Rosario Lizana
Stories
December 22nd, 2007
Chile: A Gathering of Entrepreneurial Minds
· 06:31 · Americas
.Webprendedor [es] was the first conference of its kind in Chile that gathered entrepreneurs and their projects. Some of the questions that were addressed included: What are some of the projects using web 2.0 tools? What are some of the difficulties of running a project of this kind in Chile? The conference was held in the Santiago Library, with approximately 300 people in attendance. Luis Ramirez explains the mood of the conference [es]:
Algo que siempre sorprende de esta clase de eventos es la pasión que colocan los emprendedores, especialmente los que ya han tenido que pasar por las fases iniciales de creación de su empresa. Ellos comunican de manera eufórica que hay que a atreverse a cruzar las barreras o como uno de ellos dijos (en inglés) BE BOLD (ser audaz, tal como el lema de mi blog). Me llamó mucho la atención algo que venía escuchando hace tiempo: cada vez impresionan menos los buenos planes de negocio e impresionan más las ideas que se creen con convicción. Oskar, el sueco que vino a Chile a fundar Needish fue la máxima prueba de ese punto.
Something that always surprises me in these events is the passion that the entrepreneurs display, especially those that have had to pass through initial phases during the creation of their company. They communicate in an euphoric manner that one must dare to cross through many barriers or as one of them said (in English) BE BOLD (which is also the slogan of my blog). Something else that caught my attention which I have been hearing for quite awhile: Business plans impress less and ideas coupled with conviction impress more. Oskar, the Swede, who came to Chile to establish Needish [es] was an extreme example of this point.
The first speaker was Tim Delhas, who spoke about what it is like to be an entrepreneur and to work on web. 2.0 projects. Richard Bou of La Ideoteca [es] posts about the tips that he learned from Tim's lecture. Some of them were suggestions on how to be bold and ambitious, and that an entrepreneur need to have 4 things very clear: the market, the opportunity, the differing characteristics between the two, and the team to make it possible. Richard also summarized other presentations and what he got out of them.
Cristian Sepulveda [es] presented his talk, “Corfo te amo, te odio.” (Corfo, I love you, I hate you). He explains his relationship with Corfo [es], an organization that supports web 2.0 innovations. In addition, he spoke about how to deal, how to move, and what to expect when asking for economic support in order to start a project with CORFO. He had already been through this process when he asked for support for his project Meeting [es], which is an online project to conduct meetings, classes and seminars.
As referenced earlier by Ramirez, Oskar Hjertonsoon from Needish spoke about how to present web 2.0 initiatives to investors and what to expect from his own experience. Oskar is one of the founders of the Needish platform and which has received support from Wenceslao Casares, founder of Patagon. To see his presentation, click here.
Other presentations were given by Paolo Colonnello [es] from Blue Company, who explained about the Bligoo platform. This program (developed in Chile) has started to generate profit. Paolo wrote his thoughts on the conference:
La conferencia de ayer me dejo muy satisfecho, es la primera vez que nos encontramos los emprendedores de la Web Chilena. Unos 300 entusiastas llenamos el auditorio de la Biblioteca de Santiago y por más de cuatro horas estuvimos conversando y exponiendo de distintos proyectos y aprendiendo mutuamente. La orientación de las charlas no fue tecnica sino que la visión de negocio, cuidado de clientes, financiamiento y emprendimiento. La organización a cargo de Nico Orellana fue impecable.
Yesterday's conference left me fulfilled, as it was the first time that Web entrepreneurs in Chile had met. Around 300 enthusiasts filled the auditorium in the Santiago library and for four hours, we talked and presented about different projects. We learned from one another. The point of the lectures were not very technical, but rather focused on business vision, customer care, on financial and entrepreneurial matters. Nico Orellana's organization of the conference was perfect.
Another topic that gathers interest is how to make money from blogs and pages. Javier Yranzo [es] from Grey Chile [es] spoke about adwords and adsense.
The conference concluded with the presentation of Leo Prieto [es] (see interview with Global Voices here), founder of Zetacorp Networks [es]. He spoke about the world of web 2.0 and his experience with Fayerwayer [es], one of the most successful technology blogs in Latin America. To see his presentation click here.
