· July, 2011

Stories about Latin America from July, 2011

Peru: Tweeting About President Alan García's Last Speech

  28 July 2011

Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan Arellano has collected reactions [es] to President Alan García's last presidential address. Twitter users used the hashtags #mensajepresidencial, #teperdonocomoAlan, #LargateALAN, among others, to tweet during the speech. Ollanta Humala will be sworn in today, July 28, 2011, as the new president of Peru.

Mexico: 17 Dead After Jail Riot in Ciudad Juárez

  27 July 2011

“Seventeen people are dead following a Juárez jailhouse ‘riot’, which seems to have been more a pitched battle between the Mexicles and the Aztecas, two local gangs whose members populate the detention centers” reports Gancho, and adds: “The jail was built for 850 people, but houses some 2,700, which seems...

Colombia: Singer Joe Arroyo Dies

  27 July 2011

Colombian salsa singer Álvaro José Arroyo González, better known as Joe Arroyo, passed away on July 26 in Barranquilla. On Twitter, blogs and websites his fans reacted to the news remembering his life and his songs.

Argentina's Chinese-Argentines

  26 July 2011

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) Blog launched a series “that will cover immigration throughout the hemisphere from a variety of different perspectives.” COHA Research Associate PoLin So kicks off the series with a post on Chinese-Argentines and their struggle to fit into Argentine society.

Chile: Mapuche Influence in Purén

  26 July 2011

In Don't Call Me Gringa Emily blogs about Purén, a town in the Araucanía Region, in an area “home to the country’s main indigenous population, the Mapuche”. Emily writes about the Mapuche history and influence in this town, illustrating her post with pictures of her trip.

Colombia: Homophobia, Beyond Religion

  26 July 2011

Homophobia might have religious roots in Colombia, writes Javier Moreno in Rango Finito [es], but Javier says that campaigns against homophobia should not focus solely on the Catholic Church, but rather on people that are homophobic because of ‘tradition’ and not necessarily religion.

Peru: Football, TV Ads, Mining and Social Networks

  26 July 2011

On Tuesday, July 19, while Peruvians suffered with the semifinal match between Peru-Uruguay for the Copa América, netizens who were watching the game had a reason to tweet with anger: an advertising spot aired during halftime which used the traditional rivalry between Peru and Chile to find supporters against increasing the mining windfall tax.

Uruguay Wins 2011 Copa América

  25 July 2011

Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 in the Copa América final yesterday, Sunday July 24. The Latinamericanist writes about Uruguay's victory and Mauricio Milano at Montevideo Blogger [es] shares some thoughts and pictures of the celebrations.

Bolivia: What needs to improve in La Paz?

  25 July 2011

Luis Ramos in Citizen of La Paz [es] asks, “what do we need to change in La Paz?”. He answers his own question with a list of ten ideas, including improving transportation, planting more trees, building a convention center, more malls, a theme park, among other things.

Mexico: The Knights Templar, Violence and Norway

  25 July 2011

Bloggings by boz points out that the criminal organization the ‘Knights Templar’ is present in Mexico and that “the killer in Norway's shocking massacre last week also considered himself a member of the Knights Templar”. He adds: “I doubt anyone thinks these two groups are linked. […] Yet, it raises...

Brazil: “A Serbian Film” Banned from RioFan Festival

  25 July 2011

The controversial long feature “A Serbian Film” was banned [pt] from the RioFan film festival by its main sponsor, the Brazilian national bank Caixa Econômica Federal, as announced [pt] on the website of the organization. Brazilian citizens organized a protest against censorship. A video [pt] gathers several analyses of the...

Argentina: What Irritates Argentinians?

  25 July 2011

Argentinians and Twitter: a means to express what irritates them. On July 22, the hashtag #irritante (#irritating) became a local trending topic with protests and irritations about politics, traffic, neighbors and even family and social networks.

Colombia: 201 Years of Independence

  24 July 2011

As we announced in a recent post, Colombia commemorated its day of independence this past July 20. The Internet, as expected, was the scene of many opinions and events that varied from pride of having been born in said country to political criticism.

Argentina: 17 Years After AMIA Attack, Case Remains Unsolved

  23 July 2011

July 18, 2011, commemorates one more year of the attack against the Israelite Argentinean Mutual Aid Association (AMIA) in 1994. Currently the case is open without resolution, yet the families of the victims and the Argentine community are still calling for justice for the 85 people killed.

Cuba: “The Lion of the East” Passes On

  22 July 2011

Cuban bloggers mourn the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Meurice Estiu, who died in Miami at the age of 79. Uncommon Sense calls him “a Cuban patriot and a true man of God”, while Babalu remembers him as “a fierce and unrelenting critic of the Castro dictatorship”; Generation Y honours...

Ecuador: President Correa Wins Libel Case

  22 July 2011

Jim Wyss, in Inside South America, explains the latest developments in a libel case involving President Rafael Correa and newspaper El Univero. Monica Medel also reports on the case at the Knight Center's Journalism in the Americas blog: “Ecuador sentences newspaper directors to jail and millions in fines in president's...

Guatemala: Femicides During and After the War

  22 July 2011

On the Issues magazine features an article by Yifat Susskind, Executive Director of MADRE, on the femicides that took place during Guatemala's Civil War and that still go on today: “Across Guatemala, nearly 5,000 women have been killed in the past decade, attacked for the simple fact of being women.”...

El Salvador: Educating About ‘Machismo’

  22 July 2011

Olivia blogs about ‘machismo’ in her blog She Responded, saying she will never get used to “the culture of sexism and objectification of women” she sees every day in El Salvador. She also describes a workshop on gender equality she led with a local social worker.

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.