TwitterFacebookInstagram

The Panama Canal.

The Panamanian economy, like domestic and international politics, is strongly linked to the activities of the canal and the services connected to it.

It is no coincidence that, compared to the rest of the region, the agricultural sector is not particularly widespread and that since the 2000s, the period in which the Canal came under total Panamanian control, Panama recorded the highest GDP of the Latin American countries and one of the highest in the world.
This growth was, moreover, increased by the expansion of the infrastructure which allowed a greater flow of containers, making the passage possible not only for Panamax ships, the largest until then capable of passing and transporting 5,000 TEU containers, but also for the Neo-Panamaxes, which carry up to 13,000.
Furthermore, the country constitutes an important logistics hub, as well as a hub for activities related to the advanced tertiary sector and financial services, which represent approximately 70% of the national income and which have also given it the title of a tax haven.

The Panama Canal map. Canal locks. Shutterstock/Zaporizhzhia vector

Over recent periods, drought has drastically reduced revenues from the Canal, causing a slowdown in the passage of ships. The Canal, in fact, with its 81 km of length, is fed by the artificial freshwater lake Gatún, through a complex engineering system of locks to raise or lower the water level, based on the direction of the ship, to overcome the difference in height between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with the former located in a higher position than the latter.
Thus, the passage of each ship involves a considerable waste of water in a period in which the resource is scarce.
Due to the geostrategic and geoeconomic importance that the infrastructure has, over the last few years it has been a theatre of conflict, fought with investments and threats of sanctions, between the United States and China. The latter, in fact, thanks to its now consolidated presence in Latin America, with a significant part of its imports and exports passing through the Canal, has increased its efforts to expand its influence also on Panama by investing in the infrastructural, technological sector and telecommunications with Huawei and ZTE committed to providing equipment for Panamanian commercial services companies. Beijing’s influence on the Canal dates back, however, to the early 2000s, a period in which the administration of the infrastructure passed – as foreseen by the Torrijos-Carter treaty – from the United States to the Republic of Panama, obtaining the assignment to the Chinese Hutchison-Whampoa company the concessions to manage the ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides, thus positioning itself at both ends of the canal.

Transit of the Panama Canal by large sea vessels.123rf

Furthermore, China has also intensified its financial activity through the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ICBC, engaged in financing technological projects. In particular, in 2017, under the Varela presidency there was a strong surge in Chinese trade agreements and investments, including the construction of a new port and logistics complex on Margarita Island. The relationship between the two states intensified to the point that, in June 2017, President Varela decided to disavow Taiwan, followed by Xi Jinping’s state visit, which culminated in the achievement of 19 cooperation agreements and Panama’s accession to the Belt and Road Initiative. This situation, obviously, alerted Washington which began to put pressure on the Panamanian government to contain Beijing’s advance which stopped in 2019 with the advent of President Cortizo. The new government, in fact, began to oppose the projects presented by the Chinese counterpart, including the construction of a high-speed train capable of connecting Panama City with the north of the country, worth 4 billion dollars, but also the construction of the Panamanian capital’s subway for a cost of 2.5 billion dollars, the concession of which was delegated to the Korean company Hyundai Engineering, at a cost which was also higher
than that offered by Beijing.

It is located at the entrance to the Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific Side of the Canal. It was built as a reminder of 150 years of Chinese presence in Panama. Shutterstock/Mabelin Santos

Furthermore, the then Panamanian Minister of Public Works Rafael Sabonge also suspended the construction of a bridge over the Canal, originally assigned to a consortium led by China Harbor Engineering (CHEC) and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). In the opinion of authoritative analysts, Washington’s pressure on the Panamanian ruling class was carried out through the threat of inclusion in the “Clinton List”, which sanctions those individuals who conduct business with people or companies included in the list and which in previous years forced into bankruptcy some Panamanian businessmen including Abdul Waked.
Certainly, in the years to come the Canal will continue to be an object of contention but the United States will hardly allow penetration to other actors in a territory that, historically, they consider their own “backyard”. (Open Photo: A cargo ship entering the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal.123rf)

Filippo Romeo

China’s Africa Strategy.

African allies are the potential linchpin in Beijing’s hands to globalize its interests. This is why this year’s FOCAC reaffirmed China’s commitment to the continent.

