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Peru: Are Safety Concerns in Lima Justified or Overblown? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

[Links are to Spanish-language pages except where otherwise indicated.]
In recent weeks, an increase in criminal activity in Lima and throughout the country in general has reignited the debate over public safety.
Two cases in particular, however, have captured media attention. The first was the armed robbery of a notary's office as a financial transaction was taking place; it left one man dead and another shot and wounded and resulted in the theft of 160,000 soles (about 62,000 U.S. dollars). Then there was the murder of a journalist [en] in the doorway of his house, in circumstances that remain unclear.
Initial anger was directed at the government for its apparent complacency and inaction in dealing with crime, an accusation Peru's Minister of the Interior denied [en] during the inaugural ceremony of 100 new patrol cars, where he “dismissed the notion that criminal activities were putting the country at risk.” At the same time, the Minister of Justice announced that life imprisonment for offenders was under consideration.
Photo of fokus Lima on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Not everyone is convinced, however. A columnist for the newspaper Correo comments, “It is worth noting that the government reacted just yesterday, confidently announcing new measures that we can only hope will be effective.” And while reports affirm [en] that the crime rate is rising and public safety concerns are deepening, the Prime Minister indicated he did not believe it necessary to declare a state of emergency with respect to public safety, especially so as to avoid potential corruption in the hiring of police officers.
In fact, in a recent report by Peru's National Institute for Statistics and Informatics, the figures for the second half of last year show that from 2011 to 2012, the number of Peruvians who were victims of crime fell by 6.8% (from 45.1 to 38.3%) and that burglary and attempted burglary dropped from 19.9 to 16.8% (down 3.1%). In Lima, moreover, the percentage of victims of crime went from 48.4 to 39.9; as for homicides, Lima is far from being the city with the highest murder rate.
To that end, lawyer Martín Soto Florián reviews these statistics on his blog and mentions that “the trend points not to an increase in criminal activity and delinquency […], but rather the opposite,” adding that:
hacerle el juego a la inseguridad ciudadana y meter miedo, es algo no solo peligroso sino contraproducente: podría terminar incentivando medidas populistas y poco técnicas.
Pandering to the public's fear of crime is not only dangerous but counterproductive: ultimately it can end up bringing about measures more populist than concrete.
So why do 86.7% of people surveyed say they feel unsafe [en]? It is likely due to that fact that armed robbery and assault, as in the cases cited above, have shown a slight increase. But this may also be because of exaggerated media coverage, the extent of which has prompted complaints by a group of reporters who claim that it has “turned misfortune into a daily chronicle of terror”.
A lot can be said about this tendency, but in an opinion piece on Pressenza's website, Gerardo Alcántara Salazar, a Ph.D. in social sciences, describes the relationship between criminal activity, tabloid journalism, and the vulnerability of the rule of law. He opines on a recent case that occurred in Lima:
Un canal de la televisión peruana presenta a unos veinte policías recibiendo homenaje por haber capturado a gringasho, el sicario más joven y sanguinario del Perú, […] Gringasho, el feroz asesino en serie de diecisiete años de edad, aparece feliz en medio de los agasajados, como si en realidad el agasajado fuera él, terminando por adueñarse de los espacios estelares de televisión, prensa escrita y radial. Después de todo, la noticia es el. Desde que se tuvo noticia de él, cuando se lo recluyó y luego fugó, fue recapturado, encarcelado y nuevamente recapturado, él desplazó de la escena noticiosa a muchos acontecimientos importantes, pero menos proveedores de rating,
[…] Alabado por poseer una presunta inteligencia superior, Gringasho, ahora es una celebridad y las autoridades encargadas de su custodia deben cuidar de su integridad física, guarecerlo en celda segura, separado de la masa de adolescentes marginales, practicantes de asesinatos, de hurto agravados, violadores sexuales y autores de una variada conducta disfuncional. […] Gringasho y Gringasha (NdE. Su pareja sentimental) son ahora celebridades en el Perú merced a la prensa roja.
A Peruvian television station broadcast some 20 police officers being commended for having captured “Gringasho”, the nickname of the youngest and deadliest hitman in Peru […] Gringasho, a 17-year-old serial murderer, appears pleased to be among the honourees, as though he himself were being honoured, ultimately co-opting primetime television, radio, and print media. After all, he is the headline. Ever since media attention focused on him, his capture, his escape, and subsequent recapture and incarceration, he has displaced many stories that were just as newsworthy but less likely to garner ratings.
[…] Praised for his alleged superior intelligence, Gringasho is now a celebrity, and the authorities responsible for him must also ensure his safekeeping while in custody, which means a special cell, separate from the horde of marginalized adolescents who commit murder, assault, and rape and exhibit all sorts of dysfunctional behaviour. […] Gringasho and Gringashaa (his girlfriend, Ed.) are now celebrities in Peru thanks to the tabloid press.
But this is only one facet of the complex problem of public safety; another is the consequence of privatizing police forces in Peru. This should not to be seen as a broadening of public safety services through the private sector; rather it is the private sector that demands exclusive service from the police.
Underreported but telling examples of this are the Sheraton hotel, which coordinated with police to provide private protection for its guests to and from the airport; the congressman who was detained and handcuffed by a police officer on a “private” beach south of Lima supposedly for taking photographs; and in the city of Chiclayo, the policeman working security detail at a brothel, who shot and killed a fellow officer after he showed up inebriated.
Journalist Juan Carlos Luján shares these news items on Facebook and comments:
Si quieres sentirte seguro y disuadir a los delincuentes, policías debes “alquilar”. El sistema los obliga a trabajar así en sus dias de franco. Por eso tenemos una policía reactiva, no es preventiva (ni en temas de tránsito) y para ellos la investigación dependerá de la buena voluntad o de algún incentivo para hacerlo.
If you want to feel safe and deter criminals, you should “hire” the police. As it is, the system forces them to work on their days off. This is why we have a reactionary police force, not a preventative one (not even in terms of traffic control), and for them any investigation depends on either goodwill or some form of incentive.
Meanwhile Omar Guerrero, commenting on one these stories, adds:
aqui se esta privatizando la seguridad, al estilo peruano, por motivaciones distintas que en usa. mientras los americanos contratan (aparte de hacer guerra con ejercitos privados) seguridad privada por la sofisticacion e impacto del crimen organizado ademas de que practicamente todos portan armas, aqui en peru es porque la policia no puede o no quiere ser mantenida eficientemente por el estado. el resultado es un salvese quien pueda o tenga dinero para hacerlo.
here we are privatizing public safety, Peruvian-style, for reasons different from the U.S. While Americans hire private security (besides waging war with private armies) because of the sophistication and impact of organized crime, in addition to which almost everyone carries a weapon, here in Peru it is because the police cannot or do not want to be managed efficiently by the state. The result is to save your own skin or pay someone to do it for you.
Fears about public safety, whether justified or not, are of concern to more than just Peruvians. A few weeks ago, the American embassy in Peru warned [en] its citizens of the potential threat of kidnapping in the Cusco area. Similarly, CNN broadcast a video of thieves robbing cars stopped in traffic in downtown Lima. For their part, a group of citizens is organizing a March for a safe Peru (@marchaseguridad), which is slated to take place on March 21.

author: Juan Arellano


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Pirate Bay’s ‘Defection’ to North Korea a Hoax · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The Pirate Bay, one of the internet's oldest pirate sites, claimed Monday that it has stopped using its Swedish hosting provider and now running from the North Korean Internet. However, within less than 24 hours, it came clean and explained it was a hoax, reports North Korea Tech.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Turkmenistan: With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends? · Global Voices
Anna Fergana

It is always interesting to observe how people in Turkmenistan, one of the least democratic countries in the world, view political opposition. But in the Caspian republic where the political landscape belongs to one man and one man only, there is effectively no opposition to have a view on, a situation that only helps bolster President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's monopoly over the country's political narrative.
The rare members of Turkmen opposition do not reside in the country. Their activities and media appearances are not known inside the republic. State officials ensure that the opposition activists have no access to international events, and some nations which are on good terms with Ashgabat bar the Turkmen opposition from events they host. Thus, the only channel that the opposition has so far had for reaching out to other Turkmen is a series of dissident-led websites and blogs (one of which was repeatedly targeted by hackers last year). However, even this channel is of very little use, since only 5 percent of Turkmenistan's population use Internet (2011 data), and the websites in question are blocked by the authorities anyway.
Domestic opposition
In mid-February, two journalists were released from prison in Turkmenistan. Sapardurdy Khajiev and Annakurban Amanklychev had been jailed in 2006, right before the death of Saparmurat Niyazov. Prior to their release, dissidents speculated on whether the political situation in the country would improve with Berdymukhamedov in power. But things have stayed about the same.
A 2008 Deutsche Welle interview with Turkmen opposition politician Nurmuhammed Khanamov indicates that dissidents blame Western countries for offering vain hopes for change in Turkmenistan. Neweurasia.net provides an insight into the interview:
Khanamov focuses on the policy of the West towards Turkmenistan and criticizes the European Union for an excessively lenient attitude towards Ashgabat as far as human rights are concerned.
Raising the issue of EU-Turkmen relations once again, Khanamov continues:
When you ask during these meetings: why don’t you ask these questions, [despite knowing] it is a dictator’s regime, the Western countries’ representatives would usually respond – we are glad to have managed to establish dialogue. We are afraid to scare Berdymukhammedov, because he might then restore the country’s isolation as was the case during Niyazov’s rule.
However, I consider such attitude as not quite correct.
Marciula, the author of the blog post on neweurasia.net, justifies the EU position on Turkmen issues and questions the impact that the opposition has in the country:
First of all, Western countries must be very careful in their criticism, because if it is too persistent, the Turkmen government will simply limit or withdraw from the cooperation with the West and turn towards Russia or China… Secondly, we must pose ourselves a question regarding the Turkmen opposition. The passivity and lack of unanimity are not its only problems, but also the fact that it does not have any influence [inside] Turkmenistan, where it is completely unknown.
‘Experts’
Turkmenistan is closed off not only to opposition, but also to international experts who find it extremely difficult to study the country.
Cover Page of Volkov's Novel “Turkmenka”
Dissident-run website Chrono-Tm has recently interviewed [ru] Vitaly Volkov, a Russian novel writer. In his latest novel “Turkmenka” (Turkmen Woman), Volkov writes about the hardships suffered by a female Turkmen journalist who left Turkmenistan for Germany. The author explains that the novel was inspired by his personal meeting with a real Turkmen journalist who suffered the consequences of an attempt on the life of Saparmurat Niyazov, the late former president of Turkmenistan. Volkov says that it is very hard to find any witnesses in Turkmenistan, thus the novel is based on impressions from his rare meetings with Turkmen journalists and scanty news coming from inside the country. Therefore, the novel should not be considered a historical reference, but an image of the regime.
But people reading the interview were less than inspired by the author's opinions. Yulia, for example, commented [ru] sarcastically:
«Эксперт по Средней Азии» ни разу не посетивший Туркменистан… Потрясающе!
A “Central Asia expert” who has never been to Turkmenistan… Fantastic!
But another reader, who preferred to remain anonymous, responded [ru]:
…То что в Туркмении до сих пор средневековое мракобесье: не въехать, ни выехать, то это не вина автора. И потом, если человек к примеру филолог-Шекспировед, десять лет занимающийся данной темой, вы же будете его обвинять в непрофессионализме только за то, что он лично с Шекспиром не был знаком!..
…It is not the author's fault that Turkmenistan remains in the state of Middle Age backwardness – you can't enter the country or leave it. You wouldn't blame a person who has studied Shakespeare for ten years for being unprofessional simply because he is not personally acquainted with Shakespeare!..
These comments appear to indicate that even among the exiles, there is a fatigue that criticisms of the Turkmen regime come from various ‘foreign experts’ rather than from EU policymakers or politicians inside the country.
N.B. in the aftermath of Turkmenistan's Day of Melons we promised to keep Global Voices readers updated on the latest news regarding Turkmen holidays. On February 20 Turkmenistan celebrated the State Flag Day. According to President Berdymukhamedov, the Turkmen flag symbolizes the country's “unwavering commitment to the highest ideals of humanism, peace, and creativeness”.

