TED2011
Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution
Wael Ghonim: la revolución egipcia por dentro
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Wael Ghonim es el ejecutivo de Google que ayudó a impulsar la revolución democrática de Egipto... con una página en Facebook en memoria de una víctima de la violencia del régimen. Hablando en TEDxCairo cuenta la historia interna de los últimos dos meses en la que los egipcios de a pie demostraron que "el poder de la gente es más fuerte que la gente del poder".
Wael Ghonim - Internet activist and computer engineer
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it. Full bio
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
This is Revolution 2.0.
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Esta es la revolución 2.0.
00:18
No one was a hero. No one was a hero.
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No hubo un héroe, no lo hubo.
00:21
Because everyone was a hero.
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Porque todos fueron héroes.
00:25
Everyone has done something.
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Cada uno hizo algo.
00:28
We all use Wikipedia.
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Todos usamos Wikipedia.
00:30
If you think of the concept of Wikipedia
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Si piensan en el concepto de Wikipedia
00:32
where everyone is collaborating on content,
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donde todos colaboran en el contenido
00:35
and at the end of the day
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y al final
00:37
you've built the largest encyclopedia in the world.
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se construye la enciclopedia más grande del mundo.
00:41
From just an idea that sounded crazy,
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A partir de una idea que parecía loca,
00:43
you have the largest encyclopedia in the world.
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se obtiene la enciclopedia más grande del mundo.
00:46
And in the Egyptian revolution,
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Y en la revolución egipcia,
00:48
the Revolution 2.0,
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la revolución 2.0,
00:50
everyone has contributed something,
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todos hemos contribuido en algo
00:52
small or big. They contributed something --
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-en mayor o menor medida, todos contribuimos-
00:55
to bring us
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para darnos
00:57
one of the most inspiring stories
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una de las historias más inspiradoras
01:00
in the history of mankind
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de la historia de la Humanidad
01:02
when it comes to revolutions.
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en materia de revoluciones.
01:04
It was actually really inspiring
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Realmente fue muy inspirador
01:06
to see all these Egyptians completely changing.
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ver el cambio en todos esos egipcios.
01:09
If you look at the scene,
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Si miran el panorama,
01:11
Egypt, for 30 years, had been in a downhill --
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Egipto durante 30 años ha ido cuesta abajo,
01:14
going into a downhill.
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ha ido cuesta abajo.
01:16
Everything was going bad.
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Todo iba mal.
01:18
Everything was going wrong.
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Todo estaba saliendo mal.
01:21
We only ranked high when it comes to poverty,
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Sólo nos destacábamos en lo referente a la pobreza,
01:24
corruption,
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a la corrupción,
01:26
lack of freedom of speech,
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a la falta de libertad de expresión
01:28
lack of political activism.
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y de activismo político.
01:30
Those were the achievements
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Esos fueron los logros
01:32
of our great regime.
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de nuestro gran régimen.
01:36
Yet, nothing was happening.
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Pero no pasaba nada.
01:38
And it's not because people were happy
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Y no porque la gente estuviera feliz
01:40
or people were not frustrated.
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o no sintiera frustración.
01:43
In fact, people were extremely frustrated.
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De hecho, la gente estaba muy frustrada.
01:45
But the reason why everyone was silent
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Pero la razón por la que todos se callaban
01:48
is what I call the psychological barrier of fear.
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es lo que llamo la barrera psicológica del miedo.
01:52
Everyone was scared.
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Todos tenían miedo.
01:54
Not everyone. There were actually a few brave Egyptians
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No todos. En realidad había un puñado de egipcios valientes
01:56
that I have to thank for being so brave --
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a quienes tengo que agradecer su valentía
01:59
going into protests as a couple of hundred,
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que participaban en protestas de un par de cientos
02:02
getting beaten up and arrested.
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y eran golpeados y detenidos.
02:05
But in fact, the majority were scared.
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Pero, de hecho, la mayoría tenía miedo.
02:08
Everyone did not want really
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En verdad nadie quería
02:10
to get in trouble.
