Archivo etiqueta «Dictadores»
By Mark V. Vlasic, an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and senior fellow at Georgetown’s Institute for Law, Science & Global Security who served as head of operations of the World Bank’s StAR Secretariat (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 20/01/12):
One year ago, the eyes of the world focused on Tunisia as its ruler, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country, allegedly with millions of dollars in gold and assets on his airplane. The government of Tunisia is now working with the international community to recover Ben Ali’s ill-gotten gains.
The process will be slow, … Seguir leyendo
Por Sergio Ramírez, escritor (EL PAÍS, 07/01/12):
Los funerales de Estado, iguales que las bodas reales, son grandes puestas en escena destinadas a conmover a las multitudes que se alinean en las calles o a las puertas de las catedrales y palacios, contenidas por las vallas de la policía, y que igualmente congregan a millones frente a los aparatos de televisión como en las grandes lides del fútbol. Los funerales del presidente Kennedy, por ejemplo. La boda y los funerales de la princesa Diana, quien tuvo la doble gracia de casarse y ser enterrada en olor de multitudes.
Pero … Seguir leyendo
Por Ian Buruma, profesor de Democracia y Derechos Humanos en el Bard College. Su obra más reciente es Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents. Traducido del inglés por Rocío L. Barrientos (Project Syndicate, 04/01/12)
¿Es posible que todo un pueblo enloquezca? Indiscutiblemente, algunas veces parece que sí.
Las imágenes de cientos de miles de norcoreanos dando alaridos de dolor por la muerte de Kim Jong-il sugieren algo que es muy desconcertante. Pero, ¿qué es?, ¿una muestra de delirio colectivo?, ¿la práctica de un ritual de masoquismo colectivo?
Kim fue un brutal dictador que se mimaba con … Seguir leyendo
By Nicholas Eberstadt, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. His many books on Korean affairs include The North Korean Economy: Between Crisis and Catastrophe (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 21/12/11):
The career of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader,” was marked by a series of historical firsts — most of them dubious at best. He was, to begin, the first ruler of a Marxist-Leninist state to inherit absolute power through hereditary succession from his father, “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung, founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK.
He was also the first ruler of … Seguir leyendo
By Eduardo Gonzalez, the director of Truth and Memory Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 03/12/11):
Brazil’s recent decision to examine the abuses of the military dictatorship from several decades ago could change the face of democracy at home, making it more genuine and transparent. At the same time it could have a wider impact, allowing Brazil to take a decisive stand on human rights regionally and internationally.
In a momentous step forward, President Dilma Rousseff has signed two laws: one on access to government information, and another establishing a national truth commission, … Seguir leyendo
By Anthea Lawson, the head of the Banks and Corruption campaign at Global Witness (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 24/11/11):
Earlier this month, Swiss bank regulators found that four Swiss banks had not done enough to identify dictators’ assets they held. Earlier this year, Britain’s Financial Services Authority investigation into London banks found that three quarters of them were not doing enough to verify the sources of some customers’ wealth.
These probes shed some light on a system that is failing to stop the flow of corrupt money, a problem that continues to have disastrous consequences for millions of people. … Seguir leyendo
Por Ian Buruma, profesor de Democracia y Derechos Humanos en Bard College, y autor de Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents . Traducido al español por Leopoldo Gurman (Project Syndicate, 07/11/11):
Muchos dirán que el Cnel. Muammar el Gadafi recibió su merecido. Quien a hierro mata, a hierro muere.
El tirano libio alegremente permitió que sus oponentes, o quienes lo molestasen, fueran torturados o asesinados. Así que parece justo que haya muerto con violencia sumaria. Luego de ser acorralado en un sucio desagüe, fue exhibido como un trofeo sangriento antes de que una banda de linchadores … Seguir leyendo
Por Javier Gómez de Liaño, abogado y juez excedente (EL MUNDO, 01/11/11):
Hace dos meses, desde esta misma tribuna y como de pasada -la cosa iba de noticias estivales-, trataba de argumentar que el ofrecimiento de un millón y medio de euros por la cabeza de Muamar Gadafi me parecía siniestro y estremecedor. En vista de la aceptación y consumación de la oferta, hasta el punto de que, según dicen, la suma será abonada por algunos empresarios libios, pido licencia para insistir ahora sobre aquella breve nota.
