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Spain’s “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

Various organizations have joined together to launch the “Move your money!” [es] initiative in Spain, aiming to convince citizens to transition from traditional banks, which are in large part responsible for the current economic crisis, to emerging financial institutions commonly called “ethical banks.”
The recent bailout conditions imposed on Cyprus by the troika pummeled bank savers’ confidence across Europe. The institutions that have agreed to come to Cyprus’ rescue stipulated that Cypriot bank losses be partially covered by a tax levied on those bank's biggest savers, to the tune of up to 60% on accounts that exceed 100,000 euros.
This development goes against the established precedence which until now has protected the deposits of European account holders. This decision has been widely criticized in economic circles for the capital risk it presents to peripheral countries like Spain and Italy. Both the financial instability and savers’ fears took its toll on markets after Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, of Holland, confirmed in an interview that the bailout model used in Cyprus could serve as a future model for other countries, and acknowledged that Brussels has been working for months to create new EU law to regulate these types of interventions.
Queues for Cypriot banks after the new taxes were announced. Photo from unitedexplanations.org website under license agreement CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
For years Cyprus has acted as a tax haven within the European Union as the place where Russian fortunes are concealed and laundered, inflating the country's banking sector, which grew to be a staggering eight times the country's GDP. The new stipulations deployed by the troika aim to hit Cyprus’ haven accounts but is erupting general alarm among European savors, especially those whose accounts are held in afflicted banks.
In light of this, the “Move your money!” initiative challenges:
Ahora más que nunca tenemos la oportunidad de replantearnos donde ponemos nuestro dinero, si en la banca capitalista que con sus prácticas especulativas y sus políticas abusivas ha hundido la economía de millones de personas o bien en otro tipo de banca, una banca ética y cooperativa que apuesta por la economía productiva, por la economía social y de las personas.
Now more than ever we have the opportunity to decide where we put our money. We can choose a capitalist bank with their scandalous practices and abusive politics that have worsened the economy for millions of people; or we can choose another type of bank, an ethical and coorporative bank that backs economic productivity for the collective and the individual.
The “Move your money!” logo. Taken from its homepage.
The website  explains how ethical banks work:
Los proyectos de Banca ética se basan  en una gestión totalmente transparente, en fomentar una economía real, para fomentar beneficios medioambientales y generar servicios priorizando el comercio justo y la ayuda social entre otros. Los gestores de dicha banca analizan siguiendo rigurosos criterios sus carteras de inversión y solo conceden créditos bancarios a empresas o particulares que cumplan estos rigurosos criterios de sostenibilidad, beneficio social y medioambiental.
The basis of an ethical bank is a completely transparent management style, promoting a true economy and its environmental services by prioritizing fair trade and social support amongst others. Consultants at ethical banks analyze investment portfolios under rigorous criteria and only award credit to companies or individuals who meet the criteria according to sustainable and socially benefiting standards.
The same website goes on to explain the differences between this type of banking and traditional banking:
(…) se da la paradoja, que nos manifestemos contra las guerras, nos alarmemos con el hambre en el tercer mundo, critiquemos los gobiernos dictatoriales en los países en vías de desarrollo, pero en cambio, seamos a la vez, los patrocinadores de esta situación. (…)
Nunca nos hemos preguntado, ni hemos preguntado a nuestro director de oficina, que hacen con nuestro dinero, la pregunta es, ¿cuánto me vas a dar?
(…) estamos colaborando con nuestro dinero en un 30% con el hambre en el mundo, con un 35% en la especulación con la deuda de países como Irlanda, España, Grecia, Italia o Portugal, con un 15% en guerras, y con un 20% en fomentar la diferencia entre ricos y pobres en los países emergentes.
(…) here is the paradox: we speak out against war, we advocate for hunger in third world countries, we criticize dictatorships in developing world, but in the same breath we endorse what's going on here. (…)
We have never asked and we have never held the bank managers responsible in knowing what they do with our money. So the question becomes, what are you going to give me?
(…) we put 30% of our money towards fighting hunger, 35% to the debt facing countries like Ireland, Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal, 15% to the world's wars, and 20% to fight in the income gap between rich and poor in emerging economies.
For those who wish to review the investment opportunities currently available to clients, the website infobancaetica [es] provides links to the options available in Spain's large conventional banks, which include various armament industries and harmful environmental and food source projects.
By contrast, the “Move your money!” initiative provides various institutions where one can deposit their savings after transitioning from traditional banks, such as Coop57 [es], Fiare [es] or Oikocredit [es]. Triodos Bank is the biggest ethical bank in Spain, which has not joined this initiative. The bank's deputy general, Joan Antoni Melé, provided his thoughts on the situation in a June 2011 interview[es]:
Table listing the differences between ethical and traditional banking. Taken from from the blog “Don't tell my mother I'm a broker!”
¿Con una banca ética hubiésemos padecido la crisis que padecemos?
No. Radicalmente no. El problema de la economía es que es una economía de casino, una economía puramente especulativa. Más del 95% del dinero que se mueve cada día en el mundo, detrás no hay nada, no se produce nada, es pura especulación. Esto es lo más grave.
Would the crisis have been as bad as its been had we had chosen ethical banks?
No, definitely not. The problem is that the economy is like a casino, where it is purely speculative. More than 95% of the money that is moved in the world every day, there's no reasoning behind it, it doesn't result in anything, it's pure speculation. This is what makes it so dangerous.
¿Nada ha cambiado?
La burbuja volverá a explotar porque la banca en general, pese a que ha habido que ayudarla con dinero público, sigue haciendo lo mismo: se sigue invirtiendo el dinero de la gente en productos estructurados especulativos.
(…)
Yo no quiero que un mercado decida por mí. Quiero ejercer mi libertad y me he dado cuenta de que lo puedo hacer: yo uso mi dinero de forma consciente y responsable. ¿Desde cuándo un mercado financiero, un Fondo Monetario Internacional, un Banco Central Europeo pueden controlar nuestras vidas? Esto es lo que está pasando hoy, pero es porque lo permitimos.
Has anything changed?
The bubble will ultimately burst because although there's been bailout help, the
banks, in general, have continued doing the same thing: they keep investing people's money in questionable funds.
(…)
I don't want a market deciding for me. I want to exercise my rights and have found an place that will allow me to do just that: I manage my money in a conscientious and responsible manner. Since when is a financial market, the International Monetary Fund or the Central European Bank allowed to control our lives? This is what is happening today, but only because we allow it.
Pero, ¿qué se puede hacer?
Creo que es el momento de la sociedad civil. Si quieres saber la fuerza que tiene tu dinero, vas al banco y dices que quieres sacarlo todo, ya verás como sale el director disparado. Ahí está la fuerza. No culpemos a los mercados. Es nuestra debilidad la que permite que pase esto.
What can we do about it?
In my opinion, this is a deciding moment for society as a whole. If you want to know the weight your money carries, go to a bank and say you want to withdraw everything and immediately you will see the bank manager will come rushing out. That's its strength. We can't blame the markets. It is our weakness that has allowed this to happen.

author: Lourdes Sada


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Venezuelan Elections: Chavism Wins in Close Vote · Global Voices
Luis Carlos Diaz

After more than 5 hours, the CNE (National Electoral Counsel) announced the results [es] of Venezuela's presidential elections. Candidate Nicolás Maduro, designated by Hugo Chávez as his successor, won with 50.66% of the votes. Only 230 thousand votes separated him from his opponent Henrique Capriles Radonski, who got a million more votes than in the past October elections when he lost to Chávez.
This count is still missing 1% of the election tables within Venezuela and all of the results from overseas’ votes – close to 60 thousand people. This will close the gap even more between Maduro and Capriles.
Even though the result is officially “irreversible”, the opposition team declared [es] they will not recognize it until all the votes are counted again. Also, they will ask the CNE to review the 3 thousand complaints of election irregularities that haven't been answered, some of them including electoral felonies that gave the government an advantage.
Caracas, Venezuela. April 14th, 2013. Picture by Harold Escalona, copyright Demotix
In his campaign speeches, Nicolás Maduro said he was successful in fulfilling president Chávez's legacy, who passed away in March. He also denounced that Capriles offered him a government pact. On the other side, Capriles cleared out that he will not compromise with “the trickery and corruption”. He also asked for respect for more than 49% of the electorate who supported his cause.
You can read reactions and citizen reports on Twitter under the hashtags #EleccionesVenezuela [es], #Venezuela, #Venezuelasomostodos [es] (“We are all Venezuela”) and #Maduro among others.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Luis Carlos Diaz


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Who Owns St. Lucia’s Beaches…Citizens or Celebrities? · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

