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New Rainy Season Wreaks Havoc in Peru · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

[All links lead to Spanish language pages, unless otherwise noted.]
The 2014 rainy season, like those of previous years, is bringing destruction and death to various parts of Peru, especially the southern Andes and the eastern Amazon.
In mid-January, the Civil Defense reported three bridges damaged, 300 hectares of crops affected, and more than 20 houses damaged by the rains in Andahuaylas [en], Apurimac, asking for a state of emergency to be declared in this area. By the end of that month, the National Service for Meteorology and Hydrology (Senamhi) warned that 16 regions of the country may be affected by the increasing rains in upcoming days.
Deslizamiento por lluvias bloquea tramo de carretera Ayacucho-Apurímac: Un tramo de la carretera Ayacucho-Apur… http://t.co/8gZHKmlNTV
— Justo Medio (@justomedio) January 12, 2014
A landslide, caused by rain, blocks a stretch of roadway between Ayacucho and Apurímac.
lluvias causan estragos en Andahuaylas – Apurímac https://t.co/EUCPAQuyRX
— Apu_Rimak (@Apu_Rimak) January 15, 2014
Rains wreak havoc on the Andahuaylas-Apurímac roadway.
On February 2, the government declared a state of emergency in the Madre de Dios Region [en] upon receiving a report from the Civil Defense. The communication reported 2,800 people affected, 560 homes destroyed and 1,270 damaged, 15 kilometers of roadway destroyed, and two bridges and 782 hectares of crops damaged by the rains and flooding from rivers.
Various tourist lodges have had to close temporarily, unable to guarantee the safety of their clients. Recently, help has been provided to the native communities in the region.
#MadredeDios: Lluvias dejan más de 6,000 afectados http://t.co/ve2opmJ0qd pic.twitter.com/TM26RZkt4Q
— Redacción Perú21 (@Peru21pe) January 29, 2014
Rains leave more than 6,000 people affected.
Los ríos Beni, Madre de Dios y Acre suben su nivel, hay preocupación en Pando, siguen las lluvias
— Roberto Carlos Hurta (@RoCaHu) February 5, 2014
Water levels rise in the Beni, Madre de Dios, and Acre rivers; residents of Pando are concerned; the rains continue.
Days later, a state of emergency was also declared in four areas in the Huancavelica Region [en]. Declaration of a state of emergency was also requested for parts of Pasco [en], and help was delivered to victims in the district of San Pedro de Putinapunco, Sandia, in Puno [en].
#Huancavelica: Gobierno declara estado de emergencia en varios distritos de la región http://t.co/290krSwpqA pic.twitter.com/jqRGdFMqQ2
— Diario La República (@larepublica_pe) January 25, 2014
Huancavelica: The government declares a state of emergency in various districts in the region.
Multi-satellite (pre and post) flood map of Huancavelica, #Peru: http://t.co/7dcfB1wN16 pic.twitter.com/Bp1DUolx9f
— Disasters Charter (@DisastersChart) February 12, 2014
Sandia pide declaratoria de emergencia por lluvias en #Puno via @ROApuno http://t.co/BIPCd3CWtc
— Hugo Supo (@hijodepuno) February 6, 2014
Sandia requests a declaration of a state of emergency for rains in Puno.
The situation in Cusco [en] is slightly more serious. By January 23, there were already 30 reported emergencies caused by the rains, mainly floods and landslides.
On January 30, it was reported that in the districts of Paucartambo and Colquepata, the rains and hail had damaged more than 170 hectares of farmland, with losses of around half a million nuevos soles ($177,525 USD). Furthermore, the district of Ocobamba was left isolated by a landslide covering part of the roadway leading to the area.
#Cusco: Fuerte lluvias dejan incomunicados a 4 mil pobladores del distrito de Yanatile [FOTOS] http://t.co/aaYjQOzVHF pic.twitter.com/GoqQMTMrTD
— Diario La República (@larepublica_pe) February 10, 2014
Heavy rains leave 4,000 residents of the district of Yanatile without communication.
GESTANTES EN RIESGO DE LA ZONA DE PATRIA-PILCOPATA, YA SE ENCUENTRAN EN EL HOSPITAL REGIONAL CUSCO: http://t.co/JlWAcqYfFS via
— GRC (@grcusco) February 10, 2014
Pregnant women at risk in the Patria-Pilcopata area; they are now in the Cusco Regional Hospital.
Se registran intensas lluvias sobre la ciudad imperial del Cusco. Mayor información en breve.
— Jezu Sosa (@Jezu_Sosa) February 11, 2014
Heavy rains recorded in the Imperial City of Cusco. More information shortly.
On February 7, the mayor of Pilcopata, a district in Cusco, announced that due to landslides blocking the access road, 35 tourists coming from the Manú National Park [en], in Madre de Dios, were trapped in the area.
Later, on February 11, it was discovered that 51 Chilean tourists were stranded in the vicinity of Machu Picchu [en] because the rise of a river had destroyed a bridge. Later it was reported that the group, along with another group of tourists, was evacuated to Cusco by train.
Más de 50 turistas chilenos quedaron varados en Machu Picchu http://t.co/esrbJl38Qx pic.twitter.com/7pzilYgIeL
— Tele13 (@T13) February 11, 2014
More than 50 Chilean tourists were stranded in Machu Picchu.
Trasladan a turistas varados por caída de puente Aobamba en #Cusco http://t.co/r9gcXLmyQl / pic.twitter.com/YzjwUVPNpN
— Agencia Andina (@Agencia_Andina) February 12, 2014
Tourists stranded by the collapse of the Aobamba Bridge in Cusco are being transferred.
In the central jungle region, it was reported that the heavy rains led to the rise of the Rio Negro, which caused landslides to block roadways in various parts of Satipo [en], Junín, isolating up to 8 towns.
In Oxapampa, Pasco, two road workers died, buried by a landslide caused by the heavy rains. In the Ucayali region, the river of the same name was declared in red alert by the Senamhi due to high water levels.
Colapso de la carretera Villa Rica – La Merced a la altura de caserío Pampa Encantada 11/02/2014, fuertes lluvias por la Selva Central.
— Gaby Salas Rivera (@gabxita) February 12, 2014
Collapse of the roadway between Villa Rica and La Merced at the village of Pampa Encantada 2/11/14, heavy rain in the central jungle region.
En emergencia la selva de Pasco… a consecuencia de lluvias cayeron más de 40 huaycos – http://t.co/nWIS9Wvqw3
— william mauricio (@mauriperu) February 13, 2014
The jungle of Pasco in a state of emergency… more than 40 landslides caused by the rains.
Meanwhile, in the north of Peru, the region of Piura is suffering a severe drought that is affecting agriculture and livestock. And in the south, in Arequipa, forecasts of ice storms and hailstorms were announced for the upcoming days.

author: Juan Arellano


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“Now is the Time for Men of Goodwill to Stand Up” in the Central African Republic · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Andrew Harding on Africa Review reports on the courageous acts of a congregation in the shabby town of Boali, Central African Republic and notably one Father Xavier Fagba. The St Peter's Parish church has sheltered Muslims seeking sanctuary from ethnic cleansing perpetrated by anti balaka gangs:
“Now is the time for men of goodwill to stand up and prove the strength and quality of their faith,” said Father Fagba, [..] “When I did this, nobody in the community understood me. They attacked and threatened me.” The Muslims – about 650 in all – arrived at the church on January 16 and 17. “The Muslims discovered in our church that the God we worship is the same as their God,” said Father Fagba.
On twitter, a hashtag #CARKindness reports the local acts of kindness amidst the unspeakable wave of violence that plagues the country. Here is another instance of such kindness:
Khadija's husband was killed in #CARcrisis. Now she cooks food provided by @WFP for hundreds of kids in #Bangui camp pic.twitter.com/C8d4bsZYT6
— Alexis Masciarelli (@amasciarelli) February 18, 2014

