Stories about Latin America from April, 2006
Venezuela: Wikipedia Page on Venezuelan Cinema
BlogaCine, or “Cinema Blog” says (ES) that Wikipedia has a page on Venezuelan films (ES) that is growing slowly but surely.
Peru: Looking to the Second Round
Patrice explains the en vogue Peruvian saying, “it now remains to choose between AIDS and cancer.” Boz cites a new poll which has Alan Garcia leading Ollanta Humala in the second round presidential elections.
Bolivia: Unity Festival 2006
GlowMain lists the DJ's that will perform at the 24-hour, non-stop, psychedelic trance event (ES) called “Unity Festival,” which will take place the first week of May in Bolivia.
Latin America: Stories Broken By Bloggers
Jose Luis Orihuela is making a list (ES) of stories that first broke on Spanish-language blogs and were then picked up by the mainstream media. Among the stories include Argentine soccer celebrity Diego Maradona's contract with a TV station (ES) and an anti-MTV marketing parody (ES).
Mexico: Paticia Mercado “Wins” First Presidential Debate
Eduardo Arcos live-blogged last night's presidential debate in Mexico (ES). Arcos says it was leftist outsider (and blogger), Patricia Mercado who won the debate. Goleech agrees (ES), but says that Felipe Calderón of the conservative PAN party also left in good shape. Boz says that “By not participating in the...
Peru: An Alliance Against Humala?
With more than 99% of the vote counted it is clear that Ollanta Humala will face Alan Garcia in the second round presidential elections. Un Lobo en Peru mentions a column by Mario Vargas Llosa calling for an alliance between APRA and Unidad Popular to defeat Ollanta. Fabiola Bazo of...
Argentina, Uruguay: EU Sticks Nose in Conflict
And Yes I Do Take it Personally paints EU involvement in the Argentina-Uruguay paper mill debate with a sarcastic brush.
Venezuela: Can Chavez be beat?
Both Boz and Miguel Octavio believe that there is a slight chance Chavez might lose in this year's presidential election. Daniel Duquenal is equally ambiguous. He says that the opposition has been wasting time, but “still, this is such an atypical electoral period that who is to say if the...
Bolivia: Morales’ First Trip to the U.S.?
Would new Bolivian president, Evo Morales come to the US to play a game of football? Eduardo Ávila explains.
Elections’ Race Between “Two Lefts”
The official announcement of Teodoro Petkoff’s candidacy turned Venezuela 2006 presidential race on. Since April 20th, when the announcement was made, the Venezuelan political debate has been focused on what the editor of daily newspaper Tal Cual has to offer to the voters. Venezuelan bloggers have been debating Petkoff’s announcement...
African music #7
Nothing beats a music festival. You meet like the music lovers, people interested in the genre and enjoy the good party vibe. And though you know the lineup in advance you have no idea what antics will be displayed on stage. With these musings I look forward to the 4th...
Colombia: Extraditing Gabriel Puerta Parra
Adam Isacson emphasizes the sensitive consequences of extraditing longtime narcotrafficker, paramilitary associate, and ex-government security agent, Gabriel Puerta Parra (alias “The Doctor”) to the United States. Included is a translation of an intriguing and recent interview with Parra by the news magazing Semana.
Brazil: Islam
Comings Communiqué, a weblog by a Christian missionary, is dismayed by the rise of Islam in Brazil.
Bolivia: Bloggers Radio Show
Blogs de Bolivia announces (ES) that blogger Sebastian (ES), his wife Anne (ES), and Sergio Mier have launched a weekly radio show on FM 92.3 Santa Cruz, which will cover happenings in the Bolivian blogosphere each Monday night from 8 to 9.
Brazil, Mexico: Landless Workers Movement and Zapatistas
The Western Hemisphere Policy Watch blog cites a meeting between the Brazilian NGO, Landless Workers Movement (MST) and the Zapatistas in Southern Mexico as proof “that the international left's designs on the Americas are quite real and very much alive.”
El Salvador: Ban Against Gay Marriage and Adoption
Andrés Duque says that backing by El Salvador's two largest parties probably means that an amendment prohibiting marriage and adoption by gay couples will soon be passed.
Caribbean: Bureaucracy kills & biofuel
Taran Rampersad is starting a “death and injury counter” in response to the region's lack of action in the area of disaster preparedness. “My theory is that all the bureaucracy kills people in a way that could be seen as criminally negligent,” he says. And why isn't the Caribbean thinking...
Cooking Pleasures
#1: From Caracas, Venezuela: Blog de Zulmy I have just discovered her blog, but it seems to me that she is and will be one of the most active food bloggers from her country! Good for you Zulmy :) Have you heard of Cocoa Tea? An infusion made with the...
Caribbean: Billionaires Investing in Local Telecoms
Last week Irish billionaire Dennis O'Brien announced his company Digicel was purchasing the Caribbean arm of Bouygues Telecom . This week Mexican billionnaire Carlos Slim announces he is purchasing three Caribbean and Latin-American subsidiaries of Verizon, an American telecom, writes (FR) InternetRapide.com. The Verizon subsidiaries to be purchased by Slim's...
Quotas in Brazilian Universities: The Online Debate
This post is also available in Portuguese. There is an important public conversation going on in Brazil. Affirmative action quota policies are being implemented in some Brazilian universities*. The debate will heat up in the coming weeks as Congress considers a new law (law project nº 3627/2004) that would establish...
Mexico, Spain: WordPress.es and Ferca
As they occasionally do, a web2.0 war of words has broken out. When Eduardo Arcos typed in the domain wordpress.es he was redirected (ES) to the weblog of the Ferca Network (ES), a Spanish web company run by David Carrero. Walter of HTML Life defends David (ES) saying that he...