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Bahrain: Leading Opposition Figures on Trial · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/12.
Bahrain's High Court of Appeals is expected to announce its verdict in the case of 13 leading opposition figures accused of plotting to overthrow the regime tomorrow [September 4, 2012]. While international human rights organisations describes them as “prisoners of conscience,” Bahraini authorities and the local Press call them “terrorists” for their role in anti-government protests, which started in Bahrain on February 14, 2011.
Researcher and former Bahrain resident Marc Owen Jones writes:
@marcowenjones: Verdicts of the #Bahrain13 tomorrow. It was meant to be 3 weeks ago, but judge was unable to read a piece of paper with verdicts on #Bahrain
Secular Waad leader Ibrahim Sharif carried by supporters in an undated photograph tweeted by @Waad_bh. Sharif is among the opposition figures whose verdict is expected tomorrow
Human rights activist Jihan Kazerooni notes:
@jihankazerooni: 2morrow s d trial of #Bahrain13 opposition leaders who r prisoners of conscience according to #Un #HRW #HRF & all HR organization #Bahrain
And Maryam Alkhawaja, who is the daughter of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, stresses:
@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: Tomorrow is the trial of the #Bahrain13 and @angryarabiya, prisoners of conscience, they shouldn't be in prison to begin with #Bahrain
Meanwhile, unrest is brewing on the streets, with threats from protesters that they will not leave public squares until their demands are met.
Activist Nader AbdulEmam tweets [ar]:
In another tweet, he notes [ar]:
Former Member of Parliament Ali Alaswad stresses [ar]:
شعب #البحرين في قراره بعدم ترك الساحات يعي تماماً بأن الحقوق المدنية والاجتماعية والسياسية له ستتحقق من خلال سلمية وعدالة حراكه المطلبي.
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/12.


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Bahrain: “Our Women are Iron Women” · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Twitter users took a break from politics and had some fun this morning on the microblogging social network. Artist Anas Al Shaikh read a news article which said that an Iraqi woman had killed herself in protest against her husband watching dubbed Turkish soap operas.
Turkish soap operas have replaced the Mexican ones in recent years. Dubbed into Arabic, they are popular with audiences who follow the episodes, which sometimes run for months.
Al Shaikh shared the newsy tidbit with his Twitter followers and asked:
The pun was not lost and the comment sparked a lot of reactions.
Um Salman says:
Bahraini women have been at the forefront of anti-government protests which started in Bahrain in February 2011. flickr photograph from Al Jazeera English used under  (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Esraa adds:
And Fatima Salim notes:

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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China: What’s Stopping Chinese Economic Reform · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese lawyer @Yuan Yulai posted a cartoon on Sina Weibo that explains the link between economic reform (the train) and political reform (the track). Tea Leaf Nation has more explanation.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: Guerrilla Group’s Peace Negotiation Rap Video · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Colombian government has accepted the start of peace talks with the longest lived guerrilla group in Latin America, FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces), and in response the group has released a musical rap video. [All links lead to Spanish sites unless otherwise stated]
In the video, two revolutionaries wearing Che Guevara shirts accompanied by other guerrilla members playing musical instruments, rap about going to Havana, Cuba, to negotiate with the government, but it will not be surrender or “rendition” . This is the first communication which has been released by FARC since the government's decision to go forth to the dialogue tables in Oslo and then Havana, to discuss the terms for peace.
The video, originally posted on the official FARC website, which has since been blocked, is accessible through the copy that Colombian radio channel La FM has uploaded. Lyrics can be found on the Uruguayan El Observador newspaper digital version, and Venezuelan media has also picked up the story, including a summary of FARC's history.
So far, not much can be found on Colombian mass media. Engolfados.com technology and information website wrote about the video in ‘FARC Video is all the rage on Internet':
La producción guerrillera fue posteada este lunes 3 de septiembre en el sitio web oficial de la guerrilla, justo una semana después de que se conocieran los acercamientos. No aparece en el cabezal de la página, ni en el recuadro superior derecho, donde suelen estar los partes de guerra o los comunicados. Hay que bajar casi hasta la mitad de la pantalla para encontrarlo. Lo titularon: Video por la paz.
The lyrics from the El Observador Newspaper [es]:
Me voy para La Habana, esta vez a conversar
el burgués que nos buscabano nos pudo derrotar.
Me voy para La Habana, esta vez a conversar
con aquel que me acusaba de mentir sobre la paz.
Me voy para la Habana, supieran con qué emoción
me voy a conversar la suerte de mi nación.
A las FARC no nos vencieron porque hay un pueblo atrás.
Queremos que haya tierras para arar y ser normales.
Que se queden en la patria las riquezas naturales.
Poner freno al capital en su afán explotador.
Nuestros muertos van conmigo y el sentido del honor.
Ponte en pie mi pueblo amigo,
nunca habrá la rendición.
Comments on the video are rushing in. Many of them don't go beyond insults and critiques of the musical style, but others reflect a bit more. Some of those include this one by kamssun [es]:
Ese momento incómodo en el que te das cuenta que los guerrilleros, lejos de ser seres completamente malévolos, como nos los presentan los medios de comunicación, son más bien adolescentes despistados u.u
Jap0012 wrote as well [es], in response to violent reactions to the video and peace process:
que esten abriendo caminos para el dialogo demuestra que tienen intensiones [sic] para llegar a la paz, recuerde que esto es una guerra de colombianos contra colombianos y es algo terrible que aun despues de tanto tiempo tengamos tantas ganas de ver sangre.
Kle0sify [es] said:
Es lo único que deberia hacer la guerrilla tratar de transmitir sus pensamientos de forma diferente, no matando,secuestrando,diciendo mentiras así hasta mas de uno acá sería guerrillero
Colombian guerrillas sing rap inspired by forthcoming peace negotiations. Screencapture from video.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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El Salvador: A Homage for a Salvadoran Heroine · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Mariposa in the blog Hunnapuh [es] writes about María Guardado (also known as “Lenchita”), a Salvadoran woman who was tortured in 1980, during the Salvadoran Civil War. Lenchita was recently diagnosed with colon cancer.
In the following video you can learn more about Lenchita's story and hear her own testimony of the events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUz1v3qBpM

author: Silvia Viñas


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Germany: Improve Reporting on Disabled People · Global Voices
Katrin Zinoun

It ought to become something understood in the language that disabled people do things not in spite of or because of, but with their disabilities.
During the Paralympics in London there have been more and more reports on “against-it-all people” or “supercripples” in the media. leidmedien.de explains how to get the tone right.

author: Katrin Zinoun


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Hong Kong: National Education Program Prompts Hunger Strike, Sit-In · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Today, Monday 3 September, 2012, is the first school day in Hong Kong after the long summer vacation. Yet students, teachers and parents are not in the mood to welcome the beginning of the new semester.
Three elementary school students from Scholarism, an activist group against the implementation of the controversial national education program, started a three-day hunger strike on August 30, while their supporters are camping outside the government building. The hunger strike ended yesterday on September 2 and ten more students, teachers and parents have since taken it up again, this time without a deadline.
Below is a partial translation of Scholarism's hunger strike statement (via inmediahk.net's Facebook page [zh]):
Scholarism's hunger strike statement, via Facebook.
我們清楚知道生命有多可貴，但我們更清楚我們的下一代不可成為傀儡，我們渴望他們能夠有自己的思考和自己的情感。如今我們放下最基本也是最需要的，不是愚昧，是我們已無計可施了。包圍中聯辦、追擊吳克儉、九萬名市民遊行、擺設街站收集十萬個簽名、追擊候選人、長征……一切一切我們都嘗試了，但政府仍然充耳不聞，「卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行證，高尚是高尚者的墓誌銘」，政府的卑鄙我們看到了，但我們絕不可允許他的通行，我們絕不可低頭，我們堅持信念，要求撤回國民教育科。
為了思想自由，情感自由，為了下一代，為了香港的明天，我們自願絕食，堅決不已。撤回洗腦國民教育課事不宜遲，梁振英政府必須站出來回應訴求，面對民意，你責無旁貸。
We know very clearly how precious life is. At the same time, it is more important that our next generation cannot become puppets. We want them to have independent thinking and emotion. Now we put aside our basic needs. Not that we are stupid. But that there is no other way out. We have tried to surround the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong, ambushed Eddie Ng Hak-kim [the head of Education Bureau]; more than 90,000 people took to the street and more than 100,000 joint-signatures have been collected. We forced the Legislative Council candidates to reveal their stands and tried the long march… We tried everything and the government still could not hear our voices. “Vileness is the pass of the vile; Nobleness is the epitaph of the Noble”. We see the vileness of the government but we cannot let it pass. We cannot lower our head. We hold on our belief and demand the national education curriculum be withdrew.
For the freedom of our thoughts and emotion, for the next generation and the future of Hong Kong, we start this hunger strike. The government should not further delay in withdrawing the national education curriculum. CY Leung's government should respond to our demands, to public opinion. This is your duty.
To express their support, a civic coalition organized a carnival and a public assembly outside the government building on September 2, demanding the national education be replaced by more critical citizen education. The video taken by Yuiman Fung below shows various speakers’ statements from the night assembly:
Ten representatives from the coalition announced in the assembly that they would take up the hunger strike. They are university students, teachers and parents; one of the teachers, James, Hon Lin-Shan is over 60 years old. He said [zh]:
如果輸了這一場仗，甚麼一國兩制，港人治港都會逐漸步向滅亡。我們要誓死堅持！
A student-teacher concern group took a protest photo against national education in the school campus on the first school day, via the concern group's Facebook page
While the government kept repeating its stand that the curriculum is not mandatory and a committee has been set up to review the curriculum, a leaked document [zh] revealed that the Education Bureau demanded the teacher set up a “national education file” for each student for future reference.
Moreover, the media revealed that a secondary school has demanded their teachers sign an agreement not to expose the details [zh] of the national education curriculum, which means the public cannot monitor the implementation of the curriculum.
The civic coalition urged students, teachers and concerned citizens to dress in black on the first school day to protest against the de facto blacklist and the implementation of the curriculum. Some elementary schools students and teachers form national education concern groups within the schools and took protest photos, saying no to the national education curriculum.
After the first school day, thousands of students, teachers and parents in black continued to gather outside the government building pressing the government to withdraw the curriculum. The birds eye view photo below was taken by a civil servant working inside the government building at 5pm today (September 2). Image from Scholarism's Facebook page:
There were more than 8,000 protestors at around 7pm this evening and Scholarism urged more citizens [zh] to join in the overnight sit-in outside the government building. Two hunger strikers are reported to have suffered from low-blood sugar and been sent to the hospital.
A panoramic view of the September 3 after school gathering outside the government building. Image from Scholarism on Facebook.