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Photographers Snap Over Online Accreditation for Trinidad Carnival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is a spectacle, heavily marketed as “the greatest show on earth” – and nowhere is it more of a spectacle than on social media.
Facebook and Twitter have taken every aspect of the Carnival scene online.  You have easy access to fete schedules and flyers to help you decide where is the best place to party on any given night.  While said fete is in progress, you can scan through scores of photographs to see who's there and what they're wearing.  Missed Panorama semi-finals?  YouTube is sure to have videos of the best steel pan performances.  From soca tunes to costumes, social media has significantly expanded the reach of the festival – there are even entire businesses dedicated to documenting the social aspects of the season – but this year, the National Carnival Commission (NCC), the body charged with coordinating the organisational, promotional and commercial aspects of all things Carnival, finds itself in the midst of managing a controversy over accreditation rights and the use of Carnival imagery on social media.
Contention of this sort is unfortunately nothing new to the NCC, but the origin of the directive concerning online copyright is unclear.  The National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) has said that did not come from them (one unnamed company, according to reports, has allegedly secured the online publishing rights for the entire festival) while the NCC maintains that their attitude towards Carnival coverage is that it should be as far reaching and accessible as possible.
Two photographers who have spent much of their careers documenting Trinidad and Tobago Carnival have expressed their opinions about the whole affair.  Abigail Hadeed posted a detailed status update on Facebook, the first part of which questioned where her accreditation fees were going:
As a photographer who has dedicated all of my working life to the documentation and archiving of Carnival and Traditional Mas, I have since 1985 paid for press passes. For all of these decades the people from whom I purchased the passes have never been able to adequately give me a break down of what I am paying for, or how they arrived at the cost. I have experienced everything form the hostile response ‘If you don’t like it you have a choice!’ to ‘it’s for the copyright — the designers get this money.’ Well I have spoken to many of the people I have photographed over these two decades and none have ever received a cent of the money collected.
She was “really disheartened” upon hearing reports of the selling of all the social media rights to one company, saying:
It seems that ignorance, greed and a lack of accountability is (sic) yet again the order of the day.
Hadeed went on to lament the unprofessionalism of the accreditation process as well as the lack of proper facilities for media:
Until 2 or 3 years ago [the process] provided neither a place to sit, nor a media area for photographers, far less access to toilets, parking, or a safe place to be when waiting on bands. At no time in the decades of my photographing carnival has anyone suggested to those constructing the stages that thought should be given to where the media needs to be, to adequately do their job. That said, if you attend any major event such as the Olympics, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, large concerts, etc…there are areas dedicated to media only — centers for the media to recharge batteries, upload images and so on…Here in Trinidad we behave like carnival is something new and every year treat it with a level of surprise and disorganization, so the same old arguments arise with no solutions found and this cycle continues year in and year out.
So disillusioned is Hadeed about the entire process that she decided not to pay for accreditation this Carnival:
I am now considering my further involvement in the photographing and documenting of our cultural heritage. Why should I continue to spend thousands of dollars for accreditation that is not justified and does not serve my needs as a photographer? The way things are now structured the cost of photographing carnival does not make financial sense. If we as a people do not care about being the keepers of our cultural heritage to the extent that we essentially obstruct rather than support the documentation and dissemination of our heritage, I am left wondering what will be there for future generations. It seems as though institutions outside of Trinidad have more of an appreciation for our culture than we do.
Fellow photography veteran Mark Lyndersay, who blogs here, republished a statement from the photographer who questioned the NCC accreditation process late last week and was told that whatever fee he paid would not include online rights:
For at least the last six years Zorce Publications Ltd. has successfully sought accreditation to shoot still photos for archive use on the internet. Prior to this we were not aware of the accreditation process.
On February 11th, around 2pm, we came to the NCC office to meet the usual pleasant and familiar people to apply once more for our accreditation.
Since the NCBA representative was present, a lady that we are accustomed to seeing each year for our interview, we proceeded with reading through this year's NCBA application form. The NCBA lady recalled that Zorce was on a list of companies that were to be told this year that no internet-related permissions would be allowed. She clarified that this meant no social media (e.g. Facebook), no websites or no web-streaming of any photos or video. She conveyed that she was told to let everyone on the list, which was presumably every entity that was internet accredited last year was to be told the same except one company that bought the exclusive rights this year from the NCBA. She then called the NCBA office and verified that this was in fact so.
The statement described, in further detail, why it was important for his company to be allowed online publishing rights – the fees for the remaining options of print and private archives were too expensive:
I reminded her that being a car-related publication and website, we fundamentally thought that it would be a good idea to promote T&T by inviting our web users to view our online archives and subsequently our social media albums; with the hope of attracting a different sector of tourists along with our regular readers.
She indicated that while she understood our position clearly, and she knows us from processing our permissions each year, she could only abide by the instructions she was given and suggested that anyone who wished to take the issue further could speak with the CEO of the NCBA.
The statement noted the highlights of the conversation and the pressing questions arising out of them:
• Who is the mystery person or organisation who was the exclusive right to internet related Carnival 2014 Mas content through the NCBA?
• What exactly is being paid for with respect to copyright fees with NCBA?
• Exactly who [does] the NCBA now represent/protect?
• What do the NCBA-protected gain?
• Can the NCBA assume control over an independently owned portal such as Facebook or the entire internet?
• What about tourists or simple amateur public photographers seeking to enjoy the event in their own non-commercial way?
• If a photographer or media producer has the direct permission of (a) band/bands via a signed, stamped letter from their bandleader(s) to put their content in an approved location inclusive of any specified print medium, website or social media outlet…where does the NCC stand on granting accreditation passes that indicate permission to shoot Mas?
Narend Sooknarine, the photographer, summed up his experience by saying:
Indirectly, it seems the NCC accreditation badge does not fully cover all permissions for all venues at this time since the NCBA does not represent many of the large and popular bands that form the bulk of our Carnival content.
Quite frankly for most photographers who are seeking to ‘do the correct thing’ this is proving to be unreasonable.
Mark Lyndersay, in a follow-up post, asked a perfectly legitimate question:
The first thing that’s worth considering here is why there is accreditation at all.
The only sensible answer is that there is a limited amount of space available with good access to the performances of Carnival.
If that’s the reason, then there are several aspects of that which need to be interrogated.
His analysis supported Abigail Hadeed's testimony of poor facilities and constrained access:
First, why is the physical space so limited? In fact, after all this time, the access area for most Carnival events is growing smaller and more hostile to photographers and videographers, which is somewhat strange, since it ensures that our coverage of Carnival is becoming less interesting and more constrained.
It also pushes people keen to make better pictures into defying stage rules and authority.
Given the nature of the festival, there has always been more people who want to capture images of events than there will be space to accommodate them comfortably.
Since this will always be a small group who should be in it?
It stands to reason that working media should be first on the list. These are the people who are responsible for the public record of Carnival, and their efforts ensure that there is archival testimony of the work that Carnival’s creators invest every year.
Lyndersay also acknowledged the power of social media, saying:
There is now more to effective communication of the festival’s virtues than just traditional media. There are bloggers, social media attractors and documentarians working aggressively on commenting on and recording the festival in a way that goes well beyond what we see in the coverage done by local media.
If someone is extending the public understanding of Carnival with good results and an impressive audience online, they are likely to be doing it on their own dime. Should they be punished for that by having daunting fees levied on them or rewarded for their educated engagement with the event?
He continued:
The simple truth is that these fees have ruined the coverage of Carnival. Imposing hefty fees on people producing documents recording Carnival may seem to be a good idea for the people receiving the cash (no doubt a pittance to the bandleaders who have pressed for it), but it has created a lowest common denominator ethos among those who do produce such publications and broadcasts.
There is no room for careful thought, intellectual analysis or adventurous image creation in such documents. They must ensure a return on their investment, who we now have Carnival “magazines” with cover to cover images of half-naked women and little else. These documents must make their money back, inclusive of the fees harvested in the dubious name of copyright early in the dance, and the results have been putrid for more than a decade now.
Even if the fees were removed this year, it will take decades to get back to the pinnacle of such Carnival records.
Both photographers tempered their criticism with tangible suggestions for improvement.  Hadeed felt that “an open dialogue between the stakeholders and the photographers is absolutely necessary”:
Unfortunately, unless there are clearly defined standards as to what should be provided for media accreditation, along with some training for those members who police judging points, photographers will always be open to the hostility of the people working for NCBA, Pan Trinbago etc. Regardless if you have a pass or not, the video teams get preference, and the photographers are constantly pushed, shoved and beaten at will by the misplaced anger of officials who take their position as if they were the guardians of the mas!
I ask that the organizations responsible for accreditation take responsibility for their decision making by simply inviting all of the stakeholders to meet and seek responsible solutions that address the breadth and depth of the issues at hand.
Lyndersay suggested several ways to revamp the process:
Loosen the restrictions of official access to Carnival in the interests of getting more of the record into the public domain. It can only improve the festival and bring more paying visitors to T&T.
Acknowledge the importance of documentarians and new media practitioners in bringing more attention to the festival, particularly those aspects of it which are dying through a lack of attention.
Improve the actual accommodations. Better line of sight angles and preplanning of the actual visual coverage of the event would satisfy more image makers and lead to better images emerging from Carnival 2014.
Ensure that accredited image makers actually have a chance to do the work they have come to do. This isn’t a party for us. Control your stages with clear rules or let madness reign.
Remove the fees for documentary publication in print and video for local producers. What’s happened since they were imposed has been far more costly than any money that’s been earned.
Will any of these improvements happen, though?  According to Lyndersay, the powers that be have been moving in the wrong direction for decades:
As everything about Carnival becomes shorter and more pointed, it begins to resemble nothing less than a gladius on which we are relentlessly impaling our creative future.
An effective copyright regime for Carnival will call for work to earn the real rewards that are due, but everyone’s too busy lining up at the trough to lap up much easier money, even if it's only a thin gruel.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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PHOTOS: Venezuelans Abroad Show Support for Protests · Global Voices
Jessica Carrillo

Thousands of Venezuelans that now live outside of their home country have organised demonstrations to support the actions on the streets in the South American country. The images of these gatherings have been shared widely on social networks.
On Facebook the page SOS Venezuela [es] collects a large number of photos, which are also published with the tags #iamyourvoicevenezuela #SOSVenezuela and #PrayForVenezuela on Twitter and Instagram.
Mi primo @guidorinconc me envió esta foto de venezolanos y extranjeros manifestando hoy en Malta. #SOSVenezuelapic.twitter.com/Fji1a1WzMC
— Rita (@RitaFinol) February 17, 2014
My cousin sent me this photos of Venezuelans and foreigners protesting today in Malta.
Some Venezuelans abroad took advantage of the protests to deliver documents to international organisations or to the Parliaments of the countries where they live. This was the case with a group of citizens who demonstrated in The Hague.
Venezolanos en La Haya, Holanda. Presentamos documento a Parlamento. Denunciamos violaciones a DDHH en #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/7j3OLpLUC4
— Tomás A. Chang Pico (@TomasChang) February 18, 2014
Venezuelans in The Hague, Holland. We presented a document to Parliament. We denounced human rights violations in Venezuela
Gaby Silva published a video on Instagram [es] of the demonstration by a group of Venezuelans in Madrid. The video shows citizens calling for justice, peace and dialogue.
The newspaper TalCual [es] shared a photo of protestors in Times Square in New York City.
PROTESTAN EN NUEVA YORK. Cientos de venezolanos protestaron en Times Square. http://t.co/ukrjIAueK3 pic.twitter.com/uwmkICODa0
— TalCualDigital.com (@DiarioTalCual) February 18, 2014
PROTESTS IN NEW YORK. Hundreds of Venezuelans protested in Times Square.
There were even demonstrations in Australia:
Venezolanos en Sídney se solidarizan con las marchas de estudiantes http://t.co/NF4OaoGKh9 pic.twitter.com/PzFwR4D4vT
— La Voz (@EldiarioLaVoz) February 18, 2014
Venezuelans in Sydney show their solidarity with the student marches
Meanwhile, in Venezuela the opposition leader Leopoldo López turned himself in to the authorities and President Nicolás Maduro assured that he will faces charges of sedition and “unawareness of the Constitution”.

author: Jessica Carrillo


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Rumours and ‘Fake’ Photos Prompt Calls for Responsible Social Media in Venezuela · Global Voices
Adriana Gutiérrez