How was the conference organized? One of the lecturers, Oskar from Needish wrote how he was invited to participate in this event [es]:
Un día aparece Nicolás Orellana en mi vida (no hace falta llorar), con la visión del sitio Webprendedor como un lugar para fomentar el negocio… ¡de otros sitios Web! Algo que entendía hace rato ya, se consolidó en mí como algo clave hoy en la conferencia organizada por Nicolás (y otros importantes emprendedores chilenos, ej. www.meeting.cl): Uno puede crear negocio solo pero un negocio necesita una industria para vivir. La industria tendremos que crear juntos (ahora, si pueden llorar) y yo prometo que Needish – en caso de éxito - prestará futuros recursos para soportar eventos y actividades para fomentar la innovación en Chile
One day, Nicolas Orellana appeared in my life (there is no need to cry) with the vision of the site Webprendedor as a place to promote the business…….of other web sites! Something that I have known for awhile now, but was reinforced today at the conference organized by Nicolás (and other important Chilean entrepreneurs, i.e. www.meeting.cl) that one can create a business but only a business needs industry to be able to survive. In industry, we need to create together (now, we can cry) and I promise that Needish, in the case of being successful, will lend future resources to be able to support events and activities to support innovation in Chile.
Photos of the conference here
2 comments · »»July 27th, 2007
Chile: A Controversial Agreement with Microsoft
· 02:37 · AmericasThere is a feeling among Chilean bloggers that the agreement signed between the Economy Minister, Alejandro Ferreiro and Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer de Microsoft Corporation on May 9th is not good for Chile. The title of this post written by Christian in elfrancotirador [ES] explains the situation in a simple way:
“Chicos, ¿qué me dirían si les cuento que desde hoy, los 15 millones de chilenos (todos) vamos a ser usuarios de Microsoft… lo queramos o no. Lo imaginé.
¿Y qué tal si agrego al paquete que, en adelante, realizar cualquier trámite estatal o municipal requerirá el uso de software Microsoft? Pero no nos conformemos. Sumen que toda la educación chilena será ejecutada sobre plataformas Microsoft y que -no conforme con eso- cada estudiante matriculado de nuestro país se convertirá en “cliente preferencial” de la empresa.”
Guys: what would you say if I told you that starting today that the 15 million of Chileans will (all) be users of Microsoft, even if we wanted to or not? That's what I thought.
And, what if I added, that from now on, to make any state or municipal transaction will require the use of Microsoft software? Don’t be content with this beacause in addition, the entire Chilean education system will be carried out through the Microsoft platform-and that's not it, but every registered student of our country will turn into a “preferential client” of the company.
Microsoft buying Chilean citizen’s information?
Carlos in diabloendetalles [ES] give us some extract of the agreement (ES):
The common creation of a “space” where the citizens have access to all the relevant notification information and interaction with the public institutions
Microsoft commits to supply 15 million users the platform Live (mail, Messenger, Spaces and mobile) for the mail service, instant communication, blogs and the access to them from mobiles for free. Microsoft agrees to assume the operational cost and administration of the infrastructure associated.
For many, this agreement continues to get worse and worse. The Economy Ministry also commits to give the information from the Internal Revenue Service to charge the citizens' accounts. As Fayerwayer [ES] explains, Microsoft also commits to teach all the Chileans between 18 and 35 to use Windows, Word, Explorer and the rest of the Microsoft platform.
No a usar un computador, no a usar un procesador de texto, no a navegar la web, sino más bien a utilizar sus productos y únicamente sus productos — ¡gracias Microsoft!
Not to use a computer, not to use a data processor, not to use the web, rather only use their products and only their products- Thank you Microsoft!
Other view of the agreement is from Rodrigo Walker [ES], that the agreement should have been done through a public bidding, but which also ruled out the chance of free software.
Blogger reactions didn't wait, “The Front of Digital Liberation” [ES] is a movement that was created to alert, inform and report on all the digital development decisions. This initiative was created as a reaction of the agreement with Microsoft. Bloggers can support this initiative that has all ready 738 signatures.
To track the forums discussion (all in Spanish): Tarreo and Atina Chile
11 comments · »»June 6th, 2007
Chile: Oil Spill Affects Livelihood of Fishermen
· 22:11 · AmericasThree hundred and fifty liters of oil were spilled in Bahia San Vicente in Talcahuano. As Ecologia y Patrañas Diversas (ES) explains, the spillage happened when the ship New Constellation under the flag of the Marshall Islands and operated by Ultramar, while unloading fuel for the National Enterprise of Petrol, Enap. The accident happened on May 25.