“In the next three years, China will work with Africa to undertake 10 partnership actions for modernization, in order to deepen China-Africa cooperation and lead the modernization of the Global South,” announced Chinese President Xi Jinping in his opening speech at the ninth edition of the triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC),
last September 5.

The rhetoric of solidarity between developing countries was a Chinese hobbyhorse since before the concept of the Global South gained the centrality in the international debate that it has today. And the FOCAC, whose first edition dates back to 2000, has always been the emblem
of this cooperation.

Today more than ever, faced with an increasingly fragile international governance system, African allies are the potential keystone in Beijing’s hands to globalize its interests. For this reason, as has already happened in the previous editions hosted in Beijing, the Chinese capital pompously welcomed almost 50 African leaders who arrived for the FOCAC.

Promises have not been lacking: after a more uncertain phase during the pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a 10-point action plan to relaunch the partnership with Africa for the next three years. The plan will include a $29.4 billion credit line, $11.2 billion in various forms of assistance, and at least $9.8 billion in investments in Africa by Chinese companies.

The financial commitment will therefore be less than the 60 billion from Focac 2018, but more than the 40 billion from the 2021 edition. All of this will be under the banner of modernization and sustainability, two words omnipresent in every speech by the Chinese leader. However, African leaders have already heard many promises from Beijing and many have not been kept.

Relations today continue to be heavily unbalanced in Favor of China, but everyone knows that Beijing remains an almost indispensable player. However, even for Xi’s China, the partnership with African countries is more crucial than ever. So, 24 years after the first Focac, how is Beijing’s economic and political strategy in Africa doing?

Today, China is the continent’s second trading partner, after the European Union, and the first in the sub-Saharan region. In 2023, trade reached 262 billion dollars. However, Africa’s trade deficit has also grown, amounting to around $45 billion (with a slight reduction expected this year).

Trade relations are part of a broader picture, in which investments also play a fundamental role, both in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and loans. The positive trend has taken shape since the beginning of the century, but the advent of the Belt and Road Initiative, the global initiative symbol of Xi Jinping’s China, has given further impetus to Beijing’s economic diplomacy in Africa.

From 2003, when they amounted to $75 million, the value of Chinese FDI flows to Africa has risen to $5 billion in 2021, and then decreased to around $2 billion in the past two years. Investments have been concentrated mainly in the construction, mining and manufacturing sectors. A small number of countries have benefited, especially those rich in natural resources.

As for loans, they have been the topic that has most sparked discussion about the benevolence, or otherwise, of Beijing’s intentions in Africa. Thanks to a greater propensity for risk, the absence of conditions linked to the allocation of funds and the lack of human rights standards, China has become the main bilateral creditor of many African countries, previously excluded or marginalized by the traditional international institutions of Bretton Woods.

Many of these, however, have had difficulty repaying the debts contracted with China: this has led to criticism of Beijing, accused of pushing African countries towards unsustainable levels of debt to strengthen its political and economic leverage, and to Chinese frustration over the problems in collecting the credits given.

Between 2000 and 2023, Chinese lenders have provided 1,306 loans for a total of 182.28 billion dollars to 49 African countries and seven regional lenders. The funds have been allocated mainly to the energy, transport, information and communication technology and financial sectors. In 2023, 13 new commitments worth $4.61 billion were added to eight African countries and two regional financial institutions.

It was the highest volume of loans since 2019, although well below the early years of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), when annual commitments exceeded $10 billion – a figure that, according to Nikkei projections, should return in the next 3 years. The five largest recipients of Chinese loans between 2000 and 2023 were Angola, Ethiopia,
Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya.

If we had to draw up a report, the economic picture for Beijing would be mixed. The decline in investments in recent years, especially regarding loans, reflects a certain Chinese disappointment with some operations that have turned out to be riskier and less profitable than expected.

The slow Chinese post-pandemic economic recovery, then, has brought with it a reduced propensity to make large investments abroad, especially in unstable contexts such as Africa. The new Chinese policy calls for “smaller and more sustainable” investments, aligned with its new direction towards sustainability and technology. An approach that was also reiterated by Xi Jinping during the last summit.

Despite expectations not fully met, Africa remains central to Beijing’s economic strategy: Chinese overproduction, particularly in sectors linked to the green economy, is frowned upon by European partners and the United States, but not by African countries.

