Stories about Latin America from October, 2009
Adoption: Securing the Rights of Mothers and Children
Women speak out from all sides of the issue: adoptees, natural mothers and adoptive mothers try to make sense of the legal, reproductive and human rights issues behind adoptions.
Mexico: The Internet as a Necessity, not a Luxury
An increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, including an special tax for Internet and cable services prompting online protests saying that the Internet is a necessity, and not a luxury.
Puerto Rico: Crime Solution?
If the majority of Puerto Rico's crime comes from the island's reputation as a drug smuggling transshipment point, Dondequiera suggests having “the travel and shipping authorities change Puerto Rico to become an International destination…that way, all of the travelers going between Puerto Rico and the United States would be forced...
Brazil: The challenge of hosting a worthwhile Olympic Games
Brazilians highlight the problems that the country will have to deal with before the 2016 Olympic Games with wry humor, hoping that organizers will learn from the mistakes made during the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio.
Colombian film on petty theft wins National Documentary Award
In Square Eyes blog, a Colombian blog about TV, movies and shows, they bring us the trailer of Bagatelle, the winner of the National Documentary Award. Bagatelle shows the day to day happenings in the judicial system where petty criminals are brought to justice.
Ecuador: 7th Annual Gay Film Festival
Lesmode [es] is looking forward to the 7th Annual Gay Film Festival called “The Place Without Limts” to take place in 4 cities across Ecuador from November 21-28.
Puerto Rico: Money & People
Gil the Jenius blogs about money and self image as it relates to Puerto Rico.
Cuba: Press Freedom Ranking
“Press conditions were considered worse only in Burma, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea”: Uncommon Sense refers to the latest Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom around the world, noting that once again, Cuba is low on the list.
Cuba: Internet & Freedom
Generation Y makes a call for “freedom for Cuba” and thinks that the Internet is the way: “It occurs to me to use kilobytes, to take advantage of the cutting edge of a word that is also sharp and makes precepts grow more durable than the machete.”
Ecuador: Hip-Hop Artist Equis
Ecuadorian hip-hop artist Equis recently performed in Guayaquil [es], and Princesa Quil was impressed the performance.
Paraguay: The Kidnapping of Cattle Rancher
The recent kidnapping of cattle rancher Fidel Santiago Zavala in Paraguay [es] has attracted criticism to President Fernando Lugo for his lack of courage to combat crime, as well as proposals for laws allowing citizens to be armed writes José Angel López Barrios.
Peru: Mamainé, Afro-Peruvian Cooking Queen
Barb of American in Lima introduces Mamainé, the “Afro-Peruvian Cooking Queen,” who made a special appearance by cooking for Lima residents.
Cuba: Real-Time Aggregator Cubanoscope
Cubanoscope is a real-time news aggregator that publishes links to online newspapers, but also videos, tweets, and blogs about Cuba. The site was presented by David Chapet of Bloggers Cuba [es].
Argentina: Travelcamp Buenos Aires 2009
In Argentina, the First Travelcamp Buenos Aires took place on October 13. Jorge Gobbi of Blog de Viajes [es] summarizes the event, and states that one of the most controversial topics was the means to pay for travel because of the bank costs and credit card fees that increase the...
Honduras: Miracle Qualification to World Cup
Irina Orellana celebrates Honduras’ qualification to the 2010 World Cup [es] and writes that for those that do not believe in miracles, then the goal scored by the United States in extra time, which vaulted her side to the finals, proves that miracles do exist.
Argentina: The Approval of a New Media Law
The Argentinean Senate approved a new law of audiovisual media, which establishes a new series of rules for the regulation of open signal, cable, and satellite television and radio.
Puerto Rico: Reflections on the National Strike
On October 15, thousands of Puerto Ricans flooded the streets to protest the government's lay-off of around 17,000 government employees. Flows of information, opinions, videos and images traveled through the Puerto Rican blogosphere and twittersphere like lightning. Here are some of their reflections.
Cuba: Journalism Prize Winner Denied Permission to Leave Cuba
Yoani Sánchez, Cuban blogger writing in Generacion Y blog, was once again denied permission to leave the island nation of Cuba to go receive the 2009 Maria Moors Cabot journalism award. In a video, she asks immigration officials about her travel bans.
Posts in Portuguese on Blog Action Day '09
Portuguese-speaking bloggers from various countries have joined global bloggers on Blog Action Day to reach readers and raise awareness of climate change.
Bolivia: Diversity of its Image Abroad
Citizen of La Paz [es] is discouraged that much of Bolivia's image abroad continues to be the Andean region and points out that there is much more diversity to be marketed.
Cuba: Blog Marks First Anniversary
The Havana Times blog celebrates its first anniversary – Circles Robinson reflects on the accomplishments of the past year: “Contrary to what some might think, I didn’t ask anyone for permission to put out HT, and have never had anyone from…the government directly telling me what I should or shouldn’t...