author: Anna Fergana


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Uruguayans Push for Sustainable Transport · Global Voices
Lucia Terra

Last Thursday, February 28, 2013, some 200 cyclists [es] gathered in front of Montevideo City Hall (Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo) to deliver a petition addressed to Montevideo Mayor Ana Olivera and relevant local authorities requesting safe lanes for bicycles, secure parking for bicycles in public and private locations, and campaigns to educate cyclists and other road users.
YouTube user Gabriel46936 shared the following video of the demonstration:
The initiative, spearheaded by Facebook groups ‘Gente en Bicicleta Uruguay’ (People on Bicycle Uruguay) [es] and ‘Ciclovida Urbana’ (Urban Cyclelife) [es] and posted on petition platform Change.org [es], managed to collect over 10,000 signatures by the set date and continues to gather supporters, reaching almost 10,400 at the writing of this article.
Gathering of cyclists in front of the City Hall Montevideo, Uruguay, to demand bike lanes. Image by Roger Tijman shared on Facebook.
4-year-old Gianluca during demonstration in Montevideo, Uruguay, holding a sign that says: “Watch ooout! because I don't have a bike lane. Critical Mass Montevideo”
Image by Ciclovida shared on Facebook.
Handing in the signatures to authorities.
Image by Gente En Bicicleta Uruguay shared on Facebook.
Individual citizens, volunteer groups and even businesses [es] seem to be a few steps ahead of the government when it comes to integrating sustainable modes of transport like bicycles to the city's transport system. Non governmental organizations like Urubike [es] and interest groups like Bike Age (Bici Era) [es] and the local branch of Critical Mass (Masa Crítica Montevideo) [es] have been promoting cycling as a sustainable option for urban transport for a few years now through the organization of talks, workshops, and riding events to raise awareness among the general population.
The Strategic Development Plan for Transport, Logistics and Infrastructure [es] of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works for 2030 includes under the three main goals:
[la] mejora de la calidad de vida de la población y protección de la seguridad pública
to improve the population's quality of life and public safety protection
And among the specific objectives:
propender a un transporte sustentable, reduciendo sus impactos sobre la energia y el ambiente.
to tend to sustainable transport, reducing impacts on energy and the environment
The 13-page document, though, mentions bicycles only too briefly [es] on page 12:
Fomentar el uso del transporte colectivo de pasajeros en el área metropolitana a través de un incremento de la calidad del mismo, con el objetivo de desincentivar la utilización del automóvil privado para los traslados diarios e impulsando itinerarios seguros para bicicletas y peatones
To promote the use of public transport in the metropolitan area through the increase in its quality, with the objective of discouraging the use of the private car for daily commute and
After the recent demonstrations and requests, will the government re-evaluate its long-term plan for transport? According to this video of support for bike lanes in Uruguay, the rest of the world thinks it definitely should.

author: Lucia Terra


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Venezuela: Hugo Chávez has Died · Global Voices
Luis Carlos Diaz

This evening, vice-president Nicolás Maduro announced the death of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías.
President Chávez had been suffering from cancer since 2010 and had undergone various treatments on the island of Cuba on at least 4 occasions. After winning the elections on October 7th 2012, which secured his mandate from 2013 to 2019, he announced in December that he had to return to Cuba for another operation. More than 80 days later, during which he did not appear in front of the cameras, his health worsened as a result of respiratory complications and the advance of the cancer.
Twitter users reacted immediately to Maduro's announcement.
@marujatarre [es] writes:
@marujatarre: Muere el hombre y comienza la leyenda, eso es inevitable.
@marujatarre: The man dies and the legend begins, that is inevitable.
Hugo Chávez Frías, photo by Bernardo Londoy under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Mardi (@mardicienta) [es] displays gratitude towards Chávez:
@mardicienta: No me alcanzará la vida para agradecerte lo que hiciste por nosotros, mi comanche. Tu siembra florece eternament en esta Revolución de amor!
@mardicienta: I will never be able to thank you enough for all that you did for us, my comrade. Your seed flowers eternally in this Revolution of love!
While @LaDivinaDiva [es] declares:
@LaDivinaDiva: y ojala todos entendamos q son timepos de bajarle 2 a confrotaciones innecesarias y tratemos de resolver en paz y armonia las diferencias
@LaDivinaDiva: and let's hope that we all understand that this is a time to forget unnecessary confrontations and that we try to resolve our differences in peace and harmony
Hugo Chávez governed Venezuela from 1999 until 2013. He won 4 presidential elections and developed a new Constitution. His method of governance was known around the world for its anti-imperialist ideology which was critical of the United States, although his country continued to be a supplier of oil to the US.
He also drove various proposals for regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. At home, he dedicated a considerable part of his public policy to favour the country's poorest classes through social investment funded by the money brought by high oil prices during his years of government.
In Venezuela discussion of the political polarisation which has divided Venezuelans between pro- and anti-Chavez for all these years is inevitable, making it more complex to understand many of the things which happen due to the constant presence of two competing perspectives. Despite this, the President's death is a time of national mourning.

author: Luis Carlos Diaz


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Venezuelan VP: Hugo Chávez Dead · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Murió Hugo Chávez (Hugo Chávez has died) is a worldwide trending topic on Twitter after Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced the passing of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In Venezuela, QEPD Chavez (RIP Chávez) is a local trending topic. You can read more reactions via the hashtag #MurioChavez (Chávez has died).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Viral Japanese Animated Video Leaves Internet Misty-Eyed · Global Voices
Ayumi Nakajima

A short animated video created by popular Japanese comedian Tekken, better known for cracking jokes in black-and-white makeup than producing stop-motion tearjerkers, still has the Web talking a year after it was first went viral.
“Furiko” (Pendulum) is a three-minute flipbook that tells the emotional tale of a Japanese couple's relationship, from their beginnings as high-school sweethearts to their final moments together. This film was featured on “One Frame”, a midnight TV program in Japan, on March 17, 2012, and reached nearly 1.5 million views in its first four days on YouTube.
Before his turn as an heartfelt storyteller, funnyman Tekken was famous for accompanying his comedy routines with his own drawings. The video “Furiko”, which returned Tekken to the spotlight, consists of 1,038 pages of his hand-drawn illustrations.
Tekken chose to set his “Furiko” animation to the symphonic track “Exogenesis” by British band Muse. Months later, the YouTube video caught the band's attention and they decided to use the short film for the song's official music video, released on October 30, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBfaMsA97o
The news revived the video's popularity in Japan, reaching this time not only Muse fans but a broader audience of people who had not known about the animation released seven months earlier.
Some users on social bookmarking service Hatena, looking at “Furiko” as proof, marveled at how easy cross-country collaboration is nowadays:
@guldeen 世界中での芸術活動が、いとも容易くコラボできるというのが、21世紀という時代の面白さだなぁ。
@habuakihiro へ〜！！　インターネット時代ってのはほんと凄いな。
@Coboler 鉄拳云々より、MUSEがこういうことにフットワークが軽いことに驚いた。
The hype surrounding the video was so great that even not-so-savvy Internet users came to see it. Blogger Hiro, who first heard of the animation because of Muse's music video, wrote [ja] on November 5, 2012:
神州の泉よりはちょいと年下だが、齢（よわい）５０を過ぎている知人から一通のメールが来た。そこには、「これ知ってるかな？お笑いの人が書いたアニメらしいが、感動をよぶとえらく話題になっているよ。世界配信されるそうだ。高橋は涙を流さずに観られるかな？」と書いてあり、下のリンクが貼ってあった。何の酔狂だろうと思って、取りあえずそのアニメを見てみた。[…] ある程度、年を重ねた人間ならば、誰でもこのアニメが醸し出しているものに、それぞれの過ぎ去りし時間から思い当たるのものがあるだろう。人が生きるということの実存的な悲しさを実感させられるが、何かしら、こころがしんみりと温かくなる。ご覧になることを、そっとおすすめしたい。
It is exactly the video's heart-wrenching emotion that makes it so popular, Sheniz Raif wrote on the online news site Buzz Patrol after Muse released its music video:
Furiko got quite a bit of Internet attention, not only for the skill of the drawing (1,038 hand-drawn pages is no easy feat) but also because of its powerful emotive quality.
On her blog, Mugiho described [ja] how “Furiko” touched her when she watched its original airing on TV:
昨日の夜ふと目が覚めてそれから寝付けなくて何気なくつけたテレビ番組も何もわからないまま見ていたんですが何やら芸人さんがアニメを書くという企画のようでしたそこで見たアニメに感動して涙が止まらず朝、目が腫れてました
I couldn't sleep last night and involuntarily turned on and watched a TV program without knowing what it was. It was showing some comedian anime contest or something but I was moved to tears by the animation. My eyes were swollen this morning.
Blogger Gen wrote [ja] in April 16, 2012 that even though the animation is short, it packs an emotional punch:
ストーリーだけ見るとはっきりいってそのへんの病気絡めたお涙頂戴ものですね。ただ、時間がとても短い文、無駄な演出がないしテンポがとてもいいのです。[…] 正直言うと、ここまで短く感動を詰め込んだアニメ作品を自分は今までみたことありません。なのでガツンとやられました。
Frankly, the story itself is a tearjerker of a tale about a loved one's illness. However, because it is very short, the tempo is great without waste. […] To be honest, I've never seen such a short animation packed so tightly with such genuine feeling. I am knocked out.
“Furiko” wasn't Tekken's first animation to be featured on TV. He created the animated short called “Tsunagaru” (Connecting) after the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abgWSDqoz7k
Blogger Droy described “Tsunagaru” on her blog [ja]:
「ツナガル」には老若男女を問わず、色々な職業の人がたくさん出てきてみんなで手を繋いで大きく繋がって行きます。震災後に、「自分の仕事、自分の生活を取り戻して多くの人が手を取り合ってみんなで新しい日本を作り上げていこう」という願いをこめて作られたそうです。2分15秒のパラパラマンガに詰まった思いはみんなの思いですね。
Regardless of age or sex, people of various occupations appear in “Tsunagaru”. Everyone joins hands one by one, making the loop bigger and bigger. I heard this was made after the earthquake with the hope that we “join hands with each other to regain our life and our work and start building a new Japan.” This flip book captures everyone's hope [to rebuild Japan] in two minutes and 15 seconds.

