Latest posts by David Sasaki from January, 2006
Mexico: Online Library of Chinese Piracy
Wave Making notes that the popular, controversial (and often offensive) blog, Pinches Chinos has celebrated its one year anniversary and takes the occasion to examine the complex feelings Mexicans have towards China. As always, the post is also available in Spanish.
Panama: Manuel Escala
Leon Kadoch sees a bright future for up-and-coming Panamanian musician, Manuel Escala.
Venezuela: Notes on WSF
Author and activist, Luis J. Rodriguez offers his experience at last week's World Social Forum in Caracas.
Plan Colombia and Beyond: Notes on a Senate staff trip to Colombia
Adam Isacson has a typically meticulous post documenting the visit by Senator Richard Lugar's assistant, Carl Meacham to Colombia where he released a report calling for the continuation of US aid in its present form.
Bolivia: “Washington Week in Review”
Democracy Center director, Jim Shultz spent last week in Washington D.C. where he spoke on U.S. – Bolivian relations after the inauguration of leftist president, Evo Morales. In his notes on the visit Shultz calls Bolivia's new Ambassador-Designate, Sasha Lorenti, “a super pick for this job” who is “well-respected on...
Argentina: Little Press Coverage of Chinese New Yeaer
SaltShaker has a difficult time finding information about the Chinese New Year festivities in Buenos Aires’ Chinatown.
El Salvador: Outpouring of Tributes for Handal
Both Tim's El Salvador Blog and Leftside comment on the outpouring of support at the funeral of former leftist political leader, Schafik Handal. The U.S. – El Salvador Sister Cities blog has an economic and socio-political review of El Salvador during 2005 along with some predictions for this year.
There is No Festival in Cartagena
The following is an abbreviated translation of a post originally written in Spanish by Colombian journalist, Efraim Medina Reyes at Blogscolombia.com. In the most recent issue of the magazine, Arcadia, a brief note appeared about the virtual event, No Hay Festival (There is No Festival) which, with the collaboration of...
Argentina: Madres de Plaza de Mayo End Marches
Ian discusses the end of the Thursday marches of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. The mothers of victims of Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship had marched weekly in search of justice until announcing last week that President Kirchner's government is a friend of their cause and there is no longer...
Ecuador: Student Protests Grow Larger
After Morgan encountered the tear gas of riot police, Jonathan now says that schools were closed today in Quito after the size of student protests has increased.
Latin America: Festival de Blogs 2005
Festival de Blogs 2005 (ES) is a wiki that links to blogs that participated in “blog festivals” in which participants agree to write about a particular theme. Some of last year's topics include: online publicity, freedom of speech, gender online, and social networks.
Colombia: Rise of Paramilitary Political Influence
Adam Isacson runs through last week and explains the political gains made by paramilitarists in Colombia.
Costa Rica: Revolutionary Calendar
Batichangó.com has designed a 2006 calendar which is free to download and “100% revolutionary.”
Argentina: Discriminatory Headlines at El Clarín
Toutatis claims that a recent headline at the major daily, Clarín plays on Argentine stereotypes towards rugby players. Not an isolated incident, Toutatis hopes that protests throughout the blogosphere will hold national and local papers responsible for their sloppy journalism and misleading headlines.
Ecuador: “The Smell of Tear Gas in the Evening…”
Morgan describes what it is like to be caught in a cloud of tear gas after riot police retaliated against protesters who hijacked two buses in anger over a proposed hike in bus fare from 25 to 35 cents. (Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar)
Andean Countries: Digital Andean Library
Otto Boye y Arturo Durán introduce (ES) the Digital Andean Library (ES), which makes available to internet users various studies, books, and documents from the Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Venezuela: Impressions of Maracaibo
Adam Isacson gives a detailed description of his weekend visit to Venezuela's second largest city, Maracaibo; where he says that McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Citibank are more evident than pro-Chavez propaganda. Isacson also notes that the price of gas in the petroleum exporting port is around US 25 cents a...
Costa Rica: Sugar Cane Energy
The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) is looking into sugar cane waste as a source of renewable energy says Bob Glass.
Chile: Bachelet Digital
Bachelet Digital (ES) is a newly launched weblog by incoming president, Michelle Bachelet, which will serve as a measuring stick for her “Digital Agenda: 2006 – 2010″ program. The blog – with the tagline, “four years to digitalize Chile” – so far, concentrates on themes like internet access, open source...
Chile: Canadian Blogger Commits Suicide in Santiago
Roberto Arancibia meditates (ES) on the suicide of Canadian blogger, Chris McKinstry in his Santiago apartment. McKinstry was the founder of Mindpixel, a digital mind modeling project. His final blog post, entitled “Very Serious Thoughts on Suicide” quotes, among others, Charles Caleb Colton: “Suicide is a fundamental human right. This...
Peru: Festival of Blogs Summed Up
Juan Arellano sums up (ES) the conversation from last week's third Festival of Blogs, which had the designated topic, “Blogs and Journalism: Together or Apart?” The media's love/hate relationship with blogs seems a recurring theme among the excerpts.
