Stories from 8 November 2006
Madagascar: Franco-Malagasy Solidarity
Harinjaka is happy that a local French NGO is flying Francia, a local girl in need of specialized surgery, to France for the operation but thinks (Fr): “the best way to help Madagascar is to give Malagasies the means to develop their own thinking and methods, rather than offering them...
La Reunion: Controversial President
La Reunion is an overseas department of France situated in the Indian Ocean. Of the department's President, Nassimah Dindar, blogger Pierrot Dupuy writes that (Fr): “she is capable of cynicism and has a propensity for sitting on rules and laws.” He then relates anecdotes that illustrate his point.
Trinidad & Tobago: Corporate Social Responsibility
Karel McIntosh provides an overview of corporate social responsibility in the Trinidad and Tobago context. And Francomenz asserts that “It’s sad that we may have to actually legislate magnanimity in order for businesses to understand the weight of their corporate responsibility, but in a climate where industry makes no apologies...
St. Lucia: Overstaying one's welcome in office
With a general election coming up in his native St. Lucia, Matthew Hunte muses on Sting's departure from The Police and politicians who overstay their welcome in office.
Aruba: Royal no-show
In ArubaGirl's neck of the woods, the rumour that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is going to pay a visit to their church fills the pews on Sunday.
Jamaica: Cultures clash over “dutty wine”
Ria Bacon comments on the clash of cultures taking place in the discussions surrounding the ultra-popular “dutty wine” dance since moves associated with the latter allegedly caused the death of a young woman. She also links to a YouTube video and reports that there are 2000+ similar examples to be...
Trinidad & Tobago: Cutlass as metaphor
For Taran Rampersad, knowledge of the existence of a “brushing cutlass” — or a lack thereof — provides a useful metaphor for the digital divide.
Jamaica: Poet Shara McCallum
The subject of Geoffrey Philp's latest installment in his “In My Own Words” series is Jamaica-born poet Shara McCallum.
Armenia: Farewell Aram
Blogrel notes the passing of Aram Asatryan, a famous Armenian musician.
Kazakhstan: Of Phony Anthems
KZ Blog writes that the fake national anthem featured in the Borat movie is good satire of some of the things in which the Kazakhstani government takes pride.
Colombia, El Salvador: Shakira
John Guzman at Proyecto Colombia congratulates Shakira who took home four Latin Grammy’s. Tim Muth says that just a couple days later the Colombian pop diva was in San Salvador as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador promoting anti-violence activities among the youth of the country.
Peru: Transportation in Lima
Adding to his public transportation reviews of Los Angeles, Mexico City, Bogotá, and Caracas, David of A Ride for the Climate (who is cycling throughout Latin America) offers a transport review of Lima.
Cuba and the Internet
There has been a lot of talk lately in the Cuban blogosphere about Cuba's attitude towards the Internet. The reactions appear to be as diverse as the myriad persons concerned with this rather heated issue. Some of this discussion was provoked by a recent report by Reporters without Borders about...
Armenia: US Election
Life in Armenia says that the results of US congressional elections is good for Armenian causes.
Colombia: Interesting poll numbers
Citing the most recent Invamer-Gallup poll of 1,000 Colombians in four cities and notes that President Álvaro Uribe's popularity fell six percentage points.
Chile: Senator Flores Withdraws from Party
Senator and vetaran blogger, Fernando Flores, has posted a letter [ES] he sent to Party For Democracy head Sergio Bitar announcing his withdrawal from the political party, which has been accused of political corruption. Fellow veteran blogger Leo Prieto applauds the decision: “We need transparent politicians, giving an example to...
Tanzania: Samsung's investment
Tanzania In Focus discusses Samsung's economic interests in Tanzania.
Venezuela: Rafael Ramirez's Controversial Speech
Both Tomas Sancio and Miguel Octavio have links to a video (Octavio also links to an English translation) of Minister of Energy and Oil and President of PDVSA Rafael Ramirez saying that employees of the state-owned oil company that do not support Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution are free to quit. Luigino...
Nicaragua: Ortega Triumphs, US Protests
Leftside takes a look at how the US reacted to Ortega's victory in Nicaragua's presidential elections. Erwin Cifuentes has lots of informative election-related links. “Goyo and Juanita” at Pura Vida take a diplomatic stance on the results while Boz gives his usual five talking points.
Malawi: open source software from Malawi
With a light touch, Soyapi Mumba writes about free software developed in Malawi, “Fortunately, in the software world, with special thanks to free and open source software licences and the Internet, it is hassle-free to get software developed from Malawi. Within seconds, you can have an application downloaded and running...
Zimbabwe: taking stock of election promises
Sokhwanele compares Zanu PF‘s election promises with reality on the ground in Zimbabwe.
