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 February, 2014
Honduras Launches Online Dictionary of Indigenous Languages
A dictionary of Honduran indigenous languages was recently released online [es]. Honduran newspaper Tiempo [es] explains that this dictionary “registers the equivalent [words] in Spanish, chortí, garífuna, isleño, miskito, pech, tawahka and tolupán, languages that make up the country's linguistic heritage.” For example, a search for the Spanish word for...
PHOTOS: Venezuelan Women March for Peace in Caracas
Women who support the government of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro took to the streets on Saturday, February 22, to demand an end to the violence that has been sweeping the country as protests continue. Photographer Jesus Gil shared photos of the demonstration on Demotix: The day before the march, Andreína...
List of Deceased in Venezuela Protests Available in 5 Languages
In the blog Panfleto Negro [es], John Manuel Silva and Emiliana Duarte are keeping a list of confirmed deaths from the ongoing protests taking place in Venezuela. The list -originally in Spanish- has been translated into English, German, Italian and French.
Brief Summary of the Situation in Venezuela for the Curious or Poorly Informed
The protests are being carried out in many parts of the country and are lacking in center and direction, having being called through social media networks. Among the protesters themselves, there are many diverse opinions about the opposition political parties, so it’s possible to find many expressions of support and...
Venezuela Protests: ‘Dear International Media: Step it Up!’
Dear International Editor: Listen and understand. The game changed in Venezuela last night. What had been a slow-motion unravelling that had stretched out over many years went kinetic all of a sudden. What we have this morning is no longer the Venezuela story you thought you understood. In the blog Caracas...
VIDEO: Toward a Fair and Inclusive Education System in Chile
In the video above by Open Society Foundations, Giorgio Jackson, former student leader and newly elected parliamentarian in Chile, discusses the education system in his country and what it means to have an “open society.” Trine Petersen writes: A fair and inclusive system that makes education available to all is...
Collecting Data About Possible Web Censorship in Venezuela
Marianne Díaz, lawyer, digital activist and Global Voices Advocacy author, has been making constant appeals from her Twitter account asking users to collaborate on collecting data related to access to some websites and online platforms from Internet service providers in Venezuela, due to growing reports of partial or total blockage...
Ecuador Makes List of Countries Where Press Freedom Has Declined
Ecuador is the only Latin American country featured on the Committee to Project Journalists’ (CPJ) annual Risk List. CPJ explains: The list is based on the expertise of CPJ staff, but also takes into account press freedom indicators such as journalist fatalities and imprisonments, restrictive legislation, state censorship, impunity in anti-press...
‘Costa Ricans Are Fed Up’
A myriad of articles about the recent Costa Rican elections have proclaimed the country’s “turn to the left.” Perhaps some do this because it is simply too convenient to whip up an article or op-ed about leftist victories in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Or perhaps some are still trapped...
Mapping Conflicts Between Indigenous Peoples and Corporations in Latin America
Codpi (Coordination for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) has created a map to monitor projects that are affecting indigenous territories, as their website explains [es]: This map aims to collect cases of conflict that arise due to the presence of transnational corporations -mainly those with headquarters in Spain- in the...
Why You Should Stop Saying ‘Venezuelan Women are Beautiful’
The pressure to conform to an impossible standard of beauty was, and is, incredible. Why? Because if you do not nip, tuck, fill and blow-dry your way towards “beauty,” then you will be the exception to the rule, you will be “un-beautiful,” you will break the mantra that we all...
Do You Have What it Takes to be a Mexican Newspaper Editor?
On PBS.org you can take “The Reportero Challenge”, a game inspired by the documentary Reportero which presents various scenarios that journalists and editors face in Mexico: You have been offered the position of Editor-in-Chief at El Centinela-Investigador. Since its inception, the paper has stood up to the drug cartels and a...
El Salvador and Costa Rica to Hold Runoff Elections
El Salvador and Costa Rica held presidential elections yesterday, February 2, but both countries will define their president in a runoff vote. In El Salvador, “results show Salvador Sanchez Ceren (FMLN) winning 49%, just short of the 50% he needed to win in the first round. Norman Quijano (ARENA) is...
Voting Day in El Salvador
Online news site El Faro has published a Storify post [es] with early citizen reports and reactions about today's presidential elections in El Salvador. They also have a special section [es] dedicated to the elections where they share photos, tweets and more. Meanwhile, Tim's El Salvador Blog has put together...
Costa Ricans Go to the Polls to Elect a New President
Glenda Umaña, a Costa Rican journalist who is covering today's presidential elections, comments on Facebook [es] and Twitter: Ya me encontré en padrón electoral. Se me salen las lágrimas de la emoción de votar! #CNNTICO @cnnee @ pic.twitter.com/RHua1KrN8L — Glenda Umaña (@glendacnn) February 2, 2014 I found my name on...
Memes to Confront Impunity in Mexico
David Sasaki shares viral videos and social media memes from Mexico to show how “the meme has been embraced by a Mexican middle class as a tool to confront the impunity of the country’s elite.” For example: In the same way that literature inevitably builds on the books of the...
