Uruguayan-Spanish journalist, editor, and blogger. Currently living in Chile, tweeting in English and Spanish under @silviavinas, and blogging on silviavinas.com
Latest posts by Silvia Viñas from November, 2010
Mexico: Climate Change Talks in Cancun
“Mexico is showing real leadership on this issue, unilaterally setting ambitious goals to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and implementing policies that have already begun to make a dent in that number,” writes Boz from Bloggings by Boz, adding that, “Unfortunately, few people expect a major breakthrough at...
Venezuela: LluviasVe.com Uses Crowdsourcing to Report on Heavy Rains
LluviasVe.com [es] uses crowdsourcing to map events caused by the heavy rains in Venezuela. Users can report on floods, landslides, victims, road blocks, shelters, places to make donations and more.
Guatemala: Film Festival Under the Moonlight
From November 30 to December 4, Guatemalan movies and documentaries will be shown for free at the “IV Festival de Cine Bajo la Luna” [IV Film Festival Under the Moonlight]. The blog Ati provides a schedule [es] and additional information [es].
Uruguay: Video Podcast About E-Government in Uruguay
Uruguay: click para actualizar [click to refresh] interviewed [es] José Clastornik, Executive Director of AGESIC [es] (E-Government, Information Society and Knowledge Agency), about the “Electronic Government” in Uruguay.
Latin America: Summary of Several Leaked Documents on the Region
Erwin from The Latin Americanist summarizes some findings about U.S relations with Honduras, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Panama from the diplomatic documents recently released by Wikileaks.
El Salvador: New Law Targets Violence Against Women
“On Thursday, November 25, El Salvador's National Assembly unanimously passed the Law for A Life Free From Violence for Women. For the first time, the law creates a separate crime of femicide for the murder of a woman on account of her gender. The law also imposes stiffer penalties on...
Bolivia: Similarities Between El Alto and Rio de Janeiro
Carlos Gustavo Machicado [es] writes about the recent wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, noting the similarities between Rio de Janeiro and El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia. He concludes that the best way to prevent violence in Bolivia is by fighting poverty.
Chile: Blog Focusing on Santiago's History and Culture Wins BiblioRedes Contest
Biblioredes announced the winners of the contest [es] “The Best Content of our Local Culture in the Bicentennial,” where more than 652 blogs, web pages, videos and photo galleries participated. Urbatorivm [es], a blog about “urban and cultural history of the city of Santiago, Chile,” won first place.
Mexican Internet Users Spend More Time On The Net Than Watching TV
Hugo Torres from Vivir Mexico [es] shares information from a recent study that shows that Internet users in Mexico “spend 79% more time online that watching television.” The study also shows that 33% of Internet users are online for more than 5 hours daily, and 85% are part of a...
Uruguay: Study Shows How Family Dynamic Impacts Education
Daniel Figares comments [es] on a recent study by the University of Montevideo that shows that, “In all the populations studied, we can see a greater educational delay in children that do not live with both biological parents.” Readers left their own thoughts on the study in the comments section.
El Salvador: Important Support for Law Prohibiting Metallic Mining
Tim from Tim's El Salvador Blog reports: “A law to prohibit metallic mining in El Salvador got important support today, as a deputy in the Salvadoran National Assembly from the GANA party announced GANA's support of the measure. “
Chile: Support for Electoral Reform
Greg Weeks from Two Weeks Notice shares poll results that show support for an electoral reform: “A new poll in Chile shows support for some electoral reform, particularly for voting to be voluntary (77%). Meanwhile, 60% support making registration automatic once you become 18 years old. The same percentage supports...
Guatemala: Getting Ready for the 2011 Elections
Guatemala is getting ready for next year's presidential elections, as Central American Politics explains: “While campaigning cannot officially start for a few more months, parties and candidates are beginning to position themselves for the contest.”
Mexico: An Afternoon Visiting Xochimilco
Catherine from Small Fish in the Big Taco begins her latest post: “Welcome to Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City where you can spend a perfect afternoon floating down the canals and picnicing aboard the brightly coloured trajineras (gondola-style boats).” She includes photos and descriptions of an afternoon in...
Chile: Education Reform Sparks Debate
Mauricio Rojas explains and critiques [es] a recent education reform presented by the Ministry of Education. Mauricio ends his post linking to another point-of-view on the reform by José J. Brunner [es]. The reform has sparked a debate because, among other things, it would reduce class time for Social Science...
Argentina: Citizen Pictures of La Plata's 128th Anniversary
The online citizen newspaper Letra Compartida [es] from La Plata, Argentina, created a photo album of citizen pictures from the city's 128th anniversary, which was celebrated on November 19th.
Paraguay: “The Unwanted” of Ciudad del Este
Journalist and blogger Andrés Colmán Gutiérrez wrote on his blog Ñangapiry News [es] about a group of about 170 indigenous people that live on the streets of Ciudad del Este, “fleeing poverty and oblivion in their old scorched lands.” Andrés reports that last Thursday more than 500 people protested to...
Colombia: Two More Colombian Traditions Named Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO
Albeiro Rodas from Colombia Passport reports: “The Marimba music of the Colombian Pacific and the regulatory system of the Wayuu [indigenous] people of Guajira, were included in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. ” Albeiro goes on to explain each one.
Latin America: Travel E-Book Celebrates Latin America At Ground Level
Margaret Snook from Cachando Chile writes about Celebrating Latin America at Ground Level, a free e-book by Steven Roll from Travel Ojos: “a collection of tales from 29 expats and travel writers on just about every imaginable aspect of life in Latin America.”
El Salvador: Canadian Mining Firm Files Lawsuit Against Seven Anti-Mining Activists
Voices from El Salvador's Weblog reports: “Tension in the debate over Pacific Rim’s efforts to mine gold in Cabañas continues […] In this latest episode, Pacific Rim has filed a lawsuit against seven anti-mining activists in Cabañas, the province where Pacific Rim’s El Dorado property is located, accusing them of...
Mexico: Photo Blog “Tijuanalandia” Shows Tijuana's Surreal Side
Daniel Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times blog La Plaza writes about the photo blog Tijuanalandia, “featuring large snapshots of the more surreal and surprising aspects of Mexico's far northwestern border city.”