Stories about Latin America from November, 2010
Brazil: WikiLeaks cable reveals suspected terrorists arrested on narcotics charges
Natalia Vianna reports [pt] for WikiLeaks on how US embassy cables reveal Brazilian security forces have cooperated with US intelligence on counterterrorism in the country, arresting individuals with links to terrorism on various other charges, particularly narcotics.
Mexico: Climate Change Talks in Cancun
“Mexico is showing real leadership on this issue, unilaterally setting ambitious goals to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and implementing policies that have already begun to make a dent in that number,” writes Boz from Bloggings by Boz, adding that, “Unfortunately, few people expect a major breakthrough at...
Venezuela: LluviasVe.com Uses Crowdsourcing to Report on Heavy Rains
LluviasVe.com [es] uses crowdsourcing to map events caused by the heavy rains in Venezuela. Users can report on floods, landslides, victims, road blocks, shelters, places to make donations and more.
Cuba: Content of Cables
Along the Maleon says that the “Cablegate” cables that pertain to Cuba appear to be about the country's “political affairs, the country's relations with other countries and human rights.”
Cuba: The Remaining 11
As the Cardinal of Havana declares that the release of the remaining political prisoners is not in his hands, Uncommon Sense says: “The difficulty he faces in understandable. But what is indefensible is that at least publicly, he never comes across as a champion for those Cubans…”
Guatemala: Film Festival Under the Moonlight
From November 30 to December 4, Guatemalan movies and documentaries will be shown for free at the “IV Festival de Cine Bajo la Luna” [IV Film Festival Under the Moonlight]. The blog Ati provides a schedule [es] and additional information [es].
Uruguay: Video Podcast About E-Government in Uruguay
Uruguay: click para actualizar [click to refresh] interviewed [es] José Clastornik, Executive Director of AGESIC [es] (E-Government, Information Society and Knowledge Agency), about the “Electronic Government” in Uruguay.
Latin America: Summary of Several Leaked Documents on the Region
Erwin from The Latin Americanist summarizes some findings about U.S relations with Honduras, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Panama from the diplomatic documents recently released by Wikileaks.
El Salvador: New Law Targets Violence Against Women
“On Thursday, November 25, El Salvador's National Assembly unanimously passed the Law for A Life Free From Violence for Women. For the first time, the law creates a separate crime of femicide for the murder of a woman on account of her gender. The law also imposes stiffer penalties on...
Bolivia: Similarities Between El Alto and Rio de Janeiro
Carlos Gustavo Machicado [es] writes about the recent wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, noting the similarities between Rio de Janeiro and El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia. He concludes that the best way to prevent violence in Bolivia is by fighting poverty.
Panama: Asylum for Former Colombian Security Director Creates Controversy
The Panamanian government's decision to grant asylum to former director of the Colombian Administrative Department of Security -who is accused of illegal phone wiretapping- has sparked reactions on social networks in both countries.
Brazil: Cartoons of slum violence
Conceição Oliveira, at her blog Maria Frô, posts [pt] a series of cartoons by renowned Brazilian political cartoonist Carlos Latuff, which depict the recent outbreak of violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil: Three proposals to ease Rio chaos
Bruno Cava, writing for the Amálgama blog, analyzes [pt] the current wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro's slums, and proposes three possible solutions: new policies for development and urbanization of poor areas, democratization of the criminal justice system and decriminalization of all illicit drugs.
Brazil: Letter from the Digital Culture Forum for internet freedom
Antônio Arles, from Arlesophia blog, reproduces [pt] the Letter from the Digital Culture Forum for internet freedom, created by many cyberactivists during the Digital Culture Forum that took place in São Paulo this month. The manifesto defends freedom in the internet and takes a stand against the censorship bills proposed...
Brazil: Milo Manara, master of erotic comics, visits Brazil
Fausto Salvadori, from blog Boteco Sujo [Dirty Bar, pt], writes about the famous Italian artist Milo Manara‘s visit to Brazil. Manara, a master of erotic comics, was in São Paulo and gave an interview to journalists and fans.
Brazil: Youth using citizen media to chronicle Rio violence
Young residents in the Complexo do Alemão favelas in Rio de Janeiro have begun using social and citizen media to chronicle the recent wave of violence spreading through the city. Seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist Rene Silva has set up a Twitter account, @vozdacomunidade (voice of the community) [pt], to monitor the police occupation of...
Chile: Blog Focusing on Santiago's History and Culture Wins BiblioRedes Contest
Biblioredes announced the winners of the contest [es] “The Best Content of our Local Culture in the Bicentennial,” where more than 652 blogs, web pages, videos and photo galleries participated. Urbatorivm [es], a blog about “urban and cultural history of the city of Santiago, Chile,” won first place.
Mexican Internet Users Spend More Time On The Net Than Watching TV
Hugo Torres from Vivir Mexico [es] shares information from a recent study that shows that Internet users in Mexico “spend 79% more time online that watching television.” The study also shows that 33% of Internet users are online for more than 5 hours daily, and 85% are part of a...
Uruguay: Study Shows How Family Dynamic Impacts Education
Daniel Figares comments [es] on a recent study by the University of Montevideo that shows that, “In all the populations studied, we can see a greater educational delay in children that do not live with both biological parents.” Readers left their own thoughts on the study in the comments section.
Brazil: Bloggers react to wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro
A recent wave of violence has frightened residents of Rio de Janeiro and reignited a familiar public debate on security in the city. A great wave of panic, in part brought on by the mainstream media, also brings to the fore a new problem: the great proliferation of false rumors on the internet.
Cuba: Reasons for Confiscation
Generation Y finds out that the reason copies of her book were confiscated, is because its contents “are against the general interests of the nation, since it argues that certain political and economic changes are required in Cuba so that its citizens may have more material benefits and achieve personal...
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.