Aun admitiendo, supuesto que rechazo de plano, que un tribunal pueda condenar … Seguir leyendo
By Karl E. Meyer, co-author most recently of Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern East and editor emeritus of World Policy Journal (THE NEW YORK TIMES,29/10/11):
In a very British if widely unnoticed rite, the city managers of York last Feb. 4 unveiled a bust of a Roman emperor to mark the precise anniversary of his death in their town 1,800 years earlier.
Emperor Septimus Severus, a native of North Africa, had for three years vainly tried to subdue elusive Caledonian insurgents north of Hadrian’s wall. Then, in the year 211, he apparently succumbed to pneumonia at age 64, … Seguir leyendo
By Simon Sebag Montefiore, the author of Jerusalem: The Biography (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 27/10/11):
“All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure,” wrote Enoch Powell, the controversial but often perspicacious British politician, “because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.” But the political lives of tyrants play out human affairs with a special intensity: the death of a democratic leader long after his retirement is a private matter, but the death of a tyrant is always a political act that reflects the character of his power. … Seguir leyendo
By Christopher Walker, vice president for strategy and analysis at Freedom House (THE WASHINGTON POST, 22/10/11):
Hilary Swank is making news for her warm birthday wishes to one of the world’s most cold-blooded leaders, Chechen tyrant Ramzan Kadyrov.
On Oct. 5, Swank attended the Chechen president’s lavish 35th birthday party, along with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, singer Seal and British violinist Vanessa-Mae. For this engagement, each of these performers reportedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in appearance fees. On videos posted to YouTube, Swank can be seen saying to Kadyrov, “Happy birthday, Mr. President.” Van Damme … Seguir leyendo
Por Serafín Fanjul, catedrático de Estudios Árabes (ABC, 21/10/11):
Se confirma la noticia: Muammar Gadafi, el tirano libio que oprimió y exprimió a su país durante 42 años, ha muerto en un tiroteo mientras se encontraba, al parecer, escondido en un búnker en Sirte. Y nos ahorramos las analogías facilonas. La muerte —que no apresamiento— del déspota es un notable y oportuno favor que alguien hace, consciente o inconscientemente, al Consejo Provisional Libio: se evitan el proceso, las posibles tensiones internas correlativas, la petición de clemencia del Papa, los gestos condolidos e hipócritas por tanto rigor, al colgarle, de … Seguir leyendo
By Kathryn Sikkink, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota and the author of The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions Are Changing World Politics (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 16/09/11):
Time is running out for former government officials accused of murder, genocide and crimes against humanity. In the past few months, the final Serbian war-crimes fugitives were extradited to The Hague, the trial of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, began in Cairo, and the International Criminal Court opened hearings on the post-election violence that plagued Kenya in 2007-8.
These events have provoked a chorus … Seguir leyendo
Por T. Ben Jelloun, escritor, miembro de la Academia Goncourt. Traducción: José María Puig de la Bellacasa (LA VANGUARDIA, 15/09/11):
Cuando uno llegaba a Trípoli recibía la impresión de hallarse ante el decorado de una película ambientada en los años cincuenta. Paredes desnudas, escaparates con prendas hace tiempo pasadas de moda, ausencia de anuncios publicitarios. La tristeza impregnaba el ambiente y aparte de la visión del mar en el horizonte todo era gris como en una película en blanco y negro escasa de presupuesto.
En el paseo marítimo, por cierto en semipenumbra, se alzaban los grandes hoteles para ejecutivos … Seguir leyendo
By William J. Dobson, a former managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine and senior editor for Asia at Newsweek International who is writing a book about dictatorships (THE WASHINGTON POST, 26/08/11):
A month ago, I was sitting in a restaurant with Srdja Popovic, a democratic activist and leader of the revolution that toppled Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. We had met to discuss the revolutions ricocheting around the Middle East.
“It’s been a bad year for bad guys,” he said. In late 2010, he mused, no one would have possibly predicted that six months later, “Ben Ali and Mubarak would … Seguir leyendo