India Global Business: India as a Digital Decider in 2020

"India as a Digital Decider in 2020"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
India Global Business
Opinion
January 10, 2020
Originally published: https://indiaincgroup.com/india-as-a-digital-decider-in-2020-india-global-business/


Today, India is one of the pillars of the global economy and an influential player in regional and global affairs. Similarly important are India’s contributions to information technology as Indian companies and experts are the forefront of new developments in IT, including artificial intelligence and cyber security.


Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an international security analyst who focuses on geopolitics, military and cyber security issues.

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Blouin Beat: Mr. Robot: A realistic hacker show?

"Mr. Robot: A Realistic Hacker Show?"
W. Alejandro Sanchez
Blouin Beat: Technology
August 18, 2015
Originally published: http://blogs.blouinnews.com/blouinbeattechnology/2015/08/18/mr-robot-a-realistic-hacker-show/

The USA television network will soon air the finale of the debut season of Mr. Robot, whose popularity has already secured it a second one. This attention-grabbing program revolves around the members of a hacking group called F Society who are trying to bring down a fictitious villain company, named E Corp (or Evil Corp, to its enemies).

Mr. Robot’s main character is a young man named Elliot, a brilliant hacker who has emotional issues as well as social interaction problems. He works for the fictitious Allsafe, a cybersecurity company who has E Corp as a client. As hackers attempt to bring down the all-mighty E Corp, they produce online videos to criticize the company, expose information to get the company’s leaders arrested, and even approach a shadowy group of Chinese hackers for support. (There are various other subplots.) From a real-world standpoint, Mr. Robot is worthy of praise, as it properly exemplifies the complex world of cybersecurity.

One issue that Mr. Robot accurately portrays is how members of FSociety are able to exploit the lack of proper cybersecurity by the general population. For example, in one memorable scene, a policeman picks up a USB from the ground and plugs it into his computer at work. The USB displays a screen for free music, while in reality it is downloading a Trojan.

Luring unsuspecting victims into downloading a file from a website, inserting a USB, or clicking on a link in an email (maybe from an acquaintance or someone offering a one-in-a-million business transaction) is a common practice for cybercriminals. One recent example: Romanian banks being hit by the Tinba Trojan as it expanded via a maltervising campaign. The situation will become more problematic as Trojans appear in mobile apps, which many smartphone users download daily.

Clearly, Mr. Robot is accurate in that it does not portray its characters as omnipotent hackers who can penetrate a law enforcement network with a few simple clicks; rather, they rely on the naiveté of unsuspecting individuals who will infect their computers themselves. (An IT expert interviewed for this commentary explained how, as in the show, real-world police networks are offline systems referred to as air-gapped, and it is popular at IT-security conferences to find ways to break into them.) In fact, the use of USB sticks in the show is probably a nod to Stuxnet, a computer worm that crippled Iran’s controversial nuclear program and was delivered via a thumb drive.

What’s more, F Society’s main objective, to bring down a multinational corporation such as a bank or industrial conglomerate, has appeared often enough in the real world to be the inspiration for any number of Hollywood productions. For example, in 2013 the hacking groupAnonymous published “the login and private information from over 4,000 American bank executive accounts in the name of its new Operation Last Resort campaign, demanding U.S. computer crime law reform.” In other areas of the world, such as Brazil, hackers have attacked government websites. Moreover, Anonymous hacked Stratfor, a renowned global intelligence and security consulting organization. The group retrieved millions of emails, dated between 2004-2011, from the company’s employees as well as intelligence data. The information was then uploaded to the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks.

When it comes to carrying out its operations against E Corp, the hackers of F Society upload videos showing an individual with a top hat and a mask who explains, in a distorted voice, the wickedness that is E Corp. Creative yes, but also relevant. The rise of social media has increased the amount of platforms that hackers can use in order to disseminate their messages to the global masses. Anonymous regularly uploads videos in preparation for, or to report on, some of its operations; for example, in a June 17 video, the group announced its operations against the Canadian government in retaliation for the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill C-51.

Finally, one notable aspect about F Society is its composition – the group has around half a dozen members, including four men and two women, with ages varying between early 20s to mid 30s. Curious if such gender diversity is present in real-life hacking organization? Not yet. My own research at least seems to show that hackers are predominantly male. Nevertheless, if theInternational Women’s Hackathon is anything to go by, this gap may close in the near future. (Read “Mr. Robot, Ms. Robot” for a discussion on how the show approaches gender norms.)

