text:
Saudi Arabia: Tweeting AlBajady’s Hunger Strike · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

Saudi netizens joined forces last night to tweet about the plight of Mohammed Albajady, a 34-year-old Saudi activist who has been imprisoned for a year with no charges and no fair trial and who has been on hunger strike in protest against his detention for almost two weeks.
The online move follows last week's attempt by Bahraini netizens, who with the help of Arab and international Twitter users, were able to trend worldwide the hashtag #Hungry4BH in support of political detainees, most notably human rights defender and activist Abdulhadi Khawaja, who have been on hunger strike for more than three weeks.
Supporters shared the following information about Albajady:
On 20Mar'11 #Albjady set out from Qaseem to Riyadh to support the protest of families of the illegally detained
Though #Albjady had no relatives whatsoever among them, he went out to protest & tweeted in support of all detainees.
#Albjady tweeted during the protest that an officer asked if he had detained relative, he replied all were his family
On 21Mar'11 #Albjady was detained till now w/no charges or just trial, seen in MOI court blindfolded, ankles shackled
On 21Feb'12 #Albjady began #AlbjadyHungerStrike to protest his extrajudicial treatment/detention & hasn't eaten till today
Upon last arrest #Albjady was in solitary confinement for 4 months then regular prison, secret trial w/no lawyer access
Here are some of the tweets posted under the #AlbjadyHungers hashtag by activists, journalists, and Twitter users. Dima Khatib, head of Al Jazeera's Latin America office, wrote:
@Dima_Khatib: Mohammad Albjady defended the rights of detainees in Saudi prisons.. until he became one of them. Now he's on hunger strike
Saudi activist, Waleed Abu Al-Khair, who went on trial a few months ago, posted several tweets including this one [ar]:
A young Saudi woman who goes with the name “Ana 3arabiya,” made the link between Albajady's case and other detainees:
@Ana3rabeya: Focusing on One for Online Campaign is Effective Attention-Grabbing Method. It is NOT Denial/Ignoring of others Imprisoned.
Anti-slavery Mauritanian activist Nasser Weddady participated with several tweets:
@weddady: #AlbjadyHungers marks another landmark in the internal struggle between an authoritarian geriatric ruling class & a youth reform current
Jaffar Alsaffar, a Saudi who mostly tweets about Qatif protests in the Eastern province of the Saudi Kingdom, noted:
@jsaffar: Rarely have I seen such unity from my fellow Saudis on a common cause .. and what a cause :’)
Khalid Ibrahim from the Gulf Center for Human Rights tweeted:
@khalidibrahim12: Freedom to Saudi Human R Defender Mohammed Albjady as he enters day13 of his Hunger Strike after a 1 year illegal detention.
Daughter of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Bahraini activist in exile Maryam Al-Khawaja tweeted in support:
@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: #albjadyhungers bcz it could b any1 of us, arbitrarily detained for speaking, protesting.. for existing.
And Tunisian Tounsia Hourra made the connection between Albajady and Khader Adnan, the Palestinian who went on hunger strike for several weeks [ar]:

author: Mona Kareem


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Lack of Confidence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister has been defeated, arguably an outcome predetermined from the start based on the division of numbers in the Parliament”: Plain Talk says that “the biggest losers in this matter has (sic) to be the people of Trinidad & Tobago.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Uruguay: Montevideo’s “Comic House” · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Fonzi from Con la cámara en el bolsillo [es] (“With a camera in my pocket”) posts images of a house in Montevideo with images of comics painted on its facade.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Venezuela: Rumours About President Chávez’s Health Continue · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

In Venezuela the rumours are far more numerous than reliable information, especially those surrounding the president. Since his cancer diagnosis made some months ago, opinions and forecasts have not stopped. Numerous notes and information that allegedly come from reliable sources but not identified [es] insist that the illness is serious, meanwhile official spokespersons assure that Hugo Chávez has sufficiently recuperated to continue his long presidential career.
Once again, there are apparent forks in the road that leads to the future. However, a mood of uncertainty remains in political discussions with presidential elections coming in October of this year, and in response to the results of the preliminary round [es] of the election of the opposition.
President Hugo Chávez from Angostura, in Bolívar. Photo from Flickr user chavezcandanga, 15th  February, 2012 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
For those who favour the new presidential term with Chavez at the helm, new campaign strategies that permit the effective recuperation of the president are necessary, as Carola expresses in her post “Chávez somos todos” (We are all Chávez) [es]:
Nos enfrentamos a una campaña electoral justo ahora cuando mi Presi necesita, por primera vez en tantos años, descanso y tranquilidad [No necesitamos] una campaña reposando en un solo hombre, sobre todo cuando ese hombre necesita que la campaña repose en otros hombros, digamos por ejemplo, en los míos, los tuyos, los hombros de todos los chavistas, millones de nosotros haciendo campaña en nuestras calles, oficinas, mercados, panaderías, plazas, universidades…
However, others are less optimistic. As Naky states, in “Con él muere todo,”(Everything dies with him) [es] a post in which she recounts part of a conversation with a newspaper delivery man who actively supports the government.
No debieras preocuparte mucho […] esto muere cuando él muera. Todo va a morir con él. No hay hombre nuevo, no hay un cambio […] Sólo él. Y con él se muere todo.
In the meantime, Antonio Aponte, in Un grano de Maíz (A grain of corn) [es] emphasizes the importance of continuing the fight, even if it is extreme:
Súbitamente caímos en cuenta de que Chávez es humano y, por lo tanto, es mortal. La política juega con esa posibilidad, es un factor en la contienda, la derecha lo manipula, lo magnifica, lo trata con crueldad. Los Revolucionarios lo lamentamos, nos preocupamos, convertimos la adversidad en fortaleza.
La respuesta es sólo una: el imperio y sus lacayos locales crean las condiciones para un zarpazo.
Si se pasan de la raya un tantico así, debemos cerrar los medios de difusión que llamen a desconocer el orden constitucional y nacionalizar los bienes de los golpistas. La Revolución está en el deber de defenderse, de defender al Comandante, al Socialismo y las conquistas del pueblo.
Suddenly it dawns on us that Chavez is human and, therefore, is mortal. Politics plays with this possibility, a contending factor, the right manipulates it, magnifies it, and treats it with cruelty. The revolutionaries lament, we worry, we convert adversity into strength.
The only answer: the imperialists and its local footmen create the conditions for its own thrashing.
If the line is crossed to even a little bit, we ought to close off the mediums of diffusion that call for disregarding constitutional order and nationalising the resources of the golpistas [people in favour of a coup]. The revolution must defend itself, it must defend the Commandant, Socialism, and the conquests of the people.
Many discussions have centred upon the obscurity of official information with respect to the President's health. People discuss whether he only has a few months left, whether he can continue with the electoral campaign, whether he is in a position to rule, or whether he is in a state of denial. Wikileaks has also published emails in which the diagnoses are less optimistic, and these have been spread over the web after the announcement of a new surgery in Cuba.
The author of The Devil's Excrement describes it in these words:
Chavismo can do little to change the feeling that something is not right.
And finally, a critical vision from the outside, on Twitter, from @byciclemark:
Chavez is more greedy than I realized. A responsible leader would not run for re-election while combatting aggressive cancer.

author: Laura Vidal


text:
Argentina: President Fernández’s Speech Under Netizens’ Scrutiny · Global Voices
Natán Calzolari