St. Lucians can usually visit any beach they choose, but thanks to a recent celebrity wedding, the beach surrounding a local resort was deemed off limits, raising longstanding questions about beach access and the cost benefits of large resorts.
The catalyst to the discussion was actor Matt Damon's renewal of his wedding vows to his wife Luciana Barroso.  The event, which included several other A-list celebrities, took place at the Sugar Beach Resort near the town of Soufriere: Damon booked the entire high-end, 78-room property.  As a result, not only beach access, but also fishing activities in the area were restricted; netizens had a lot to say about the move.
In the Facebook group St. Lucians Aiming for Progress the debate was raging, with some arguing that it was no big deal, especially since the island would benefit from the international attention, while others like Iain Sandy, saw the restriction of access and bringing the island further down a slippery slope:
You know… As someone born in the Caribbean who did not appreciate what I had until I lived away from it for 30 years or so, I'll tell you that I understand those who don't get it. I've met a lot of lucians who can't remember the last time they went anywhere near the beach (or the mountains for that matter). I can tell you that I've also been in countries where the hotels have managed to own, or to make it extremely uncomfortable for locals to access beaches… and it always starts with ‘just’ one beach. It always starts with ‘you people need to understand we are getting revenue’.
Minerva Ward wondered about the priorities of those who made the decision:
What is the priority? The privacy of celebrities who visit St Lucia? The economic benefits of celebrities visiting St Lucia vs. the social cost? The possible airtime St Lucia can gain from from a celebrity visit? The economic losses to locals who are displaced or whose businesses are disrupted from a celebrity visit? The protection of our rights as St Lucians despite the perceived or potential benefits? Do we discard our constitutional rights as St Lucians to make a celebrity happy? Who makes that decision and under what law do they have that authority? What is the priority for you?
She added that if locals begin to resent the tourism industry, everyone will suffer:
There is a theory in tourism called the Index of Irritation that a tourist destination goes through: Euphoria-> Apathy-> Annoyance-> Antagonism. We have to be very careful, when we intrude on the rights of citizens, impact their income, place the desires of tourists [above] their own or not control the negative social impacts of tourism, that we do not quickly reach the stage [of] Annoyance and Antagonism. Then we will truly be shooting ourselves in the foot as the friendliness and hospitality once displayed to visitors will turn into annoyance, hostility and even possibly crimes against tourists.
Amatus Edward felt that the issue was being overblown and that the compromises being made were nothing new:
Tourism is a service organization and we are giving up alot of things to get the money. It is nothing uncommon for us to be giving up rights for the sake of money. There is no stench. We are splitting hairs.
What is a weekend? Some of you have not been to the beach in years. What [if] it was a stormy weekend? We are shooting ourselves in the foot. Grow up my sisters and brothers.
Paul Clifford felt that those who were saying the exposure would be worth it were missing the big picture:
This isn't about a few dollars compensation for fisherpeople & water taxi operators living a hand-to-mouth existence… this is about Lucians being cut out of Tourism Industry development… limited to service industry jobs, ‘managers’ of outside interests.
Leo Robinson thought that no matter what, there will always be tradeoffs:
This is nothing new. If we want to play in this business on a big scale, these are some of the inconveniences we have to deal with. There is a price to pay for everything. Nothing comes free. If we drilling for oil, we have to be prepared to deal with the pollution and the oil spills. If we attract huge sports events, we give the government the authority to shut down public roads, schools, etc. Who call the shots, not me, not you. We gave the government the authority to do that when we elect[ed] them to be custodians of the country. My right to go to the beach to build sandcastles to me is a selfish and small matter, when we dealing with the greater good for the country. There are many other beaches on which I can go and build sandcastles.
Shazi Chalon argued that areas are restricted for economic reasons in other places all the time:
The biggest money earner in New York is the movie industry…on any given day the subway, the streets, entire areas are blocked off for the movie crew and actors from a people who value their freedom of movement, without any complaints from the citizens of the Big Apple!!!
Leigh Allain felt that not enough notice was given for the restrictions:
None of us would be talking about this if the Soufriere population was told in advance. If locals were informed early no one would care because everyone would have had more than enough time to make other plans. Everyone would right now be wishing the happy couple the best and thanks for the publicity and early notice of their plans. Imagine planning and paying a guide to trail the Pitons and only upon arrival you find [it's] boarded up because someone is making a movie or documentary? The REAL DANGER AND THREAT is that this is just the tip of the iceberg which someday will mean the Pitons, National Park and beaches will all be fenced up and guarded from locals and foreigners unless they pay and I don't mean small fees but hotel day passes etc. Traveling abroad I learn[ed] to appreciate just driving to the beach and having a good time in St.Lucia without going through a hotel and security, which only happens after I shell out money.
Gerry George said that the beach closure was less of an issue than, the protocol that was needed:
It should be perfectly ok to close off the beach whenever and wherever required. HOWEVER, there should be a standardized and clear procedure for doing so. This should involve consultation and notices to the potential affected persons (stakeholders), and payment of the necessary licenses and permits to the relevant stakeholders. There would also be compensation if necessary for those disadvantaged (whose livelihoods will be negatively impacted). Those compensation levels would be negotiated and handled also by the relevant custodians. They should also be made to comply with the standard requirements of crowd gatherings…emergency requirements, police/security presence, etc. The point is that there may be times when resources (streets, etc) may be made unavailable to the general public, and there should be rules and procedures by which this is done. This has noting to do with celebrity status, and so we should not rely on adhoc rules made up on the spot. Also, the hotel should not be the one to make the decision of closing the beach, [nor] should [it] be the one [to] profit from its closure (a guest paying them to close it) at their discretion, as the beach is not their exclusive property.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Addressing Malaysia’s Debt Load · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Economist Nurhisham Hussein analyzes Malaysia's debt burden. With respect to public debt, he proposes to rationalize government subsidies in order to reduce deficit. The author warns against rising low income household debt which he notes are increasingly provided through the non-bank sector.

author: Mong Palatino


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Apply for World Summit Youth Award · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Apply now for the World Summit Youth Award if you produce digital content related to the UN Millennium Development Goals and are under 30 years old.

author: Solana Larsen


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Beer & Twitter Prove Toxic Mix for Russian Journalist · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

Trains are a cheap and reliable way to get around Russia, particularly compared to the country's famously poor roads. Russia is a big country and journeys between cities can take hours (or even days). Given these difficulties, it is not uncommon for some passengers to have a drink or two to pass the time. Sometimes people can overdo it. According to a Russian police statement [ru], this is exactly what happened on an overnight train from Saratov to Moscow on April 11, 2013, when law enforcement officers ejected and detained Svetlana Lokotkova, a journalist with the independent magazine The New Times, after reports that “a passenger in a state of alcohol intoxication was disturbing the general peace.”
Lokotkova, an election observer who had traveled to Saratov to testify at an enquiry into the disputed October 2012 election for the regional parliament, was quick to hit back, informing a correspondent [ru] from Ekho Moskvy that she had called the police herself, due to the unwanted attention of a male passenger, but that the police instead arrested her:
за руки-ноги схватили, в полицейский участок буквально бросили. Когда пыталась пройти, буквально прищемляли руку дверью, у меня все руки в синяках, обзывались, оскорбляли.
They grabbed me by the arms and legs and literally threw me into the police station. When I tried to go past, they literally pinched my arm with the door, my whole arm is in bruises. They called me names and insulted me.
Lakotkova later posted pictures on her Facebook [ru] and Twitter [ru] accounts, showing the injuries she claimed to have received at the hands of the police.
Some were quick to jump to her defense. Twitter user tsarfree wrote (employing a hashtag for Lokotkova's surname):
#Локоткова стала жертвой провокации. Она должна была свидетельствовать в суде по выборам в Саратовской обл.
#Lokotkova has become a victim of a political provocation. She was supposed to give evidence in a court on the elections in the Saratov Region.
Despite her claims, Lokotkova's credibility was somewhat diminished, when pro-Putin television station NTV aired “amateur footage” [ru] of Lokotkova in the police station.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QSes5VWR8Uo
In the film, Lokotkova appears unsteady on her feet, irritable, and slurs her words. In the report, NTV also reproduced two tweets [ru] from Lokotkova's account dated just before the incident.
Саратовцы нравятся все больше и больше. Опять потрясяющее гостеприимство (предс ТИК Иноземцеву не считаем), опять в поезде угощают #саратов
I like Saratov's inhabitants more and more. Once again outstanding hospitality (apart from Electoral Commission head Inozemtzev), once again being treated [by others] on the train. #saratov
лечусь от дичайшей простуды в поезде #саратов-мск, 2й вагон. народными методами. саратовцы супер))))
Recovering from the worst cold on the train #saratov-moscow, 2nd train car. Using traditional methods. Saratov people are great :)
The NTV announcer inflects his reading of Lokotkova's tweets with an ironic pronunciation of “outstanding hospitality,” “being treated,” and “traditional methods,” implying (rather plausibly) that Lokotkova did not, as she maintains, abstain from liquor while on the train. This was an opinion that LiveJournal user Fish12a seemed to share:
Хорошо, что наша полиция научилась снимать своих клиентов на видео.
Дабы вранье неполживых журналистов было видно сразу же.
Уж лучше бы она молчала. Потому что видео появилось на тв в ответ на обвинения журналистки в “провокациях” и “зверстве полиции”.
It's good that our police have learnt to film their clients on video. That way the lies of disingenuous journalists are immediately apparent. She should have kept quiet, because the video was shown on TV in answer to the journalist's [own] accusations of “provocation” and “police brutality.”
Ironically, Lokotkova's attempts to paint herself as the victim of excessive police force and political provocation seem to have failed because the authorities utilized two of the opposition's most beloved tools: smartphone cameras and Twitter.
Lokotkova faces a 15-day administrative detention penalty for “minor hooliganism,” and it remains to be seen whether this will affect her planned return to Saratov, where she is scheduled to testify again in election fraud hearings today, April 16.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Chinese React to Boston Marathon Explosions · Global Voices
Abby Liu

US's quick reaction to the Boston Marathon explosions have Chinese netizens imagining how the Chinese government would react to such a situation in China. Offbeat China has translated some comments from Sina Weibo.