To understand who were responsible for the accident, the Public Prosecutor's Office is working on the case. The online newspaper, El Ciudadano (ES) posts that the accident was due to a breakdown in the pipe on the property of Enap (ES), National Enterprise of Petrol. In the meantime, SAG (Agricultural and Livestock Service) is working to rescue, rehabilitate, wash, and relocate the birds to a safe area. More than 200 birds are being attended to at a clinic in the same location.
The environment and the fishermen in the area have been the most affected. As Sergio Leiva (ES) explains, the Enap company hired 50 fishermen to help with the labor of cleaning the area, because it is now impossible for the fishermen to work. Up until now, it is said that 85% of the area is now clean. The port authority developed a plan to recover the petrol and to build barriers to slow down the damage. Mauricio Barrientos (ES) wrote that the damage will remain for 15 years. Also, that there are some groups of students helping to clean the area.
0 comments · »»June 1st, 2007
Chile: Issues of Broadband Access and Net Neutrality
· 20:26 · AmericasThis week Chilean bloggers had a heated reaction about the broadband and net neutrality. Senator Fernando Flores declared that we were far along the way as a country, and that this was not an issue for Chileans. Pepe Huerta, who attended a private discussion about broadband and net neutrality, discovered that the general managers of big companies just don’t care about it, and are protecting their investment. The brave act was a posting about this meeting on his blog.
This all started through a meeting called together by País Digital (ES) a foundation that promotes Information Technologies in Chile. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the law proposal concerning broadband and neutrality on the net. The audience was comprised of generalmanagers of the large telecommunications companies and some governmental officials, Senators, and Deputies. As Pepe Huerta (ES) explains, he was able to attend the meeting because he is the assistant of deputy Gonzalo Arenas, who is the sponsor of this two law proposals. Pepe described the conversations of the meeting on his blog. One of the issues exposed was that companies can not use the commercial name broad band in connections lower that 1.5 Mbps, which is the standard of the International Communications Union and is used by most of the developing countries. He explains the reaction of the General Manager of Telefonica Company, the biggest communication company in Chile:
(…) las empresas proveedoras de acceso a Internet no estarían dispuestas a invertir el dinero necesario para lograr otorgar el servicio que la ley exige y que, según el, no puede acotarse el nombre Banda Ancha solo a las velocidades superiores, debido a que históricamente se le denomina Banda Ancha a todas las conexiones no conmutadas (aquellas realizadas por líneas telefónicas comunes).(…)”
Pepe continues explaining his personal view :
Sobre esto, solo puedo comentar que mientras las plataformas físicas que sostienen “los cables” que se utilizan para generar la conexión a Internet sigan siendo de propiedad de un par de grandes empresas, los costos asociados para generar conectividad seguirán siendo elevados, por lo que tampoco existirá competencia ya que es imposible competir con el “dueño de la pelota“. En Chile finalmente, pagamos lo mismo que paga un ciudadano europeo por una conexión diez veces más rápida que las nuestras. ¿Parece coherente?.”
Regarding the neutrality issue, Pepe explains that the one of the members of VTR, the other main telecommunications company argues that they use filters to protect the users from attacks of hackers and virus on the net.
There are more concerns about these issues, but the main discussion does not center on broadband or net neutrality. There are many blogger reactions about the declarations by Senator Fernando Flores, who led the discussion. Pepe writes:
Creo que la discusión sobre neutralidad en la red debemos dejársela a los Estados Unidos y Europa, Chile no es potencia en desarrollo tecnológico, por lo que no tenemos pa’ que discutirlo
In regards to blogger reactions to this issue, Flores posts (ES) that he is concerned about the issue of broadband and he has been working a lot on the issue for quite a while, even though there are a lot of people who do not know about the issue. He wrote that Chileans are too immature to be able to participate in the discussion and that we have to wait to see how this issue goes on in Europe and EEUU.
The blog, neutralidadsi (ES), (Pepe's blog) promotes free internet in Chile and asks for support for the new law proposal regarding neutrality on the web. They declared that the Chilean discussion is similar to discussion in the United States: “the internet provider should restrict their themselves only to provide the access and not to allowing privilege or to hinder the access to some content”. He also posts the text of the law proposals.
This is the beginning of a discussion and bloggers will continue to post about for years to come. Atina Chile, one of the biggest and most well-organized online social movements founded by Fernando Flores has promoted the campaign of broadband for all and lately has been meeting with the Chilean Economy Ministry to support OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), here you cand find the news about this issue.
