and pre-recorded videos. In coordination with Chile’s mobile phone service providers, consumers have been allowed to download school materials free of charge. The Chilean Air Force has been delivering print material to thousands of hard-to-reach rural schools with limited internet access. Some teachers in Chile's impoverished Araucanía region are teaching students out of vans that are driven home to home.
The need to deliver materials via air or teach inside vans further illustrates the complex challenges teachers face in Chile. The country's education system is economically segregated with students split across three different school types: underfunded municipal schools, public schools subsidized through vouchers and fees, and expensive private schools. According to 2017 figures published by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) more than 20 percent of Chilean children live in poverty. Even before the advent of online schooling, the learning experience for Chilean children varied greatly, often depending entirely on family wealth.
Empty School in Santiago's Recoleta Communa. Photo taken by the author.
“Many children don’t have internet, mobile phones, or computers,” explains John Tamm, a social-emotional learning teacher in Santiago, through a Zoom video call. Last school year Tamm taught at a subsidized public school in Santiago’s impoverished and overcrowded San Ramon district, now hard hit by the pandemic.
According to Tamm, the 2020 school year in San Ramon started late due to ongoing protests over economic inequality — then came COVID-19. During a regular year at Tamm’s school, students receive multiple meals a day from the school operated canteen, now the poorest families wait for supplies from the central government.
Tamm’s in-person curriculum cannot be taught through the internet, so now his time is focused on helping his fellow teachers prepare lessons. “Many [school] psychologists who work here are trying to contact every family, find out the situation, and find out how they can help,” said Tamm.
Whether students are poor or wealthy, the profession of teaching is very different under COVID-19. “It’s gonna require a lot of patience from the teacher and a lot of patience from the students as this is a completely new paradigm for learning,” said Matthew Underwood, an English language teacher at a private German school in Santiago. “The situation educators are being placed in right now, and students for that matter, is completely unprecedented,” said Underwood via Zoom video call.
In response to COVID-19, Santiago and dozens of other municipalities tightened quarantine controls in May. Some of those controls are being lifted as part of the government's “Paso a Paso” (“step by step“) plan to reopen the country, but the progress will likely be slow. Quarantine rules will no doubt continue to put pressure on Chile's families, schools, and teachers. In the last week several municipal authorities have stated that schools will not return to regular in-person classes until 2021. Education Minister Raul Figueroa has been hesitant to declare that the entire 2020 school year will be conducted online and has been criticized for comments claiming that the lack of in-person schooling could lead to abusive at home situations for Chilean children.
Before receiving the difficult news of her contract suspension, preschool teacher Francisca Alvear was optimistic that her and her colleagues would meet the challenge of teaching in an economically diverse school system. “We always in end find the tools to get to the students,” said Alvear. “Hang in there, because it gets better.”

author: Keith Bevacqua


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In Trinidad & Tobago, the use of Black iconography in Emancipation Day ads backfires · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Image of the clenched fist, a symbol of resistance that has come to be most closely associated with the Black Power movement, and now, with Black Lives Matter. Photo by Paul VanDerWerf via Flickr CC BY 2.0.
One of the ripple effects of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has been personal reckoning when it comes to racial bias. After a video of George Floyd's murder at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparked worldwide protests — including in the Caribbean — many have been educating themselves and confronting their privilege and now that BLM has captured widespread attention, companies are also making a point of supporting causes that advocate for racial justice.
On August 1, in Trinidad and Tobago, this desire to be seen as “woke” and in solidarity with the cause took on an interesting tenor as the country marked Emancipation Day, which commemorates the freedom of enslaved Africans in the former British West Indies.
Trinidad and Tobago, like other Caribbean territories, has a history of occupation, colonisation and slavery and in 1985, became the first independent country in the world to declare Emancipation a public holiday.
As is customary, the pages of local newspapers were filled with corporate messages acknowledging the anniversary of the abolition of slavery.
Several advertisements that missed the mark featured the symbol of the clenched fist most often associated with the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and early '70s, and now, with Black Lives Matter.
Stag, a locally brewed beer, posted an image of the fist emerging from one of its labelled bottles with the message, “Open up to freedom in every sip”:
Screenshot of Stag's Emancipation Day advertisement, taken from the brand's Facebook page.
Some commenters expressed their disappointment at the trivialisation of the importance of Emancipation, while others felt those who took offence were being “snowflakes” and “over-sensitive”.