author: Abby Liu


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Chinese Social Web Foils Censors to Honor Reformer Hu Yaobang · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Chinese Web users skirted the country's tough Internet censors to pay homage to former communist party leader and popular reformer Hu Yaobang, whose death 24 years ago sparked the Tiananmen Square protests.
Hu's support for free market reforms and more government transparency during his time as the Chinese Communist Party’s General Secretary from 1982 to 1987 were welcomed by many Chinese, but made him the enemy of some powerful party leaders.
Since his death, Hu, who was purged from the communist party, has remained a taboo subject in China. Despite his official rehabilitation by the Chinese government in 2005, Hu's name is still blocked on China’s most popular microblogging site Sina Weibo.
A search his name on Weibo returned no results on April 15, it says:
根据相关法律法规和政策，“胡耀邦”搜索结果未予显示。
According to related laws and policies, search results for “Hu Yaobang” cannot be relayed.
However, Web users tried to circumvent the censors by adding a space or candle symbols amid the three Chinese characters of his name. Some web users simply quote Hu or light virtual candles without mentioning him by name.
And some state media unexpectedly joined in the remembrance. China’s state-controlled Liberation Daily ran a eulogy [zh] of Hu, which was shared thousands of times on Weibo:
Cartoon artist “Jiao Yantian” created a cartoon of Hu Yaobang (picture from Sina Weibo)
在中国改革到了需要狠推一步、击一猛掌的新的历史时刻，缅怀耀邦，有很强烈的现实意义。纪念胡耀邦，就要像他那样，锐意改革，勇于创新。
Commemorating Yaobang is of great practical significance at a time when China needs to take further steps in reform and venture into another chapter in history. As we remember Hu Yaobang, we should, just like him, have the determination to reform and the courage to innovate.
Lawyer Xu Xin quoted [zh] Hu:
想起他曾说：贪污腐化，以权谋私能否制止，关系到党的生死存亡；要用最大的决心、最大的毅力、最大的韧性，狠狠地抓，坚持到底；抓这件事不能讨好，不能怕得罪人。
I remember he said: “Whether corruption and abuse of power can be stopped is essential to the life and death of the party; we should try the greatest determination perseverance and toughness to deal with this issue, until the end; To deal with this issue, we cannot please people, or be afraid of offending people.
Cartoonist “Jiao Yantian” created a cartoon of Hu and commented [zh]:
说真话人民知音,办实事一代伟人！
Speak the truth and you earn the friendship of the people, do real things and you are great for a generation.
Even Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times, weighed in [zh]:
我们应有还原历史的勇气。我们应有跳出过去是是非非的心胸。我们应有从过去汲取走向未来的力量和智慧的能力。在耀邦逝世周年的日子里，怀念并思考。
We should have the courage to restore history. We should learn from the past, and walk towards the future with strength and wisdom. The anniversary of Hu Yaobang's death, we commemorate and reflect.
Some users used his comment as a springboard for comparisons between Hu’s era and today’s China.
Web user “Tan Feizi” wrote [zh]:
胡耀邦时代是中国历史上相对比较宽容开明的时代。那时的年轻人都很关心国家大事，热衷于讨论哲学问题，也是整个中国社会欣欣向荣的时代。相比而言，在思想上和社会的宽容上比之于现在要好很多。
Hu Yaobang’s time was a relatively tolerant and liberal era in the history of China when young people were very concerned about national affairs and keen to discuss philosophical questions. Chinese society as a whole was thriving then. It was much better than today in terms of ideology and social tolerance.
Another web user “0931_Lee” pointed out [zh] the lack of great leaders in China since Hu's death:
二十四年了 你为之奋斗了一生的国家 变的越来越差 到目前为止再也没有出现过像你和赵公那样伟大的人物 你像灯塔一样在指引着我们 永远怀念您。
Twenty-four years. The country you fought a lifelong for is getting worse. So far there have not been any great man like you and Zhao Ziyang. You guide us like a lighthouse, we will always remember you.


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Guyana: Smelly City  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A canal in the capital smells so rancid “it can kill a nation”.  Guyana-Gyal smelled it and lived to tell the tale.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Indian Anti-Corruption Activist May Make Time’s Most Influential List · Global Voices
Chirag Sutar

Five days into his fast in protest of hiked utility prices, Indian anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal was announced as a contender for the 2013 TIME 100 Poll, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Kejriwal's nomination for the list prompted an outpouring of enthusiasm from his supporters.
Kejriwal's fifteen-day fast, which lasted from March 23 to April 6, 2013, was in protest against the unfair rise in electricity and water prices in Delhi. Kejriwal spent his fast in Delhi’s impoverished neighborhood Sundar Nagari, where many of the residents had received electricity bills disproportionate to their actual use.
In late 2012, Kejriwal had launched an anti-corruption political party called Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, or “Party of the Common Man”). During Kejriwal's fast, AAP volunteers collected signatures from people pledging not to pay their inflated electricity bills; by the end of Kejriwal's fast, over one million people had signed AAP's petition. The consensus letters are due to be submitted to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit for the second time on April 28, 2013.
Arvind Kejriwal on the 15th day of his fast in Delhi's Sundar Nagari. Photo: Manish Sisodia, Member Aam Aadmi Party. Used with permission
The activist-turned-politician called this movement “Civil Disobedience.” One of the main purposes of his fast was “to remove fear from the minds of Delhi's citizens”, as many people in India are believed to be afraid of raising their voices against corruption. According to Kejriwal, the unfair rise in electricity prices and the inflated electricity bills were the results of corruption led by a corporate-political nexus.
For many, the impact of Arvind Kejriwal's fast and his recognition by TIME magazine were reflective of his growing influence in India’s political discourse. Those who have been following Kejriwal's past as a social activist emphasized that Kejriwal was not an overnight hero. For instance, one of his significant contributions as an activist was the campaign to establish the Right To Information (RTI) Act in India, which was passed by the Delhi Assembly in 2001 and was eventually passed by the Indian parliament in 2005. Today, the RTI Act is used by many activists in India to keep tabs on corruption in government offices.
The Delhi-area blogger Aditya Pranav highlighted Kejriwal's previous contributions, writing on his blog on April 12:
Some people believe that Arvind Kejriwal has turned into a crusader overnight. It is a must watch video [hi] for them for they would then realize that the movement they are now seeing has been evolving for many years. This was about the taxpayer’s money being looted in the name of various urban developmental activities shown on paper with very little or nothing being done actually. You would see how they went on to organize a first Jan Sunwayi or public hearing of its kind wherein thousands of people including locals, journalists, MLA, Mayor and people from various social organizations gathered.
The 2013 TIME 100 Most Influential poll was open for voting from March 28 to April 12, 2013. During the voting period, the enthusiasm among Kejriwal's social media supporters was noteworthy. According to the poll results, Arvind Kejriwal received 91.51% positive votes. By the end of the TIME 100 voting period, a total of 124,769 people had voted on Arvind Kejriwal, with only 8.49% of the voters rating him as not influential.
Young people appeared more appreciative and fearless in expressing their opinions online. On April 11, Ishwar Kandpal (@ishwarkandpal) [hi], a self-proclaimed supporter of Kejriwal and the AAP, tweeted to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of India:
मुझे गर्व है अरविन्द केजरीवाल ने विश्व भर के चुनिन्दा 100 लोगो में जगह बनाई !
I feel proud that Arvind Kejriwal has made a mark among the 100 most influential people in the world.
On March 28, another AAP supporter, Somu Kumar (@adivasi), opined that voting for Kejriwal was equivalent to voting for anti-corruption in India:
A vote for Arvind Kejriwal in 2013 #TIME100 list is a vote for India's anti-corruption movement. Please vote!
The Indian news media was not spared from criticism: an AAP supporter writing under the name of Bharat Builder (@bharat_builder) chided the Indian media for not recognizing Arvind Kejriwal’s work. He tweeted on April 12:
Listen Indian media, Arvind Kejriwal and decentralization is the idea whose time has come. @Time knows it, you don't!
Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal took the plunge into electoral politics, promising to give the country a party of the people. Image by Rohit Gautam. Copyright Demotix (2/10/2012)
AAP supporter Jyoti Shankar Jha (@Jyotishankarjha) [hi] was rather sarcastic in calling for those on Twitter to vote for Kejrawal. On April 11, he wrote:
मत देना अरविन्द को वोट TIME के इस पोल में रिश्वत नहीं लेता,एक भी दंगा नहीं करवाया,ना मारपीट करवाई. फिर क्यों दे वोट ?
Please don't vote for Arvind Kejriwal – he doesn't take bribes, he has not participated in a single riot, nor has he ever incited people to be violent.
However, there were some who felt that India, given its population size, could have done far better in supporting Arvind Kejriwal in the TIME 100 poll. Another of Arvind Kejriwal's supporters, Hemant Verma (@hemantverma007), opined:
We are 1250000000 Indians and we don’t have 1250000 vote Arvind Kejriwal
Other bloggers noted that inclusion in the TIME 100 poll is only intended to measure a person's influence. Freak-o-litics, a “political junkie” blogger who discusses Indian politics, wrote in an April 9 post:
One important thing to keep in mind is that these candidates chosen are simply the most influential people in the world but doesn’t necessarily mean in a positive way – as Time clearly points out: Although appearing on the list is frequently mistaken as an honor, these sets of people are recognized for changing the world, for better or for worse.
Interestingly, there have not been many Indian political leaders featured in previous TIME 100 polls. In 2012, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi was one of the hopefuls. However, he attracted more negative votes than positive votes.
The voting for the The 2013 TIME 100 Most Influential poll is now closed, and the final list is expected to be released on April 18, 2013.
This post was proofread in English by Molly Allison-Baker.

author: Chirag Sutar


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Malaysian Students Can Learn Math Online · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Edunation is a volunteer driven non-profit educational initiative whose mission is to provide a complete educational online resource for every Malaysian primary and secondary school student. It has already created and uploaded learning videos on math, science, economics, language and other subjects in the Malaysian school curriculum.