On March 1, 2012, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's speech took place in the Senate (watch the complete video [es] or read the official transcript [es]), in a formal act which gave way to the regular sessions of the Senate and Representatives chambers. Twitter functioned as a centralizer of comments and discussion during its broadcast, and Internet users were publishing their opinions there with respect to the event.
The speech spanned over three hours and was shown as a national broadcast [es]. Some topics that were expected to be touched upon were the conflict with the United Kingdom over the Falklands and the train accident at the Once station, which took place on February 22. The Argentine President spoke with respect to this and also reached a balance regarding the state of the nation, explaining the goals and projects under her administration and demonstrating various statistics to support her words.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner during her speech on Senate grounds.  In the window to the right: an interpreter translating to sign language for the hearing disabled.  Source:  YouTube.com/TVPublicaArgentina
The Once tragedy
Nevertheless, there were moments throughout the speech that concerned a large quantity of Internet users, one on which the majority of them seemed to focus. For example, regarding the recent tragedy of the Once train, which left 51 dead and approximately 700 injured, the President spoke about finding those who were responsible and, once again, separated the State from taking any responsibility for the event.
Many users commented on this, such as journalist Guillermo Lobo (@GuilleLobo) [es], who, citing the President, explained [es] the money that was meant to be used to improve the trains versus how much it costs the State to broadcast a free soccer channel on public television:
CFK “Si no hicimos mas es xq no hay mas recursos” TBA recibió en 8 años $1925 millones. Un año de Fútbol y TC= $1400 millones.
Adrián Sánchez Berger (@adriansb80) [es] tweeted [es] about the time dedicated to talking about victims of the tragedy:
#CFK 3h16m de discurso y solo 2 minutos dedicados a 51 muertos #once #tba #vamosportodo
User Max (@maxito79) [es] stressed [es] the President's five days of silence following the train accident:
#CFK pidiendo 1 min de silencio x las víctimas de #ONCE : yo pensé q ya con los días d silencio q se había tomado era suficiente #Sarmiento
Users Pie (@elpiegrande) [es] and Majo (@majogm) [es] also spoke (1, 2) [es] about how Cristina Fernández criticized Mauricio Macri (Head of the Buenos Aires city government and opponent of Cristina Kirchner) and the time she allotted to him for each topic:
Ah me confirman aqui que #CFK NO se hizo cargo de #once y le pide a #Macri que SI se haga cargo de la bomba de tiempo de los subtes
Le dedicó mas tiempo al subte y a MM [Mauricio Macri] que a los muertos de #once. Ahi tienen cuanto le importa. #CFK
Criticism towards educators
Without a doubt, however, one of the points that caused the most uproar was her words regarding Argentine educators: the President affirmed [es] that educators worked only four hours and enjoyed three months of vacation. Critical reactions on Twitter were instantaneous, although it is worth highlighting also that various users balanced out these comments, explaining that the State has accomplished a lot for educators in recent years.
Educator Chechu (@MCBchechu) [es] tweeted [es] sarcastically:
Así q los docentes tenemos 3 meses d vacaciones… Me cagaron como 45 días entonces! Ya voy a hacer los reclamos corresptes! #CFK #Congreso
Cecilia Panuccio (@ceciliapanuccio) [es], a future teacher, expressed [es] her indignation, saying:
Estoy indignadísima. #CFK es la presidente de “todos los argentinos”, como ella dice. Cómo va a hablar así de los docentes? Q ejemplo está dando?
Much like many users, Mariana Agustina (@anillobencenico) [es] is troubled [es] by the President's statements despite supporting her administration:
#CFK yo te banco a muerte, pero los docentes NO tenemos tres meses de vacaciones. Media pila
User Ignacio Greborio (@nachogreborio) added [es] that:
Fueron desafortunadas la declaraciones de #CFK pero los docentes también son unos ingratos con lo que hizo este gobierno
Pablo Corso Heduan (@corsopablo) explained [es]:
#CFK criticó más a los Docentes que a Macri: no tiene la más mínima idea del laburo que hacen los docentes para poder sobrevivir.
Meanwhile, Federico Fernández (@federicofl) [es], who defines himself as a “pure Peronist” on his Twitter profile, wrote [es]:
… tengo una madre jubilada docente y peronista , muy satisfecha con el discurso de CFK , Fuerza CRISTINA , Peronismo Revolucionario …
But many educators continued demonstrating their outrage on social networks, and various syndicates reached the media to respond to the President's wrongful claims, as the daily Clarín published [es]:
Ningún docente trabaja cuatro horas diarias, se hace mucho trabajo fuera de la escuela que nadie paga, por otra parte. Y los tres meses de vacaciones son una leyenda. Los docentes concurrimos a las escuelas hasta los últimos días de diciembre y luego a partir del 10, 12, 15 de febrero, a más tardar, estamos en las escuelas realizando las tareas preparatorias. […] la Presidenta evidenció un desconocimiento de la realidad que es muy sorprendente. […] Sentimos una mezcla de pena y bronca. Son palabras que lastimaron.
Words and facts
Upon the conclusion of the head of state's speech, the @Chequeado‘s [es] Twitter account published [es] the following tweet:
Terminó el discurso de CFK: tenemos bastante trabajo, manden frases y fuentes para chequear #Chequeandoeldiscurso
Website Chequeado.com [es] defines itself as a nonpartisan site dedicated to verifying the statements of distinct politicians, economists, businessmen and public figures. One day after Cristina Fernández's speech, the website published an analysis of some of her claims. The report can be read at the following link: “The speech under a magnifying glass” [es].
It is also interesting to note, as Perfil published [es] the same day, that the President omitted and forgot the principal objective of the event:
[…] La mandataria omitió mencionar formal, protocolar y oficialmente el 130° período de sesiones ordinarias. Según consignó la asesora parlamentaria Sonia Buhler, “CFK habló más de 3 horas pero se olvidó de dejar inaugurado el período de sesiones ordinarias”.
Finally, the speech's reception on the very grounds of the Senate was very positive: the President received much applause during the speech, from distinct groups that came to support her government so much as the civil servants present there. Ambar (@zeinicienta) [es] made [es] a comment with respect to this, attributing it to the fact that these same civil servants recently went [es] from charging $18000 to $35000:
No podría haber público más receptivo al discurso de Cristina que ese grupo de personas que incrementaron sin obstáculos un 100% sus dietas.

author: Natán Calzolari


text:
Armenia: Eurovision propaganda fiasco  · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped comments on a call by Armenian singers to boycott this year's annual Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan remain deadlocked in a conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and the call to boycott was ostensibly made in protest at the killing of an Armenian serviceman reportedly by an Azerbaijani sniper. However, the blog notes, not only was the statement written and published before any singers signed up to it, but it eventually became clear that the soldier in question was actually killed by one of his own comrades. The blog calls the fiasco “one of the most spectacular yet tragic PR disasters” made by Armenian Public TV apparently in order to justify a boycott of the international music competition. It also wonders whether those singers that did eventually sign will now be so outspoken as to decry hazing and deaths in the military at home.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Bolivia: Disabled Demonstrators End Weeks of Protests · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Disabled Bolivians protesting to demand more welfare support have ended “weeks of protests after Bolivian president Evo Morales agreed to some of their main demands,” Erwin C. reports in The Latin Americanist.


text:
Brazil: Pay TV Giant Campaigns Against New Act · Global Voices
Fernando Sapelli

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]
Act 12.485/11, approved by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on September 2011, which establishes new rules for pay television, has already created controversy among satellite television providers, subscribers and independent producers.
According to the Act, film and variety channels on pay television will have to dedicate three and a half hours of their weekly prime time programming to programs produced in Brazil. The Act was introduced in an attempt to diversify programming and strengthen the national production market.
But satellite television provider SKY, the biggest in Latin America, disagrees with the changes introduced by the act.
Recently, the company launched a viral campaign entitled “O Seu Controle Remoto Está Nas Mãos da ANCINE” (Your Remote Control Is In the Hands of  ANCINE [Brazil's national film agency]). The campaign’s objective is to unite the 40 million Brazilians who watch pay television in support of a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality, also filed by the company.
"Hamster trying to figure out the remote control" Photo by blackpawn. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
SKY claims that:
A ANCINE está regulamento a lei 12.485/11, trazendo diversas regras, ora incoerentes, ora ilegais e inconstitucionais, afetando diretamente o direito dos consumidores e a liberdade de expressão e comunicação, prejudicando um setor que há anos investe no Brasil, sem qualquer dinheiro público e que vem crescendo de maneira espetacular.
The company claims that because of the act, prices for pay television subscriptions will increase, sport and news content will diminish, and selection of programs will eventually be carried out by ANCINE, and not by industry professionals. The campaign also includes a video featuring several well-known volleyball and basketball players, all from teams sponsored by the company, demonstrating their discontent with the act.
ANCINE has responded to the campaign with counterclaims, affirming that:
A Lei 12.485/2011 destrava a concorrência no setor de TV paga ao permitir que as concessionárias de telefonia utilizem suas redes para fornecer serviços de TV paga. Permite, assim, que mais brasileiros tenham acesso aos serviços de televisão por assinatura e a outros serviços (…) por um preço cada vez menor.
The Agency also states that:
Um dos principais objetivos da Lei 12.485/2011 é aumentar a produção e a circulação de conteúdo audiovisual brasileiro, diversificado e de qualidade, gerando emprego, renda, royalties, mais profissionalismo e o fortalecimento da cultura nacional.
Several professionals from the industry and pay TV subscribers have also taken a stance against the campaign. The president of the Parliamentary Front in Defense of Culture, Jandira Feghali, published a note saying that:
A campanha promovida pela Sky é francamente uma disputa por reserva de mercado, camuflada pelo argumento da intervenção estatal no direito de opção do cidadão à programação. A lei não impede que seja ofertada programação estrangeira, mas conforme citei, garante espaço para as manifestações culturais brasileiras.
In another note published by the National Forum for the Democratization of Communication (FNPDC), some specific points of the campaign are disputed, for example, the claim that sports and news are not considered national content. According to FNPDC,
Não é verdade. A lei considera sim esses conteúdos como nacionais, mas não impõe cotas de veiculação de esportes. Os canais de esportes não entram na conta das cotas, não têm obrigações de cotas e continuam sendo ofertados normalmente sem qualquer alteração.
Another important point is the fact that ANCINE, and hence the state, would be regulating and making decisions about national programming, in violation of the Constitution. Newton Cannito, filmmaker and writer, clarifies in an article written for the website CulturaeMercado that:
É apenas uma lei que diz que algo como 30 minutos diário deve ser de conteúdo nacional. É pouco para caramba. E a Ancine não escolhe qual conteúdo será. A TV escolhe. E todo o resto é “controlado” apenas pelo interesse comercial e é natural e saudável que seja assim. O Estado não vai ter esse poder todo.
In the comments section, right below Newton’s article, some readers doubt that the Act would really be a step towards freedom of content. Fernanda, for example, argues that:
Não quero parecer grossa, mas, quem disse que o público de TV paga quer conteúdo nacional? (…) Eu não vou entrar no mérito de que tipo de programa cada um gosta de assistir, pois seria uma discussão interminável, mas dizer que essa lei reflete liberdade é mentira. Liberdade é pagar por um serviço e acessá-lo da forma que gostaria. Se eu quiser ver conteúdo internacional, eu vejo, se eu não quiser, mudo para um canal nacional.
Pay TV has been growing rapidly in Brazil, and in 2011, the Brazilian Association of Pay TV Providers (ABTA) estimated that the sector has grossed R$14,6 billion (US$8.58 billion), and created more the 90,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly. As at the third quarter of 2011, there were 12 million pay TV subscribers, and numbers have been growing year after year. For professionals in the industry, such growth represents an opportunity to generate ever more employment and a national cultural identity on pay TV, where the latter currently has little relevance.
Some shows have utilized online media to promote themselves, hoping to obtain production incentives through this new act. Such is the case of a fiction series called 3%, which is one of the winners of a competition launched by the Ministry of Culture to support the production of fiction series for TV. 3% “shows an unrealistic world, where competition for labor is institutionalized in a cruel process. Only 3% of the youth succeed, and the selection process puts them in extreme situations of humiliation, fear, stress and dilemma” (with English subtitles):
A public consultation on society’s impressions about the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality launched by SKY was open until March 3, 2012.

author: Fernando Sapelli


text:
Colombia: Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez’s 85th Birthday on Facebook · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Renowned Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez turns 85 today, March 6, 2012. Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (“New Iberoamerican Journalism Foundation”, FNPI for its initials in Spanish, founded by García Márquez) has created a Facebook page dedicated to the author's 85th birthday, as the blog 233 Grados [es] reports. The Facebook page will publish his quotes, photos, and videos, and collect messages and articles paying homage to the author.


