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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 15:58:40 -0700
From: Martha Norkunas <m.norkunas@mail.utexas.edu>
To: faulk@zilker.net
Subject: The Cyberspace Challenge for Latin America

  Dear Colleagues: The following is the text of one of the talks given at
the John Henry Faulk Conference on the First Amendment "The First Amendment
in Cyberspace," sponsored by the Center for American History at The
University of Texas at Austin on April 18, 1995.


                The Cyberspace Challenge for Latin America

                          by Yolanda M. Rivas
                        [yrivas@mail.utexas.edu]

The rapid diffusion of communication technology poses challenges without
precedents for Latin American nations and their role in the Information
Age. As these young democracies suddenly awaken to an era where
telecommunications and knowledge are crucial determinants of development,
this "new window to the world" seems both promising and intimidating.
Mainly as a resource of information and interaction, the Internet has been
embraced with enthusiasm by most Latin American governments, organizations,
and individuals. Online access is now a reality for many of our people now
benefiting directly or indirectly from this new global tool.

The expansion speed of the Internet in these countries is a sign that these
nations are no longer late adopters of innovation. Latin America and the
Caribbean was reported by the Internet Society as the fastest growing
region with a 36% increase for the third quarter of 1994--rising from over
16,600 to 22,500 domains in just three months. For example, in this period
Argentina grew by 419%, Peru by 171%, Venezuela by 65%, and Mexico by 48%.
[Unfortunately, 1995 statistics for Latin America are not available yet.]

Even though we tend to examine Latin America as a whole, each country joins
the technology race with unique realities, yet, with the common goal of
coming out of the "lost decade" of the 1980s, when inflation, rural
migration, unemployment, and violence reached their peak in History.
Solutions to some of these problems still demand higher priority and
allocation of resources, while at the same time the promises of information
technology may help alleviate some of these hardships.

Each country unfolds many examples of success and challenge. For example,
Mexico's strategic geographical location and open-trade system contributed
to the development of a decentralized backbone--one of the strongest in
Latin America. In another direction, Brazil's solid infrastructure and
technological sophistication were urged by protective public policies which
closed the markets to international vendors in order to promote the
national computer industry. At a smaller scale, Peru's main challenge now
is to provide online access in rural areas where even low-technologies
(such as the telephone) are not available. Further south, Chile is taking
advantage of its 12 long-distance carriers which battle to offer the lowest
rates, and the local telephone providers who are now building the
fiber-optics infrastructure that will provide telemedicine for the national
hospitals network.

How about the marginalized communities, you may ask? Behind these stories
of success there is great concern for those whose economic and education
levels may turn them into the new info-poor. Much of our population still
relies on artisan communication media. In shanty towns in Lima, "listservs"
take the form of loudspeakers in street markets, or blackboards by the
water source. A "shanty-town Usenet newsgroup" is a cement wall displaying
messages scribbled in colored chalk--the 'newsgroup moderator' is the
person in charge of washing the wall every week. Meanwhile, at the public
electronic library, other Peruvians surf the net or exchange email messages
with people from the other side of the world.

Even though this paradox is unlikely to change in the short run, community
centers in these poor areas have started to join BBSs, Freenets, the
PeaceNet, and the Internet to access information and organizations that may
help the dwellers learn about new production techniques or find markets for
their textile or bakery products. Nevertheless, this empowering technology
also presents some disadvantages to Latin Americans due to language and
cultural barriers. In the meantime, literacy figures indicate that 95% of
young Latin Americans (and 85% of adults) already know how to read and
write, making them ready for some of the challenges of the information
revolution. As pointed out by some scholars, this 'gap' is likely to be
generational as opposed to informational.

Overwhelmed by this new "shower of data," many scientists express concern
that Latin Americans will soon find their way CONSUMING, as opposed to
PRODUCING information over the net. To encourage production and
dissemination of indigenous knowledge, Internet providers, such as the
Peruvian Scientific Network, are translating Internet software into Spanish
so that language is not a "punishment" for learning and communication.
Additionally, they are setting up several databases in indigenous
languages, such as Quechua. We need to realize that much of the value of
this global medium is not just how much we can learn from other, but how
much we can learn from ourselves. However, many times we may choose not to
listen...

For the first time, revolutionary movements also call for attention and try
to proselytize end-users telling their side of the story using the
Internet. Web pages with multiple hypertext links present the issues in the
Chiapas region and the Zapatistas' protests. On my recent visit to Peru,
the Internet was in all the newscasts. Apparently, the terrorist group
Shining Path had "bombarded" the Peruvian listservs with their
revolutionary messages. The alarm of the press and the public was evident:
"The terrorists have invaded the Internet!" In this "binary battle," Peru
staged an implacable counter attack, as the servers were programmed to send
400 e-mails per minute for a week to the remote terrorist computer--which
happened to be in Queens, New York. When I interviewed the coordinator of
the Peruvian Scientific Network he told me that they had established the
policy to reject any content threatening the integrity of the country
--among the end-users, this had been a natural consensus. The proportions
of this incident, however, expand as the adoption levels grow.

As more Latin Americans and their governments acknowledge the potential of
their electronic networks for socioeconomic development, the next step is
to educate our people and prepare them for the challenges of the future.
Although many of these groups still lack the basic communication
technologies, more people will have the opportunity to "leap-frog" to
sophisticated and refined tools enabling their assimilation to the global
matrix. For us over here, the arrival of these online cultures to
cyberspace enrich diversity of information and interaction, using the
medium to dim the frontiers to Latin America and expand our horizons.


[END OF FILE]


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Yolanda M. Rivas                         ("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._
M.A. Program, Communication               `6_ 6  )   `-.  (     ).`-.__.`)
   Technology and Policy                  (_Y_.)'  ._   )  `._ `. ``-..-'
Department of Radio-Television-Film      _..`--'_..-_/  /--'_.' ,'
The University of Texas at Austin        (il),-''  (li),'  ((!.-'
email: yrivas@mail.utexas.edu
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

*********************************************
Martha Norkunas
Center for American History
SRH 2.101
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX  78712

Phone: 512-495-4515
FAX: 512-495-4542
internet address: m.norkunas@mail.utexas.edu
*********************************************