Stories about Brazil from February, 2011
Latin America: Latest Cables Released by Wikileaks
The Latinamericanist sums up some of the latest diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks on Colombia, Chile, Peru and Brazil.
A declaration of love to the Portuguese language, in all its variations
On February 21 Global Voices in Portuguese commemorated International Mother Language Day with a tribute to the lusophony in all its linguistic and cultural diversity. Read the blogsphere's reflections on the first novel dedicated to the Portuguese language, Milagrário Pessoal - the most recent work by the Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
Brazil: Trial for murder of Guarani Kaiowa begins
Update on GV's post Brazil: Eradicating the Indigenous Guarani Kaiowa. The trial of the accused for the murder of chief Marcos Veron resumed on February 21. The website Indigenous Peoples Issues translates an article by CIMI (Indigenous Missionary Council) about the mobilization of Guarani indians to accompany the trial.
Brazil: Learning culture and portuguese language
In the International Mother Language Day, take some time out to check the Portuguese Blog by Transparent Language and read about the Brazilian culture and its Portuguese language variant. Have fun learning how to use sarcastic expressions such as “para variar” and “depois“.
Venezuela: Brazilian Music in Venezuela's Web 2.0
The cultural relationship between Brazil and Venezuela is commonly seen in the way carnival is celebrated and in the high ratings Brazilian soap operas have enjoyed in Venezuela for many years. But today, through blogs, MySpace and YouTube, Venezuelan groups are sharing their arrangements and interpretations of Brazilian music.
Brazil: Collateral concerns on newspaper's “failures”
Update on GV's Brazil: Newspaper Folha de São Paulo censors satirical blog: Lino Bocchini shares [pt] Leandro Arndt's concerns on intellectual property prosecution. Arndt had created the blog Falha de São Pedro (St. Peter's Failure) [pt] before Bocchini's Falha de São Paulo (St. Paul's Failure) [pt] also aiming to mock...
Brazil/USA: “Can the US shutdown the Internet?”
On his blog, brazilian journalist Altamiro Borges writes [pt, en] about the capacity of the USA to shutdown the internet in moments of crisis while commenting on an article by Cuarta Generación (Fourth Generation) [es], which says “US is heavily investing in order not to be surprised by the web”.
Brazil: Abuse and Threats Behind Manaus City's ‘Garbage Tax’
In Brazil's northern state of Amazonas, there is nothing new about threats to freedom of expression and abuse by those who hold economic and political power. In this post, Global Voices tells the story of two bloggers who have been suffering sustained persecution.
Brazil: Journalist's dismissal causes outrage
Journalist Aguirre Peixoto's dismissal from the Brazilian newspaper A Tarde caused outrage among bloggers and journalists [pt]: Peixoto's reports on the environmental damage caused by a new development to the city of Salvador allegedly put an end to the contractors’ advertising in the broadsheet. After applying 30-days suspension on Peixoto,...
Cuba: What do the Cables from Havana Say? (Part II)
Speculation about the health of the former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro Ruz, was one of the main issues discussed in various cables revealed by WikiLeaks. In this second part of a series, our author Elaine Díaz analyzes the content of the controversial diplomatic cables.
Brazil: Criminalization of Sharing Internet via Wifi
On January 27 Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency - ANATEL - seized equipment and fined an internet user approximately $ 1,810 USD for sharing his wifi connection with neighbors in the capital of Piauí state. In times of appeal for digital inclusion, bloggers comment on the limits posed by such criminalization.
Peru: Inambari Hydroelectric Project Generates Rejection
The Inambari hydroelectric project in the Peruvian Amazon jungle has sparked public debate and generated rejection due to its potential impact on the local ecosystem and because 80% of the energy produced will go to Brazil. Inambari would be the fifth largest central in the region, with an installed capacity of 2,200 megawatts, and its construction will require an investment of U.S. $4 billion.
Brazil: Children's Book Sparks Racism Debate
During recent months Brazilian citizen media has been debating literature, censorship, racism and education, following the suggestion by the country's National Council on Education (NCE) to withdraw celebrated author Monteiro Lobato's book Caçadas de Pedrinho (Pete's Hunting) [pt] from schools.
Global: Thoughts on interfaith harmony and world peace
In this, the first, World Interfaith Harmony Week, people from all faiths have been getting together to forget about differences and promote religious tolerance and dialogue based on the mantras "Love of God and love of one's neighbour" or "love of the good and love of one's neighbour". Worldwide bloggers share views on why this dialogue is so important – and why it is not impossible to achieve it.
Peru: New Strain of Dengue Spreads in the Amazon
A dengue outbreak that emerged in the Peruvian Amazon region of Loreto has easily spread through several neighbouring regions. On the 1st of February, four confirmed cases had been officially reported in Lima, the Peruvian capital.
Brazil: Tribute to musician Chico Science
Pierre Lucena from the blog Acerto de Contas, pays tribute [pt] to Chico Science, deceased 14 years ago. He was the founder of one of the most influential musical movements in Brazil – Mangue Beat – a blended rock and punk style with traditional beats from the northeast.
Brazil: “Fat” teachers rejected from schools
Ricardo Kotscho asks himself [pt] “why fat people cannot teach”, after five teachers were rejected on medical examination to teach in Brazilian state schools because of their obesity.
Latin America: Drawing Parallels with Egypt
As protests in Egypt continue, Latin American bloggers are drawing historical parallels with similar uprisings in the region and some are wondering: “Could it happen here now?”
Brazil: Remembering Internet censorship in 2010
One of 2010's landmark events, the Wikileaks phenomenon, highlighted a more than necessary debate about the state of freedom of speech throughout the world, specially on the internet. Let's make a healthy exercise, then, remembering some of the many censorship cases that happened last year in the brazilian internet.
Blogger asks: “Could instability spread to Latin America?”
Considering the recent and ongoing events in Tunisia and Egypt, Bloggings by boz asks: “If it is a crisis year, what would it mean for Latin America?”. Boz goes over several points to answer this question and opens up a thread to discuss Latin American stability with readers.
About our Brazil coverage
Fernanda Canofre is the Brazil editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
