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Support Global Voices Advocacy

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Global Voices Advocacy, the branch of Global Voices Online that covers examples of online censorship, targeting of bloggers by oppressive governments, and pushing for freedom of expression is participating in the Blogging for a Cause contest sponsored by Zemanta.

During my first trip to the Middle East last month, I met some Egyptian bloggers who are doing great work drawing attention to some of the issues in their own country, something that we in Latin America, for the most part, do not have to worry about. Bloggers like Noha and her Torture in Egypt site and Mahmoud, who created this great video.

These are two of the examples from Egypt that Global Voices Advocacy covers and why it is such a worthy project.

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

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Bolivia: Farewell to Aymara Hip Hop Artist Abraham Bojorquez

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Originally published at Global Voices Online

The sudden death of Bolivian hip-hop artist Abraham Bojorquez was especially hard on residents of El Alto, the city from which he hailed. A victim of a traffic accident involving a bus, Bojorquez left behind many fans around the world, but also left behind a legacy filled with memories and lyrics that reflected on the struggles and the hopes of a young city that has been through so much. Many Bolivian bloggers knew him well and in the weeks following his death shared their condolences and stories of how much they respected this artist.

Photo of Abraham Bojorquez by Wara Vargas / www.lamalapalabra.tk and used with permission.

Photo of Abraham Bojorquez by Wara Vargas / www.lamalapalabra.tk and used with permission.

A blogger from El Alto, Alberto Medrano of Letras Alteñas [es] remembers the first time he saw Bojorquez perform in Rio Seco in El Alto and how “many young people were left impressed with his cadenced rhythm of “Hip Hop” with an Andean flavor and with content of political protest and revolution, calling for justice for the bloody events of “October 2003.”

The events of October 2003 played prominently in the lyrics of Bojorquez. During that difficult time in El Alto, approximately 70 residents died during a conflict with the Armed Forces. The events have since become a rallying cry for those demanding justice.

In the early 1990s, Bojorquez emigrated to Brazil where he worked in a textile factory, but at the same time was introduced to hip hop. When he returned to El Alto, he started the group Ukamau y Ké and often rapped in the native indigenous language of Aymara. According to Cristina Quisbert of Bolivia Indigena [es], Bojorquez had “a particular style of combining hip hop with social order content and with valuing the Aymara culture, and won a place amongst the Alteño youth and in the places where he took his music and song.”

However, it was the coverage by the blog La Mala Palabra [es] that provides much of the follow-up after his death and the subsequent displays of homage and remembrance by many who knew Bojorquez. The blog publishes pictures of the wake and funeral that show the outpouring of sympathy from those that knew him well, and those that simply admired his work. At the wake, many friends and family came to pay their respects:

Su familia está destrozada y era obvio: el humilde hijo de migrantes campesinos (su familia es oriunda de Sapahaqui, provincia Loayza de La Paz) había logrado salir adelante pese a haberse criado solito, quedó huérfano muy tierno, cuando apenas tenía 4 años. Le vendría una vida jodida, en la calle, con tragos, con drogas, con pandillas, con cuates, con el trabajo esclavista en Brasil… Sus primos, sus tíos y allegados se sorprendieron el poder de convocatoria de Abraham porque cosechó con ese carisma astral-andina a montón de cuates y cuatas. Y ese fue uno de los valores que todos coincidían en destacar.

(…)

Varios tomaron el micrófono para recordarlo, para despedirlo, para decirle la buena gente que era, que es, que seguirá siendo.

*****

His family is devastated and it was apparent: the humble son of peasant migrants (his family originated from Sapahaqui, in the province of Loazya in La Paz) was able to get ahead even though he was raised by himself, became orphaned at a young age, when he was only 4 years old. A very difficult life soon followed, in the streets, with alcohol, drugs, gangs, with pals, and with slave-like work in Brazil…. His cousins, uncles and close friends were surprised to see the power that Abraham had to bring people together because he used that Astral-Andean charisma with many friends. And that was one of the qualities that many agreed upon that he had.

(…)

Many took the microphone to remember him, to say goodbye, and to say how good a person that he was, that he is, and that he will continue to be.