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Hong Kong: Students’ Patriotic Record · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Although the Hong Kong government claimed that it is not mandatory for elementary schools to adopt national education in the next three years, a teacher exposed that the Hong Kong Education Bureau requires teachers to file record on students’ activities related with national education. More from the Dictionary of politically incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese.


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Kenya: Investigative Blogger Charged With Intercepting Data · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan investigative blogger, Dennis Itumbi, has been charged with intercepting data in a computer system without consent for allegedly publishing internal emails revealing serious security flaws at a regional airline.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Malaysia: Financial Stress Closes Independent Chinese Media Site · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Merdeka Review, a Chinese online independent media portal founded in 2005 in Malaysia, was officially closed down in August 31, 2012. Due to the withdrawal of the support of a major funder, the news organization had been under financial stress since 2011.
Public support had managed to help the news website to keep operating until recently; the website is still accessible [zh] to the public.
Its closing statement said [zh]:
停刊之后，《独立新闻在线》将秉持“取之社会，用之社会”的精神，让网站继续保持开放，作为公众乃至学者免费检索新闻史料的研究资源，藉此延续《独立新闻在线》之精神。伺服器公司闻讯，答应赞助一年，令我们深为感动。
《独立新闻在线》停刊，部分原因固然是因为社会缺乏让异议新闻网站得以足以稳健前进之希望与条件，然而民心思变业已发生，且教育日益普及促使读者对何为“新闻”的期许，要比上一代人高很多。在相对威权的社会，网络媒体与民主化进程息息相关，但民主化向前没跨一步之际，网络媒体理应也有更好的客观条件，以利永续经营。
这是我们的期许，能否实现、何时实现，广大读者群“给力”多大，固然能起重要作用，但是完全依赖市场的养分存活，异议新闻网站亦有变质之风险。我们能否想象一个有利于异议新闻网站存活甚至焕发的公共政策？这不仅有赖于广大读者集思广益，亦有赖于从政者与决策者从善如流，坐言起行地推动民主化进程。
Independent Online Media, Merdeka Review, Stopped Operation on 31 August 2012.
Merdeka Review will continue to keep the website online so that the public and researchers can read and research on the news for free. The spirit of an open public space is what we have been upholding. We would like to express our thanks to the data center for one year's free hosting service.
The reason for our shut down is partly related to the lack of social infrastructure to support a dissenting news website even though people have developed a much higher expectation on “news” because of higher levels of education when compared with the older generation. In a comparatively authoritarian society, the relationship between online media and democratization is closely related. Better development and sustainability of online media would help the political reform.We hope such conditions will appear soon. It really depends on public support. On the other hand, we could not rely on the market totally as it would risk the news organization's independent position. Will a public policy help to enhance better conditions for the survival of dissenting news websites? We need to put our thoughts together and advocate for democracy so that decision makers listen to our suggestions.
A large number of the news organization's fans expressed the wish that it would revive again later. Yu-Ling Chong, who is based in Singapore, feels pity for the loss:
Merdeka Review is one of the prominent alternative media in Malaysia. It is very courageous in reporting news that mainstream media in Malaysia do not have the will or the courage to cover. This gives more voices to the community. Moreover, Merdeka Review has been covering the condition of various marginalised groups in Malaysia all these years and gives readers an opportunity to listen to their voice. Therefore, Merdeka Review's contribution is great.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of financial support, Merdeka Review has ceased operations today. No matter how sad and disappointed the readers are, we have no choice but to accept the fact.
We can only hope that one day Merdeka Review will be able to revive and continue contributing to press freedom in Malaysia. May the spirit of Merdeka Review lives on!
Merdeka has inspired many Chinese young people to participate in social and political action. Ah Lye, anactivist in Malaysia writes [zh] in his Facebook on the significance of independent media:
阅读这个媒体整七年，她一路来孕育了我的醒觉，在她里头我学习了不少。谢谢独立新闻在线，能够撑到今天已经是奇迹，过程里有不少人的努力和牺牲。
29 岁到 36 岁，七年里，这个国家经历了很多，我也对这个土地，有了不一样的认识，而你们，肯定在这个七年里，伴随了很多人经历了他们的七年，可能是中学的七年，出来社会的七年，步入中年的七年，结婚生孩子的七年，慢慢老去的七年。尤记得在这七年里一些笔战过的朋友，如今，他们很多应该都已经是社运里的老前辈了。希望你们继续在各自的岗位里，捍卫这个社会的正义。
I have been reading this online media for seven years. It has raised my social awareness and I have learned a lot from the website. I really want to thank Merdeka Review. And it is quite a miracle that it survived for so long. In the process many people have sacrificed.
From 29 to 36 years old, this country has gone through so much in seven years and I have developed a different understanding of this piece of land. You probably have also spent the seven years with them, when you were in secondary school, or when you entered society, or when you were middle aged, or when you were married with kids, or when you grew old. Some friends who I had online debates with have now become experienced social activists. I hope that all of you can continue to defend social justice in your new positions.


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Morocco: Sexual Abuse to Cry Long Live the King · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Once we got to the police station, they stripped us of all of our clothing and stuck hard objects into our anuses. They also ripped out our eyelashes, reports Nour Essalam Kartachi, in order to force us to cry, “long live the king.”
reports Moroccan site Mamfakinch on the plight of a young prisoner.


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Myanmar: Protest Against UN Human Rights Rapporteur · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Protest against the UN special human rights rapporteur 2 September, 2012 in Mandalay, Myanmar. Image by CJ Myanmar.
Thousands of people joined a protest action against Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special human rights rapporteur, in Mandalay, Myanmar. Some locals believe that Quintana's reports about the violence in Rakhine State are biased towards Rohingyas.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Russia: Governors’ LiveJournals Ranked · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Writing in his own LiveJournal, Sergei Nikitskii (the director of Governors.Ru) ranked [ru] the LJ accounts of Russia's 13 blogging governors. Kirovskaia oblast Governor Nikita Belykh [ru], a former oppositionist politician, scored highest on the list. Andrei Turchak [ru], the Governor of Pskovskaia oblast, was ranked last, on the grounds that he's apparently abandoned his blogging efforts. Nikitskii claims to have rated both the quality and quantity of LJ activity, including post frequency and interactivity with commenters.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Southeast Asia: Government Online Media Projects · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Southeast Asian governments have been maximizing their Internet space by establishing various social media profiles, one stop public service portals, and online transparency tools.
We begin the regional tour with Indonesia which recently launched Satu Layanan (One Service) portal. The website provides information and vital public service announcement from 50 government agencies. Iqbal Farabi translates the stated mission of the website:
Satu Layanan is meant to answer the public’s needs of a reliable main reference for people to search for information about government services for their daily needs.
…the portal is not meant to replace each agency’s online service. It simply serves as a pointer to the real service that remains in each respective agency. In the future, Satu Layanan hopes to engage ordinary citizens to contribute as well.
Iqbal mentions that the portal is an initiative of the Open Government Indonesia which was conceptualized to institute reforms in the bureaucracy:
As an Indonesian, I tend to think that most of my government agencies perform terribly when it comes to serving the public. And it is one of the main objectives of Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to conduct bureaucratic reform in his now two terms in power. Thanks to the internet, that shake-up is happening right now as some public services – like renewing a drivers’ license – become available online.
According to Iqbal, Open Government Indonesia will develop two more web apps, namely Satu Pemerintah (One Government) and Satu Peta (One Map).
Open Government Indonesia
Meanwhile, in neighboring Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak interacts with citizens through the 1Malaysia website:
1Malaysia is intended to provide a free and open forum to discuss the things that matter deeply to us as a Nation. It provides a chance to express and explore the many perspectives of our fellow citizens.
I hope this website will initiate an open and vital dialogue exploring our Malaysian identity, our purpose, and direction.
Malaysia’s government agencies also have active presence in the social media sphere. But a member of parliament questions the use of RM 1.8 million (US$ 578,000) to maintain the Facebook page of the Tourism Ministry:
The Tourism Ministry came under fire again today, as MPs questioned why it had spent RM1.8 million to start and maintain its Facebook page – yet another on the list of controversial projects. Anthony Loke (DAP-Rasah) slammed the decision to use so much money when the social networking site can be used free of charge.
Moving on to Singapore, the Government Social Media Directory highlights the numerous online programs and activities of government ministries:
This online directory is a convenient resource that helps you to search for, discover and read about specific Web 2.0 and other social media initiatives by Singapore government agencies. These include Facebook pages, YouTube channels, Twitter accounts, Flickr photostreams and others.
Cool Insider identifies some of the social media initiatives of the government. The Singapore GovCamp was organized last November to study and promote citizen interaction with the government through the use of technology:
GovCamp Singapore focuses on positioning government as a platform to engage key sectors of a country to come together in one conference and to jointly collaborate on how to improve citizen engagement and services using technology.
Another member of the Open Government Partnership is the Philippines. The government budget portal encourages citizens to submit queries and suggestions:
In line with the Aquino Administration’s thrust of ensuring fiscal transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement, the Citizen’s Portal is an avenue for the public to inquire and engage about the National Budget. Do you have photos and videos of programs and activities in your locality? Submit them by clicking the button below. Make your leaders accountable!
In recent months, the government has been promoting the use of specific hashtags when engaging citizens to join in online conversations about various social issues. For example, #lubak2normal is used to expose bad or unpaved roads in the country. Netizens used #salamatjesse to mourn the death of a beloved government minister. The government announced the use of a so-called ‘unified hashtag’ #walangpasok to monitor suspension of classes during strong rains and typhoons. Recently, #phtrenchquake was used to update the earthquake situation in the southern part of the country.
Elsewhere in East Timor, the government has created the Timor Transparency Portal which provides access to state expenditures and transactions on Budget, Aid, Procurement, and Government Results.
The Government Results Portal is a website that aims to publish outcomes information for the most important government targets, projects and programs. It is part of the government's transparency campaign.
Finally, the Timor-Leste eProcurement Portal aims to enhance transparency and accountability. The website “allows citizens, donors, NGOs and the press to analyze and search information related with the goods, services or works that (the government) is procuring.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Tunisia: Racism on the Rise ?  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Frederick Gore Djo Bi wrote [fr] on africavox.com about the rise of racism against black Africans in Tunisia. In his post, Bi  quotes a testimony of Fabien Siei, an Ivorian engineering student living in Tunisia since 2007 [fr]:
Not a day goes by without a black African suffering from racial abuse. The most often-used insult  is “Guira Guira,” which, according to some means in a local dialect “big monkey”. For many Tunisians, we black Africans are savages.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Bahrain: Appeals Court Upholds Life Imprisonment for Opposition Leaders · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
Bahrain's High Court of Appeals upheld jail sentences against 20 opposition figures accused of plotting to overthrow the regime today [September 4, 2012]. While international human rights organisations describes them as “prisoners of conscience,” Bahraini authorities and the local Press call them “terrorists” for their role in anti-government protests, which started in Bahrain on February 14, 2011.
Eight of them have been slapped with life in prison; the rest have been given jail sentences ranging from five to 15 years.
Supporters called the trial a sham, rejecting its ruling and pledging to continue with anti-government demonstrations.
Former member of parliament and member of the opposition Al Wefaq Society (the forming of political parties is banned in Bahrain) Abduljalil Khalil tweets [ar]:
Ala'a Shehabi was trying to attend the trial. She tweets:
@alaashehabi:  None of the families were allowed in & lawyers coming out of court are saying that some charges were dropped but prison sentences upheld
She adds:
@alaashehabi: Upholding sentences proves absolutely no difference betwn military justice & this so called ‘civilian’ justice.Same mentality rules #bahrain
Director of Human Rights Defenders Program at Human Rights First Brian Dooley asks:
@dooley_dooley: ‘…you can't have a real dialogue with parts of the peaceful opposition in jail,’ Obama told #Bahrain in May 2011. What's he saying today?
In another tweet, he remarks:
@dooley_dooley: The verdicts on the 13 confirm #Bahrain's reform process is a hoax. Where is the int. community now?
Sabeeka Al Shamlan plays with words:
And Salma says:
The lack of intellect is a catastrophe in Bahrain
@salmasays:
Meanwhile, Zohoor claims that the verdict was announced by the Bahrain News Agency even before the judge pronounced his decision. She tweets:
@sudaif3: Biggest farce verdicts announced by the Bahrain News Agency before being pronounced by the judge!#BhDecisionDay #FreeBhLeaders
And, from Egypt, Tarek Shalaby offers solidarity:
@tarekshalaby: Solidarity with our brothers and sisters in #Bahrain suffering from the brutal, sectarian monarchy overlooked by Saudi. Power to the people.
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.