[Links are to Spanish-language pages, unless otherwise noted]
The current information crisis in Venezuela, following a surge of protests [en] that mainstream media cannot cover under threat of fines [en] by the government, has compelled netizens to spread news through social media. However, not all users have been sufficiently transparent in their reporting of daily events, which has generated strong criticism about how useful digital media in the country really is.
The group Kaos en la Red, which defines itself as a cultural association fighting capitalism, denounced the republishing of previously used images taken out of context in its post “Venezuela: Mentiras de medios de comunicación para generar caos de violencia” (Venezuela: Spreading lies in social media to spur violence). The group charges pro-opposition and other digital media users with manipulation “to generate an atmosphere of violence and destabilization that undermines the Government”. The post features a series of contrasts between the images used to criticize alleged abuse of power by the security forces against demonstrators and the original story and source of the publication:
“Social media calls out what the mainstream mutes” Image for the #ElMedioEresTu [The Medium Is You] campaign from @untalhector (Instagram).
Left: Denouncing the “repression” in Venezuela from the user @YACUBATWITEA. Right: Image originally published by Al Jazeera about protests in Chile in 2012.
Meanwhile, many Government supporters retweeted a photo of the gathering convened by President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on February 15. In the background, the logo of a famous soft drink company can clearly be seen atop a building, an advertisement that was removed some four years ago. Ironically, the user who published the image on Twitter, the mayor of the Caracas municipality of Libertador Jorge Rodríguez (@JRodriguezPSUV) is also the man who gave the order to remove the logo in the first place:
#SomosEjercitoDePaz Mientras los fascistas intentan desestabilizar el país nosotros luchamos por la paz y la vida. pic.twitter.com/TmZHrwCl21
— Jorge Rodríguez (@JRodriguezPSUV) February 16, 2014
While the Fascists try to destabilize the country, we are fighting for peace and life.
Lucía Calderón, writing in Clases de Periodismo, also referred to a fake photo by a supposedly experienced journalist reporting an incident of abuse and violence by government supporters. It turned out to be the picture of a young Basque man tortured in Spain in 2006. Lucía recommeds:
Recuerda revisar estos consejos para certificar información antes de compartirla siguiendo este enlace.
Remember to follow the tips in this link to check the information before you share it.
There are other pages on Facebook such as Venezuela Sin Mentiras (Venezuela Without Lies), created in April 2013 after the presidential election to demonstrate this kind of media manipulation and urge users not to resort to practices that endanger everyone:
Reflexión: “NO CAER EN FALSOS RUMORES! calidad y veracidad en la información para que no estemos desinformados”
Think about it: “DON'T FALL INTO THE TRAP! quality and truth in information so we are not misinformed.”
In light of the situation, the satirical site El Chigüire Bipolar posted the story of an “Imbecil who shares a fake photo and confirms that there are a lot of ignorant people out there.” The fictitious character, Domingo Ugarte, shares a fake shot of student protests and the expected reaction in a series of retweets.
“La foto me llegó ayer como a las ocho de la noche. Era una imagen terrible, un policía con un traje negro que nunca había visto en Venezuela, maltratando a un estudiante en una calle que claramente no era acá. Pero no me resistí, tuve que darle retweet y compartirla al mundo. Todos tienen que ver el horror de lo que estamos viviendo y en el camino recibir demasiados RTs. Porque eso es lo arrecho, no importa si es una foto de un cangrejo gigante matando estudiantes, la gente se va a horrorizar y la va a compartir.”
The photo arrived at like eight o'clock last night. It was a terrible picture: a police officer with a black uniform that I had never seen in Venezuela mistreating a student in a street that clearly wasn't here. But I couldn't resist, I had to retweet and share it with the world. Everyone needs to see the horror that we are living through and get a few too many RTs along the way. Because that's the turn on; it doesn't matter if it's a shot of a giant crab killing students, people are going to be outraged and share it.”
There are currently a few independent awareness initiatives aimed at promoting responsible use of digital media, as described by Aglaia Berlutti, blogger and Global Voices contributor, in an article for Noticias Venezuela. Aglaia enumerates a series of tips and recommendations to help social media users become efficient purveyors of  information:
No exageres, ni tampoco distorsiones el hecho que deseas transmitir. Redacta noticias sencillas sin incluir tu opinión o hipótesis no verificadas. […] La intención de tu post o de tu artículo es que pueda ser compartido todas las veces que se requiera y que todos tus lectores puedan comprenderte sin problemas.
Don't exaggerate or distort the facts you want to publicize. Draft straightforward posts without including your own or other unverifiable hypothesis. […] The goal of your post or article should be that it can be shared as often as needed and that all readers can easily understand it.
And Karelia Espinoza (@Kareta), political scientist and digital activist, shares a graphic about how to put together Internet reports:
Barquisimeto Móvil graphic to help prevent media censorship [Steps include following recognized lists and checking sources as well as configuring your phone to tweet via SMS and sticking to popular hashtags.]

author: Adriana Gutiérrez


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Social Media Week Lagos 2014  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Social Media Week Lagos 2014 (February 17-21) is currently going on in Lagos, Nigeria:
SMW Lagos is only in it’s 2nd year and has already claimed its place as the largest, tech, new media and business conference on the continent of Africa. It attracts some of the continents most forward thinkers, brands, learners and creators. With a population of over 20M Lagos is the largest black city in the world and is arguably the epicenter of the continent and home to the powerhouses of Africa’s creative, business and tech communities. Recognizing the importance of a connected continent, while aiming to encourage collaboration, our 2014 conference them is: A CONNECTED AFRICA IS THE FUTURE.
The only event of it’s kind, Social Media Week Lagos is a world class conference with Africa’s brightest minds that is free and open to the public. SMW Lagos is also unique in that 70% of the weeks amazing panels, parties and workshops are organized by the public

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Soviet-era Monuments and Slogans in Tajik Capital “Should Stay” · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Over the last two decades, the authorities in Dushanbe have dismantled most of the Soviet-era monuments and huge political slogans on rooftops which had all been an important feature of the cityscape before 1991. However, as Radio Ozodi reports [tj], Tajikistan's capital has preserved a handful of Soviet statues, slogans, and signs [see all photos].
Blogger writing on Russian Chronicles of Tajikistan suggests [ru] that these “remnants” of the Soviet period should stay:
I believe that all these symbols, monuments, bas-reliefs, and signs should be preserved. More than that, we need to take a good care of them and ensure their proper maintenance. It is not about some kind of nostalgia or love for the Soviet past. No. It is more about the fact that all these “remnants” of the Soviet epoch could become important tourist attractions.
The blogger also proposes to keep signs with the Soviet-era street names in the capital and place the monuments that have been dismantled in museums.
And under Ozodi's story, Mansur comments [tj]:
The symbols and signs left from the USSR should not be taken down, for they are important historical evidence reminding us of our great past…

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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The Journalistic Purgatory of Eastern Europe · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

‘The rose and the newspaper’ by Borislav Dimitrov on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
We were told the end of totalitarian regimes would lead to a free press, but Central and Eastern European media is less free now than at any point in the past 20 years.
Governments in the region, long used to having unadulterated control over media content, have been reasserting authority. Strong-arming, threats, amendments to law, arrests, destruction of media equipment and property, and beatings have been documented throughout the region with increasing frequency.
In sitting down to write this piece, I was confident I could shed light on the worst examples of media repression from Eastern Europe, as I follow the subject daily and live in Serbia. But as I began looking at case after devastating case, I began to see a larger picture that taken together point to a media system that is badly broken.
To begin understanding, we must clarify the image the typical global reader has of Central and Eastern Europe from 20th century history. Countries in the region with the most threats on freedom of the press, regardless of whether they are EU member states, have double-digit unemployment rates and an enormous gap in income disparity. A very small percentage of extremely wealthy citizens are frequently connected to government, while the vast majority of citizens barely make ends meet. The strong, stable middle class that many Central European socialist countries maintained for some 50 years has been virtually wiped out.
Social and economic factors lay the foundation for the media landscape, because livelihoods depend on the decisions of their local and national government officials. This leads the citizens of most Central and Eastern European to pay close attention to local politics. Societies which follow their governments so avidly should have highly active investigative journalist networks. A host of factors mediates against this from happening in practice.
Follow the Money
Members of the media are very poorly paid for their work, often employed as part-time or outsourced staff, while operating budgets for reporting are minimal. Investigative journalism rarely occurs in this economic environment. Low wages also open doors to bribery of journalists and editors, cash payment for publishing articles and for pushing or ignoring stories based on non-journalistic interests.
Several Eastern European countries have started cracking down on significant investigative journalism. Macedonia, for example convicted investigative journalist Tomislav Kezarovski in October of 2013 and jailed conspiracy-theorist and journalist Zoran Bozinovski less than a month later. Although the vast majority of Macedonia's press is private, the government was among the 50 biggest media advertisers in 2012, securing a huge influence in both state and private media, say Macedonian journalists Tamara Causidis and Dragan Sekulovski in a guest article on Index on Censorship.
The media houses in all these countries rely mostly on advertising revenue to stay afloat. Business money is frequently connected to politics and political figures. The consequence is self-censorship. Eastern European journalists who write critically of those in power risk offending those who control the advertising money, and thus risk their livelihood and, at times, their physical safety.
In Albania, which last year ranked 102nd of 173 countries in the Reporters without Borders “Freedom of the Press Index”, the media market is so poor and overcrowded it's difficult to sustain, says Besar Likmeta in an article on Balkan Insight. “Most Albanian media are dependent on big corporate advertisers as their main source of revenue, and internal emails show that they can easily skew editorial policy,” says Likmeta.
The situation is similar in most countries of the region. Self-censorship can be further encouraged through unofficial calls from those in power, killing stories before they reach publication. Journalists and editors who publish regardless risk lawsuits, threats, harassment, and even violence.
OSCE Freedom of Media representative Dunja Mijatovic often expresses concern regarding increased media regulation. In Hungary, she has warned of disproportionately high prison sentences for  defamatory video and sound recordings, saying such laws are easy to use to silence critics or differing views. In Romania in last year, she called on the Romanian government not to “re-criminalize free speech” saying it could have a chilling effect on investigative journalism through fear and self-censorship.
In Ukraine, before the ongoing Euromaidan protests in the country, many already drew attention to the lack of media freedom, that has only worsened since. Ukraine scholar Andrew Wilson wrote on openDemocracy in October 2013, just weeks before the anti-government protests began:
Now it is media freedom that is under attack. Ukraine’s biggest TV channel ‘Inter’ was still showing signs of independence around October; in February, however, it was taken over by the Head of the Presidential Administration, and a leading oligarch.[…]
Next in line is Ukraine’s most famous web site, Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth).[…] Its founding editor, Georgy Gongadze, was a thorn in the side of the then authorities. He disappeared in September 2000, and two months later was found gruesomely murdered.
There are dozens more examples of conflict of interest, intimidation, bribery and corruption in Eastern and Central Europe. The media landscape of the region finds itself in purgatory.
Less Safety Online
Internet penetration rates in Central and Eastern European countries are high and their citizens have a historical habit of turning to alternative sources of information, due to the closed character of official media under communist and socialist regimes in the 20th century. Citizen media and social networks were for several years viewed as a way out of this stalemate, for some perhaps even as a “safe zone” for freedom of expression, due to the respective governments’ lack of monitoring.
This, however, has now changed drastically. Governments in Ukraine, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Hungary now see the influence citizen media and social networks can have on politicians’ reputations and elections. They have responded with close monitoring, and attempts to control what users are uploading and saying. Without much success, of course, but the result is direct pressure on common citizens’ freedom of expression and added pressure on media.
In Serbia for example, online commentary and information was fairly freely passed between users in the late 90s during the Milosevic era, whose regime appeared not to view the Internet as a major threat and thus seldom monitored citizens in public online spaces. Today, personal websites and social network profiles are under direct attack in Serbia for sharing a satirical video of the Deputy Prime Minister and similar materials.
Significant political and economic news in most Central and Eastern European countries now spread through human networks by word-of-mouth and are often reshaped into rumor. Journalists hold back important news stories in their heads, or on post-it notes in their drawers, unable to research them, much less hand them in to their editors for publishing. Citizens, even when afforded a venue where they could express their opinions, now often choose not to. These countries and their media have visibly reached an informational stalemate.
But the tighter the grip of politicians on media, the greater the anger of the people. Media are either unable or unwilling to fight for journalistic freedom, a condition echoed in the development of democracy in the region. Now, in countries in which governments have stifled the free expression of their citizens on the Internet, people are beginning to rise against those in power, calling them out for corruption and incompetence.
After Bulgaria, Ukraine and others, Bosnia-Herzegovina is the latest country in the region to see mass protests both on the streets and online. On February 11, 2014, in the midst of protests in Tuzla and Sarajevo, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo ordered “temporary seizure” of all media property documenting the protests in Sarajevo. Decisions like this to silence media only fuel citizens’ demand for access to information and freedom of expression. When all boundaries have been crossed, change is bound to happen.