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meterse en problemas.
02:12
A dictator cannot live without the force.
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Un dictador no puede vivir sin la fuerza.
02:15
They want to make people live in fear.
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Quieren que la gente viva con miedo.
02:18
And that psychological barrier of fear
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Y esa barrera psicológica del miedo
02:21
had worked for so many years,
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funcionó durante muchos años
02:24
and here comes the Internet,
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y aquí entra en juego Internet
02:26
technology, BlackBerry, SMS.
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la tecnología, el BlackBerry y el SMS
02:29
It's helping all of us to connect.
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que nos ayudan a conectarnos.
02:32
Platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook
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Plataformas como YouTube, Twitter y Facebook
02:36
were helping us a lot
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nos ayudaron mucho,
02:38
because it basically gave us the impression that, "Wow, I'm not alone.
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porque nos daban básicamente la impresión de que "no estamos solos;
02:41
There are a lot of people who are frustrated."
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hay mucha gente frustrada".
02:43
There are lots of people who are frustrated.
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Hay muchas personas frustradas.
02:45
There are lots of people who actually share the same dream.
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Hay muchas personas que comparten el mismo sueño.
02:48
There are lots of people who care about their freedom.
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A mucha gente a la que le importa su libertad.
02:51
They probably have the best life in the world.
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Probablemente tienen la mejor vida del mundo.
02:53
They are living in happiness. They are living in their villas.
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Viven felices. Viven en sus casas residenciales.
02:56
They are happy. They don't have problems.
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Son felices; no tienen problemas.
02:58
But they are still feeling the pain of the Egyptian.
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Pero aún así sienten dolor por los egipcios.
03:02
A lot of us, we're not really happy
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Muchos de nosotros, no estamos felices
03:04
when we see a video of an Egyptian man
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cuando vemos el video de un egipcio
03:06
who's eating the trash
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que come de la basura
03:08
while others are stealing
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mientras otros roban
03:10
billions of Egyptian pounds
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miles de millones de libras egipcias
03:12
from the wealth of the country.
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de la riqueza del país.
03:14
The Internet has played a great role,
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Internet ha jugado un papel importante
03:16
helping these people to speak up their minds,
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facilitando que esta gente exprese sus ideas,
03:19
to collaborate together, to start thinking together.
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para colaborar y empezar a pensar juntos.
03:22
It was an educational campaign.
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Fue una campaña educativa.
03:25
Khaled Saeed was killed
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Khaled Saeed fue asesinado
03:27
in June 2010.
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en junio de 2010.
03:30
I still remember the photo.
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Todavía recuerdo la foto.
03:32
I still remember every single detail of that photo.
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Aún recuerdo cada simple detalle de esa foto.
03:35
The photo was horrible.
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La foto era horrible.
03:38
He was tortured,
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Fue torturado
03:40
brutally tortured to death.
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brutalmente hasta la muerte.
03:42
But then what was the answer of the regime?
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Y, ¿cuál fue la respuesta del régimen?
03:45
"He choked on a pile of hash" --
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Fue una sobredosis de hachís.
03:48
that was their answer:
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Esa fue su respuesta:
03:50
"He's a criminal.
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"Es un criminal.
03:52
He's someone who escaped from all these bad things."
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Alguien que escapó de estos malos hábitos".
03:54
But people did not relate to this.
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Pero la gente no se identificó con esto.
03:56
People did not believe this.
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La gente no creyó esto.
03:58
Because of the Internet, the truth prevailed
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Gracias a Internet prevaleció la verdad
04:01
and everyone knew the truth.
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y todos supieron la verdad.
04:03
And everyone started to think that "this guy could be my brother."
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Y todos empezaron a pensar: "este muchacho podría ser mi hermano".
04:06
He was a middle-class guy.
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Era un chico de clase media.
04:08
His photo was remembered by all of us.
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Todos recordamos su foto.
04:11
A page was created.
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Se creó una página.