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Chad, CAR: FPR Rebel Leader Transferred to Bangui after He Turned Himself in  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Ursula Soares reports that FPR Rebel Leader Abdel Kader Baba Laddé was transferred to Bangui [fr] Capital city of the Central African Republic (CAR) after he turned himself in on September 3. Baba Laddé is reportedly ill and wishes to quit fighting with the CAR authorities.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Civil Service Under Pressure in Francophone Africa · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Civil servants in Francophone Africa are coming under increasing pressure to improve efficiency and to do more with less. In February 2001, the  Charter for the Public Service in Africa (PDF) was adopted during the Third Pan-African Conference of Public Service Ministers. Forty years after independence, the Windhoek Declaration revealed the overdue recognition of the crucial impact of the public administration on growth and redistribution of wealth in Africa.
The structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s led to a reduction in the number of civil servants in African public administration, which has led to the current strained situation for students still vying to serve in public offices.
Civil service training objectives
Listed below are just a few of the objectives of their mission (PDF):
Conference on Culture, Gender and Society at Benin ENA, 2007. Photo from Wikipedia (Creative Commons)
Where are the National Schools of Administration (abbreviated as ENA in French) in Francophone Africa? Unlike the Anglophone system, the training of civil servants in Francophone Africa is the state's responsibility, following the model of the former colonial power France.
Some schools, such as the ENAs of Benin, Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania and Togo, the Gabon Institute of Economics and Finance and the National School of Administration and Judiciary of Madagascar, are members of the dynamic International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA). The founding body of this association is the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS).
Ten other schools, including those of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger appear on the website of African Civil Services Observatory (OFPA), which states its aim as “sharing of experiences restructuring the Africa civil service”.
The site specified [fr] the nature of these aims:
Collecte des informations, appréciation des problèmes communs, identification des programmes régionaux et implication dans les activités d'études et de recherche sont nos principales missions..
Some people believe this sharing of experiences to be essential. Wise Doh, a Ghanian student at the ENA explained [fr]:
Je dois aider mon pays avec des méthodes françaises pour qu’il soit moins isolé au sein de la Cedeao [Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest].  Nous sommes entourés d’anciennes colonies françaises, le Burkina, la Côte d’Ivoire, le Togo. Mais, du fait de notre identité anglo-saxonne, nous ne pesons pas assez.
Difficulties encountered during public administration training
Each class has an average of 100 graduates, with all levels lumped together. At the start of the 2012 school year, there were only 82 admissions out of 10,262 candidates [fr], as highlighted by the ENA in Mali. However, these figures mask the general decline in the number of civil servants, with many having left the service over the past few decades. A decline reinforced by liberal movements who have criticised the invasive role of the state and the expenses linked to its activities.
Following successive budgetary cuts, civil service jobs have lost their shine in contrast with the professions, engineering or business management, jobs which are more conducive to staff fulfilment. In an instructive exposé on the challenges for public administration training institutions in Africa, Professor Jacques Mariel Nzouankeu of Senegal underlined that  [fr]:
Le déclin n’est pas uniquement dû à un contexte économique hostile (chocs pétroliers de 71 et 79, programme d’ajustement structurels des années 80), mais également un manque de vision et d’agilité des autorités nationales face aux nouveaux besoins d’un monde moins pyramidal, plus rapide et plus intégré.  Ainsi, l’enseignement de culture générale destiné à renforcer la vision politique et la faculté d’encadrement des hauts fonctionnaires fut délaissé au profit de l’enseignement économique, jugé plus adapté aux défis posés par les récessions. On forme alors des agents économiques, plus que des acteurs de développement.
According to him, another error was that [fr]:
les autorités n’ont pas prêté grand intérêt aux nouvelles structures des « Bureau Organisation Méthodes » (BOM), dont les méthodes héritées du management public américain auraient été plus adaptées aux réformes administratives à venir.
The dominant model of today remains that of the French ENA and many of the most ambitious Francophone African students apply for the annual entry examination at the Strasbourg based institute. However, this option is only available for a limited number of African students. From 1949 to 2008, 747 African students from 32 pays were accepted by the ENA [fr], which works out at just under 13 students per year.
The representation of Sub-Saharan countries is even worse, with 56 students from Cameroon and about thirty for Senegal and Mauritania over the same period. The French ENAs, training the elite, benefit from special means compared with their African counterparts. In 2011, the French ENAs had an operational budget of 423 million Euros [fr], 85% subsidized by the state.
The challenge for the African ENAs is considerable. They must teach efficiency by example and merge schools by speciality to achieve better economies of scale at inter-regional level. They must introduce strategic management tools in the programmes, linking to theory by training in a real environment. They must do all of this with reduced means of financing.
The difficulties do not stop there. The quality of public administration training is a necessary for development but is not enough to guarantee a successful one. Other factors must be in play: peer pressure, reaching critical mass for well trained civil servants, a dynamic dialogue with citizens and, most of all, an unwavering political will at the highest reaches of government. All of these are requirements for development that cannot just be taught at any ENA courses.

author: Rakotomalala


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Cuba: On Euphemisms · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger Miriam Celaya offers a critique [es] of Cuban official press and it's coverage of the impact of recent outbreaks of cholera and dengue on the Island.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Cuba: The Census and the Invisible · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger and gay rights activist Francisco Rodríguez Cruz offers a critique [es] of the fact that the Cuban Census-which will start next September 15, 2012-will not count same sex partnerships under the category of civil unions.


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Germany: Criticism of ‘Ich Will Europa’ Campaign · Global Voices
Mario Sorgalla

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
For some time now, citizens have become familiar with reports of crisis with the Eurozone and the European Union. Considering the oft-presented doomsday scenarios, it’s almost surprising that the Eurozone still contains 17 member states and the citizens of crisis-ravaged Greece still pay in Euros.
Eleven foundations in Germany – partners in the coalition ‘Engaged Europeans‘ – have set their sights on presenting Europe in a positive light to counter these negative voices. The campaign ‘Ich will Europa‘ (I Want Europe) attempts to showcase the advantages of Europe, and it has managed to get several prominent Germans from politics, sports, culture and society spheres to promote the pros of European integration. German President Joachim Gauck is the campaign's patron.
Ich will Europa tries to achieve this goal though conventional as well as social media. Yet a look at social media clearly shows that it isn't getting an exclusively positive reception. Critical comments are amassing on the Ich will Europa [de] Facebook page complaining about a technocratic, undemocratic, distant-from-the-citizen European Union (EU).
On Twitter there are also numerous negative voices: Emmanuel Goldstein expressed the popular admonition that Europe and the EU should not be equated with the Euro:
Screenshot from the website ich-will-europa.de
@Silberstreiff: Der Euro hat nichts mit der europäischen Vielfalt zu tun, die gab es vorher auch schon !!#ichwilleuropa
Daniel Rhinow complains about how out of touch the EU is with its citizens:
@DanielRhinow: #IchwillEuropa Ja,aber es soll ein Europa der föderalen Vielfalt sein, ein Europa von Marktwirtschaft und Demokratie, ein Europa der Bürger.
Twitter user @kosmopolit even registered under the name @ichwilleuropa, because the initiators of the campaign apparently failed to enter into the discussion via Twitter:
@kosmopolit: so habe jetzt @ichwilleuropa registriert. Mal schauen wie lange die Kampagne für eine email braucht. Was sollen wir twittern? #ichwilleuropa
Bernd Huettemann makes fun of this oversight on Twitter:
@huettemann: #ff @MercatorDE @BoschStiftung @Blumberry for courage to start #ichwilleuropa campaign without twitter & @ichwilleuropa for doing it 4 them
There are also positive reactions on Twitter, but they are mostly on the short side, like the one by Michael Timm:
@michael_thim: Ich will #Europa. bit.ly/P2SKuA #ichwilleuropa
Blogger Eric B. [de] accuses the campaign “Ich Will Europa” of equating Europe with the EU and takes a very negative stance on this video [de] with an address by German Chancellor Merkel:
Daneben ist vor allem das Merkel-Video, das einen beim ersten Klick auf die Homepage anfällt (siehe oben). Daneben ist auch der Spruch, denn die EU ist nicht Europa, und die Eurozone schon gar nichta. Daneben ist schließlich das Timing: Die Initiative legt genau an dem Tag los, da Merkels Regierung die Weichen für einen Rausschmiss Griechenlands stellt (auch wenn die Kanzlerin das Gegenteil behauptet).
On the blog Die freie Welt [de] Beatrix von Storch writes:
EUROPA braucht keine Werbemillionen. EUROPA hat kein Akzeptanzproblem. EUROPA ist in bester Ordnung. EUROPA- das sind etwa 50 Staaten. 27 davon sind in der EU. Und 17 davon leisten sich den Euro. Und diese 17 haben ein Problem. 17 von 50.  Das ist nicht EUROPA!
Ich will Europa is being supported by numerous big media outlets. Some very high-quality videos have been produced which can be viewed on YouTube [de]. As the commentary on YouTube, Facebok and Twitter show, the campaign is experiencing a lot of headwind in social media. Many appear not to want to equate the Eurozone or the entire current EU with Europe in general.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Mario Sorgalla