Motivations are another key element of the show: a few of the hackers question whether they are driven by a need for fame, the desire to bring about an “economic revolution,” or merely to embody the American dream as they perceive it? In real life, hackers’ motivations have been extensively analyzed (with one study dividing them into four categories: old school hackers; cyberpunks; professional criminals; and coders). Mr. Robot takes these nuances into account, rendering its characters more multi-faceted than the stereotypical Hollywood-hacker or socially awkward anarchist with a god-complex. USA’s surprise hit should not be placed in the growing ocean of television shows in which IT-savvy characters are drawn from stereotypical hacker clichés. On the contrary, Mr. Robot succeeds at displaying the complexities of the programmers behind the screen. Moreover, the show correctly portrays several issues of real-world cybersecurity, such as hackers attacking multinational corporations and boldly bragging about it online. In this way, it highlights the ongoing concerns surrounding personal online security. Hopefully, Mr. Robot’s season two continues to portray the intricacies of the hacker world. I, for one, will stay tuned.

E-IR:New Media and Latin American Violent Movements

 "New Media and Latin American Violent Movements"

W. Alejandro Sanchez and Kelly Morrison

E-International Relations

July 2, 2014

Originally published: http://www.e-ir.info/2014/07/02/new-media-and-latin-american-violent-movements/

The Commons Lab, an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recently published a provocative article entitled: ‘New Terrorism and New Media.’ In his discussion, Professor Gabriel Weimann of Haifa University in Israel focuses on insurgent movements such as Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. His work explains how terrorist movements utilize social media outlets, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to expand the reach of their ideology and attract new converts.

According to Weimann, social media is different than traditional internet resources because, with social media, terrorists are able to directly target individual followers. Thus, social media has increased the number of “long wolf terrorists,” namely individuals who commit terrorist acts without being connected to a particular terrorist organization. With the rise of social media, Weimann argues that the war on terror has become increasingly “vital, dynamic, and ferocious” and creates a new front in the struggle for international security.

However, the use of social media and new technology is not limited to violent groups in the Greater Middle East. Thus, the authors of this article would like to expand upon Weimann’s research by discussing how criminal groups in Latin America have also been successful at utilizing new media resources.

A Game of Definitions

Weimann’s discussion focuses on terrorist movements in the Arab world. It is essential to note that the same general term “terrorists” cannot be applied to the criminals that currently operate in Latin America. Rather, Latin American criminal groups include narco-insurgents like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia, Shining Path in Peru, the Bolivarian Liberation Front (FBL) in Venezuela, and the Paraguay People’s Army in Paraguay.

Mexico’s main criminal groups are drug trafficking organizations. These cartels include the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, the Knights Templar, the Gulf Cartel, and New Generation. Additionally, Central America has its own share of criminal organizations. Maras, as they are known, are multinational gangs that have branches in countries ranging from the United States to South America.

For simplicity’s sake, we will utilize the term “violent movements” to encompass this vast number of criminal entities.

The Rise of the Latino Netizen

Latin America has experienced an explosion of internet activity in recent years. Some quick statistics help put this situation in the proper perspective. The World Bank estimated that the region had 581 million citizens in 2012, and a 2013 analysis by ComScorefound that “Latin America had the fastest growing internet population, increasing […] to more than 147 million unique visitors in March 2013.” Due to this increasing online presence, several institutions have carried out comprehensive analyses on internet usage in the region. Most recently, the Organization of American States and the internet security company Symantec published a major analysis entitled “Latin America + Caribbean Cyber Security Trends,” which focused on the rise of cybercrime in the Western Hemisphere, such as social media scams.

As Weimann notes, the internet and social media are valuable resources for criminal groups in general. When one considers the rising population of Latin American netizens, it is understandable why the region’s violent movements have turned to such resources to further their agendas.

Colombia: The FARC and ELN’s Virtual Presence

The FARC is Latin America’s oldest insurgent movement and will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The movement’s strength has declined during the past decade and a half; its membership has shrunk from around 16 thousand in the late 1990s to an estimated 8,000 today, and it has lost several of its leaders in recent years.

Even though the FARC has been severely weakened, the group remains a major force in Colombia and it has an active online presence. Its main online outlet is its own webpage. The FARC’s website has a section that discusses the history of this organization and another page devoted to press releases, most of which praise the FARC and critique the Colombian government. For example, the FARC published astatement on its website announcing that it declared a unilateral cease fire from June 9 to June 30 of this year due to the ongoing electoral process in Colombia. The website even has a “Contact Us” form where individuals can send inquiries to contact FARC commanders for interviews.