author: Ayumi Nakajima


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Why Do Russia’s Newsmen Keep Quitting? · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

When the socio-political website OpenSpace was shut down in February [GV], some claimed that it was a move against its editor-in-chief Maksim Kovalsky. This made a certain amount of sense, since before helming OpenSpace, Kovalsky ran the journal Kommersant Vlast’ (Power), a position he was canned from for publishing a photograph of a presidential election ballot marked with the words “Putin, go f*ck yourself“. (Kommersant's General Director Demian Kudryavtsev left the company in protest [ru] shortly after this incident.) Now, less than a month later, there are new dismissals.
Two editors-in-chief lost their positions on March 4, 2013: Mikhail Kotov left one of Russia's biggest online newspapers, Gazeta.ru [ru], while Alexey Vorobiev is no longer the head of the Kommersant FM [ru], a Kommersant affiliated radio station with a heavy online presence. It's hard to overlook the similarities, not the least of which is the fact that both editors were dismissed on the same day by a man named Dmitry Sergeev. Rather implausibly, it was two completely unrelated Dmitry Sergeevs who did the dismissing.
Former Gazeta.ru editor-in-chief Mikhail Kotov deep in thought. YouTube screenshot, March 4. 2013.
Yes, there are two high level media executives named Dmitry Sergeev in Russia, and they chose the same day to shake up their staff, prompting a Twitter user to quip [ru] “Russian media have established a special position – dmitry sergeev.”  One of these Dmitry Sergeevs, a top official at SUP (parent company of both Gazeta.ru and LiveJournal) explained his side of the story in a Facebook post, citing [ru] a company planning session during which Kotov was essentially sidelined:
Сегодня утром на планерке я был представлен в должности исполнительного директора Газеты.ру с прямым подчинением всех отделов. Ранее все отделы подчинялись главному редактору и он отвечал за все, что происходило на Газете. Теперь по новой структуре редакция, разработка, маркетинг и коммерция подчиняются непосредственно мне. С категорическим несогласием выступил Михаил Котов, заявив, что он не может далее продолжать работать в подобных условиях и просит об увольнении по собственному желанию.
This morning at the planning session I was appointed the executive director of Gazeta.ru with direct oversight of all departments. Earlier all departments were subordinate to the editor-in-chief and he was responsible for everything that happened in Gazeta. Now, according to the new chain of command, the editorial, marketing, and commercial departments are directly subordinate to to me. Mikhail Kotov disagreed categorically, saying that he can't continue working under these conditions and asked to resign.
Sergeev later elaborated, noting that the productivity of the publication was lagging, publishing only “100 news stories per day.” He also mentioned that he had no desire to change the editorial direction of the newspaper. However, according to Anton Nosik [ru] (formerly a SUP employee), faced with such an ultimatum Kotov had no choice but to quit.
While Gazeta.ru is not particularly oppositionary in spirit, Kotov's relative independence (he has been in charge for more than a decade) was apparently viewed as a threat by the owners. Why? Journalist Vladimir Shusharin took a guess [ru]:
Неоднократно писал и говорил, что нынешняя качественная журналистика, особенно экономическая, куда остреее, глубже, умнее  и, в конечном счете, оппозиционнее жалких и бездарных выступлений тех, кто присвоил себе имя демократической оппозииции
I've repeatedly written and said that these days quality journalism, especially economic journalism, is sharper, deeper, smarter, and in the end, more oppositionary than the pathetic and mediocre performance of those who have assumed the mantle of democratic opposition
The other Dmitry Sergeev, president of the Kommersant Publishing House, stayed away from social media, explaining [ru] to newspapers that Alexey Vorobiev resigned for “personal reasons.” He also made a point of mentioning that the editorial line of Kommersant FM will remain unchanged. Even if true, some may view Vorobiev leaving as the final nail in the coffin of old, rebellious radio station. After all, he was the deputy editor to the previous editor-in-chief, Denis Solopov, who left last summer amid claims that Kommersant owner Alisher Usmanov disliked the publication's criticism of the government [ru].
For those still not sure of the general import of these resignations, the reaction of Boris Yakemenko, old-guard Putinist and brother to the founder of NASHI, should be most telling [ru]:
Продолжается процесс оздоровления российских средств массовой информации. […] Стоит напомнить, что и «Коммерсант» и «Газета ру» были основаны Березовским. Его традиции в данных изданиях до сей поры остаются почти неповрежденными и характеризуются постоянным хихиканьем, антироссийской позицией и ангажированностью.
The process of healing of Russian mass media is continuing. […] It's worth noting that Kommersant and Gazeta.ru were founded by [Putin's arch nemesis Boris] Berezovsky. His traditions in these publications remain largely intact, and are characterized by constant snickering, anti-Russian editorial positions, and bias.
Perhaps editors like Kovalsky, Kotov and Vorobiev no longer feel welcome in the brave new media market.

author: Andrey Tselikov


text:
Activists Worldwide Mourn French Author Stéphane Hessel · Global Voices
Emmanuelle Leroy Cerqueira

