Stories about Brazil from December, 2010
New Year's Resolution: Learn About Latin American Culture
Colombian/Argentinean Travelojos contributor Jennifer Lubrani writes about her New Year's resolution: “I’ve made it a goal to try to learn as much as I can about all of the other Latin American cultures.” She suggests five ways to “get cultured” on Latin America.
Glimpses of Citizen Media from Portuguese language countries in 2010
Throughout 2010 the lusophone blogsphere has given new perspectives on important issues that mainstream media tends to ignore. Read this post and discover a selection of the voices that Global Voices has amplified - from citizen media phenomena, to politics, governance and indigenous peoples.
Brazil: Act in support of WikiLeaks
The video of a debate in support of WikiLeaks, with the participation of its Brazilian representative, Natália Viana, and many cyberactivists, is available at the blog Maria Frô [pt]. The event was promoted by Intervozes [pt] – an organization advocating for freedom of expression and the democratization of communication.
Christmas Recipes in Global Food Blogs
Christmas means ‘coming home’ to many people - but if this isn’t possible, preparing a magic meal can be a consolation. Bloggers of many continents have shared their favorite holiday recipes. With these you can dream yourself back home or even visit a place, you’ve never been to before. Where are you celebrating Christmas this year and what are you serving?
Brazil: Indigenous communities reflect on using the internet
For the first time ever, delegates of 16 indigenous communities from all over the country gathered together to discuss a subject of utmost importance: the Internet, and how to use it in favor of indigenous people. This is the first post authored by Chicoepab Surui, from the Paiter Surui people of the Amazon.
Brazil: Newspaper Folha de São Paulo censors satirical blog
The blog "Falha de Sao Paulo", created by brothers Lino and Mario Bocchini, as a parody of Brazil’s biggest newspaper company - Folha de Sao Paulo - was removed from the web by an injunction in the Brazilian courts at the end of September. Dozens of blogs came out in defense of the website and its authors to freedom of expression.
Brazil: The vote for human rights
Marcelo Salles, writing [pt] for the blog Escrevinhador (Scribbler, pt), balances out votes in the state of Rio de Janeiro won by elected politicians concerned with human rights, against those opposed. The results are 547,492 and 278,425 respectively.
Brazil: WikiLeaks and doubts over technology transfer in French fighters
WikiLeaks has released a document that raises doubts over the main reason behind Brazilian interest to buy French fighter aircraft: the possibility of transferring the technology of construction.
Brazil: Police brutality during building evacuation in Rio de Janeiro
Lucas Duarte, writing for the blog Nota de Rodapé [Footnote, pt], denounces “Brazilian police truculence” in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the evacuation of a building, on December 13, which had been invaded by 25 homeless families. The post has also a 6 minutes long video depicting the...
Brazil: Literature and Prejudice against the poor
Paulo Lopes comments [pt] on controversial statements by Brazilian actress and former sex-symbol Vera Fischer. In an interview to Folha newspaper, a few days before launching the latest of ten books she has written in a year (according to blog Acerto de Contas [pt]), Fischer said she does not write...
Brazil: Key player at COP 16 but bad example at home?
In Cancún, there is great deal of expectation towards the Brazilian delegation. Meanwhile, back in Brazil, the new Forestry Code proposal suddenly made its way back to the National Congress end of year voting agenda.
Brazil: WikiLeaks and the Pre-Salt Oil Exploration
A WikiLeaks cable revealed that the former Brazilian presidential opposition candidate, José Serra, held talks with the Director of Business Development and Government Relations of Chevron, Patrícia Pradal, to benefit the foreign oil industry at the expense of national Petrobras, concerning the pre-salt exploration contracts, says [pt] André Raboni, at...
Brazil: Recognition of the Palestinian State
On December 3, 2010 Brazil officially recognized [pt] the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. The Brazilian blogsphere reaction is an analysis of the meaning of the recognition for the Brazilian government and it's practical effects.
Brazil: Pension rights for gay couples
Marcelo Marques in Blog do Bacana [pt] informs of a recent decision by the Social Security Ministry in enforcing a rule that recognizes that the social security benefits to relatives, such as pension in case of death, must include partners of same sex in stable marriage.
Brazil: Media supported censorship during the dictatorship
Eduardo Guimarães, from Blog da Cidadania [Citzenship Blog, pt] reproduces an interview by TV host Jô Soares with Ricardo Kotscho (journalist and President Lula's former press secretary), in which he states that several major Brazilian newspapers supported the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964-1985).
Brazil: WikiLeaks and the “Electronic Intifada”
Idelber Avelar, from the blog Biscoito Fino, suggests [pt] that Orwell's 1984 is one of the best literary models to understand WikiLeaks’ global surveillance, comparing it with a two-way “Electronic Intifada“, and calls Julian Assange as the “First Global Political Prisioner of the Internet”.
Brazil: President Lula defends WikiLeaks’ Assange
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) has this week criticised [pt] the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, condemning the Brazilian press for not having defended the Australian activist. Lula said [pt, en], “the boy was arrested and I'm not seeing any protest against [the curtailment of] freedom of expression.”
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay Recognize Palestinian State
Two Weeks Notice, a blog by Greg Weeks, reports: “Argentina has joined Brazil and Uruguay in recognizing a Palestinian state […] The Israeli response is striking, particularly because it unwittingly shows in part why Latin American countries are doing so in the first place.” The Latin Americanist also blogged about...
Brazil: The only black woman in a beauty pageant
Cris Rodrigues, from blog Somos Andando [We Are Walking, pt], writes about racial prejudice in a beauty pageant in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where only one black woman competed among 29 other “white, tall, skinny and straight haired” contestants. She considers that the sample is not...
COP 16: Young Bloggers Track Negotiations
Adopt a Negotiator, part of the TckTckTck campaign focusing on climate change, is an initiative where several young people from different parts of the world become “trackers.” Their role is to be interpreters and communicators of what their national delegations say and do at the UNFCCC conferences on Climate Change.
Brazil: Blogosphere reacts to WikiLeaks
The leak of more than 250 000 documents denouncing the practice of espionage by the U.S. government also caused an uproar in Brazil, where dozens of documents ended up putting the Defence Minister, Nelson Jobim, in a delicate situation. Natalia Viana, from Opera Mundi, details [pt] the number of leaked...