Additionally, the website has links to videos and news articles which clarify the group’s position on social issues. Though the FARC is one of Latin America’s most well-known insurgencies, its website promotes “wisdom and patience” in their conflict with the government. In a section addressed to soldiers and police, the FARC states that in other circumstances, “the groups could have been friends.” Moreover in an effort to demonstrate that the FARC is a gender-friendly entity, the FARC created a webpage last October dedicated to the female members of the movement. A FARC statement regarding the creation of the website “Mujer Fariana” declares that, “without a doubt, in the FARC, female guerrillas found a great number of possibilities to be recognized as women, social fighters, political individuals, as fighters against every kind of discrimination and exploitation.”

Additionally the FARC has had a Twitter accountsince 2011, boasting more than 22,000 followers. On their profile, the group claims to fight for “a just Colombia with equality for everyone.” The FARC’s most recent tweets came from August 2013, when the group announced that it would no longer post on the site. It seemed that officials had attempted to track the account. The authors thanked Twitter for its support and announced that the Colombian people would be the FARC’s official voice from then on. The group tweeted that it would march for the countryside, “without looking back.”

Some FARC fighters also have their own Twitter accounts, such as Ivan Marquez, a member of the FARC’s Secretariat. Unlike the FARC’s official Twitter, Marquez’s account remains active (though it is unclear whether the guerrilla actually composes his own tweets). For example, a June 10 tweet states: “The ongoing electoral race for the presidency has been one of the most shameful in the history of the country.” Marquez’ tweet provoked some strong replies from individuals who begged Marquez to stop his harsh commentary.

Finally, the FARC has a YouTube account that gained prominence when the FARC and the Cuban rap group Cuentas Claras made a video entitled “Colombianos Pa’ La Mesa” (Colombians to the Table). The song’s lyrics critique the government’s participation in the ongoing peace talks. It argues that the FARC is fighting for “shoeless kids,” while the government only wants to protect “its businesses.” The video features two FARC fighters: an old insurgent commander and a Dutch female citizen who went to Colombia to teach and ended up joining the FARC.

On the whole, the FARC’s online presence, while impressive, is inconsistent. As previously mentioned, the FARC no longer has an active Twitter account. Furthermore, the FARC’s webpages sometimes go offline (most likely due to the efforts of the Colombian government). At the time of this writing, both the FARC’s main site and the Mujer Fariana website are inactive. Moreover, it is unclear whether the FARC’s various websites have improved its public relations. While the general population seems to approve of the governments’ ongoing peace talks with the FARC, popular opinion towards the FARC itself remains low.

The FARC is not Colombia’s only insurgent group that has an online presence. The ELN also has a website, which shares the group’s history and ideology. As with the FARC site, the ELN webpage has a form that enables the public to send inquiries to the group’s leaders. The page also features news articles describing its activities and recommendations for videos, music, and literature. On the front page, the site quotes Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez: “what matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” It seems the page is meant to share the country’s events through the lens of the ELN’s ideology.

Mexico: The Bloody Narco Blogs

In Mexico, drug trafficking organizations comprise the most prevalent violent movements. Mexico’s local media outlets fail to sufficiently cover accounts of cartel violence. This media self-censorship is unsurprising; Mexican cartels have made a hobby of killing media editors or journalists that air stories critiquing their actions. The competition between the media and the cartels culminated in September 2010 when El Diario de Juarez, a newspaper operating in one of Mexico’s violent cities, published an op-ed asking drug cartels for a “truce.” The Juarez newspaper agreed to limit its unfavorable coverage of cartels if the cartels promised to stop killing its staff.

Due to problems of fear and corruption associated with traditional news outlets, Mexican citizens have turned to the Internet for information regarding the ongoing internal drug war in their country. Narco-blogs, for example, originally appeared when citizen journalists tried to cover stories of violence. These authors would publish quick articles with photos and amateur videos soon after an incident took place. The publications served to inform the public of the actions of the cartels.

However, cartels soon infiltrated this informal online arena and began killing bloggers and forum moderators of sites that published stories on the narcos. In September 2011, for instance, a man and a woman were hanged from a bridge in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas after their eyes and fingers had been cut off. Coverage by CNN reported that a sign was found on the bodies, threatening those who used the Internet to report on organized crime. Two months later, the body of a forum moderator known as El Rascatripas was found decapitated at the foot of a Columbus statue in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. The murderers placed a sign above the body that read: “I’m Rascatripas and this happened to me for failing to understand that I should not report things on social media websites.”

Moreover, cartels have also been known to post videos of executions and executed bodies to scare off their opponents. Members also use social media to boast about their own sadistic actions. As example of this narco-goriness is the website elnarcotube.com, which has a compilation of videos made by different Cartels. One videoshows a member of the Zetas decapitating a woman who was believed to be a member of the Gulf Cartel. Another video shows the Zetas interrogating a police officer from Durango. In the final seconds of the video the officer was shot in the head. Mexican cartels are also known to hire musical bands to sing songs of praise for them. These have become known as “narco corridos” (narco songs), and many can be found on YouTube.