Writer, human rights advocate, and French resistance fighter Stéphane Hessel, whose bestselling manifesto on peaceful uprising inspired the disenchanted of Europe and the United States to organize into protest, died on the night of February 26, 2013. He was 95.
Hessel came to the worldwide recognition with the 2010 publication of his short pamphlet “Indignez-vous!” (Time for Outrage!), which quickly became a publishing phenomenon – the work has sold some 4.5 million copies in 35 countries including China and been translated into 34 languages. The manifesto became the bedrock of global protests, including Spain's Indignants movement and the international Occupy movement.
Following the news of his death, more than 500 people paid homage to him at the Place de la Bastille in Paris. A peaceful march is planned on March 7, 2013, the day of his funeral.
A man who spoke meaningfully in simple words, Hessel sought to impart optimism to a disillusioned generation. He was the quintessential European, starting with his birth in Berlin, then his childhood in Paris, and right up to his latest European tour presenting and commenting on his book “Time for Outrage”. Hessel says that he found out what being European meant in the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he had been deported in 1944 for acts of resistance:
Cette expérience m’a ouvert politiquement. Nous étions là, solidaires, à partager un douloureux quotidien entre des milliers d’Européens. Il y avait là un brassage, une génération qui a inventé un monde nouveau dans son opposition au nazisme.
This experience was a political awakening. There were a thousand of us, fellow Europeans, sharing a very painful lot, and supporting each other. It was a melting pot, a generation whose opposition to Nazism had given rise to a new world.
Internet users celebrate Hessel on the page Facebook “Par millions rendons hommage à Stéphane Hessel” (One million pay homage to Hessel).
He became a diplomat with the United Nations and worked for development aid, making the fight for human rights his daily struggle. But it was after his retirement in 1983 that he fought his most outstanding battles. Called upon to defend the rights of undocumented foreigners in France in the 1990s, he also gained attention for defending the right of self-determination of peoples, alongside the Sahrawi and the Palestinians. He explained his point of view [fr] to Philosophie Magazine:
J’ai le sentiment d’appartenir à l’histoire des Juifs, d’autant que la Shoah m’a touché de près. Je me suis enthousiasmé pour le sionisme et la création d’Israël. Mais je ne partage pas le repli d’une partie de la communauté juive. Je déteste l’entre-soi communautariste. Depuis 1967, je refuse la politique de colonisation et de territoires occupés par Israël. Gaza est une prison à ciel ouvert.
I feel that I am a part of Jewish history, especially having been so personally affected by the Shoah. I was enthusiastic about Zionism and the creation of Israel. But I do not share the inward-looking attitude of a certain part of the Jewish community. I abhor self-centered isolationism. Since 1967, I have rejected the settlement policy and the occupied territories of Israel. Gaza is an open-air prison.
Today this pro-Palestinian stance has earned him severe posthumous criticism from the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France [fr].
He penned “Time for Outrage!” in 2010, a 32-page pamphlet promoting non-violent uprising, which would become a source of inspiration for hundreds of thousands of activists around the world [fr]:
Aussi, appelons-nous toujours à une véritable insurrection pacifique contre les moyens de communication de masse qui ne proposent comme horizon pour notre jeunesse que la consommation de masse, le mépris des plus faibles et de la culture, l'amnésie généralisée et la compétition à outrance de tous contre tous. A ceux et celles qui feront le XXI ème siècle, nous disons avec notre affection : CRÉER, C'EST RÉSISTER. RÉSISTER C'EST CRÉER.
So, let us all commit to a truly peaceful insurrection against mass media, whose only offer to our youth is mass consumerism, contempt for the weak and for culture, widespread amnesia and merciless competition pitching everyone against everyone else. To those who are going to create the 21st century, we say, with all our affection: TO CREATE IS TO RESIST. TO RESIST IS TO CREATE.
Hessel believed that society must always push itself to be better. In December 2010, he confided to Le Monde des Religions (The World of Religions) [fr]:
Nous ne sommes nous-mêmes que lorsque nous essayons de nous dépasser, lorsque nous ne nous contentons pas de l’acquis.
We only come into our own when we seek to surpass ourselves, when we are not satisfied with what has already been achieved.
Hessel understood well the social and ideological leanings of the younger generations and the opportunities opened up by modern means of communication and information. What he saw was the possibility for the young activists to consolidate their revolt [fr]:
Je constate avec plaisir qu’au cours des dernières décennies se sont multipliés les organisations non gouvernementales, les mouvements sociaux […] qui sont agissants et performants. Il est évident que pour être efficace aujourd’hui, il faut agir en réseau, profiter de tous les moyens modernes de communication.
I am pleased to note that over the past few decades, more and more active and efficient NGOs and social movements have appeared […] These days, it seems quite clear that in order to be efficient we need to network and make the best use of all modern means of communication.
And thus, demonstrators in France, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal throughout 2011 and 2012 began to call themselves The Indignants, or in the case of New York, Occupy Wall Street, in line with Hessel's writing. The pamphlet also found a significant place in the recent uprisings against dictatorial regimes in the Arab world.
In Syria, a project to publish the book in Arabic was yet to be completed. A volunteer group composed of Syrian writers and researchers decided to revive the idea and published the translation of Time for Outrage in Arabic on their website The Republic [ar] just days after the author's death.
A video posted on YouTube on February 27, 2013 honors Hessel, combining readings of his appeals to the younger generation in English, French, and German with footage of demonstrations all over Europe:
In Spain, some have wrongly labeled Hessel as the “father” of the 15-M movement, where his book has lent a name, notoriety, and media coverage to activists going under the name of “Los Indignados“. Juan-Luis Sanchez commented [es] on the connection between Hessel and the 15-M movement:
La aportación más importante de Hessel al 15-M fue la de transmitir, con su edad y trayectoria política, un tipo de credibilidad que los grandes medios necesitaban para poder hablar de las movilizaciones en calle sin sentir que daban voz a lo que caricaturizaban como un latido antisistema. […] Su palabra, “indignación“, fue un regalo: un ejemplo perfecto para la nada y el todo a la vez. Para esa militancia inclusiva que usaba términos que no dejaran a nadie fuera.
Stephane Hessel's main contribution to the 15-M movement is that, due to his age and political career he has conferred a necessary credibility to mainstream media, so that they may speak of citizen mobilization without having the impression of giving voice to what they caricature as being a wave of anti-system sentiments […] the word “indignation” was a gift : a perfect example of everything and nothing all in one, for this all-inclusive activism using expressions that leave nobody out on the cold.
The German online magazine diesseits.de called Hessel the “ideological father” of global protest in a headline [de]:
Der 95-jährige Stéphane Hessel war der ideologische Vater der demokratischen Aufstände weltweit. Von Arabellion bis Occupy Wallstreet kamen die Menschen seiner Aufforderung nach Entrüstung und Einmischung
At 95, Stephane Hessel was the ideological father of the pro-democratic rebellion that shook the world. From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, people have answered his call for insurgence and commitment to a cause.
Homage of the Indignants in Marseille. Photo shared on the Facebook page One million to pay hommage to Stéphane Hessel
ALL JUX wrote on his blog [fr]:
Stéphane Hessel a réveillé l'esprit critique, le sens humain et la raison. Il a encore su initier le mouvement d'indignation politique qui se répand sur les continents en publiant un tout petit livre par le nombre de ses pages mais d'une puissance sans mesure par la portée de ses propos.
Stéphane Hessel has awakened critical awareness, human sense, and reason. He has also implemented a worldwide movement of political indignation by publishing a book: a very small book, going by the number of pages, but containing powerful comments of immeasurable impact.
Portuguese blogger Helena Araujo described why youth should listen to Hessel in her blog 2 dedos de conversa [pt]:
Indignez-vous! Engagez-vous! – é a consciência do século XX que nos fala, a voz de um homem livre que atravessou o pior e o melhor que o século passado nos legou”
Get Angry! Get Involved! – the conscience of the 20th century is talking to us, the voice of a free man who has lived through the best and the worst of what the last century has bequeathed us.
Gathering in memoriam of Stéphane Hessel at Bastille (Paris) on 27/02/2013- Photo by Célia Bonnin for the facebok pageOne million to pay hommage to Stéphane Hessel
On the Facebook page Par millions rendons hommage à Stéphane Hessel [fr] (One Million Pay Homage to Stéphane Hessel), Rüdiger Bender expressed his gratitude:
Wir denken voller Dankbarkeit an Stéphane Hessel …dankbar für ein Leben exemplarischer Menschlichkeit und tapferen Engagements für die unantastbare und gleiche Würde aller Menschen … dankbar für seine Fragen und Anstöße und noch mehr für seine Ermutigung für uns und sein Vorschußvertrauen auf uns: dem gilt es nun gerecht zu werden.
We owe a debt of recognition to Stéphane Hessel…recognition for a life of exemplary humanity and courageous commitments in favor of the inviolable and equal dignity of all human beings…recognition for his questioning and motivation and even more so for his encouragement and trust in us:  it is now up to us to rise to the challenge.
On the Facebook page en Hommage à Stéphane Hessel [fr], Sweekitt Carlson exclaimed:
Un résistant est mort, pas la Résistance!
A resistance fighter is dead, but Resistance is not!
A petition requests his entering in the Pantheon in Paris [fr] (where distinguished dead French citizens are kept):
Nous souhaitons ardemment que la pédagogie civique et la mémoire collective témoigne de l’importance de l’esprit de résistance. Parce qu’avec Stéphane Hessel, c’est une vie consacrée à l’intérêt général et au service d’une certaine idée de la France qu’il s’agit d’honorer.
We fervently hope that our civic awareness and collective memory bear witness to the importance of the spirit of resistance. Because in the case of Stéphane Hessel, it means honoring a life devoted to the well-being of all and in the service of a certain idea of France.
[This text was written with the help of contributions by Pauline Ratzé, Paula Goes, Katrin Zinoun and Thalia Rhame.]

author: Emmanuelle Leroy Cerqueira


text:
Argentine Trains and Their History, Told by Bloggers · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