author: Danica Radisic


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The President That Could Not Stand His “Stan” · Global Voices
Shakhnoza Isakova

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev wants to rename his country Kazak Yeli (Kazakh People), dropping a “stan” suffix synonymous with obscurity, human rights abuses, post-Soviet corruption and Borat.
According to the “Leader of the Nation”, one of the many titles the 22-year president has had bestowed on him by a pliant political elite, such a shift will change international perceptions of the country and distance it from its poorer, less secure stan-ending neighbors.
During a working visit to Atyrau last week, the president was quoted as saying [ru]:
В названии нашей страны есть окончание «стан», как и у других государств Центральной Азии. В то же время иностранцы проявляют интерес к Монголии, население которой составляет всего два миллиона человек, при этом в ее названии отсутствует окончание «стан». Возможно, надо рассмотреть со временем вопрос перехода на название нашей страны «Қазақ елі», но прежде следует обязательно обсудить это с народом
In our country's name, there is this ‘stan’ ending which other Central Asian nations have as well. But, for instance, foreigners show interest in Mongolia, whose population is just two million people, but whose name lacks the ‘stan’ ending. Probably, we ought to consider with time the issue of adopting Kazak Yeli as the name of our country, but before that, we definitely need to discuss this with the people.
But discussing things with the people is not Nazarbayev's speciality. In June Last year Global Voices reported on an innovative online reaction to state attempts to increase the pension age for women, a move that came as a nasty shock to female citizens. Last week the country announced a 19% devaluation in its national currency, the tenge – another unpleasant surprise to the average Kazakhstani. Small protests against the devaluation have resulted in arrests.
Changing “Kazakhstan” to “Kazakh Eli” on postage stamps will certainly cost public money. Moreover, in light of Kazakhstan's recent decision to devalue the national currency, the stamp will be worth less than it was previously (Wiki Commons).
Territorially Central Asia's largest republic, Kazakhstan is rich in oil. The country has consistently been the subject of human rights organizations’ criticisms, with Human Rights Watch recently accusing president Nursultan Nazarbaev’s regime of torture, censorship, and the persecution of political opponents. (Less serious accusations may now emerge from Mongolia, a country Kazakhstan almost borders, and one whose population is actually closer to 3 million people than 2 million.)
Nazarbayev has spent a sizable cut of the country's oil wealth on improving the country's image, especially in the wake of the 2006 release of British-American mockumentary/comedy Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The movie, which was filmed in Romania, enjoyed massive commercial success in the West, portraying Kazakhstan as a country where people drink horse urine and where national pastimes include rape, incest and shooting dogs. The film also highlighted the republic's sibling rivalry with another notorious stan, Uzbekistan. One of Kazakhstan's most famous image-makers has been former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
A done deal?
To listen to politicians in the country's weak parliament, one might think the “Kazak Yeli” public discussion referenced by Nazarbayev had already taken place. One MP in the Kazakh Majlis, Jumatay Aliev, said [ru] the president and the people's voice were one:
Если что-то президент говорит, он опирается уже на сложившееся мнение. Народ этого хочет, и мы должны идти к этому, иначе нельзя. Это желание народа.
If president says something, he bases on the existing opinion of people…People want it, and we need to move to that direction, otherwise it is impossible. This is the will of people.
Commenting under the article quoting Aliev, kzp-astn begged to differ [ru]:
Откуда вы берете это – “Народ этого хочет”? Кого то конкретно спрашивали? Меня, тебя, твоих родителей, братьев, сестер, может кого то из ваших коллег? Может сосед ваш пришел и сказал, мое мнение спросили я ответил что согласен! Лично я против переименования, и все мои знакомые тоже против!
Where do you get this – “People want it”? Did they ask anybody specifically? Me, you, your parents, brothers, sisters, maybe some of your colleagues?  Perhaps, your neighbor came and said he had been asked for an opinion and had agreed! I personally am against renaming, and all my acquaintances are as well!
Another user of popular Russian-language social network VKontakte Artur Pilipets, tried [ru] to get a feel for the suggested name:
-Откуда ты?
-С Казах ели.
-Где это???
-В Казахстане.
- Where are you from?
- From Kazak Yeli.
- Where is it???
- In Kazakhstan.
While regional commentator @randomdijit tweeted mischievously:
How about: Kazakhapalooza The United Federation of Kazakhs The Wonderful Land of Kaz Kazaguay Kazachusetts and my personal fave: Nursultopia
— Jake Turk (@randomdijit) February 7, 2014
@pashab05 went further, offering new names for Uzbekistan, based on the stage name for President Islam Karimov's pop star daughter, and Kyrgyzstan, based on the country's Manas epos:
How about Googooshia for #Uzbekistan and Manasia for #Kyrgyzstan?
— Paul Bartlett (@pashab05) February 7, 2014
Humor aside, the re-brand proposal earned a mixed reaction from the person on the street when Radio Free Europe's Kazakh service  began Nazarbayev's promised public discussion on the dictator's behalf. Some people saw the need to dump “stan” but didn't think Kazak Yeli had much of a ring, while a Russian-speaking citizen objected to Kazak Yeli on the grounds that it further emphasized one nationality in this multinational Central Asian state.
Mostly, support for the change has come from patriots who see it as an opportunity to make a clean brake from the Soviet Union. One netizen, Саят (Sayat) led the rallying cry [kz]:
Шет елдіктер Стан дегенін талай естігенім бар. Қашанғы Стан боламыз , ойланайық ағайын . Алға Қазақ елі!
I heard many times foreigners calling us Stan. For how long shall we remain Stan, let us come to our senses, gentlemen. Forward, Kazakh people [Kazak Yeli]!

author: Shakhnoza Isakova


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VIDEO: Toward a Fair and Inclusive Education System in Chile · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In the video above by Open Society Foundations, Giorgio Jackson, former student leader and newly elected parliamentarian in Chile, discusses the education system in his country and what it means to have an “open society.”
Trine Petersen writes:
A fair and inclusive system that makes education available to all is a powerful lever for a fair and open society. It enhances social cohesion and trust. Chileans want an education system that promotes education as public good and enables all citizens to engage in critical thinking and free expression.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Citizen Journalists, Apply for Free Live Video Streaming · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The live video streaming platform Ustream is offering citizen journalists the opportunity to apply for free pro accounts and publicity for any innovative use of video for breaking news, activism, and social good.
Ustream has recently supported three live channels broadcasting from Ukraine's #EuroMaidan protests, including the popular channel Spilno.tv.
“We created Ustream for Change to recognize the efforts of these inspiring citizen broadcasters, and we hope to encourage others to think beyond four walls and harness the power of live video,” says Brad Hunstable, Ustream’s CEO and founder.
“Ustream is an enthusiastic supporter of Internet freedom, stable societies, and emerging democracies. Our technology offers a means of achieving transparency on both sides of the camera, and we fully intend to support those who are leading movements for positive change,” he says.

author: Solana Larsen


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Ethnic North Korean Schools in Japan Face Ever-Hostile Situation · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

‘Koreans living in Japan‘ is a vague word glueing very different groups together under the same umbrella term. Based on their affiliation to North/South Korea and the timing of diaspora (whether it happened before/after the Japanese imperial rule during the World War 2 ear), each sub-group goes by a different name, sharing little similarities. Stark division between them is once again solidified by education system; North Koreans in Japan attend a special ethnic school that resembles ones that are in North Korea. Markus Bell, after visiting one North Korean school in Japan, wrote an extensive report on multiple threats those schools face, with some background information about the concerned ethnic group, as the financial help from their home country has been significantly reduced and also funding from the Japanese government was recently cut off.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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#Euromaidan Protests Spread Throughout Ukraine After Explosion of Violence · Global Voices
Olena Sovyn