Individual cartel members have also been known to brag about their actions. One Knights Templar member, who calls himself ‘Broly,’ posted selfies with victims and weapons on his Facebook page last year. Likewise, Alfredo Guzmán, the son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, also had an active online presence until his father was arrested this February. On the positive side, the news agency Business Insider notes that the online presence of cartel members may enable law enforcement agencies to capture them. However, such prospects seem optimistic.

Other Groups

One additional insurgent movement that has its own website is Venezuela’s obscure Armed Liberation Forces (FBL). According to the security news agency InSightCrime, the FBL is a guerrilla movement that operates in western Venezuela, close to the border with Colombia. InSightCrime explains that, unlike other insurgent movements, the FBL has generally avoided clashing with the government and has supported the government of the late President Hugo Chávez.

The website is hosted by the blogging site Blogspot, and its content includes a history of the organization and various press releases. For example, a June 5 press release on the website claims that FBL fighters activated smoke bombs in various areas of Caracas, including the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. “This action was not aimed at hurting anyone, or destroy private or public property, but to promote action,” the press release explains. Namely, the group was calling for popular protests against the “oligarchy” that brought about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. However, Últimas Noticias only reports that pamphlets were found in the areas mentioned. Apparently no actual attack took place, though the ensuing tension resulted in an increase in security and police forces around the city.

There are certainly other criminal groups that operate in the Latin American region, such as the insurgency groups in Peru and Paraguay and the Maras in Central America. However, the authors of this article have not found any online presence that we can verify that is associated with these organizations.

Conclusions

In “New Terrorism and New Media,” Professor Weimann argues that terrorists use the Internet to distribute propaganda, radicalize the population, and recruit followers. When it comes to Latin America, it seems the region’s criminal organizations have a much more limited online presence. One cannot be certain whether individuals have been inspired to join insurgency groups like the FARC, ELN, and FBL, or other drug trafficking organizations because of their websites or Twitter accounts. However, the online forums these organizations use certainly have not hurt their causes.

Propaganda is definitely one important objective of the criminal groups who use online resources. At the very least, the websites of groups like the FARC, ELN and FBL put forward a “noble” version of their history and struggle against their governments. The internet provides these narco-insurgencies a chance to tell their side of the story when news outlets focus only on the violence that comes from their existence. For this reason, modern technology has made a difference in the ongoing power struggle between narco-insurgencies and governments.

As for the Mexican narcos, uploading videos of cartel members executing individuals (either from opposing cartels or security forces), seems to be more of a way to demonstrate a cartel’s power. Yet the Internet has helped to romanticize the narco lifestyle in Mexico in recent years. There are worrying reports that Mexican youth now wish to grow up to become narcos due to their power and extravagant lifestyles. The fact that narco-corrido songs are now online also contributes to the propaganda machine of cartels. In this way, the internet has also enabled drug cartels to tell their own side of history.

Ultimately, the online presence of Latin American violent movements may not be as extensive as the Islamic extremist movements mentioned in Weimann’s report. However, insurgency movements and cartels have begun to use the internet and social media for their own purposes. These resources have enabled criminal organizations to share their stories, whether this be the nobility of their causes or the extravagance of their lifestyles.

About The Author (W. Alejandro Sánchez and Kelly Morrison):

W. Alejandro Sánchez is a Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs where he focuses on geopolitics, military and cyber security issues. He regularly appears in different media outlets like Al Jazeera, Russia Today, BBC, El Comercio (Peru), Voice of Russia, among others. His analyses have appeared in numerous refereed journals including Small Wars and Insurgencies, Defence Studies, the Journal of Slavic Military Studies, European Security, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and Cuban Affairs.

Kelly Morrison is an undergraduate student at Lee University where she studies Spanish and International Relations. Ms. Morrison is currently working as a Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, DC.

Tags: Colombia, FARC, insurgency, Insurgent Movements, latin america, mexico, Narco Blogs, New Media, social media, Violent Movements

Journal: A Virtual Leap Forward And Real-Life Challenges: The Internet In Latin America

A Virtual Leap Forward And Real-Life Challenges: The Internet In Latin America
W. Alejandro Sanchez
Humanities and Technology Review
Fall 2013, Vol. 32
P. 62- 89

VOXXI:E-businesses in Latin America: The future is Ahora

E-Businesses in Latin America: The Future is Ahora
W. Alejandro Sanchez
VOXXI
May 1, 2013
Originally published: http://www.voxxi.com/e-businesses-in-latin-america-the-future-is-ahora/

The major economic growth that most Latin American nations currently enjoy has led to the emergence of what has been labeled as a “digital middle class.” Namely, more Latin American citizens are connecting to the virtual world thanks to increasingly cheaper internet-devices (computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones) as well as the spread of greater Wi-Fi access areas. One important result of this development is the rise of regional e-businesses by Latin American entrepreneurs. Even though these have not appeared as quickly as those in the “dotcom” boom in the U.S. in the late 1990s, they are certainly noteworthy.