04:13
An anonymous administrator
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Un administrador anónimo
04:15
was basically inviting people to join the page,
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invitaba a la gente a unirse a la página
04:18
and there was no plan.
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y no había plan alguno.
04:20
"What are we going to do?" "I don't know."
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"¿Qué vamos a hacer?" "No lo sé".
04:22
In a few days, tens of thousands of people there --
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En pocos días decenas de miles de personas,
04:25
angry Egyptians
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egipcios enojados,
04:27
who were asking the ministry of interior affairs,
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quienes le estaban diciendo al Ministerio del Interior
04:30
"Enough.
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"Suficiente.
04:32
Get those who killed this guy.
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Detengan a los asesinos del muchacho
04:35
To just bring them to justice."
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y llévenlos ante la justicia".
04:37
But of course, they don't listen.
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Pero, claro, no escucharon.
04:39
It was an amazing story --
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Fue una historia asombrosa --
04:41
how everyone started feeling the ownership.
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cómo todos empezaron a sentirse dueños.
04:44
Everyone was an owner in this page.
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Todos eran dueños en esta página.
04:46
People started contributing ideas.
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Las personas empezaron a aportar ideas.
04:48
In fact, one of the most ridiculous ideas
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De hecho, una de las ideas más ridículas
04:51
was, "Hey, let's have a silent stand.
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fue organizar una marcha del silencio.
04:53
Let's get people to go in the street,
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Hagamos que la gente salga a la calle
04:56
face the sea, their back to the street,
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de cara al mar, de espaldas a la calle,
04:59
dressed in black, standing up silently for one hour,
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vestida de negro, de pie, en silencio durante una hora,
05:02
doing nothing and then just leaving,
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sin hacer nada y luego abandonar el lugar
05:04
going back home."
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de vuelta a casa.
05:06
For some people, that was like, "Wow, silent stand.
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Algunas personas decían: "Guau, una marcha del silencio.
05:09
And next time it's going to be vibration."
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Y la próxima vez vienen las vibraciones".
05:11
People were making fun of the idea.
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Las personas se burlaban de la idea.
05:14
But actually when people went to the street --
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Pero cuando las personas salieron a la calle
05:16
the first time it was thousands of people
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-la primera vez había miles de personas
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in Alexandria --
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en Alejandría-
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it felt like -- it was amazing. It was great
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fue como... fue increíble. Algo genial.
05:23
because it connected people from the virtual world,
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Porque conectó a las personas virtuales
05:25
bringing them to the real world,
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y las puso en el plano real
05:27
sharing the same dream,
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compartiendo el mismo sueño,
05:30
the same frustration, the same anger,
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la misma frustración, la misma rabia,
05:32
the same desire for freedom.
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el mismo deseo de libertad.
05:34
And they were doing this thing.
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Y estaban todos en esto.
05:36
But did the regime learn anything? Not really.
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Pero ¿aprendió algo el régimen? En verdad no.
05:38
They were actually attacking them.
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Los atacaron.
05:40
They were actually abusing them,
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Abusaron de ellos
05:42
despite the fact of how peaceful these guys were --
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a pesar de lo pacíficos que eran estos muchachos;
05:44
they were not even protesting.
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ni siquiera protestaban.
05:46
And things had developed
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Los acontecimientos se sucedieron,
05:49
until the Tunisian revolution.
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hasta la revolución tunecina.
05:52
This whole page was, again,
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Toda esta página era, de nuevo,
05:54
managed by the people.
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administrada por la gente.
05:56
In fact, the anonymous admin job
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En sí, el trabajo del administrador anómino
05:59
was to collect ideas,
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consistía en reunir ideas,
06:01
help people to vote on them
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ayudar a la gente a votarlas
06:03
and actually tell them what they are doing.
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y en contarles lo que estaban haciendo.
06:05
People were taking shots and photos;
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Las personas hacían tomas y fotos;
06:07
people were reporting violations of human rights in Egypt;
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informaban violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en Egipto;
06:10
people were suggesting ideas,
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sugerían ideas;
06:12
they were actually voting on ideas,
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en realidad votaban ideas
06:14
and then they were executing the ideas; people were creating videos.