This post is part of our Special Coverage Ukraine's #Euromaidan Protests.
Euromaidan protests in Ukraine took a turn for the worse on February 18, 2014, as special Berkut police forces began their most violent crackdown yet on citizens and political opposition supporters in Kyiv. Instead of quelling protesters, the protests quickly strengthened and even spread to new towns and regions in the country. The government announced de facto martial law, with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claiming that the military now had the right to search, detain and even fire on civilians.
Earlier in the day, opposition representatives attempted to deliver a request to Parliament that would limit presidential power and were denied access to the building to do so. Soon after hearing this news, protesters moved in on the Parliament building. The situation then gravely escalated when police forces violently cracked down on protesters around 8 pm, with devastating results. The following morning, several independent and international news outlets reported that the several-hour-long aggressive police action resulted in 25 deaths and at least 1,000 people injured, but casualties are still being counted. One journalist reported that at least 40 people had been burned alive in the Trade Union building in Kyiv alone.
As this was happening, news of the crackdown traveled quickly through social media and other channels, with people following the events live throughout Ukraine and the world through several live streams. Newly angered protesters marched once again on what has been the main protest site since November 2013, Independence Square, but also took to the streets in several other cities and towns in Ukraine's 24 administrative regions. The images and information users on Twitter and other social networks were sharing, like the one below from @slava_slav, angered citizens throughout the country and incited more protests:
Trade Union Building on Independence Square pic.twitter.com/pJdjE2CZjz
— Slava_Slava (@slava_slav) February 19, 2014
Trade Union Building on Independence Square [in Kyiv]
Ukraine's most popular online community of IT developers joined other Ukrainians in presenting their position on the February 18 events. The founder of the community, Max Ischenko, wrote:
Вчера украинская власть наконец-то приняла решение. Обьявила открытую войну гражданам Украины. Рубикон пройден.
Всего два выхода для честных ребят: перестать быть гражданами Украины, променяв кафкианскую реальность на нормальный мир или же остаться гражданами, приняв навязанную войну. Третий, трусливый вариант, не рассматриваем — это default route.
Голыми руками на БТР идти не надо, это не наши методы. Программисты лучше действуют головой. Я за ненасильственное сопротивление.
Yesterday, Ukrainian authorities finally made a decision. Open war against Ukrainian citizens was announced. The Rubicon has been crossed.
Honest men have only two solutions: stop being a citizen of Ukraine, changing the Kafka-esque reality to a normal world or to remain a citizen and accept the imposed war. The third one, a cowardly choice, is not considered – this is a default route.
There is no need to go against armoured personnel empty-handed, it is not our way. Developers work better by using their heads. I am for non-violent resistance.
After receiving information of the murders in Kyiv, many protests throughout other regions have been refueled, and some have now newly joined the protests. The most radical demonstrations of civil resistance, other than in Kyiv, now come from the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, which was active in the Euromaidan movement from its inception. During the night between February 18 and February 19, several government organizations fell into the control of protesters, such as the local Security Service of Ukraine in Lvyv and the Regional State Administration.
In Lviv, there is no possibility to telephone the police, as they have simply stopped responding. The majority of police stations in the region have been defeated and taken over by protesters. Information has also been circulating both on and offline that police stations in the city had been looted and fire arms stolen. Ukrainian news agency ZIK reported in a tweet:
У Львові з райвідділів міліції також зникла зброя: У Львові з райвідділів міліції викрадена певна кількість зброї. http://t.co/EOSWx5QXUc
— ZIK IA (@ZIK_IA) February 19, 2014
In Lviv all weapons missing from police stations: In Lviv from the police offices some number of weapons were stolen
In the morning of February 19, Ivan Franko Lviv National University students and professors announced that they would go on strike indefinitely and asked other universities to do the same. In the meantime, students have been doing their best to organize self-defense units to protect citizens and museums from looting and violence. Young Twitter user @yostap from Lvyv said:
ОГОЛОШЕНО СТВОРЕННЯ СТУДЕНТСЬКОЇ СОТНІ САМООБОРОНИ ТА ФОРМУВАННЯ СТРАЙКОВОГО КОМІТЕТУ. #львів #євромайдан
— Йостап (@yostap) February 19, 2014
The creation of the student self-defense unit and strike committee has been announced.
In Uzhorod, the Regional State Administration is now occupied by the protesters, with many citizens expressing relief that their town has awoken to join what many are calling a revolution. Twitter user @mikekomar tweeted a photo of the building when it had just been occupied by the protesters:
@ukrpravda_news RT!ЗАКАРПАТСЬКА ОДА ВЗЯТА ШТУРМОМ І В РУКАХ НАРОДУ!НАРЕШТІ УЖГОРОД ПРОКИНУВСЯ!ФОТО 12:35 #євромайдан pic.twitter.com/H56QHU9gkk
— Mikekomar (@mikekomar) February 19, 2014
@ukrpravda_news Zakarpatska RSA [Regional State Administration] was taking by storm, and it is now in the nation's hands! Finally, Uzhgorod has awoken! Photo [taken at] 12:35
The same has happened in a few other regional capitals. In Lutsk, a city in another western Ukrainian region, for example, the Regional State Administration is now also in the hands of Euromaidan protesters. Local users on Twitter, like @deep_monday, tweeted images and updates as they happened:
мвс і ода розгромлені, все горить, башкаленка побили таке враження, що це не з нами відбувається : / #луцьк, пишаюсь pic.twitter.com/tx4xyCrnnO
— lucy (@deep_monday) February 19, 2014
MIA [Ministry of Internal Affairs] and RSA [Regional State Administration] are defeated, everything is in flames, Bashkalenko [Volyn Region Governor Alexander Bashkalenko] was beat. We have the feeling this is not happening to us
What many feel is the cruelest news over these two days has come from Khmelnytskyi. At the Security Service of Ukraine building in this city, an elderly woman was killed and two others were injured. They were a part of the protest group that had come to that building after hearing what happened in Kyiv. Someone opened fire from the Security Service of Ukraine building. According to witnesses, the woman was unarmed and was kneeling in front of the building. The terrible image of this killing was shared by many online, including the official Twitter feed of one of the Maidan movement organizations, Will of the Nation:
Хмельницький. СБУ вбиває свій народ pic.twitter.com/2uON0Ssiaq #євромайдан
— Воля Нації (@WilloftheNation) February 19, 2014
Khmenytskyi. SSU is killing theirs nation.
The Ukrainian Democratic Alliance added:
Наші активісти передали, що з будівлі Хмельницького СБУ відкрили вогонь. Вбили жінку. Декілька поранених #Євромайдан #Хмельницький #СБУ
— Демократичний Альянс (@demalliance) February 19, 2014
Our activists have said that the shooting came from the building of the Khmelnytskyi SSU [Security Service of Ukraine]. A woman was killed. There are a few injured.
Eastern parts of Ukraine also are no longer peaceful. In Poltava, a protest was held in the city center. A Twitter account represented as Poltava Svoboda (Poltava Freedom) tweeted this image of the protests there:
Полтава. Кількість людей постійно зростає. #полтава #євромайдан pic.twitter.com/e2Q8gNb42n
— Свобода Полтавщина (@poltavasvoboda) February 19, 2014
Poltava. The amount of people [joining the protest] is rising.
People are once again joining forces to try to help the Euromaidan movement in any way they can. Some are collecting and bringing warm clothes and medication, while others are buying and preparing food for their fellow protesters. Food has now become more important than ever at the protest sites in Kyiv, as the Trade Union Building, where most of the food collected for the protesters had been stored over the past weeks, was burned during the February 18 police attacks, leaving protesters with no food at all.
In Kyiv and Lviv, people have also been donating blood and more donors are needed. Information about this is also being spread through social networks and a new hashtag #ядонор (#Iamadonor) can be seen along with the now standard #Euromaidan. Twitter user Ana Toliivna from Lvyv was among those who donated and called for others to do the same:
#ядонор RT”@euromaidanlviv: На Пекарській, 65 можна здати кров для постраждалих #Євромайдан #Львів“
— Альона (@Anatoliivna) February 19, 2014
#Iamadonor RT @euromaidanlviv: On Pekarska street 65 it is possible to donate blood for those affected [at] #Euromaidan #Lvyv
People are also collecting money for those affected by the latest escalation of events. Even those with very little to give are offering what they can in support of the protests. Ukrainian author and journalist Dmitry Gordon shared this image of an elderly woman showing undeniable support of the protests in her country:
Эта бабушка принесла половину своей пенсии для пострадавших на #євромайдан http://t.co/BiEDs1te3J pic.twitter.com/9vQQwLKhMV
— Дмитрий Гордон (@dmitry_gordon) February 19, 2014
This old woman brought half of her monthly pension for those affected at Euromaidan.

author: Olena Sovyn


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Is Indian Anti-Corruption Leader Arvind Kejriwal’s Resignation Clever or Crazy? · Global Voices
Manasi Gopalakrishnan