text:
Cuba: Communication Cut-Off · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On the heels of a visit from the Archbishop of Havana, Uncommon Sense questions the motives behind “cut[ting] off all communication between [a political prisoner on hunger strike] and his family”.


text:
Cuba: Opposition Wants to Meet with Pope  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The recent months leading up to Pope Benedict’s visit to Cuba have been marked by state violence against peaceful dissidents”: Pedazos de la Isla reports that a former prisoner of conscience is calling on “all Cubans in and out of the island to pressure Pope Benedict XVI so that he at least meet with figures of the Resistance” in order to let the pontiff know “what really happens here on the island.”


text:
East Timor: Nation Loses a Treasured Political Elder · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Francisco Xavier do Amaral, known affectionately as “Avó Xavier” or “Avó Xavi” (Grandfather Xavier), succumbed to illness on Tuesday morning at the national hospital in Dili. He was 75 years old. Xavier do Amaral was a founding member of Fretilin, the political party for which he read the unilateral declaration of independence in November 1975 on the eve of the Indonesian invasion. (The Archive and Museum of the Timorese Resistance has the original document online.)
Upon hearing of his death, Facebook users reposted this video interview of him in 1975 with Australian media – here we get a sense for Xavier do Amaral's age and experience at the time, as he was older than most of the passionate, young student nationalists who formed Fretilin.
Xavier do Amaral took part in the mountain-based resistance against Indonesia until he and his supporters mostly from his home-based the mountain region of Turiscai and Maubisse, were accused of betrayal by Fretilin in 1977. (Listen to the accusations here on “East Timor Calling” radio archive of a September 1977 broadcast on the Timor Archives blog.)
Xavier do Amaral was imprisoned in the mountains only to be later captured by Indonesian soldiers and taken as a trophy prisoner to Jakarta. He returned to East Timor after Indonesia's scorched earth exit from the territory in 1999.
In 2001, he was elected to the first Constituent Assembly with his party ASDT, mostly with the devotional support of mountain people in central Timor.
View over Xavier do Amaral's region of origin, central Timor. Author's photo
While he was generally quiet politically, his influence in coalition politics in recent years is not to be discounted. At the time of his death, he was a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, for a third consecutive time.
Immediately following news of his death, Facebook user Baumali Quintao posted a public photo of Xavier do Amaral on his deathbed, generating over one hundred comments. Adeza Freitas posted a photo of the funeral car taking Xavier do Amaral back to his residential compound on the Dili sea front.
Tributes to Grandfather of the nation
Tributes are flowing in from Facebook, Twitter, on blogs and as comments on YouTube, from Cambodia, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Portugal.
Many commenters wished Xavier do Amaral a “safe journey” to the beyond in many languages, mostly in East Timor's own official language Tetum.
Justin Amaral wrote publicly on Facebook [tet]:
Husu ba Timor oan sira iha nebe deit atu reza ba ita nia avo francisco Xavier do Amaral nebe fila hikas ona ba aman maromak nia kuana.Francisco Xavier Do Amaral nudar ema ida nebe fo nia vida tomak ba rai Timor Leste […]
Alzira Mota Pereira commented on a tribute posted by the Timorese Rede Feto (Women's Network) [tet]:
Francisco Xavier do Amaral, nrn nebe Uniku no ema nebe brani tebes hodi kaer no ukun TL iha tempu Krize 75. “Francisco Xavier do Amaral” ita nia naran morin no Sagrada tebes mai ami Timor oan!!! Viva Proklamador, Viva avo Xavier
Nailorotiris commented on YouTube:
His charisma, gentleness, honesty and unassuming character will be missed among world leaders.
Nug Katjasungkana wrote in Indonesian [id] on Facebook:
Berdukacita atas meninggalnya Francisco Xavier do Amaral (pejuang pembebasan rakyat Maubere, Ketua Fretilin pertama, Presiden Republik Demokratik Timor-Leste pertama, tawanan politik Pemerintan Republik Indonesia)…
NGO Fundasun Mahein wrote on its blog in English:
Our young nation has lost one of its great elders. […] since the restoration of independence, his role in our struggle for independence has never been truly and properly recognized and valued.
Xavier do Amaral's supporters are known for gathering in Dili at his residential compound. Freelance journalist Meagan Weymes described the scene there today on her blog: “family and supporters had gathered outside the home to pay their respects, singing hymns and crying”.
As the Timorese government has declared a national period of mourning until Thursday, there will doubtless be images of mourning in coming hours and days, both from the capital city but also from his mountain home.

author: Janet Gunter


text:
Haiti: Demonstration over Shooting Death   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dying in Haiti blogs about a street demonstration in Cité Soleil, making a connection between how “violence and fear closes things down and people…can die easier from stupid deaths.”


text:
Honduras: In Sabanagrande, Making Fun of Police is No Joke · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Local police failed to see the joke during a satirical performance put on by youth in the town of Sabanagrande, south of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Every year Sabanagrande holds a cultural festival called Rey Feo, (Ugly King).
Blogger and poet Fabricio Estrada describes it as a “majestic tradition that each year brings together the largest demonstration of collective morbidity in the southern zone.” Around 40 youths in costume enthrone an “Ugly King” who reads a will full of town gossip and rhymed rumors. On February 4 of this year, the Ugly King directed his satire at local police.
Honduran police have been under fire for accusations of corruption, attacking citizens, and collaborating with criminals and gangs. Undoubtedly, tensions between civilians and the police are high.
In his blog Bitácora del Párvulo [es], Fabricio illustrates the atmosphere in the town on the day of this year's Rey Feo:
“Te digo que esta vez le tirarán duro a la chepa (la policía), yo tengo un primo que sale en el cortejo…” susurra un niño. Pero ya todos lo saben. Han tenido todo un año para meterse en la vida pública como privada, y lo de la policía es público y privado a la vez: público porque los medios masivos ya lo denunciaron y privado porque es mejor callarlo antes de ir “pechito de paloma” (apresado con esposas).
Later in the post, Fabricio describes the police's reaction to the reading of the will:
La policía aprieta las mandíbulas y reciben la estocada anual: “Ay policía hijue… aquí te vamos a dar la batuta, porque solo por robar y por matar el sueldo te van a pagar”.
Solo se espera que termine la lectura cuando ya la policía se le va encima al cortejo completo, pero los soldados del primer batallón se interponen, defendiéndolos. ¡Esto es teatro señores, esto es teatro! grita el de los parlantes, pero soldados y policías hacen el suyo mientras el cortejo se escabulle entre las sombras. […]
De nuevo, el pueblo se ha salido con la suya. No hay censura que valga en la insurrección más antigua de Sabanagrande: el rey feo.
Once again, the people have gotten away with it. There is no censorship that can withstand the oldest insurrection in Sabanagrande: the ugly king.
Fabricio reports [es] that days later, police actively sought to arrest the youths involved in the performance. Around 150 people responded to the police's “arbitrary persecution and apprehension” of several young men.
Los ánimos lograron controlarse ante la promesa de mediación del COFADEH [Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras], quien asumió darle seguimiento a los testimonios y acompañar a las víctimas de la violación constitucional del derecho a la libre circulación y de las amenazas concretadas por la policía al detener la semana pasada a uno de los muchachos (Mauricio Canales), a quien golpearon y sometieron a burla y escarnio ante su preferencia sexual manifiesta.
Anger had been building among the citizens of Sabanagrande due to a police-imposed curfew requiring that children under 17 be “sent to sleep” at 10pm or risk imprisonment for loitering or suspected delinquency. Fabricio observed how life in town changed under this unofficial curfew:
Un pavoroso silencio llena el pueblo y solo se ve a la patrulla recorriendo despaciosamente las calles. No se exagera cuando se puede comparar esta escena con cualquier registro histórico de una dictadura implantada sin vergüenza alguna.
As a result of these clashes with the police, citizens decided to take matters into their own hands and create the first Sabanagrande Human Rights Committee under the direction of COFADEH. Fabricio, now an active part of this committee, says that “Honduran society has reached a dead end that should accelerate a process of unprecedented civic organization.” He shares images of the group's first meeting:
In an email, Fabricio tells Global Voices that the committee held a pro-human rights concert and poetry reading on Friday, March 2, and that the group is already seeing some success:
la presión del pueblo (plantones pacíficos durante toda la semana, en el parque, a partir de las 10 de la noche) más la acción del COFADEH, Radio Globo (periodista Félix Molina) y la Secretaría de Justicia y Derechos Humanos (que entró en juego gracias a enlaces amigos) revirtió lo que estaba sucediendo ordenando el relevo inmediato de seis de los policías más implicados en arbitrariedades.
Los jóvenes están más que felices, lo logramos!
pressure from the people (peaceful sit-ins throughout the week, in the park, starting at 10 pm) plus the action of COFADEH, Radio Globo (journalist Felix Molina) and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (which got involved thanks to ties of friendship) reversed what was happening by ordering the immediate replacement of six of the policemen involved in arbitrary actions.
The youth are more than happy, we did it!


text:
Iran: ‘Crackdown on social network users’ · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Kheyzaran, an Iranian pro-government blogger based in Qom, says there has been a new wave of crackdown on Iranian users of social networks. He writes [fa] that in days before the parliamentary election, Iranian authorities have asked some users to ‘stop or reduce’ their online activities. In last 3 years and after 2009 protests, Iran has accused social networks of ‘encouraging unrest’ in that country.

author: Hadi Nili


text:
Madagascar: Protesting Endemic Poverty  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Rivonala Razafison reports in Africa Review that “scores of Antananarivo residents wore black clothes to denounce poverty in the country”.  He adds that Madagascar has experienced over 10 different forms of protests since early January. The latest protest is still ongoing and was initiated by army officers of the CAPSAT, the same regiment who helped put the current government in power.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Mozambique: Time lapse viral video of storm over Maputo · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

This video of a storm arriving over the city of Maputo has gone viral on Youtube, with over 450,000 views in just a few short weeks. Statistics show greatest numbers of views in Mozambique, South Africa, Japan and Portugal. Mozambique has been hit by a number of cyclones in recent months.