La Mala Palabra [es] also writes about the burial that took place in the public cemetery in La Paz, and which attracted a wide variety of admirers, friends and fellow musicians. With such a diverse group, there was a slight disagreement on how to best pay their last respects:

Palabras póstumas, voces quebradas, cuates que alentaban a cambiar la actitud porque el Abraham hubiera deseado buena onda en su entierro. Lo despidieron sus cuates hiphoperos que escupieron su flow jodidas por las lágrimas. Un charango y una quena hicieron de coro y también los de la Saya Afroboliviana pusieron su canto, uno muy lastimero mezclado con resignación.

(…)

Antes de que el féretro ingrese al nicho hubo una singular disputa. Mientras uno de los familiares se puso a rezar, fue recriminado el hecho de que Bojorquez no era católico y que con el silencio debería respetar la memoria del finado. Sin embargo, otros presentes dijeron que el Abraham hubiera respetado la forma de pensar distinta y diversa a la suya, pues creía en la integración de todos. Todo un dilema.

******

Posthumous words, broken voices, and friends who encouraged a change in attitude because Abraham would have wanted a good mood at his burial. His hip-hop friends said goodbye with a rap jumbled with tears. A charango and a quena provided the chorus and even the Afro-Bolivian saya provided their song, one of pity mixed with resignation.

(…)

Before the coffin entered into its niche, there was only one dispute. While one of his relatives started to pray, he was reproached because Bojorquez was not Catholic and the memory of the deceased should be respected with silence. However, others who were present said that Abraham would have respected the different and diverse beliefs of others, because he believed in the integration of all. It was a complete dilemma.

Video spot of a public service campaign against noise pollution. Performed by Bojorquez’s group Ukamau y Ké in Aymara with Spanish subtitles

Nevertheless, words of sympathy from all across Bolivia continue to arrive from fellow musician, such as Ronaldo of Animal de Ciudad [es] from Santa Cruz. Bojorquez had performed across Latin America and had shared the stage with many well-known artists like Manu Chao and Bersuit Vergarabat. Finally, the blogger Pez Fumador [es] sums up his feelings after learning about his death:

No suelo ser muy expresivo en los momentos de dolor, pero la súbita partida de Abraham Bohórquez ha rajado algo en mi alma. Un joven trovador con muchas propuestas, con una lectura justa y visionaria de muchas cosas en nuestro país, el Ukamau y Ké me permitió conocer las vetas políticas y estéticas del hip hop en nuestro país. Además, me ayudó a tender puentes urgentes con mi hija… para poder seguir avanzando en este mundo cruel. Realmente una pérdida jodida para muchos… escuchando las canciones de Abraham, aprendimos sobre la realidad de los jóvenes, de la lucha contra el racismo y de muchas contradicciones nuestras y tuyas también.

***

I don’t tend to be very expressive during moments of pain, but the sudden death of Abrahan Bohórquez has cracked something in my soul. A young artist with much to offer, with a fair and visionary outlook on many things in our country. the Ukamau y Ké that allowed me to know the political leanings and aesthetics of our country. In addition, it allowed to lay urgent bridges with my daughter … to be able to continue in this cruel world. It was truly an unfortunate loss for many … listening to Abraham’s songs, we learn about the reality of the youth, of the fight against racism and about many of our own contradictions.

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Xenophobia in the Football Stands in Argentina

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Originally published at Global Voices

Rivalries in Argentine football can become quite heated. The battles on the field often spill over into the stands, as club supporters clash with one another in various sections of the stadium. With nearly half of the 20 teams in the Argentine first division league located in the greater Buenos Aires area, it is quite easy for fans to follow their club even when playing as visitors. Even with precautions to keep fans away from one another, there are frequent clashes.

It is not always physical violence that marks the conflict between supporter groups often known as “hinchas” or “barra bravas.” Chants, songs, and signs can be directed at the opposing team and the opposing supporter groups. In some cases, these messages contain racist or xenophobic overtones, as it recently happened between a match between the club teams Independiente and Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires. Fans representing Independiente waved Paraguayan and Bolivian flags with the number 12 written on them. The number 12 has traditionally been used to symbolize the fans of Boca Juniors, which is one of the most popular clubs on the continent and boasts a large number of immigrant supporters living in Argentina. The fans used the flags and chants to mock the Boca Juniors supporters for having these large immigrant groups as part of their fan base.

