Written and Translated by Raphael Tsavkko Garcia This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights. The murder of an eight year old child from the Awa-Gwajá indigenous community, allegedly burnt alive [pt] by loggers in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, has caused outrage throughout the Internet, as well as disbelief by many in the face of such cruelty. The […]
Brazil: Lawsuits force popular political blog to close down
by Paula Góes The A Nova Corja blog [The New Scum, pt], a symbol of independent and investigative journalism on the Brazilian blogosphere, has published a farewell post [pt]. On August 6th, the last remaing blogger of the group, Rodrigo Alvares, announced that he has decided to close the blog down due to professional commitments […]
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 […]
Brazil: Petroleum, elections and poverty matters
On Friday 15th of May, the Brazilian Congress launched an investigation into the giant state-run oil company Petrobras. The initiative was started by government leaders of the opposition PSDB party. They set up what Brazilians call a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI is the abbreviation in Portuguese) to scrutinize supposed irregularities in the company. Meanwhile, on […]
Angola: “Every city has its history, and ours is no different”
Since January this year several blogs have been announcing a petition in defence of what remains of Luanda’s [en] historical architecture. Sponsored by the Architects Association of Angola, and mainly addressed to the President of the country, José Eduardo dos Santos [en], it aims to protect Luanda’s heritage and monuments. In defence of the idea […]
In Brazil, National Park Under Threat from Illegal Fires
by Paula Góes For over a month, the Chapada Diamantina National Park, in Bahia, has been burning relentlessly. According to Brazil’s environmental agency, 50 percent of the national park’s 1,520 km² have burned, which represents 75,000 hectares of forest (roughly the size of New York City). Nearly 500 people – firefighters and volunteers – are […]