text:
Puerto Rico: Gender and Causality · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Guillermo Rebollo Gil offers a legal analysis [es] on the media framing of the murder of women victims of intimate partner violence.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


text:
Puerto Rico: “Ilegal” death of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The Center for Investigative Journalism has posted the Civil Rights Commission's report [es] on the death of the pro-independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, killed by the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) on September 23, 2005.


text:
Puerto Rico: The History of the Artist Wrestling Federation · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Mariángel Gonzales writes about the Puerto Rican art collective Hello Again [es] and their project of documenting the local artistic scene and producing the documentary “El Evento: La historia de AWF” (The Event: The History of AWF [Artist Wrestling Federation]).


text:
Russia: 11 Areas of Election-Related ICT Innovation · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
[All hyperlinks to Russian sites unless otherwise indicated.]
Сrisis can be a fruitful time for innovation. In Kenya for example, the 2007-08 post-election crisis [en] led to the creation of the Ushahidi [en] mapping platform. In Russia, post-election protests have given birth to dozens of new web platforms and mobile applications.
In most cases, innovations are created by the oppressed (in Russia's case, the opposition), who try to challenge the existing balance of power by using new tools and technologies. But the state can also adapt and adopt some of these technologies, in order to protect the status quo.
Conflict creates new technologies
In Russia, the accelerated innovation process has been going on for the past three months, following the initial post-election protests [en] in December 2011 (some applications published now, however, had been planned and developed earlier). Innovation can be seen not only in the new tools, but also in the new forms of protest enabled by the technology.
In the analysis of the crucial change, two important factors should be taken into consideration. Firstly, for many years, the dominant online political sphere in Russia has been LiveJournal, a platform that is used primarily as a space for content publication. During the past year, many people started using Facebook, an environment facilitating much more active sharing and interaction.
According to the recent statistics from WCIOM, the percentage of Facebook users among Internet users in Russia has increased from 5 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2012. This has made the Russian online public sphere even more dynamic and interactive.
Secondly, there has been an increase in brand new tools and platforms compared to the earlier usage of the existing solutions.
These observations suggest that either there has been an increase in information literacy of civil activists, or an increase in political awareness among those who have these skills due to their professional activity. Of course, there is also a commercial explanation: IT teams are interested in developing attention-grabbing social projects.
Below is a list of 11 innovative ICT areas of 2011-12:
1. Non-political coordination platform and an opposition hub
One of the most challenging issues for the opposition anywhere is coordination of activities between different factions and groups. The website of the “League of Voters” is a coordination hub for all opposition activities, which is not affiliated with any particular party. Moreover, it provides a tool that helps to find groups working on particular issues in the same region. It has more than 250 regional groups (anyone can add his/her own group). It has also provided a tool that allows one to become a volunteer in a particular area of oppositional activity.
Another website that was created as a non-political news portal of the protest movement is mitinginfo.ru.
2. Production of protest symbols and content
The major symbol of the recent protests in Russia is a white ribbon, use of which started to proliferate online. BelayaLenta.com, the site used to support this initiative, explains the symbol's meaning and describes how it can be used and where people can find various types of ‘white ribbons.’
The major role of the Internet, however, went far beyond this. Online space started to be a source of creation, production and distribution of leaflets and protest posters. The most advanced platform where people can share, find, and produce posters is rosagit.info.
Additionally, a special “Street Art” group on Facebook was actively used not only for the creation of new posters, but also for online proliferation of leaflets. These are examples of how Internet tools have made the online space a factory for production of collective politically-engaged symbols.
3. New forms of protest and protest coordination
Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, LiveJournal and other popular platforms are being actively used for mobilization of people for protest rallies. Due to legal requirements, however, the organization of a big protest event needs to be approved by the local authorities and police.
One of the protest types that was enabled by the Internet is the car-based protest. A few times, social networks and blogs were used to organize large-scale flashmob protests in many cities, during which people with white ribbons on their cars gathered at a specific time and location. Some of the protests attracted more than a thousand cars. The same type of action was later adopted by pro-Kremlin movements.
Olesya Shmagun's one-person protest. Photo by Pavel Hitzkoy, used with permission.
On the other hand, according to the Russian law, a protest by one person does not require special permission. A good example of how it can be used and amplified by ICT was provided by Olesya Shmagun. She made a poster that read, “Putin, go out and take part in public debates!” – and stood with it by the entrance to Vladimir Putin's office. She was questioned by the police and the government's security service, but wasn't detained because one person protests are not prohibited.
Later, she published the story of her protests and a few photos that were taken by her friend on her LiveJournal blog. Just a few dozen people were able to see Olesya’s protest in the offline world, but the blog post drew attention of many more, and was shared by many blogs and media outlets.
This story shows the power of what is known as Manuel Castells’ “mass self-communication” [en]. Thanks to the presence of one camera, an offline one-person protest found a way to a wide audience online.
Screenshot of Feb26.ru website
A major challenge for the Russian opposition, however, was to find a way to turn a one person protest into a massive one. The idea behind the Big White Circle action [en] was to cover the circular road around Moscow's center (known as the Garden Ring) with one-person protests. Unlike the previous large protests, this one did not receive a permit from the authorities. Moreover, this type of action was more of a big flashmob [en] rather than a traditional rally, which made it very difficult to deal with from the point of view of the police.
ICT makes it possible to organize new types of protests, which have no clear leader, are decentralized, can bypass some legal restrictions and create new challenges for the authorities. To help organize the Big White Circle protest, a special online tool was developed for the first time for coordination of a single specific protest of a unique nature. Feb26.ru allowed people to check in at locations of their choice on the map of the Garden Ring circle, and showed what locations were already occupied. Unlike other protests, the Big White Circle did not have any organizational committee or a particular leader. The role of the leader was played by a website. The website suffered from DDoS attacks; as a result, it was closed and deleted by the provider; a day later, it was restored.
The practice of creating special dedicated websites for specific protest events is one of the most interesting innovations of the Russian protests. The initial idea belongs to Ilya Klishin, who launched the dec24.ru website (which doesn't exist anymore) for the big opposition rally that took place in Moscow on December 24, 2011.
4. Alternative system of election monitoring (from offline to online)
One of the most significant success stories is that of Karta Narusheniy (Map of Violations), a crowdsourcing platform for election monitoring.
One of the major challenges of the crowdsourcing system is the credibility of information and the limited capacity to verify it. A special platform Svodny Protocol was created for the collection and analysis of the election observers’ reports and protocols. The system presents the idea of “bounded crowdsourcing” [en], when collection of information is based on a limited number of contributors who have special access to the event of interest and whose identity has been verified. Another platform with a similar purpose was developed by the NGO Golos, a service called SMS Golos, which allows to collect reports from observers through text messages and maps the voting results in real time.
Screenshot of webvybory2012.ru
Not only the independent media, but also the Russian government decided to create an online system for election monitoring. Following an order from Putin, the state communication company Rostelecom developed a website webvybory2012.ru, which allowed people to follow the majority of the Russian polling stations (some 95,000) online on the day of the March 4 presidential election.
Every polling station was equipped with two cameras: one has to be focused on the ballot box and the other has to give the general picture of the polling station. Once the voting was over, one of the cameras broadcasted the counting of the votes. The cost of this project is at least 13 billion rubles (around $500 million). Many bloggers have criticized this system, claiming that it creates an imitation of transparency, when actually the most common election violations cannot be monitored through webcameras (more detailed analysis can be found here [en]). Despite this, the cameras allowed to spot numerous violations (1, 2) [en].
Ilya Segalovich, one of the founders of Yandex search engine, suggested a solution that could significantly increase the capacity of the webcam system to contribute to the real election monitoring. According to him, it should be a monitoring system based on a network of webcams and a network of citizens’ mobile phones. The two networks of sensors have different capacities to follow different type of violations, therefore collaboration and synergy are required. Obviously, the government has not responded to this proposal, but a group of activists has developed a special election monitoring application for smartphones. The application Webnablyudatel has a classification of all the violations and makes it possible to instantly share video, photos and reports of violations.
One week before the election, Russian developers introduced Grakon, a special social networking platform for election monitoring. The purpose of this platform is to make election monitoring and coordination between various groups of observers as simple as possible. The platform helps people join a social network as voters, observers, members of voting commissions, lawyers, and representatives of the authorities.
To conclude, we can see that a new election monitoring eco-system has been created, which serves as a powerful and real-time alternative to official sources.
5. Election monitoring activism (from online to offline)
In Russia's case, the law allows any citizen to be an official observer on behalf of any party/presidential candidate taking part in the election. Observers played a very significant role in exposing violations and sharing them online during the December 2011 Duma elections. As a result, a few platforms were created to make it possible for everyone to become an observer. One such platform that aims at simplifying the procedure of becoming an observer is Alexey Navalny‘s [en] initiative called Rosvybory.org. A similar function is offered by the project Citizen-observer. There are also some regional websites whose goal is to increase the number of local observers. In St. Petersburg, a special website called Saint Petersburg Observers was launched by a group of local activists.
6. Coverage of the protests
The Russian protests have demonstrated a few innovative methods of coverage of the rallies, which addressed some specific challenges. The first challenge was the permanent debate about the number of the protesters: organizers of the rallies tend to claim high numbers, while the authorities tend to claim low numbers. One of the methods of obtaining reliable results was using photos taken from the drones (Patrick Meier wrote about it [en] recently). Another method was to create 360-degree 3D photo installations that allow the viewer to see the entire crowd.
The second challenge was a lack of live coverage of the protests in the electronic media. A mobile phone livestream technology (based on Ustream.tv) was actively used to cover the protests. It enabled live broadcasting from such unusual locations as a police car and a police station (broadcast by the protesters who were detained).
It should also be mentioned that citizen-based journalism played a very important role in increasing transparency of the coverage of pro-government rallies. Internet users were able to provide much content, including high quality YouTube reports that showed that many of those who took a part in these rallies had been forced or paid to participate, without really having any political stance (an example of a pro-government rally in St. Petersburg is here).
7. Transparency for the opposition and engagement in decision-making
In the Russian political environment, many citizens have lost trust not only in the government, but also in the opposition politicians. One of the major challenges for organization of the protests was to get the potential protesters trust the organizers.
As a response, the key discussions about the organization of the protests were broadcast on a new online channel Networked Public TV (SOTV), which was launched in November 2011. SOTV was created as a public television channel by a number of liberal journalists and public opinion leaders. Another popular Internet-based channel Dozhd (Rain TV) also played a significant role during the protests.
Another tool that has helped to increase trust and transparency of the organization of the protests is the online voting that was used as a tool for selection of the rally speakers. In this case, Internet users could vote on SurveyMonkey or on Facebook and in this way participate in shaping protest agenda.
8. Hacked e-mails
One of the most significant online struggles during the Russian election campaign was caused by the hacked private e-mail exchanges and other private data of both the oppositional and pro-Kremlin activists.
The first “victim” in this struggle was Alexey Navalny's private e-mail [en] account. Previously, private accounts of his supporters were also leaked [en].
As a response, a group of hackers claiming to be a part of the international network Anonymous published e-mail exchanges of a number of pro-Kremlin activists andthe members of the presidential administration. The contents of the mailboxes were published on a special website slivmail.com. A number of different platforms was organized around this major repository of the leaks(e.g. Rumol Leaks community, and Vkontakte group).
9. Real-time help
Any protest involves many risks, and in many cases immediate help may be needed. In Russia's case, one of the major issues has been legal help to people who were detained by the police. Helpwall.info allowed coordination of real-time assistance during the rallies. It made possible to post requests for help via text messages, Twitter and Facebook. At the same time, the tool had a relatively limited success. It appears that real-time communication at protest venues and organization of real-time help still remain the challenges that need to be addressed.
10. Accountability tools
A service Kuda-Komu, which allows to generate a complaint letter to any Russian authority, opened a special page devoted to the elections. The service helped to create letters that focused on particular types of fraud and suggested where they should be sent.
A dedicated website was also used for holding accountable those officials who were involved in falsification of the elections. A website chernyspisok.info (The Black List) allows any citizen to submit information about the people who might have been involved in election fraud. A project similar to the Black List is Rosmafia.
Another project, churovu.net, focuses on the Head of the Russian Central Election Committee, Vladimir Churov, who is seen by many as the person responsible for falsifications. The site’s main goal is to collect signatures in an online petition that calls for Churov’s resignation.
11. Tools of political promotion
Screenshot of budilnikputina.ru (Putin's alarm clock)
Surprisingly, one of the areas that has seen little innovation during the elections is promotion of political candidates. Most of the forces affiliated with political parties are using the same tools.
An interesting attempt to make a crowdsourcing platform for support of a presidential candidate was made by Putin’s supporters.  “What Putin has done” is based on a map of Russia where anyone can submit information about Putin’s good deeds.
Another Internet-based innovation that used Putin's image actually caused anger in the presidential adminstration. Budilnikputina.ru (Putin's Alarm Clock) offered a unique service: it made possible to order online wake-up calls for your friends that used Putin's voice. The service was free-of-charge. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any links to this service, and Putin's chief of elections staff Stanislav Govorukhin called it a “provocation that was organized by the protesters.” Putin's Alarm Clock service was also blocked for a few hours due to a DDoS attack.
Screenshot of "What Putin has done"
On the opposition's side, an interesting example was provided by a young activist Vera Kichanova (later elected as one of the first blogger deputies), who used QR codes on posters that promoted her candidacy for the local elections. Another citizen initiative for the local elections in Moscow is the platform Gorod2012, which makes it possible to see all the candidates who are not affiliated with the ruling United Russia party.
Postscript
There is one additional online activity that should be mentioned. It is not very innovative itself, but it is essential for enabling innovation: crowdfunding, webmoney and tools for donating micro payments online.
Once the online transfer of small amounts of money becomes easier and more reliable, it will have a significant impact on innovation. People who do not have enough skills to create new platforms now have more opportunities to support those who can. Many of the platforms that were mentioned above were supported by the Internet users. Crowdfunding was actively used to support the organization of protests offline.
***
If you would like to contribute to the list of innovative tools and platforms that have been developed within the context of the Russian elections, please leave a comment to this text.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Gregory Asmolov