Bloggers from both countries also reacted to the incident. Paraguayan Arturo Zarratea Herreros of Vida de Perros [es] would like the fans from Independiente to recall Arsenio Erico, who is the leading goal scorer of all time in the history of the Argentine league wearing the #9 shirt for the club Independiente and who also happened to be Paraguayan. Zarratea adds that the fans had honored Erico in the past and even a part of the stadium is even named after him. However, he writes:

Nadie es más ni menos por haber nacido en un país, así como nadie tiene derecho a discriminar por ese hecho. Recomiendo a los hinchas de Independiente, que portaron el domingo las banderas paraguayas, que lean la historia de su club y tomen lecciones de educación cívica para realizar estas “originales” burlas.

No one is more or less for being born in a country, just as no one has the right to discriminate for that fact. I recommend to the fans of Independiente, who held the Paraguayan flags, to read the history of their club and take lessons in civic education to (not) take part in this “original” mocking.

The incident caused an outrage by the diplomatic mission of Bolivia in Buenos Aires, which called for severe sanctions and a condemnation from the Argentine Football Association (AFA), which is something that the AFA President Julio Grondona promised to do [es]. Some fans in Bolivia and Paraguay also reacted to the incident in a very heated manner.

However, Bolivian football blogger Jaime Galarza of Once a Once [es] writes that the reaction should be measured and rational:

Hay que tener cuidado en cómo se reacciona en estos temas. Las protestas no tienen por qué seguir el camino de los intolerantes de las banderas y los cánticos ofensivos y despectivos, o sea, los anti xenofobia no deben terminar convertidos en xenófobos.

Lo de la barra brava de Independiente es lamentable, más si utilizaron símbolos oficiales que merecen respeto como las banderas de Bolivia y Paraguay. Pero no por lo ocurrido en una cancha de fútbol se tiene que ir contra un país. No se puede involucrar a “los argentinos” por un grupo de inadaptados. No caigamos en la intolerancia.

One must be careful with the reaction to these issues. The protests do not need to follow the same path of the intolerance of the flags or offensive and derogatory songs, in other words, the anti-xenophobics must not become the xenophobic.

What happened in the barra brava of Independiente is unfortunate, even more when they used official symbols that deserve respect like the Bolivian and Paraguayan flags. But what happened on the field should not be used against an entire country. One can’t blame “Argentines” for the acts of a group of maladjusted. Let’s not be a part of the intolerance.

Racism in football is a problem affecting many countries across the world, and Argentina is no different. Bolivian writer Edmundo Paz Soldán writes about his time spent studying International Relations at a university in Buenos Aires in the mid 1980s and his experiences attending Boca Juniors football matches where the Bolivian Milton Melgar had played on the squad [es]. He recalls a match against arch rivals River Plate, which his visiting brother also attended with him:

Salieron los equipos a la cancha, ví a Melgar y me emocioné. Siguieron los cánticos. Parecía una competencia para ver cuál hinchada era más creativa en la ofensa; un estribillo ingenioso era respondido por otro estribillo aun más creativo.

De pronto, la hinchada de River comenzó a corear: “¡Bolivianos, bolivianos, bolivianos!” La reacción de los hinchas de Boca en torno nuestro me impactó; decían cosas del tipo: “Nos jodieron estos gallinas. Y ahora, ¿cómo les respondemos?” No, no había forma. Para los hinchas de Boca, el peor insulto que se les podía decir era “bolivianos”. Por suerte, mi hermano no entendió lo que pasaba; cuando me preguntó por qué los gritos de “bolivianos”, le dije, procurando disimular mi rabia, que era la forma en que la hinchada de River reconocía el talento de Melgar.

The teams came out on the field, I saw Melgar and became excited. The songs continued. It appeared to be a competition to see which supporter group could be the most creatively offensive; a clever refrain was responded to by a more clever refrain.

