Archivo categoría «Africa»
Por Ike Okonta, analista político y escritor radicado en Abuja, es actualmente miembro del Instituto de la Sociedad Abierta, en Nueva York. Traducido del inglés por Carlos Manzano (Project Syndicate, 01/02/12):
El Presidente de Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, que fue elegido hace sólo ocho meses, ya está inmerso en un mar de problemas. El 1 de enero, las celebraciones del Año Nuevo quedaron abruptamente interrumpidas cuando los nigerianos se enteraron, al despertar, de que se había suprimido la subvención estatal de la gasolina. Los pobres del país se apresuraron a salir a las calles, ya irritados porque su corrupto e … Seguir leyendo
By Elliot Perlman, the author of, most recently, the novel The Street Sweeper (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 01/02/12):
Some six or seven years ago I happened to see an Academy Award-winning documentary, “The Last Days,” directed by James Moll and with Steven Spielberg as executive producer. It was of interest to me because, like the novel I was then writing, it dealt with the Holocaust and tangentially with the role of African American troops in World War II.
In the film, Paul Parks, an African American WW II veteran and civil rights activist, recounts being one of a number of … Seguir leyendo
By Sujatha Fernandes, an associate professor of sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and the author of Close to the Edge: In Search of the Global Hip Hop Generation (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 30/01/12):
Def Jam will probably never sign them, but Cheikh Oumar Cyrille Touré, from a small town about 100 miles southeast of Dakar, Senegal, and Hamada Ben Amor, a 22-year-old man from a port city 170 miles southeast of Tunis, may be two of the most influential rappers in the history of hip-hop.
Mr. Touré, a k a … Seguir leyendo
By Hilde F. Johnson, the special representative of the United Nations secretary-general in South Sudan (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 30/01/12):
An escalation of intercommunal violence has tested the resolve of South Sudan, the world’s newest country, and that of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS.
Extensive patrols by UNMISS over the past three weeks have not found the “trail of corpses” stretching “miles into the bush,” as alleged in some press reports. Parallels drawn to the genocide in Rwanda have been misleading with regard to the unfolding events and do not apply to the U.N.’s response.… Seguir leyendo
By John Campbell, a senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria. He is the author of Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 26/01/12):
Boko Haram’s bloody weekend attacks in Nigeria’s most important Islamic city, Kano, following unrelated countrywide protests over the end of a decades-old fuel subsidy underscore the fact that business as usual is no longer good enough. Only genuine reform of Nigeria’s political economy can pull it back from the brink.
By partly reinstating the fuel subsidy, coupled with alleged payoffs to … Seguir leyendo
By Alex de Waal, the executive director of the World Peace Foundation (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 25/01/12):
South Sudan was born as an independent nation on July 9, 2011, with good will and a bounty. Three hundred and fifty thousand barrels of oil per day provided the government with $1,000 per year for each of its 8 million citizens.
But the only pipeline to market runs through northern Sudan, giving the government in Khartoum control over South Sudan’s economic artery. And on independence day there was no agreement on the terms of pipeline use.
When Sudan was still one … Seguir leyendo
Por Eduardo Fungairiño, fiscal de Sala del Tribunal Supremo y colaborador de la Liga Española Pro Derechos Humanos (EL MUNDO, 24/01/12):
El pasado 5 de agosto, el Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea publicó la Decisión (2011/491/UE) del Consejo, de 12/07/2011, relativa a la aplicación provisional del Protocolo sobre posibilidades de pesca, con su contrapartida financiera, previstas en el Acuerdo pesquero entre Europa y Marruecos, que expiró el 27/02/2011 y fue prorrogado hasta el próximo 27 febrero de 2012. De los 27 países, sólo Dinamarca, Suecia y los Países Bajos se opusieron a la prórroga. Austria, Chipre, Finlandia y el … Seguir leyendo
By Chika Unigwe, an Afro-Belgian writer of Nigerian origin (THE GUARDIAN, 22/01/12):
This week, still reeling from Friday’s bloody bombings on the northern city of Kano, Nigeria braces itself for more violence ahead. The bulk of the casualties in the attacks on churches belonged to the Igbo people, and this has already led to retaliatory attacks in parts of south-eastern Nigeria. An Igbo group, Ogbunigwe Ndigbo, gave all northern Muslims in the region two weeks to leave or face their wrath. In Lokpanta, where my mother is from, the Muslim Hausa community – which settled there … Seguir leyendo
By Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor, the lead campaigner for community rights at the Sustainable Development Institute in Liberia and Rachael S. Knight, director of community land protection at Namati, a legal empowerment group (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 21/01/12):
On Monday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated for a second term. She is often depicted in the press as a postwar leader successfully rebuilding a country destroyed by decades of conflict. For her many admirable accomplishments, she recently shared the Nobel Peace Prize. However, unbeknown to many outside Liberia, Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf’s government may now be sowing the seeds of future … Seguir leyendo
Par Benjamin Abtan, secrétaire général du European Grassroots Antiracist Movement – EGAM (LE MONDE, 18/01/12):
Le rapport des juges Trévidic et Poux sur l’attentat du 6 avril 1994 contre l’avion du président rwandais Habyarimana, qui a été l’élément déclencheur du génocide des Tutsis, est formel : contrairement à ce qu’avait affirmé le juge Bruguière, ce ne sont pas les Tutsis du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR) qui en sont les auteurs.
