Nueva Zelanda

Starstruck and still rising … Rose Matafeo. Photograph: Simon Webb/The Guardian

MundoOceanía

When I was growing up, the sum total of New Zealand’s contribution to global culture was, essentially, the singer from Crowded House and Shortland Street – that’s to say, middle-of-the-road music for a middle-of-the-day soap opera crowd. I probably only noticed because my father is from New Zealand – he still uses the Edmonds cookbook and memorably described the birth of my son as “far out” – and since the age of about nine I have held a Kiwi passport.

So it has been a particular thrill this year to look across the listings for the Edinburgh festival fringe and see that it is packed with young, exciting New Zealand talent genuinely rivalling that from Europe and America.…  Seguir leyendo »

Ellos son nosotros

MundoOceanía

George Orwell en su novela ‘1984’, que publicó el 8 de junio de 1949, escribió: "En una época de engaño universal, decir la verdad es un acto revolucionario". Ha venido esta frase a mi memoria por esta época que nos ha tocado vivir, llena de paradojas y contradicciones.

Un tiempo en el que la sociedad se ha vuelto ‘líquida’ y en la que los humanos, confundiendo progreso con velocidad, buscamos atajos y nos aferramos a un insensible estilo de vida con el que vamos perdiendo humanidad.

Jacinda Ardern, primera ministra de Nueva Zelanda, nos acaba de sorprender con su renuncia. La revista ‘Fortune’ la situó como la segunda líder más importante y destacaba: "Los líderes del futuro pueden observar a Ardern para tomar una clase magistral sobre cómo conducir un país en una crisis".…  Seguir leyendo »

It’s Time to Stop Asking if Women Can Have it All. We Can.

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Jacinda Ardern, the 42-year-old prime minister of New Zealand, announced this week that she would step down by Feb. 7. Ardern, who is also the mother of 4-year-old girl, said that after more than five years in office, she didn’t have the energy to continue in the role. “I know what this job takes”, she said, “and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple” — cueing up a fresh round of discussion about whether women can really “have it all.”

We can. She does.

Ardern’s savvy decision to leave office on her own terms is a win for working mothers everywhere, because she’s helping put the whole tired debate to rest.…  Seguir leyendo »

Jacinda Ardern is right to leave office — before voters force her out

MundoOceanía

Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that she would resign as New Zealand’s prime minister and leave Parliament might have surprised her many fans globally. But a closer look at the country’s politics shows that she likely made the wise decision to get on with her life before the voters kicked her out.

Ardern burst onto the political scene in 2017 when she took over leadership of her Labour Party just months before the next election. Labour had been trailing the governing center-right National Party by about 20 points, but the charismatic 37-year-old captivated the nation, and “Jacindamania” pushed her party upward. Labour finished second in the election, and she outmaneuvered the Nationals to form a three-party coalition government with the Greens and the populist New Zealand First party.…  Seguir leyendo »

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s appeal was always in her personality. The ‘relentless positivity’, as she called it in 2017. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

MundoOceanía

In one sense it feels as if Jacinda Ardern, who came to office in 2017, was the perpetual prime minister. In the collective memory, time fractures into the innocent period before the Christchurch massacre, the White Island eruption, the pandemic and then the exhausting period post.

In each period – both before and after that defining summer from December 2019 to February 2020 – it feels as if the constant was Ardern. It’s difficult to imagine any other prime minister cutting through their bureaucracy’s cautious advice, their cabinet’s hesitancy and their citizenry’s uncertainty to make the decision to lock down a country of five million and work towards eliminating Covid-19.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘What if another Tarrant decides to show up?’ writes Ramia Abdo Sultan. Photograph: Vincent Yu/AP

MundoOceaníaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

As the news on the Christchurch massacre unfolded in 2019, I was at work, ironically dealing with a different type of aggression, namely that of a client detailing the injustices she was experiencing at the hands of her partner, and the exit plan she would soon take. Being safe was the most important thing in all of this. It didn’t matter where she and her children would end up - being safe was all that mattered.

As she left my office, I wondered how humans could ever come to be so inhumane - why did certain people feel it was OK to inflict harm on others and potentially get away with it.…  Seguir leyendo »

People are tested for covid-19 on March. 4 in Otara in Auckland, New Zealand. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

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Life in New Zealand is almost back to normal. While the United States has seen more than half a million deaths from covid-19 — with a death rate of more than 160 per 100,000 of population — New Zealand has lost only 26 people at a rate of 0.53 per 100,000.

