Internet use booming in Latin America

[amyrose2712]

BY JOSEPH A. MANN JR.

Personal Internet use is growing by leaps and megabytes in Latin America, driven by the availability of more affordable computers, an expanding broadband network and the appeal of a range of new cyber features.

New users in the region are attracted by familiar applications like e-mail, instant messaging and quick access to news and information on the Web, but features such as social networking, online bill payment and digital entertainment also are proving popular.

A recent marketing study of 10 Latin American nations and Puerto Rico projected the regional residential base of Internet users would reach 160 million in five years, up from more than 100 million now.

The survey, conducted by Pyramid Research for Google, also forecast large increases in Internet advertising and online shopping.

http://www.miamiherald.com/business_monday/story/847650.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Interesting information, amyrose2712. Hope this means we may be getting more original news

from Latin America one of these days, rather than being so dependent upon pre-packaged, pre-spun crap from corporate media tools.

They've had more trouble in Latin America getting a large percentage of their populations to buy computers due to the vast numbers of people with far less disposable income they can spend on non-necessity items, things beyond food, shelter, etc. So many still remain illiterate, due to governments which served the wealthy and ignored the poor. This is changing with the movement away from feudal fascist states.

Thanks, again.

[Bacchus39]

2. original news is widely available particularly in Spanish

no-one is hiding anything from you, rather you have chosen to remain uninformed.

ubiquitous internet cafes have filled the gap where computers have been unavailable due to high cost and lower income. electronic products are typically quite a bit wsmore expensive in latin america due to transport costs, no home industry, high import taxes.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Right, the well known orignal news in Spanish showed us the "dissident martyr," you tried to portray

as a fallen hero of Venezuelan youth was nothing more than a common skinhead thug, good old dirtbag 32 year old college "student" leader, Julio Soto. You're as always wise to mention my inability to learn more than what we are given by corporate media.

[Bacchus39]

4. the one killed by the police?? there are plenty of news sources

in latin america in English and Spanish. not every country is like Cuba. in fact, none are. yet, anyway.

[Mika]

5. "not every country is like Cuba"

Yep. In Cuba one can walk about on any street at any time of day or night and be safe.


Been there. Seen it. Lived it. Love it.

[Bacchus39]

6. while I was referring to the press, there are certainly some "advantages" of a police state

undoubtedly. you are correct, I could not say the same about Rio, Caracas, Bogota, and of course US cities. no argument here.

[Mika]

7. Yep. Cuba is a dark and dangerous place. Armed gov jackboots on every corner.

:rofl:

b39, you are really too much. lol

Here's some pictures .. Cuba? or Miami?










Miami.

[Bacchus39]

8. are protests even allowed in Cuba??

no thank you dude. I'll take the freedom to protest, vote for the non-ruling party, travel to and fro, ability to earn money based on ability and effort, and unrestricted access to media sources over the security apparatus of Cuba. not to mention choice of cell phone services, pressure cookers, and well stocked stores.

I've said it before. repression need not be the price you pay for health care services, education, or low crime. see Switzerland or Denmark if you don't believe me.

[Mika]

9. Yes they are.

No matter how many times you repeat it, your claims of this dark and dangerous country are simply false.

The so called Ladies in White regularly protest. Never arrested.

They were once removed from a diplomatic property for a sit-in demonstration on diplomatic property.

Here's a graphic picture of Cuba's dangerous jackboot thugs brutally beating them up for their illegal trespassing..



After their removal the unarmed female cops gave the "Ladies" a ride to their homes in time for dinner.


Here's a HUGE protest/rally picture, taken in Cuba, where the people want more teachers and more doctors and more housing..



No ninja jackboots in attack formations. No mothers tear-gassed while holding their infants. No rubber bullets. No arrests.

The Cuban people wouldn't stand that for a N.Y. minute!

[Bacchus39]

10. wow, it sounds like the perfect society. why anyone would want to leave

that paradise is totally mind boggling.

[Mika]

11. Don't get around much, do you?

Black <-- (nothing in this area) --> White

---

Its so bad there that Cuba's ruthless jackboot thugs even wear skirts while "brutalizing" demonstrators..

[Bacchus39]

12. no, I've only been to 13 latin american countries and lived there for 10 years

I've just realized how odd it is that so many latin americans go to the US rather than Cuba given its extraordinary freedoms and economic vitality.

if Cuba permitted free enterprise, I'd suggest they hire a better public relations firm.