China hopes that a “win-win relationship” can be developed, where African markets help absorb overproduction and, in turn, exploit this production to support a low-cost green transition, in line with the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

In his opening speech, Xi Jinping reiterated that cooperation between China and Africa is not limited to economic integration, but includes a strong commitment to cultural (and therefore also political) relations. Beijing is well aware that the cultural and political aspects are deeply linked, which is why it has always combined economic diplomacy with a clear Soft Power strategy.

From a political point of view, the countries of the continent represent important allies for Beijing in resisting the pressure of Western powers. Whether it is to prevent the issue of human rights from being discussed at the UN, or to isolate Taiwan at a diplomatic level, African countries are fundamental pieces in shaping an international system more in line with the values, and above all the interests, of the People’s Republic.

For this reason, China is carrying out a charm offensive, courting African countries and their citizens, and leveraging the frustrations that have emerged from the relations between the latter and Western powers. This has occurred from a diplomatic point of view, with high-level meetings and the so-called Red Carpet Diplomacy, that is, always reserving a special welcome for African leaders.

The first trip of the year for over 34 years by the Chinese Foreign Minister has been to Africa, and Xi Jinping has visited the continent 5 times, more than Biden and Trump combined.

On a cultural level, the commitment is in no way inferior. Since 2004, numerous Confucius Institutes have been inaugurated and Beijing has sent 5,500 Chinese language teachers to Africa, in addition to television programs produced in China but broadcast in Africa.

In addition, China has established itself over the years as an increasingly popular destination for African citizens: in 2018 there were around 81,000, making China the second most popular destination for students on the continent after France.

China’s economic transformation has made the People’s Republic an attractive destination for young Africans, which has the great advantage of being much more economically accessible than Western destinations. China often offers scholarships as part of its Soft Power on the continent. Wen Wen, a researcher at Tsinghua University, says that “higher education is becoming part of geopolitics.” Beijing is thus investing in its African leaders of the future. (Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing –  fmprc)

Gabriele Manca/Ispi

 

 

What do Africa’s youth have to say about the future of their world?

The latest African Youth Survey from the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, a leading African foundation promoting active citizenship across the continent, provides a comprehensive look at the perspectives, hopes and concerns of young people in 16 African countries. Now in its third iteration, the 2024 Survey reveals both encouraging signs of optimism as well as ongoing challenges facing Africa’s youth. The most important top findings.

