Stories about Latin America from May, 2012
Cuba: “Mob” Attack Linked to Heart Attack?
Further to this, babalu reports that another elderly lady “suffered a fatal heart attack after her home was violently attacked by a paramilitary mob.”
Elders Call on Youth to Help Lead the Way at Rio+20
A group of independent and former world leaders, The Elders, is calling on young leaders to help make a better world possible at the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development from June 20-22.
Cuba: Diaspora Bloggers Blame “Aggressive Acts” in Grandmother's Death
Two Cuban diaspora blogs are talking about the death of a senior citizen that took place in the region of Santa Clara this past weekend. Despite the fact that the woman was in her nineties, bloggers are speculating that the elderly woman's fatal stroke may have been brought on by “violent acts of repudiation”.
Puerto Rico: Dancing Images
Photojournalist Heriberto Castro maintains a beautiful blog dedicated to one of his passions: dance. The blog En la Punta del Pie [es] includes his stunning images and information on dance events.
Puerto Rico: 80 Grados Launches Campaign
The digital magazine 80 Grados -an important space for in-depth and alternative journalism and scholarly essays- has launched a funding campaign [es] to support its continued commitment and sustain its publication.
“The Most Misterious of Brazilian Writers” Receives Camões Award
Blog Semióticas [pt] celebrates this year's Camões Award – “the highest honor” for a Portuguese language writer – given to Dalton Trevisan from Curitiba, Brazil, for his “extraordinary contribute in the art of short stories”. Trevisan, “the most misterious of Brazilian writers”, is well known for his mystical reclusiveness, and refuses...
Brazil: “The Dilemma of the Brazilian Revolutionaries”
The author of Lost Sambista Blog shares a photo of Che Guevara being awarded the Gra-cruz of honor by Janio Quadros, the Brazilian President for only seven months in 1961, and writes about foreign affairs and revolutionary political figures from the 1960's in Brazil, who are nowadays still present in...
Peru: How the Achuar People are Saving their Territory from Oil Companies
The movie Chumpi & The Waterfall follows the life of young Chumpi and his community, the Achuar people who live in the Amazon Rainforest in the border between Peru and Ecuador. In the movie, subtitled in English, the Achuar show the richness of their daily life and also the steps they are taking to protect their ancestral lands from Oil Companies.
Brazil: Famous Singer Pays Homage to Her Iconic Mother
The singer Maria Rita toured Brazil with a series of free concerts in homage to her late mother Elis Regina, one of the most iconic performers of Brazilian music. The subject became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, as fans of both singers flooded social media with their impressions of the shows.
Colombia: Tweeting Marathon to Demand Senator's Resignation
Twitter users have organized [es] a tweeting marathon to demand the resignation of Senator Eduardo Merlano after the politician refused [es] to undergo a sobriety test. The goal is to reach 50,000 tweets (the amount of votes that got him elected senator) and through these tweets argue that he needs...
Cuba: Fifth Cuban Congress against Homophobia
Blogger, journalist and LGBT activist Francisco Rodríguez Cruz (Paquito el de Cuba) discusses Mariela Castro Espín's [es] message on occasion of the 5th Cuban Congress against Homophobia recently celebrated on the Island. Castro Espín is the daughter of President Raúl Castro and head of the state-run agency on sex education.
Puerto Rico: Old San Juan, for Rent and for Sale
Eloísa Gordon analyzes the decadence and transformation of Old San Juan [es] -the colonial city in the capital, San Juan- within the logics of globalization.
Puerto Rico: Filiberto Ojeda Documentary
The team behind the documentary on the life and death at the hand of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of Puerto Rican freedom fighter Filiberto Ojeda Ríos [es] have sued the public agency Film Corporation of Puerto Rico for withdrawing funding for the film.
Dominican Republic: Juan Bosch and the Elections
Journalist Nelson del Castillo analyzes the political significance of Juan Bosch [es] -the Dominican politician, writer, essayist, historian and educator- on occasion of the national presidential elections held yesterday, May 20, 2012.
Brazil: A Comic Book and its Soundtrack
Brazilian blogger Francielle Costa reviews [pt] Achados e Perdidos (Lost and Found), a comic book in which each chapter counts on an original soundtrack produced especially for the story. The project was crowdfunded. Chapter 1, and its soundtrack, is available here [pt].
Peru: Controversy Over Banning of Popular Priest
Netizens immediately reacted after news broke that the Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, had decided not to renew the ministerial license for Father Gaston Garatea, a well-known Peruvian priest. According to some analysts, the cause of the decision was Father Gaston's stance on homosexuality and civil unions.
Mexico: Blogger Posts Final Open Letters Addressing Presidential Candidates
As we reported earlier, Global Voices contributor and blogger Juan Tadeo began an open letter [es] campaign to encourage citizens to write to the current presidential candidates. He recently finished writing his letters to all four candidates. His latest two are for Andrés Manuel López Obrador [es] and Enrique Peña...
Cuba: Questioning Digital Expression within the Revolution
The recent Encuentro de Blogueros Cubanos en Revolución [Meeting of Cuban Bloggers in Revolution] brought together a group of “official” bloggers—chiefly journalists and communications professionals who are employed by the state and maintain their blogs as part of their work. Since the meeting, bitter controversy has unfolded around this new iteration of a decades-old question: does the expression of criticism automatically put one “outside” the revolution, especially when the criticism is happening online?
Paraguay: A Look Inside Aché Indigenous Communities
For much of their history, the Aché indigenous people in Paraguay have been struggling to preserve their territory. Now, the Aché are using citizen media to preserve their language and their culture.
Bolivia: Web 2.0 Workshops for Aymara School Teachers
In early May 2012, a series of Web 2.0 workshops were held for Education professors from the Teacher Training Superior School (ESFM for its initials in Spanish). The event's objective was to help the professors and their students begin to create digital media content in the Aymara language. Victoria Tinta from Global Voices in Aymara shares a summary of the workshop and its results.
Guatemala: A ‘Guatemaltequismo’ A Day
Mario Cordero from Diario Paranoico [es] has opened a wikispace [es] where he posts one ‘guatemaltequismo’ (word that is used in Guatemala) per day. Mario also set up a Facebook [es] page where he shares that day's ‘guatemaltequismo’.
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