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The Week That Was - Bolivian Blogs

Eduardo Avila · 23:19

The date was June 2002, the last time Bolivia held Presidential elections, and the Bolivian blogosphere had yet to sprout. One of the true trailblazers of this internet community, Barcelona-based Miguel Esquirol, was one of the few that was even blogging at the time. In his blog El Forastero, he describes the political landscape back in his native Bolivia:

“The Bolivian elections stomp along like an elephant banging into and leaving its prints on anything in its way. There’s not much one can do against this stampede..”

Nearly three and a half years later, and the Bolivian blogosphere has significantly grown manifold. Election coverage will continue to dominate the content on many of the blogs in this community. Political leanings can be somewhat easy to decipher by frequent readers. However, few have explicitly and publicly indicated who they will vote for.

La Paz blogger, who writes under the name Raízdefuego, states that he will vote for Evo Morales (MAS) despite some reservations. In his blog Somos Bolivia, the author would like to see whether Morales would be up for the task of governing such a complex country and having Morales in office may lessen the chance of continued political instability, which ends up in the form of street protests.

Jonathan Olguin, who recently started his new blog, the Journal of Bolivian Business and Politics, admits that he “half-heartedly support(s) the PODEMOS candidacy,” which corresponds to the candidate Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga. However, he criticizes Quiroga for mismanaging the fragile gas export issue and almost destroying important social programs during his short time in office, after the death of Hugo Banzer.

It’s hard to say whether other bloggers will come out in support for one of the eight Presidential candidates. Most likely, if there is public support, it will be hand-in-hand with similar reservations and criticisms. One such criticism came from Jaime C. Rubin de Celis, who questioned Evo Morales’ claim that he has the support of a major business such as the airline Aerosur, which gave the candidate a gift of free air travel. In his blog JCR’s Place, he wonders if the airline offered similar benefits to the other candidates and the ethical implications of such an offer.

As the number of blogs continues to grow, Bolivian blogger get-togethers are taking place all over the planet. Three bloggers recently met in France where all three currently reside. Gustavo Siles aka Almada de Noche writes about the recent meeting with two other Bolivian bloggers based in France. There he met with Ada Esquirol Ríos aka Agüita Fresca and Gabriel, who writes in his blog Gabriel al Sur de Francia.

Another gathering is currently in the works for La Paz. Rolando Lopez, author of Rocko Weblog and Carlos Hugo Quntinalla, author of Del Quintacho su Rincón are eagerly anticipating the meeting denominated “Paceñas, Fricachos & Blogs,” which is scheduled for the last weekend in November. Paceña is a commonly-found beer in the capital city and Fricasé, a local gastronomic specialty, is a type of pork stew.

Finally from Spain, Javier, who writes in Una revisión de todo un poco, wonders whether the Bolivian press exaggerates the plight of many Bolivian immigrants in that country. In addition, Esquirol compares the different types of fast food that can be found in Bolivia, Spain and around the world.

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WSIS in Tunisia: governance issue settled, free speech issue boils

Rebecca MacKinnon · 10:26

Here at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, a compromise has been reached on internet governance. Now the spotlight turns to free speech issues and the Tunisian government's heavy-handedness against dissidents and journalists.

In addition to the copious news reporting, bloggers are hard at work. Be sure to follow WSISblogs.org for the latest. The APC WSIS blog is also excellent. The Technorati WSIS tag page and search page are also great sources of WSIS blogging in all languages.

The tireless Andy Carvin has been faithfully blogging major speeches. Here is one quote he has from Kofi Annan:

The Internet's very life blood is freedom - allows journalists to do their work and citizens to hold govts accountable. Without this, the information revolution will stall and be stillborn.

And here is how he describes remarks by the Swiss president:

The president of the Swiss Confederation is speaking right now. He's just said he can't believe there are still UN members states that imprison citizens because of their opinons. He added that all people attending WSIS should be allowed to express their opinions freely and openly, clearly a reference to Tunisian interference in civil society's activities here. The comments were met with roaring applause from the civil society gallery.

The Tunisian government clearly does not agree. Ethan Zuckerman and I are participating tomorrow in a workshop called “Expression Under Repression.” We have heard that the Tunisian government has expressed the view that such a topic is not consistent with the conference theme of “ICT for Development.” Of course, we have a different view, and are looking forward to a our session tomorrow. Our colleague John Palfrey has an excellent post on the impact of internet censorship on people’s lives and why we should care. Tunisian democracy activist Neila Charchour Hachicha has a poem in protest of the situation.

A number of people here are also disappointed that the local government’s behavior is detracting from what should be the central focus of this meeting: how to use technology to improve the lives of the world’s underprivileged, and how to bridge the digital divide.

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Bangladesh: Another terrorist attempt

Neha Viswanathan · 06:19

Terrorism struck Bangladesh yet again. Adda reports

It happened again very sadly. Terrorist group in Bangladesh yesterday killed two judges… This is an unfortunate trend in the recent years where fundamentalism and religious militancy in Bangladesh have been on rise. Since, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has allied with the wicked Jamat-i-Islami and Islami Forum to come to power; Islamist groups have been politically and administratively patronized in Bangladesh.

Rezwan at 3rd World View thinks there might be more than what appears on the surface.

There is a deeper conspiracy in this. the Islamic millitants see the court as their biggest hurdle as after the Aug 17 bombings the police apprehended more than 500 extremists and banned two Islamic groups (JMB being one of them). The police is on the verge of exposing the kingpins and go for speedy trials of these elements. So crippling the legal system might be the agenda of those who wants to establish Islamic law in Bangladesh.

And Salaam Dhaka says

Ladies and gentlemen, Jamaat has arrived. We can thank Begum Khaleda Zia for this one!

