Stories about Migration & Immigration from April, 2011
Guyana: Unsolved Murder
Last week marked five years since Government Minister Satyadeow Sawh was was murdered in Guyana; The Caribbean Camera interviews his family, who are still searching for answers.
Cuba: Ferrer Held
According to Uncommon Sense and Babalu, Dr. Darsi Ferrer and other activists were arrested today “during a protest in which they were calling for the Castro dictatorship to allow Cubans to travel freely, among other demands.”
Cuba: Bosch Dies
Cuban bloggers note the passing of Orlando Bosch, with Machetera saying: “There are good terrorists and bad ones, and clearly the mainstream media have settled on the fiction that Bosch is the former, so he gets to be a ‘militant’.”
Jamaica: Honesty in Poetry
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp notices “a brutal honesty” in his featured poem by Kei Miller.
Malaysia: “Stateless Children of Sabah”
Anne Baltazar writes about the situation of poor children in Sabah in Malaysia whose migrant parents came from Indonesia and Philippines.
Ukraine: “Twenty-five years ago – Chornobyl – Where were you?”
uaMuzik and Nash Holos blog about the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
Cuba: The “Queen of Incredulity”
1Click2Cuba profiles Claudia Cadelo, “one of the best-known members of the Cuban blogging community.”
China: The Rich Are Fleeing
A new survey conducted in part with one of China's biggest banks suggests that large numbers of wealthy Chinese have over the past two years begun moving their assets overseas, and gaining foreign citizenship in the process. If China is so bad, some wonder, now having lost all this capital and talent, is it about to get even worse?
Haiti: Amnesty or Justice?
Toussaint on Haiti shares his thoughts about the possible granting of amnesty to Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide by the new President-elect.
Cuba, U.S.A.: Tamayo to Leave with Son's Remains
Bloggers are monitoring the impending departure from Cuba of Reina Luisa Tamayo, who is reported to be going into exile, but not without the remains of her son, “murdered Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo.”
Guyana, St. Lucia, T&T: Literary Achievements
Lots of literature in the regional blogosphere today – Signifyin’ Guyana asks, “You going Trinidad for Bocas?”, while Caribbean Book Blog notes that Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace “has been awarded the first Grand Prize for Caribbean Literature by the Regional Council of Guadeloupe for his new book, Is Just a...
Argentina: Croatian Community Reacts to Sentence of General Ante Gotovina
On April 15, 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) handed down sentences to the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Cermak. Gotovina and Markac were charged with "crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war" committed in 1995 by the forces of their country during "Operation Storm." In Argentina, where it is estimated that the Croatian community is the country's third largest, there have been various reactions.
Belarus, Ukraine: “Chernobyl: The First Month”
At OpenDemocracy.net, Barys Piatrovich, a Belarusian writer and journalist, recalls the first month after the Chernobyl catastrophe of April 26, 1986: “It was difficult for me to write this text. I've been working up to it for over twenty years. More than once I have started to write but given...
Russia: “Navalny's Nationalism”
A Good Treaty went through the archives of Alexey Navalny's blog and other RuNet sources and wrote about this prominent Russian anti-corruption activist's nationalism.
Jamaica: Walcott's Work
Litblogger Geoffrey Philp features a poem by Derek Walcott, saying: “I swear, [he] makes writing verse look so easy…a poet whose oeuvre shows a deep love for the Caribbean–its language, landscape and light.”
Cuba: Fonseca Released
“The publicity on Facebook, Twitter and blogs only intensified…”: Uncommon Sense says that the release of Cuban human rights activist Sara Martha Fonseca “is a victory for freedom.”
Cuba: Communist Party Ushers in Entrepreneurism and Term Limits
For the minority of Cubans who are within it, the blogosphere provides a space to exchange ideas. And there were plenty prompts for discussion this week, with the Castro brothers holding the first Congress of its Communist party since 1997 (it is supposed to be every five years) and announcing term limits for leadership on the island.
Cuba: The More Things “Change”
Uncommon Sense finds recent announcements about reform in Cuba ironic in the context of developments like these.
Memories of Portuguese Decolonization
“In their dreams they still revisit Africa”, and they share their memories on the blog Retornados da África [pt]. Read the stories of those who returned to Portugal from the African colonies, after the end of the dictatorship, on April 25th, 1974.
Haiti: The Democratic Process
Toussaint on Haiti suggests that the recent election “is a sign we still believe in democracy and that these elections might have breathed new life into to Haiti’s nascent and fragile democracy.”
Cuba: Reaching the Limit
Cuban bloggers weigh in on Raul Castro's recent announcement of term limits for leadership of the country.