Arvind Kejriwal briefing the journalists. Image by Sarika Gulati. Copyright Demotix (21/1/2014)
After a remarkable victory for anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man's Party, abbreviated AAP) in December's Delhi Assembly election, bringing an end to Indian National Congress’ 15-year-rule there, Kejriwal has resigned from his position as chief minister after only 49 days in office.
As the capital of India waits for its new administrator, speculations are rife about what Kejriwal's resignation bodes for the general elections later this year and how AAP will perform compared to the established political bigwigs.
Some years back, somebody with a really good sense of humour decided to christen India's common man as the “mango” man. The logic is easy to understand. “Aam” in Hindi means “common”, but it could also mean “mango”, depending upon the context. Mango man or mango people has now become a part of popular political jargon in the country, referring to the common people in India.
‘Common man’ Arvind Kejriwal's party named Aam Aadmi Party #MangoMan http://t.co/uYKVCn4c
— namrata khedkar (@namztweets) November 24, 2012
India's “mango” people were considerably excited when the AAP managed to garner the maximum number of votes during the Delhi elections. However, Arvind Kejriwal's decision to quit from his job has surprised many and raised a number of speculations. His style of governance was unorthodox and publicity stunts like a 33-hour protest against the Delhi police ensured his frequent presence in the news.
Kejriwal had announced that he would resign from his position unless the Delhi Legislative Assembly passed the anti-corruption bill that would introduce the appointment of an anti-corruption ombudsman, the “Lokpal.” The bill would enable official enquiries into corruption complaints involving high-ranking officials. However, following the introduction of the bill in the state assembly, there was a huge uproar from the opposition and the bill could not be passed.
Kejriwal has defended his decision saying that it was one based on principle, but several supporters are disappointed.
@ArvindKejriwal already fooled delhi's #MangoMan & now #ArvindAtCII to fool the rest.. pic.twitter.com/VQbowLww97
— Vinod Chawla (@Chawla_Vd) February 17, 2014
In Facebook and Twitter, this particular statement is being shared by several critical citizens who think it is a case of sour grapes for Kejriwal.
Arvind #Kejriwal reminds me of that kid in my colony who'd throw his bat and leave the game because he got out off the first ball.
— pavan ツ (@pytesus) February 15, 2014
In his resignation letter, Kejriwal has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which represents 32 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, of getting support from billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Kejriwal's AAP had recently filed a police case against Ambani on charges of corruption.
The now ex-chief minister claims that the passage of the anti-corruption bill would have brought even more politicians under the scanner, which is why opposing parties ensured that the bill would stall in Delhi's Assembly. Kejriwal may have made a name for himself as India's foremost troublemaker, but many others, like Anand Pradhan, believe that Kejriwal has “shown the way” towards honest politics:
What is more important? Compromises for power or sacrifice for issues? #Kejriwal shows the way. Now the question is how people will see it?
— Anand Pradhan (@anandpradhan) February 14, 2014
Amrita Roy commented on a post by Aparna Wanchoo in Youth Ki Awaaz blog:
Well at least he stood by his word! Sure there were issues related to the 49 days his government was in power. Sure he doesn’t know how to deal with parliamentary anarchy. But he stood by what he has always preached. He is one of the very few people who walked the talk. If he hadn’t resigned after the vote against tabling the Lokpal Bill, both Congress and BJP would have called him opportunist. They would have definitely said that Kejriwal wants the power of the seat of the CM and hence isn’t resigning even after his pet agenda was rejected. Now that he has resigned, both these parties have resorted to declaring that he can’t govern. Either way he would be attacked. The only thing that is in his control is to stand by his word. And he did just that.
Kejriwal's move may actually prove to be a strategically potent move for the general elections this year. The AAP has already announced its main candidates for the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, this year.
The run up to the 2014 general elections has begun and the AAP is taking on the big guns in the Indian political scene. Going by the mood, India's mango people definitely seem to have a chance, and they're supporting the one party which, to say the least, appears to be the most honest of the lot.

author: Manasi Gopalakrishnan


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Jamaica: Breakespeare & Bob Marley  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Inspired by Cindy Breakspeare's recent lecture on Bob Marley, Annie Paul republishes a 2007 interview she did with her, in which Breakspeare discusses her youth, her Jamaican-ness and of course, meeting Bob.


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Nigerian President Suspends Central Bank Head for ‘Financial Recklessness’ · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was relieved of his job on February 20, 2014 by President Goodluck Jonathan for “financial recklessness and misconduct”. He has since been replaced by the most senior CBN deputy governor Dr. Sarah Alade.
A press release from the presidential adviser for media and publicity detailed the reasons for suspending Sanusi:
Having taken special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies, which indicate clearly that Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure has been characterized by various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline;
Being also deeply concerned about far-reaching irregularities under Mallam Sanusi’s watch which have distracted the Central Bank away from the pursuit and achievement of its statutory mandate; and
Being determined to urgently re-position the Central Bank of Nigeria for greater efficiency, respect for due process and accountability, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has ordered the immediate suspension of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from the Office of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It's not the first time the former chief banker of Nigeria has been in the news. Last year, the contents of a letter he wrote to the president were leaked to the press:
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Image by David Shankbone and released under the Creative Commons licence.
Mr. Sanusi’s had in September written a letter to to President Goodluck Jonathan detailing the theft of close to $50 billion in oil proceeds by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The letter later to the press and became a subject of public discourse.
Although Mr. Sanusi later revised the figure of the missing funds down to $12 billion, reportedly due to threats by associates of President Jonathan to make an issue of his reckless spending and philandering, the president concluded that the CBN governor’ pronouncement is set out to embarrass his government and demean his office.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation denied the allegations from the former bank chief, saying he was playing politics in a report by the Daily Trust newspaper:
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday denied reports credited to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Sanusi Lamido Sanusi  that it withheld $49.8bn (equivalent N8 trillion) representing 76% of the total crude oil revenues from January 2012 to July 2013.
NNPC spokesman Omar Farouk Ibrahim said in a statement that the allegation is borne out of misunderstanding of the workings of the oil and gas industry and the modality for remitting crude oil sales revenue into the Federation Account.
A defiant Sanusi late last month once again accused the NNPC of corruption, according to a report by Premium Times:
Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido, struck a defiant tone again Tuesday, accusing state-run oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of failing to pay to the federation account at least $20 billion of government oil revenues.
Prior to the announcement, a YouTube video uploaded by Chime Asonye titled “Overcoming the fear of vested interest, Sanusi Lamido at TEDxYouth@Maitama” had gone viral in Nigeria's blogosphere.
The suspension of the bank chief has drawn the ire of Nigerian netizens. Namama thought it's another imprudent decision by the president:
GEJ has made so many unforgivable mistakes, from mass looting, mass killings to replacing professionals for selfish resons #SanusiSack
— Namama (@Muneermaisaje) February 20, 2014
Tunde Bakare asserted that suspending Sanusi will not arrest the corruption in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC):
Is the suspension of mallam sanusi the solution to the corrupt practices going on in the NNPC? #Sanusi #SanusiSack — Tunde Bakare™ (@Backarray) February 20, 2014
Helen Alfred insisted that Nigerians deserve the truth about the missing funds that Sanusi spoke about:
We deserve to know the truth regarding #whereisourmoney So why sack the Sanusi for telling us. Or is it the manner of telling? @ocupynigeria
— Helen Alfred (@HelenAlfredi) February 20, 2014
Another tweep accused the government of double standards:
.@stellaoduah and @diezanimadueke keep their jobs while investigations are ongoing. SLS [the suspended governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi] gets suspended. #Noted. #20BNNPC ….. — A Nation @ War (@_yemia) February 20, 2014
Not all tweets were critical of the government though. For instance, blogger and writer, Willy Wonka wondered about the uproar on Twitter:
Twitter is up in arms over #Sanusi sack. But the people on the street are rejoicing. Am I missing something?
— Willy Wonka (@sirwebs) February 20, 2014

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Parlez-vous français? Learning French According to Global Voices Translators   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Bangui, Central African Republic. The French language retains some of its former influence in the former French colonies in Africa. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
I never fully understood the challenges of learning French until my girlfriend decided to take up the language. She would ask me – a native French speaker – questions that I had no answer for.
My girlfriend speaks Mandarin and English, and as she asked more questions, I began to realise the extent to which the language I had grown up with in Madagascar is loaded with exceptions. Learning a new language can be a daunting prospect for beginners, but for newcomers to France who are starting from scratch, learning French can be especially challenging.
French was important as a lingua franca until the middle of the 20th century, but its influence has since waned. Some experts blame the relative decline of French worldwide on the the complexity of the language.
There have been several attempts over the years to reform and simplify the French language, notably at the level of orthography, but they were mostly ignored. A policy introduced in 1990 put forward general rules and lists of modified words, though institutions have been slow to adopt them.
Still, the global influence of French language influence in the world should not be dismissed. French, spoken as a first language in France, Monaco, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, and some parts of Canada and the U.S., has an estimated 110 million native speakers. 190 million more speak French as a second language, and it's registered as an official language in 29 countries. The largest numbers of French second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, the largest contingent being from the Democratic Republic of Congo (32 million) and Cameroon (7.2 million).
A good example of its influence is the scope of Alliance Française, an international non-profit organization that aims to promote French language and culture around the world. Each year, 450,000 people of all ages attend French classes at Alliances Française in 136 countries.
The question remains: how does learning French compare with other languages? We posed the question to a few members of the Global Voices family, and also asked them to share any tips they had for beginners. Here's what they said:
Carol Bidwell:
As an English native speaker who has learnt both French and German, I have to say both are tricky for different reasons. French pronunciation can be quite tricky if you aren't coming from an Romance language background, and I have found that in some situations (mainly dealing with official/ government stuff) French people can be quite dismissive if your pronunciation isn't perfect, which can be demoralizing. In terms of grammar too, French is full of exceptions to rules, so as soon as you feel like you've learnt something there is more to learn! I don't want this to sound too negative though, because it does get easier and sticking at it is definitely worth it!
Andrew Kowalczuk:
French is one of the most idiomatic languages, and there are thousands of them, too many to study, so you have to learn gradually from context.
Thalia Rahme:
Alison McMillan quotes from a blog that explains the struggle of learning a new language:
You speak your native language. It is organized in certain ways: the grammar with its subject, verb and object in a certain order; different levels of politeness; and your culture mirrored in this structure as well as in idiom and metaphor. You express yourself in terms of it; you came to yourself through it; in effect, you are it. When you learn another language, you learn a different way to organize reality. When you grow fluent in this new language, you can say and even do things in ways you could not previously; certain new aspects are highlighted, and some things that you originally could more precisely formulate are now missing.
Danielle Martineau:
French has its quirks like all languages. I started learning French when I was 9 and like anything else it's just commitment and practice and pushing through the hard part in the beginning. I do recommend this video. It is a TED talk by the Fluent in three months guy, Benny Lewis. He says something that I think is really accurate about people learning a new language. Usually they are shy and afraid to make mistakes so they never really jump right in from the beginning for fear of being judged. They think other people will be offended by their imperfect language skills when most people are just thrilled that you are making an effort and taking an interest in their culture and language. Also a lot of French people will correct you when you make mistakes in speech – it's not considered rude, and I actually really love it.  Nothing like making a mistake to learn how to do things right!
Suzanne Lehn:
As a French person, my experience with the issue is an indirect one. I know a Chinese lady who married a Frenchman and they live in the US, so the language they have in common is English. [..] The big difference between Chinese and French languages: the grammar, it seems! Almost non-existent in Chinese and cumbersome in French. Also one must be aware that one can/should learn the oral language first. I know a lady who speaks perfect oral French from having lived in France for 2 years, but still cannot write it at all.
Georgia Popplewell:
I come from staunchly Anglophone Trinidad and Tobago, but I enjoy learning languages, and didn't find French particularly difficult. After studying it for three years in secondary school, I changed to Spanish, then somehow decided to major in French at university. I don't think I'd still be speaking French fairly fluently today, however, if I hadn't spent five months living and working in Martinique shortly after graduating. Having to communicate exclusively in French for that period seems to have locked the language into my brain.
I also have a far larger vocabulary in French than in Spanish, and I attribute that to the fact that I've read more widely in French. Gaining a solid grasp of a language, in my opinion, entails engaging with both living, contemporary examples of the language, such as you encounter in films, newspapers and magazines, and the more formal kind of language you'd find in literary works as well.
Jane Ellis:
French is a language where, the more you know, the harder it gets. One of the hardest things is definitely the grammar. In particular, I have found the passé simple very hard to use, as well as the subjunctive. I am getting a lot better at the subjunctive, but it is very difficult for a British person who has never even been taught about the existence of the subjunctive in English (!) to compute/process a whole new way of theoretical thinking.
Lova Rakatomalala is Global Voices’ editor for the Francophone region. When he first arrived from Madagascar to the US as a freshman at Tulane University, his fear of speaking English with a French accent was so overwhelming that he selected classes on the sole basis that they not require him to speak in public. He tweets—in French, Malagasy and English!—at @lrakoto.