2 comments · »»May 17th, 2007
Chilean Gas Crisis: Biofuel Perspectives
· 23:59 · AmericasCold temperatures in Argentina this week decreased the supply of gas to Chile. Even though the Argentinean government declared that Chileans will be provided their regular supply of gas, Chileans are seeking other energetic alternatives to ensure the energetic supply for the country. This week, the Ministers of Economy, Energy, Agriculture and Revenue decided to release biofuels from a tax in order to promote their use.
Ecoperiodico (ES) explains that this tax also applies to gasoline and diesel, and with this measure the prices of bioethanol and biodiesel will be a third of the price of one liter of gasoline.
Chile decidió el miércoles eximir a los biocombustibles de un impuesto específico que pagan las gasolinas y el diésel para fomentar su uso, en medio de preocupaciones por un menor suministro de gas natural desde Argentina, su único proveedor del recurso.
Chile decided this Wednesday to eliminate a specific tax on biofuel, that is also paid on gasoline and diesel in order to promote their use. This takes place in the middle of the concerns about the reduced supply of gas from Argentina, which is the only supplier of this resource.
The note continues explaining that Chile imports almost all of the fuel that it consumes, and this decision will help reduce the fluctuations in fuel prices and gas supply. One of the most affected areas is the northern part of the country. One of the projects that is concerned for this area is from the Ministry of Interior. The Interior Minister, posted on his blog (ES) an agreement with the University of Tarapacá to develop the crop “Jatropha” on 1,500 hectares. Jatropha is a shrub that is used in Europe and the Middle East to generate biofuel.
Also in regards to biofuels, but not related to the energy crisis, Atinabiotec (ES), which is a blog that publishes biotechnology-related news, posts the results of The Insurance Society Co-op, which warns about the dangers for the environment due to the use of biofuels. One of the issues is that the use of biofuels can help reduce the greenhouse effect, but on the other hand, it can also increase the use of agriculture land for biofuel plantations. This could decrease the amount of available lands for agriculture in countries that still have famine.
Local newspapers and television said that the gas for domestic use will be supplied. The most serious situation is for the companies that must find other sources of fuel in order to operate.
1 comment · »»May 11th, 2007
Chilean Ethnic Groups: Development Against Native Rights?
· 20:51 · AmericasChile's native ethnic groups have been here long before the Spanish occupation, and since then, they have been defending their rights in different areas. Today they defend the lands that they have occupied for centuries from the country's development that may threaten their way of life.
Víctor Toledo (ES), from the Centre of Public Policies and Native Rights posts an entire case of this situation. Lleu-Lleu is a location, where 17 Mapuche families will be affected if the government decides to activate a mine, which is still a project under economic evaluation. He argues that the government doesn’t respect indigenous rights, who are not even safe on their own land, which by doing so, is one way to maintain the native peoples' integrity. Also he remembers that indigenous communities are protected by law, but goes looks at the deeper issue: the role of the government.
“Las comunidades mapuches del Lago Lleu Lleu, sur de Chile, con la denuncia de un proyecto minero, han puesto en la agenda pública, y a su modo, un asunto de fondo: la contradicción entre la obligación estatal de protección de las tierras indígenas, y la inadecuación de la institucionalidad y legislación sectorial minera ante esa obligación. Más allá de sus detalles, el caso de Rucañanco- Lleu Lleu es un conflicto que encuentra sus causas y responsabilidades en las antinomias e incumplimiento de obligaciones del propio estado chileno.”
The Mapuche communities from the Lleu-Lleu Lake in southern Chile, with their complaints about the mining project, have placed the underlying issue on the public agenda: the contradiction between the state's obligation to protect the indigeous' lands and the inadequacy of the institutional and legislative mining sector of completing this obligation. In addition to the details, the Rucañanco- Lleu-Lleu conflict's causes and responsibilities can be explained by the non-fulfillment of the Chilean state's obligations.
Another case is the construction of the Ralco dam by the Spanish company Endesa, where 381 indigenous families were relocated from an area that is now flooded. All of the cemeteries and ancestral ceremonial sites were lost. A Spanish producer made a documentary about these events that explains step by step how the government and the company acted in order to make the project a reality. Under the title “ A documentary that shows the genocide of the Mapuche people by Endesa” the Spanish blog Teruel (ES) recounts the situation in the area.