  1. Afro-Optimism. Overall attitudes remain negative about the direction of the continent, individuals’ countries, and their national economies, but there are small improvements following dips during COVID. Death from infectious diseases remains the most impactful event of the past five years, though some countries worry about political instability. Addressing corruption is now the top barrier to progress followed by creating new, well-paying jobs.
  2. International Influence on Africa. Seven-in-ten remain concerned about the influence of foreign powers with China and the US seen to have the greatest influence, though many view it positively. For China, positivity is driven by affordable products and investments in infrastructure, while those who see the US’s influence as positive point to economic support offered. Although Russia is not viewed as one of the most influential international powers in the region, an increasing proportion negatively view the impact of this influence in their country, mainly driven by the detrimental impacts being felt from Russia’s engagement in conflicts.
  3. Africa’s Role on the Global Stage. Youth are looking for their leaders to balance addressing domestic issues with increasing their country’s global influence. Most think their leaders have a voice and can drive change on the global stage and want to see their governments taking more direct engagement on international issues both within the continent and beyond
  4. Democracy and Government. The vast majority continue to support democracy, but a growing proportion say that sometimes non-democratic systems are preferable and that African countries need to design their own democratic structures. Equality under the law remains the top pillar of democracy and most say their voice matters to leaders, with just under half registered to vote.
  5. Quality of Life and Living Standards. Perceived standards of living bounce back to 2020 levels with two-in- five saying their standard is ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and most continue to expect it to be better in two years with three-quarters saying they will have a better life than their parents. However, there continues to be widespread dissatisfaction with governments’ efforts to reduce poverty and tackle rising costs, and satisfaction with nearly all government services is up from 2022, but down from 2020.
  6. Future Ambitions. Four-in-five continue to say they know what they want to do with their life and future family plans are stable too with seven-in-ten planning on having fewer children than their parents, starting a family later, and getting married later. Employment opportunities and job prospects are bleak – three-quarters say it is difficult to find a job, nearly all are concerned about the lack of economic job prospects, and two-thirds are dissatisfied with their governments’ efforts to create jobs and fight unemployment. Corruption is seen as the top barrier to getting a job followed by there not being enough well-paying jobs and not having enough government support. Seven-in-ten say they plan to start a business, but lack of access to capital / money and corruption are seen as the biggest barriers to these ambitions. Over half say they plan to emigrate in the next five years, citing economic reasons and education opportunities with most wanting to move to North America. While most plan to make this a temporary move, a growing proportion say it could be permanent.
  7. Corruption. Reducing government corruption is seen as the key priority to progressing the continent. Four-in-five are worried about corruption in their country with high levels of concern about corruption in government, business, and the police. Most are dissatisfied with efforts to tackle corruption and there is widespread support for a range of policies to address it, including police taskforces, tougher penalties, and banning those convicted of corruption from standing for public office
  8. Safety and Security. Two-in-five are satisfied with the police and security services and a quarter say that they or a family member have been a victim of a crime in the past five years. Most think penalties and punishments are about right, but a third say they are not harsh enough. Only half say that they are equal before the law and three-quarters are worried about gender-based violence and the lack of protection for women’s rights. While most want more protections for minority communities, only a third say this for the LGBTQ+ community. Three-in-five are confident in the government’s ability to deal with terrorism and insurgency, but it is felt to be impacting their lives in many markets with noticeable increases in those who know someone who supports or has been approached by a terror group, or have been approached themselves
  9. Environment. Three-quarters are concerned about climate change, but less than half are satisfied with efforts to address it and four-in-five say their government needs to be doing more to address it across a range of measures. The top barriers to achieving global warming targets are seen to be taking too much time on consensus building over action, individual governments failing to take action, and low international interest in the issue. Seven-in-ten are worried about plastic waste, but this is trending down as satisfaction with recycling infrastructure improves. African youth are most concerned by water scarcity with three-quarters (76%) report being ‘very’ or ‘somewhat concerned’ and two-in-five youth (40%) now report spending more than a quarter of their income on accessing clean water, a significant increase from 2022. Three-in-five worry about poaching of wild animals with widespread agreement that it leads to their extinction.
  10. Immigration. Two-thirds are concerned about immigration and asylum and only two-in-five are satisfied with government efforts to tackle illegal immigration. Three-in-five say that illegal immigration negatively impacts their country in various ways such as diverting government resources and driving up crime. While most say their country has a moral obligation to accept refugees, a third disagree
  11. Technology. Four-in-five say internet connectivity is a fundamental human right, but only two-in-three have regular, private, internet access. The proportion who says mobile data is affordable is growing and more can afford it regularly than in 2022. Smartphone usage has increased with two-thirds saying they use it for three or more hours a day and a third saying they spend more time online than they would like to. Social media apps are the most frequently used. Three-in-five say that online dating apps allow them to meet people they would have never met before and over half say they would be open to meeting others through online dating. However, a similar proportion say it is ruining social norms and traditional dating, and just under half say their family would be accepting of someone they met through online dating. AI is seen as a force for good and positive progress, but many still worry that it can do more harm than good.
  12. News and Media. Television remains the top source but it is declining while Facebook remains in second and is climbing. BBC and CNN are the most trusted news sources, but the proportion who say they encounter fake news at least once a week has risen to nearly half. Fake news is seen to be a serious problem as a range of organisations use it to advance their agendas, and over three-in-five worry about the impact of fake news and misinformation on upcoming elections.

    The 2024 African Youth Survey was conducted by PSB Insights in Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. (Photo: 123rf)

 

 

The New President.

Panama is a presidential Republic, divided into 9 provinces and 3 indigenous districts, in which the legislative functions are entrusted to a government, led by the president and a single-camera parliament (National Assembly) made up of 71 deputies, elected with a mixed electoral system whose mandate lasts five years.

The president is also elected directly by the citizens, his mandate lasts five years, he cannot be re-elected, as provided for by the 1972 Constitution, and a vice president is jointly elected (until 2009 there were two). The judiciary is independent of both the executive
and legislative powers.

The National Assembly of Panama. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0/ David A. Nuñez Linares.

