Rafa Nadal and the French syringe, Portugal's pillow fight, Honduran Prison tragedy and more...

By Helen Lima de Sousa

Thursday 16th February to Thursday 23rd February

SPAIN – Spanish Sports Stars the butt of Canal Plus Francia’s doping jokes

The Spanish Ambassador to France, Carlos Bastarreche, has sent a letter to Canal Plus Francia, criticizing the French TV channel’s decision to air comedy shows that make a parody of professional Spanish athletes drugging themselves. The cyclist Alberto Contador, tennis player Rafael Nadal, basketball player Pau Gasol and football goalkeeper Iker Casillas are all victims of the French TV channel’s gags.

Spain has come under international pressure since Alberto Contador was given a retroactive two-year ban earlier this month after failing a drug’s test at the 2010 Tour de France. The ban also saw him stripped of his winning title from that same event. In light of these issues Jose Ignacio Wert, the Spanish minister for Education, Culture and Sport, has admitted that Spanish sport has serious doping issues that need to be rectified. However, in response to the satirical TV programs aired by Canal Plus Francia, the Spanish minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, pointed out that in 2011 the number of doping cases in France was 233, compared to 171 in Spain.

CHILE – The capital city reintroduces the 12 o’ clock cannon-shot

The Mayor of Santiago, Pablo Zalaquett, commemorated the founding of the city of Santiago with the reintroduction of the traditional 12 o’clock cannon-shot. The city was founded 471 years ago by Pedro de Valdivia on the 12th February 1541, and the traditional 12 o’clock cannon-shot had been used for over two hundred years to mark the event. This tradition was suspended, however, after Chile’s 2010 earthquake in a bid to prevent any further damage that the vibrations produced by the cannon-shot could cause. The earthquake, which happened on 27th February 2010, had a magnitude of 8.8 and caused widespread devastation across Chile, including the capital Santiago.

The Mayor explained that the decision to reintroduce the 12 o’clock cannon-shot this year was based on “the historical symbolism that this act has for the city”. He also announced that this year’s ceremony in the capital city was immersed in the renovation of its patrimonial architecture, public spaces, parks and central squares.

PORTUGAL – Europe’s Capital of Culture holds an Organised pillow-fight

An organised battle has taken place in the historic Portuguese city of Guimarães. Europe’s 2012 Capital of Culture is not new to battles; it played a central role in the formation of an independent Portugal after Dom Afonso Henrique won the Battle of São Mamede in 1128 and the city has since been known as the birth place of the Portuguese nation. The battle planned for last Saturday, however, was quite different: the “warriors” would attack others and defend themselves with pillows, rather than swords.

The “Flash Mob Guimarães 2012 Pillow-Fight” was the idea of 19 year old Cláudio Martins and 20 year old Fátima Ferreira. Large-scale organised pillow-fights are not new to Portugal, and Martins and Ferreira admitted that they were inspired to organise a “battle” in Guimarães after hearing about the ones that had already taken place in Lisbon, Oporto, Braga and Coimbra. ‘I thought that Guimarães could have one too’, Martins revealed. Many local shops were actively supportive of the event, selling or giving away pillows to their customers in preparation for Saturday’s “battle” and over three thousand people had confirmed their attendance via facebook.

HONDURAS – Prison fire kills over 300

On the evening of Tuesday 14th February 2012 a fire broke out at a prison in Honduras, killing over 300 inmates. The prison, which holds over 800 convicts, is situated in the city of Comayagua, 75 km north of the capital Tegucigalpa. The Head of the Public Ministry of Forensic Medicine, Lucy Marrder, initially stated the death toll as 272, although it is thought that this number has now risen to over 300. The Director of Prisons, Danilo Orellana, told the press: ‘We are in the process of removing the bodies; there are more than 200 dead, it is a grim situation, most died of asphyxiation.’ It is said that the bodies of most of the victims are in an unidentifiable state.

The fire is thought to be linked to a prison revolt that began late on Tuesday evening, and rescue attempts were delayed due to the sound of gunshots in the area. It is not the first prison revolt in Honduras to end in death, with the latest before yesterday’s events taking place in October 2011 and costing the lives of 9 inmates. The Honduran government remains under constant pressure to improve conditions for inmates in the country’s prisons.

VENEZUELA – Henrique Capriles to stand against Chávez in presidential election

On Monday 13th February 2012 it was announced that the governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, had won the vote to become the only candidate that Venezuela’s united opposition parties will put forward in this year’s presidential elections. Capriles, who won 62% of the votes, will face the current Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in the elections, which will take place in October.

The result came as no surprise as Capriles had been the constant favourite of the five oppositional candidates in opinion polls. The elections did, however, have a higher than expected turnout – estimated at around 2.9 million voters – which led organizers to extend the voting period by an hour.

Since the result the current president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, has accused Capriles of wanting to imitate him, as the oppositional candidate has stated that he will continue the social policies implemented by Chávez should he win the election in October.