The Argentine railway network, the most extensive in Latin America, carries with it the history of the birth of towns, cities, and above all the economic activity and communication of the country.
Argentine bloggers dedicate posts to this means of transport which began in the year 1855. They are, with the passage of time, able to keep the history of its platforms alive. The blog Pan y Cielo [es], gives a very interesting account of immigration and its evolution:
Muchos afirman que los argentinos somos hijos de los barcos, aunque nuestra cultura popular demuestra que los argentinos somos hijos de los trenes.
¿Cuántos sabores, cuántas tonadas, cuántas leyendas, cuántas coplas, cuántos ritmos se trajeron de las provincias en tren? ¿A cuántas querencias el tren les quitó la sed, a cuántas el hambre? ¿A cuántos pueblos les puso nombre con su llegada y a cuántos los hizo silencio al dejar de pasar? Porque el tren en Argentina es padre de pueblos y también padre de desiertos.
Many say that we, as Argentines, are children of ships, even though our popular culture shows that we are in fact children of trains.
How many flavors, how many songs, how many legends, how many coplas, how many rhythms were brought from the provinces by train? From how many places did the train take away thirst and hunger? How many towns did it give a name to with its arrival and how many did it make silent by not stopping? The train in Argentina is the father of towns as well as the father of deserts.
It continues:
El tren es uno de los grandes temas de la argentinidad, es la gran deuda que el estado tiene con el corazón del pueblo. El tren es cultura, patrimonio humano, es una especie de santo pagano al que se le han derribado la mayoría de sus templos.
The train is one of the great Argentine themes, the people's hearts are indebted to the state for it. Trains are culture, human patrimony, a kind of pagan saint of which the majority of its temples have been knocked down.
There are also trains that are not found in commercial use anymore, except for in tourism. That is the case with the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) in the Salta province, which covers more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) through mountains and clouds at an elevation of 4,200 meters (13,780 feet) above sea level. The blog Curiosidades del Mundo [Es] comments on the geographic terrain that the train crosses:
A más de 4200 metros sobre el nivel del mar, el , es un servicio ferroviario turístico, que une la estación de salta con el viaducto La Polvorilla, sobre la Cordillera de los Andes. El mismo recorre 434 km entre la ida y la vuelta, en un transcurso aproximado de 15 horas. El viaje en tren atraviesa 29 puentes, 21 túneles, 13 viaductos, 2 rulos y 2 zigzags.
At more than 4,200 meters above sea level, the , a tourist train, connects Salta's station with the La Polvorilla viaduct, over the Andes mountain range. It travels 434 kilometers from beginning to end, over a course of about 15 hours. The train trip includes 29 bridges, 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, 2 spirals and 2 zigzags.
There are also two tourist trains in the south of Argentina: La Trochita and the Tren del Fin del Mundo (Train of the End of the World), located in the provinces of Chubut y Tierra del Fuego, respectively:
The page Locura Viajes [es] describes the characteristics and the history of the train that brings us to the beginnings of the steam locomotive:
La Trochita es el nombre coloquial con el que se conoce al Viejo Expreso Patagónico, gracias a su trocha súper económica de 75 centímetros de ancho y una separación entre sus rieles de sólo 0,75 cm. Aún hoy transita los 400 kilómetros de su recorrido guiada por una locomotora a vapor del año 1922.
La Trochita [es] is the colloquial name by which we know the Viejo Expreso Patagónico (Old Patagonian Express), thanks to its very economic 75 centimeter wide gauge and a distance between its rails of only 0.75 cm. Even today it travels the 400 kilometers of its trip guided by a steam locomotive from 1922.
Then it continues with the story of the birth of the train:
La Trochita – photo: Laura Schneider
La Trochita nació en la posguerra, momento de crisis económica que motivó la elección de una trocha tan angosta. La idea original era realizar un gran tendido que atravesara la Patagonia y llegara a Puerto Madryn, pero por razones económicas y climáticas el proyecto no prosperó. El tendido de las vías comenzó en Ingeniero Jacobacci, y en 1941 alcanzó la localidad de El Maitén. Cuatro años más tarde llegó a la ciudad de Esquel.
La Trochita was born into the postwar era, a time of economic crisis that brought about the choice of such a narrow gauge. The original idea was to lay a large railway that would cross Patagonia [es] and arrive at Puerto Madryn [es], but because of economic and climate reasons the project was not successful. The laying of the tracks began in Ingeniero Jacobacci, and in 1941 it reached the town of El Maitén. Four years later it came to the city of Esquel [es].
The site Che Fotos [es] recounts the route of the Tren Fin del Mundo:
El recorrido se inicia desde la estación central (ver foto anterior para información de horarios, etc). La primer(a) parte del trayecto la realiza internándose en el Cañon del Toro y cruza el Rio Pipo sobre el Puente QUEMADO, las nuevas vías transitan por encima de las ruinas del viejo puente. Luego de un buen trayecto se detiene en la estación de la Cascada de la Macarena dónde uno se baja para hacer unas fotos de la misma y apreciar el entorno. También se puede ver una reconstrucción simbólica de una Aldea Yámana.
The trip starts at the central station (see above photo for information about schedules, etc). The first part of the trip goes through the Cañon del Toro (Toro Canyon) and crosses the Pipo River over the QUEMADO Bridge. The new tracks go on top of the ruins of the old bridge. After a good bit of travel it stops at the Cascada de la Macarena station where you can get off to take some pictures and enjoy your surroundings. You can also see a symbolic reconstruction of a Yamana village.
It concludes at the final stop:
La última parada es la Estación del Fin del Mundo desde donde se puede regresar a la estación central o abordar distintos buses y combis para completar los recorridos del parque, ir al punto extremo de la ruta nacional 3 o recorrer a pié la zona cercana a la estación para volver en el tren.
The last stop is the Estación del Fin del Mundo (Station of the End of the World). From there you can return to the central station or take different busses and large vans to go on trips through the park, go to the extreme end of national route 3 or explore the area close to the station on foot to then return by train.
On the other hand, some bloggers are looking to rescue the history of towns that were born and grew up next to the railway, as is the case of Basavilbaso in the Entre Ríos province. The blog Arqueologia Ferroviaria [es], on top of an extensive photo gallery, comments:
La ciudad de Basavilbaso nació junto a la estación de trenes del antiguo ferrocarril Central Entrerriano, la primera formación transitó estas vías allá por el 1887, en la actualidad circula el tren que efectúa el recorrido Paraná-Concepción del Uruguay a cargo de la UEFER y convoyes de carga de la compañía ALL.En el año 1992 durante la presidencia del maléfico CSM fueron clausurados todos los servicios, en el 2004 la empresa TEA  implementó un servicio de cargas que posteriormente se complementó con uno de pasajeros entre las estaciones Lacroze y Posadas. En el 2011 se le revocó la concesión a esta empresa y se concedió la operación a TBA, hasta que en mayo del 2012 y a raíz de la tragedia de la estación Once se le quitó el permiso otorgado.
The city of Basavilbaso came into being next to the train station of the old Central Entrerriano railroad; the first train traveled down these rails around 1887. Nowadays the trains that go through here are one traveling from Paraná to Concepción del Uruguay run by UEFER and cargo trains from the company ALL. In the year 1992 during the presidency of the malevolent CSM all the services were shut down; in 2004 the company TEA implemented a cargo service that later was complemented with a passenger service between the stations of Lacroze and Posadas. In 2011 the concession to this company was revoked and it conceded the operation to TBA, until in May 2012 when, because of the tragedy of the Once station, the awarded permission was taken away.
Even though some of its branches have already disappeared, its history is invoked in Mariana Diaz's blog [es] where hope of reactivation is not yet lost:
Los ramales se cerraron; las vías se abandonaron. Muchas fueron saqueadas, y sus esqueletos sobreviven al paso del tiempo, trayéndonos recuerdos que viajan desde el pasado.
The branches closed; the tracks were abandoned. Many were looted, yet their skeletons survive the passage of time, bringing us memories that travel from the past.
The blog continues:
Las vías sobrevivieron al paso de los años, y Carlos y sus compañeros luchan por poner en marcha el ramal abandonado. “Sólo falta el arreglo del dos por ciento de las vías”, cuenta ilusionado, mientras trabaja incansablemente para que terminen el proyecto, por el que pelea hace 10 años.
The tracks survived the passage of years, and Carlos and his companions are fighting to get the abandoned branch going. “Only two percent of the rails need fixing”, he recounts excitedly, while he works tirelessly so that they will finish the project, which has been fought for for over ten years.

author: Laura Schneider


text:
Bloggers Duke it Out for Ghana’s First Ever Social Media Awards · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

For the first time in the country's online history, the best and brightest of Ghana's blogosphere will be awarded for their social media savvy.
BloggingGhana, a group of bloggers and social media users writing out of Ghana or the Ghanaian experience, will recognize the best bloggers and social media mavens in categories ranging from technology to citizen journalism to photography in the country's first ever social media awards on March 23, 2013.
The competition is fierce. The blogging group received nominations for the awards from 314 people, totaling 1,128 nominations spread over 13 categories, according to their website. That averages about 87 nominations per category.
Logo of the organising committee. Image source: blogcampghana.com
Categories for the awards include:
Other Social Media Categories
The Social Media Awards officially kicked off on January 8, 2013, launched under the theme “Content is King”. BloggingGhana co-founder Kajsa Hallberg Adu (@kajsaha) tweeted:
@kajsaha: With this tweet, I mandate the #Blogcamp13 team to go find the Best Blogger in 2012! blogcampghana.com May the best win! #233moments
BloggingGhana reported that they began to receive nominations only a few hours after the awards’ official launch. The nomination period closed February 1, 2013.
Born from a small meet-up of bloggers in 2008, BloggingGhana seeks to educate the general public in Ghana on social media and promote citizen journalism. Writing about that first meeting, BloggingGhana states on its website:
We wrote:
“we would like to bring the Ghanaian blog community together in real life! There is so much to say…about our green homeland, if Blogger is better than WordPress, if labels are useful, how best to boost and count traffic,  what Internet cafées [sic] are fast and of course how blogging changes your life…”
Continuing the tradition of bringing bloggers together offline, the organization hosted a day of workshops in Ghana on May 5, 2012, dubbed BlogCamp. Blogger and science teacher Gameli Adzaho wrote about the event in a post titled “Unforgetable memories of #BlogCamp 2012″:
There are some memories that are easily swept off by the tidal waves of time and events. There are others that are etched deep in our consciousness, replaying like sweet music in our minds as the days roll by. BlogCamp 2012, organised by BloggingGhana, Ghana’s biggest social media community, falls into the latter category. Held at Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT on 5 May 2012, and sponsored by Vodafone Ghana, Google Ghana, US Embassy Accra, etc., Ghana’s first BlogCamp truly lived up to its theme of creating the “Voice of a New Generation”
To cast your vote for best of Ghana's blogs, visit here.

author: Kofi Yeboah


text:
Catholic Church Condemns Sterilization Law in Panama · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

