Blogs & Ecology

When Juliana Rincón of Medea Material [es] read about a shocking way how youth in Barranquilla, Colombia became drunk as a way to avoid having alcohol on their breath, she took her doubts and asked the Colombian twittosphere whether it was true, and she learned from others that it is indeed common in other Colombian cities.

This week in El Salvador, hundreds of technology fanatics have assembled in the capital of San Salvador to take part in the latest edition of Campus Party. The event gathers participants “with their computers with the goal of share their worries, exchange experiences and take part in all types of activities related to communication and new technologies.

From Colombia, the indigenous groups in the Cauca department have made an international SOS to call attention on their plight. On their website, cric-colombia.org they explain how they have been protesting the human rights abuses they have been victim of, represented by the murder of one of their community leaders by hit men and the death threats on other regional and community leaders and spokespeople. They have requested a public audience with the Government Officials, and have been protesting since October 12, demanding the protection of their human rights and making the government live up to the promises of the signed treaties of the past.

Victor Solano of ¿Comunicación? [es] congratulates the winners of the Simón Bolívar prize for journalism. Some are former classmates and students.

Maria reports on a developing scene in Bogotá when she and her fellow students witnessed panels falling from the Santo Domingo building that houses the School of Administration at Los Andes University. She used twitter and “citizen journalism 3.0″ to write what she was seeing. Her report can be found at equinoXio.

Full Moon by Irargerich The mythology in Latin America is quite rich: some tales have been passed onto us from the Incas, Mayas or Aztecs, and others are colonial imports from Europe. On this first part of the multinational Latin American post, we'll visit some of the most popular myths and legends like the Llorona, the Cegua, the Cadejos and the Evil Light.

In Good Times in Medellin, Medellin Travel writes about how Colombian kids have a new role model to look up to: 26 year old golf star Camilo Villegas, who this past month has made the headlines for winning the BMW Championship PGA Golf Tour, a first for any Colombian.

This last segment of the Deaf Awareness Week (part 1, part 2) shows us how the deaf use their videos to organize their communities and strenghten their offline ties.

The glacier in Huaraz, part of the Andes white mountain range in Peru. Photo via sdpuckett.

The Andean Community, an organization that gathers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to treat common interests, announced recently a project to help three of its member nations to monitor and adapt to the retreat of its glaciers.

Camilo Uribe writes about an illegal downloaded MP3 file found on the Colombian police's website [es], after which they used a password to cover it up, but didn't remove the file. This is after they destroyed more than 70 thousand pirated dvds, cds and mp3s in the city of Medellin. A screen grab of the file is included.

In Medellín, Colombia, “narco”-tours are being offered for foreigners to visit sites associated with the drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, writes Jorge Gobbi of Blog de Viajes [es].

(Photo: To the right, the Coca-Cola plant accused of spilling in the Bogota sewage system. El Tiempo newspaper.) Industria Nacional de Gaseosas, a subsidiary of the biggest bottler of Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Latin America (Coca-Cola FEMSA), has been fined with a US$111,000 bill by the Bogota District Environmental Office for illegal spilling of industrial waste in Colombia's capital sewage system and wetlands.

Otra Expresión [es] reports that Colombian-Norweigan Alf Onshuus Niño was recently released by the FARC in an act unrelated to the recent rescue of 15 hostages. The blogger at Balada del Elefante Azul [es] also mentions this and is especially meaningful since he has blogged about the kidnapping of his personal friend.

After the rescue dubbed as “perfect” by liberated former Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was rescued by the Colombian army on Wednesday July 2nd along with 14 other hostages being held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for up to 10 years in some cases. The Colombian community has been voicing concerns about the repercussions the rescue might have, and what interests might have been behind it.

Cuban blogger Machetera questions the timing of the rescue of French/Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. And, she says, the comments of this high profile hostage show Ms Betancourt's experiences with the FARC guerillas, “left her with no greater understanding of the Colombian conflict than when she was seized on her presidential campaign tour seven years ago.”