Soon, the fans of River (Plate) started to sing: “Bolivians, Bolivians, Bolivians!” The reaction by the fans of Boca around me impacted me; they would say: “Those chickens (nickname for the fans of River Plate) messed with us, and now how do we respond?” No, there was no way to. For the fans of Boca, the worst insult was being called “Bolivians.” Fortunately, my brother did not understand what was happening; when he asked me why they yelling “Bolivians,” I told him, trying to hide my anger, that it was the way the River fans acknowledged Melgar’s talent.

These incidents are not always limited to the fans, even the referees have been known to utilize some racist language. Paz Soldán continues in his blog post by describing the incident that took place in 2008 between the clubs Argentinos Juniors and Gimnasia y Esgrima in the northern city of Jujuy. The referee Saúl Laverni had made a bad call and the players from the local side started to protest and plead with Leverni, who told the players, “stop bothering me, Bolivians.” The president of Gimnasia Raúl Ulloa resigned and said [es], “He called us Bolivians, and after 20 years in football, is something that I won’t tolerate.”

Sanctions against clubs can be monetary in nature, suspension of stadium privileges and in some cases, criminal action against the offending parties. No penalty has been announced against the club Independiente. During last weekend’s match [es], the players of the club Independiente came out of the locker room with a banner with the flags of Paraguay and Bolivia next to the Independiente shield and the words, “No to the Discrimination of our Brother Countries: Bolivia and Paraguay.”

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Max the Puppy

Friday, February 20th, 2009

A video of my cousin’s puppy.


it’s max from eduardo ávila on Vimeo.

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Bolivia a Dangerous Tourist Destination?

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Bolivia was recently listed as one of the top 11 most dangerous destinations for foreign tourists, joining Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. According to this Los Tiempos story, Bolivia is considered to be unsafe because of the continued conflict between the government and the opposition groups. This certainly is overreacting, since tourists are not targeted or caught in the middle as in the case of Pando. This label can’t help the downturn in tourism in the country.

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Voces Bolivianas Summit in Cochabamba

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

web2.0

I’ve been working on the first ever Voces Bolivianas summit to take place in Cochabamba on January 30 - February 1.  Our website is up and we’re in the process of finalizing all of the details.  The event is called “Web 2.0 for EVERYONE” and it was created by a really talented web designer here in Cochabamba.

Twenty five participants from all across the country, including those that we trained and those who trained will participate.  There will be a public event at the Martadero, as well as mini-workshops and some closed meetings to help decide on the direction of Voces Bolivianas.

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Water Balloons Really Irk Some

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Carnaval is about five weeks away, but all throughout the city of Cochabamba, teens and university students are gearing up with the annual water balloon tradition.  It also takes place in other cities in Bolivia. Groups of young people buy water balloons from enterprising vendors and use them for target practice.  Young men only usually target young women.  Young children usually target anyone.  However, their aims are not very well refined and innocent bystanders are usually clocked without any hint of apology.

Today, I jumped in a cab and the driver was obviously still in a bad mood.  We drove up Pando street near the Recoleta and saw several groups of teenagers armed with a bag of water balloons, and upon seeing them the taxi driver mumbled something under his breath.  ”They hit me last night,” the cabbie said pointing at his upper lip.  He then proceeded to tell me that the had stopped his cab and beat the living daylights out of one of them.  After his story, he pulled out his tire iron showing how he intends to fight back.

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April Fools Day in December

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

December 28 marks Bolivia and much of Latin America’s version of April Fools Day (Día de los Inocentes).  Newspapers from around the country try to show how cute that they can be by planting fake stories on their print and online versions. An example of a good joke was the sports story in Los Tiempos newspaper about Argentina football player Ariel Ortega joining the club Aurora.  It was very believable because 1.) Ortega is the son of Bolivian immigrants in Argentina 2.) Aurora is preparing to play in the Libertadores Cup and a star player like that make sense. Yes, I fell for it.  Good job, Los Tiempos.  No harm, no foul.

However, in La Razon, another story caught my eye and for the entire day I believed that it was true.  It was about Santa Cruz Civic Committee President Branko Marinkovic being apprehended by masked men sent by the government. This is pretty irresponsible in my opinion, not because I fell for it, but because that story is more than believable since the government has threatened the arrest of their chief opposition. When, and not if, it happens, things will start to get very hairy once again in the country, and this story could have helped spread rumors and caused more confrontation in the country. 