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Recap of the Blog Carnival ‘Do You Love the Internet?’ · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

[All links lead to Spanish language pages.]
As we announced a few days ago, the moment has arrived to present the results of our Blog Carnival, this time a whirlwind event of only five days. The theme was I Love the Internet, and how to express this idea was left up to the imagination and creativity of the participating bloggers. The idea emerged in support of the online campaign #YoAmoInternet (I love the Internet).
So let's see what our blogger friends had to say. We'll start with Milton Ramirez, an Ecuadorian living in New York, who posted on Geek's Room that “at first it seems like a grammatical mistake” to talk about loving the Internet, since love is normally something that occurs only between people. But he later explains that “the point is to value the uses of the Web. Express your gratitude in the context of Valentine's Day for the benefits that the Internet offers you.” Finally, he concludes:
Amo el internet porque sin él no estuvieran leyendo estas líneas y porque nos ha servido para conocer millones de personas en miles de áreas. No más expertos y no más restricciones sobre la información.
I love the Internet because without it, you wouldn't be reading these lines, and because it has enabled us to meet millions of people in thousands of places. No more experts and no more restrictions on information.
Ángeles Estrada of Nicaragua, posting from France on her Blog de Ángeles, begins her post with the comment: “It seemed funny to think of the Internet fondly. Like that… with affection everywhere for the day of love and friendship.” After telling us about her journey on the internet, she confesses why she loves it:
Internet me ha dado otra vida. Una vida virtual que se adiciona a mi vida real y suma, llena y complementa. Abre puertas a mi curiosidad y apacigua la inquietud de mi espíritu inquieto, explorador, aventurero, quizás vagabundo. Mi vida hoy es una fusión entre lo real y lo virtual, intima y durable. Una simbiosis perfecta, hongo y árbol.
The Internet has given me another life. A virtual life in addition to my real life, which adds to it, fills it, and complements it. It opens doors to my curiosity and calms the restlessness of my inquisitive, exploring, adventurous, and sometimes vagabond spirit. My life today is a fusion of the real and the virtual, intimate and durable. A perfect symbiosis, like a fungus living on a tree.
Nscap, ciudadana del mundo (2.0) is the blog of Isabel Garnica of Spain, living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She gets straight to the point, stating:
Yo Amo Internet porque: aprendo, enseño, trabajo, comparto mi trabajo, viajo, blogueo, juego, hago amigos, conozco personas, porque #InternetCambiaTodo, porque me siendo una ciudadana global, reivindico derechos, difunde proyectos sociales, nos empodera como ciudadanos, ayuda a caer dictadores, por muchas muchas muchas más razones… y sobretodo porque me permite soñar un mundo mejor.
I Love the Internet because: I learn, teach, work, share my work, travel, blog, play, make friends, meet people, because #InternetCambiaTodo [the Internet Changes Everything], because it makes me feel like a citizen of the world, because it enables us to defend rights and share social projects, because it empowers us as citizens, helps bring down dictators, and for many, many, many more reasons… and above all, because it allows me to dream of a better world.
Gabriela García Calderón writes her blog Seis de enero from Lima, Peru. She reminds us of what it was like when communication took place via letters written on paper, and how things have evolved thanks to the Internet:
¿Por qué amo internet? Porque nos comunica, nos conecta, nos contacta, nos acerca y más con apenas un clic. Y porque además permite que la magia del correo real siga existiendo, espero que por mucho tiempo.
Why do I love the Internet? Because it links us, connects us, puts us in contact, brings us together, and more, with just a click. And because, for that matter, it allows the magic of regular mail to continue existing, hopefully for a long time.
On the blog Creatividad Rezumante, Alicia Cortés of Extremadura, Spain describes her love for the Internet in an inspired poem:
Internet, te amo
por tí navegaría
toda la noche y el día
prendida a tu mano…
Volaría sin tiempo
en tus redes de viento
Internet, I love you
I'd surf with you
All night and all day
Hand in hand
I'd fly, timeless
On the winds of your networks
On her blog Veo y escribo, Daniela Gallardo, of Loja, Ecuador, tells us about her typical day on the internet and her favorite sites to visit, but first gets honest:
Debo amarlo demasiado para dedicarle un post (algo que ni siquiera lo he hecho con mi novio) por San Valentin. La verdad es que #YoAmoInternet porque, básica y sencillamente, me tiene conectada al mundo. Es fascinante si no lo llevamos al extremo, claro.
I must love it too much, if I'm dedicating a Valentine's Day post to it (which I haven't even done for my boyfriend). The truth is that I love the internet because, plain and simple, it keeps me connected with the world. It's fascinating, if we don't take it to the extreme, of course.
Gina Yauri, also of Loja, tells us about her relationship with the Internet in her blog Ximealito, concluding:
Internet es un mundo de información abierto que tiene varias puertas, solo debes saber cómo utilizarlas y bajo tu responsabilidad sabrás llevar una vida plena con una pasión por el internet.
The Internet is an open world of information that has various doors. You just need to know how to use them responsibly, and you'll be able to live a full life with a passion for the Internet.
Iván Mejía, blogger of Tantas Cosas, writes a letter recounting his history with the Internet and reflects:
Sometimes it seems difficult to feel love for the Internet, since it's an everyday thing. Like electricity, the Internet seems like something that only gets appreciated once it's gone.
Israel Rosas of Mexico also writes a letter to the Internet on his self-titled blog:
Dicen que ya no eres aquella a quien solíamos conocer, que los ataques te han hecho cambiar y que las cosas ya no serán como antes. Hoy te escribo convencido de que mantienes esa naturaleza abierta e innovadora con la cual te conocí y que tanto me gusta.
They say that you're no longer who I used to know, that people's attacks have made you change, and that things can't go back to the way they were before. Today I'm writing to you convinced that you still have that open and innovative nature that you had when I met you and that I like so much.
Writing her blog Cosas del Alma from her native Medellín, Colombia, Catalina Restrepo lists the reasons why she likes the Internet, from access to information to sharing with others, and then declares:
a usar internet. A usarlo bien. El problema no es la herramienta, si no su uso. Y es uno el que decide lo que hace con lo que le dan. Creo que yo lo usé para encontrarme con el mundo.
Use the Internet. Use it well. The problem is not the tool, but the way it is used. And it's the individual who decides what to do with what they are given. I think that I used it to meet up with the world.
Madame Web, from the Colombian city of Pasto, writes the blog La lógica de mi Papá. She tells us that this isn't the first time that she's going public about her love for the Internet, but adds:
Debo decir que este amor ya no es el mismo que al principio, ha ido cambiando a medida que la red ha crecido y como en toda relación ahora hay cosas que, pequeños detalles, me molestan…como la propagación de virus, spam y troyanos…pero es algo inevitable, aunque tomando las medidas correctas se pueden prevenir estos males y otros relacionados con la seguridad online. […] Ahí les dejo esa inquietud, ¿Qué tan buenos usuarios somos?
I have to say that this love isn't the same as it was at the beginning. It has changed as the Internet has grown, and like in any relationship, there are now things, little details, that bother me… like the spread of viruses, spam, and Trojans… but it's inevitable, though you can prevent these and other problems by taking appropriate measures with online security. […] So I'll leave you with this concern: As users, how good are we?
The people of the Mexican collective blog Sursiendo explain the Internet and why we should love it:
Internet es lo que queramos que sea, por eso lo amamos, porque en nuestras manos  (mentes, corazones…) está darle forma y comprometerse con él/ella(ello), para que no desaparezca, no lo mutilen, no lo neutralicen, no lo desvirtúen o no lo controlen. No lo dejemos en otras manos. Amemos Internet.
The Internet is what we want it to be. That's why we love it. Because in our hands (minds, hearts) lies the responsibility to give it form and commit to it, so that it doesn't disappear or get mutilated, neutralized, distorted, or controlled. Let's not leave it in the wrong hands. Let's love the Internet.
José del Sol writes Buscando el optimismo from Irún, Spain. He recounts how at first it was love at first sight, but now:
De vez en cuando reflexionamos sobre cómo hemos evolucionado. Mis kilos siguen ahí, no como mi pelo, y ella ya no es aquel mundo inocente e ilusionado de cuando nos conocimos. A veces fría y comercial -hay que vivir-, otras enfrascada en luchas políticas, los dos tememos qué le pueda llegar a pasar. Últimamente ha crecido el peligro de que de artesana autónoma pase a ser funcionaria sin identidad de un estado policial o empresaria libertaria sin respeto por la privacidad de nadie. No sabemos qué camino seguirá, pero como con una persona, creo que no podré abandonarla a su suerte.
From time to time we reflect on how we have changed. My extra pounds are still here, unlike my hair, and she [the Internet] is no longer the innocent and hopeful world that she was when we met. Sometimes she's cold and commercial – one must survive – and other times she's caught up in political fights. We both fear what might happen. Lately the fear is growing that she might transform from an independent artist into a faceless servant of a political state or a libertarian business with no respect for anyone's privacy. We don't know which path she will follow, but like with a person, I don't think I could abandon her to her fate.
Mexican activist Jesús Robles Maloof explains his position in a post on his blog:
Defenderé un internet libre porque me ha permitido conectarme con otros y luchar por la libertad de las personas. […] No me imagino su libertad sin internet y en este sentido amo a internet. La vigilancia masiva de la red amenaza esta capacidad de movilización al dar a los gobiernos la posibilidad de anticiparse.
I will defend a free Internet because it has allowed me to connect with others and fight for people's liberty. […] I can't imagine their liberty without the Internet, and in this sense, I love the Internet. The massive network surveillance threatens this capacity for mobilization by giving governments the opportunity to forestall action.
Bolívar Loján Fierro writes the blog Ni lo uno ni lo otro, más bien todo lo contrario from Loja, Ecuador. He tells us about the procedure that was necessary to make a phone call 40 years ago and compares it with the immediacy of modern tools like Skype. In a science fiction plot twist, his last paragraph is written from the year 2020:
Estoy a mis 72 años liderando en el mundo una campaña de “Derecho a la privacidad”, mi compañera llamada “Internet”, en una pequeña pelea que tuvimos colocó mis datos a disposición del mundo. Me birlaron lo poco de mis ahorros y de privacidad. Me fui a vivir en la montaña, donde queda un poco de agua, elemento vital que perdimos mientras todos estábamos sentados asumiendo que el mundo se podía construir desde un teclado, cosas táctiles y realidades aumentadas. “Amo a internet”, era mi grito de guerra, ahora es “Amo a mi privacidad”, mientras los analfabetas digitales que viven en el campo felices con sus sementeras y ancestros en la ciudad andan como locos buscando algo que llaman comida virtual. Ya la privacidad poco importa.
I'm 72 years old, leading a campaign called “The Right to Privacy.” During a fight we had, my companion, named “Internet,” posted all my information for the world to see. My meager savings and privacy were stolen. I went to live in the mountains where there was a little water left, a vital element that we had lost while we were all sitting around assuming that the world could be constructed via keyboards, touch screens, and augmented realities. “I love the Internet” was my war cry. Now it's “I love my privacy,” like the digital illiterates who live in the countryside happy with their crop fields, while their ancestors in the city run around like crazy people looking for something that they call virtual food. And privacy matters little.
So, although the Carnival was only 5 days in length, we were pleased to see that various bloggers participated. We recommend following the links in each participating post so that you can read the bloggers’ full opinions. I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude (and that of Global Voices en Español) to all the bloggers for their effort and dedication in contributing their valuable time to this initiative.
And, of course, Happy Valentine's Day!


