Presidential campaign in Colombia heats up online

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN COLOMBIA

With a little over a month to go before the presidential election in Colombia due to take place on the 30th of May, the election campaign is currently in full swing. Candidates and their supporters are doubling their efforts to gain citizens’ support. And part of the campaign is taking place on the web.

All the candidates are very active online. Starting with Antanas Mockus, candidate for the Green Party, who aside from having a very comprehensive campaign web site, is also broadcasting numerous videos like these ones, on sharing sites. In these clips Mockus explains that he is the candidate that will fight corruption, a program which appears to be a hit with citizens because the candidate’s Facebook page has around 100 000 fans.

Juan Manuel Santos, the Uribist party candidate, is trying to use his work as Defense Minister for the current government to his advantage. On his own website and in many online videos, he presents himself as the man to continue President Uribe’s fight against the FARC. He says his program is based on 3 main principles: work, education and security.

Security is a central theme for the Conservative party candidate Noemi Sanin. The former ambassador of Colombia in the UK and Spain says she intends to make the country safer and she will fight relentlessly against drug traffickers and other terrorists, with the help of the United States and the European Union, in order to get the best results.

Finally, Rafael Pardo, the representative for the Liberal Party, see himself as the candidate for a fairer, more egalitarian society, and has decided to base his campaign on the reform of Colombia’s health system. He wants to see everyone in the country benefit from social security.
 

GIBE III DAM DIVIDES ETHIOPIANS

Workers are busy in this Ethiopian valley where a 240 meter high hydroelectric dam, will soon stand: the GIBE 3 dam is a colossal project and should allow the country to double its electricity production. This dam is being built on the Omo River and will generate over 1800 megawatts in energy, that’s the equivalent of two nuclear reactors. It will be enough to satisfy the country’s needs and even to export to neighboring countries. But the project has sparked controversy.

Several NGOs have launched an Internet campaign, denouncing the human and social consequences of the dam.

This eco-activist says that by diverting the seasonal rise in water levels of the river Omo, the dam will destroy the ecosystem of the Lake Turkana, situated downstream. Tens of thousands of people depend on this lake for fishing, farming and irrigation. So their means of support could soon disappear.

And the rebellion against the building of the dam is taking place in cyber space, with this online petition that was launched a few weeks ago. Objective: appeal to organizations like the World Bank to stop financing this project that local tribes have not agreed to.

The members of this Facebook group do not understand the criticism. They think the dam is synonymous with modernism and national pride.

And a website has been set up to defend the project. According to its creator, by opposing the project you are opposing the development of Ethiopia. And he wonders why NGOs are trying to stop the construction of the dam, as they will indirectly be leaving millions of Africans without electricity.
 

THE OWL BOX

Attention all nature lovers! A Californian man has installed a webcam in an owl box and is filming 24 hours a day; we see the bird’s different habits and also how it takes care of its young. This page is enjoying great success and has already been visited 7 million times.
 

TRIBECA FESTIVAL

The Tribeca film festival opens in New York on Friday several weeks before the Cannes festival. This year, the festival is opening its doors to web users who cannot physically attend the public projections. Virtual passes cost an average of 45 dollars, give you access to view many of the films via the Internet. There are 8 films and 18 short films available to be watched from the comfort of your own home.
 

VIDEO OF THE DAY

This woman had an incredible experience. She was on a beach in South Georgia, a British overseas territory, in the southern Atlantic Ocean. She was lucky enough to have been able to stroke and cuddle a sea elephant. It seems to be very taken with the young woman. This rare moment, full of emotion, was captured on film.