A national network called” Action Network for Environmental and Social Justice” (ES) works to educate and inform about environmental rights and indigenous rights. The majority of the national organizations are registered there, and most do not have websites or blogs and many do not appear in the local newspapers.
Mapuexpress (ES) is a page where you can find all the news and about the concerns of Chilean indigenous communities, especially the Mapuche.
0 comments · »»May 3rd, 2007
New political movement: Chile Primero
· 20:42 · AmericasThe electoral system in Chile promotes alliances between candidates, called binominal. For Senators- that run for regions- or deputies- that run for district-it is the same system. Every list can have two candidates, the sum total of both candidates' votes must be more than the 50 % to win. This means that if candidate has only 10%, it is most probable that it will not be enough representation to win, and the candidate must make an alliance with another candidate to obtain the proper percentag. The list wins according to the percentage. This logic has developed two strong wings, the right and the left. The left wing has been the one with more representation since the end of the dictatorship period (right wing). All of Chile's presidents since then has been from the leftist coalition. In this scenario, building a new political movement is extremely difficult, as an alliance with the right or left coalition is always necessary.
In spite of this, a new political movement, Chile Primero [ES] has risen due to the citizen dissatisfation of some of the politicians. Fernando Flores [ES], Jorge Schaulsohn and Esteban Valenzuela [ES] are supporting this initiative that will be launched on May 12. All of them were members of the PPD political party, Party for the Democracy, but they are no longer members. Bloggers have been providing opinions about the movement, as chilepost [ES] explains:
Son reconocidas sus posturas liberales en lo económico. Schaulsohn ha actuado de frente y criticado el excesivo poder estatal. Flores siempre está hablando de los saltos que Chile necesita en materia educacional, del bajo nivel de la clase política y de como debemos integrarnos a la sociedad del conocimiento. Creo que en ese movimiento, se está gestando lo que en otros lados no: un espacio de discusión de lo que Chile necesita, aunque obviamente hay una estrategia de construcción de una plataforma político-electoral en ello.
Alejandro Valenzuela [ES] posts an article from Angélica Meneses that touches on the relation of this new movement with the actual presidency:
Pero la pregunta lógica es la siguiente: ¿cómo van a actuar frente al gobierno que eligieron y del que hoy ya no son parte? Esto es algo que aseguran tener resuelto. Valenzuela sostiene que “vamos a seguir apoyando a la Presidenta en todas sus cosas constructivas, pero creemos que el país necesita una oferta política distinta.
The president of the PPD party Sergio Bitar [ES] has been defending the left coalition project, well known as “concertación” and in referring to Chile Primero, MasdemocraciamasPPD (ES) post an article of the opinions of Bitar:
El presidente del PPD recalcó que “para nosotros la Concertación es un proyecto político de gran importancia, distinto de la derecha, es un proyecto político por la libertad, por la democracia y por la justicia social”, dejando entrever que al ubicarse Chile Primero fuera del conglomerado se establece la separación definitiva con los ex PPD.
A lot of young people from different regions are involved with this new movement, Osvaldo Yañez [ES] is from Talca, and he expresses:
Aquellos que vivimos fuera de Santiago, no nos resignaremos a esperar “concesiones graciosas” de tecnocratas de la capital. Muchos somos los hombres y mujeres de provincia que estamos comprometidos con que Chile sea un país mas grande, un país emprendedor, un país de hermanos. Es por esto que veo en el Movimiento Chile Primero, una forma de aglutinar a aquellos que vemos que en el hacer política estamos encargándonos de un mejor futuro para los nuestros.
April 27th, 2007
Seismic Activity and Tidal Waves in Chile
· 21:19 · AmericasChile is a land of the earthquakes. In recent months, the Aysén region has been affected by small seismic activity every day. Last weekend, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, caused a fjord landslide into the sea. Big waves crashed into the small city of Puerto Tortuga, devastating everything in its way.
Many criticized the reaction of the authorities, for example Copihues Rojos [ES] posts:
Las autoridades discuten si fue tsunami, maremoto o sólo marejada, como si esto tuviera alguna importancia para los que perdieron casas, familiares o sus animales. La Presidenta fué a la zona. Inmediatamente la derecha criticó, que era un error haber ido, pero si no hubiera ido igual la criticarían. El asunto es que hay que solucionar los problemas que deja el sismo y prever lo que pueda venir, por que aún no hay nada seguro sobre lo que vendrá. Hay que tener en cuenta que hace dos años hubo un fuerte terremoto en el norte del país, en la zona cordillerana y aún lo que se derrumbó esta en el suelo, antiguas iglesias construidas por los españoles, monumentos históricos etc.