Last May 5, 2024, the new President José Raúl Mulino, 64 years old, a lawyer and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Security and the candidate of Realizando Metas (Realizing Objectives), was elected with 34% of the vote. a right-wing populist party founded by former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009 – 2014), of Italian origin, and of which Mulino was the dauphin. Ricardo Martinelli was, in fact, ready to run again for the Presidency of Panama, but having been sentenced to ten years and six months in prison for money laundering, and having taken refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City to escape prison, he launched José Raúl Mulino as presidential competitor. The competition was not free from critical issues as noted by international observers, according to whom 32% of the sections lacked the presence of officials from the electoral prosecutor’s office; 9% of voters found themselves unable to vote; in 4% of cases the observers were unable to gain access to the polling stations; vote buying was observed in 3% of the sections and fraud occurred in 4% of cases.

Migrants from South America, Asia and Africa to reach the United States through the Darién Gap, a mix of swampy jungle, rainforest and mountainous areas connecting South America to Central America. Photo: OHCHR

Mulino’s electoral campaign was characterized by anti-migration propaganda as the country is the main transit route for the thousands of people who move from South America, Asia and Africa to reach the United States through the tortuous passage of the Darién Gap, a mix of swampy jungle, rainforest and mountainous areas, stretching for over 100 kilometres connecting South America to Central America. An area also presided over by criminal groups both on the Colombian side, where we find the most important local drug cartel, the Clan del Golfo, which extorts money from migrants and imposes its own rules on the native populations, and on the Panamanian side where they are increasingly frequent robberies, sexual violence and murders. Last July, shortly after Mulino took office, a memorandum of understanding was signed between US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha, through which the US government undertakes to cover the costs of repatriation of migrants who enter Panama illegally from Darién, even if the amounts have not yet been set, and provides adequate training to the staff who will have to deal with them.
While waiting for the agreement to become operational, barbed wire has been installed along the Darién Gap border line and patrolling activities have been intensified resulting in crossings being blocked.

Colon. Young people playing football in the street. Poverty and high unemployment.123rf

In addition to the migration issue, Mulino exploited the great discontent towards the outgoing President Laurentino Cortizo belonging to the Democratic Revolutionary Party (centre-left) who in this session presented the candidate José Gabriel Carrizo who obtained a paltry 5.8% of the votes. A sound punishment inflicted by the electorate who did not accept the renewal of the agreement signed by Cortizo with the Canadian mining consortium First Quantum Minerals for the exploitation of the enormous Cobre Panama copper mine located in a stretch of jungle on the Atlantic coast. A situation that initially sparked the ire of local environmentalists which then developed into political unrest in which large sections of the population were involved, leading to the Supreme Court’s ruling in November 2023, which decreed its closure.

Panama City. Many people from different groups celebrate on the steps of the Supreme Court of Justice, after the ruling of unconstitutionality the agreement signed by the president Cortizo with the Canadian mining First Quantum Minerals. Shutterstock/Mabelin Santos

The problems that grip the country and which Molino will have to deal with are also those of an economic nature dictated by the slowdown of the economy, growing unemployment, the increase in the cost of living, but also those of an environmental nature, such as drought, which reflect on the economy and the well-being of the population. Drought, in particular, in addition to generating a shortage of drinking water supplies, is affecting the transit of ships through the canal, the average daily transit of which has drastically dropped from 40 ships a day a few years ago to the current 27. A drop that it has repercussions on the state coffers already suffering due to lost revenues resulting from the closure of the copper mines. (Open Photo: Panama Traditional handmade textiles, background.123rf – José Raúl Mulino Quintero, the 39th President of Panama. Office of Pres.)
(F.R.)

World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis: “Come to the banquet”.

This year, World Mission Day is part of the final phase of the “Synod on Synodality” being held in Rome. The theme chosen by Pope Francis is “Go and invite everyone to the banquet” (Mt 22: 9).

In his message, Pope Francis gives a special meaning to World Mission Day, which is celebrated on October 20, because as the pontiff writes: “It will have to relaunch the Church towards its priority commitment, that is, the proclamation of the Gospel in the contemporary world”.
Going beyond every boundary, leaving one’s own safe spaces without getting tired or discouraged despite difficulties and obstacles, is Francis’ invitation to faithfully carry forward, as true disciples-missionaries of Christ, the mission received.
While the world proposes the various “banquets” of consumerism, selfish well-being, accumulation, and individualism  –  we read in the papal message -, the Gospel calls everyone to the eschatological banquet of the Kingdom, in which joy, justice, brotherhood and full communion with God and with others are shared.