[Mika]

13. OK. So you're an "expert" on 13 Lat Am countries, but not Cuba.

Got it.

[Bacchus39]

14. Cuba is what all nations should aspire to emulate. Got it. n/t

d

[Judi Lynn]

15. The one killed by assassins, some local cops, etc. in an anti-Chavez-controlled state.

Memory refresher:

Venezuela to Arrest Eight Suspects in Student's Murder
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A Venezuelan court has issued arrest warrants for eight suspects in the killing of a student leader who helped organize protests against constitutional amendments proposed by President Hugo Chavez.

Authorities say they are close to clarifying the Oct. 1 shooting death of University of Zulia student Julio Soto.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement released Monday that a court has issued arrest warrants for eight suspects, including "police officers and representatives of private businesses."

The office did not identify the suspects.

Some government opponents believe Soto was the victim of a contract killing. They say assailants sprayed his vehicle with gunfire and then fled without taking anything.

http://www.ihispano.com/article/venezuela-arrest-eight-suspects-students-murder

http://www.versionfinal.com.ve.nyud.net:8090/66/6/juliosoto.jpg

R.I.P. Schoolboy hero Julio Soto

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Venezuelan opposition newspaper, El Universal:

CICPC said that selling tickets was the motive for the murder of Soto

Maracaibo .- "The mobile phone that so far it appears from the investigation into the murder of Julio Soto is the illegal sale of student tickets," revealed on Tuesday at a news conference the director general of the Corps of Scientific Research, Criminal and, Marcos Chavez, as outlined the daily Panorama on its website.

The police chief explained at the headquarters of the security agency in Maracaibo, that the investigation is directed in accordance with three lines: drug trafficking, car theft and illegal sale of student tickets. In the end, he said, all converging on the same criminal organization and in the same cell phone.

Said the ballistics tests and the results of the expert performed on Soto and his pickup truck, among others, are the elements that sustain the initial request for arrest warrants that were issued Monday afternoon by the Tenth Court of Control Zulia.

Among those mentioned are police officers, civilians and businessmen, all related to the sale of student tickets. "Those who are requested to reside, work and operate in Maracaibo. We assume that others will soon be issued arrest warrants," he said.

A source linked to the investigation said that among the eight required three policemen last name Alvarez, Creole and Monroy, two brothers Mendez, a few brothers Gaza, and another subject named Godoy.

http://caracas.eluniversal.com/2008/10/15/sucgc_art_cicpc-dice-que-venta_1095243.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~
For any DU'ers who haven't had time to find out about Zulia, the state where this thug was killed by fellow criminals while lying fascists tried to blame it on Hugo Chavez:

Billboards With Secessionist Messages In Maracaibo, Venezuela
Posted: Tuesday, February 7, 2006

By Jesus Nery Barrios

Billboards showing secessionist messages in the state of Zulia's capital Maracaibo are causing alarm in Venezuela and are bringing up an old aspiration of some zulianos. All those signs have a logo with the map of the state of Zulia (in yellow) and a white arrow coming out from it (meaning Zulia must take its own path), with the legend (in red): "An Own Course for Zulia!", and show different messages in every one of them. One of them says: "Family, Market and Private Property: Pillars of a Free Society". Another one says: "Yes to the Statute of Autonomy, No to Socialism and enough with the Lefts". And the last spotted one says: "Liberal Capitalism, Hope for the Poor", with all of them displaying two phone numbers and an e-mail account to contact this ideas promoters.

Even when these messages are very obvious by themselves, within the venezuelan and world context today some notes are necessary to fully understand why they appear now and why in Zulia, specifically.

It's well known in Venezuela the state of Zulia (west of Venezuela, next to Colombia) is the richest one of the country, not just for its oil but for its agrarian and cattle production, which supplies 80% of its consumption, having in the lake of Maracaibo (biggest of Southamerica) a very important sweet water reservoir. With a population of almost 4 million people where its capital is populated by more than 2 million people (from which 1 million are legal and illegal colombian citizens), this state has always showed with pride its "regionalism" given its historical geo-political situation (the port of Maracaibo has always had an independent life from La Guaira's port and from Barranquilla (Colombia's nearest port) as well as its internal socio-economic dynamics, which have given them their own cultural features: a special way to speak (or "voicing"), similar to and old version of the spanish language, and even their own folkloric music: the gaita, within the context of a very conservative way of living and thinking.