On February 28, 2013, the National Assembly of Legislators passed a law that allows women over the age of 23 with two or more children to opt for a free sterilization.
TVN noticias [es] provided more information on their website:
En tanto el proyecto de ley 196 dispone que la esterilización femenina se hará ante una petición voluntaria de la mujer al médico tratante, por recomendación médica, en estado de emancipación, que tenga uno o más hijos, prueba de no embarazo certificada por una institución pública o por solicitud médica, de tutor o de la persona legalmente responsable de la mujer que tenga una enfermedad mental debidamente acreditada.
Bill 196 stipulates that feminine sterilization will be carried out in light of a woman's voluntary petition to the treating physician, per medical recommendation, in a state of emancipation, if the woman has one or more children, with proof that she is not pregnant certified by a public institution, or a medical request from the guardian or person legally responsible for a woman who has a duly accredited mental illness.
The law provoked a reaction from the Catholic Church, who, through Metropolitan Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa, has called the measure [es] “disastrous.” The Archbishop also claimed that the law placed Panama in danger of ending up “aged” like many European nations that have taken similar measures.
The Panamanian population has had mixed reactions. On the one hand, there are those who believe sterilization is a woman's personal choice and that the church has no right to offer its opinion on this type of law, but others are outraged over this “anti-life” legislation.
Ernesto Alvarado believes that 23 years old is too young for such a procedure and women could subsequently regret the decision. Ernesto writes the following in Hora Cero [es]:
El Peligro que percibo es lo referente a la edad de la persona. En España 1 de cada 100 personas que se ha practicado la esterilización con fines anticonceptivos, busca su des esterilización, por las siguientes razones: cambio de pareja, muerte de los hijos, mejora situación médica o social o razones psicológicas.
Panama City's Metropolitan Cathedral, foto taken from Javier Volcan's Flickr under the Creative Commons License(CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The danger that I perceive is referring to the person's age. In Spain, 1 out of every 100 people that has practiced sterilization for contraception looks to undo the sterilization for the following reasons: change of partners, death of a child, improved medical or social situations, or psychological reasons.
Yohel Amat (@te_interesa) [es] is of the opinion that the Catholic Church should solve its own internal problems before stating its opinion on sterilization:
@te_interesa: ¿Q hacen voceros católicos hablando en contra d la esterilización femenina voluntaria, cuando tienen “el rancho ardiendo”? #WTF #Panama
@te_interesa: What are Catholic spokespeople doing speaking out against feminine sterilization when they have their own set of problems? #WTF #Panama
Alfonso Grimaldo (@AlfonsoAGP) [es] says that each person is responsible for making the decisions they consider right for their body:
@AlfonsoAGP: Your body, your choice. Always. (Tu cuerpo, tu elección, siempre.) Ninguno de nosotros aceptaría que nos dijeran como vivir nuestras vidas.
@AlfonsoAGP: Your body, your choice. Always. None of us would accept anyone else telling us how to live our lives.
Xavier (@tortugaconqueso) [es] asks the church to not impose its ideas on others:
@tortugaconqueso: Mantengan sus visiones retrógradas de lo que debería ser la sociedad dentro de sus templos y lejos de la asamblea, por favor.
@tortugaconqueso: Keep your reactionary visions on what society should be within your temples and far away from the assembly, please.
Positions are divided and there are even Christians that agree with the new law, which makes the Catholic Church's official reaction confusing, as Ana Lorraine J. (@analorrainej) [es] expresses:
@analorrainej: Yo no se uds pero yo veo hasta religiosos a favor de la ley, no entiendo la posición de Ulloa.
@analorrainej: I don't know about you, but I even see religious individuals in favor of the law so I don't understand Ulloa's position.
The law is still awaiting the president's signature, but it appears as though the voices of the Catholic Church will be heard, as the President of the National Assembly of Legislators promised to speak to President Ricardo Martinelli to make a number of changes, as La Critica [es] reports:
Gálvez indicó que conversaría con el presidente Ricardo Martinelli para ver de qué manera se modificaban algunos temas que son de la objeción de la Iglesia católica.
Gálvez indicated that he would speak with President Ricardo Martinelli to see how some issues that the Catholic Church objected to would be modified.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Celebrating Valentine’s Day in Kyrgyzstan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Ivory Pomegranate blog reports on how Valentine's Day was celebrated this year in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The blogger writes:
Who cares if Valentine’s Day is a cheesy, commercialized Western export; sometimes it’s nice to have an excuse to be romantic.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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China Executes Burmese Drug Lord on Live TV · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Naw Kham, the Burmese leader of a major drug trafficking gang in the infamous ‘Golden Triangle’ area in mainland Southeast Asia, was executed through lethal injection in Kunming, China last March 1, 2013. Although he was not well-known before his death, his life instantly became a trending topic in Myanmar after his execution.
A number of Myanmar Facebook users were frustrated to learn that Chinese media networks aired the execution on live TV [viewer discretion advised].
Khin Khin Oo writes[my] her frustration:
Broadcast the execution? What an inhumane thing!
Naw Kham before execution. Screenshot from CCTV News video.
Than Thar Win, a well known local singer, also criticized[my] the live broadcast of the execution:
It's acceptable to punish a criminal. But I think broadcasting the execution process live by some Chinese channels should not have happened.
Khin Zarny Htut added[my]:
Being guilty is being guilty. But as a human being.,I feel a bit sad for such lethal execution.
There are also those who blamed the Myanmar government for not requesting a prisoner swap arrangement with China. La Yeik Cho said[my]:
Our government should ask for criminal transfer. Why did they leave Naw Kham's fate in China's hand?
Another Facebook user, Nay Min Kha, compared[my] the situation of foreign criminals in Myanmar and Myanmar prisoners in other countries:
We have been releasing those (foreigners) who committed crimes in Myanmar easily. I do not hear any similar treatment for Myanmar citizens who are detained abroad. In fact, even if Naw Kham committed crimes, he should be sentenced to death only in Myanmar. […]
Nay Tar Gay thinks[my] Chinese citizens who are found guilty of committing high crimes in Myanmar would be transferred to China:
Regardless of the type of charges, the criminals should be transferred to mother nation and charged against law in one's own country. It is very sure that Myanmar government would transfer him (to China) if he were a Chinese national.
On the other hand, some netizens pointed out that there is no difference between execution in Myanmar and China. Ei Maung posted a short note explaining why the Myanmar government was correct in its decision not to request a prisoner transfer deal in the case of Naw Kham:
It's true that a nation must protect its citizens. And yes, Vienna convention suggested nations to transfer prisoners as showing respect.
But, it's crazy to say Myanmar government should request the transfer of a drug king. Are those people out of their mind? […] Not transferring a mass murderer or drug king is nowhere near disrespecting. They have their “national security” to concern over respect in those cases.[…]
“Don't make ridiculous conclusion” just because you don't like the government. Even if Myanmar government makes such request, China is unlikely to agree and, such rejection would “unnecessarily affect the relationship”. Government is doing the right thing…
Winston Compunuts mentioned that there is no extradition agreement between the Chinese and Myanmar governments:
In order for prisoner exchange or extradition to take effect, there needs to have agreements for it between such nations. Geneva convention only guarantees humane treatment and access to fair representation (even that definition widely varies in different countries). Extradition treaties must first exist before the arrest occurred. As far as I know, there is no such agreement between China and Burma. I think the Burmese government was right NOT to pursue it since it's highly unlikely to be successful and why waste tax dollars on something unwarranted. There are cases when even a superpower like the United States couldn't even save their citizens or bring them home to serve their prison sentence.
Hkam Awng's brief clarification[my] about the status of Naw Kham went viral:
He is someone who became a wanted person in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand after he implemented his drug route from Myanmar to Laos, then to Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China. […] Finally, it reached over the limit of patience of four countries (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and China) after he hijacked a Chinese ship, killed the sailors and threw the dead bodies into the river. […] To be able to cooperate for drug trafficking, such countries signed the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances but Myanmar did it with exception for the article of criminal exchange. That is why Myanmar government never transferred Khun Sa and other ‘Wa‘ leaders who had been charged by US. […] Anyway, I'm also against the capital punishment and death penalty. […]
On March 2, 2013, Myanmar netizens flooded the Facebook page of Chinese Embassy in Myanmar by posting R.I.P messages for Naw Kham.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Cubans Mourn President Chávez’s Death · Global Voices
Silvia Vinas

Article [es] written by La Redacción IPS Cuba, originally published on IPS-Inter Press Service
“The news still causes us to shiver, it's hard to believe. The grief is deep and heartbreaking, but America must honor, right now, and in its own future, the prophecies and efforts of one of the greatest men from this continent. As Maduro said, thank you, Commander Chávez, thank you…”, expressed on Facebook Yoelvis Lázaro Moreno Fernández [es] after learning about the passing of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez Frías.
Last Tuesday afternoon, at 4:25 p.m., Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's Executive Vicepresident, announced from the “Carlos Arvelo” Military Hospital in Caracas that Chávez had died. The Venezuelan leader was back in Caracas since February 18, and on Tuesday, March 5, there was an announcement that he was suffering due to a new respiratory infection.
For journalism student Jessica Anthuané Jiménez [es] it's been an irreparable loss. “But one that must serve as momentum for the Venezuelan people for them to keep on going forward… to the memory of Commander Chávez!”, she expressed on her Facebook profile.
Venezuelan President died at 16.25 at Caracas Military Hospital. IPS Cuba archives.
“Life was good, there were roses. Some minutes earlier, a child had smiled… It came by flying and grazed my forehead… but now, today, life is so sad and finite…”, shared Yuliet Pérez Calaña [es].
Taking the lyrics of one of the most symbolic songs by Cuban songwriter Gerardo Alfonso, journalist Melbys Nicola regretted the Venezuelan President's death. “Commader Chávez!!! It's still the dreams the ones that pull people as a magnet that get us closer day by day! May you rest in peace, live forever!”, she stated.
Also on Twitter, there have been countless gestures of sympathy with the Chávez family and sorrow for his passing could be noticed on tweets by many Cubans.
“#CHAVEZLIDER [Chavez leader] is reborn just as the great human beings of #NuestraAmérica [our America]. He united us, he showed us the way and how to clear the path”, was how @BlogueroCubano [es] expressed it. Meanwhile, @ErnestoGuerra21 [es] pointed out how out of the pain “we have to pull our strength to continue #Chávez's life work”.
Paola Rodríguez, @cubamar [es] on Twitter, declared: “God, this is so sad, I'm so sad for Chávez's death… poor man!!! :´´(“.
Other users have changed their profile picture on Facebook to sympathize with the genuine grief caused by the physical extinction of Hugo Chávez. Among them, Milena Recio, Yosnovi Frias Rivera [es] and Yurisander Guevara Zaila [es], who also stated that “the world was terrible already for us to be without Hugo Chávez. FAREWELL, COMMANDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.
On Yelanys Hernández Fusté's [es] profile, a journalist from Juventud Rebelde newspaper, we can read: “a great one is gone. Chávez's death is so sad, but he lives in each one of his social works, in his political speech, in ourselves”, she claimed.
Ariel Torres [es] stressed that “Chávez is not here physically with us anymore… a severe and huge wound for the people of America. A passionate giant that always fought for the revolutions and for the liberty of the people. Long live Chávez! However, those who die for life can not be considered dead. We must always take Chávez as a symbol of good luck, a symbol of resistance and love for the Motherland”.
On that platform, philosopher and researcher Eliades Acosta  [es] asked not to give Twitter a break, “a weapon Chávez knew how to use for the fight against the despicable and contemptible slobbering that tries to discredit him. They shall not pass”, he confirmed.
Likewise, @amayaterry pointed out that “Hugo Chávez has left life… but not the Bolivarian Revolution!! All Latina America with you forever, Commander”, he stressed.
For @lolitovc “all the solidarity must be with Venezuela, all the strength and infinite tribute to Chávez :’-(“, he stated on his space on Twitter.

author: Silvia Vinas


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Ecuador Declares Three Days of National Mourning after Chávez’s Passing · Global Voices
Daniela Gallardo

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) [es], decreed three days of national mourning after the death of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.
At the press conference that he gave from the Carondelet Palace, Correa said that “those who fight for life cannot declare themselves dead”. The Head of State said [es] that with Chávez's passing, Latin America has lost a great leader and he affirmed that those who fight for their country cannot be forgotten.
Teleamazonas [es] published on their YouTube channel (Canal Teleamazonas) [es] President Correa's declarations about the death of Chávez:
“As a tribute to his departure, to his life, Ecuador decrees three days of national mourning. From the place where you find yourself now, beloved Hugo, you have our promise to continue moving forward, towards that Great Country which our liberators dreamed about”, said President Rafael Correa.
Activist Mónica Chuji (@Monicachuji) [es], for her part, wrote on Twitter:
@Monicachuji: Como humana, política y defensora de DDHH, expreso mi sentida solidaridad a la familia del Presidente Chavez y a su pueblo.
@Monicachuji: As a human, politician and defender of human rights, I express the solidarity I feel for the family of President Chávez and his people.
And OM Velasco (@OM_Velasco) [es] shares photos from outside the Venezuelan embassy in Quito:
@OM_Velasco: En exteriores d Embajada Venezolana n Ecuador se concentran organizaciones sociales expresando solidaridad x #Chavez pic.twitter.com/R4r6bLsxGl
@OM_Velasco: Outside the Venezuelan embassy in Ecuador social organizations are concentrating and expressing solidarity for #Chavez pic.twitter.com/R4r6bLsxGl
Outside the Venezuelan embassy in Ecuador. Photo shared by @OM_Velasco on Twitter.
El Ciudadano (The Citizen), the Ecuadorian government's digital newspaper, published a special section [es] with photos, videos and articles about President Chávez.

