Global Voices Online

Photograph of Loja, Ecuador by Milton Ramirez

Ecuador is a country with low access to the Internet and so most Ecuadorian netizens must save enough money to use an Internet cafe or pay for their own costly connection. The situation is even more interesting if we look at the impoverished southern Ecuadorian provinces of El Oro, el Azuay and Loja. It is in the last of these regions where there's been an advancement in the amount of technologist and professional weblogs. The Technical University of Loja has been instrumental in developing what we've come to call citizen journalism. A recognition of the progress being made at the university has been documented by Ecuadorian journalist and blogger Christian Espinosa [ES] who, mentioning the first blogger meetup organized by Calú [ES], asks Ecuadorean bloggers to become more involved with their southern peers.

There exists a “tipping point” of bloggers in the area, as Professor Espinosa likes to call it. In the city of Loja, Viva el Ecuador [ES] has led several online projects that aim to support local businesses and attract tourism to the region. And the Special Technical University of Loja (UTPL) has its own citizen blog portal.

When you come to visit Ecuador, don't leave without getting to know the bloggers of Loja as well as the city and province.

Translated from Spanish by David Sasaki