Dès lors, la question se pose : qui sont les responsables de l’attentat ? Si le rapport n’en apporte pas la preuve matérielle, il désigne implacablement les extrémistes du “Hutu Power”. … Seguir leyendo
Par Hélé Béji, écrivaine (LE MONDE, 18/01/12):
Tunisiens, vous vous êtes levés contre la tyrannie et l’injustice avec des coeurs vrais, vous étiez les Justes. Vous avez éclairé le monde de la flamme de votre dignité, vous étiez l’humanité. Vous avez fait retentir vos rues d’une clameur généreuse, vous étiez la fraternité. Vous avez ranimé le sens valeureux du prochain, vous étiez la bonté. Vous avez conquis l’estime de tous par votre panache, vous étiez la fierté. Vous avez souri par millions à vos visages divers, vous étiez la tolérance.
Le 5 janvier, à l’aéroport de Tunis-Carthage, vous n’avez … Seguir leyendo
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author, most recently, of The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of short stories (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 17/01/12):
On New Year’s Day, in my ancestral hometown of Abba in Anambra State in eastern Nigeria, my family and I woke up to unbelievable news: the price of petrol had doubled. Overnight, the government had removed what it called the subsidy on fuel, and almost immediately, transport fares exploded and food prices rose astronomically. It used to cost 4,000 naira — about $25 — to fill my petrol tank. Then it cost 10,000 … Seguir leyendo
Por Bernabé López García, catedrático honorario de la UAM de Historia Contemporánea del Islam (EL PAÍS, 17/01/12):
No es mal lema para la que está cayendo. Pero el eslogan es el nombre de una asociación de jóvenes que se han propuesto hacer realidad la utopía de revivir lo que se cae, en su caso, el Gran Teatro Cervantes de Tánger, para convertirlo en espacio de cultura y convivencia y, por qué no, de formación y de ocio de jóvenes y menos jóvenes de España y Marruecos y de intercambio con los de todo el mundo.
El Teatro Cervantes es … Seguir leyendo
By Alexander Noyes, a research assistant at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 14/01/12):
Zimbabwe is fast approaching a dangerous tipping point. Last month, its ailing octogenarian president, Robert Mugabe, angrily defied his critics, calling for early elections in 2012. If a political settlement with Zimbabwe’s security chiefs is not negotiated before the vote, Mr. Mugabe will no doubt rely on them to once again begin a campaign of intimidation and violence, leading to sham elections that could precipitate a regional crisis.
To prevent this, the international community — in concert with African regional organizations … Seguir leyendo
By Juliet Torome, a writer and documentary filmmaker, was awarded Cinesource Magazine’s first annual Flaherty documentary award (Project Syndicate, 13/01/12):
The news that Yale University has agreed to return thousands of artifacts that one of its researchers took from Peru in 1911 reminded me of a party that I attended recently – one that I had to leave prematurely.
An African friend had invited me to the event, at an acquaintance’s home. The host, a wealthy American, proudly displayed his collection of paintings and sculptures. As he showed us around, there was one object that appeared to be African, … Seguir leyendo