author: Daniela Gallardo


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Facebook Instigates Another Russian Media Scandal · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Earlier today, the chief editor of Rambler-Afisha media, Yuri Saprykin, announced on Facebook [ru] that Gazeta.ru’s editors have removed Maria Tsybulskaya from the newspaper’s video-interviews project, because her March 1 edition [ru] with Saprykin included off-limits political questions about the criminal cases surrounding last May’s violent protest at Bolotnaia Square, and Vladimir Putin’s declining support in national polls. The video-interviews program, awkwardly titled “Objective Conversation” (Предметный разговор), was apparently the subject of some concern at this week’s meeting between the online newspaper’s editors and shareholders, who expressed dissatisfaction with Tsybulskaya’s work and proposed unspecified revisions to the project. (That meeting, of course, was prompted by now-former chief editor Mikhail Kotov’s departure from Gazeta.ru on Monday, March 4.)
According to Saprykin’s Facebook post, the owners’ and editors’ issue with Tsybulskaya was simple: she dared to broach the subjects of Bolotnaia-related repression and Putin’s dwindling ratings:
В вину Марии поставили то, что она спрашивала меня про Болотное дело и рейтинги Путина — а это якобы никому не интересно (в том числе мне), и надо разговаривать с гостями не о всякой демшизе, а о чем-то умном и хорошем.
They found fault with Maria for asking me about the Bolotnaia case and Putin’s ratings. This is apparently of interest to no one (including me), and one needs to discuss not the demshiza [the “democratic schizos”] with guests, but something intelligent and nice.
Maria Tsybulskaya, 20 August 2012, screen capture from YouTube.
Minutes after Saprykin’s revelation, Tsybulskaya posted a comment [ru] confirming that “further planning of the program has been suspended,” noting that she will have a “final discussion” with Gazeta.ru’s acting executive director, Dmitri Sergeev, on Monday, March 11. An hour later, Tsybulskaya posted a longer Facebook update [ru], somewhat moderating her version of events. Regarding her March 11 appointment with Sergeev, what was a “final conversation” in her comment to Saprykin is now a “more detailed conversation.” Moreover, she clarifies that Gazeta.ru editors have not issued her any formal pink slip or even officially removed her from the “Objective Conversation” project. (Prior to her work in front of the camera, Tsybulskaya wrote for Gazeta.ru’s automotive news [ru] section.)
Tsybulskaya also writes that—after Saprykin’s post aroused such controversy—Sergeev called her to make clear that it was not his intention to close the project and that there had been some “miscommunication.” The meeting scheduled for next Monday, he claimed, would not be a nail in the coffin, but a fresh start.
In a Facebook post [ru] of his own, however, Sergeev signaled that his patience may have been overstretched by this public relations blowup. Roughly an hour after Tsybulskaya’s explanatory post, he wrote on his own Facebook account:
Мы хотели развить “Предметный разговор”, сделать его лицом Газеты.ру, но после такого поведения некоторых сотрудников даже не знаю, что и делать.
We wanted to develop “Objective Discussion,” and make it the face of Gazeta.ru, but after such behavior by certain staff members, I don’t even know what to do.
In comments [ru] to Lenta.ru, Sergeev rejected the idea that concerns about Tsybulskaya’s work are politically motivated, explaining that her questioning in the Saprykin interview was redundant, rather than provocative. “It makes absolutely no difference to me what she talks about on the show—it just has to be done correctly and professionally,” he stated. In other comments [ru] to Bolshoi Gorod, Sergeev promised certain “disciplinary sanctions” against Tsybulskaya for instigating such an uproar online and in the media, explaining that “it’s not possible to go to the press with something that just isn’t true.”
Analysts and netizens of the RuNet peanut gallery have naturally begun speculating about what Sergeev and the Gazeta.ru editorial board will do next. Some, like Roman Dobrokhotov [ru], believe that they will take the opportunity to back down and defuse the situation by not removing Tsybulskaya from the project. Others, like many of the commenters on Saprykin’s original Facebook post, remain convinced losing Mikhail Kotov guarantees the newspaper a gloomy future of rising censorship.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Harlem Shake Rocks Central Asia · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Harlem Shake, the latest global Internet meme craze, has arrived in Central Asia. Neweurasia.net shares a compilation of the best Harlem Shake videos from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Blogger Sanjar writes:
With this cultural virus we clearly see that if people want to have fun, nothing will stop them. Fighting with Western influence or restrictions on YouTube will not  help the authorities.


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India Aims to Woo Women With New Budget · Global Voices
Anuja Upadhyay

India's Finance Minister focused on wooing women in his budget speech for 2013-2014. Women-centric programs, known in the country as the “gender budget,” were allotted 971 billion rupees (18 billion US dollars) – a hefty 10 percent increase from last year.
The Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also announced a 10 billion rupee (181 million US dollar) Nirbhaya Fund for the safety of women. The fund is named after Delhi's 23-year-old gang rape victim, whose brutal assault in December 2012 evoked rage across India. The country's media referred to her as the “Fearless One” or Nirbhaya and her eventual death prompted vigils and women's right protests around the world.
The budget set aside 10 billion rupees for establishing India's first public all-women bank, which will lend money to businesses run by women, will mainly employ women, and will support women employment.
Another 2.5 billion rupees (45 million US dollars) will be used toward ending gender discrimination and helping vulnerable groups like single women and widows.
P. Chidambaram, India's Finance Minister, with his deputy minister before heading to Parliament to table the 2013-2014 budget. Image by Ranjan Basu. Copyright Demotix (28/2/2013)
The government also wants to motivate youth to join skill development programs. Some see the new budget as a ploy to target young voters and women before next year's elections, as 70% of voters in the country are under 35. In a post on the finance website Livemint, journalist Anil Padmanabhan gives his opinion:
Equally impressive is the political salience of the budget. Chidambaram passed over on the chance to spend his way to the next general election in this budget, like he did in 2009 with the Rs.60,000-70,000 crore farm loan waiver. Yet, he managed to appeal to the Congress party’s traditional constituencies—poor, minorities, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes—by leaving spending on them untouched, and also appealed to the party’s emerging constituencies such as young people and women.
However, some women's and citizens’ media groups are not satisfied with the new budget announcement. They claim that the allocated money is inadequate and that the measures seem to be hollow gestures. All India Women’s Progressive Association (AIPWA) lashed out in a blog post:
In fact, the Government ought to show that it owns responsibility for the safety of all women, by providing every single survivor of rape or acid attacks with state-funded rehabilitation and medical care. The 1000 crore Nirbhaya Fund, a mere corpus fund rather than a Budgetary allocation, is as of now far from adequate for covering the rehabilitation and medical costs of survivors of gender violence.
AIPWA argues that protecting the rights of women is an ongoing duty of the government. Therefore, the budget should have included more allocations for judges and courts to speed up trials, as well as for primary health care centers in villages to take care of women’s health needs.
Woman selling vegetables by Tumpa Mandal. Copyright Demotix (28/2/2013)
Because of the prevalence of corruption and scams in India in politics and administration, other citizens have concerns about the funds being used in the appropriate way, rather than becoming another notorious scam. In the days following the budget announcement, several Twitter users expressed their doubts:
@auravsha (Aakanksha) : #nirbhaya fund?? I hope it dsnt turn out to be #nirbhaya fun…still waiting for justice ..instead getting stupid funds on fake name
@atulabhas (Atul Singh): #IndianGovt. creates #Nirbhaya fund instead of law and order. They will rehabilitate Rape Survivors but not stop rapes!
@jagthesav (Savitar Jagtiani): The more important questions: how will the funds be spent? By who? On whom? Who's monitoring fraud & how will benefit be measured? #nirbhaya
The all-women bank is due to start running in November 2013, and it remains to be seen whether the other government promises will materialize.
This post was proofread in English by Molly Allison-Baker.

author: Anuja Upadhyay


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Malawi’s President Banda Versus ‘Selfish’ Members of Parliament  · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

Malawi's President Joyce Banda caused chaos in parliament by insisting that members of parliament not get their outstanding fuel allowance, saying her government has no money to pay.
MPs are demanding up to K10 million (about $27,778) in fuel allowances, backdated to 2009, and Banda's refusal has not gone down well with the legislature, with many MPs insisting that they will get their dues. They are also demanding an allocation of 500 litres of fuel per month to each MP.
Malawi's President Joyce Banda. Image from: Friends of Joyce Banda Facebook Page, used with permission
A heated debate has sprung up among Malawians, centering on whether MPs deserve the fuel allowance at a time when the country's economy is doing badly. Civil society organizations and individuals are calling on the government to ignore their demands. Blogger Pearson Nkhoma agrees with the position taken by the president and a number of Malawians in a post titled ‘Karma Driving Politics in Malawi‘, writes:
Time is nigh to take off the salaries, and the other benefits. We can not afford to be paying our employees more than what we the employers get. We just can not afford such unnatural course of social injustice…the Malawians who employ those employees need to get what the employers get not the other way round; And the employers don't do anything save for introducing unpopular policies like changing the flag bill, injunction bill, the third term bill etc.
While Pearson Nkhoma has called for a referendum on the MPs’ demands, journalist Mabvuto Banda calls them selfish:
@bvutoB: In my understanding, the MPs have achieved nothing to deserve bonuses, in arrears or not.  As lawmakers, the MPs have just been good at being retrogressive and moving the country in circles. I ask: what can we rationally point as their achievements since 2009?
Another blogger Henry Chizimba feels that the parliamentarians should give the president some breathing space. Though no fan of the president, he says MPs seem intent on pulling her government down. In a post referring to this development as ‘Street Democracy at its best‘, he concludes:
Kondwani Munthali's post from 2011, following a national budget presentation, provides an invaluable primer to this latest row over pay and entitlements. The post highlights the salary differences between civil servants and MPs. While there may have been changes in salaries in the last 18 months, the changes have not been significant. Munthali argues:
In essence, the gap between the MP in terms of allowances and entry grade in public service annually is around K3.2 million whilst the ordinary Civil Servant will have to pay for increased minibus fares (spare parts going up), rentals (withholding tax) domestic (meat, offals, water, salt) and with the likely hood of companies downsizing as new taxes adding to low production due to poor electricity and water supply, lack of fuel and shortages of foreign exchange will slow down the economy….
But as poor as they are, the majority whom (an estimated 5 million of the population) live on K300 per day have to continue contributing to the “new found economic freedom” while The President, Ministers and Members of Parliament drive in brand new 4X4 worth K20 million on the market, earn tax breaks for personal vehicles, earn K4 million in allowances annually and more importantly continue to preach prudence to the poor people.
Malawi's economy is in recovery mode. The government seems to be doing its best to attend to a myriad of development issues, but severe grain shortages in the past months have started to take their toll, leading many Malawians to believe that the MPs latest demands are misplaced at best, outright selfish at worst.