text:
Russia: Sex, Women, Putin and Videos · Global Voices
Yelena Osipova

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
Young women calling on co-enthusiasts to rip off their clothes for Putin last summer, seemed to have disappeared from the scene after making the headlines for a couple of weeks. As the election season draws to a close in Russia, now, it is worth taking a look back at how that movement evolved, and how it inspired other women – both, for and against Putin – to get creative.
Here, it is important to revisit the concept of ‘2.0,’ the use of which has been on the rise recently. Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as:
[…] a loosely defined intersection of web application features that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them.
The 2012 presidential election campaign in Russia, has in many ways deserved the 2.0 title. Not only has it mobilized the public both online and on the streets to take ownership of their politics, but it has also given way to incredible creativity on both sides of the camp. The Internet has become the outlet where they share it all, effectively engaging in virtual video arguments of a sort.
Pro-Putin
‘Putin's Army‘ [ru] is just one of the many examples. Since their peak of prominence, the ‘Army’ has produced two soundtracks – one of which is their ‘Anthem‘, while the other is called ‘Go, Vova Putin!‘ – and several other provocative videos.
One of the most recent videos was an attempt at a hip-hop song, that attracted – yet again – some unfriendly feedback in the comments section:
Another one, released a couple of days before the elections, featured a young woman in a suggestive photo shoot. Towards the end she quotes Putin, which, if taken verbatim, can be interpreted in a very different light: “If one does not believe that it will rise, they will never have it up.”
The numerous comments ridiculing the video, were quickly removed from the section below.
Around the same time that Putin's Army came about, there was another group, ‘Devochki Za‘ (Girls for [Putin]), actively putting out music tracks (see the Vkontake page) and videos in Putin's support, as well. Their most recent video featured a fight for Putin among young women, who, according to the lyrics, are unhappy with all other potential suitors:
In February, there was another series of videos released, starring a new team of young women who – in different settings – discuss their ‘first time’ (i.e. in terms of sexual experience), relating it all to Putin. The organization – ‘Pervyi Raz‘ [ru] (The First Time) – is encouraging the young electorate to get out and vote. More specifically, it encourages them to vote for Putin, because, at the motto goes, “the first time has to be out of love”.
In the first video, the young woman is discussing her experience with a psychologist:
The second one takes place at a gynecologist's, where he emphasizes the need for protection:
In the third video, the young woman is getting advice from a fortune teller, who mysteriously picks up a card featuring Putin with what appears to be a halo:
The comments from viewers are far from friendly, and yet, despite being released ten days prior to this writing, they have already gotten hundreds of thousands of views.
Anti-Putin
On the other end of the spectrum, however, there has also been quite a lot of ridicule and resistance coming from young women. Perhaps the very first example emerged back in August, soon after the Putin's Army came about. F1 Studio produced the following video featuring young women exposing Putin's Army, addressing young female viewers, and asking them what lengths they would go to in order to have “a normal president”:
As a response to the “First Time” project, celebrity and TV persona Kseniya Sobchak released the following video just a day before the elections, discussing her “third time” with a gynecologist, who suggests that she changes her partner. Surprised, she asks if that is possible. “I'm afraid I'll get some sort of a bug!” she says. “Like… an Orange one.” The doctor reassures her that she can protect herself with “the White” (reference to the white ribbon, the symbol of the protesters).
Then, there is the feminist punk band Pussy Riot [ru], who has been engaging in flash gigs all over Moscow in the recent months, including a performance on the Red Square (after which they were detained by the police):
They were also the ones who caused an uproar earlier in February for holding a ‘prayer session‘ at Moscow's largest cathedral and calling on the Virgin Mary to do away with Putin (“Богородица, Путина прогони”):
Since then, the Russian Orthodox Church has brought charges against the female band for inciting religious hatred.
That “sex sells” is a well-known fact for marketeers and public relations specialists. The campaigns described above demonstrate that in Russia this notion is true of politics, as well, and that women can be and are vocal political activists, both online and on the streets.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Yelena Osipova


text:
Russia: Fake US Ambassador Twitter Account Wreaks Havoc During Vote · Global Voices
Donna Welles