However, the ad that struck the sourest note came from KFC, which posted an image of a drumstick whose shadow cast an image of the fist clenched in resistance. Social media exploded at the audacity of the stereotype, with many users wondering if it was even authentic.
The post (and its accompanying comments) was taken down after the outcry, but several netizens took screenshots:
KFC Trinidad deleted this ad to acknowledge Trinidad and Togabo's August 1 Emancipation Day from its social media after some well-deserved backlash. Another reason to diversify your marketing teams/organizations. It's ok to laugh to express your shock and anger. #KFC pic.twitter.com/6uw9t325OE
— deicommwhisperer (Tamara N. Stevenson) (@deicommwhisper1) August 2, 2020
Kat Brat commented:
There was a time when our ancestors weren't even given a drumstick to eat. They lived on chicken feet and whatever else the slave masters were discarding.
?
EDIT: Of course it has been removed. Now we await the bs apology and how determined they are to work with bla…ah..blah..blah
The clunkily worded apology, which used the word “recognised” three times, eventually came at 8:03 p.m. Trinidad and Tobago time — but was preceded by another tone-deaf attempt at an ad, this time with a red balloon boasting the face of Colonel Sanders rising above a bunch of inert white balloons:
KFC Trinidad and Tobago's second attempt at an Emancipation Day ad. Screenshot taken from the brand's Facebook page before it was taken down.
According to Facebook user Michael Lee Poy, who commented on the Stag ad, it comes down to intent — whether a company truly believes in the cause, or is simply looking to promote its brand and sell more product on the backs of social movements that have captured people's imaginations.
Another glaring miss came from the opposition political party the United National Congress (UNC), which posted an ad that came across much more like “All Lives Matter”:
Screenshot of the United National Congress’ Emancipation Day ad, which ran in the Express newspaper on August 1, 2020.
The use of predominantly fair-skinned children and a photo of the party's leader under the image of a pair of hands — which didn't even look Black — breaking free of shackles, succeeded only in taking away Black people's agency and trivialising their suffering 186 years later, on the very anniversary of slavery's abolition.
In the wake of such missteps, a consortium that includes the Emancipation Support Committee, the Kwame Ture Educational Institute, Rhodes Must Fall Caribbean, and the Artists’ Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago, is demanding “discussions about reparative action” with Prestige Holdings Limited, the company that owns the local KFC franchise.
The groups have not yet identified whether they will approach other companies and organisations which also produced offensive ads, but they did issue a statement on the KFC imagery, which they called “racist, derogatory and diminishing of the African Struggle for racial justice particularly in terms of the Black Power Revolution celebrating its 50th anniversary and the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement”:
This ad brings to light greater issues of the way that Africans are represented in media and how careless and flippant many media programmers are with African icons, legacy, and symbols. […]
The battle is to eliminate destructive and debased colonial stereotypes which repeatedly project our people as lazy, savage, evil, criminal, and ignorant. The battle is to ensure that Black dignity, Black heroes, heroism and even super-heroism become more commonplace in modern storytelling.
We cannot allow a major Caribbean corporate player to perpetuate demeaning images of African People at any time—and more so on a day that is sacred to us, when we pay homage to our ancestors whose sacrifice resulted in the freedoms we celebrate on Emancipation Day.
The engagement they hope for includes “a public, corporate, and advertising industry outreach component […] to ensure that such a grievous error in representation is not made again.”
When organisations try to ride the wave of a social movement, they'd better know what they're doing, because consumers can sniff out insincerity. It's why the now infamous ad — in which, by offering a police officer a can of Pepsi, Kendall Jenner diffuses a tense standoff with demonstrators — has been lampooned by Black Lives Matter protestors.
As Trinidadian photographer Maria Nunes explained on Facebook:
We are still far from free of racism and the kind of thinking that views some human beings as more entitled, more valuable, more intelligent, more worthy, than other human beings based on skin colour, where you live, what work you do, your gender identity, what clothes you wear, and on and on. [Emancipation] is a day to remember that contemporary forms of slavery exist in the world today, that human beings are still being trafficked for profit, right here in our midst, and across the world. Today is very much a day of celebration, a day of remembrance, but also a day of reflection.
There's a difference between taking a stand on pressing social issues, and regarding those issues as nothing more than a marketing opportunity.