The authorities are discussing whether this was a tidal wave, tsunami or only a swell, as if this has any importance for the ones that lost houses, relatives or their animals. The president went to the zone. Immediately the right wing criticizes her that was a mistake to go, but they would have criticized her if she hadn't gone. The issue is to solve the problems that the earthquake left and to prevent what might come; because it is still unknown of what might happen. We have to consider that two years ago in the north of the country there was a strong earthquake in the mountain range and what had fallen down is still on the ground, old churches build by the Spanish, historic heritage, etc.
Capitán Tricolor [ES] is a disaster volunteer, ever since the earthquake of 1985 in the central zone of Chile. Referring to the Aysén situation, he recalls the seismic activity that has been affecting the area since January. He explains that the Onemi (ES), (National Emergency Office) wrote a report in March that advised to evacuate the zone an earthquake over 6 on the Richter scale would produce damage. He explains the reason:
El caso de Aysén es diferente, la misma Onemi había anunciado que los movimientos telúricos que han afectado la zona desde enero son de origen volcánico (formación de un cono volcánico submarino), se informó de la muerte de fauna marina por el aumento de la temperatura del agua y la semana pasada se había informado de desprendimiento de laderas de cerros luego de un sismo fuerte.
The Aysen case is different. The Onemi announced that the telluric movements that affected the zone since January are of a volcanic origin (formation of a underwater volcanic cone), and they informed about the death of the marine fauna due to the increase of water temperature. Last week they informed of a landslide of the hillside after a strong earthquake.
Up to now, 3 people have died and 7 are still missing.
The blog El Morrocotudo [ES], posted two impressions of foreigners that were in Aysén: Steve and Rhonda Wilson are missionaries in the the Patagonia and Jen, a British woman, lives with her boyfriend in Coyahique.
The Diban [ES] , the Department of Libraries, Archives and Museums has information about Earthquakes in Chilean history and some photos. The Seismology Service [ES] of the Universidad de Chile (ES) has a complete report of seismic from month to month.
2 comments · »»April 20th, 2007
Chilean Love Poetry Online
· 22:03 · AmericasLove is one of the universal languages. One of the Chilean poets who wrote poems about love was Pablo Neruda. Not only do Chilean bloggers have Neruda's romantic prose in their digital DNA, but so do bloggers around the world. Here is a selection of Pablo Neruda’s poetry that has spread throughout the net.
Dantecalva (ES) explains in her post “Poetry with Conscience” what the poems can produce:
Ni en mis peores momentos de apatía mis fieles libros me abandonaron. La poesía siempre ha sido una compañía de todas las etapas en el transcurso de mi vida. La he sabido poner en el lugar pretendido, es decir, mi palabra o cualquier texto.
¿A cuántas personas en este mundo nos ha movido un sentimiento una frase bien hilada? ¿Cuándo se escuece el alma con solo leer algo conmovedor? ¿O cuándo dejamos nuestras emociones en la pluma de otros?
How many people in this world have been moved to emotion by a perfectly threaded phrase? When our soul is touched by just what we read? Or when we leave our emotions in the pens of others?
She continues with a selection of Neruda's poems that she likes the most. Damian (ES) posts the poem “I love you” along with more poems in Spanish from other authors. He declares in his blog “I don’t mind if you loved me…. In my dreams I have you.”
Sabrás que no te amo,
y que te amo,
puesto que de dos modos es la vida,
la palabra es un ala del silencio,
el fuego tiene una mitad de frío.
Yo te amo para comenzar a amarte,
para recomenzar el infinito
y para no dejar de amarte nunca:
por eso no te amo todavía.
and that I love you,
just as of the two ways of life,
the word is a wing of silence,
the fire has its portion of cold.
I love you to begin loving you,
To restart infinity,
And not to never stop loving you:
That why I don’t love you yet
Te amo y no te amo,
como si tuviera,
en mis manos las llaves de la dicha,
y un incierto destino desdichado.
Mi amor tiene dos vidas para amarte.
Por eso te amo,
cuando no te amo
y por eso te amo,
cuando te amo.
as if I had,
in my hands the keys of happiness,
And a uncertain destiny without fortune.