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
The March 4, 2012, Russian presidential election played out as many predicted: Vladimir Putin emerged with the majority of the vote. Given that a major theme of this election season is the impact citizen media has had on the political process, perhaps it is fitting that some of the day's drama resulted from a fake Twitter account of the United States’ top diplomat in Moscow.
Fictional Michael McFaul's first tweet was sent on January 24, 2012 – roughly one week after Ambassador McFaul had been sworn in (the fake Twitter account – @McFauI instead of @McFaul- has been suspended, and the links to the tweets quoted below aren't working):
Michael McFaul, Ambassador of the United States of America to the Russian Federation. Photo by the U.S. Department of State, in public domain.
Добрый день! Приветствую вас в моем неофициальном русскоязычном твиттере.
The handful of tweets Fictional McFaul sent before Sunday's presidential election alluded to the Cold War and America's activities surrounding the December 2011 protests in Moscow.
On March 4, Fictional McFaul began tweeting about the elections in Russian.
10:45 am:
Желаю России честных выборов сегодня, выборы – это основа демократии и стабильного развития.
10:46 am:
@MedvedevRussia лично обещал мне честные выборы в России
10:59am :
@adagamov В России же запрещена агитация в день выборов
11:24 am:
@4irikova Вы думаете выборы в России будут честными?
And finally, at 3:08 pm, Fictional McFaul alleged that the validity of the Russian presidential election has been called into question:
Наблюдатели сообщают о большом количестве нарушений на участках по всей стране, это ставит под вопрос легитимность выборов.
The Wall Street Journal Moscow Bureau Blog discussed how, initially, notable Russian figures believed these remarks had indeed originated from the US Ambassador:
Such sentiments, appearing to come from the U.S.’s highest representative in Moscow, were a red rag to the Russian establishment bull, with Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-backed English-language TV news channel Russia Today, among the first to charge.
“And so it begins,” Ms. Simonyan tweeted. “They don’t even wait for the results, but act straight away.”
Genuine McFaul responded in kind.
At 5:33 pm, he mentioned Fictional McFaul when he announced that he had not been the source of the allegations of election improprieties:
@McFauI @adagamov Someone has put out a false account under my name. Please help your followers understand. My actual account is “verified.”
News of the existence of Fictional McFaul traveled quickly, and Twitter users informed each other on how to distinguish between them.
Official McFaul then retweeted several such announcements in both English and Russian.
Eugene Sokolov:
Настоящий аккаунт посла США, в России – Майкла @McFaul, верифицирован. Данный аккаунт > @McFauI фейк (вместо l – маленькой, i – большая)
Global Voices Author Alexey Sidorenko (@sidorenko_intl) reminded Twitter users of a similar situation with activist blogger Alexey Navalny:
All Twitter accounts with “L” letter are prone to fakes. L is easily replace by uppercase “i” – this had happened w/ @navalny. Now w/ @mcfaul
Michael Schwirtz:
Some created fake twitter account for U.S. Ambassador to #Russia, spreading rumors of fraud. Real account: @McFaul; Fake @McFauIw big ‘i’
daniele:
@mschwirtz @McFaul This is a very dirty trick. In any case, the real account is clearly visible with a blue mark on it.
Michael McFaul:
Clever! RT@niktwick The lower case L (l) – capital i(I) trap today made a fake @McFauI famous and gave the real @McFaul a hard time
Ambassador McFaul then retweeted articles from the aforementioned Wall Street Journal Blog and a brief announcement in the Washington Post Business section.
Before signing off, Official McFaul retweeted a Global Voices article, which discussed the Ambassador's efforts to open up a dialogue with the Russian people through social networking sites, as well as the reception these efforts received from Russian bloggers:
Russia: Obama’s McFaul Sworn in as U.S. Ambassador · Global Voices bit.ly/ztysHA Explains @McFaul's Twitter account/Russian internet
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Donna Welles


text:
Tanzania: Support Operation 365 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Be part of Operation 365, a project idea from Marisa Ranieri who is taking her first post-graduate job as a high school teacher in Tanzania: “To defray some of the financial stress on my part, my hope is to have 365 different friends and family members donate $10 towards the cost of my program – one for each and every day I’m abroad…As a tribute to your financial support and as a public thank you, I'll dedicate one of my daily posts to you for each $10 you donate.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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

The Eternal Pantomime shares her take on the latest political bacchanal.


text:
Africa: Interview With Africa Desk Officer at the Committee to Protect Journalists  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Abdoulaye Bah (AB): First of all, who is Mohamed Keita ?
Mohamed Keita (MK): I run the Africa desk of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is based in New-York.
AB: What are the aims of CPJ?
MK: CPJ is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide since 1981. CPJ was founded by a group of eminent American journalists, including the late Walter Cronkyte and Dan Rather, to support their colleagues around the world during a period of kidnappings and murders of journalists in Lebanon and Latin America in the 1980s. CPJ cherishes its independence from any government and does not take any contributions from any state.
Logo of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Image source: http://cpj.org/.
AB: What are the African countries where freedom of expression is most at risk?
MK: Eritrea: President Isaias Afewerki brutally closed down the independent press in this Red Sea nation in a September 2001 crackdown on dissent. Since then, Isaias’ information minister Ali Abdu runs and directs the propaganda machine of the state-controlled press. The government directs journalists what and how to report on. It is the African country whose prisons are holding the largest number of journalists (at least 28). All the journalists are held in secret prisons without charge or trial and without contact with their families, with many of them thought to have died in custody. Only Iran is imprisoning more journalists worldwide.
Ethiopia: In February 2011, Ethiopian police threatened to throw into prison dissident blogger Eskinder Nega if he did not stop comparing the Arab Spring uprisings to Ethiopia’s 2005 pro-democracy protests. Eskinder was arrested 9 months later on terrorism charges and faces a possible life sentence in a politicized case based on his critical online writings. Ethiopia operates sub-saharan Africa’s most extensive snd sophisticated Internet censorship infrasctructure and was ranked among CPJ’s top 10 Online Oppressors.
The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is trailing only Eritrea in imprisonment of journalists. Almost all the journalists, including two Swedish reporters, have been charged with terrorism for reporting on opposition and rebel groups. With a series of restrictive laws, Meles’ ruling EPRDF has tightned absolute grip over media licensing and regulation, the public state media and all public institutions. The independent press is limited to a handful of private newspapers and one radio station. The government also jams radio programs from Voice of America and Deutsche Welle and bans journalists’ access to the Ogaden where a rebellion is taking place. Meles’ government has driven into exile the largest number of journalists in the world over the last decade.
Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh's years of intimidation of the press, a series of arson attacks on media houses, the closure of newspapers and radio stations, the unsolved murder of Deyda Hydara and the disappearance in government custody of reporter Ebrima Chief Manneh, have created a climate of terror for journalists in Gambia and forced the best journalists into exile.
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe arrested and prosecuted a man last year for posting a political comment on Facebook. President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF has allowed only a handful of independent newspapers to operate in Zimbabwe while retaining absolute grip over media licensing and regulation and national airwaves. Journalists operate under some of the world's most restrictive security and media laws.
Equatorial Guinea: President Teodoro Obiang's grip on the oil-rich nation is based on strict control of news and information. The president and his associates control all the media outlets in the country and no journalist is able to report independently about national priorities or spending or corruption.
Rwanda: Paul Kagame justifies restrictions on the press by invoking Radio Milles Collines, which in fact was a government-sponsored radio station, not an independent station. Kagame's government also abuses laws against “genocide ideology” and “ethnic divisionism” to prosecute and jail critical journalists and opinions contradicting the official version of the 1994 genocide.
Somalia: all belligerents in Somalia's conflict target journalists who are caught in the crossfire between rival militias, warlords, government and insurgents. Somalia is the deadliest country for the press in Africa: at least 40 journalists have been killed since 1992.
South Africa: President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress has faced press criticism over its record on corruption, crime and poverty. To silence the critics, the government has introduced a series of legislative proposals that would criminalize investigative journalists, including the controversial Protection of State Information Bill, which critics have called the secrecy bill. Verbal and physical intimidation of journalists, particularly by the ANC’s youth league is on the rise.
Angola: President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and his associates of the ruling MPLA control most of Angola's media outlets and enforce censorship of news and information. only 2 newspapers and 2 radio stations were not controlled by the government. Journalists reporting about official corruption are prosecuted and given prison sentences. Security forces attacked and intimidated journalists reporting on anti-government protests by youths calling for Dos Santos to step down.
Angola and Cameroon have introduced legislative measures to combat “internet crime” but the laws punish the electronic dissemination of photos and videos of public events with prison terms.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Journalists operate at the mercy of security forces, rebel groups and powerful politicians who abuse journalists in total impunity. at least 8 journalists have been murdered since 2005 with justice falling short of solving the murders.
Ethiopia's dissident blogger Eskinder Nega. Photo courtesy of Lennart Kjörling.
AB: Bloggers from North Africa have contributed significantly to the success of revolts in the countries of North Africa. Is it conceivable that in sub-Saharan Africa bloggers play a similar role?
MK: Social media tools have become platforms for the kind of dissent that is repressed offline and they are used to organize protests offline. Some governments, such as Ethiopia, Angola, and Cameroon, are beginning to crack down on this use of the Internet, by passing laws against “cyber crime” or intimidating bloggers. In addition, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube users who are posting photos and videos from the streets using their cell phones are breaking some of the biggest news in Africa these days, and traditional media is trying to keep up with them.
AB: In Mozambique, in 2008 and 2010, well before the revolutions in the Arab world, the civil society was able to organize a demonstration against the rising cost of living using SMS. In Ghana, in 2010, citizens participated massively in constitutional review by using Facebook and mobile phones. Should these examples be regarded as exceptional cases or other similar events may occur elsewhere?
MK: Social media in the hands of young citizen journalists is fueling protest movements in Angola, Nigeria and Senegal.
The cover of CPJ
AB: What role do you attribute to social media in Africa and what are the obstacles?
MK: They have democratized news and information – making it more difficult for governments and the enemies of press freedom to keep a nation into the dark. it has created a virtual bridge between Africans in the Diaspora and those in the home countries. but the users are still largely unprepared to the dangers lurking online. Zimbabwe arrested and prosecuted a man last year for posting a political comment on Facebook. and many governments regularly demand email passwords of journalists in custody. Data security is the next challenge for journalists as more of them start to mostly work online.
AB: What can we expect from the African Union?
MK: The AU has a Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression but she works only part time and lacks the resource to do her job. AU member states still lack the political will to respect press freedom and protect journalists. Regional human rights instruments like the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) give us hope. The court issued landmark rulings against the Gambia on cases of disappearance and torture of journalists, but the problem is enforcement.
AB: The year 2011 was difficult for the press freedom in Africa, how do you see the year 2012?
MK: Each new year brings new challenges in this battle to keep the press free. The secrecy bill in South Africa has to be defeated, because South Africa is a model of democracy and free press for the continent, and this bill threatens to undo 18 years of progress since the end of Apartheid. South Sudan, the world's newest nation, is already abusing press freedom, this is also worrying. Ethiopia and Burundi's abuse of terrorism laws to prosecute and jail critical journalists is a disturbing new trend that has to be stopped. Press freedom is on the brink of extinction in Ethiopia, Angola, Gambia and Rwanda. Niger is probably the best example of a country where press freedom has advanced.
You can follow Mohamed Keita on Twitter @africamedia_CPJ and also read his articles on CPJ blog.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Armenia: Eurovision withdrawal after propaganda attempt backfires · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following a botched attempt to justify boycotting this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, Armenia today officially withdrew from the international music competition. “As expected, #Armenia Public TV withdraws from #Eurovision They could have announced it earlier with dignity. For now, they are #losers,” writes Unzipped on Twitter, also calling it a ‘disgrace’ on his blog.


