Iria Puyosa

Playing non-zero sum games. Living in a networked society. Intersections: Communication, media, public opinion, polis, campaigns, narratives, data, innovation. Beat.
Researcher and consultant on political communication, social media, and digital strategies.

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Latest posts by Iria Puyosa

Venezuela: The Interrupted Hunger Strike of Franklin Brito

  9 February 2010

Venezuelan farmer Franklin Brito had been on a hunger strike, when he was taken to a military hospital against his will, while the government is questioning his mental state. His family is calling for his release and say that the label was placed on him because of his opposition to the government.

Venezuela: Roger Santodomingo's Resignation from Noticiero Digital

  9 July 2007

Venezuelan journalist Roger Santodomingo felt the need to resign from his post as an editor with Noticiero Digital due to threats on his family. The site's forum was a place of personal attacks from often extreme points of view. Santodomingo's resignation caused quite a stir among Venezuelan bloggers, who see these threats as further restrictions on freedom of expression, while others question the purpose of anonymous fora, which may not contribute to constructive discussion.

Venezuelan 3D

  2 December 2006

The 3D (December 3) will become a new milestone in Venezuela's political calendar. This Sunday Venezuelans will choose our next President. Although more than ten candidates are registered, the election race is truly among only two candidates: the social democrat Manuel Rosales and incumbent President Hugo Chávez, who aspires to...

Venezuela: Eight Polls

  20 November 2006

Eight recent polls on Venezuela’s elections are summarized by Reste@dos [ES]. The post includes the numbers from the Welsch / Observatorio Hannah Arendt released yesterday, as well as poll numbers from Datanálisis, Hinterlaces, Evans & McDonough, Consultores 21, IVAD, CECA, Keller, and Penn, Schoen & Berland. Main points from the...

Venezuelan Oil is Red

  12 November 2006

During the last week, Venezuelan’s main topic of political conversation has been the new, fully red, fully chavista, PDVSA. The President of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Rafael Ramírez, called for absolute support from all workers—from top management to line of production laborers—to President Chávez’ campaign for reelection. Ramírez’ speech...

Bolivia: Border Military Bases and Internal Conflicts

  23 October 2006

The treaty between Bolivia and Venezuela to build military facilities on the borders with Paraguay, Chile, Perú, and Brasil is being discussed in political blogs from Perú and Chile. Chilean conservative bloggers writing at El Rincón de Michelle [ES] agree that the treaty should be regarded as evidence of Venezuelan...

A Big Laugh in Venezuela

  29 July 2006

Venezuelans will be holding the funniest elections in the country history. Entertainer Benjamin Rausseo, better known as Er’ Conde del Guacharo (Count of Guacharo), announced this week that he will run for President. Rausseo is Venezuela’s most popular comedian, and he has no political background. His character is a working-class...

Blogging, The New Journalism Frontier

  19 May 2006

Este artículo también está disponible en español. The following article addresses five questions asked by university faculty member and digital journalism advocate, Zinnia Martínez, in her weblog, Periodismo Interactivo. The questions were the following: • How journalism has been incorporated into Venezuelan blogosphere? • What Venezuelan blogosphere add to Venezuelan...

Elections’ Race Between “Two Lefts”

  25 April 2006

The official announcement of Teodoro Petkoff’s candidacy turned Venezuela 2006 presidential race on. Since April 20th, when the announcement was made, the Venezuelan political debate has been focused on what the editor of daily newspaper Tal Cual has to offer to the voters. Venezuelan bloggers have been debating Petkoff’s announcement...

Anglo-Venezuelan Blogosphere Conspiracy

  10 March 2006

Este post también está disponible en español. Peace Journalism brought to us this week a post about the political polarization on the Internet and citizen-information Venezuelan blogs. Relentlessly optimistic the young journalist says: thanks to the majority being prone toward dialogue, bigger and better spaces for tolerance, inclusion, or at...

Revolutionary Awareness in the WSF

  28 January 2006

Bloggers attending the World Social Forum in Caracas have been speaking out with constructive criticisms on organizational pitfalls. Issues related to transportation, the youth camp facilities, and information problems have been widely addressed by critical bloggers. A Berkeley student recounts her journey across Caracas’ city parks and surrounding natural reserve...

Youth WSF collective blog

  27 January 2006

Attention-grabbing first person testimonials on what is going at the World Social Forum in this collective blog. Posts about life in the youth camp, the Forum’s (dis)organization, the Bolivarian proceso, Chávez’ misiones, and the Forum debates.

WSF Starts Walking the Walk in Caracas

  24 January 2006

The WSF is the expression of a new way of doing politics. People—the youngest as well as the historical fighters still fighting— are increasingly aware of politics going beyond simple party or parliament representation. They want to get involved in changing their own reality and the world, everyday and not...

Biking to WSF

  16 January 2006

Colombian ecologists are riding their bikes from Pamplona (Colombia) to Caracas (Venezuela) to attend the WSF. The 8-days tour aims to promote environmentally friendly transportation.

The World Social Forum Will Be Naked

  15 January 2006

A week from the opening of the Sixth World Social Forum, the Venezuelan blogosphere is not paying much attention to the event. Pro-government Aporrea blog is the only weblog publishing news about the WSF everyday. Most of such entries are quotations from the government news agency ABN. Meanwhile, the anarchist...

Old road Caracas-La Guaira

  7 January 2006

Curucuteando features a series of pictures of the old road Caracas-La Guaira (ES), which is now the best way to go from Venezuela’s capital to the coastline and the airport.

No Longer a Bridge to Caracas

  6 January 2006

This graphic links to a study developed by Cecal-ULA (a research center at the Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela) on the likelihood of the collapse of Viaduct 1 and how the problem could be solved before the road falls down. Yesterday at 7 in the morning, the Viaduct 1...

Best Literary Weblogs 2005

  5 January 2006

The Best Literary Weblogs 2005 written in Spanish were selected by the members of Blogueratura, the most important directory of literary blogs in Spanish. The directory registers 769 blogs from different Latin American countries, as well as Spain. The award first edition winner was Ánima dispersa, written by Mexican writer,...

High Abstention and Information Black-out in Venezuela Elections

  4 December 2005

Venezuelan bloggers report empty voting sites in today's elections for National Assembly Deputies. After touring Caracas, The Devil’s Excrement estimates that abstention rates would be higher in this election than it was for the City Council elections last August in which abstention rates reached 68%, a very high percentage compared...

Turning Point in Venezuelan Legislative Elections

  30 November 2005

Next Sunday, December 4, is election day for Venezuelan National Assembly deputies. The electoral race had been taking place without much ado from voters, and according polls projected abstention was to be around 70%. It was going to be an easy victory for President Chávez’ twin parties. However, last week...