Latest posts by Silvia Viñas from October, 2010
Argentina: Where is Luciano Arruga?
Luciano Arruga has been missing since January 31, 2009. That night Luciano was seen, severely beaten, by a witness at a police station. A blog called ¿Dónde está Luciano? [es] (Where is Luciano?) has been following the case, posting pictures, video, audio and information on protests against police brutality and...
Nicaragua: Open Government and the Evolution of e-Government
Juan Ortega writes [es] about the book Open Government [es] by César Calderón and Sebastián Lorenzo. He briefly explains what Nicaragua needs to do to improve transparency.
Venezuela: Misinformation on ETA-Chávez Connection
“The ETA – Chavez connection, brought to light after Spain's equivalent to the Supreme Court asked Venezuela to extradite a number of people involved in terrorist activities, is generating a torrent of misinformation rarely seen,” writes Alek Boyd in his blog.
Uruguay: Images of Montevideo and Uruguay
Since 2005, Julio F. has been sharing photographs of Montevideo and other parts of Uruguay in the blog Images of Montevideo and Uruguay.
Chile: The 34th Miner
Roberto Arancibia from El Mundo Sigue Ahí [es] writes about “the 34th miner”: the other miners that got out of the San José mine and did not get trapped. He thought about that 34th miner when the news broke that the 33 miners were alive, and when the rescued miners...
El Salvador: Demanding Local Food
Colleen O'Brien begins her post “Growing Local Food Demand” asking, “Local food in El Salvador? It certainly exists, even though farmers markets, CSAs and advocates don’t abound in this country.” She later writes, “Fresh food for the urbanites, steady incomes for the campesinos. Is it just a pipe dream? I...
El Salvador: ‘There's no water’
For Blog Action Day, Linda writes: “Usually, no hay agua [meaning, “there is no water”] is a temporary condition, and the water returns. Yet as more and more demands are placed on our water systems, and less and less care is taken to preserve and recycle water well, no hay...
Venezuela: University Students Protest Budget Cuts
University students protested budget cuts in Caracas on October 14. Alejandro Tarrae reports on his blog [es] that he saw hundreds of Police and National Guard troops; he realized why so many security forces where in place when he later saw the multitude of students and professors protesting on the...
Bolivia: The Effects of Climate Change on Water
Pablo Rivero blogs at Purple Fire [es] for Blog Action Day: “Bolivia is a country with great nature reserves, among them, fresh water. However, in the last years, the effects of climate change have left notorious and dramatic footprints.” He provides various links for more information, including a blog dedicated...
Honduras: The Lack of Clean Water
Laurie says that statistics on water conditions are “too big to grasp! But here in the elbow of Central America, I get it. Water, or the lack of clean water, kills people. They get diarrhea, cholera or hepatitis. They lose their kids. Their hope. They stay in poverty.” Laurie knows...
Peru: Bill on Electronic Voting Approved
The blog Plan H [es] celebrates that the Peruvian Congress approved a bill for electronic voting.
El Salvador: The Right to Water
Tim's El Salvador Blog is participating in Blog Action Day with a post on the right to water: “Water is a a paradox in El Salvador. At many times there is too much water, and floods destroy crops or heavy rains produce landslides burying homes. And yet hundreds of thousands...
Bolivia: The Mining Rescue and Chile-Bolivia Relations
In his blog Pronto, Miguel Centellas analyzes whether the mining rescue will improve bilateral relations between Bolivia and Chile. One of the 33 miners trapped underground is Bolivian [es].
Mexico: Remembering the Pasta de Conchos Mine Disaster
Pepe Flores, from Vivir Mexico [es], says Mexicans watching the rescue of 33 miners in Chile are remembering the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster from February 19, 2006, when 65 miners were trapped underground. In the case of Pasta de Conchos, no miners were rescued.
Chile: Images of Rescue Under Creative Commons License
The Chilean government has uploaded a Flickr photostream with images of the rescue of the miners under a Creative Commons license, clarifying that “These photographs are property of the Government of Chile for editorial use only. Images should be credited: Hugo Infante/Government of Chile.”
Chile: Miners Begin to Emerge
Julio Suarez Anturi blogs [es] about the first miners emerging after 69 days trapped underground: “A second opportunity on this planet is what these 33 men are getting who spent the first 17 days as if they had disappeared, died […]”
Chile: Twitter List of Users Live from Camp Hope Covering Rescue of Miners
Nicolas Copano (@copano) has made a list of Twitter users [es] that are reporting on the rescue of the 33 trapped miners live from Camp Hope.
Venezuela: National Assembly Reforms Military Service Law, Removes Sanctions
Venezuelan Analysis reports that the National Assembly reformed the Military Conscription and Enlistment Law, eliminating sanctions for not registering in the Military Record.
El Salvador: Nothing to Celebrate on ‘Día de la Raza,’ Columbus Day
In the blog El Trompudo Carlos Molina argues [es] that there is nothing to celebrate on the “día de la raza” (Colombus Day): “It should be the saddest day of our lives, because it was the day that started the robbery and looting of everything our natives had built.”
Venezuela: Reactions to the Law of Military Service
At the beginning of October, the government declared that those not enrolled in the military record before October 21, 2010 would face penalties. The government's decision to "reactivate" the Military Conscription and Enlistment Law has generated an attitude of resistance from civil society, stronger than usual for orders coming from President Hugo Chávez.
Venezuela: Crime and Violence ‘Staring you in the Face’
“As crime has increased, not only does it get closer to you, but your self-imposed curfew grows and gets earlier. Your paranoia increases” explains Miguel Octavio from The Devil's Excrement, in the post “When street crime and violence stares at you in the face in Venezuela.”