Usually the admission of it being a joke is included at the end of each story, but the La Razon story was in the middle, thus making it harder to spot.

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Truthiness in the Media

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Looks like the Bolivian government is getting into the “truth” business by creating the first state-run newspaper.  According to ABI (the state’s information department), Evo Morales said:

 ”Por primera el Estado tendrá su propio periódico y que difundirá cada día la verdad mediante los medios de comunicación”, señaló el Jefe de Estado..

“For the first time, the State will have its own newspaper and will each day distribute the truth through the media,” said the Head of State..

 

 

 

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Rising Voices Microgrant Funds - Deadline January 18, 2009

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

From Rising Voices

Application Deadline: January 18, 2009

risingvoices.jpg

Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.

As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, including mobile phone users, the so-called digital divide seems to be narrowing. In its place, however, we see a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighborhoods in major cities around the world.

Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities in the developing world. Please visit our current list of grantees for project examples.

The sky is the limit, but unfortunately funding is not. Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $2,000 to $5,000. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.

Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices. Grantees are expected to host regular workshops to train participants how to start and maintain a weblog, upload and share digital photographs, and produce basic videos. Grantees are also required to post regular project evaluations and updates to the Rising Voices website.

Completed applications will be accepted no later than Sunday, January 18. Please submit your completed application on the Rising Voices apply page.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below or by sending an email to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org.

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Boliviana de Aviación in Cochabamba

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

Snapped this picture (through a dirty windshield) of new offices of the new Bolivian state airline Boliviana de Aviación (BOA), which is set to take-off soon.  Their central headquarters will be in Cochabamba, and will seemingly put LAB to rest permanently.

From Wikipedia:

The government says that it aims to “democratize air transport in Bolivia” through the airline, although also says that it will operate under commercial conditions and without subsidies.[1] The company’s General Manager will hold office for a five year term, and will be appointed by the President of Bolivia.[2]

oficinasdeBOA

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Carlos Mesa Ready to Throw His Hat into the Ring

Friday, December 12th, 2008

It’s almost official.  Former president Carlos Mesa will likely be one of Evo Morales’ chief rivals in the presidential elections tentatively scheduled for December 2009. Responding to questions by reporters in Lima, he said that if there will be elections (if and when the new Constitution passes), he will be a candidate.  

My early take is that Mesa is the *only* candidate that can come close to rivaling Morales’ support.  Now Santa Cruz must decide whether to support Mesa or live with more years of Evo.  If you recall, Mesa was Santa Cruz’ number one enemy long before Evo took the helm. It was Mesa’s iniciative that propelled autonomy with the election of regional governors.  Neither Costas, nor Manfred can attract those middle class voters that opted for change, but are disappointed in the direction of the current administration.  I also doubt that all of the 50-60% of Bolivians that approved of his work at the time of his resignation have changed their mind.

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DEA is Ordered Out of Bolivia, and What the?

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

By now, we all know about the expulsion of the Drug Enforcement Agency out of Bolivia. However, when Evo Morales and his drug czar and former coca leader Felipe Caceres went to check out their installations, they were “surprised” that the DEA took their sophisticated equipment with them. The nerve of the US for taking their property with them from a place that they are not wanted.

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Rescue Simulation in Cochabamba

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

The sounds of low flying planes, helicopters, and speeding ambulances filled the air of Cochabamba this morning.  The volunteers of SAR - FAB (Rescue Service of Bolivia) sponsored a rescue simulation in response to an earthquake that hypotheticallly shook the city this morning.

Earlier that morning, drivers of a couple of public transport lines blockaded the interesection of Ayacucho and Heroinas in the heart of the city because of conflicts they had with other public transport lines.

It’s refreshing to know that in the event of real emergency, that many groups (not just transport) are willing to block important access routes and further hinder rescue efforts.

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Possible Candidates For Bolivia Elections in 2009

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Specuation only and it is really early….