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y luego las ejecutaban; las personas hacían videos.
06:17
Everything was done by the people to the people,
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Todo se hacía de la gente para la gente
06:19
and that's the power of the Internet.
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y ese es el poder de Internet.
06:21
There was no leader.
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No había líder.
06:23
The leader was everyone on that page.
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El líder era cada miembro de la página.
06:26
The Tunisian experiment, as Amir was saying,
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El experimento tunecino, como decía Amir,
06:28
inspired all of us, showed us that there is a way.
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nos inspiró a todos, nos mostró que hay un camino.
06:30
Yes we can. We can do it.
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Sí podemos. Nosotros podemos.
06:32
We have the same problems;
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Tenemos los mismos problemas
06:34
we can just go in the streets.
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y podemos salir a las calles.
06:36
And when I saw the street on the 25th,
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Y cuando vi la calle el día 25,
06:38
I went back and said,
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regresé y dije:
06:40
"Egypt before the 25th
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"El Egipto previo al 25
06:42
is never going to be Egypt after the 25th.
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nunca va a ser igual al Egipto posterior al 25.
06:44
The revolution is happening.
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La revolución está en curso.
06:46
This is not the end,
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Este no es el fin,
06:48
this is the beginning of the end."
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es el comienzo del fin".
06:52
I was detained on the 27th night.
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Yo fui detenido la noche del 27.
06:56
Thank God I announced the locations and everything.
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Gracias a Dios anuncié el lugar y todo.
06:59
But they detained me.
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Pero me detuvieron.
07:01
And I'm not going to talk about my experience, because this is not about me.
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Y no voy a hablar de mi experiencia porque esto no se trata de mí.
07:04
I was detained for 12 days,
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Estuve 12 días detenido,
07:06
blindfolded, handcuffed.
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con los ojos vendados, esposado.
07:09
And I did not really hear anything. I did not know anything.
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Y realmente no escuchaba nada. No sabía nada.
07:12
I was not allowed to speak with anyone.
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No me permitían hablar con nadie.
07:14
And I went out.
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Y salí.
07:16
The next day I was in Tahrir.
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Al día siguiente fui a Tahrir.
07:18
Seriously, with the amount of change I had noticed in this square,
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En serio, con todo el cambio que había notado en la plaza
07:21
I thought it was 12 years.
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pensé que eran 12 años.
07:24
I never had in my mind
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Nunca se me cruzó por la cabeza
07:26
to see this Egyptian,
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ver a estos egipcios,
07:28
the amazing Egyptian.
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estos egipcios sorprendentes.
07:30
The fear is no longer fear.
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El miedo ya no era miedo.
07:32
It's actually strength -- it's power.
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Era fortaleza, poder.
07:34
People were so empowered.
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La gente adquirió tanto poder.
07:36
It was amazing how everyone was so empowered
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Era sorprendente ver como todos se sentían fuertes
07:38
and now asking for their rights.
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y ahora reclamaban por sus derechos.
07:40
Completely opposite.
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Todo lo contrario.
07:42
Extremism became tolerance.
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El extremismo se volvió tolerancia.
07:45
Who would [have] imagined before the 25th,
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¿Quién lo hubiera imaginado antes del 25,
07:47
if I tell you that hundreds of thousands of Christians are going to pray
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si les decía que cientos de miles de cristianos iban a orar
07:50
and tens of thousands of Muslims are going to protect them,
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y decenas de miles de musulmanes iban a protegerlos
07:53
and then hundreds of thousands of Muslims are going to pray
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y que luego cientos de miles de musulmanes iban a orar
07:55
and tens of thousands of Christians are going to protect them --
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y decenas de miles de cristianos iban a protegerlos --
07:57
this is amazing.
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Es increíble.
07:59
All the stereotypes
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Todos los estereotipos
08:01
that the regime was trying to put on us
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que el régimen trataba de instalar
08:04
through their so-called propaganda, or mainstream media,
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con su propaganda o con los medios masivos
08:07
are proven wrong.
