Stories about Latin America from August, 2010
Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes
Franklin Brito, a farmer who had been on a hunger strike since July 2009, died from a respiratory arrest in a military hospital on Monday night. Brito had lived through several hunger strikes protesting the confiscation of his land. Venezuelans reacted to the announcement of his death through Twitter and blogs.
Guatemala: Three Indie Publishers Reviewed
Alan Mills, in his blog Revólver, reviews [es] three Guatemalan independent publishers: Editorial Catafixia [es], Vueltegato [es] and Mata-mata, Ediciones Latinoamericanas [es].
Brazil: Bolivian Immigration in Numbers
Journalist Leonardo Sakamoto questions on his blog [pt], the official statistic placing Bolivia in the fortieth position as a source of immigrants to Brazil. An activist against slave labor, Sakamoto comments that hundreds come in yearly and are often explored in underemployment jobs, particularly in the greater São Paulo area.
U.S. Virgin Islands: The Effects of Hurricane Earl
Hurricane Earl made its way across the U.S. Virgin Islands yesterday as bloggers continued to share their thoughts and experiences. Jamaican diaspora blogger Labrish, who “[has] been fortunate to travel to these islands several times”, was concerned about her acquaintances there: My thoughts go out to everyone living on the...
Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts
Juan Arellano writes [es] about quenoteroben.pe [es], a site that allows users to report thefts in Lima using Google Maps technology. The post includes two video interviews with the site managers, Gabriela Quevedo and Rudy Jordán.
Cuba: Same Old Song
The imprisonment of three Cuban dissidents who were during a protest at the University of Havana proves to Uncommon Sense that “despite its release of some dozen members of the ‘Group of 75′ prisoners, the Castro dictatorship has not changed.”
Nicaragua: The Result of the 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media
The 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media took place on August 12 and 13 in Managua, Nicaragua. Here we summarize the even't results through images, podcasts, videos and blogs.
Caribbean: “Earl” Watch
It's that time again: Hurricane season. Regional bloggers, having been affected by brutal storms in the past, are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Earl, which has now been classified as a Category 3 storm. Within the next 36 to 48 hours, it is expected to affect the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, among other islands.
Mexico: Fleeing Monterrey
Hernando y la Silla writes [es] about why people are leaving Monterrey, a city that “has become the center of the conflict between the various criminal gangs.”
Cuba: Naming Names
“After all the hubbub about Cuba agreeing to release 52 political prisoners in jail since the ‘black spring’ crackdown of March-April 2003, there still remain in prisons across the island 21 members of the Group of 75″: Uncommon Sense posts their names.
Latin America: Blogging at Los Superdemokraticos
Coinciding with several Bicentennial Independence celebrations in Latin America, from June to October 2010 German and Latin American bloggers [es] will be writing for Los Superdemokraticos about their “daily lifes [sic] in international political contexts.” Posts are published in German and Spanish; five texts are translated into English each month.
Cuba: Interrogation
Luis Felipe Rojas blogs about his detainment by the Cuban authorities and says: “I think about the path that has brought this country the totalitarian power that is eating away at itself. What will be my next punishment?”
Costa Rica: University Students Protest Budget Agreements
Some University of Costa Rica students took hold of the social sciences building in protest of the budgetary agreement that was reached between the government and university officials where a 7% budget increase was agreed upon after negotiating the original 4% the government proposed.
Latin America: Blog Day Celebrated through Web Conferences
Celebrate Blog Day today with a day long online summit. The III Virtual Blogger Encounter will have speakers from Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Spain engaging through webcams with an international online audience about blogs, branding and other social networks.
Colombia: Cat Launching Video by Radio DJ Causes Outrage
A video uploaded by DJ Yohan Melguizo on popular social network Facebook two months ago is causing outrage among animal lovers in Medellin, Colombia.
Guatemala: Attack Against a Blog?
Luis Figueroa reports [es] that blogger Guillermo Pineda wrote on Twitter, “My blog in WordPress.com was hacked. Anyone knows if I can recover it? #Hacked #Wordpress.” Luis wonders if this is an attack; in June Guillermo received threats [es] both in person and through email.
Chile: Miners record on a video their living conditions
Through a video camera lowered down to them, the 33 trapped Chilean miners have recorded their living conditions in the refuge that kept them alive for the 21 days before they were found. In the video they send messages to their families and explain how they spend their days.
Ecuador: Journalist Jorge Ortiz Leaves Important Television Channel
“It is really a pity […] We are not only losing a critical voice on TV, the citizenry is losing another space in that ‘fight’ between the top and bottom.” This is how blog La Hueca [es] reacted to the news of journalist Jorge Ortiz leaving television channel Teleamazonas.
Guatemala: Indigenous Teacher and Artist Kidnapped and Murdered
An increasing spiral of violence has impacted different communities in rural Guatemala. This time, the victim was a respected rural teacher, spiritual guide, dancer and artist from Sololá: Lisandro Guarcax.
Angola: Armament Compared with Brazil and Israel
Every week the Em angola blog posts some figures about the country. This week, on war and violence, Gabriel Toueg makes a comparison between Angola, Brazil and Israel, concerning both legal and illegal armament.
Mexico: Wikileaks Releases Mexican Documents
Vivir México [es] reports that Wikileaks has released Mexican documents which the government has not commented on.
About our Latin America coverage
Melissa Vida is the Latin America Spanish-language editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
Fernanda Canofre is the Brazil editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