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Venezuela’s Post-election Tension Escalates  · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

[Links are to Spanish-language pages except where noted.]
The election results [en] following the death of Hugo Chávez, in which Nicolás Maduro and Henrique Capriles Radonski measured the support of their followers, is at the heart of mounting tension.
Just as Maduro was being declared the new President of the Republic, calls for public protests and an election recount were multiplying across social networks. In a matter of hours, photos of demonstrations, tweets in support of both candidates, and complaints about voting irregularities dominated Twitter's trending topics in Venezuela. The journalist Inti Acevedo (@inti) commented:
@inti: La situación en Venezuela tiende a ponerse más compleja con las horas, muchísimos rumores (no confirmados) de mil situaciones distintas.
@inti: The situation in Venezuela is getting more complicated by the hour, many rumours (unconfirmed) of a thousand different incidents.
Meanwhile, from Caracas, Liliana Ochoa (@liliob) shared a picture that shows deployment of military troops.
@liliob: La autopista fco fajardo esta asi justo ahora. Foto por @andreavmm18 pic.twitter.com/DnXydf67wf”
@liliob: The fco highway (Francisco Fajardo) looks like this right now. Photo by @andreavmm18 pic.twitter.com/DnXydf67wf”
Photo from @andreavmm18, shared on Twitter by @liliob
At the same time in Valencia, Anaÿs La Riva uploaded this photo in her Facebook profile:
Protest in Valencia. Photo shared by Anaÿs La Riva in her Facebook profile
A little while later, Hugo Londoño (@huguito) reported from his Twitter account:
@huguito: En Venezuela, en este momento el CNE [Consejo Nacional Electoral] proclama a Maduro como presidente, hay disturbios y protestas en centro CNE del país, suenan cacerolas
@huguito: In Venezuela, at this very moment the CNE [National Electoral Council] has declared Maduro president; there are demonstrations and protests in the country's CNE headquarters, the banging of pots
Tomás Fernández (@Tomasnomas29) shared several reports of violence in the morning and throughout the day in the city of Mérida, in the western part of the country, after the arrival of groups known as “Tupamaros”:
@Tomasnomas29: AUXILIOOO en el liceo libertador PORFAVOR!! Difundanlo! Los tupamaros no dejan hacer el conteo! Que esto llegue a toda Venezuela! DIFUNDE
@Tomasnomas29: HEEELP us in the liceo (high school) libertador PLEASE!! Please spread! The Tupamaros are preventing a ballot count! Get the word out across Venezuela! SPREAD IT
Sebastiana Barráez (@SebastianaB) also reported:
@SebastianaB: En Tachira hay tanquetas en la calle, en Merida los Tupamaros salieron a amedrentar, en Barinas hay protestas en la calle
@SebastianaB: In Tachira there are armoured vehicles in the street; in Merida the Tupamaros are going around intimidating; in Barinas there are protests in the street
In the coming hours, more calls to action and street protests are expected from both sides. The hashtags citizens are using to inform and comment can be seen in Venezuela's trending topics on Twitter: #CaprilesGanóTibisayMintió; #ElPuebloHablóMaduroGanó; #NicolásElDerrotadoEresTú; #CacerolazoALas8; #ConteoVotoPorVotoYA; y Mañana al CNE.

author: Laura Vidal


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Residents Displaced by Brazilian Power Plant Struggle to Earn Living · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

This story by Ana Aranha was originally titled Vidas em Trânsito (“Lives in Transit”) and is part of Brazilian investigative journalism agency Pública's special coverage #AmazôniaPública, which reports on the impact of mega-construction projects in the Amazon along the Madeira river in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The story will be published in a series of five posts on Global Voices Online.
Previous post: Construction Project Fuels Sex and Violence in Brazilian Amazon
Next post: Displaced Residents Accuse Brazilian Power Plant of False Promises
In the first article of this series, Agência Pública reported on the social chaos that has taken over a fishing town in the Madeira river region due to the Jirau Dam construction project. Leaving the dusty streets of Jaci Parana 15 kilometers further down the national highway, the village of New Mutum Parana stands in stark contrast with Jaci.
The only similarity with Jaci is the group of [working] men in uniform at the bus stop at the end of the day [coming from the construction site]. But in New Mutum Parana, all the roads are paved. There are sidewalks and large roundabouts with lawns planted in the center. Everything is planned and symmetrical. There is a commercial zone and a residential one, which holds 1,600 houses in different blocks. In each block, the houses are identical and so are the lawns separating them.
A deserted street in Nova Mutum Parana, a village built by the Jirau power plant, which contrasts with Jaci's demographic explosion. Photo: Marcelo Min
New Mutum Parana was planned and built by Energia Sustentável (Sustainable Energy) to house the engineers and officers of Jirau – workers that bring their families with them to the Brazilian state where they are working. Instead of folk music and bare stomachs, pregnant women and little children appear at the front doors of their homes as the men make their way towards the bus stop.
The largest part of the village is occupied by workers. At the entrance, there is an area reserved for the 150 families brought from Old Mutum Parana, a village of river dwellers that was removed to flood the area for the power plant. The community had around 400 families, and the majority of inhabitants chose to receive the compensation.
New Mutum is the apple of the eyes of Energia Sustentavel's social corporate responsibility advertisements. Ads about sustainability are spread around town and stay side by side with pictures showing river dwellers and workers, always accompanied by the company’s seal.
But after walking around for a few minutes with no one in sight, the question is unavoidable: Where is everyone?
“The houses are really pretty, but what about our existence?”, asks Rovaldo Herculino Batista, a river dweller who sold the house he received from the power plant company because he did not find a job in Nova Mutum:
Não adianta fazer a cidade maravilhosa, a Nova Jerusalém, se você tira a pessoa do seu lugar, onde tem seu trabalho e vida. Como vamos ganhar dinheiro?
Batista couldn't adapt himself to the village built by the power plant company and went back to the riverside. Photo: Marcelo Min
In Old Mutum – the river dwellers’ way of referring to their old community – they fished, mined and performed other types of jobs. Batista used to work as a miner and he had a place with a bunch of scrap metal where he dismantled the abandoned dredgers to sell the pieces. His wife used to sell fruits and vegetables throughout the community in a handcart. Money wasn't a problem for the family.
After they were displaced, they got a little grocery store, but the neighbors didn't have the same income anymore to buy [from the store]. The scrap metal place was gone, so was the access to fishing. Batista intensified his travels to the mining area, but it became hard to balance the bills at the new house, with six children and three grandchildren. Besides the fact that the products were more expensive at the local market, the electricity bill was outrageous. In the three months before giving up his “New Jerusalem”, Batista received [electricity] bills of 629, 671, and 547 Brazilian reais (318, 339, and 276 US dollars).
It is ironic. The inhabitants most affected by the construction of one of the biggest power plants in the country are obliged to pay one of the most expensive electricity fees. Plus, a monthly payment of 19 reais (around 9.5 US dollars) for public lighting.


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“Wanted Dead or Alive”: Slovak PM Dodges Court Summons · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

Robert Fico served his first term as Slovakia's Prime Minister from 2006 to 2010, then spent two years in the opposition, and was re-appointed as the PM in April 2012. In 2011, during his gap years from premiership, Fico – being fully aware “of all the legal consequences” – said [sk] that his successor (and, later, his predecessor), PM Iveta Radičová, was “incompetent, a liar, and suspected to have been involved in corruption.”
Radičová sued Fico, demanding an apology for his statement, but he has been ignoring the trial [sk] for a whole year now, and even the police cannot find the PM's address to serve him court summons.
According to the population register, Fico does not exist officially (probably for security reasons). Judge Michaela Králová approached the district police headquarters to have the mail delivered to Fico's last known address. The police discovered that although the nameplate on the door still said “Fico,” the PM's apartment had been sold and the new owner (who happens to be Fico's nephew) claimed he did not know the PM's current residential address. (A few months ago, however, Fico announced publicly [sk] that he had moved to a luxury residence, Bonaparte, located near Bratislava Castle.) The police then sent a notice by mail to the Cabinet Office, but they refused to accept it there.
Robert Fico during the 2010 parliamentary elections. Photo by Tomas to-mas Halasz, copyright © Demotix (12/06/10).
Radičová, who had returned to Slovakia from Oxford because of the trial, called the situation “a comedy.”
Fico's spokesman said the claims that “it was not possible to deliver something to one of the most public people in Slovakia” were “ridiculous.”
A recent sighting of the PM occurred at a melodramatic prime time TV show. Gabor Grendel, a former journalist and ex-spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior, wrote [sk]:
When it comes to a TV show that features poignant human stories, there is absolutely no problem delivering an invitation to Robert Fico. But once it is the court that's looking for him to explain his remarks, for which he is sued by Iveta Radičová, suddenly there is no one in the Cabinet Office who could take his summons.
Peter Jankovič, of the civic association “Stop Alibismus” [sk], addressed Fico [sk] mockingly:
[…] due to the recent events, I would kindly ask you to dismiss the Minister of the Interior Robert Kaliňák from his post as soon as possible. […] The employees of his resort are unable to deliver even ordinary mail from the court and not even to the state's most famous citizen, who, moreover, is not hiding. […]
Ján Macek wrote [sk]:
If the cops are mentally okay, I wonder if it is normal that Slovakia has a person whose address they cannot find as the PM.
Tomáš Bosák wrote [sk]:
I would like to remind the judge of the District Court in Pezinok that Fico is in the Cabinet Office and has enough time to participate in a TV show. Similarly, he could have found the time to accept the [court summons] and to finally come to the hearing with ex-PM Radičová. But the Prime Minister has always tended to behave like a child whose toys have been taken away.
Below are some of the comments to this SME article [sk] on the situation.
User Najsocialnejsi.Financny.Zralok.z.J&T.Fico wrote [sk]:
Last week [Fico] was screaming that there was no rule of law in Slovakia. Right now I do not know whether he was complaining or praising his own work.
User Hlava81 wrote [sk]:
It is contempt for the judiciary. What kind of country is this, where the Prime Minister ignores laws. […] How do they expect citizens to abide by the laws?
User Dana Bobeková wrote [sk]:
What is the difference between the PM and a member of the Mafia? None. Neither one agrees to accept mail. :)
User a boľševizmus musí byť zničený!!! alluded [sk] to Fico's passion for luxury items – and to the recording of Fico's 2002 secret speech that was made public before the 2010 election, in which “a voice similar to Fico's” said he had made millions “with his own head” (GV wrote about it here):
That's why I recommend: Announce that in the building of the court free Rolex watches will be distributed. […] He will come – with his own head.
User Kasi wrote [sk]:
[…] Maybe it is necessary to give [the court summons] to him at the live press conference.
User logikanepusti wrote [sk]:
[…] How about having Interpol search for him?
User appleVSsamsung commented [sk] on Fico's academic credentials:
Do you think that a juris doctor and even a PhD has those degrees just for fun? It took him a piece of hard work to learn how to cheat the system :D
User mirsa wrote [sk]:
And who would now claim that we are all equal before the law? The Prime Minister as a lawyer does not believe it, either, and behaves accordingly.
User vskiper wrote [sk]:
[It's] great to live in a country where the police cannot find the PM ;))
User Chytrak wrote [sk]:
“Wanted Dead or Alive” notes should be posted […].