  • Evo Morales
  • Samuel Doria Medina
  • Carlos Mesa
  • Felipe Quispe
  • René Joaquino
  • Ruben Costas
  • Manfred Reyes Villa
  • Mario Cossio
  • Eduardo Rodriguez Veltze
  • Victor Hugo Cardenas

    I think the VP candidates would be more interesting. Many say Evo received the middle-class city vote because of his choice for VP, who ironically turned out to be more radical than Evo himself.

    Anyone I am missing from the list?

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    Evo Morales on the Simpsons

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

    Update 01/17/09: correction, please see Jenny’s comment below.

    h/t to Jwuo. Apparently Bolivian president Evo Morales and other South American leaders are making an appearance on the Simpsons. Can you guess who is who? (Answer after the jump)


    Continued reading >

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    Obama Loses at School in Santa Cruz

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

    Not all of Bolivia subscribed to the rest of the world’s desire for Barack Obama to be elected as president. The secondary school students at the Santa Cruz Cooperative School preferred McCain-Palin.

    As Aka Lusi wrote:

    I figure most kids vote their parent’s politics, and most of our parents belong to the anti-Evo Morales crew. Evo’s party translates to “Movement towards Socialism.” Obama was seen as wanting to make the US socialist…and for some reason a lot of our students were sure that Obama wanted to be friends with Chavez in Venezuela. I’m really not sure if had any specific statement on that, but I figure it was based on his whole idea that we should engage our friends as well as our enemies. Also, it’s strongly Roman Catholic, old school, which means no abortion, no gay rights, strict definition of marriage, etc.

    On the other hand, we did have some kids make informed decisions. One kid told me he was going to vote for McCain, then asked me who I was going to vote for, and why. A few days later he came back a few days later and said he picked Obama because of what I told him about the environment, and that he still didn’t like abortion but that it wasn’t his say. 10th grader. Great kid. Oh, and the teachers were overwhelmingly in Obama’s camp, too…I think 21-3 or something (it’s in another picture).

    Unfortunately, I heard some pretty racist comments by some Bolivian residents in the U.S. that they would never vote for a black person, and subscribing to some of the smear campaigns that were being waged by the Republicans (i.e. that he was a Muslim, that he was a socialist, etc.)

    Photo by Aka Lusi and used under a Creative Commons license

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    Bolivia Links for November 22

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
  • MAS busca un reemplazante para Vicepresidente - Alvaro Garcia Linera states that he will not run for reelection during the 2009 presidential elections and that is seeking to be president in 2014.
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    Near Lynching

    Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

    I spent a considerable amount of time in the suburb city of Quillacollo back in 2005. It has grown quite a bit and is suffering from the same problems as its neighboring city of Cochabamba — crime. A group of neighbors decided enough was enough and hoped that by spraypainted an ominous warning that the problem would subside. “Attention potential theives, we will catch and we will burn you.”

    One afternoon as I was catching a trufi mini-van for the 12 km trip back to Cochabamba, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a man fleeing. Trailing not far behind was a rapidly growing crowd, including several bystanders who, in an impromptu manner, decided that this affair was now their business as well. “Ladron!” (Thief) some would yell. Finally they caught up with him and soon surrounded the accused criminal. Coincidentally, the crowd stood rather close to the stencil message, and the man’s fate rest in the hands of the 25 captors.

    I walked towards them for a closer look. I noticed that some of the men who had recently joined the cause were now the ones confronting the accused. How could they possibly know the details of the alleged crime?

    I’ll never forget the look in the accused eyes, as it was one of sheer terror. He was unsure whether he would fall victim to street justice. I was not close enough to hear the explanation, but they eventually set him free where he went running back into town, not before receiving a swift kick in the rear. I still don’t know what I would have done if they followed through on their claim, watch helplessly as the crowd that outnumbered me 25 to 1 set the man ablaze? or try to stop another human being to be punished in a brutal way?

    What struck me is how people who were not directly involved in the alleged crime, joined in with great confidence that the man was indeed guilty. They figured that since there were a number of people chasing after him, then he was obviously guilty.

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    Bolivia: Recent Lynchings Cause Concerns

    Friday, November 21st, 2008

    Originally published on Global Voices Online.