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Nigerian blogosphere this week

Sokari Ekine · 04:06

Gbenga Sesan continues his reports from Tunis “Yesterday we got a taste of Nollywood in Tunis”. Gbenga and his group were prevented from entering a hotel which was a venue for a meeting of the Tunisia-based Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates (ATFD)

It was unbelievable and quite interesting! I would have tried to take a picture or two but my battery was flat (actually, truth is I wasn’t sure it was smart to try taking a picture at that time

See Ethan Zuckerman's post “Enroute to WSIS” for more on Tunisian security.

Naijablog reviews the film, The Constant Gardener and finds the film to suffer from the usual failings of films about white people in Africa.

the black characters are all incidental bit parts. The only major black character's role (a doctor friend of Weisz' character) smacks of being woven into the film to avoid having a completely obvious white-foreground, black-background bifurcation. All we see of African Nairboi is a Kibera-esque slum with corrugated roofs into the distance and thousands of kids everywhere. Ultimately, Kenyans are represented as having no agency or any form of resistance to corporate power. The film is therefore racist, with that subtle brand of racism the British excel at

Nigerian Times congratulates Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on winning the Liberian elections.

Nigerian Times rejoices with Lady Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for making history as the first female head of state in modern Africa. She is the beginning of a new era in the political history of Liberia and the rest of Africa.

Nubian Soul however points out that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is not in fact the first African woman to lead her country.

Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry (Ruth Perry) was leader of Liberia from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997 as chairwoman of the Council of State, which governed Liberia following the overthrow and murder of former dictator Samuel K. Doe

CyBlug reports on the “landmark” judgement declaring that gas flaring in the Niger Delta will stop.

“For the first time, a court of competence has boldly declared that Shell, Chevron, and the other oil corporations have been engaged in illegal activities here for decades,” declared Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the Nigerian chapter of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), which backed the lawsuit.

It will be interesting to see how many years it takes for this ruling to be honoured. Shell Develoment Petroleum Corporation (SPDC) has stated that it will appeal the ruling.

Chippla's Weblog responds to those calling for President Obasanjo to run for a third term - which would require a change in Nigeria's constitution.

“why does a nation have a constitution if it would not be respected? Such a nation might just as well pretend to be a jungle and let the laws of nature dictate the pace of its activities……..The very fact that there are voices in the Nigerian political class calling for Mr. Obasanjo to extend his tenure beyond 2007 shows how disoriented and visionless a part of that country's polity is. I mean, a constitution exists which clearly states that a Nigerian president can serve a maximum of two four-year terms.

Trae Days introduces us to his new blog Traedays.com and himself “Hi there, welcome to my side of the internet. My name is TRAE (my initials actually). You could also call me trae_z cos that's my username in many sites I'm registered with. I'm 22 and I'm from Abuja, Nigeria”

And so too does Kayode of Kazey Journal. “Self Interview. Meet Kayode Muyibi”.

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Travels in the Kurdish Blogosphere

Deborah Ann Dilley · 02:43

New this week…. Kurdo from Kurdo's World was interviewed by The Kurdistani, a Kurdish news agency posting out of the United Kingdom. Kurdo's World is considered as the first Kurdish blog that has focused on Kurdish political issues. After his blog has achieved a measureable amount of success, he started a new project, the Kurdistan Bloggers Union and then later the Northern Iraq project. In the interview Kurdo discusses why he started to blog, his inspirations and his projects aimed at fostering more interest in the plight of the Kurds and Kurdistan.

With the recent ideological split between the Kurdistan Bloggers Union and the Northern Iraq Project, a new rival blog to KBU has been started called Roj Bash (Good Morning). Still in its infancy it promises to be a blog of note. While the infighting between the two projects is lamentable, the expansion of more open forum blogs on Kurdistan is a step in a positive direction.

Mentioned on both Kurdo's World and on the Kurdistan Bloggers Union is the new ad campaign begun by the Kurdistan Development Corporation, the investment corporation sponsered by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan. The ad campaign is part of a new project called The Other Iraq which aims to change American and British public opinion on the people of Iraq, and to spur more economic investment in the region. The “Thank You for Democracy” commericals have begun to air on television stations in the US.

A new Kurdish Blog has been found this week called Bleak Blogorrhea, which on its first post has a link to the Google Print book “Mustafa Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement” by Massoud Barzani, which should be of interest to anyone studying Kurdish liberation movements.

Two bloggers have come back from a brief hiatus: Simko from Sulaimaniya, who has posted a flight departure table from an airport with the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government as destination, a new phenomenon in Iraq. Sami from Iraqi Thoughts is also back, and in his most recent post expresses his condolances to those that lost their lives in the recent hotel bombings in Jordan.

Vladimir from From Holland to Kurdistan focused primarily on the Kurds within the borders of Turkey. A bookstore bombing in the Southeast of the country was originally blamed on PKK terrorists, however in the Turkish media it has come out that Turkish Military Intelligence might be behind the blast, based on evidence found so far. Other posts include an article from Dr Ahmad Faruqui, which discusses Ataturk's Legacy.

Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes writes this week in support of a recent protest against corruption in Erbil (Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan). He also gives his predictions regarding the new Iraqi legislative election this December. Hiwa predicts:

What I think will happen is, there will be a greater Shiite turnout. There will be a greater Sunni turnout as well as they will say well this is going to be for four years so we would rather exist than not exist in the government as it is now taking a form. But there will be a less Kurdish turnout due as PUK and KDP are not keeping their promises and the corruption happening all around Kurdistan. I think if they do something about Kurdistan government within these weeks they might be able to make a big difference in the turnout.

He is confident that change is coming, and that it will come from the people.

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