“Taking part in the Eucharistic banquet”. Painting: Claude Boucher Chisale

Every creature is the recipient of God’s invitation to participate in his grace that transforms and saves. It is a matter of welcoming the free divine gift, and allowing oneself to be transformed by it.
In a world torn by divisions and conflicts, as Pope Francis has so often repeated, the Gospel of Christ is the gentle and strong voice that calls men and women, no one excluded, to meet, to recognize each other as brothers and sisters, to rejoice in harmony in diversity.
In fact, in the words of Saint Paul quoted by the pontiff, God wants “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).  – Therefore – writes the Pope -, “let us never forget, in our missionary activities, that we are sent to proclaim the Gospel to all ”, and “not as someone who imposes a new obligation, but as someone who shares a joy, points to a beautiful horizon, offers a desirable banquet”
(Evangelii Gaudium, 14).

“We are sent to proclaim the Gospel to all, and… “offers a desirable banquet”. Painting: Engelbert Mveng 

The message also insists, according to the chosen theme, on the importance of taking part in the Eucharistic banquet, with an explicit invitation “to everyone, to intensify also and above all their participation in the Eucharistic celebration and prayer for the evangelizing mission of the Church”. “Daily prayer, and particularly the Eucharist – writes Francis – make us pilgrim-missionaries of hope, on the path towards endless life in God, towards the wedding banquet prepared by God for all his children”. And in this regard, the Pope insists that “we cannot approach the Eucharistic Table without allowing ourselves to be drawn into the movement of the mission which, starting from the very Heart of God, aims to reach everyone”.
The Eucharistic renewal, which many local Churches have committed to promoting in the post-Covid period, will also be fundamental to reawakening the missionary spirit in every believer.
Feeling called to express one’s faith with enthusiasm when in every Eucharist one is invited to proclaim: “We announce your death, Lord, we proclaim your resurrection, while we await your coming”.

Synodality is by definition “missionary” and, vice versa, the mission is always synodal. Illustration: Luis Henrique Alves Pinto

The conclusion of the message cannot but underline the importance of following with commitment the last phase of the synodal journey, insisting that the mission towards all requires the commitment of all.
It is therefore necessary, according to the Pope’s wish, to continue the journey towards a Church that is entirely synodal-missionary at the service of the Gospel.
Synodality is by definition “missionary” and, vice versa, the mission is always synodal. Therefore, according to the spirit that emerges from the papal message, a closer and more lively missionary cooperation is today even more urgent and necessary in the universal Church as well as in the particular Churches. (Illustration: Luis Henrique Alves Pinto)
(G.C.)

South Africa. A Rainbow nation that needs to be reinvented.

The loss of the absolute majority by the African National Congress (ANC) is the most serious setback in the region for a movement that led the wars of liberation against white regimes. Could something similar happen in neighbouring countries?

 The South African elections last May marked a turning point in the history of Southern Africa. The end of the solitary rule of the African National Congress (ANC), which for the first time since 1994 lost its absolute majority and was forced to seek agreements with other parties to form a coalition government, represents in fact the first shock to the balance that had lasted since the end of the Cold War.

Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa since 2018. Photo: Simon Walker

In almost all the countries of the region, the 1980s and 1990s had seen the birth of democracies characterized by the domination of parties born from the transformation of liberation movements against white regimes. With a series of peaceful transitions and “free and fair” elections, Swapo had come to power in Namibia (1990), MPLA and Frelimo had seen their governments legitimised in Angola (1992) and Mozambique (1994) and the ANC had taken power in South Africa (1994). In all these cases, movements that had pursued an armed revolution and had threatened to move the region into the Soviet orbit had been protagonists of an unexpected reconciliation with the capitalist West and the liberal model, in which the liquidation of segregationist regimes had been exchanged for the abandonment of Marxist-inspired economic reconstruction projects.
Under the stabilizing rule of these parties and the absolute majorities they obtained at the ballot box, regimes emerged that reconciled what had seemed irreconcilable. On the one hand, the fundamental rules of the market economy, starting with property rights, had been confirmed, and a model of civic-liberal citizenship had been established that was capable of preventing the expulsion of minorities and of stemming the “tribalistic” tendencies that had dominated the scene in the rest of Africa.

Nangolo Mbumba, president of Namibia. He is a member of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO). Photo WIPO.