    A string of lynchings and attempted lynchings around Bolivia has caused a bit of concern around the country. The latest and most high-profile case [es] took place in the Altiplano town of Achacachi. Reports say that 11 men and women, who were allegedly accused of robbery were captured by local residents and were set ablaze. Two of the accused died, and the other 9 were badly burnt, but were saved when soldiers and the town’s mayor pleaded that the lynching should stop.

    Unfortunately, this is becoming a common scene, which widely shows up on the television news, as Renzo Colanzi writes [es]:

    En Bolivia los linchamientos y la toma de la justicia por propia mano, son hechos comunes que se dan en los noticieros a cualquier hora, sin proteger al televidente de la violencia de las imágenes, sin importarle de la sensibilidad de los más pequeños que puedan presenciarlas. Pareciera que todos hemos creado una cierta barrera que nos permite mirar y permanecer impasibles ante estos hechos terribles. Los policías de Cochabamba se quedaron bien muertos y el caso sin culpables. Lo mismo que en Montero y así podemos encontrar situaciones similares en casi cualquier región del país.

    In Bolivia, lynching and taking justice into one’s own hands, are common events that can be seen on the news at all hours of the day. The television viewer is not protected from seeing the violent images, and even the smallest child is not protected from watching them. It would appear that we all have created a certain barrier that allows us to watch and remain passive regarding these terrible events. The police in Cochabamba remain dead and the case still has no suspects. It is the same in Montero and we can see similar situations in all regions of the country.

    Whether or not lynchings are considered “community justice” is still being debated, and the government has officially condemned the action in Achacachi. They state that taking another life is not part of the indigenous tradition of “community justice.” However, local residents claim that they have little faith in the “ordinary justice” and must take matters into their own hands or the crime will continue. There is also widespread concern because the new draft Constitution, which will be voted upon at a January 25 Referendum, stipulates that “community justice” will be a legal and recognized part of the Bolivian judicial system, that lynchings could continue or even increase and used under the defense of “community justice.”

    Erika Pinto places the blame on the government [es] for the lynchings.

    Por que el presidente morales, tolera la barbarie, se estaba por quemar a una mujer embarazada, emboscaron y llevaron al stadium a un bus a los 11 supuestos ladrones, se veian gente de escasos recursos, muchas mujeres y gente bastante mayor a juzgar por las imagenes.

    Es que acaso esto tambien nos da el derecho de cuando los ponchos rojos hagan las barbaridades que hacen poder matarlos a ellos?

    O es que acaso la “nueva ley” funciona en un solo sentido?

    Se supone que este gobierno era el que nos iba a llevar a un nuevo siglo de progreso pero solo nos esta llevando a la mas atrasada barbarie posible.

    Because President Morales tolerates savagery, they were about to burn a pregnant woman, they ambushed them and took the 11 alleged thieves to the stadium. One could see low-income people, many women, and elderly people judging from the images.

    Does this also give us the right when the “ponchos rojos” (members of a paramilitary group of Achacachi) make their savage acts to kill them too?

    Or does the “new law” only work in one direction?

    It was assumed that this government was going to take us towards a new century of progress, but it is only taking us to most backward savagery possible.

    Mario Durán writes about a journalist who reminds people that the accused were not without guilt. [es]

    Sin embargo, como lo decia la periodista Amalia Pando en Erbol, no eran unos angelitos, pues las personas que fueron capturadas en Achacachi poseian un frondoso prontuario policial… desde robo hasta robo agravado seguido de muerte.

    Sin embargo, al igual que se condena la justicia por mano propia se debe condenar al sistema economico que origina la delincuencia.

    Nevertheless, as the journalist Amalia Pando of Erbol says, that these people were no angels, those who were captured in Achacachi had a long police record… from robbery to aggravated robbery and even murder.

    Nevertheless, as justice by one’s own hands is condemened, so should the ecnomic system where delinquency originates should also be condemned.

    Many indigenous groups are attempting to protect the reputation of “community justice.” Via the blog El Alto Noticias [es], blogger Nelson Vilca [es]interviews a member of the Guarayo indigenous group , who states that “community justice” does not mean “taking another life.”

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