author: Tibor Blazko


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Before Trial, Navalny Nominated as Russia’s “Political Enlightener” · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

As Alexey Navalny is gearing up for his embezzlement show-trial in Kirov (the original trial date of April 17 was moved to April 24 at the request of his defense team, to the chagrin of dozens of journalists, bloggers, and activists who descended on the regional town), there is at least one silver lining: on April 11 he made it on the short-list of the Russian “socio-political media” award Politprosvet [ru] (literally “Political Enlightenment”).
An artist's impression of Alexey Navalny being politically enlightening. Remixed by author using “Alexey Navalny” by Mitya Aleshkovsky, May 26, 2012. CC 2.0
The 700,000 ruble prize (approximately 22,000 USD), should Navalny win it, would surely come as a welcome offset of his legal fees. It is awarded by the “Liberal Mission” Fund since 2011, and its goals are described on the award website [ru] as:
[…] привлечь внимание общества к журналистам, публицистам и блогерам, которые своими публикациями вносят вклад в политическое просвещение россиян и систематически проясняют текущую ситуацию в России и в мире.
[…] bringing public attention to journalists, publicists, and bloggers who through their publications contribute to political enlightenment of Russians and systematically clarify the current situation in Russian and the world.
The “Liberal Mission” Fund was founded in 2000 [ru], in order to promote “liberal ideology” and provide a forum for “liberal economists” and other who support market reforms. (As usual, one must note that in the Russian context “liberal” ideology does not refer to the usual western concept of social liberalism, but rather to the belief in the free market, exemplified, for instance, by the Washington Consensus.) The Fund is run by Higher School of Economics’ Yevgeny Yasin [ru] and his daughter, economist and activist, Irina Yasina [ru]. Yasin is also on the panel of judges, along with Afisha's Yuri Saprykin and physicist Sergei Shpilkin, who won the award last year [ru] for a series of articles on statistical modeling of the Russian elections published in a local newspaper [ru] based in Troitsk, a small Moscow suburb [Go hometown! -A.T.]. In 2011 the winners were [ru] the poet Dmitry Bykov and artist Mikhail Efremov for their project “Citizen Poet.”
Looking at this year's short list [ru], it becomes apparent that any mention of bloggers in Politprosvet's mission statement is largely lip service — most of the 25 nominees are journalists and newspaper columnists. There is Ilya Azar, for example, a Lenta.ru correspondent nominated for a series of interviews, and the opposition darling Kseniya Sobchak, also in for a series of interviews in Snob.ru. There are columnists from Slon.ru, Vedomosti, Orthodoxy and the World, the New Times, Novaya Gazeta, and so on.
Three of the nominees, however, do stand out from the crowd. One is Navalny, “for publications in the blog navalny.livejournal.com [ru].” While no further details are given, presumably he was nominated for his anti-corruption blogging. Another is Maxim Katz, who blogs about Russian urban development and policy at maxkatz.livejournal.com [ru]. Like Navalny, Katz is a member of the Coordinating Council of the Opposition (although he has threatened to leave in the past). The third interesting nominee is Maria Alekhina, the imprisoned member of Pussy Riot, who is not a blogger per se, but whose letters from prison were nevertheless distributed through blogs.
Some bloggers criticized even the few non-journalist nominees. For example, Arkadiy Babchenko wondered [ru] what makes Alekhina more special than the people languishing in pre-trial confinement for involvement in last year's protest turned violent:
Почему вообще нельзя было в этом году просто отойти от правил и присудить премию 24-м главным политпросветителям нашей с вами страны, которые сейчас, вот в данный момент, за это самое политпросвещение уже ровно год сидят в СИЗО?
Why couldn't they simply disregard the rules this year and give the award to to 24 main political enlighteners of our country, who right now, right this minute, are in jail for this political enlightenment for just about a year.
Although he is not yet in prison, Navalny is probably the highest profile nominee, and seems to be a clear favorite to win come May, when the panel makes its choice. As Stanislav Yakovlev wryly noted [ru]:
Навальный там вполне на своем месте; при том, что именно он, видимо, и победит. А как еще – проиграет что ли? Во-первых: кому? Во-вторых: накануне суда? Это дважды скандал […]
Navalny is there in his own place; considering that he will probably be the one to win. How else – will he lose or something? First: to whom? Second: right before the trial? That's a double scandal […]

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Blood on the Road to Pakistan’s Elections  · Global Voices
Salman Latif

This post is part of our Special Coverage Pakistan Votes 2013.
A suicide bombing, a grenade attack and a remote-controlled explosion – all in one day.
Nineteen people were killed in three separate incidents targeting candidates of three different political parties. April 16, 2013 was a bloody day for Pakistan's election campaigners.
Samad Khurram (@SamadK), an active Twitter user from Pakistan said:
@SamadK: Ghulam Bilour (ANP), Sanaullah Zehri (PML-N) and Zulfiqar Afghani (PPP) attacked today. Can we have elections in this environment?
A suicide bomber struck the secular and largely Pashtun Awami National Party's (ANP) election rally in northwestern Peshawar, killing 15 people. Another 50 were injured, including the party's stalwart Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the bombing, which is the sixth attack on the secular party's leaders and candidates in the last month. Earlier this month, Taliban militants warned voters from staying away from polls and vowed to step up attacks against secular politicians.
Violence in South Waziristan: Election office of independent candidate Abdul Khaliq blown up by militants. Image courtesy Pak Votes (11/4/2013)
The ANP is one of the few political parties to have openly condemned the Taliban in Pakistan. Marvi Sirmed (@MarviSirmed), who is a prominent social activist, tweeted:
@MarviSirmed: Salute to #ANP for still standing up to terrorist of #TTP and all their supporters wherever they are #Media #politicalParties #establishment.”
Bilour's brother, another party leader was killed in a suicide bombing late last year.
Hoor F. Khan (@HooviK), a 23-year-old supporter of the political party Pakistan Tehrik-e- Insaaf (PTI) tweeted:
@HooviK: How much more pain will the #Bilours endure? vote nai dena, na dou, jan tho na lo zalmo [if you don't want to vote, don't, stop taking lives you cruel people]  #ANP #PTI #PPP #PMLN
The ANP has now issued instructions for its candidates to restrict their electioneering and avoid “holding processions and public gatherings in the open.”
This is a screenshot from Pakvotesmap.pk highlighting incidents of elections-related violence. Used with permission of Pak Votes
In the same city, a grenade was thrown at a Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) candidate Zulfiqar Afghani's house, luckily no one was injured.  Pak Votes, a citizen journalism initiative documenting and mapping election related violence on a Ushahidi platform tweeted:
@Pak Votes: Hand-grenade attack on Peshawar NA-1 PPP candidate Zulfiqar Afghani. No one harmed in the attack #PakVotes
Earlier in the day, Pakistan Muslim League (N) candidate Sanaullah Zehri's convoy was bombed by remote control, killing four in southwestern Khuzdar city, Balochistan province. Zehri escaped unhurt but his son, nephew and brother died in the attack.
A separatist group the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Commenting on the attacks, Political analyst Adnan Rasool (@adnanrasool) stated:
@adnanrasool: First it was Sanaullah Zehri who lost family .. then it was Ghula Bilour who narrowly escaped an attack.. we need to be united against terror.
These attacks are a rather grim premonition of the elections which are still three weeks away. They also put the nature of these elections in question, with many citing that in such circumstances, free and fair elections seem virtually impossible. Pakistani journalist and columnist Huma Yusuf (@HumaYusuf) tweets:
@HumaYusuf: For those who say militancy is a fringe problem in #Pakistan; is it still fringe if it skews election results? #PakVotes #ANP #Peshawar
Pakistan's elections, the first democratic transition of power in the political history of the country, are scheduled for May 11, 2013.

author: Salman Latif


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Book Reveals Documents from Pinochet Era · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

In the website Chileno, a place for discussion, debate and opinion, Ramona Wadi reviews a book by Chilean authors Carlos Dorat Guerra and Mauricio Weibel Barahona:
Asociación Ilícita: los archivos secretos de la dictadura (Ceibo Ediciones, 2012) examines documents which for some reason, failed to be destroyed by the CNI in 1988 prior to the transition period.
[…]
Perhaps the significance of this book lies in the fact that it is yet another sliver in Chilean memory elucidating the callous ideology behind the committed atrocities.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Chatting with Marianna Breytman, Global Voices Translator · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