Latin American e-businesses

Over the past years, e-stores and other types of e-businesses have appeared across Latin America, particularly in states such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru. There are several examples of successful e-businesses and retailers where users can buy merchandise such as clothes, alcohol, blenders and even vehicles. Examples of these e-stores are a Peruvian website called PlataTop and another one called Linio.com, which has subsidiaries in Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela. In addition, there is a website called Mercado Libre based in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, which is a Latin American version of eBay. Users can sell their personal goods, such as clothing or electronic devices to others via this website and Mercado Libre receives a commission per transaction. However, there is the concern that some of this merchandise may be of illegal origin.

Moreover, as proof that anything can be bought and sold online, there are websites aptly called YourCar and YourMotorcycle based in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. Through these websites, users can post ads for the sale of vehicles and motorcycles. For wealthier individuals, there are websites where a user can advertise the sale of small airplanes (YourPlane) and  others where users can browse houses for sale not only in Latin America but also in Florida (YourHouse).

As for Brazil, local startup e-businesses have appeared in the past couple of years, like for example Meliuz and Peixe Urbano. Meliuz is an interesting enterprise as it is essentially a “cashback” type of business in which users that join the site can have access to deals in a variety of major online retailers in Brazil, such as Sephora and Netshoes. In an email interview with the author of this commentary, a Meliuz spokeswoman stated that she thinks that online shopping will continue in the coming years. She explained that “Brazilians are getting used to shop[ing] online. That’s why Brazilian e-commerce is growing at an average of 20 percent each year. The biggest challenge for the online retailers, and also for web sites like Meliuz, is to keep in mind that the most important thing is the customer care, as this business is based on trust.”

Limits, limitations and leaping ahead too quickly

 

Nevertheless, there are still limitations to the growth of Latin American e-businesses. For example, Latin American governments will have to increase educational funding to promote computer literacy among their populations. Initiatives like providing free laptop computers to schoolchildren to help them become computer-literate, like Uruguay has done, are positive examples that other countries should follow. Nevertheless, in countries like Peru, a nation which has enjoyed propitious economic development, there are still communities with no access to water or electricity. These stark infrastructural deficits put Peruvian citizens at a disadvantage when it comes to entering the virtual job market and restricts their potential for creating independent online startups.

Moreover, recent rumors that Argentina may use the e-currency known as Bitcoin is interesting but potentially dangerous. The decision may arguably be based not so much on public interest in Bitcoin itself, but may rather be due to the country’s continuing economic struggles. This is a bad reason to turn to e-currencies, which are unpredictable. As a recent blog post in the Financial Times explains, “part of the rise in Bitcoin demand must be for saving, economists say, since Argentines lack instruments that can keep pace with inflation.” In an e-mail interview with the author, an IT expert that focuses on cyber security explained that Argentina should know more about Bitcoin using it. He explained that “this is part of the wider problem of people using the internet but not fully understanding it, they just click ‘OK’ on a box that appears without fully knowing the repercussions.” Computer and internet literacy goes hand in hand with internet security, and it will also be up to Latin American e-businesses, just like their e-customers, to make sure that cyber criminals do not exploit the still vulnerable market that is e-businesses in Latin America. For example, the aforementioned Meliuz spokesperson stressed how her company sees the protection of consumer data as vital, exemplified by the company’s “implementation of a method to encrypt personal user information data based on a random generated string only available on the server running the application.”

Furthermore, there are continuing limitations to scaling up e-business in Latin America, especially in terms of geographic access. E-stores like Peru’s PlazaTop work well for the bigger Peruvian cities such as Lima, but still do not have delivery options for smaller towns.  Startup companies in the region cannot (yet) be compared to well-established e-businesses like Amazon, which has essentially worldwide delivery capacities.

The virtual world provides plenty of opportunities for commercial growth, as exemplified by the appearance of Latin America-based e-businesses such as PlazaTop, Meliuz and Mercado Libre. Nevertheless, there are still limitations such as geography, internet connectivity and computer literacy, as well as concerns over the e-security of users’ personal information. Given the potential perils of trying to take advantage of potential virtual profits (such as Bitcoin, which can be manipulated by hackers), perhaps the current slow pace is a good idea.

Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/e-businesses-in-latin-america-the-future-is-ahora/#ixzz2SBqVbRIS

BLOUIN: Cuba’s elections yield predictable results

Cuba's Elections Yield Predictable Results
W. Alex Sanchez
Blouin Beat: Politics
February 7, 2013
Originally published: http://blogs.blouinnews.com/blouinbeatpolitics/2013/02/07/cubas-elections-yield-predictable-results/

This past Sunday, Cuba went to the polls to elect 612 delegates to the country’s National Assembly as well as representatives to regional assemblies. Discussing elections in Cuba is bizarre: there are no legal political parties on the island, other than the ruling Communist Party, which wrenches the word out of any meaningful context.  Still, one noteworthy event occurred:  Fidel Castro made his first public appearance in months to vote. The iconic ex-leader declared that “the people are truly revolutionary, they have really sacrificed. We don’t have to prove it, history will.”

Maybe so. And it’s true that the recent elections come against the backdrop of a series of political reforms Raul Castro has carried out, including clawbacks of government powers over the economy – with more than 400,000 Cubans now licensed to create their own small businesses, an attempt to improve the island’s economy and create a new middle class. Another reform that seized public attention was the government’s relaxation of its exit visa requirements. (Among the individuals that have successfully left the island has been Eliécer Avila, a prominent Cuban dissident leader.)

But all is not well with economic and political liberty on the Caribbean island. The Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional (Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, or CCDHRN), recently reported that 364 individuals were detained for political motives (i.e. committing acts of dissidence) in January alone. And prominent dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez received a visa to travel to Brazil in January under the relaxed requirements – but the government once again denied her request to temporarily leave the country. “It is occasion number 19 on which they have violated my right to enter and leave the country,” she wrote.

Long gone are the days of analysts speculating whether there could be some kind of social upheaval that would remove the Castro brothers and their allies from power by force. Now, the world seems to be waiting for a (one hopes) non-violent passing of the torch from the Castros  (both of whom are of advanced age, with Raul Castro at 81 years old and Fidel at 86). Under other circumstances, elections — even relatively circumscribed ones – can be at least a means to groom a new political class. Historically this has not been the case in the Caribbean state. In 2011, a promising shakeup of Raul Castro’s cabinet only brought more of the “old guard” to positions of power rather than new faces.  And – unsurprisingly – this latest round proved no different. TheCuban electoral commission reported that the results were satisfactory, with over seven million eligible voters going to the polls (86% of all of the island’s eligible voters). Media outlets reported that all 612 candidates for the National Assembly (and over 1,200 for regional legislatures) were elected.

Not that this outcome was ever much in doubt: remember, no legal parties exist that could field an alternative set of candidates. (Sanchez, with no small degree of sarcasm, tweeted: “#Cuba WHAT A SURPRISE! Out of 612 candidates to vote for in this “elections”, 612 were ratified.”) Critics argue, too, that whoever is elected to the National Assembly is largely inconsequential: only a handful of individuals at the top of the Cuban leadership continue to control key governmental and military posts.

So here we have an election without real parties or alternative candidates, which will grant no power to those who “win”, all taking place under a regime that regards a single blogger as so threatening as to be need to be prevented from leaving the country. Fidel Castro may praise the Cuban people’s revolutionary fervor – but the government he led for decades and which still bears his imprint is looking decidedly reactionary.

COHA: E-Freedom of Expression in Bolivia

E-Freedom of Expression in Bolivia
W. Alejandro Sanchez
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
November 9, 2012
Available: http://www.coha.org/20205/

In late October, La Paz officials declared that the internet had become a major setting where rambunctious individuals are posting offensive comments directed at the Bolivian government. To address this situation, a new law could be passed that would specifically target users that level insults at President Evo Morales and his government on online social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and online forums.[1] For the time being, this tactic only appears to be a proposal and it is unclear if the measure will evolve into an actual law. Nevertheless, such initiatives raise the uncomfortable prospect of the protection of online freedom of expression in the Andean country.

Recent Instability

While still retaining much of his popularity, President Morales has faced a series of challenges throughout the year, as exemplified by several recent protests. Last May, that included major demonstrations by university students and by doctors in La Paz, with the Bolivian Health Ministry being a target of the protesters.[2] That same month, the Central Obrera Bolivia (Bolivian Worker’s Central) called for a 72-hour strike, which translated into protests in the country’s major cities of La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and Sucre.[3] The situation became even more dire in June when hundreds of police officers and their spouses took their grievances to the streets, demanding an improvement in their salaries.[4]The manifestation of dissent turned particularly alarming as several protesting police officers managed to occupy a police station in La Paz, close to the government palace and the parliament.[5] While there may be no connection between the contentious usage of social media and the aforementioned protests, it could be argued that the Bolivian government wants to prevent the internet from being used as a source for citizens to voice their grievances and to quell popular dissent in order to contain further protests, it is within its means to do so