~snip~
It's not casual most "maracuchos" (as zulians are called in Venezuela) today feel proud of having a governor from anti-Chavez opposition, of not being "communists" or "chavistas" as is the rest of Venezuela, even when they seem to forget the fact all social missions created and developed by Chavez Bolivarian Revolution exist in Zulia too and are very accepted and loved by the impoverished zulianos, meaning they are a little chavistas and communists after all, and the proof is their splendid governor had no choice but to develop his own misiones.

http://trinicenter.com/cgi-bin/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1139306630,28816,.shtml

[Bacchus39]

16. ahhh yes, the opposition leader killed by police

thanks

[Judi Lynn]

17. Some were cops, and "cops" in an anti-Chavez area does NOT mean "killed by Chavez," clearly.

The "victim" is a thug, a criminal. As soon as the information started coming in about what this guy really has been doing, they stopped printing information on this event completely. Hilarious. He can't be used as a political pawn now that everyone knows this student leader is a common scumball, and his hitmen other criminals hired by criminals he had crossed.

More, from local sources, through google translation:

Prosecution said that six were involved in crime student Julio Soto

Six people suspected of involvement in the murder of the student Julio Soto, of which four belong to different security forces, surrendered to authorities, said today the Attorney General of Venezuela.

The website of the Prosecutor's Office said that among those detained were two civilians, a judicial police officer and three members of the Army's Intelligence Directorate (DIE).

Soto was gunned down on Oct. 1 in the city of Maracaibo (West) by two hitmen, in an action that, according to the police, appears linked to the mafias that traffic in the student tickets and transportation to move millions in monthly amounts of money.

Initially the case was connected with political motives, as Soto, 31, was the president of the Federation Campus of the University of Zulia and an active opposition.

As alleged perpetrators are unionized and Yixon Evelio Mendez Mendez and as the police involved Nail Alvarez and members of the DIE Lendi Larsen, Niens Ronald Larsen and Creole.

The attorney general, Luisa Ortega, said that while those involved surrendered voluntarily, this was because "the work carried out by prosecutors and the security forces.

Interior Minister Tarek The Aissami, said on Thursday that seized the gun allegedly used to break Soto.

~~~~~~~~
From:
Caracas, Octubre 17 de 2008
Fiscalía señala que se entregaron seis implicados en crimen de estudiante Julio Soto

Seis personas presuntamente implicadas en el crimen del estudiante Julio Soto, de las que cuatro pertenecen a diferentes cuerpos de seguridad, se entregaron a las autoridades, indicó hoy la Fiscalía General de Venezuela.

La página web de la Fiscalía señala que entre los detenidos están dos civiles, un agente de la policía judicial y tres miembros de la Dirección de Inteligencia del Ejército (DIE).

Soto fue acribillado el 1 de octubre en la ciudad de Maracaibo (oeste) por dos sicarios, en una acción que, según la policía, aparece vinculada a las mafias que trafican con los boletos estudiantiles de transporte y que mueven mensualmente cantidades millonarias de dinero.

Inicialmente se había relacionado el caso con móviles políticos, ya que Soto, de 31 años, era el presidente de la Federación de Centros Universitarios de la Universidad del Zulia y militaba en la oposición.

Como presuntos autores materiales están sindicados Evelio Méndez y Yixon Méndez y como implicados el policía Nail Álvarez y los miembros de la DIE Lendi Larsen, Niens Larsen y Ronald Criollo.

La fiscal general, Luisa Ortega, señaló que si bien los implicados se entregaron voluntariamente, esto se debió "al trabajo desplegado por los fiscales" y los cuerpos de seguridad.

El ministro del Interior, Tarek El Aissami, señaló el jueves que se incautó el arma de fuego presuntamente utilizada para acabar con Soto.

http://www.terra.com.ve/actualidad/articulo/html/act1466898.htm

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:6QCjvL8YdrIJ:ve.news.yahoo.com/s/17102008/54/internacional-fiscal-ala-entregaron-seis-implicados-crimen-estudiante.html+Fiscal%C3%ADa+se%C3%B1ala+que+se+entregaron+seis+implicados+en+crimen+de+estudiante+Julio+Soto&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They found out early in the game this clown had an enormous bank account, far different from anything students can be expected to use for their own expenses. That's probably what sent them looking to find out where he got that huge blob cash as discretionary spending for his own daily budget.

You really bit it on this one.