author: Victor Kaonga


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Nigerians Shake Up Twitter with Yoruba-Language Tweets · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Twitter was abuzz with Yoruba, one of the three major indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria, on March 1, 2013 as speakers of the language lit up the microblogging site with tweets in Yoruba as part of a campaign to celebrate the language on social media and pressure Twitter to include it in its translation project.
Nigeria, famed for a population of 160 million, officially speaks English but also has more than 500 ethnic languages, with Yoruba being one of three major native languages spoken there. It also spoken along the West African coast in Benin and Togo as well as Cuba and Brazil.
Users tweeted in Yoruba under the hashtags #tweetYoruba and #twitterYoruba. One of the organizers of the campaign, Kola Tubosun (@baroka) explained the reasoning behind the effort on his blog:
The Tweet Yoruba Day on March 1, 2013* is to continue the annual tradition, but with less emphasis on pressuring Twitter but on celebrating the beauty and importance of the mother tongue usage in the age of modernity. It might never happen any time soon that the only means of communication online would be any of these local languages with a limited number of speakers (Yoruba has over 30 million), but as long as these means of communication exist, there would always be new ways of transmitting culture and a distinct world-view.
The Nigeria Tweet Yoruba day began last year and garnered enough attention to be contacted by a Twitter translation official, Tubosun wrote. But aside from a brief follow-up from Twitter, there hasn't been any news since:
This practice began last year as a means to pressure Twitter to include Yoruba in the list of languages into which the platform is being translated. There was a partial success in form of a response by a Twitter translation desk official who assured that while the message has been heard, it would take a little while more to include the language, for logistic reasons.
#TweetInYoruba Day 2013 (Credit: ktravula.com)
Here are some tweets with our translation from the #TweetInYoruba Day:
@DAINJURER: Oloore re ko ni fi obituary da e mo! Fi adura yi ranse si eniyan mewa ti o feranju. #tweetinyoruba
@renoomokri: Bi iwo ko tile gba wipe ohun kan wa ti o le se lati gbe Naijiria ga, saa gbagbo wipe Naijiria, orile-ede títóbi ni. #tweetYoruba
@baroka: Since the day is young in other parts of the world, ibi ni emi a ti duro na. Eyin ara Amerika, e maa ba iyoku lo. E ti yege na #tweetYoruba
@seunonigbinde: Oluwaseun : Thank you Lord, Olayide: Wealth has come, Temitope: Mine is joy OniGBINde: the royal drummer has come #tweetYoruba
@bumight: Ewo ti e ni ede gèésì ti mo fi n twiiti yii? #tweetYoruba
@molarawood: O dabii pe awon ara Amerika fe ki Kadinali (cardinal) won yi, Timothy Dolan, di Poopu lehin Benedikti. Sugbon emi o ro bee. #tweetYoruba
Much of the African continent's important writing is happening on social media these days, Nigerian literary critic Ikhide Ikheloa (@ikhide) said in a recent interview on the literary blog Brittle Paper. Given that language and literature are integral components of a nation's identity, put down the novel and log on to Twitter and Facebook for a well-rounded idea of the world, he said:
It is interesting and frustrating to me that when we talk about literature, it is always in the context of books, alone. It is perhaps now inappropriate to use books as the sole determinant of cultural norms in today’s world. I would go further and say, in the 21st century, the book is a wretched barometer of African writing. You will need to go to the two most important African novels – Twitter and Facebook, in addition to blogs and websites to get a really good read on these issues… One reason I do not read books as much these days is that I cannot get enough of the writing on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. I am transfixed…

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Omar Banuchi Finds His Niche in the Puerto Rican Web (Part I) · Global Voices
Luis Trelles

First part in a series about digital art by Puerto Rico’s Omar Banuchi.
It was 11th February, two days away from Saint Valentine’s, and already the social networks had started circulating a series of images [es] as colourful as they were peculiar. Actually, it’s about different picture cards that keep reappearing in my newsfeed, shared over and over again by my Facebook connections. One of these shows a close-up of a middle finger raised at the viewer. The ‘bomb park’ red nail polish stands out dramatically- the same red that colours the heart of the ring seen in the picture. The backgrounds are all bright and sharp; the lines, from one postcard to the next, all follow the same thick strokes.
Some of these postcards carry messages, as if they were a bizarre meme mocking Hallmark cards. There is, for example, a neon-green cat [es] licking between his legs, with a thought bubble that would feel completely at ease in the nearest comic, proclaiming “Saint Valentine's Day isn't going to be so bad after all…”. In another, a fantasy green animal [es], with an elephant's trunk and impossibly large eyes -framed in yellow so that the description of the little howler would remain short- walking above the catchphrase “animal love is what it is”.
Omar Banuchi's Valentine postcards spread rapidly on the Internet in Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, on the artist's webpage [es] where the postcards started running Banuchi declares, “I know they're very old. I always wanted to make new ones, but there we go. Use them wisely. Download and share”.
Welcome to the world of Omar Banuchi. The sensitivity, that of scoffing love- on the national day of cards and cheap chocolate- with ironic distance, and at the same time paying tribute to the feeling, has been his signature style.  His pictures normally leave the same slightly spooky impression, as if you could access the real image of its subjects by just peeling back this highly delineated layer that will never stop being playful.  But its on the surface where his art operates, whether it be the bright surface saturated with complimentary colours or the tablet by brand Wacom that serves as a canvas. Banuchi is a digital illustrator, and his office is nourished by the tools that new media bring. The truth is that behind the majority of his pieces there is a photo or photomontage that he has drawn and upon which he paints.
Hugely influenced by the culture of fan boy from comics such as Marvel or DC, Banuchi has fully installed himself in the indie scene of Puerto Rico, where his pixelated brush strokes connect with a small, but growing, public. This is a scene where you can find comics like “Days” [es], an autobiographical series he created with Rosaura Rodríguez, his closest creative partner. On the other hand he has become an official artist of “We got carried away” [es], the latest multimedia and musical project of Eduardo Alegría, a veteran of the independent movement in San Juan. To this project he adds his part of the work which leans more towards the element of fine art, where he maintains a presence through Galería Yemayá [es], a space that reunites various Puerto Rican creators influenced by urban art. His work can also be found in alternative shops such as Executive Manolo in Santurce, where pins and cards can regularly be found.  But above all, his art is shared on the web; his Facebook pages and Tumblr are the easiest ways to get a first taste.
The work challenges formats and prejudices of what it really means to draw: Banuchi feels completely at ease creating pieces that end up hanging on the wall of a gallery, just as he does printing pins that could end up on a San Juan hipster's backpack. There is no paper or charcoal, nor oil or canvas. Instead, the drawing is made with a plastic toy that appears very similar to the system that is used to sign digitally after making a credit card transaction. There are those that don't see art from this approach, to which Banuchi answers with more viral illustrations. The rest, it could be said, is digital love.
[Click on this link in order to access a video of Omar Banuchi working.]
“I started to draw like this in 2008”, the artist recently told me in Café Luna, a small coffee place in Río Piedras that is near the Medical Centre, in the shade of Los Robles condominium, where Banuchi lived for a long time. It is only recently that he has moved away- albeit not very far- from this apartment complex, with its socialist block look, in the Caribbean where his mother still lives. Now he lives around the corner, in an apartment that is close by to the one in which he grew up.
“My ex-girlfriend bought a tablet to draw with”, he continued, explaining the way in which his technique met with technology. “She went on a trip and left me with the tablet so I started to draw with it”.
Before meeting Banuchi, I met his self portrait.  Drawing himself is something that he does a lot, so he had given me the impression that he was a black boy with a shaven head. However, when the time came, the person that I met was a pretentious-free young white man of 29 years, with his head held high and bright eyes that gave him a dreamy look.
“If I'm honest I have a whatever racial thing when I draw myself”, he would end up explaining to me with a relaxed approach littered with phrases in English. Banuchi tends to move about and express himself in a relaxed manner, just as his figures, and it's clear that the subject of couples’ relationships is a recurring theme. In fact, the root of his current work, which he describes as a way of digitally tracing a photo, came about in his student days while studying at Bellas Artes (Art) in the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, when his goal was to become a photographer. Even then he was already investigating his own love life.
“Really, everything started with my final project in digital photography class”, he told me. “I made an autobiographical digital scrapbook. It had all the stories of previous girlfriends that I'd been out with. The point is that I drew on top of the photos with Photoshop. It looked half done, because I did it with the computer mouse, but the point was for it to look half childish. Afterwards, when I was lent the machine it was like, ‘wow, I have more control and it looks cooler’. I continued like this until I eventually removed the photo underneath and only the drawing remained”.
The childlike edge to his work remains, even though it complicates itself with the outlook of –a sometimes lecherous- boy that never stopped collecting Spiderman comics. Together with the ludicrous mix of desire and the want to capture the everyday goings-on of the world that surrounds us. There is something restless about the twentysomething in his illustrations, when everything that happens in this intense decade of growth feels big and important. After this comes the ironic wink, the distance that the illustrator imposes on his subject, preventing his theme from falling into a commonplace category or cliché.
“The colours and the form caught my attention”, Rosaura Rodríguez [es] would tell me later about her first encounter with Banuchi's art.  “It's very accessible, everyone can understand it”.
To see him work, with a stylus that serves as a plastic charcoal over a digital paper that is a screen, might be a revelation. The way in which he remains completely absorbed by the photos that he draws attracts much attention. I recently had the opportunity to see him in action, when I went to visit him in his new appartment. The place still has an aspect of dormroom about it, with comics filling his bookshelves and a small gas heater that still has not been used. Instead, a single electric burner doubles up in the kitchen.
“From photography is what comes from him”, Beto Torrens, the Director of the Yemayá Gallery [es] explained to me later about what Banuchi exhibited. “Usually he starts with a normal photo- point and shoot- and this is what makes many identify with the piece. It's the photo that the world takes, but with a graphic design edge that gives it the colours and wide lines”.
The images are published with the artist's permission.

author: Luis Trelles