text:
Azerbaijan: Journalist responds to threats · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Writing on Facebook, journalist Khadija Ismayil responds to threats warning her to stop her investigative reporting. Noting that this is not the first time journalists in Azerbaijan have found themselves the victim of intimidation, beating, and worse, Ismayil calls on the country's government to investigate the matter and for the president to ensure her safety.


text:
Bahamas: Anti-Crime Ideas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

With crime being top of mind, Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe asks: “Without society's willingness to report crime and suspicious looking people or incidents – how do we move forward?”


text:
Bangladesh: Journalist Couple’s Murder Case Still Unresolved · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Recently a brutal murder in Bangladesh has shocked the nation and everyone is talking about it. On  February 11, 2012, journalists Sagar Sarwar and his wife Meherun Runi were killed in their own apartment in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. Their five year old son Megh woke up to find them dead and later revealed that he has seen the murderers before. Sarwar was the news editor in Maasranga Television and Meherun Runi was a senior reporter with ATN Bangla TV. Seventeen journalists had been murdered in Bangladesh in the last 16 years [bn] and most of the cases remained unresolved.
It has almost been a month but the police could not arrest the perpetrators. In the meantime some people are fanning the rumor mills because of the delay. the journalist fraternity and the civic society has condemned the failure. There had been protests, human chain and rallies across the country demanding arrest and trial of the murderers.
The Sarwar family. Image by Siam Sawrar Jamil. Copyright Demotix (12/2/2012)
Why the couple were killed remains a mystery even after all these days. The police told the media [bn] that initial investigations revealed that the killers were known to the family and the murder was pre-planned.
Blogger Orpheus at Sachalayatan blog also concurs to the fact that it was planned:
ঘটনা দেখেছি, নিজেও কিছু লিঙ্ক দেখেছি, ঘটনা যতটুকু জানতে পারলাম, তাতে পরিষ্কার বোঝা যাচ্ছে, পূর্বপরিকল্পিত ভাবে প্রথমেই কোনো ভাবে বাসার ভেতরে অবস্থান নিয়েছিলো খুনিরা, আর গ্রীল কাটার পদ্ধতিটা অনেক পুরনো, অনেকগুলো চাঞ্চল্যকর খুনের ঘটনায় খুনিরা দৃষ্টি ঘোরানোর জন্য এই পদ্ধতি ব্যাবহার করেছে, আর বাসায় দুজন প্রাপ্তবয়স্ক মানুষকে খুন করা হলো কিন্তু কোনো অস্বাভাবিক শব্দ হলোনা কিংবা বাচ্চা ছেলেটি জেগে গেলনা এটা একটু গভীরভাবে পর্যবেক্ষণের দরকার, খুনি পূর্বপরিচিত না হলে এগুলো সম্ভব না।[…]
Blogger Naishad [bn] suggested that the police should check the phone calls of the couple made for clues:
সাংবাদিক দম্পতির গত এক মাসের কললিস্টে যত নাম্বার আছে, সেই রাতে কতগুলি সক্রিয় ছিল এবং সেই বাসা অপারেটদের যে সব বিটিএসের অধিনে, সেই রাতে সেসব বিটিএসের থেকে কল করা হয়েছিল কিনা এভাবে এগোলে হয়ত গুরুত্বপূর্ন ক্লু পাওয়া যেতে পারে।
The day after the home minister Sahara Khatun declared that arrests will be made within 48 hours. But the killers were not arrested within the stipulated time. Netizens expressed their dissatisfaction on this. Ashikweblog doubts [bn] whether the killers will be nabbed before 48 days:
অত্যন্ত দুঃখের সাথে বলতে হচ্ছে যে প্রতিশ্রুতি দেয়া ৪৮ ঘন্টার সময়সীমা পার হয়ে গেছে অনেক আগেই। ৪৮ ঘন্টা কি ৪৮ দিন-এ গিয়ে দাঁড়াবে কিনা, এখন তার অপেক্ষা।
The anger of the citizens on this killing was further fueled by a comment by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She was speaking in a discussion panel and mentioned that “the government cannot guard every bedroom” [bn]. Mortuza Khaled Milton protested this:
Jahangir Alam Akash has similar comments:
নিরাপত্তা কেবল বঙ্গভবন আর গণভবনের নয়, সারাদেশের সকল ভবন মানুষের নিরাপত্তা দেয়ার দায়িত্ব সরকারেরই।
The failure to arrest the killers has led to the spread of a rumor filled note in Facebook. Many are taking the note for true. On the other hand many others are terming this as a biased campaign. One blogger thinks that “the failure to keep the government's 48 hour commitment is fueling such rumor”.
Tanbira suggests that foreign investigators should be consulted to overcome the failure to arrest the killers:
অতীতেও অনেক ঘটনায় বিদেশী সাহায্য নেয়া হয়েছে। ভবিষ্যতেও তারা হয়তো অনেক ব্যাপার সমাধানের জন্য বিদেশী এক্সপার্টদের সাহায্য নিবেন, তাহলে এখন নয় কেন?
Journalists and civil society are protesting this brutal killing all over the country. Image by Siam Sarwar Jamil. Copyright Demotix (12/2/2012)
People have expressed concern about the excess of the private TV channels. For example, on the day of the murder the TV reporters questioned the son of the murdered couple over and over [bn]. Every newspaper is running articles on this murder everyday. The court has given 24 hours ultimatum to the secretary of the ministry of information to stop all such baseless reports. However many journalists protested this directive terming this as a kind of censorship. Farzana99 wrote in Somewhereinblog.net:
আশার কথা হলো জনগণ, সাংবাদিক আর মিডিয়ার মুখ বন্ধ করা মাননীয় বিচারপতি এত সহজ নয়। […]। পৃথিবীর বিভিন্ন প্রান্ত থেকে প্রতিবাদ করছে মানুষ। এই প্রতিবাদ হেলায় উড়িয়ে দেবার মতো নয়।
A human chain has been arranged using a  Facebook campaign in front of the UN office in Bonn, Germany to bring this matter to the  international level.
Fakir Ilyas thinks that the Sagar-Runi murder can affect the next election:
এটা খুবই দুঃখজনক, দেশের গোয়েন্দা সংস্থার সম্মিলিত প্রয়াস এখন পর্যন্ত সাগর-রুনির খুনিদের রাষ্ট্রের সামনে দাঁড় করাতে পারেনি। কেন পারেনি, এর জবাব রাষ্ট্র নিয়ন্ত্রকদের দিতে হবে। তা না হলে গ্রহণযোগ্যতার প্রশ্ন দেখা দেবে আগামী নির্বাচনে। ক্ষমতাসীনরা এভাবে তাদের জনপ্রিয়তায় ধস নামুক, তা নিশ্চয়ই তারা চাইবেন না।
Nijhoom Majumdar is worried about his and the common people's security. In a Facebook page titled “We want justice for Sagar and Runi”  he comments:
যতটুকু ক্ষমতা রয়েছে ততটুকু ক্ষমতা দিয়ে এই হত্যাকাণ্ডের সুষ্ঠু বিচার চেয়ে যাব। মেঘ [সাগর-রুনির সন্তান] ছেলেটির জন্য আমার বুকটি চৌচির হয়ে যায়। মেঘ এর জায়গায় তো হতে পারত আমার ছেলেটি,  রুনির জায়গায় তো হতে পারত আমার স্ত্রী, সাগরের জায়গায় তো হতে পারতাম আমি!!! কই যাব আমরা? কোথায় দাঁড়াব? কার কাছে যাব? এই বাঙলাদেশ কি চেয়েছি আমরা, এমন মৃত্যু উপত্যকা???