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Global Voices is Finalist for Highway Africa Award · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Global Voices Sub-Saharan Africa newsroom has been named a finalist for the Telkom-Highway Africa New Media Awards 2012 rewarding innovative use of information technology in journalism that serves Africa. The winners will be announced at the Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, South Africa on 9- 11 September.

author: Solana Larsen


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Greek Anarchists’ Anti-Racism Demonstration in Photos · Global Voices
Maria Sidiropoulou

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
On Saturday September 1, 2012, an anti-racism demonstration took place in central Athens, Greece, with Monastiraki Square as the starting point.
Hundreds of demonstrators, mainly anarchists, gathered to protest against recent events such as violent, even lethal, attacks against immigrants [el] by members of extremist right-wing group Golden Dawn, the pillory of HIV-positive prostitutes by police, and the government stop-and-search campaign ‘Xenios Zeus’ [mainly targeting people of colour for their identification papers].
Demonstrators gathered in Monastiraki. Photo by author.
Demonstrators advanced to Omonoia Square via Athinas Street and ended up in Monastiraki again. Riot police prevented them from continuing through Panepistimiou Street [which leads to the Greek Parliament], however no further incidents took place, except some minor verbal disputes between some demonstrators and police officers.
Demonstrators in Omonoia Square. Photo by author.
Demonstrators’ banner reads: “Let's smash the fascists and police pogroms. May locals and refugees fight together”. Photo by author.
Demonstrators blocked at Panepistimiou Street. Photo by author.
Lately several demonstrations have taken place, organized by different collectives with different beliefs [el]. In the following video, you can see some snapshots from anti-racism protests in August 24 in Athens, mainly supported by refugees:
Most people in Greece, no matter what their politics, are no longer remaining indifferent to racism. Fascism is now institutionalized in Greece, as a neo-nazist party has been elected to parliament.
Old man strongly protests. Photo by author.
Greek society is gradually realizing that racism is a threat and must be confronted.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Maria Sidiropoulou


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Guatemala: “Threatened for Reporting the Truth” · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“I denounced the activities of a masked group of vigilantes who were terrorizing the local population at night. It wasn’t the first time I had written about their crimes, but this time I named names.”
Anna-Claire Bevan in LatinaLista quotes Guatemalan journalist Lucia Escobar, who was “forced into hiding last October after she wrote an opinion piece in the national newspaper El Periodico about a social cleansing group operating in her hometown of Panajachel, 150 kilometres from Guatemala City.”


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#OccupyGuyana ‘Inspired’ by Linden Protesters · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The Occupy Guyana movement was launched on August 15, 2012, in response to the shootings in Linden on July 18, which saw 3 people killed and 20 injured after police fired upon a crowd of protesters (against an increase in the electricity tariff) who reportedly blocked the Wismar Bridge.
The occupied space, known as ‘The People's Parliament‘ is in Guyana's capital Georgetown, on High Street between Brickdam and Hadfield Streets. Global Voices spoke with activist Sherlina Nageer to learn more about the formation of Occupy Guyana, the reaction it has been getting from the authorities and its future.
People's Parliament, Guyana
Global Voices (GV): Occupy Guyana was clearly assembled out of a sense of solidarity with the Linden movement, but what was the distinct moment when it was decided to take it to the streets?
Sherlina Nageer (SN): Concerned Guyanese took to the streets of Georgetown immediately after the shooting of the peaceful protesters in Linden. On July 19th, the day after the incident, a picket was organized in front of the Police Headquarters and dozens of people showed up to register their outrage and solidarity. Picketing and vigiling continued for weeks afterwards. The decision to occupy a public space was proposed after President Ramotar called for a return to ‘normalcy’ and ‘business as usual’, even as he disdained to visit Linden or meet with the families of those killed and injured, and as Parliament went on their usual two month recess. We chose to occupy this public space as a deliberate act of defiance and rejection of this understanding of ‘normalcy’ which values money and business interests over people’s lives and human rights. To us, that is profoundly abnormal and we refuse to carry on with life ‘as normal’ while this understanding prevails.
GV:  To what extent were you inspired by other Occupy movements? Did you seek to emulate them?
SN: We were inspired most by the people of Linden. One of their key strategies was to occupy the streets of their communities. They had actually been protesting the proposed electricity hike since April, but only decided to take to the streets in July (when a group of women decided to block the Wismar/McKensie bridge), drawing the deadly response from the State. Our decision to occupy a public space in Georgetown was thus seeking to emulate the Lindeners’ peaceful protest while doing something different from the usual protest actions of picketing and vigiling. The example of Occupy Wall Street definitely gave us inspiration, but indirectly.
GV: What connection, if any, do you have with other Occupy movements worldwide?
SN: We have no formal connection with any other Occupy movements worldwide. We are aware of their existence and accomplishments, but are not in any direct contact.
GV: How well attended have these gatherings been? Is there broad participation from various groups in Guyana?
SN: The attendance at the Occupy Guyana gatherings has varied over the past 2 weeks that the occupation has been in existence. There were close to seventy persons at our launch, and dozens still join us weekly – some simply stopping by for a short time and others for more extended periods. The most significant thing however, in my opinion, is not so much the total numbers, but the quality of the interactions. Occupy Guyana has brought together people from a wide range of backgrounds – from lawyers and academics, counselors to the homeless, and unemployed youth, pensioners, businesspeople, market vendors, domestic workers, students, sex workers,  queers, the religious, atheists, activists – to sit and talk together, as well as eat, sleep, and plan…something that rarely occurs in our stratified society. (We have not been ‘endorsed’ by any ‘groups’ since coming into existence though.) The sustained nature of our interaction has meant that relationships between these diverse groups have been able to get deeper and more meaningful, and that, in my opinion, is the beginning of the true revolution.
GV:  What level of harassment have you faced from the authorities?
SN: Less than twenty-four hours after we set up our tents in the park, the authorities showed up and started harassing us. We were told that because we did not have permission to erect the tents, they would have to be taken down. However, no one could tell us clearly what entity we needed to get permission from. When we challenged the police over their authority to do this, we were threatened with arrest (though they could not tell us for what crime). They dismantled and took away our tents. However, they were returned to us after the intervention of a lawyer friend of ours, and we’ve started using them again (during limited time periods mostly at night only). However, once we left them up during the day for several days (to get shade from the sun), the police came back and took away the canvas tent top. They also tried to get us to take down a beach umbrella that we had erected. We know that they are trying to make our lives difficult so that we will get tired and pack up and go home. But tent or no tent, we remain committed. And we recently got a donation of three new patio/beach umbrellas which are helping very much with keeping us protected from the elements.
GV: What is exactly is Red Thread and what is its level of involvement, both in Occupy Guyana and in wider political life in the country?
SN: Red Thread (and its networks) is a collective of mainly grassroots women of different races, all of whose actions are really about the need to challenge unequal power relations in Guyana. Part of the Global Women’s Strike, whose perspective is explained in its theme ‘Invest in caring, not killing’, its starting point is always the unwaged work of grassroots women in the home and community. It offers direct services on a self-help basis (training the women who come to receive them to act is their own defense) and campaigns on a variety of issues as they relate to women and children – from domestic and sexual violence, sexual and reproductive health/rights to the need for a living income – Red Thread provides a much needed gender analysis of issues in the Guyanese political sphere. Members of Red Thread were among the initiators of Occupy Guyana, but this action is not a Red Thread owned one, as some in the local scene/media seem to think.
GV: What are the possibilities for growth of Occupy Guyana? How long can it be sustained?
SN: This remains to be seen. The possibilities are great.
GV: What is the organizational structure for Occupy Guyana? To what extent is there a defined leadership?
SN: There is recognition and respect given to the core initiators of Occupy Guyana, but we are moving towards collective decision making and leadership.
GV: Do you see Occupy Guyana eventually morphing into a political force? What of the possibilities of it being co-opted by another existing party?
SN: Because everything we do is political, Occupy Guyana is already a political force. It is clearly non-partisan though, and more interested in working outside of than within party politics. However, because it is a grouping of diverse individuals, some of whom have party affiliations, how we engage with the political parties remains an ongoing topic of discussion. We hope to interrogate more deeply than is happening now the notion of power, the meaning of leadership, and the processes of governance.

author: Matthew Hunte


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India: 2012 Indian Bloggers’ Mindset Survey · Global Voices
Rezwan

Prasant Naidu provides insights from the 2012 Bloggers’ Mindset Survey conducted by 20:20 MSL and Blogathon India. The notable results include phenomena like “conversations have moved from blogs to Twitter” and “Facebook gets the maximum traffic for bloggers”.

author: Rezwan


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Jamaica: For Every Child, a Laptop  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice reports that the “One Laptop per Child” project has come to Jamaica.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Kenya: NationHela Available in Kenya · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Wham writes about a new service called NationHela [Hela means money in Swahili]:
NationHela is a new, simpler and more convenient international money transfer service that allows you to receive money, from anywhere in the world, straight to your NationHela prepaid Visa card and mobile phone. A prepaid card is one in which you need to load money first in order to use and therefore keeps you in total control of what you spend.


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Madagascar: Electricity Supplier Office Vandalized by Residents over Frequent Outage  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

L'express de Madagascar reports on twitter [mg] that citizens of Farafangana  (SE of Madagascar) got frustrated with the frequency of power outage ( 6h/day) in the city [fr]. Some residents vandalized the local electrical supplier office to express their anger.