My love has two life’s to love you
That why I love you,
When I don’t love you,
And that’s why I love you
When I love you.
The spanish blog, elperiodistadigital (ES) post the poem ”Poema 20” from Nerudas book “Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada” (”Twenty poems of love and one desperate song”). Here is a fragment:
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Escribir, por ejemplo: “La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos”.
El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.
Write, for example: “The night is starry,
and shivering, blue, and the astros, far away”.
The wind of the night spins in the sky and sing.
I can write the saddest verses this night.
I loved her and sometimes she loved me two.
En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.
Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.
I kissed her so many times beneath the infinite sky.
She love me, and sometimes I loved her too.
How could I not have loved her big frozen eyes.
On this site (ES), there is a complete list of the most famous poems of Pablo Neruda, as well as MP3 files of the poet reading his own poems.
7 comments · »»April 14th, 2007
Chile: building a new educational understanding
· 20:33 · AmericasThese days one of the issues that is capturing the attention of Chilean bloggers is the educational reform. The LOCE, Constitutional Organic Law of Students is being reformed to a new law called the General Law of Education (PLEGE) (ES).
Michele Bachelet, president of Chile declared that origin of the LOCE was authoritarian and that this new reform is based upon republican and democratic visions “and in a democracy, a law has to legitimize the popular sovereignty and the current LOCE, clearly does not count on this legitimacy”
This could be a reference to the beginnings of the current educational law, which was made during the dictatorship period under Augusto Pinochet.
One of the two issues of conflict of this reform has to do with the selection of students during the first schooling period and the elimination of profit for private institutions.
Mariana Aylwin, ex Minister of Education (and son of Patricio Aylwin, ex Chilean president) , posts (ES) that the public schools used to select children, because before there were not enough schools for all of them. She also refers that the schools that still have to select students because there is more demand, that should make a transparent selection process.
The number of schools has grown in the last few years. José Joaquín Brunner, (ES) an expert in education explains that the private educational for-profit sector gives education to half of the Chileans students, which means one million students. So any decision in this matter should be oriented to strengthen the relation between the public and the private sector.
To understand other general issues in discussion, Rodolfo (ES), a professor of the University of Talca explains some general differences about this new reform:
“Actualmente la LOCE se centra en que el Estado debe resguardar la libertad de enseñanza, sin prestar similar atención al derecho a la educación. El proyecto propone equiparar ambos derechos. La LOCE actual no obliga al Estado a financiar un sistema gratuito que asegure el acceso a la enseñanza preescolar; la modificación extiende esta obligación a la enseñanza preescolar.
En la actualidad la LOCE permite el financiamiento público a instituciones educacionales privadas con fines de lucro, creadas sin mayores exigencias respecto de su creación y continuidad. En paralelo las escuelas municipales deben funcionar con subvenciones irrisorias basadas en la asistencia y sin real autonomía. El resultado lo tenemos a la vista: una educación de mala calidad. Por eso extraña que se afirme que la LOCE no tiene nada que ver con una educación de calidad: tiene mucho que ver. Lo anterior no implica que la LOCE sea la solución para una educación de calidad, pero ella contiene las bases conceptuales, los fundamentos, los cimientos, sobre las cuales se construye el sistema educativo. Lo que corresponde es que ella recoja la amplia experiencia nacional e internacional en la materia”.
Currently, LOCE is centered on the fact that the State should guarantee the freedom to teach, without giving the same attention to the right of education. The proposal of the project wants to balance these rights. The current LOCE does not obligate the state to finance a free system that includes access to preschool education, the modification extends the obligation to include preschool education.
In reality, the LOCE allows for public financing of educational private for-profit institutions, created without any great demands on their creation and continuity. The public schools, in comparison, have to operate with ridiculous subsidies based on attendance and without real autonomy. We can see the results: Bad educational quality. Because of that it is strange to see the assertion that the LOCE has nothing to do with a quality education: it has a lot to do with it. This doesn’t mean that the LOCE is the solution for a quality education, but this contains the conceptual bases, the grounds, the foundations in which the educational system is built. These correspond to widen the national and international experience in this issue.
About Rosario Lizana
Rosario Lizana is a Chilean freelacer, based in Santiago. Her experience lies in the field of strategic communications and research. She teaches at the Barnechea Cultural Corporation that promotes the exercise of debate amongst Chilean youth. Rosario has also worked as a consultant for political campaings and is currently promoting and advocating the blog platform in Chile. Other GV sites
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