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


text:
Brazil: Can the Agrarian Economy Develop Without Rural Bloodshed? · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon
Nilcilene Miguel de Lima, a small rural producer and local leader from the Amazon region, is under protection of the National Force as she has been receiving constant death threats by land-grabbers and illegal loggers.
In the beginning of February, the Brazilian investigative news agency A Pública [pt] went to the town of Lábrea, in the federal state of Amazonia, to interview her:
As ameaças começaram em 2009, quando ela assumiu a presidência da associação Deus Proverá, criada pelos pequenos produtores do assentamento para defender o grupo contra as invasões de terra e roubo de árvores. No ano seguinte, depois de fazer denúncias e abaixo-assinados contra os criminosos, Nilcilene foi espancada e teve sua casa queimada em um incêndio anunciado. Em maio de 2011, foi obrigada a fugir enrolada em um lençol para despistar o pistoleiro que estava de campana no seu portão. A equipe da Força Nacional foi deslocada em outubro para garantir que a líder pudesse voltar para casa e continuar denunciando os problemas da região.
In the video [pt], some of Nilcene declarations are:
Why do we have to live like that? Someone has to fight, to do something. […] The authorities have to take action. […] So many conflicts because of logging and land. […] If the National Force leaves, my partner and I have to leave before them. If we stay, before being killed, we will be tortured. […] Until today, I keep receiving death threats.
Shot dead for protecting the forest
As well as being one of six people under 24 hour protection of the National Force, Nicelene is among 172 people who have received death threats by gunmen in the Brazilian countryside. According to the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) [pt], an organization which supports rural rights to land and water, this figure has increased 107% compared to 2010, when 83 people were in the same situation.
Last year, as Global Voices reported, the CPT published data which shows that 1,614 people have been murdered in the last 25 years due to rural conflicts. This number includes worldwide known cases as those of Chico Mendes, Dorothy Stang and the Eldorado dos Carajás killing amongst others.
Current information shows that, in total, the number of people coping with pressures imposed by outlaws due to land and water conflicts in Brazil increased from 38.555 in 2010 to 45.595 in 2011. There were 32 executions of workers or local leaders from these communities in 2010 and 23 in 2011, as CPT reported.
Adelino Ramos. Photo from Altino Machado's blog (used with permission).
The intervention of the National Force to protect local community leaders in the Northern region of Brazil, came also as a consequence of the work of the CPT. The CPT handed in to the Special Secretariat for Human Rights [pt], a body within the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, a list with people under death threat after the murder of Maria do Espírito Santo and her husband José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva in the federal state of Pará shamed the country.
After the brutal murder of the couple, other killings have hit the headlines as those of Adelino Ramos in the federal state of Rondônia and of Nísion Gomes, an indigenous chief, in the Central-Eastern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. CPT asserts that:
Pelo menos 8 das mortes estão diretamente relacionadas com a defesa do meio ambiente. Outras… 2 mortes são de quilombolas e [outras] 2 de indígenas…….A intervenção federal depois dos primeiros assassinatos não foi minimamente suficiente para inibir a ação dos grileiros, proprietários de terra e outros.
An hour length documentary released by the website Vice (English subtitles) has an indepth analysis of the conflicts. An interview that Maria Espirito Santo gave when alive is included in the video. She commented how she felt to be constantly harassed because of her and her husband's commitment to fight against illegal logging:
There are people who keep saying it not worthy it. To me it is worth it. To me, to my husband it is definitely worth it. I know there's a risk, I have no doubt about that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid.
Another two victims [pt] have been in the spotlight recently: João Chupel Primo and Junior José Guerra. The former was shot dead October last year and the latter had to leave his community behind last month with his family.
For the sake of growth and Rio +20
Having new perspectives in the changing international scenario, the Brazilian state has acquired new economic and political capabilities using what is known as ‘soft power’. Like any other nation state, it is under pressure to push its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rates up in order to attract investors to buy its sovereign bonds in the international market.
Rise in deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. The Brazilian Amazon rainforest had 5,850 km sq of its legal area deforested from August 2009 to April 2010, according to INPE- Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais. Brazil. Photo by Ronie Luis Leite copyright Demotix (July 2007)
But, while some praise a “sustainable” economic growth, others consider that President Dilma Rouseff has a misleading perspective of development [pt].
For Assuntos Produtos da Mente [pt] the export-oriented production in Brazil “is undergoing a process of reprimarization of the economy based on the production and export of agricultural and non agricultural commodities (mining), which is unable to fund and promote sustainable development and solidarity and meet the needs of the Brazilian people.”
One of the most controversial initiatives is the bill to change the current forestry code. The Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC, in Portuguese) handed in an open letter to the reader of the bill proposed last week in which reads:
A reforma do Código Florestal Brasileiro, tal como vem sendo processada no Congresso, sob a influência de grupos de pressão setoriais, representa a desregulação do setor do agronegócio com sérios riscos para o meio ambiente e para a própria produção agrícola. A proteção de áreas naturais está sendo consideravelmente diminuída e perde-se assim a oportunidade de produzir alimentos com mais eficiência e com sustentabilidade ambiental, o que deveria ser o grande diferencial da agricultura brasileira
The Brazilian Congress was expected to vote it this week, however a request for postponement is eventually going to delay it. President Dilma wants the new rules to be approved before the United Nations conference, Rio+20.
Next June, Rio+20 will bring together heads of states in Brazil to discuss how sustainable development can come together with the preservation of the environment and social inclusion. In an interview to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the journalist Eliane Brum said:
Brazil will host Rio+20 and on its territory is located the world’s biggest rain forest. And part of this forest is dominated by organized crime. And part of it is stained by the blood of Brazilians who have fought for it without any support of the State and have died for it having said – on video – that they were going to die. On part of this forest, ipê and other precious woods are being robbed in conservation unities and part of this wood comes out legalized from Brazilian ports towards Europe. If that’s not a reason for embarrassment when hosting a conference on environment, then the world is even more cynical than I suspected.
Journalist Amália Safatle reminds us that:
Por mais que países pobres e emergentes dependam do crescimento para corrigir seus passivos sociais, a questão do desenvolvimento implica muito mais em qualidade dos serviços disponíveis à população e à criação de oportunidades, em equilíbrio com o meio ambiente, do que em aumento da taxa do PIB. Até porque o PIB é uma régua extremamente ruim, pois registra como crescimento da economia de guerras a acidentes de trânsito.
This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon

author: Thiana Biondo


text:
Cambodia: Urban Development Mapping Tool · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Urban Voice is a newly launched portal in Cambodia which aims to be a map-based visualisation of developments in the urban areas of the country. The developers want it to be a “source of information, a site for civic engagement, an analytical tool, (and) a mapping tool”

author: Mong Palatino


text:
China: After Voting, Can Wukan Claim Victory? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Finally Wukan village can elect their own local government after rounds of grassroots struggle. China Digital Times has an update of the development and pointed out that the experience is yet to be translated into similar grassroots political changes in other part of China.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Curacao: Political Pressure Group  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

TRIUNFO DI SABLIKA blogs about a political rally that claims to offer deliverance from political “gangsters”.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Georgia: The return of Vladimir Putin · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

time difference comments on the return of Vladimir Putin to power in Russia following this week's election. The blog says that even if much of the world is concerned by the development, the Georgian government must recognize the reality and not alienate itself from its powerful and sometimes mutually antagonistic neighbor. “Maybe it's time to balance politics and be more diplomatic?” the Georgian blogger asks on Twitter.


text:
Global Voices seeks Central Asia Editor · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Global Voices (GV) is seeking a part-time Editor to oversee our ongoing coverage of Central Asia.
The Editor will direct the Central Asian coverage and recruit and coordinate volunteer contributions. The Editor will produce and/or edit several in-depth stories per week, as well as shorter posts linking and pointing to important topics, events, and writing as it occurs. The work will involve translation, analysis, and editing, to elucidate and identify trends, ideas, and social and political currents within Central Asian citizen media.
The Editor will be chiefly responsible for providing as broad and complete coverage as possible of citizen media of the countries in the Central Asian region, as follows:
Recruiting: making good faith efforts to recruit authors to cover the countries in their region; for managing authors’ output and editing and publishing posts; and maintaining a regional Google Group.
Posting to the Global Voices web site:
Special coverage: In times of emergency, posting as much as possible, as soon as possible, as needed.
Interested candidates please send CV and Letter of Interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org
We will be accepting applications through March 21, 2012.
See our vacancies page for other opportunities with Global Voices.

author: Ivan Sigal


text:
Global Voices Seeks Chinese-language Editor · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Global Voices (GV) is seeking a part-time Editor to oversee our ongoing coverage of Chinese-language citizen media.
The Editor will direct the Chinese-language coverage and recruit and coordinate volunteer contributions. The Editor will produce and/or edit several in-depth stories per week, as well as shorter posts linking and pointing to important topics, events, and writing as it occurs. The work will involve translation, analysis, and editing, to elucidate and identify trends, ideas, and social and political currents within East Asian citizen media.
The Editor will be chiefly responsible for providing as broad and complete coverage as possible of citizen media of Chinese-language media, as follows:
Recruiting: recruiting authors to cover the countries in their region; for managing authors’ output and editing and publishing posts; and maintaining a regional Google Group.
Posting to the Global Voices web site:
Special coverage: In times of emergency, posting as much as possible, as soon as possible, as needed.
Interested candidates please send CV and Letter of Interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org
We will be accepting applications through  October 1, 2012.
See our vacancies page for other current opportunities with Global Voices.


text:
Guatemala: Empowering Communities Through Pedal Powered Machines · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Maya Pedal is an organization in Guatemala that specializes in bringing progress through secondhand bicycles. Those that they can repair, get a new life as inexpensive means of transportation in the streets of Guatemala and those that aren't usable as bicycles anymore get turned into pedal powered machines to help in daily work such as pumping water, grinding corn, blending, shelling nuts and making roof tiles.
Demonstrating the Maize Mill in Atitlan by Maya Pedal
As written about on Central American Politics and the Earth911 website, the Maya Pedal initiative provides needed equipment to communities without the need of electricity or fuels. The following English subtitled video shows some of the machines and the people behind the project:
From the Maya Pedal website:
Pedal power can be harnessed for countless applications which would otherwise require electricity (which may not be available) or hand power (which is far more effort). Bicimaquinas are easy and enjoyable to use. They can be built using locally available materials and can be easily adapted to suit the needs of local people. They free the user from rising energy costs, can be used anywhere, are easy to maintain, produce no pollution and provide healthy exercise.
We make water pumps, grinders, threshers, tile makers, nut shellers, blenders (for making soaps and shampoos as well as food products), trikes, trailers and more.
Maya Pedal also provides instructions and building plans for some of their most popular designs so that people can build their own “bicimáquinas”, what they call their pedal powered bike machines.
You can see some of the machines and work with the communities in this 3 part video series featuring 2003 footage of Maya Pedal: from their process designing equipment according to needs expressed by farmers, to community meetings where their machines are presented and people learn how to use them. They also teach people how to make and repair the bike machines, a necessity when taking them to remote areas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrqbtUKpSjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uzr1TY5bMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtyNFs2aFxA

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


text:
Haiti, U.S.A.: Clean Your Own House First  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The renewed investigation against Aristide also occurs at a time when one of Haiti's most brutal dictators, Jean-Claude Duvalier, is being let off the hook”: Wadner Pierre suggests that “the U.S. government needs to focus more on what is happening in its backyard.”


text:
Iran: Order for a ‘national cyber space council’ · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,the Supreme Leader of Iran, has ordered [fa] a new supreme council to be formed on cyber space. In this order, the president of Iran, the head of judiciary, the parliament spokesman, the head of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the police commander in chief, the intelligence minister, and some other figures are posted to this council. Khamenei has ordered this council to establish ‘the national center of cyber space’ to ‘have a full and up to date predominance on domestic and international cyber space and decision making for actively facing it’.


text:
Jamaica: Prince Harry’s Visit  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In the context of Prince Harry's visit in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Active Voice gets feedback on how Jamaicans feel about the question of changing the country's constitutional status to that of a republic.


text:
La Réunion : A Dynamism far from the Cliché of Dependence on Public Aid · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Sandrine Dionys interviewed [fr] Emmanuelle, a young entrepreneur from La Réunion for the Bondy Blog. She rails against the cliché of the Réunion Islanders being dependent on the French government  for aid.

author: Suzanne Lehn