By Ellery Roberts Biddle On October 16, the Cuban government announced plans to eliminate controversial travel restrictions on Cuban citizens. For decades, Cubans have been required to apply for government permission to exit the country. According to the Gaceta Oficial de Cuba, the nation’s official public record for legal and regulatory reforms, this requirement will […]
Nicaragua: Telecom Company CLARO Censors Clients
Written by Norman Garcia This past November 29, some less-than-satisfied customers decided to start a blog complaining about the telecommunications company CLARO Nicaragua [1] [es], a subsidiary of América Móvil [2] consortium which belongs to the most wealthy man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú. The blog is called Claro que NO! [3] [es], a play on words in Spanish meaning ‘of […]
Mozambique: House of the Flying Azagaias
In the past couple of weeks, the Mozambican blogosphere played host to debate on the role of hip-hop and the nature of legitimate “social critique”. This debate actually started two years ago [pt], except that in past weeks it has reached a new fervor. One group of influential voices in the Mozambican blogosphere until recently […]
Peruvian Newspaper Questions Literacy of Indigenous Congresswoman
The Lima newspaper Correo published a front page story [es] about the low level of Spanish language proficiency by the indigenous Congresswoman Hilaria Supa and saying that in order to be a Congressional representative one should have a minimum level of education. As a result, the Peruvian blogosphere put forth various opinions including agreeing that […]
La Familia de Benito Juárez
Hasta donde sé, son pocas las familias de personajes históricos mexicanos que dediquen sus esfuerzos a preservar el recuerdo de sus antepasados. Recuerdo a las Doctoras Rosa Helia y Guadalupe Villa, quienes han escrito varios libros bastante buenos sobre su abuelo Francisco Villa; también me acuerdo del excelente trabajo que hacen los descendientes de Plutarco […]
Si la forma es el fondo, ¿entonces el relato es la historia?
La disciplina de la historia ha pasado por varias crisis desde el siglo XIX. (Como dirían los Mythbusters: ¡Precaución, contenido científico!, jejeje). Sigamos: la historia ha sido usada de varias formas desde hace miles de años; los relatos épicos sirvieron para darle identidad a esos grupos sociales que con el paso del tiempo se convirtieron […]