The IMF succession on BBC and Radio Havana Cuba

After the tragicomic sexual scandal that toppled the International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the news about de succession debate is if the tradition of an European on the command of the IMF should be maintained or not. Of course, from different parts of the world came different positions.

Listen to what BBC has reported about at May, 25, in this link.

Here in South of Brazil, I’ve recorded, whit my shortwave receptor, Radio Havana Cuba, transmitting in English (11.760 Khz, 2:35 UTC May 27) what the Brazilian Finance Minister, Guido Mantega talked about the question. Guess his position.

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Brazilian Forestry Code is news on Deutsche Welle

News about Brazil in the international press use to repeat old clichés. With issues like football and carnival, the Amazon Forest is one of the few things that usually sparks interest on international editors. On May, 25, looking at the so called “Rain Forest”, Deutsche Welle reports, in its German news report, about the Brazilian new Forestry code, that has been approved in one of the Congress houses.

 

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BBC's last transmission in portuguese to Africa

The ending of shortwave transmissions in Portuguese for Brazil is getting more and,more usual, unfortunately. But it isn‘t a “privilege” of Brazil. After  having the difficult task of cutting down ¼ of its budget, BBC decided this year, among other measures,  to put an end on the transmission in Portuguese for Africa. Because of the time of the transmissions (in Brazil we were in the middle of the night) I’ve just listened to the program once, in an insomnia night.  Here is the link to the nice last program, in which BBC is transparent about the cause of the end of the service and makes a revision about the history of the program.

Argentina international radio and the Mercosur conflicts

The relationship between Brazil and its neighbor Argentina suffers a concussion from time to time, especially when the matter is business in Mercosur, the problematic trade agreement between both countries plus Paraguay and Uruguay. It’s common that Argentina imposes barriers to difficult access of Brazilian products to the Argentinean market. Brazilian industry usually complains that the position of Brazilian government is complacent with its commercial partner. But, surprisingly, this month, President Dilma Roussef’s administration announced that products from Argentinean automobile industry wouldn’t get automatic licenses to be imported by Brazil anymore, in a clear signalization that Brazil is retaliating similar posture from Argentina. In the transmission from the German service of Radiodifusion Argentina al Exterior (RAE) from May, 13, Rayen Braun, who presents the program targeting Europe and North of Africa with Carlos Rocca, informs that the Industry Minister of Argentina, Débora Giorgi, would be informed previously about the Brazilian measure, as Argentina did the same, in February, having informed Brazil before implementing the barrier, said Giorgi. Well, I don’t think that the main problem is in communication. And you?

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Shortwave in Africa: all but dead

While in most parts of the world the decline of shortwave seems to be accelerating, in Africa these transmissions maintain a key role. Shortwave can reach people in the most remote places and can’t be silenced by governments, as can local FM stations. In this interview for Keith Perron, from Pcjmedia, David Smith, who worked with Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands, and United Nations Radio, tells that in Africa, with simple receptors people maintain the tradition of listening to international stations on shortwave. For me, in the South of Brazil, this helps to keep the hope that I can stay tuning in programs in shortwave for some time more. After all, many transmissions directed to Africa have very good reception here.

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Radio Berlin International: last transmission

This is a classic from the end of the Cold War: the last transmission in English from Radio Berlin International, from the Germany Democratic Republic (DDR), on October 2, 1990. The next day,  with the reunification of Germany, RBI disappeared, and its structure went to Deutsche Welle. The editors of the program really weren’t happy, as you can listen. More than 20 years later, one of the journalists who participates in the transmission, Hardy Graupner, still works for DW's English service.

This is the complete program, which I’ve recorded from the site Pcjmedia.com.

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This is a short edited version from the site Intervalsignals.net.

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