During the Global Voices Summit en Nairobi, Kenya, I met some (relatively) new Global Voices collaborators. One of them was Marianna Breytman, who translates posts from Spanish into English, making her an avid reader of the content published by the authors from Latin America [es] and Spain [es] at Global Voices in Spanish.
I spoke to her informally and you can see (and hear) her in the video below talking about Global Voices, translations and languages:
Since then we have been in contact via email, through which we spoke about the following:
Juan Arellano: You recently crossed the mark of 100 translated GV posts. Was this, in a way, a goal you set for yourself when you started?
Marianna Breytman: No. The truth is that when I started with Global Voices, I didn't know where it would take me. I was just doing the translations because it was something I liked doing. It was fun, as I mentioned to you in Nairobi. But with each translation, I was learning more and more about the organization and its importance in the world of journalism. The goal of 100 posts came about when my 2nd anniversary with GV was approaching (in March 2013) and I wanted to translate 100 posts before then. Well, my 2nd anniversary came on March 18 and a few days later, I translated my 100th post, so I almost made it!
MB: The translations that have an impact on me are the ones that take place in places I have been. I remember a post that Ariel [Moreno] had written about the “red devils” [es] in Panamá right when I had taken my trip there. I knew that I had to translate that post because I had just had that experience of seeing them all over the city.
There is another post I recall by Robert [Valencia] about the protests in Brooklyn following Kimani Gray's death [es]. I didn't even know that this was happening in my own city until I took on the translation.
Nonetheless, the translation that has affected me the most was not for GV, but rather for a GV'er — Elaine Díaz Rodríguez. When Elaine had been denied her visa to come to the U.S. (*), she published a post [es] on her blog with her reaction to what had happened. She wanted to spread the word and I told her immediately that I would translate it. I was so sad upon reading her touching story and learning more about her situation, since she was my colleague and friend, that I was inspired to do the best translation I could. At that moment, I realized the importance of doing translations to give a voice to people who want to tell their stories to the rest of the world. That is why I love what I do.
MB: Everyone asks me this and I still don't have a good answer! I have been studying Spanish for many, many years, since I was a little girl in elementary school, but I think that the first time I really became interested in it was when I was in the 6th grade and I had a Spanish teacher who was Orthodox Jewish from Panamá (that is that beauty of living in New York City!) I think he had seen something in me that even I did not recognize and he encouraged me to continue learning the language. Thanks to him, I began reading more, listening to more Spanish radio, and taking advanced classes.
I think it was half that, half the simple fact that learning Spanish was something enjoyable for me. I always had good grades in my classes just because I didn't want to have bad ones and I worked very hard to get them. But learning Spanish was never like that for me. It was interesting and a lot of fun. I studied it because I didn't feel as though I was struggling to learn it. I was simply doing something that I enjoyed. (It's also the second language of New York City so it obviously came in handy!)
Marianna Breytman
MB: Right now I work for a non-profit organization that has various student exchange programs. I work specifically for the Au Pair program, which gives students who live abroad the opportunity to come to the U.S. to take care of children and study at the same time. My position is the International Recruitment Coordinator, so I review all of the candidates’ applications and work with our international partners to help them promote the program in their home countries.
Aside from this, I occasionally teach Spanish classes in a center for collaborative education in Brooklyn.
MB: Where did you read that?! Haha.. I am interested in gastronomy, but I don't cook as much as I would like. I love trying food from different countries. I was in Panamá for the first time in March (and had the chance to visit another GV'er, the wonderful Ariel Moreno) and I had my first ceviche. It was delicious and I would love to learn how to make it.
MB: For now I would really like to continue working in the field of international education. I am fascinated by this topic of blending and coexisting cultures, which is why I love living in New York.
For the future, I have thought about working at an organization that is dedicated to fighting for human rights and/or is involved in economic development projects. I would also like to continue teaching Spanish classes.
And obviously I hope to continue working with Global Voices. I would like to branch out and learn more about other projects within GV as well. In fact, I recently did a few translations for Eddie [Ávila] in Rising Voices and that gave me the opportunity to learn more about that part of the organization. I have also been volunteering with WITNESS (one of GV's partners that creates videos to fight for human rights) for over a year and I plan to continue helping them and doing translations for their initiatives.
—-
In the following video we talk a bit more about Global Voices and the meeting that took us to Nairobi.
JA: Anything else to add?
MB: Yes, with the help of Firuzeh [Shokooh Valle] and Silvia [Viñas], I hope to continue developing and growing as a translator. The truth is that I never in my life thought that, being a volunteer translator, I would have the opportunity to become part of this GV family and meet so many incredible people who are changing the world. It has honestly been a dream come true.
(*) – In the end Elaine was granted [es] the visa on April 10, following a review of her case.
Other related posts:
Talking about Cuba with Ellery Biddle and Elaine Díaz
Matisse Bustos Hawkes, WITNESS and the power of video
Chris Moya, SpainRevolt and cyberactivism
Afef Abrougui, blogging from Tunisia
Talking to Rebecca MacKinnon about “Consent of the Networked”
A visit to Kibera [es]
The first day of the Global Voices Summit 2012 [es]

author: Juan Arellano


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Thousands March Reviving Chile’s Student Movement · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

With a massive protest at the national level, the student movement demanding free, quality education returned to the streets of Chile in full force.
Using slogans like “and it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall, the education of Pinochet…and Bachelet,” students from throughout the country gathered April 11, 2013 in civic centers of the country's various cities to return to the request that the government provide a real solution to the inequality and profit in education. The organizers said that between 120,000 and 150,000 people joined the march in Santiago, becoming the largest protest in many months.
Karol Cariola (@Karolcariola) [es], former president of the FEC (Federation of Students at the University of Concepcion) [es] and leader of the communist youth
@Karolcariola: Mañana a las 11 hrs. En Plaza Italia marchamos por la educación pública gratuita y de calidad!! Chile se lo merece, la paciencia se acabó.
@Karolcariola: Tomorrow at 11 o’clock. In Plaza Italia we will march for free, public quality education!! Chile deserves it, patience has run out.
Actor Benjamín Vicuña (@benjaminvicunaMORI) [es] supported this new call, together with many netizens under the tag #NosVemosel11 (#SeeYouonthe11) [es]:
@benjaminvicunaMORI: Porque la única manera de cambiar el orden de las cosas, es desde una educación digna y gratuita #NosVemosEl11
@benjaminvicunaMORI: Because the only way of changing the order of things is from a decent and free education #NosVemosEl11
Social scientist Alberto Mayol wrote in his blog [es] about the origin of the student movement that began in 2011.
Students in the march of April 11, 2013 in Santiago, Chile. Photo from Flickr user Nicolas Roblez Fritz. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
El movimiento estudiantil de 2011 tiene como uno de sus pilares las injusticias del modelo educativo, pero añade a ello un diagnóstico sobre la sociedad y un cuestionamiento de la estructura en que se han articulado lo público y lo privado, siendo esa tensión la que está en el trasfondo,
The student movement of 2011 has as one of its pillars the injustices of the education model, but adds to it a diagnosis for society and a questioning of the structure in which the public and private has been articulated, this being the tension in the background.
Some netizens like La Anti Psicóloga (@janetnoseda) [es] commented happily that the movement will continue to live.
@janetnoseda: apuesta del GOB al descarte del mov. Estudiantil falló pq #NoEstánSolos. Chile entero quiere otra educación! @el_dinamo @elquintopoder
@janetnoseda: the Government’s commitment to discard the student movement failed bc #NoEstánSolos (#You’reNotAlone) [es]. All of Chile wants another education! @el_dinamo [es] @elquintopoder [es]
While representatives of the actual government, like the Defense Minister Rodrigo Hintzpeter (@rhinzpeter) [es], rejected this new protest.
@rhinzpeter: Voceros del movimiento estudiantil hablan bajo mismo formato de 2011. No son capaces de reconocer nada de lo hecho en 2 años. Es un Dejavu.
@rhinzpeter: The spokespeople of the student movement speak in the same format as in 2011. They are not capable of recognizing anything that has been done in 2 years. It’s déjà vu.
On the recent citizen movements in Chile, among them the student one, Luis Pachecho wrote in El Quinto Poder a column called “Lo Inevitable: El Devenir de los Cambios” [es] (“The Inevitable: The Evolution of the Changes”) that talks about the fear of “revolution” that such movements provoke.
Hay miedo y casi terror en los sectores más conservadores, de que se produzcan cambios que terminen con esta supuesta sociedad equilibrada y se vuelva a viejos escenarios de la política chilena.
Quienes así piensan, se equivocan en la forma y en el fondo. […] Ciertamente cualquier cambio de estructura significa una revolución en la sociedad, que no tiene porque ser ni violenta ni traumática. […]
There is fear and almost terror in the most conservative sectors, of what these changes could produce that end with an allegedly balanced society and becomes old Chilean policy scenarios.
Those who think like this are wrong in their form and substance […] Certainly, any change in structure signifies a revolution in society, which doesn’t have to be either violent or traumatic. […]
The truth is that the rebirth of the movement puts into context the next electoral race and many ask themselves whether or not this will affect the result of the elections. Students, on the one hand, have detached themselves from ties to any particular political party or candidate. Even the rejection of the management of the former president- and actual candidate for the presidency-Michelle Bachelet became apparent on the subject of education as much in the slogans as on the web. Thereon, biochemistry student Sebastián R. Serey (@sebaserey) [es] said:
@sebaserey: Qué sentirá Bachelet al ver el descontento ciudadano q existe en Chile hoy en día? De verdad piensa que alguien le cree? #nosvemosel11
@sebaserey: What would Bachelet feel to see the discontent citizen that exists in Chile today? Does she truly think anyone believes her? #nosvemosel11
Others, like Lucas Alonso (@lucasxalonso) [es], ask themselves if the marches have any impact at all:
@lucasxalonso: Cuántas marchas faltan para que de verdad la clase política tome en serio al pueblo? #NosVemosEl11#YoMarcho
@lucasxalonso: How many marches are needed for the political class to take the people seriously? #NosVemosEl11#YoMarcho (#IMarch) [es]

