· January, 2012

Stories about Latin America from January, 2012

Spanish-Speaking Twittersphere Fumes Over Announcement

  31 January 2012

Twitter's announcement that it will restrict certain user content according to the laws of individual countries immediately caused a negative reaction in the Spanish-speaking Twittersphere. Twitter users widely employed the hashtags #CensuramestaTwitter and #TwitterCensored to display their anger with the social networking site.

Puerto Rico: The Art of Sound

  31 January 2012

Julieta Muñoz interviews artist Carola Cintrón Moscoso for Revista Cruce [es] on the art of sound: “There was light, but something was missing: sound!,” says Carola who works with audio in her pieces. Please check out the video in which Carola talks about her art, and herself, in an interview...

Cuba: Human Rights Double Standard

  31 January 2012

Lilianne Ruíz, blogging at Translating Cuba, compares a television spot “that shows a series of watercolors of butterflies from one of the five officials of the Interior Ministry imprisoned in the United States…with the stories that are told of Cuban jails, especially for political prisoners who, ever since their detention,...

Puerto Rico: Waste of Money

  31 January 2012

Dondequiera says of a US $20 million ad campaign to promote tourism: “If we could only use 1/4 of that money to police and clean our beaches, maintain the bathrooms…. I just thought you'd like to know how your hard earned tax dollars were being spent. The whole thing just...

Cuba: Upwardly Mobile?

  31 January 2012

The latest Cuban media campaign “is directed against the [expensive] mobile vendors, those sellers of fruits and vegetables who transport their goods on a tricycle or other wheeled device” – Generation Y says: “Although this is a problem that hurts us all, I don’t think we will solve it with...

Panama: President Receives Draft for New Constitution

  31 January 2012

“President Martinelli received [es] a draft of a new constitution from a special commission working on the subject,” reports Bloggings by boz. Boz looks at two of the biggest issues regarding the reform: reelection and the creation of a Constitutional Court within the Supreme Court.

Mexico: Discussing Nonviolence with Javier Sicilia

  31 January 2012

Fred Rosen interviewed Javier Sicilia, founder of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Rosen will report on the conversation in upcoming posts in his blog at the NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America) website; in this first post he focuses on “some excerpts on the questions of...

Bolivia: Pro-Road March Reaches La Paz

  31 January 2012

Marchers in favor of a project to build a road that would go through the TIPNIS indigenous territory reached La Paz. Mario R. Duran from the blog Palabras Libres [es] reports that residents of El Alto and La Paz received the march with indifference.

Brazil: Sex Scandal on Big Brother Provokes Debate on Machismo

  30 January 2012

The live broadcast of an alleged rape on the TV show with the highest ratings in Brazil on 14th January, with no immediate intervention by TV Globo, led thousands of internet users to declare their disgust and outrage, but also provoked an important debate on machismo and sex education in the country.

Chile: Mapping Chile with OpenStreetMap

  30 January 2012

In El Quinto Poder [es], Marcelo Aliaga writes about OpenStreetMap (OSM), “a free editable map of the whole world,” and the OSM community in Chile. He invites Chileans to participate and stay informed through the local blog. [es]

Brazil: Watchdog of 2016 Olympics Reports on Suspended Bid

  30 January 2012

An injunction has suspended bid for 2016 Rio Olympic Park, reported the organization RioOnWatch. The court considered that the concerned Public-Private Partnership contract is not clear on whether or not the Olympic development to be constructed on the Vila Autódromo neighbourhood would imply the eviction of 900 families from the...

Cuba: Pope's Visit & Human Rights

  30 January 2012

In the wake of more repression against Las Damas de Blanco, Uncommon Sense thinks “that the pope should postpone his visit until human rights conditions improve in Cuba.”

Peru: Terrorism, Youth and Social Networks

  30 January 2012

One of the strongest repercussions of the MOVADEF's decision to apply to register as a political party is the amount of young activists and supporters the group has attracted and how they are using social networks to spread their message.

Brazil: Movement Calls for March Against Law on Construction in Salvador

  28 January 2012

The Movement ‘Desocupa Salvador’ – which recently claimed rights for public space during carnival -, is now calling [pt] people to march towards the City Hall on February 1. Major grievances include the illegal approval by the Mayor of amendments in a law that threatens the Enchanted Valley Ecological Park,...

Brazil: ‘Vale’ is Elected the World's Worst Corporation

  28 January 2012

Researcher Telma Monteiro wrote on her blog [pt] about the election of the Brazilian mining company Vale as the world's worst corporation of 2011, with over 25,000 votes on the Public Eye Awards. She attributes the victory to Vale's involvement with the construction of Belo Monte Dam, in the Brazilian...

Cuba: The Cardinal Rule

  27 January 2012

In the context of the country's upcoming papal visit, Angel Santiesteban writes: “What we Cubans have to achieve won’t come from anyone’s visit, nor from the ‘peace concert’, although it had good intentions, nor from the ‘U.S. blockade.’ It will come the day we demand what belongs to us by...

Cuba: Playwright Passes On

  27 January 2012

Havana Times acknowledges the passing of “Cuban writer, playwright and theater director Humberto Arenal”, who passed away yesterday.

Brazil: A View from Aboard on Pinheirinho Eviction

  27 January 2012

Jimmy Greer, an activist and sustainability consultant for I-See Global based in London, writes about “the brutal eviction” of Pinheirinho, in Brazil as “another example of a skewed approach to governing that is at odds with an active, connected and changing society that demands more from its elected officials.”

Brazil: Indigenous Leader Criticizes “Developmentism” Policies

  27 January 2012

Brazilian blogger Julio Carignano, from the blog Sítio Coletivo, interviewed [pt] a former indigenous Guarani chief, Teodoro Tupã, who criticizes the policies of progress and “developmentism” towards indigenous peoples – particularly on issues concerned with health and land.

About our Latin America coverage

Gabriela Mesones Rojo
Gabriela Mesones Rojo is the Latin America Spanish-language editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.

Fernanda Canofre
Fernanda Canofre is the Brazil editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.