Stories about Latin America from July, 2011
Guatemala's DipuKids: A New Generation of Candidates for Congress
A new generation of Guatemalan politicians under 30, dubbed the 'Dipukids', are causing controversy. Well educated and well travelled, many from the country's upper class - can they truly represent the people who may be electing them?
Guatemalan Women Misrepresented by Guatemala's Tourism Board
“Please help me comprehend what’s wrong with our indigenous women that Guatemala’s Tourism Board hires light-skin ladinas and white women to represent our women? I need help understanding what’s wrong...
Colombia: Challenges of the Victims’ Law
Paula Delgado-King writes about some of the challenges the recently approved Victims’ Law faces: “the process needs to provide loans and credits, guidance for which crops and animals are most...
Venezuela's Football Team and Unity: A Partisan Talking Point?
“The lazy point to make about La Vino Tinto’s [Venezuela's football team] exhilarating run at the Copa América this year is that it’s a rare, exciting moment of National Unity...
Cuba: Approaching “Adulthood”
As her son approaches the age of majority, Generation Y says, “without maternal excess, that they are too young, too fragile, to face the burden of being considered adults by...
Puerto Rico: Perform & Get Paid
All jokes aside, Gil the Jenius wonders why not pay according to performance when it comes to lawmakers?
Cuba: Activists Under Pressure
Cuban bloggers report on several arrests and attempts at intimidating independent journalists and activists, here, here and here.
Peru: Mining Commercial Sparks Controversy
A television ad [es] by Peru's National Mining Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE [es]) which aired on July 19 during the halftime break of the Peru-Uruguay football game for the...
Uruguay: A Critical Look at Secondary Education
“What do we learn in High School?” and “What happens to students who struggle with a subject?”. These are some of the question Alvaro Fagalde asks in a post [es]...
Chile: Salvador Allende's Death Ruled a Suicide
As Greg Weeks reports in his blog Two Weeks Notice “Salvador Allende's death has officially been ruled a suicide. I think it is fair to say that very few people...
Colombia: On Independence Day
Colombia celebrates its 201st birthday on July 20. Guapacho writes about this year's Google Doodle [es]; Triana remembers [es] José María Espinosa, one of the first Colombian cartoonists; and Julián...
Panama: Presidential Insults Online
Panamanian President, Ricardo Martinelli, sparked controversy on Twitter after allegedly insulting a user who criticized him in a rude manner. But the President denies that any insult was intended. Netizens discuss the furore.
Brazil: Blogger Censored and Sued by Businessman
Journalist Paulo Cezar Prado's Blog do Paulinho [pt] has been blocked by the Brazilian Justice, reports the Blue Bus [pt]. Businessman Franck Henouda's lawyer has sued the blogger who had...
Cuba: Killed for Stealing Fruit
“On the afternoon of July 15, 2011, the town of Mantilla…was shocked by the death of Angel Izquierdo Medina, a 14-year-old black teenager, who died from a gunshot to the...
Chile: Students Take Over Schools Demanding Education Reform
Students have taken over hundreds of schools throughout Chile, turning their classrooms into temporary homes while they demand free and higher quality education. They are sharing their movement online through video and blogs, giving us a glimpse of what it is like to be on the inside of a student-controlled school.
Twitter and Latin American Presidents: Does It Make Them Closer to Us?
Twitter use among the presidents of Latin America is gaining momentum. Whether used as a form of press release, to communicate with citizens or to cheer for a soccer team, Twitter has established itself as a new tool for heads of state to interact in both their public and private lives.
Peru: Amazonian Indigenous Life Threatened By Petroleum
An hour long documentary shows the traditional lives of indigenous people in the Amazon, and how their subsistence lifestyle is threatened by petroleum exploitation and monoculture of renewable energy sources like palm oil.
Puerto Rico: Puerta de Tierra Website
The legendary neighborhood Puerta de Tierra, in the outskirts of the walled city of Old San Juan, has a website with a wealth of information [es] on its history, people, and...
Dominican Republic: 93 Women Murdered This Year
Remolacha.net [es] briefly comments on a news story in which the director of the feminist non-profit Colectiva Mujer y Salud [es], Sergia Galván, denounces that 93 women have been murdered...
Mexico: Sinaloa Governor Calls for Special Investigation on Femicides
Aguachile commends Sinaloa Governor Mario López Valdez (Malova) “for taking the issue of femicides seriously and not brushing it under the carpet […] Malova considered the rise in femicides in...
Cuba: Project Rainbow
Feminist blogger and LGBT activist Yasmín Portales Machado [es] has launched Project Rainbow (Proyecto Arcoiris) focused on LGBT advocacy in the island: “The reason? There is not a single LGBTI...
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