Punishing Crimes Against Women in Bolivia
Violent crimes against young women have risen dramatically in Bolivia.
Between 2008 and 2009, cases of violence by boyfriends, husbands, and fathers, went up by 10% in the capital, La Paz, alone.
But almost none of these cases have — or are likely — to face justice. A new law that is expected to pass by the end of this year, is proposing a sentence of up to 30 years’ prison for the murder of women.
Listen to the feature as it aired this week on NPR’s Latino USA, alongside an interview about a Guatemalan woman who is requesting U.S. asylum for fear of becoming a victim of violence in her own country.
Reporting on Mexico’s Drug War
Our good friend and fellow journalist, John Gibler, was interviewed last week on KPFA’s Flashpoints radio program about his ongoing reporting from the state of Sinaloa, the heart of Mexico’s drug production and home of one of the country’s most powerful cartels.
We believe the interview is one of the most informative and thoughtful portrayals of the Mexican “Drug War” that we’ve heard in a long time.
To find John’s interview look for the program on Friday, August 13th about 15 minutes in.
Who Won’t Be Running in Haiti’s Elections
After much speculation and criticism, Haiti’s electoral commission decided today that hip hop star and Yelé Haiti founder, Wyclef Jean, won’t be able to run for president.
Out of the initial thirty-four candidates on the list, 19 of them will be allowed to run in what is expected to become one of the most challenging — and followed — presidential elections in Haiti’s modern history.
Among others, the Fanmi Lavalas party won’t be given permission to participate in the elections — though it continues to be the country’s most popular political movement, and ideological home of ousted president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
New Orleans Dispatch: Flood Proof?
Once you see the actual height of some of the natural and man-made levees protecting the Lower Ninth Ward from the canal, it’s easy to see how this neighborhood remained 20 feet underwater for almost two months.
The storm that New Orleans natives always feared is still a vivid memory here. The network TV news currently focus a third of their broadcast to weather and elaborate storm tracking, while small-talk generally veers towards the discussion of floods. On this five-year anniversary, two new documentaries are revisiting the aftermath of the storm: Spike Lee’s “If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise” and Luisa Dantas’ “Land of Opportunity”.
Haiti Dispatches: Life Goes On
We were walking through the maze of tents and clotheslines that is the Champs de Mars refugee camp in Port-au-Prince, when we saw the name “Blaki Blaka” tagged on a wood plank serving as someone’s door.
People write all sorts of things on their makeshift homes: friends’ cell phone numbers, or the names of their favorite pop stars (the Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul is a popular choice, as is Bob Marley, even after so many years).
But unbeknown to us, Blaki Blaka was not a hip hop star, but the name of a popular amateur soccer team in Port-au-Prince. And now two of their players lived inside this tent, next door to where our friend Adolphe was staying. He told us they had a large local following, and that he and his friends would often go out on the weekends to see them play around town.
Wondering About Wyclef
All around us is evidence of the January katastrof–destroyed homes, donated tents pitched amongst the ruins, people getting by on crutches.
But the desperation in the eyes of people says it all: the physical state of Carrefour Feuilles and the rest of Port-au-Prince isn’t their biggest concern.
Young people throughout Haiti have larger, broader battles they want the world to hear about. And now hip hop star Wyclef Jean is trying to capitalize on this sentiment, saying he’s got what it takes to “fix” Haiti. Our first piece from this summer’s Haiti reporting trip is out on ColorLines Magazine.
Haiti Dispatches: In the Countryside, Young & Politicized
Most Haitians are big on titles and bureaucratic labels, and Mocelyn Saintilmon is no exception. When we first met the 27 year-old, he introduced himself as the Secretary General of Jen Travaye Peyizan (JTP), the Young Peasant National Workers Union, a post he has held for about a year, after having served as the Assistant Secretary General, Regional “Animateur”, or grassroots leader, and before that, just a plain Animateur in his local village of Papaye.
All that is to say that Mocelyn is a rising star in the peasant movement in Haiti, and if things go his way, his views and actions will soon influence the political thought of the rest of Haiti’s primarily young population.
Haiti Dispatches: Questioning Documentary Work
“We’ve been seeing a lot of journalists around here, especially last week,” said Cassandra, a 19 year-old girl we met through a common friend, who’s living in the Champ-de-Mars camp with her mom and grandmother.
Last week marked the earthquake’s six-month anniversary here, and many other journalists like us had been touring the city, equally drawn to the stories of hundreds of thousands of homeless Haitians who are living in one of the 1,300 camps around the city — or who have pitched tents or built makeshift shelters wherever they have found the space. It’s not easy to move around the maze-like camps and even more difficult to document life there — with little space for walking and much less for living in. And yet all the cooking, washing, playing, and lounging is happening in between these makeshift dwellings, under the hot sun and the heavy afternoon rains.
Haiti Dispatches: Young People in the Camps
The temperature has cooled a bit in Port-au-Prince; there is a rare breeze in the air. But yesterday’s big downpour also brought mudslides and flooding, and further spread the piles of debris into the streets.
Our friend Adolphe Miradieux went back to his tent in the Champ de Mars camp as soon as it started to rain; that’s where he’s been living for the past six months. The camp is in the very middle of the city, across from the collapsed presidential palace. “I won’t leave Port-au-Prince, even if it rains or if I’m not able to get a roof over my head,” he said, while we chatted in his next door neighbor’s tent. “Going to the countryside is not an option for me, because I know that sooner or later I’ll be able to come up with the money to pay for school and to get my life back in order.”
Haiti Dispatches: Haitian Solutions?
Almost two years since our first time in Haiti, in August of 2008, we are returning to the country to try to pick up where our story left off.
Much has happened in those two years, most notably, the earthquake of January 2010 and the slow recovery that has followed it.
Back in 2008, we were interested in taking a critical look at the effect of UN troops and foreign aid on human rights. Now, we’re interested in looking at Haitian society — and the types of solutions that people of all ages and backgrounds are championing.
We’ll be spending time in tent camps and city neighborhoods, with youth leaders and second-generation Haitian-Americans who are eager to help. Over the next two weeks, we’ll also be taking a look at the country’s oldest and largest peasant movement, the Mouvman Peyizan Papay, and their model of sovereign food production.
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