Two months ago, one of us, Richard, went to a New Year’s festival with more than 12,000 fellow revelers — something barely imaginable in the United States, where most concerts are online-only. Meanwhile, teachers, including Matthew’s parents, have been instructing in person since May without requiring masks or social distancing measures.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsiaMundoOceanía,

The New Zealand government sided with its “mates” this week, objecting to China’s caricaturing of alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers. This is consistent with New Zealand shifting more into line with the US-led Five Eyes security alliance and its quickly escalating cold war with China.

The problem is that it is also a further degradation of New Zealand’s much vaunted “independent foreign policy” and risks undermining the relationship with China, which could ultimately hit citizens in the pocket.

Previously, New Zealand has managed a nimble high-wire act, balancing the interests of our major trading partner, China, and the traditional Anglo-American defence allies.…  Seguir leyendo »

El laboratorio del fin del mundo

MundoOceanía

Las apariciones de Nueva Zelanda en la escena mundial son fugaces: victorias en rugby, decorado para la película «El señor de los anillos», una desafortunada masacre en una mezquita de Christchurch en 2019, un carismático primer ministro, éxitos notables contra el Covid-19. Pero, como dicen los propios neozelandeses, al menos los de origen británico, «un bonito país, pero lejos de casa». Si observamos más de cerca y vamos allí a estudiarla, lo que llevo haciendo desde la década de 1980, esta nación de cinco millones de habitantes puede verse también como el laboratorio experimental de algunas tendencias fundamentales que están transformando el mundo occidental.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘Women’s Work’ Can No Longer Be Taken for Granted

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Last week, as Americans were obsessing over the results of the presidential election, a New Zealand law aimed at eliminating pay discrimination against women in female-dominated occupations went into effect. The bill, which takes an approach known as “pay equity,” provides a road map for addressing the seemingly intractable gender pay gap.

Unlike “equal pay” — the concept most often used to address gender pay disparities in the United States — the concept of “pay equity” doesn’t just demand equal pay for women doing the same work as men, in the same positions. Such efforts, while worthwhile, ignore the role of occupational segregation in keeping women’s pay down: There are some jobs done mostly by women and others that are still largely the province of men.…  Seguir leyendo »

New Zealand Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern meets the cast of “Mary Poppins, The Musical” on Oct. 15 in Auckland. New Zealand general election, delayed a month due to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdowns, is Saturday. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

MundoOceanía,

The New Zealand general election is this Saturday, Oct. 17, and current Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is poised to do well. Ardern’s center-left Labour Party has polled consistently far above her main rival, the center-right National party. One recent poll had Labour at 47 percent — and National at 32 percent. These polls reflect Ardern’s popularity.

New Zealand’s electoral system (the mixed member proportional system) means that the Labour Party may get close to winning a majority in parliament. New Zealand has traditionally had close ties with a small group of English-speaking countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia — all of which are more or less suspicious of China.…  Seguir leyendo »

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On the day New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, closed the country’s borders to everyone but citizens and permanent residents, I attended an evening choir practice. At the time, there were just 28 covid-19 cases in a country of about 5 million people, but on that night in March, there was a sense that the tide was about to turn for the worse. Hand sanitizer was offered; chairs were pushed farther apart. As our voices joined together in “Homeward Bound,” I was unable to stop the tears from sliding down my cheeks.

As temporary visa holders, my family and I were effectively trapped.…  Seguir leyendo »

La primera ministra de Nueva Zelanda, Jacinda Ardern.

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La primera ministra de Nueva Zelanda, Jacinda Ardern, ha declarado que el país ha “eliminado” el COVID-19 “por el momento”. Ardern anunció también que el país abandona el nivel de Alerta 1 a partir de la medianoche del 8 de junio, lo que permitirá que se levanten todas las restricciones relativas a la distancia social y al desarrollo de actividades económicas.

“Podemos afirmar con seguridad que, por el momento, hemos eliminado la transmisión del virus en Nueva Zelanda. Pero esta eliminación no es algo que se logre de una vez y para siempre, sino que se trata de un esfuerzo sostenido”.…  Seguir leyendo »

Dairy cows grazing on a farm near Oxford, New Zealand, last year. Credit Mark Baker/Associated Press

MundoOceanía,

New Zealand is a country of just under five million people and just over 10 million cows. The cows produce large amounts of lucrative beef and dairy — our two biggest export goods by dollar value — and even larger amounts of greenhouse gasses and nitrate pollution, and are therefore much discussed at the national level. Internationally, we try to downplay them. We prefer to tell the world about our hobbits, our pristine rivers, our unspoiled natural environment. These things are all fictional. The cows, alas, are real.