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Russians Eye Ukrainian Turmoil with Hope, Fear · Global Voices
Gina Lentine

Heavy metal band Iron Maiden's mascot “Eddie the Head” gets a Ukrainian restyling in this meme. Anonymous image found online.
The latest development in a long running stand-off between the Ukrainian government and opposition, deadly clashes between protesters and riot police erupted near Kiev's Independence Square on Tuesday, February 18. As events unfolded, authorities halted the city subways, barricaded roads, and blocked a major opposition TV channel,  Channel 5 Ukraine [Ukr]. According to recent numbers as many as twenty-five protesters and police have died in the violence, over 200 people have been hospitalized, and over 1,000 have been otherwise injured. The numbers also include journalists and bystanders.
Russian bloggers have been carefully observing these events, so much so that many Russian Internet users have lost interest [Global Voices report] in the Sochi Winter Games in favor of protests on the Maidan. Positive commentary ranges from expressing sympathy for the protesters to demanding that Russia not meddle in Ukrainian internal affairs. At the same time pro-Kremlin bloggers and state-sponsored Russian media outlets have lambasted the protesters as extremists.
As usual, members of the Russian opposition gave some vicarious analysis of the situation. Journalist Sergei Smirnov, formerly a member of the radical and banned National Bolshevik party, tweeted:
реально 13 раненых ментов с огнестрелами это уличные бои. Ну то есть значит у оппозиции раненых в несколько раз больше
— Смирнов (@sssmirnov) February 18, 2014
Seriously, 13 wounded armed cops equals urban warfare. That is, this means the opposition has several times more wounded.
Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov made the same comparison, lamenting the violence [ru]:
В Киеве продолжаются уличные бои. 9 убитых. 7- гражданских и два милиционера. И все потому что Янукович цепляется за власть и не хочет объявить досрочные выборы.
Urban warfare is continuing in Kiev. 9 killed. 7 civilians and 2 policemen. And all because [President] Yanukovich is hanging on to power and doesn't want to announce snap elections.
Vladimir Milov's second in command at DemVybor party, Kirill Shulika wrote [ru]:
Виноват, естественно, Янукович со своим маниакальным желанием удержать у власти группировку донецких бандитов. Да, можно говорить о вине оппозиции, но есть президент, который просто обязан не допускать этого. А если он уже не в состоянии контролировать ситуацию, ему надо уходить.
Of course Yanukovich is to blame, with his maniacal desire to maintain power for a group of Donetsk bandits. Yes, one can also fault the opposition, but there is a president who simply cannot not allow this [violence]. And if he can no longer control the situation, he should leave.
Some Ukrainians also tweeted in Russian. Singer Oleksandra Koltsova tweeted about the much-discussed split between Ukraine's Russian speaking East and EU-oriented West:
Люди на Востоке не “за Януковича”.Их тоже обокрали.Они тоже готовы променять его на лучшего кандидата,но им нужна конкретика и другие лица.
— kasha saltsova (@kashasaltsova) February 19, 2014
People in the east aren't “for Yanukovich.” They've also been robbed. They are also ready to trade him in for a better candidate, but they need concrete proposals and different faces [in the opposition leadership.]
In the end, though, RuNet discussions of the Ukrainian “problem” should remain online discussions, thinks Russian writer Maxim Kantor [ru]:
Началась украинская гражданская война. […] Россия не должна участвовать в этой войне. Сегодняшнее украинское правительство дискредитировано, и его призыв о помощи (если будет) нельзя рассматривать как призыв народа. А народ ни о чем не просил.
The Ukrainian civil war has begun. […] Russia should not participate in this war. The current Ukrainian government has lost credibility, and its call for help (if it happens) should not be seen as the voice of the people. And the people themselves haven't asked for anything.
Vladimir Putin, who reportedly ignored a recent phone-call from President Yanukovich, seems to be on same page.

author: Gina Lentine


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Searching for Blame in Deadly South Korean Building Collapse · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Ten college students were killed and 105 injured in a building collapse in South Korea on February 17, 2014. In a country where the dreadful memories of the Sampoong disaster, which claimed over 500 lives, and other deadly collapses are still fresh among adults, online venues have been flooded with concerns over the repeated safety lapses and discussions on who or what to blame for incidents such as these.
The accident occurred as heavy snow caved in the roof of a building where 500 freshmen from the Pusan University of Foreign Studies were staying for two days of orientation events before embarking on their very first semester there.
Some initial media reports pointed fingers at the student council for organizing the event [ko] without the university's supervision and specifically, for choosing that location, or at the Mother Nature. Unusually heavy snow [ko] far exceeding the region's average precipitation hit the city of Gyeongju for several consecutive days, and the sheer weight of the snow is reported to have put so much pressure on the facility's steel panels that they snapped.
However, as investigation progressed, many seemed to reach the conclusion that this may have been a preventable manmade disaster after all. The collapsed  building Manua Ocean Resort was built rather hastily in only two and a half months [ko], and since construction finished in 2009, it had never had a single regular safety check-up [ko].
폭격도 아니고 눈이 쌓인 걸로 건물이 무너졌으니 1차적으로는 해당 건축물을 설계, 시공한 자들과 관리 운영해온 자들이 책임을 져야하지 대체 TL엔 부산외대가 돈이 없어서 총학생회가 부실한 곳으로 OT를 갔다니 하는 이야기가 왜 나오는건지..
— 박예나 (@epistazo2) February 17, 2014
It is not like the building was shelled; it collapsed only because of the heaping piles of snow. The first ones to blame are the ones who built that building and who are in charge of the building's maintenance. Why do some people in my Timeline keep talking about how the college had a shortage of funds so the student council had to choose a cheaper location for the orientation?
백화점에 다리까지 붕괴되어보고도 이런 일이 생겨야하나.. 여태 토건에 풀린 돈이 얼만데..
— TERrY (@leetj20) February 17, 2014
How do such things keep happening, despite all the money spent [to enhance] the construction sector, and even after we had a department store and a bridge collapse?
삼풍백화점 붕괴, 성수대교 붕괴, 화성 씨랜드 참사, 인천 라이브호프집 참사, 태안 공주사대부고 해안 사설 병영캠프 참사.. 그 많은 ‘인재’ 참사에도 배운게 없나요? 경주 마우나리조트 대학생 OT 폭설 참사, 부모 마음으로 너무 참담하고 화납니다
— 표창원 (Changwon Pyo) (@DrPyo) February 18, 2014
Collapse of the Sampoong Department Store, Hwaseong Sealand disaster, Incheon Bar fire [ko], Taean Seaside bootcamp disaster… All those manmade disasters, have we learnt nothing from them? This Gyeongju Mauna resort disaster – as a person who has children, I feel so miserable and also furious.
경주 리조트 붕괴와 신용카드 고객정보 유출 사건에는 공통점이 있습니다. 우리 사회에 만연된 위험감수(risk taking)의 문화입니다. 새로 일을 벌이는데만 관심이 있고, 세심하게 관리하거나 일어날 수 있는 위험에 대해서는 생각하지 않는 것입니다.
— 안철수 (@cheolsoo0919) February 18, 2014
There is a similar pattern between the Gyeongju resort facility collapse and the recent mass credit card data breach: our society's “risk-taking” culture. They are all focused on starting new things, but don't pay as much attention to possible risks ahead nor give extra care to maintenance.
경주 마우나리조트 붕괴 현장 사진 http://t.co/QDu3UJJYOa by @nanamjmj 커뮤니티 사이트 ‘아이러브사커’ 한 회원이 올린 것입니다 pic.twitter.com/GbHDuHcYxP
— 위키트리 (@wikitree) February 17, 2014
This is a photo from the Gyeongju Mauna Report collapse scene, shared by a net user of online community site ‘I Love Soccer’.