Benazir Bhutto's assassination leaves slim possibilities for a democratic transition that now matters more than ever to the United States. Bhutto and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) illustrate what's best and worst about Pakistani politics. The party and the drive for democratic politics are remarkably resilient. The PPP boasts a nationwide following, with a dedicated core in Sindh and southern Punjab. But the tragedy of Pakistan is that the PPP and other major parties are family fiefdoms, built on personal loyalty, with no record of developing new leaders or permitting opposition within the ranks. This structure strengthens the tendency to view political office as a possession.… Seguir leyendo »
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has left a huge political vacuum at the heart of this nuclear-armed state, which appears to be slipping into an abyss of violence and Islamic extremism. The question of what happens next is almost impossible to answer, especially at a moment when Bhutto herself seemed to be the only answer.
Pakistanis are in shock. Many are numb, and others are filled with unimaginable grief. Thousands have taken to the streets, burning vehicles and attacking police stations in an explosion of violence against the government. Bhutto's death yesterday will almost certainly lead to the cancellation of the Jan.… Seguir leyendo »
Try to imagine a young Pakistani woman bounding into the newsroom of the Harvard Crimson in the early 1970s and banging out stories about college sports teams with the passion of a cub reporter. That was the first glimpse some of us had of Benazir Bhutto. We had no idea she was Pakistani political royalty. She was too busy jumping into her future to make a show of her past.
I saw this effervescent woman many times over subsequent years, and I never lost the sense of her as an impetuous person embracing what was new -- for herself and for her nation.… Seguir leyendo »
Even those of us sharply critical of Benazir Bhutto's behaviour and policies - both while she was in office and more recently - are stunned and angered by her death. Indignation and fear stalk the country once again.An odd coexistence of military despotism and anarchy created the conditions leading to her assassination in Rawalpindi yesterday. In the past, military rule was designed to preserve order - and did so for a few years. No longer. Today it creates disorder and promotes lawlessness. How else can one explain the sacking of the chief justice and eight other judges of the country's supreme court for attempting to hold the government's intelligence agencies and the police accountable to courts of law?… Seguir leyendo »
Assassination may be the most extreme form of censorship, but it is not necessaily the most effective. Political murder changes history, but it seldom changes minds.
America would not be the same place today if John F. Kennedy had lived. The murders of Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin are central to any understanding of the course of modern Middle Eastern history. The world would be quite different if Reagan had been shot and killed, or Lincoln had not.
Yet it is undoubtedly true that political assassination rarely achieves the goal the assassin hopes for, and sometimes produces effects that are the reverse of those intended.… Seguir leyendo »
El brutal atentado (como si hubiese de otro tipo) contra la dos veces ex primera ministra de Pakistán, nos ha encendido, como siempre a destiempo, todas las alarmas. Son muy pocos los países que desde Occidente en general y Europa en particular, se percatan de la enorme importancia que para la paz y la estabilidad mundiales tiene el País de los Hombres Puros, que es la traducción de su nombre en urdu al español. Lo que está en juego en ese país no es sólo su tipo de régimen, la permanencia o no del general Musharraf, la victoria electoral, con más o menos transparencia, de tal o cual candidato, lo que está en juego es el futuro de la región y, muy posiblemente, la mismísima paz mundial.… Seguir leyendo »
La lucha por la libertad tiene un alto coste en vidas humanas y en sufrimiento. Aquellos que en Pakistán no están dispuestos a aceptar que la mayoría vote en favor de un régimen político democrático se han adelantado asesinando a la candidata que más posibilidades tenía de ganar las próximas elecciones. Lo sucedido es un desastre para su familia, sus correligionarios y para todo aquel que se sienta comprometido con la defensa de los valores universales que dan sentido a la democracia.
Benazir Bhutto era una mujer sobresaliente. Nació en el seno de una rica familia de terratenientes y su padre fue Presidente y Primer Ministro.… Seguir leyendo »
La han matado, ¿pero quién? Los islamistas son los sospechosos obvios, pero tras el atentado anterior ella dejó muy claro que acusaba al actual dictador militar, el general Pervez Musharraf. Benazir Bhutto era lo que en Europa llamaríamos una princesa. Los Bhutto son una rica y poderosa familia de la oligarquía paquistaní. Crearon un partido cuya retórica estaba calculada para atraerse a la vez a las clases medias ansiosas de un régimen liberal pero estable y también a las masas depauperadas de Pakistán. Ese camino les llevó muy lejos porque en un país donde la población se ha triplicado en poco más de 40 años, y sigue creciendo al mismo ritmo, lo que sobran son masas depauperadas.… Seguir leyendo »
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