Sábado, 3 de diciembre de 2016 (Continuación)

Michael Christopher Brown/Magnum Photos

I first heard the name Ahmed Naji at a PEN dinner last spring. I looked up from my desert to a large projection of a young Egyptian man, rather handsome, slightly louche-looking, with a Burt Reynolds moustache, wearing a Nehru shirt in a dandyish print and the half smile of someone both amusing and easily amused. I learned that he was just thirty and had written a novel called Using Life for which he is currently serving a two-year prison sentence. I thought: good title. A facile thought to have at such a moment but it’s what came to mind. I liked the echo of Georges Perec’s Life: A User’s Manual—the coolness of that—and thought I recognized, in Naji’s author photo, something antic and wild, not unlike what you see when you look at pictures of Perec.…  Seguir leyendo »

Sudanese President Omar al Bashir’s ICC case file is pictured on a desk.

Many African countries have been threatening to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over accusations that the court is disproportionately targeting Africans. Recently, these threats have been realised by a growing number of African states. In the last month, the ICC has suffered three possible withdrawals: Burundi, South Africa and now the tiny West African state of Gambia has followed suit in issuing withdraw notice. Could this spell the beginning of the end for the ICC?

The court’s 1st case was referred in 2003 by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni concerning the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and their activities in the north of the country.…  Seguir leyendo »

2016 has been a bumpy road so far for politics, most notably with an unexpected Brexit vote and (according to the polls) an equally unexpected victory for Donald Trump over his opponent Hillary Clinton in the race for the presidency in the US. Many Europeans feel slightly insecure in light of this new political order and the year 2017 promises to bring other decisive political events in the form of elections in France, Hungary, Norway and the Netherlands. The far-right leader of the Front National, Marine Le Pen, is ranked high in the polls and hopes to secure victory riding on the high anxiety resulting from the recent terror attacks.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester in Brasilia. The banner reads ‘Out Temer! Out everyone!’ Photograph: Adriano Machado/Reuters

Poor Brazilians have long counted on a thin welfare state for basic human rights, such as healthcare, education and social security; but this reality may soon drastically change. Brazil’s unelected president, Michel Temer, is seeking to amend the constitution to impose unprecedented austerity measures for the next two decades, effectively disenfranchising ordinary Brazilians, and especially the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Temer, formerly Dilma Rousseff’s ally and vice president, came to power in August as Rousseff was ousted from office in a highly controversial impeachment procedure many have called a parliamentary coup. The country he has taken charge of is facing a serious economic crisis similar to that confronting many of Brazil’s neighbours; his answer for a stagnant economy is to freeze the federal budget for decades through a constitutional amendment.…  Seguir leyendo »

People line up to withdraw money from an ATM in Caracas on Thursday. (Federico Parra/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Venezuela has run out of cash. Not metaphorically, mind you: The country literally doesn’t have enough cash to go around.

Two weeks ago, facing an acute shortage of paper money, bank regulators capped cash withdrawals at 10,000 Venezuelan bolivars per day — about $5.25.

As I write this, following an almighty rout on the black market, those same 10,000 bolivars are worth less than half that much: $2.17. (By the time you read this, the real number’s likely lower.)

Stop and think about that: How on earth can a country work when the most cash anyone there is allowed to withdraw from their bank account in a day is two bucks and change?…  Seguir leyendo »

He surged from the abyss of opinion polls and in four weeks managed to eradicate two rivals whose ambitions had dominated the past 30 years of French conservative politics. François Fillon , who won the presidential primary election for the Republicans party on Sunday, is now the uncontested leader of the center-right in France. But in proclaiming that he has gone from “Mr. Nobody” to the next president, Fillon’s new sycophants are a bit too quick to jump to conclusions.

Although French campaigns are much shorter than the exhausting American ones, the presidential election will not take place for another five months.…  Seguir leyendo »