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Mozambique: A Guide to Mozambique · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This a guide to Mozambique from Bankelele blog:
Language: Portuguese is the official language of communication in Mozambique, and you will have no choice but to learn a bit of it. The average person you meet will speak little English, and probably not fluently. All communication and signage is in Portuguese for the most part, and there are no English newspapers. So when you visit Mozambique, don’t be one of those tourists who doesn’t care to learn a word and expects everyone else to communicate to them in English.


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North Korea: Recap of its Satellite Development and Airspace Usage · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

North Korea Tech blog wrote a post on North Korea's space development and use of its airspace with data from he pulled from an old email archive, providing a bit of history.
Attempts to open up North Korea’s airspace began gathering pace in the mid nineties. Flying over the country rather than around it would allow airlines to cut costs and shorten travel times on some Asian flights. It also stood to make money for North Korea in overfly charges[…]

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Pakistan: Crowd-Sourcing Number Of Railway Stations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Owais Mughal at Doodh Patti compiles the updated number of railway stations in Pakistan crowd-sourcing from blog readers. Get the complete list from that post.


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Peru: Colombia-Peru War Remembered 80 Years Later · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

For the residents of the Loreto Region in northern Peru, mainly those residing in the city of Iquitos, there are some moments in Peruvian history that are painful to remember. One of those moments is the loss of Leticia, a city which by virtue of the Salomón-Lozano Treaty which settled a border dispute between Peru and Colombia, and against the will of its citizens, was handed over to Colombia in 1929.
In 1932, a group of Peruvians, mainly residents of the Iquitos, Caballococha and Pucallpa cities in the Loreto Region, captured Leticia and reclaimed it as Peruvian territory. Fernando Montalván recalled [es] that September 1, 2012 marked the 80th anniversary of that event:
El 1° de setiembre de 2012 se cumplen ochenta años del hecho histórico desconocido por muchos, aún amazónicos, en que patriotas loretanos arriaran la bandera colombiana en la Leticia peruana e izaran la bandera del Perú, marcando un hito en la historia, demostrando su rechazo a las secretas conversaciones del dictador Leguía devenidas luego en infausto tratado (Tratado de Salomón-Lozano). Es de necesidad regional y nacional expresar profunda admiración y reconocimiento a aquellos que como un solo puño demostraran firme resolución en el rescate de la dignidad amazónica y el honor nacional
The capture of Leticia triggered the Colombian-Peru War, an armed conflict which lasted from 1932 to 1933 with skirmishes happening at different points on the border between both countries along the Putumayo River, which lies in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, complicating military operations for forces involved.
Protest in support of the taking of Leticia. 1932, presumably Iquitos. Photo shared on the thread Peru – Colombia: The Unknown War, images and texts from the forum SinDramas.
On the blog Arqueohistoria, Franco Antúnez de Mayolo offered [es] historical context:
Tras el fracaso de la revolución federal amazónica promovida por el capitán Cervantes y tras la entrega de importantes territorios a Colombia, el país vivía una época de gran convulsión social. […] El nuevo régimen peruano de Sánchez Cerro, que aún no se asentaba en una coyuntura de guerra civil (sublevación de la guarnición de Cajamarca al mando del comandante “Zorro” Jiménez, las ultimas montoneras peruanas de Samanez Ocampo en Apurímac, la revolución aprista en Trujillo y Huaraz, etc.) es sorprendido tanto como el Gobierno Colombiano.
Later he detailed the conflict:
Sánchez Cerro declara “Beneméritos a la Patria” a los patriotas loretanos y dispone que la infantería acantonada en Iquitos refuerce Leticia. El Gobierno Colombiano reacciona también y envía al General Vásquez Cobo con una división de 5 000 hombres al Putumayo. […] Estalla la guerra por río, mar y jungla: derrotas y victorias de ambos ejércitos a ambas orillas del Putumayo se suceden entre 1932 y 1933. Empiezan los enfrentamientos en Gueppi, Puca Urco, Yabuyanos y Calderón, y las bajas en ambos ejércitos se dan por centenares. También el beriberi (conocido como “vomito negro” o hepatitis fulminante) diezma a ambas fuerzas,
Nevertheless, an event in Lima turned the tide of the entire conflict developing in the forest:
Sánchez Cerro, decidido a iniciar una ofensiva hasta el Caquetá (para recuperar el territorio obsequiado por Leguía), ordena la Movilización General. Se presentan 30 mil hombres en Lima y 5 mil en Iquitos. Es entonces, en el Hipódromo de Santa Beatriz (actual Campo de Marte), cuando Sánchez Cerro revistaba las tropas destinadas al Putumayo, que cae asesinado por un militante aprista.
Seguidamente se instala una Junta de Gobierno presidida por el General Benavides y demás personajes de la política limeña, quienes inmediatamente desmovilizan las tropas y (consultando con la embajada de EEUU) firman el acuerdo de paz con Colombia, devolviéndole Leticia.
Sánchez Cerro, firm in his decision to begin an offensive to Caquetá (in order to regain the territory given away by Leguía), orders a General Mobilization. 30 million men are placed in Lima and 5 million men in Iquitos. This is when, in the Racetrack of Santa Beatriz (now the Campo de Marte) Sánchez Cerro revisited the troops destined for Putumayo, and was killed by an Aprista militant.
Immediately afterwards, a government committee is set up, presided over by General Benavides and other political figures of Lima who demobilize the troops at once and (consulting with the United States embassy) sign a peace treaty with Colombia, returning Leticia.
In this way, the military confrontation was ended and the Salomón-Lozano Treaty [es], still in effect today, was ratified.
On the blog Argenpress, Alberto Pinzón Sánchez analyzed [es] the regional and Colombian context in which the war developed:
el diario bogotano EL Tiempo, propiedad del político Liberal Eduardo Santos, (tío abuelo del actual presidente colombiano) despertaba a los somnolientos pobladores de Bogotá con la noticia anticomunista de la foto.
[…] En la realidad histórica, la llamada guerra colombo peruana era la coagulación de varios elementos tanto internos como externos que se presentaron conjugados y al mismo tiempo. Uno, la indefinición moderna de las fronteras amazónicas entre Colombia, Perú, Ecuador y Brasil. Dos, el cuasi Estado de facto esclavista y genocida, establecido en la región a fines del siglo XIX e inicios del XX, con el fin de extraer el caucho natural con mano de obra indígena para la exportación a Europa y Estados Unidos, formado y armado por la alianza comercial del capital imperialista (especialmente Inglés) con las firmas comerciales de los Arana en Perú y el dictador colombiano Rafael Reyes Prieto con sus hermanos. Tres, el ascenso del capital imperialista Estadounidense en la región andino-amazónica y la competencia brutal por la hegemonía con su homólogo inglés.
The Bogotá daily El Tiempo, property of the Liberal politician Eduardo Santos, (great uncle of the current Colombian president) awoke the sleepy residents of Bogotá with the anticommunist headline shown in the photo. [Headline reads: “300 Peruvian Communists Took Over Leticia Last Thursday”]
[…] In reality, the so-called Colombia-Peru War was the coagulation of various domestic as well as foreign elements which combined at the same time. One, the unclear modern borders between Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Two, the quasi-State of de facto slavery and genocide, established in the region in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, with the aim of extracting the natural rubber with indigenous labor to be exported to Europe and the United States, trained and armed through a commercial alliance of imperialist capital (especially English) with the companies of the Aranas in Peru and of the Colombian dictator Rafael Reyes Prieto with his brothers. Three, the rise of American imperialist capital in the Andes-Amazon region and the brutal competition for hegemony with its English counterpart.
Curiously, while in Colombia the Peruvians were described as “communists”, in Peru the Communist Party labeled the taking of Leticia as the work of the APRA (American Popular Revolutionary Alliance) political movement. Lastly, the Argenpress article concluded:
Así, a partir de la llamada guerra colombo peruana de 1933, que sirvió para estimular el fanatismo nacionalista, paliar los arrasadores efectos de la crisis capitalista de 1930 con las 400 tonelada de oro de las joyas donadas al gobierno, sumadas a lo 10 millones de dólares del empréstito patrióticos, los 43 millones de dólares del presupuesto militar, los bonos de defensa emitidos y la compra permanente de armamento en el exterior; se conformó, dinamizó y modernizó la estrecha alianza entre las Fuerzas Militares, la gran prensa de los Santos y los Cano y, los políticos liberales conservadores de la clase dominante en Colombia.
On various forums, information and opinion from Peruvians as well as Colombians about this war can be found. For example, Peru – Colombia: The unknown war, images and texts [es] on the forum SinDramas (registration required), and Colombia in the War of 1932 against Peru [es] on the forum Defensa.pe.
The blog Contributions to Amazonian Literature and History [es] hosts first-hand testimony of the war, including “THE RESCUE OF LETICIA-A Novel of Loreto Frustration”, written by Pablo Carmelo Montalván based on the letters that he sent to his family in the city of Iquitos as a volunteer in the conflict.
Currently, the relationship between Peru and Colombia is normal, although the border is affected by drug trafficking, which prompted the armed forces of both nations to take action such as the recently [es] undertaken Operación Binacional de Apoyo al Desarrollo Colombia – Perú 2012 [es] (Binational Operation of Support of Colombia-Peru Development 2012).
Finally, an anecdote worth remembering is that Leticia was founded on April 25, 1867 by Peruvian engineer Benigno Bustamante and given the name San Antonio, but soon the name was changed by another Peruvian engineer, Manuel Charón, in honor of a young resident in Iquitos named Leticia Smith.

author: Juan Arellano


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Puerto Rico: Bloggers on the Rise · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Journalist and blogger Sandra Rodríguez Cotto comments [es] on some of the discussions at the recent Puerto Rico Bloggers Conference.


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Puerto Rico: Photography at the Biennial · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

“Paralelos” by photographer Gabriel López Albarrán. Used with the artist's permission.
The 8th edition of the International Photography Biennial of Puerto Rico [es] will be inaugurated this Thursday September 6, 2012, at the Museum of the Americas, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Twenty nine local and international photographers will be exhibiting their pieces. The digital magazine Revista Cruce comments on the beautiful exhibition.


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Puerto Rico: “Ragga Muffin Style” · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

DJ Nature and SPIK Records present the latest musical production of Young Ragga, “Ragga Muffin Style”. In the music blog Puerto Rico Indie, DJ Nature comments [es]:
For me it's a very different style compared to what has come out of the reggae scene here on the island – Ragga brings something unique to the genre with his flow and expression.


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Russia: 40th Anniversary of Canada-USSR Hockey Series · Global Voices
Donna Welles

RuNet blogger Vladimir Kharitonov honored the 40th anniversary of the “Summit Series” – eight hockey games played on two continents between the USSR and Team Canada in September 1972. Although Canada emerged with more wins, the series allowed the Soviet Union to showcase some of its hockey talent that had previously been unknown in the West – Valeri Kharlamov and Vladislav Tretiak. Canada's Phil Esposito said publicly that the series’ Most Valuable Player (MVP) was unequivocally the USSR's Alexander Yakushev.

author: Donna Welles


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Russia: Online Platform for Auditing Court Decisions · Global Voices
Teplitsa

With the appearance of “RosPravosudie” (RusJustice), Russians have gained a comprehensive database of information about lawyers, attorneys, judges, and judicial decisions. This project not only collects updated information about these topics, but also maintains its own statistics reflecting the situation inside the judiciary.
Gleb Suvorov, founder of RosPravosudie, recently spoke to Evgeny Voropai of Greenhouses of Social Technologies [ru] about what can be achieved in just 100 days of online existence and about ways to improve the judicial system.
Evgeny Voropai (EV): RosPravosudie is a fairly niche project. How did this idea arise?
Gleb Suvorov. Photo provided by its owner.
Gleb Suvorov (GS): The idea came up about a year ago. As is often the case, ideas form in response to a person's own needs. That's what happened with RosPravosudiea — unable to find the necessary information about a particular verdict, the idea for such a project came to my partner and me. I'm certain that most good ideas are born when people want to do something for themselves. It's only then when you start to understand what specifically needs to be done and where to go. It is impossible to understand the needs of others, if you haven't experienced these needs yourself.
About a year ago, the courts began to publish their decisions, en masse, on their own websites, but there was one major problem: it was extremely hard to find the information that you needed. Users who were unfamiliar with the system spent a lot of time searching. What was needed was a mechanism that could systematically organize information by ruling and offer some kind of statistical data. RosPravosudie was conceived of as a service for average people. In creating it, we wanted the pretty stories told by lawyers to be backed up by real court decisions and hard statistics.
EV: On the Internet, one can already find registries of attorneys and lists of judges. What is unique about RosPravosudie?
GS: When we were working on the project, we didn't really think about what was already available on the Web. It was only afterwards that we had a look at other existing projects. There were some search-engine websites for judicial decisions, but — even at the conceptual level — these were different from our idea. RosPravosudie was intended to be a reflection of the judicial system's current situation. Our project was intended to show the current state of affairs in real courts and in specific cases. We weren't particularly concerned about the uniqueness of the concept. There was no point in specifically comparing it with or differentiating it from other existing projects. We knew what we want and so, to us, these other projects were of secondary importance. As a result, RosPravosudie now has the largest database of court decisions on the RuNet.
Moreover, all of these other projects serve commercial purposes. Their goal is to make money from either lawyers or judges. They are very dependent on the interests of these communities. RosPravosudie, by contrast, considers the interests of ordinary citizens.
EV: How does the RosPravosudie system work?
GS: First and foremost, it's a database. Judges, lawyers, court decisions — not all of the information that's out there about these topics is openly accessible. Our project provides the user with a real search mechanism for data concerning judicial decisions and other related information. The system is set up simply enough: information about judicial decisions is first uploaded to the database, where it is then indexed and sorted into the appropriate categories.
EV: What kind of issues can users bring to your attention, and what kind of assistance can they expect?
GS: Any users who have dealt with the court system will be able to find comprehensive information on RosPravosudie about issues of interest. They will have at their disposal lists of lawyers, judges, court cases, and verdicts. Our project's entire audience can basically be divided into two categories: people who have had positive and negative experiences with the justice system.
It seems that the difference between these categories of people lies in their level of understanding. If a person is well-informed and knows what's what, then he will most likely be more objective in his expectations and estimates. Ignorance breeds prejudice and suspicion. The purpose of RosPravosudie is to inform.
People who have been put through the justice system have no idea what other citizens experienced in similar cases. Our resource provides real information about who led which cases, what decisions were made, and which judges made them. And our users are interested in this — some of them browse as many as 200 pages on the site, studying the verdicts.
EV: How has the professional community reacted to the creation of RosPravosudie?
GS: Many judges have reacted positively to the idea of the project. In fact, to some extent, we are actually making their job easier. The reaction of lawyers has been mixed. To large extent, it depends on their attitude towards their customers and their work. RosPravosudie allows every user to evaluate the performance of any lawyer listed in the database. Not everyone may like this, but good lawyers do.
EV: How do you work with the information?
GS: Some of the information had to be collected manually. Later on, the process was transformed into a system of collecting and processing court decisions. The data is originally posted on the courts’ websites. Our job is to collect it, process it, and add it to the database. It was in this way that the lists of judges, lawyers, and rulings first started to appear. RosPravosudie works with judicial decisions and uses data found within them. Every few days, we review the courts’ websites and upload any new decisions to our system. One instance of such monitoring adds roughly 100,000 court rulings. Today, RosPravosudie contains 16 million judicial decisions (the database is regularly updated with new decisions and is thus growing quantitatively).
EV: In order to maintain user interest, the portal will need to continue to develop and offer new services. What is the RosPravosudie team working on now?
GS: At this stage, we are moving towards increasing the comprehensiveness of the resource. We would like to develop the database both quantitatively and qualitatively. We will certainly continue to develop statistics concerning court rulings and other judicial and legal professional activities. We would like to make the resource more visual. We also want to increase traffic to the resource. Every citizen should be able contribute to the development of the portal, but for this to be possible there must be a database through which users can participate. That's what we are doing now — creating the foundation for such involvement.

author: Teplitsa


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Russia: Patriarch’s Press Secretary Wants LiveJournal to Ban Photoshops of Priests · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

In an interview [ru] with the Orthodox website Pravmir.Ru, Patriarch Kirill's press secretary, Aleksandr Volkov, complained that LiveJournal users are too often permitted to engage in “school bathroom” humor that derides the clergy. He appears to be responding to blogger Artemii Lebedev's August 31 online contest [ru] for best mock-ups of the Patriarch. Writer Dmitri Olshanskii criticized [ru] the Church in a post on Facebook, calling Volkov's reaction ‘un-Christian.’


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Taiwan: Smear Campaign Sparks Historic Media Monopoly Protest · Global Voices
vita.tw

A smear campaign against Taiwanese scholar Huang Kuo-chang by Want Want China Time's (WWCT) [zh] media outlets, in reaction to his opposition of the group's acquisition of a television cable network back in July 2012, has triggered intense public outrage in Taiwan.
More than 9,000 students and journalists demonstrated together against media monopoly on September 1. The mobilization is the largest addressing media reform in Taiwanese history.
Smear campaign
In addition to the controversy over the cable network acquisition, many scholars have also questioned WWCT owner Tsai Eng-Meng‘s style in running media organizations; he has made public claims that “the June 4 Massacre reports are incorrect“, fired the chief editor [of China Times] who was critical of Communist China government officials [zh], and sells column inches  in his media outlets to the mainland Chinese government.
Media smear sparks largest media reform campaign in Taiwanese history. Photos taken by You Hai-xiang from vita.tw
On July 25, when NCC was reviewing the WWCT application, Huang Kuo-chang – among a dozen other scholars – protested outside its offices demanding they to turn down the application. They left at 10:30am but at 3pm a group of so-called students with masks on their faces, arrived at Taiwan media regulator the National Communications Commission (NCC) to also protest.
WWCT photographers took some photos showing a woman distributing money to the protest “students”. The photos were published the next day, in the Times Weekly's front page story [zh], ‘Huang Kuo-chang headed anti-Want Want China Times protest, the demonstrators were paid. With whose money?’.
All major WWCT media outlets then opened fire at Huang. Even though Huang Kuo-chang clarified the situation in a press conference [zh] and the woman who distributed the money also confirmed [zh] that Huang did not paid the students, WWCT's six media outlets continued smearing Huang [zh] in the news, editorials and talk shows.
A netizen with sharp eyes found out that the Deputy Chief of Times Weekly, Lin Chao-xin, was among the “student” protestors [zh] and distributed a screenshot online, which was reposted by a student from National Tsinghua Universy, Chen Wei-ting, with a question asking if WWCT were directing the protest behind the scenes.
WWCT's TV outlet revealed Chen's personal details to the public and accused him of creating fake evidence against Lin Chao-xin [zh].
Opinion leaders speak out
Outraged by the smear campaign, newspaper columnist Chang Chuan-fen wrote [zh] a long article on her Facebook:
旺中集團追殺黃國昌的做法，大有殺雞儆猴之意。他就是故意做得過火，以傳遞『順我者昌，逆我者亡』的訊息給所有反對者，不是嗎？報紙、電視加狗仔，抹黑、圍剿加騷擾，這就是媒體黑道在展示火力，不是嗎？
Want Want China Times tried to set an example by smearing Huang Kuo-chang to intimidate others. That's why it crosses the line so as to deliver the message that those who were against it would vanish. Newspaper, TV and paparazzi joined force to attack and harass, this is power of media mafia, isn't it?
A huge “Media Monster” banner hung outside WWCT's headquarter during the September 1 protest. Photo by Lenin Chang on Facebook.
Director Wang Hsiao-ti [zh] called for a boycott of WWCT with his ‘You are so big and I am scared‘ action on Facebook. Famous writer Chang Ta-chuen [zh] expressed his ultimate disappointment [zh] and closed his blog in the China Times Electronic News, followed by scholar Ke Yufen [zh], music critic Ma Shifang [zh], and director Hung Hung [zh].
In addition, scholar Chen Fang-ming, writer Chen Sumi [zh], and music critic Chiao Yuanpu [zh] also closed their columns in WWCT's media outlets. Chen Fang-ming said [zh]:
中時集團背後的老闆，無論他是傾中或親中，無論他是賺名或賺利，並不是關鍵問題。當報紙連續兩天以社論針對學者與學生進行圍剿時，就已經違背言論自由的立場。
I don't care if the China Times’ boss is pro-China or famous or wealthy. All these are not the real issue. But when a newspaper attacked a scholar and a student for two consecutive days, it has betrayed the principle of free speech.
A number of singers expressed their opinion. Lin Yoga [zh] invited his fans to reflect upon the issues raised by the ‘You are so Big and I am scared’ campaign. Deserts Chang urged in her concert:
新聞自由跟資訊文化的這東西就是不能用錢被買的。
Please stop Tsai Eng-Meng from purchasing more media companies… Press and information freedom could not be sold.
Online mobilization against media giant
The Youth Coalition Against Media Giant [zh] was set up by students from 28 universities and it organized a demonstration against WWCT on July 31. Even though Typhoon Saola was approaching on that day, around 700 students showed up outside the headquarter of WWTC with slogans – “unprofessional media, go back to the food industry [zh]”, “defend news freedom against media giants”, “defend freedom of speech against chilling effect”.
Yet, among seven cable TV news channel, four of them ignored the news. Journalism scholar Benla Kuang urged media workers to be brave.
“I am a student and I am against Want Want China Times” – July 31 protest mobilization banner at Youth Coalition against Media Giant.
Within WWCT, there is some dissent. The Deputy Chief Editor of China Times, Ho Jungshin, revealed in his blog [zh]:
為了爭取專業自主，我和部分中時同事（包括部分中時高層）乃至幾位關心中時發展人士都做了很多努力⋯⋯由於上述體制內改革行動已產生後座力，為了避免波及同事，我立即送出書面辭呈。
In order to strive for professional independence, a number of colleague including myself have tried very hard… But there is some backfiring and in order to prevent other colleagues from taking the consequences, I have submitted my resignation letter.
Ho is the founding chairperson of the Taiwan Journalist Association. His resignation indicates the failure of internal reforms and a number of journalists followed his move [zh]. Another China Times journalist who resigned, You Wan-chi, published [zh] her diary online:
今天我選擇離開，主因除了黃國昌走路工狠狠踩到我紅線外，我進中時才一年多，當我對這份報社的失望大過於期待、情感大過於傷害，即使薪水可以就此多十倍，說真的，我依然找不到半點理由，足以說服自己留下來。
Today I choose to leave mainly because the way how they smeared Huang Guo-chang has crossed my line. I worked in China Times for more than one year, the disappointment and emotional stress has been excessive. Even though the salary is a dozen more times higher than other media outlets, I could not find any reason for me to stay.
September 1 anti-media monopoly protest
Parent groups launched a petition against media bullying of students,’Family members united against the hegemony of Want Want China Times [zh]’. Journalist students co-signed a statement that they will refuse working for Want Want China Times. The Youth Coalition Against Media Giant urged consumers stop buying from Want Want and the Taiwan Journalist Association called for a protest against media monopoly on September 1.
9,000 people participated in the September 1 rally against media monopoly in Taiwan. Photo by Hung Yiu-nan on Facebook.
More than 9,000 people joined the September 1 rally. The protestors are mainly media workers, students and members of civic groups. They demonstrated outside the headquarter of the WWCT and rallied to NCC demanding Tsai Eng-ming to resign from all media management position. They also called for professional journalistic practice and an anti-media monopoly law. This is the biggest media reform demonstration in Taiwanese history.
Professor Chang Jin-hua from the Center of Journalism and Communication, National Taiwan University stressed [zh]:
我們要大聲要求NCC要維護民主多元，要保障專業自主權，要悍衛新聞自由，你們不是財團的工具，不是黨政高層的白手套。有線電視集中度愈來愈高，損傷新聞自由、記者工作權，NCC未提出有效對策，縱容業者坐大，NCC應儘快制定反媒體壟斷法。
We demand NCC to defend a democracy that protect diversity, journalistic autonomy and press freedom. You are not corporates and political parties’ tools. The monopoly of the cable network would destroy press freedom and media workers’ rights. So far NCC has not figured out any strategy to deal with the situation. Instead it allows the media giant [WWCT] to grow. The NCC should introduce an anti-media monopoly law.
Yet after the September 1 protest, the NCC still refused to change in its decision on WWCT's acquisition of China Network System. The flames of fury continue to spread.


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Trinidad & Tobago: 50 Doesn’t Add Up · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

How come the nation never learn to grow as a nation from all its peoples and from its individual talents?  And how come the money and the success not giving the happiness we stop longing for?
Matters Arising republishes a letter from a friend, commenting on the state of the nation after 50 years of independence.


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United States: A Visit to Remember “El Barrio” · Global Voices
Yarisa Colon

Andrew Padilla, a young Puerto Rican born and raised in El Barrio, New York -a neighborhood also known as East Harlem, Spanish Harlem or SpaHa-has decided to delve into his community in a very creative way.  By launching a blog and a documentary, both entitled “El Barrio Tours,” Padilla explores the impact of “gentrification” in one of Manhattan's most prominent cultural axis, which is also his “barrio.”
We hope that the following interview with the creator of El Barrio Tours, joins the chorus that has exposed (and continues to expose) the intrinsic complexities of the aggressive course of urban displacement. Although this issue is not breaking news, it s still worth discussing.
Global Voices (GV): How would you explain “gentrification”?
Andrew Padilla (AP): Gentrification is the process of developing a neighborhood with little to no input from the original community itself. The process has many stages, can take decades, and finally ends with the once working class community becoming a wealthy enclave in which few if any original residents reside.
Image from the blog “El Barrio Tours.”
GV: Some people might argue that “gentrification” strengthens local business…
AP: Most renters can’t afford to remain in their home if their rent doubles, or triples, small businesses are no different. In Central Harlem, the more gentrified next door neighbor of East Harlem, costs for retail space has soared along with the rising rents, to the point where mom and pop stores, just like mom and pop, have been forced to move further from the city center, in order to find more affordable places to do business. Look at the first neighborhoods to be gentrified in NYC, Times Square, Lincoln Center etc. you'd be hard pressed to find one small business remaining in the area.  You instead have 20 Duane Reads, 20 Starbucks, 20 CVS's. As gentrification moves further along, national chains become the only ones that can afford to pay the astronomical rents.
GV: On the other hand, it is also argued that El Barrio residents deserve access Home Depot, Marshalls, Starbucks. What is your take on this?
AP: El Barrio, just like any other neighborhood in the city, deserves rapid access to quality goods at affordable prices. However, the idea that a neighborhood can only receive this is through a large multinational corporation is a flawed one with severe repercussions for the distribution of power in already economically depressed working class neighborhoods.
GV: Also, it is said that  the incidence of crimes lowers as the community undergoes gentrification…
AP: Gentrification doesn't lower crime, but crime goes down in gentrified communities for two reasons:
1. These areas receive far more police surveillance and monitoring than ever before. The crime does not necessarily end but ends up being contained in so called “trouble spots” in neighborhoods undergoing gentrification.
2. The communities with issues of crime, which the city has neglected to aid appropriately and fund adequately, eventually get pushed out of the city center.
AP: Would beautifying of the space under the Metro North tracks be nice? Sure! But I'm not sure that getting the Chelsea Market developer Irwin Cohen involved in the creation of luxury store fronts in one of the cities poorest neighborhoods is the best way to go about it. The idea of  the High Line in Harlem is more a pipe dream for real estate developers trying to raise the value of land by the tracks. Considering the crime, asthma, education and unemployment problems this district has (just to name a few), it doesn't appear to be a top priority.
GV: How are community leaders fighting against massive displacements?
AP: Many organizations like Hope Community & Operation Fight Back, work tirelessly to try and create affordable housing for residents in the neighborhood. But you can't help but feel sometimes like they and all of us engaged in this struggle, are simply workers suspended from a dam trying to plug holes with chewing gum.
GV: Have you been able to document abuses or harassment from the part of landlords and/or building owners on your blog?
AP: If your looking to rent an apartment in El Barrio and Google 101 East 116th Street. You get this:
These residents have been under constant abuse and pushing from their landlord for years now. I tried to give them a place to tell their stories in hopes that the notoriety would put pressure on the owner to stop, or to at least force new renters to be confronted with the situation at the building before moving in.
GV:  You also worked on a documentary under the same name. Does your blog complement the documentary?
AP: Absolutely. Both the blog and the Documentary are colorful and informative snapshots of the neighborhood in flux.
GV: Is your blog audience very active?
AP: I am contacted frequently through email and in person, but people sometimes shy away from posting. I think they don't realize that posting is easy. In the next few months I will be reformatting the website a bit to make that submission process a bit more simple and inviting.
GV: You mention in the blog that you offer tours: Who are usually interested in the tours around the community? Tourists, academics, cultural activists, recent community members…?
AP: I've toured professors, full classes, artists, new residents, old residents, even Nicole Lyn Pesce of the Daily News.
GV: Are your planning to screen the film on your blog?
AP: I will be uploading short films and video clips from the films expansion and various neighborhood events. In addition to advertising all screening dates and opportunities to get involved with the film.
If you would like to learn more about this topic, GV recommends these resources:  The documentary Whose Barrio?: the Selling of Spanish Harlem by Ed Morales and Laura Rivera, and  “Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City”, by Arlene Dávila.
*Thumbnail photo of Andrew Padilla is used with his permission.

author: Yarisa Colon


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United States: Radio Marti Features Cuban Porn Star · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Broadcasts on the Miami-based, United States (US) government-funded radio station known as Radio Martí typically aim to highlight the virtues of liberal democracy and free market economics. But the recent airing of an interview with Cuban adult film star Angelina Castro [NSFW] proved that the station has become more than just a vehicle for providing “unbiased” news to Cubans.
“Ronald Reagan established [taxpayer-financed] Radio Martí in 1983 to help promote freedom and democracy, but the…program featuring Angelina Castro was all about sex,” Along the Malecon’s Tracey Eaton wrote of the broadcast.
Speaking on 1800 Online, a program hosted by Juan Juan Almeida and Lizandra Díaz Blanco that generally focuses on Internet-related initiatives and citizen journalism in Cuba, Castro described how she began making adult films in order to pay her student loans after graduating from college. She soon fell in love with the work and has since become a celebrated porn star and producer in Miami, a major hub for adult filmmaking and websites in the US.
Image from AngelinaCastroLive.com
The actress spoke at length about her desire to “break stereotypes” about the industry by showing the public that acting in adult films is “a job like any other.” Although pornography is illegal in Cuba, Almeida noted that illegal, informally produced pornography from Cuba is on the rise online. Castro, who moved from Cuba to the US at age 12, encouraged Cubans interested in working in the pornography industry to contact her through her website.
Bloggers on both sides of the Florida Straits reacted to the program with indignation. While flatly rejecting the mission of Radio Marti, Norelys Morales Aguilera [es], a state journalist and blogger in Santa Clara, Cuba, was deeply offended by the program:
Parecía que la maquinaría de propaganda yanqui había utilizado todas las técnicas y todos los argumentos imaginables para intentar inspirar a los cubanos un disgusto hacía su Revolución y el deseo de emigrar. Faltaba lanzar la idea de que uno puede soñar con prosperar en el paraíso norteamericano donde se puede disfrutar la “libertad” de convertirse en “estrella” de la industria pornográfica.
[…]
Voice of America toma generalmente precauciones para no ensuciar la imagen del gobierno que representa oficialmente, pero su sucursal que derrocha anualmente millones para intoxicar inútilmente las ondas radiofónicas, rompió las reglas para estimular algo que ni se promociona en las radios comerciales.
At Diario de las Américas [es], Angel Cuadra called the discussion and the topic at large “disgusting,” lamenting the fact that the conversation was being broadcast to Cubans on the island. He wrote:
Porque estimamos que para ese tipo de mensaje no se han asignado los fondos para esa importante emisora, sino para llevar a los cubanos el recado edificante de libertad, ética cívico-patriótica y los valores positivos que la democracia propicia…
Luis Díaz, host of TeleMiami’s Buenas Tardes, Miami, also questioned the value of inviting Ms. Castro to speak on the program. US-based Cuban blogger and scholar Emilio Ichikawa [es] rejected these critiques:
Si lo que Díaz quiere es una opinión y no otra cosa, pues me parece que el programa de RADIO MARTI con la actriz Angelina Castro resultó más transparente y sano para las mentes de los compatriotas que el mareo pedagógico que él realizó hoy en su programa…
[…]
En cuanto a las repercusiones que todo esto pueda tener para la libertad de Cuba, obviamente creo que es más emancipadora la sonrisa y el sentido del humor de Angelina Castro que una crítica televisiva sin objetivos claros como la propuesta por Díaz.
Although Ichikawa was not alone in defending Online 1800 and Ms. Castro, sharp criticism from multiple voices in Miami’s Cuban community appear to have caused the station to remove the August 1 interview from their website. Interested readers can download a recording of the interview here.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Yemen: TEDxSanaa Website Launched · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

TEDxSanaa launched its official website on September 1, 2012. The Slogan of TedxSanaa 2012 is “Inspiring hope” and it would take place on December 31, 2012.

author: Noon Arabia


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Yemen: The People of Yemen Photo Project · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

New York-based Yemeni blogger Summer Nasser reveals a new project of taking photographs of people inside Yemen through contributors, then uploading them to a Facebook page, inspired by the Facebook page Humans of New York .

author: Global Voices MENA


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Yemen: Anger as 13 Civilians Killed by US Drone Strike · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Another US drone attack struck Yemen on Sunday in Al-Baydha, targeting the usual “suspected” militants. In what has now become a recurring theme, the target missed and according to local reports 13 civilians, including three women, were killed.
Josh Begly, who developed an application that tracks US drones which Apple had rejected, tweets:
@joshbegley: In the 6 days since Apple rejected my Drones+ app, there have been 5 days of drone strikes in Yemen & Pakistan.
Journalist Iona Craig, who works in Yemen, notes:
@ionacraig: What this should say: ‘US drone strike misses target, kills three women': http://bit.ly/PBj8gN #Yemen
She tweets a Yemeni official's reaction:
@ionacraig: US signature strikes in #Yemen:”We're still investigating who these men are & in what way they were linked to al Qaeda” http://bit.ly/R9QmTg
Netizens were baffled by the conflicting reports, which initially stated that the attack was by a US drone then somehow the story changed to a Yemeni war plane instead.
Glen Greenwald, a columnist for the Guardian, asks:
@ggreenwald: Was the civilian-killing attack in Yemen on Sunday from a US drone (http://is.gd/sVTw5d ) or a Yemeni war plane (http://is.gd/wi8McU )?
He later clarifies:
@ggreenwald: @ionacraig Reuters is now also claiming it's a Yemeni plane, citing officials and “residents” http://is.gd/YJ60AI
Iona Craig replies:
@ionacraig: @ggreenwald Unsurprising Reuters call it US drone when saying militants killed: http://bit.ly/OLsxlb switch to Yemeni when civilians dead.
However, Micah Zenko points:
@MicahZenko: It was a US drone strike that killed 13 civilians in #Yemen, 3 Yemeni officials tell @HakimAlmasmari bit.ly/REJ4HJ
Yet, Yemeni Twitter users are all too familiar with this kind of stories. Ibrahim Mothana tweeted an article about a Wikileaks cable which exposed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's secret deal to let US launch missile attacks on Al Qaeda, but claim that they were Yemeni attacks.
@imothanaYemen:
Wondering how a US drones turns into Yemeni warplanes?! http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-yemen-us-attack-al-qaida … #Yemen
A Yemeni investigative journalist, Abdul Ilah Shayi, was jailed after claiming US involvement in a missile attack in Al-Ma'jala which killed 55 people. He was due to be released under a presidential decree on February 1, 2011, but was kept in detention as a result of direct pressure from the White House after president Obama's phone call to Saleh.
Yemenis have expressed their anger and objection towards US drone strikes in Yemen.
@aliaeshaq: 11 civilians killed in the latest drone strike in Baida, #Yemen. Say NO to drones! The world has to know these are human beings! #NoDrones
@al3ini: No #drones … They kill Yemenis without legal justification #Yemen
@Ulfatak: I'm a civilian. You're a civilian. 1 civilian death is 1 too many. #US #Drones #Yemen
@imothanaYemen: Brennan's “legal, ethical, and wise” drone strikes in Yemen just killed 13 civilians, including 3 women & 3 kids http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/03/world/meast/yemen-drone-strike/ #US
@Sarah_Sanaa: Dear #Americans do u know how #Obama is protecting u? By killing more #Yemen -is do u think their kids will grow 2 want peace? #Drones #US
A #NoDrones campaign was launched in May and Yemeni Twitter users are once again using the hashtag #Nodrones to express their anger and demand an end to US strikes in Yemen.


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Armenia: Students Pen Letter to Hungarian Prime Minister · Global Voices
Liana Aghajanian

The blog, An Armenian Journalist Notes, posts about a letter from a collective group of Armenian students addressing their frustration and disappointment about recent events involving the extradition of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani military officer serving a life sentence for killing Armenian military officer Gurgen Margaryan in 2004 while both were in Hungary. The note, which also contained signatures from the students, questions Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on his country's European values and morality given that the murder was driven by ethnic hatred.

author: Liana Aghajanian


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Brazil: Crowdsourcing information on fires in slums · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Recently a number of devastating fires in São Paulo slums [Pt], where land values have sky-rocketed of late, have left thousands homeless. Over 1,100 people were left homeless after the last fire. Some São Paulo residents are using a public spreadsheet to crowdsource data and analyze the phenomenon over the past eight years.

author: Janet Gunter


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Bulgaria: Independent Journalists Demand EU Intervention · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A group of Bulgarian NGOs and individual journalists issued an open letter [bg, en] to Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, asking for a public meeting because “the situation of the media in Bulgaria is a threat not only for the Bulgarian society, but for the EU as a whole.”

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Congolese-Belgian Blogger Travels to Curaçao · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Congolese-Belgian blogger Sanza traveled to Curaçao to find the African heritage and wrote a post for Afro Europe:
Food was great and actually similar to West and Central African food. We also eat beans and rice, cornmeal (what they call fungi), cassava and plantains as well. I tasted Iguana soup in Jonchies restaurant near Westpunt.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Costa Rica Shaken by 7.6-Magnitude Earthquake · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Costa Ricans immediately tweeted about the 7.6 (Mercalli) earthquake that shook the country at 8:42 am on September 5, 2012. The quake, with an epicenter in the Guanacaste area, was felt strongly in nearby Liberia and also in San Jose.
Twitter users are also reporting that the earthquake was quite long. Citizens are using the hashtags #temblorcr and #terremotocr.
As Ariel Arburola (@arielarburola) [es] tweeted:
@arielarburola: Casi corro pero me dió tiempo de poner #temblorcr
Some damage reports are coming in, even through Twitter. Sergio Pacheco (@lafoto) [es] posted about damage to his sister's house in Montezuma, close to the epicenter:
@lafoto: la casa de mi hermana en Montezuma en Guanacaste con el piso levantado #temblorcr
Some mobile networks are down, as Cristian Cambronero (@cambronero) [es] reports:
@cambronero: Caída la red de Movistar, el ICE funciona parcialmente #terremotocr
Fabián Calvo (@FabianCalvo) [es] replied:
@FabianCalvo: @cambronero Acá por el contrario, yo tengo Movistar y puedo llamar a Claro y a líneas fijas del ICE, a los celulares Kolbi no puedo del todo
The OVSICORI (Sismological Organization of Costa Rica) has reported that the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula might rise a meter due to the earthquake, as El Periódico of Costa Rica (@elperiodicocr.com) [es] reports:
@elperiodicocr.com: Terromoto levantó la Penínzula [sic] de Nicoya en por lo menos un metros, dice Marino Protti, del OVSICORI.
Live radio signal can be heard through ADNfm radio [es], where people are calling in reports of cut electric service, tile roofs collapsing, and damages, although no dead have been reported yet.
An automatic tsunami alert has been declared in the Pacific Region and Chile as well, but the National Emergency Commission (CNE) has turned it off for the Costa Rican Pacific coast.
On Twitter and through mass media, such as radio ADN.fm, citizens and journalists are recommending that people report themselves through the Internet and social networks such as Twitter.
The nation's president, Laura Chinchilla (@Laura_Ch) [es] headed out to get information from the National Commission for Emergencies:
@Laura_Ch: Ante dificultades en el sistema de telecomunicaciones me dirijo a CNE para recibir informe sobre seismo q sacudió al país.
Hospital Monseñor Sanabria in Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, after September 5th earthquake. Image by Twitpic user @tapachiche

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Egypt: 18 Jewish Ladies and Four Men · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria. Photo has been released into the public domain by its author, Moshirah.
Some minorities are very small that many people aren't aware of them. Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) wrote in her blog about the Jewish population in Alexandria that is composed of 18 women and four men, and how according to the Jewish religious customs, six more visitor men are required for them to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, in Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria.

author: Tarek Amr


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Hong Kong: TV Station Claims London, Washington Behind Anti-National Education Protest · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

One of the two free terrestrial television stations in Hong Kong, Asia T.V, propagated that the anti-national education in Hong Kong is manipulated by foreign power from London and Washington to destroy Hong Kong. (More details in Badcanto)

author: Oiwan Lam