“On arrival at Edoras,” says the advertising copy for a typical New Zealand tourism venture, “enjoy the natural unspoiled beauty and breathe in the fresh mountain air.”…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesIslam y Mundo ÁrabeMundoOceanía, ,

En un mundo de hombres, la pitufina es la única mujer. Ellos son la norma, ella es el retoque. Ellos definen a la comunidad, su historia y su código de valores. Ella sólo existe en el marco que ellos decidan, tiene un papel simbólico, el de realzar los estereotipos establecidos por ellos. Así es en los dibujos animados, así es muchas veces en el cine, y así también es en la vida real, cuando se trata de definir los rasgos de la comunidad. Lo hemos visto en Nueva Zelanda.

Sí. En un gesto de solidaridad con las víctimas del sangriento ataque contra los creyentes de la mezquita de Christchurch, las mujeres libres de Nueva Zelanda decidieron acicalarse y cubrir su melena con un velo.…  Seguir leyendo »

A message left among flowers and tributes by the wall of the Botanic Gardens on March 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

MundoOceaníaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

Friday’s terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed at least 50 Muslims, was not an isolated event. Across Western countries, anti-Muslim hate crimes and violent attacks have been on the rise. Earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League reported that 2018 was the worst year for far-right killings in the United States since 1995, when Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people in Oklahoma City. In Britain, the government considers far-right extremism to be an increasing threat and recently for the first time proscribed a right-wing extremist group as “terrorist”. Germany’s domestic intelligence service has observed a steady rise in the number of “potentially violent right-wing extremists”, with current estimates at 13,000.…  Seguir leyendo »

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L’attentat perpétré dans deux mosquées de Christchurch a inscrit ce pays des antipodes au cœur de l’actualité internationale, tout comme son grand voisin, l’Australie, d’où vient Brenton Tarrant, le terroriste inculpé. Les sociétés néo-zélandaise et australienne s’inscrivent dans une histoire globale de l’Occident en dépit d’une géographie aux antipodes de l’Europe et d’une projection au cœur de ce siècle asiatique. L’arme et les munitions du principal accusé, couvertes de références, sont un bréviaire d’une interprétation de l’histoire centré sur une perspective millénariste d’affrontements entre monde chrétien et musulman, des croisades aux attaques de Québec, et des guerres contre les Ottomans aux attentats d’Oslo et de l’île d’Utoya.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOceaníaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

Le 15 mars, un terroriste d’extrême droite a commis un terrible attentat à Christchurch, en Nouvelle-Zélande, qui a fait 50 morts et une vingtaine de blessés graves, ciblant des musulmans. L’attaque a été filmée par une caméra GoPro diffusant en direct l’attentat sur Internet. L’objectif était de provoquer la peur dans les populations arabo-musulmanes et de montrer aux Européens et aux descendants d’Européens comment se défendre contre la supposée invasion de populations immigrées. L’auteur est un Australien de 28 ans, Brenton Tarrant. Son profil se dessine dans son manifeste, intitulé « The Great Replacement » (« Le Grand Remplacement »), mis en ligne juste avant l’attentat, un plaidoyer contre le « génocide blanc ».…  Seguir leyendo »

Al Noor Mosque, where one of two anti-Muslim terrorist attacks took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday. Credit Martin Hunter/SNPA, via Reuters

MundoOceaníaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Whenever someone used to ask me if I was Muslim, I often gave an evasive answer, something like, “I was born Muslim” or “My parents are Muslim.”

It was a strange way to phrase it. I told myself that the purpose of this hairsplitting was intellectual clarity, despite the fact that I had attended a mosque my entire childhood, that I had read the Quran in both Arabic and English, and that I felt personally connected to the history of Islam. Perhaps this was the natural recourse for someone who came of age after 9/11 and was taught to retreat into invisibility because of the dangers of being Muslim.…  Seguir leyendo »

Personas afuera de una mezquita en Christchurch, el viernes. Credit Mark Baker/Associated Press

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El viernes, un hombre armado se puso un casco con una videocámara, llenó su auto de armas, condujo hasta una mezquita en Christchurch, Nueva Zelanda, y comenzó a dispararles a todas las personas que veía. Ese acto terrorista fue transmitido en vivo para que todo el mundo lo viera en las redes sociales.

Cuarenta y nueve personas fueron asesinadas y más de 40 resultaron heridas en el ataque, que ocurrió en dos mezquitas distintas de la ciudad. Un sospechoso, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, fue acusado de un cargo de asesinato, y se espera que se presenten más cargos. Otras tres personas fueron detenidas por la policía, pero una fue liberada horas después.…  Seguir leyendo »