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August 16th, 2006


Stories

The Week that Was - Bolivian Blogs 

a small portrait of this author Eduardo Avila · 21:53

Blogs can remind us about the plight of others. Since many Bolivian bloggers write from various locations around the world, they can also capture the experience of other Bolivians, who are trying to make it in a land far from home. Isabella Fuente recently returned from a trip to Bolivia, where she ran into many of her fellow countrymen and women in the Madrid, Spain airport. These Bolivian immigrants were not as fortunate and faced an uncertain future. She writes in her blog, Ergoth (ES):

Una escena dura. Aeropuerto de Barajas y la cola para migración interminable. Más de 600 personas de distintos vuelos intentando entrar a España. Todos con diferentes objetivos, por diferentes motivos, con diferentes sueños. De pronto alguien es retenido en migración, le dicen que sus papeles no están en orden, que debe esperar en una especie de sala que está a un costado. Poco a poco la sala se va llenando. Primero cinco, luego son doce, luego cada vez más. Yo era una de las últimas en la cola de migración y comencé a inquietarme, sabía que a mi me dejarían entrar, yo tenía tarjeta de residencia, no había porque no, pero la cola seguía creciendo y la situación se volviá francamente angustiante, todos mirábamos a los que iban sumándose a la sala. Llegué a contar hasta 78 personas detenidas, prohibidas de ingresar a España. Mi mayor dolor era que casi todos los detenidos eran bolivianos.

A tough scene: Barajas Airport and the unending line for immigration. More than 600 persons from different flights are attempting to enter Spain. All have different objectives for different reasons, and with different dreams. Soon, someone is held up in immigration. They are told that their papers are not in order, that they should wait in some sort of waiting room, which is located off to the side. Little by little, the room begins to fill. At first, there are 5, then 12 and then more. I was one of the last in the line for immigration and I began to become nervous. I knew that they would let me enter because I had a residency card. There was no reason that they wouldn’t let me in, but the line began to grow and frankly, the situation became tense. We all watched those that entered the waiting room. I counted 78 detainees, who were prohibited from entering Spain. What hurt me the most was that the majority of those detained were Bolivian.

A couple of bloggers from Cochabamba, Javier and Luis Rodriguez recently started their stint on a local radio station every Saturday. As Blogs de Bolivia highlights, they decided to use the internet to complement their airtime. For example, they opened up an official blog called La Música Que Escuchan Todos (ES) (Music that Everyone Listens to) for the radio show, where they also include a podcast download of their most recent show for listening at a later time or for those who may not live in Cochabamba.

Finally, as the debate regarding the Constituent Assembly carries over to the blogosphere, the relationship between the mainstream media and blogs is closer than previously thought. Plan B’s Sebastian Molina was casually reading a story in the Santa Cruz newspaper, El Deber, about 5 recent proposals in this Assembly, when he noticed an analysis given by his father and blogger of Ágora (ES), Carlos Hugo Molina, the former departmental prefect. The text looked rather familiar because it turns out that it was the exact commentary left by Carlos Hugo as a comment on one of Sebastian’s earlier entries on this topic (ES). When consulted, Carlos Hugo indicated that he did not speak with any reporter to provide his opinion, but instead, the journalist used the comment as a part of his story with no mention that it was a comment on a blog and not based on an interview with the original comment author.

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Kurdistance: Three Week Update 

a small portrait of this author Deborah Ann Dilley · 19:56

After a brief hiatus, I'm back and clicking away…three weeks have passed and we have a lot to cover….

At the end of July it was announced that Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman would be doing a promotional tour of the US and Europe to talk about The Other Iraq- Iraqi Kurdistan. While this would have seemed to be a great opportunity to promote Kurdish culture, it was greeted lukewarmly. Non-Kurdish bloggers' reaction ranged from distrustful at the ad campaign as either too pro-war in Iraq or too right wing to a short interview discussing the main ideas of The Other Iraq's website. Unfortuately, Kurdish bloggers didn't take advantage of this opportunity. Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan advertised the announcement (as well as the Kurdistan Blog Count), and posted a piece that comedian John Stewart has performed on The Other Iraq's Ad Campaign promotion.

With events occuring as they are in Lebanon, Kurdish bloggers are still talking about the implications of war there. Roj Bash! gives a history of the Kurds of Lebanon. From Holland to Kurdistan posts the Kurdistan Party of Lebanon's statement of condemnation of the Israeli attacks. Kurdish Aspect writes about the attempted parallels drawn by the Turkish government of the PKK and Hezbollah. And Sami from An Iraqi's Thoughts writes about how the war between Hezbollah and Israel is changing the Middle East in unexpected ways.
(more…)

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