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Displaced Residents Accuse Brazilian Power Plant of False Promises · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

This story by Ana Aranha was originally titled Vidas em Trânsito (“Lives in Transit”) and is part of Brazilian investigative journalism agency Pública's special coverage #AmazôniaPública, which reports on the impact of mega-construction projects in the Amazon along the Madeira river in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The story will be published in a series of five posts on Global Voices Online.
Previous post: Residents Displaced by Brazilian Power Plant Struggle to Earn Living
 Next post: Uprooted by Brazilian Power Plant, River Residents Try to Rebuild
When the company Energia Sustentável (Sustainable Energy) removed people from their homes in the area surrounding the Madeira River in order to flood it as part of construction of a power plant, it did so promising the displaced residents that it would provide them with a new place to live.
The company built the town of New Mutum Paraná to be the home for engineers and people in charge of the Jirau power plant, but also to receive former residents of Old Mutum.
But many now accuse the company of going back on its promises. Sônia Cabral Costa, who owns a clothing store in New Mutum now, argues:
Eles prometeram que aqui ia ter faculdade, indústrias, milhares de empregos. Cadê? Nada disso foi cumprido. Essas pessoas tinham sua fonte de renda, vieram acreditando no que a empresa prometeu.
They promised there would be a university, factories, and thousands of jobs here. Where are they? None of these promises were met. Those people had an income source, they came here believing in what the company had promised.
The initial estimates by the power plant [in the Madeira river hydroelectric complex], were the removal of 2,849 people, 1,087 in the flooded area by Jirau and 1,762 by the Santo Antônio dam [by the company Santo Antônio Energia]. According the Movimento do Atingidos por Barragens (Affected by the Dam's Movement), there are 4,325 people today that were removed or indirectly affected by the dams.
This year, Sônia's nephew graduates from elementary school. Next year, he will be forced to travel 30 kilometers every day to study in Jaci Paraná. Among the promises from Energia Sustentável was the construction of two schools in the village, an elementary school and a high school. As a matter of fact, the two schools were built. But one of them is now a private school.
Hanging from the door of Einstein School, a sign with the plant's and the federal government's logos reads in big letters that the school was built with resources from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES, in Portuguese). However, only those who can pay a monthly fee of 240 Brazilian reais (121 United States dollars) are admitted to the school. Or 200 reais (100 US dollars), for sons or daughters of “camargueiros” – the way locals call the employees of Brazilian construction company Camargo Corrêa.
While the private school has 20 students in each class, the public one has more than 40 and has night shifts to meet the demand, the public school's vice principal says:
No ano passado, ficaram 230 alunos sem matrícula porque a gente não tinha vaga. Os pais vinham implorar na minha porta, mas não tinha onde colocar.
Last year, 230 students weren't admitted because there wasn't any room. Their parents came to beg at my door, but there was nowhere I could place them.
School built for riverside community that was privatized Photo: Marcelo Min
“It was supposed to be run by the town hall, but they needed a school for the sons and daughters of the engineers, so  Jirau decided to negotiate with the private sector. I don't see a problem here”, says Pedro Beber, responsible for the management of the city hall's social compensation budget.
Se eles estão pagando os professores, [o município] não tem interesse em assumir essa escola.
If they are paying the teachers, [the town] is not interested is taking over the school.
Infrastructure problems are also common in other villages created by Jirau and Santo Antônio to shelter the rural population that had to be removed. The most frequent ones are related to the fertility of the soil, which affect their production. Residents were removed from Madeira's riverfront, an area naturally fertilized when the river rises, and were placed on land bought from farmers, where some of them used to raise cattle.
Another common complaint relates to the sewage smell inside their houses. The new settlements were built in regions near the areas flooded by the dam for the plant. Due to the rise of the river's dammed up water, the water table floods, causing leaks in drains and sinks.


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Latin American Activists Gather in La Paz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

On April 17-19, 2013, activists from collectives and organizations across thirteen Latin American countries and Spain will gather in La Paz, Bolivia to share experiences, strategies, and ideas with one another. To follow the proceedings, the hashtag #REactivxs will be used throughout the event. A map of participating organizations will be collected on the Datea.pe platform.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Madagascar’s Economy Falling Behind Africa’s   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Madagascar's GDP compared to ssAfrica's GDP via Lalatiana Pitchboule
While sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth is projected to “outpace the global average“, a study by M. Razafindrakoto et al. from IRD (The Institute of Research on Development) published earlier this month unpacks the causes of Madagascar's economy lagging behind its African counterparts [fr] (Via Madagoravox).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Mozambique: Coal mine blocked in protest · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is reporting on Facebook that about 500 residents of neighborhoods resettled by Brazilian mining company Vale are blocking road access to its coal mine in Moatize, Tete province. The peaceful protest is for greater compensation. The paper is reporting the rail line is also disrupted.

author: Janet Gunter


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Portugal: One Arrested in “Screw the Troika” Protest · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Screw the Troika Protest and Police Agression. Video by Ministério da Verdade on Youtube
An anti-austerity flashmob called by “Screw the Troika” [pt] in front of the the Ritz Hotel in Lisbon, on April 16, 2013, ended with the detention of a 49 year old woman. The protest against the visit of the IMF, ECB and European Comission representatives in Portugal, was recorded in video by the activist platform Ministério da Verdade.

author: Sara Moreira


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Private Guards for Pakistani Candidates · Global Voices
Rezwan

Chowrangi blog reports that considering the deteriorating law and order situation and pre-election violence the Election Commission of Pakistan has allowed candidates to keep five civilian bodyguards with licensed arms during the ongoing Election 2013 campaign.

author: Rezwan


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Psy’s YouTube Phenomenon Continues · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean rapper Psy's new single, Gentleman, has already surpassed 120 million views on YouTube within four days of release, despite unfavorable reviews and worries that Psy could wind up one-hit wonder after his ridiculously successful Gangnam Style. Read more about the new music video from K-pop blog.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Venezuela’s Election Results Show Weakened Chavismo · Global Voices
Jessica Carrillo

