Latin America on Weibo

Latin America isn’t mentioned with much frequency on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-Facebook hybrid. When it is, most posts reference the region’s food and culture or bloggers’ recent vacations. The following news stories from Latin America received some attention from Chinese bloggers over the past month, however.

Cuba News

Chinese bloggers reacted to Fidel Castro’s warnings about the impact of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. In a brief piece published in Cuba’s Granma and other official media, the retired Cuban leader called for North Korea to exercise restraint. In response to this news, Weibo users commented that the Kim Jong Un regime is so ridiculous that even Cuba sees no sense in it. Others suggested that North Korea is close to collapse and one argued that Kim Jong Un’s bark is worse than his bite (放心吧，会叫的狗不咬人). A few bloggers were surprised to hear from Castro, remarking that “Chavez is dead, but Castro is still awake.”

Chinese bloggers also remarked on the visit of Jay-Z and Beyonce to Cuba in celebration of their fifth anniversary. The post explains that U.S. citizens are not allowed to travel to Cuba unless given permission for academic, religious, news reporting, or cultural exchange. One Chinese blogger remarked that the visit is evidence of the superiority of socialism (这就是社会主义的优越感哪!!!). A few others compared the Beyonce/Jay-Z visit to Rodman’s visit to North Korea, stating that Obama appears to be focusing on projecting soft power in these countries. One asked, jokingly, whether Jim Carrey might soon be sent to Iran.