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estaban equivocados.
08:09
This whole revolution showed us
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Toda esta revolución nos mostró
08:11
how ugly such a regime was
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lo desagradable que era este régimen
08:14
and how great and amazing
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y cuán grande y sorprendente
08:16
the Egyptian man, the Egyptian woman,
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son en hombre y la mujer egipcios,
08:19
how simple and amazing these people are
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lo simple y sorprendente que son
08:21
whenever they have a dream.
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cuando tienen un sueño.
08:23
When I saw that,
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Cuando vi eso
08:25
I went back and I wrote on Facebook.
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regresé y escribí en Facebook.
08:28
And that was a personal belief,
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Y eso era una creencia personal,
08:30
regardless of what's going on,
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independientemente de lo sucedido,
08:32
regardless of the details.
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independientemente de los detalles.
08:34
I said that, "We are going to win.
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Y dije: "Vamos a ganar.
08:36
We are going to win because we don't understand politics.
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Vamos a ganar porque no entendemos la política.
08:39
We're going to win because we don't play their dirty games.
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Vamos a ganar porque no entramos en sus juegos sucios.
08:43
We're going to win because we don't have an agenda.
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Vamos a ganar porque no tenemos una agenda política.
08:46
We're going to win because the tears that come from our eyes
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Vamos a ganar porque las lágrimas de nuestros ojos
08:49
actually come from our hearts.
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vienen en realidad del corazón.
08:52
We're going to win because we have dreams.
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Vamos a ganar porque tenemos sueños.
08:55
We're going to win because we are willing to stand up for our dreams."
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Vamos a ganar porque estamos dispuestos a luchar por nuestros sueños".
08:59
And that's actually what happened. We won.
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Y eso fue lo que pasó. Ganamos.
09:02
And that's not because of anything,
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Y no fue por otra cosa
09:04
but because we believed in our dream.
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que por creer en nuestro sueño.
09:06
The winning here is not
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El resultado ganador no está
09:08
the whole details of what's going to happen in the political scene.
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en los detalles de lo que va a suceder en la escena política.
09:11
The winning is the winning of the dignity
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Está en el triunfo de la dignidad
09:13
of every single Egyptian.
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de cada uno de los egipcios.
09:16
Actually, I had this taxi driver telling me,
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Un taxista me dijo:
09:19
"Listen, I am breathing freedom.
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"Oye, hoy respiro libertad.
09:22
I feel that I have dignity
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Siento que tengo la dignidad
09:24
that I have lost for so many years."
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que había perdido hace muchos años".
09:26
For me that's winning,
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Para mí eso es ganar
09:28
regardless of all the details.
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independientemente de los detalles.
09:30
My last word to you is a statement I believe in,
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Mis palabras finales son algo que creo
09:33
which Egyptians have proven to be true,
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que los egipcios han demostrado que es verdad:
09:36
that the power of the people
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el poder de la gente
09:38
is much stronger than the people in power.
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es mucho más fuerte que la gente del poder.
09:40
Thanks a lot.
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Muchas gracias.
09:42
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wael Ghonim - Internet activist and computer engineerWael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it.
Why you should listen
Wael Ghonim is a computer engineer, an Internet activist, and a social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Parlio, a new media platform for public conversations that rewards civility, which has been acquired by Quora. Wael is a senior fellow at Ash Center for Democratic Governance at Harvard University.
Wael spent 6 years at Google during which he used to head up Marketing and Product in the MENA region responsible of driving the growth of Google's products across the region and evangelizing the use of the Internet and growing the Arabic content in the region.
In 2011, Wael was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was named one of Time 100's most influential and received JFK Profile in Courage Award. Coined the "keyboard freedom fighter," he used the power of the internet and social media to fight for social justice, democracy and human rights in Egypt.
He is the founder of "Tahrir Academy", a nonprofit online knowledge sharing platform for Arab youth. Wael received his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University and earned an MBA from the American University in Cairo.
Wael Ghonim | Speaker | TED.com