The results of the presidential election held on Sunday April 14, 2013 made it clear that Chavismo is starting to wear down.
In just two months the interim president, and now president elect, Nicolás Maduro Moros, lost 685,794 votes compared to the figures obtained by the late President Chávez on October 7, 2012 (7-O), while the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonsky managed to capture about 679,099 votes compared to 7-O.
These figures mean that Maduro inherited an 11-point advantage, but won by less than 2 points.
The first bulletin released by the Election National Council (CNE, according to its name in Spanish) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner with a total of 7,505,338 votes, representing 50.66% of the votes. On the other hand, Henrique Capriles Radonski got 7,270,403 of the votes, representing 49.07% of the electorate–a difference of barely 1.59%, or 234,935 voters, a result not even the surveys [es] were able to anticipate.
Twitter user Jogreg Henridonsky (@Jogreg) [es] prefers to see the results like this.
@Jogreg: Una manera de ver lo que pasó ayer… pic.twitter.com/7wqiAvIx8C
@Jogreg: A way to see what happened yesterday… pic.twitter.com/7wqiAvIx8C
Image shared by @Jogreg
Meanwhile, the coalition [es] of the Unity Board (MUD, according to its name in Spanish) got 7.270.403 votes, compared to the 6.127.522 votes obtained by the coalition of the Socialist United Party of Venezuela (PSUV, according to its name in Spanish) votes. With these numbers, PSUV lost its status as the most voted party for the first time. For the October 7 elections, the MUD coalition didn't participate as a coalition, but each party supported Capriles separately. This time, the opposition could only vote for the MUD coalition, thus getting more votes than PSUV.
This small difference of just two percentage units and the huge number of diverse complaints about irregularities (about 3.200 incidents) along the way led the Governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles Radonsky, to not recognize the results [es] until an audit as well as a manual vote recount are carried out. This same request [es] came from Vicente Díaz, one of five CNE directors, after the release of the first bulletin. Later on Sunday, Nicolás Maduro accepted the audit.
With such controversy, citizens started to debate on social networks and to reflect on their blogs.
Jorge Media Azcarate wrote a blog post [es] entitled “Congratulations to the new president of the people's democracy in Venezuela” [es], where he disagrees with Capriles for not recognizing the results. According to Jorge, Capriles shouldn't have run if mistrusted the system.
Quisiera especialmente denunciar el no-reconocimiento del perdedor Capriles frente a los resultados de la convocatoria. No sólo me parece miserable presentarse a unos comicios para luego no someterse a sus resultados (..si tienes desconfianzas no te presentes sinvergüenza!. Y si te presentas, acepta las reglas del juego), sino que incluso me parece un grave INSULTO a los 140 observadores internacionales que estaban supervisando la legalidad de la convocatoria. ..Qué pasa, ¿que ahora estos observadores son unos incompetentes que no ha hecho bien su trabajo??. ¿Antes sí valían, pero ahora no?
I'd especially want to denounce the non-recognition of the election results by the losing [candidate] Capriles. To me, it's not only miserable to run for office and then don't accept the results (…if you mistrust the system, don't run, scoundrel! And if you run, accept the rules of the game), but I also consider it a serious INSULT to all the 140 international observers that were monitoring the legality of the election… What's going on? Are these now incompetent observers who haven't carried out a good job?? They were valid before, but now they aren't anymore?
April 11, downtown Caracas, during Nicolás Maduro campaign closing. Photo by Luis Carlos Díaz, under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Meanwhile in her blog [es], Sofia Kariakin [es] argues that with this new president Venezuela will lack strategies and objectives, and that this will worsen the situation in the country. She shared her reflections on her post “Pause for resignation” [es].
Pues respiro profundo por los míos, que siguen creyendo que en algún momento Venezuela tendrá la oportunidad de salir de este abismo en el que se encuentra, antes con un tipo que realmente era un Líder. Ahora entiendo a los más desfavorecidos que decían, cuando murió, que se sentían como huérfanos porque es lo que serán… ahora no hay una estrategias, no hay un fin… ahora es un rollo sin fondo, ni sentido, ahora si se hundirá el país, y ustedes me dirán: ¿más?, pues si… lamentablemente si se acepta esta burla serán el completo destrozo y deterior de Venezuela.
Well, I take a deep breath for my people, who still believe that somewhere in time Venezuela will have the chance to get out of its current abyss, in the past with a guy who was really a Leader. Now I understand those less fortunate who said, when he [Chávez] passed away, that they felt like orphans for that's what they are going to be… now there are no strategies, no purpose… now it's all an endless, senseless matter, and now the country will sink, and you will ask me: even more? Well, yes… unfortunately if this mockery is accepted, it will mean complete destruction and decay for Venezuela.
Thousands of claims have been circulating on social networks. In many cases, citizens have echoed some false episodes started online which have spread like wildfire.
The finding of boxes filled with votes [es] and voting slips on the streets of the state of Barinas, however, stirred voters’ moods even more.
Image widely shared on social networks
Furthermore, the proclamation of Nicolás Maduro as president [es] by CNE, without the audit process, increased the dissatisfaction within the opposition. Willy Mckey (@willymckey) [es] claimed on Twitter that this rush in the proclamation is suspicious.
@willymckey: Ese apuro en la proclamación los pone en evidencia. #AuditoriaYA
@willymckey: This rush for proclaiming [Maduro president] shows them up. #AuditoriaYA [audit NOW]
But Oliver Reina (@oliv22) [es] said on Twitter that as long as the audit doesn't say otherwise, there are no reasons not to support Nicolás Maduro.
@oliv22: Apoyar a Maduro no es ilegítimo: hay un boletín oficial del CNE. Si la auditoría dice otra cosa quedaría sin efecto. Sino, no. Así de fácil.
@oliv22: Supporting Maduro isn't illegitimate: there is an official bulletin by CNE. If the audit says otherwise, it will be invalid. If not, it won't. Just like that.
This very close margin in the results has unleashed a political crisis in the country that could result in violent acts.
SIC magazine, in its blog [es], explains what happens in these two very different countries.
No va a resultar fácil al Presidente asumir que una gran parte de los ciudadanos no quieren despertar de ese sueño libertario o de esa pesadilla. No va a resultar fácil gobernar cuando una parte considerable de la ciudadanía no quiere que le hablen del país concreto sino de la historia que se esculpe en bronce y mármol como señuelo vano de eternidad y otra, bastante considerable, solo sueña con que se acabe lo que considera nefasto y se pueda volver al estado anterior idealizado.
For the President, it won't be easy to assume that a huge sector of citizens don't want to be waken up from this libertarian dream, or this nightmare. It won't be easy to rule when a considerable part of the citizenry doesn't want to hear about the concrete country but rather about history carved in bronze and marble as a false bait for eternity, and [when] another considerable [part of the citizenry] only dreams about the end of what they consider disastrous and about going back to the idealized past.

author: Jessica Carrillo


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Terrorism Won’t Work in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Offbeat China translated an interesting online conversation on why a terrorist attack won't work in China after the Boston Marathon Explosions. The answer lies in the difference between the U.S and China in their media environments.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Banned Occupy Nigeria Documentary Goes Viral · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A Nigerian documentary about the government's removal of a fuel subsidy last year, which sparked the country's Occupy Nigeria protest, has gone viral on the Nigerian blogosphere after authorities banned the film.
The 30-minute documentary “Fuelling Poverty” chronicles the protests, which took place in January 2012, as well as takes a critical stance on poverty and corruption in Nigeria. After the film premiered in December 2012 in the capital city of Abuja, director Ishaya Bako submitted it to Nigeria's National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) for approval.
News website Premium Times reported that not only did the board ban the documentary, it also warned Bako in an April 8, 2013 letter from attempting to release it independently:
But in an April 8 letter to Mr. Bako, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, the agency prohibited the distribution and exhibition of the documentary in Nigeria, saying its contents “are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security.”
The letter, signed by the NFVCB’s Head of Legal Services, Effiong Inwang, warned the film maker against violating the order, saying “all relevant national security agencies are on the alert. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Director General, Department of State Services and the Inspector General of Police for their information.”
The entire documentary, which has more than 43,000 views, is available on YouTube:
The government's decision to do away with a fuel subsidy just after the New Year holiday in 2012 under the pretense that it wanted to free up funds for other development projects caused gas prices to to increase by between 120 and 220 percent for the country's already poor population. The Occupy Nigeria movement was quickly organized to protest the move. The protest took different forms in various places: marching and chanting anti-government songs on major streets, blocking of highways, converging in a park where various civil society groups and celebrities addressed the protesters who afterwards were entertained by musicians.
The blog Africa is a Country took a look at the documentary's content:
Kicking off with an introduction from Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, the short documentary Fuelling Poverty amounts to a very brief Nigerian Fuel Subsidy 101 course. In thirty minutes, it covers the history of the issue and methodically explains how the government (encouraged by the IFIs, by the way) failed its people. By removing the subsidy as it did, the government shocked the informal economy and made life more miserable for a huge segment of the population. Subsequent investigations into the complex workings of the subsidy regime revealed a massive corruption cover-up to the tune of US $7 billion annually.
Written by Ishaya Bako, produced by Oliver Aleogena, and funded by the Open Society Institute for West Africa, Fuelling Poverty looks good, sounds good, and says all the right things. Its interviews, featuring those affected by the subsidy removal and those that participated in Nigeria’s nationwide protests in January 2012, are affecting. The fuel subsidy was, as the film argues, the only real social spending the government did. Its removal cast a wide net.
Occupy Nigeria Logo (Courtsey: Nigerianstalk.com)
The Nigerian blogosphere has been abuzz since the news of the the film's censorship was made public. With stiff opposition to the news.
Eze Onyekpere, a Nigerian lawyer and social commentator, wrote in an op-ed piece for Nigerian online newspaper YNaija that the film board had overstepped its bounds by muscling free speech, a right enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution:
This prohibition order raises a lot of issues of public interest and indeed national security. First, one would have expected to hear from the NFVCB that the film makers misrepresented facts or lied on any score in the presentations. Such a power to prohibit the public exposure of films, documentaries and cinema productions must be based on empirical considerations and not on the whims and caprices of a few individuals who claim or want to arrogate the powers of the God head to themselves. Come to think of it, Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution entitles every person to the freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.
The first claw back clause guiding this provision is that nothing shall invalidate a law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society for the purpose of preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the courts or regulating telephony, wireless broadcasting, television or the exhibition of cinematographic films.
The second claw back recognises restrictions upon persons holding office under the Government of the Federation or of a State, members of the armed forces, police and other security agencies established by law.  It is my submission that none of these foregoing provisions justifies this embarrassing encroachment on the right to freedom of expression.
Onyekpere further argued that the video is not a threat to national security, as claimed by authorities, but that argument is only a ruse to justify tyrannical action:
The mere assertion by the NFVCB that the documentary is highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermines national security is not enough to ban a film. Such a reason reminds one of the decrees and orders of discredited military juntas who held Nigeria by the jugular. That assertion needs to be proved and must not run contrary to reason. Nigerians did not resist military dictatorship only to be en-shackled by bodies like the NFVCB. The poser is; what exactly encourages public disorder or undermines national security? Is it the stealing of trillions of naira with impunity, the refusal to prosecute thieves or the reportage and comments of the stealing? By this action, the NFVCB is not only encouraging stealing of public resources but venerating impunity. The documentary, on the other hand, seeks to undermine impunity and fight corruption by educating Nigerians of the harmful effects of mind-boggling rape of the public trust.
Zainab Usman echoed the analysis on her blog Zainab’s Musings:
I am yet to identify what is so provocative about the documentary that put the Nigerian government on its toes. A good chunk of the film is based on content analysis of media reports available at the click of a button on the internet; footage from widely publicised proceedings of the Nigerian Parliament, the National Assembly, and from interviews with policy makers all freely available on the Internet. There is no leaked or stolen classified information, no interviews with people pleading anonymity, nothing suspicious or speculative… all the information and general themes are widely discussed online and on the streets. What is so inflammatory about this film, it is not clear. Perhaps it’s the use of Fela’s songs as soundtracks that pissed off the powers that be. I heard on the grapevine (unconfirmed) that the film maker has gone underground.
But the action of the censorship board only ignited the curiosity of Nigerians, promoting its viral spread, according to Usman:
Ironically, the move by the government to ban the documentary from TV stations in Nigeria, simply fuelled people’s interest in it – those who had never heard of it prior to this incident and others, like myself, who only just got round to watching it. Now the film has gone viral! Nigerians are sharing the link to the YouTube video via Blackberry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools. Soon, counterfeit DVD copies will be sold freely at traffic jams in Nigerian cities. Thanks to the internet, the days of media censorship are long buried in the past.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike