· July, 2009

Stories about Portuguese from July, 2009

Brazil: Amnesty for illegal immigrants sparks hope and controversy

A new amnesty for illegal immigrants has just become law in Brazil, benefiting between 50,000 and 200,000 people. The hope is that the amnesty will bring at least better working conditions for those currently being exploited in sweatshops that cash in on illegal immigrants, and eventually compassion for Brazilians living illegally abroad.

18 July 2009

Brazil: Plaintiffs try to silence one of the country's leading journalists

Lúcio Flávio Pinto, a prized independent Brazilian journalist has been ordered by a court to pay US$15,000 approximately in damages to a powerful regional media group in a civil libel suit: a real David and Goliath battle. The blogosphere campaigns to help Pinto cover the bill and to promote awareness of yet another case of harassment against independent journalists and bloggers.

16 July 2009

Brazil: Digital mob demands the Senate President's resignation

Thousand of protests have taken place 'virtually' on social media networks, such as Twitter, demanding the resignation of the Senate President, José Sarney. But, when the mobilization goes offline, only some dozen protesters have so far taken to Brazil's streets. Bloggers analyze the current Brazilian political scenery, the background of this situation and speculate on a hidden agenda.

11 July 2009

Brazil: “President Lula is a nerd”

After his speaking for the first time against the proposed Digital Crimes Bill, hugging Pirate Bay’s spokesman Peter Sunde, defending the use of open source software and inviting Internet users to chip in and contribute to his soon to be launched government social media initiative, the blogosphere concludes: "Brazilian president Lula da Silva is a nerd". Or is it just because 2010 is an election year?

4 July 2009

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Manuel Ribeiro
Manuel Ribeiro is the Portuguese editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write here.