Nevertheless, it is important to stress that in spite of the aforementioned protests, President Morales maintains favorable ratings in the nation, since he was democratically elected in 2006. Furthermore, it is clear that he will attempt to remain in power and will be able to do so; this was exemplified during a recent summit of his political grouping, the Movement for Socialism (MAS). At that gathering, Morales announced that he would run for another presidential term in the 2014 elections.[6] While that balloting is still more than two years away, Morales will undoubtedly be a strong contender and it is debatable if the country’s opposition will be likely to find a candidate who hopefully can challenge the incumbent head of state, similar to the effective, if ultimately unsuccessful Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who challenged President Hugo Chavez in the recent Venezuelan presidential elections. It will be interesting to see how the Bolivian government and opposition political movements will utilize the internet in the years leading up to the Bolivian presidential elections. 

E-Freedom of Expression

Social media outlets have been slow to become popular in the Bolivian government. For example, President Morales does not have a Twitter account. According to the website Twitplomacy, an online study that follows the presence of world leaders on Twitter, besides Morales, the leaders of Guyana and Suriname are the only other South American heads of state without a Twitter account. On the other hand, other regional heads of state such as Venezuela’s Chavez, Peru’s Ollanta Humala, and Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos, are fairly robust users of Twitter, while Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff has not updated her Twitter account since late 2010.

Nevertheless, the lack of widespread usage by Bolivian government officials does not mean that the Bolivian population has not resorted to the internet to voice its criticism of the head of state. Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro Garcia already has revealed that the country maintains a government agency that monitors social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, as well as online newspapers in order to keep track of what is being said about the head of state.[7] Carlos Romero, minister of interior, has declared that “Facebook is sometimes used to misinform, to insult and to attack, particularly the president or individuals that are part of the government.”[8]

If the proposal on posting offensive comments against the president be enacted, the potential for a dangerous precedent could emerge regarding online freedom of expression in Bolivia. In fact, there have been a number of other incidents regarding e-freedom of expression and politics in other countries. For example, in September, a Brazilian judge ordered the arrest of a Google executive in that country because YouTube (owned by Google), had not removed videos that attacked a mayoral candidate.[9]Also, an anti-mining activist in the Philippines was recently sent to jail over a Facebook post in which the activist condemned a mining company for harassing local community leaders.[10] The detention was carried out thanks to a recently enacted controversial cybercrime piece of legislation in the Asian country. Even the U.S. has experienced incidents regarding online press-freedom incidents. In late 2011, there was a bizarre incident in Kansas in which a teenage high school student insulted Kansas Governor Sam Brownback via Twitter, prompting his staff to demand an apology from her and that her school be notified.

Jovan Kurbalija, the founding director of the DiploFoundation, has properly summarized the debate over e-freedom of expression and protecting public security.[11]Kurbalija explains that, “freedom of expression versus protection of public order: the well-known debate between Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 27 (protection of public order) of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights has been extended to the Internet. It is very often discussed in the context of content control and censorship of the Internet.”[12]

The debate over balancing freedom of expression and protection of the public order is a complicated issue. If necessary, the Bolivian government has the right to maintain public order and prosecute individuals who post statements who may call for violence against the government. Nevertheless, the problem arises when it comes to determining the legal precedent in prosecuting offensive public statements. A statement calling for a revolution and the violent overthrow of the Morales government may be worthy of a fine, but what if a citizen critiques Morales and calls him a “bad” president on Facebook? While this may represent an insult to the head of state’s dignity, is that individual deserving of a fine or should the Bolivian government have the right to “black list” that user with impunity? To use another example, what differentiates a tweet on Twitter calling for the overthrow of the Peruvian government to graffiti defacement calling for the same goal that recently has appeared throughout several Andean towns? The graffiti has been attributed to the guerrilla group Shining Path.[13]

Latin America in general has had a traumatic history with a number of authoritarian regimes that have cracked down on dissenters and putting harsh limits on freedom of expression. This Bolivian proposal is especially troubling as it brings back memories of South America’s troubled past, such as Operation Condor. This was a Washington-orchestrated campaign of political repression carried out by several South American military governments in the 1970s.[14] Just like there have been governments that have brutally cracked down on dissenters, the region also has an unfortunately rich history of violence originating from insurgent groups calling for the violent overthrow of elected governments.

Conclusions

In spite of the Bolivian government’s assertion to monitor offensive statements, Bolivian officials still claim that they will continue to respect and protect the freedom of speech of its citizens. Interior Minister Romero has declared that the potential law, “will not affect a citizen’s right to freedom of opinion [and] of expression, we will not change that.”[15]

The balance between freedom of expression and the protection of the public order is a dangerously fragile relationship that many governments continue to murk in targeting the internet. Nevertheless, e-freedom of expression has become a right that is arguably just as important as “real world” freedom of expression, and governments should treat it as such for their citizens. In Bolivia, what is clear is that the Morales government faces a number of challenges, judging by the seemingly quotidian major protests across the country, but it should not have to risk infuriating its population, particularly the youth (who are usually the most computer literate), by implanting any further restrictions on the virtual world.

Evo Morales was constitutionally elected as president of his nation in 2006, and was then re-elected in 2009. In spite of the ongoing protests occurring throughout the country, including the major strong public objection experienced in 2008, Morales has maintained his popularity with the populace and he is a clear contender for the 2014 presidential elections.[16] Unfortunately, some of the laws that his government has passed have been critiqued as being authoritarian-like. A potential law that makes it a crime to critique government action online places limits on e-freedom of speech in Bolivia; protecting public order shouldn’t occur by suppressing constitutional rights.

W. Alex Sanchez, Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Please accept this article as a free contribution from COHA, but if re-posting, please afford authorial and institutional attribution. Exclusive rights can be negotiated. 

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[1]Bolivia sancionara a quienes insulten a Evo Morales en las redes sociales. CNN En Espanol.  October 24, 2012. http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2012/10/24/bolivia-sancionara-a-quienes-insulten-a-evo-morales-en-las-redes-sociales/

[2]Violentos disturbios en las protestas medicas en Bolivia. El Mundo. EFE. May 17, 2012. http://www.elmundo.es/america/2012/05/16/noticias/1337205360.html

[3]El gobierno boliviano atribuye las protestas a una “conspiracion.” El Pais. Internacional. May 11, 2012. http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/05/11/actualidad/1336766169_676358.html

[4]Bolivia: huelga y amotenamiento de policias desencadena protestas en el pais. Russia Today. June 22, 2012. http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/47552-Bolivia-huelga-y-amotinamiento-de-polic%C3%ADas-desencadena-protestas-en-todo-pa%C3%ADs

[5] Bolivia: policias se amotinan para exigir alza salarial a Morales. RPP Noticias Peru. June 21, 2012. http://www.rpp.com.pe/2012-06-21-bolivia-policias-se-amotinan-para-exigir-alza-salarial-a-morales-noticia_494472.html

[6] Paz Ballivian, Ricardo. Bolivia 2014. La Razon. August 13, 2012. http://www.la-razon.com/opinion/columnistas/Bolivia_0_1668433159.html

[7] Gobierno de Bolivia perseguira a quienes insulten a Evo Morales. Televisa. October 24, 2012. http://noticierostelevisa.esmas.com/internacional/516855/gobierno-bolivia-perseguira-quienes-insulten-evo-morales/

[8] Gobierno de Bolivia perseguira a quienes insulten a Evo Morales. Televisa. October 24, 2012. http://noticierostelevisa.esmas.com/internacional/516855/gobierno-bolivia-perseguira-quienes-insulten-evo-morales/

[9] Brooks, Bradley. Brazil judge orders arrest of Google president. Associated Press. Yahoo. September 25, 2012. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/brazil-judge-orders-arrest-google-president-164309455–finance.html

[10]Mongaya, Karlo Mikhail. Philippines: Anti-Mining Activist Arrested over Facebook Post. Global Voices Advocacy. October 28, 2012. http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/28/philippines-anti-mining-activist-arrested-over-facebook-post/

[11]  The DiploFoundation aims to aid small and developing states build the capacity to engage effectively in international policy processes, negotiations, and diplomacy. Diplo was established as an independent non-profit foundation by the governments of Malta and Switzerland. http://www.diplomacy.edu/

[12]Kurbalija, Jovan. An Introduction to Internet Governance 4^th Edition.DiploFoundation. 2010. Switzerland. P.17-18

[13] Pintas de Sendero Luminoso en Espinar. Peru 21. September 26, 2012. http://peru21.pe/politica/pintas-sendero-luminoso-espinar-2043897

[14] A brief summary of Operation Condor can be found in: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3720724.stm

[15] Bolivia estudia aplicar sanciones contra quienes insulten a Evo Morales en medios y redes sociales. La Tercera. October 23, 2012. http://www.latercera.com/noticia/mundo/2012/10/678-489882-9-bolivia-estudia-aplicar-sanciones-contra-quienes-insulten-a-evo-morales-en.shtml

[16] Carroll, Rory. Bolivia split in two as wealthy defy the Morales revolution. The Guardian. The Observer. August 23, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/24/bolivia