On the other, the de-racialization of the state and the economy had encouraged the formation of a large black middle class, which had taken control of the public sector and placed white minorities at the top of the social pyramid.
It is true that the success of the liberation movements in keeping the new emerging elites and the poor masses united under their banner made it difficult to imagine an alternation between majority and opposition.
However, their monopoly seemed to be compensated for by their strong integration with the centres of the global economy – which served as a guarantee for the rule of law and the independence of the media, the judiciary and the private sector from political power – and by the demonstrative value of the new regimes, which seemed to embody the possible conciliation between the aspirations born with the liberation from colonialism and participation in the liberatory order and the globalized economy.

Inflexible Power
The model began to show the first cracks during the 2008 global crisis. In the following years, the reemergence of populist demands and the growth of corruption, involving all the parties in power in the region, began to wear down the image of the democracies of Southern Africa and in one case (Zimbabwe) led to a serious crisis of legitimacy of the government born from the liberation struggle.

A township on the outskirts of Pretoria. File swm

The media and observers identify the decline as the cause of the lack of alternation at the top of the state, aggravated by the legacy of “democratic centralism” that characterizes movements built on the Leninist model and incapable of fully accepting the logic of pluralism and the “open society”. However, it is undeniable that the crisis also has its roots in the profound malaise that arises from the social inequalities that characterize all societies of Southern Africa. The abolition of racial discrimination and of the correspondence between “race” and “class”, in fact, does not seem to have altered an economic structure that remains based on the coexistence between an urban economy linked to those of the “first world” and the vast periphery in which the majority of the population lives, dependent on the former and much poorer.

South Africa, laboratory or exception?
The phase that opened with the defeat of the ANC is linked to conditions that are not easily replicable in other countries in the area. South Africa presents an ethnic-racial scenario that is more suited to forms of “plural” democracy and power-sharing. The size of the white, coloured and Indian minorities (equal to about 20% of the electorate and concentrated mainly in the cities) has in fact allowed the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party to the ANC, to rely on a stable base and to assert itself in the province of Western Cape, from which it has been able to project the model of a more efficient and less corrupt administration. The strong Zulu identity has contributed to the birth of the MK, the party of former president Jacob Zuma who, by attracting its most intransigent and populist component, has pushed the ANC towards a “centrist” alliance with the DA, on which the new multi-party government is based. Nothing similar is found in other countries, where the tension between Westernized cities and “ethnic” countryside seems more difficult to trace back to the logic of electoral competition and inter-party play.

An MK Party election poster with the face of former president Jacob Zuma. Shutterstock/ Reabetswe C Matjeke

This does not change the fact that South Africa has now become a kind of laboratory for the entire region. The long-term success of the new government will certainly depend on its ability to restore trust in the state and administrative efficiency shaken by scandals and infrastructural failures such as the crisis in electricity production. However, it will also be necessary to rebuild a national cohesion based on a vision of the country that is not based solely on the memory of the struggle against segregationist regimes, inevitably divisive and easily monopolized for their own advantage by the elite of the liberation movements. The fact that, a few months before the elections, the victory of the Springboks, the national rugby team that was always identified with the white Afrikaners, in the World Cup in Paris, was celebrated as the success of a multiracial and multilingual country, could be a first sign of a recovery of the image of the “rainbow nation”, launched in 1994 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but set aside during
the years of ANC hegemony.

African National Congress delegates at a conference. File swm

Even more important, however, will be the ability to reconcile liberal democracy and the rule of law with a macroeconomic formula capable of countering the frightening inequalities that continue to afflict South African society (and other societies in the region), also overcoming the limits imposed by the rigid application of the neoliberal model. In the immediate term, the entry of the DA into the government and the negotiations for the renewal of the AGOA, the trade agreement with the US that South African exports cannot do without, should have closed the escape routes towards the dirigiste models embodied by Moscow and Beijing. In the medium term, however, the new government will have to demonstrate that it has better recipes than the populist and radical solutions that important components of the ANC and other parties in power in the area still look to. Otherwise, the survival of democracy and the levels of development in the region are at stake.
(Open Photo: File swm)

Rocco Ronza

 

Angie Torres. A refugee among refugees.

Forced to flee Colombia, she has managed to rebuild her life in Ecuador. Now she defends the human rights of migrants and in particular of women, who often suffer violence and have fewer opportunities.

Some stories keep hope alive, especially when, despite enormous initial difficulties, they reveal the possibility of significant changes that alter the lives of their protagonists forever. One of these stories is that
of Angie Torres Angulo.

She was only 15 years old when she was forced to leave her home in Colombia, due to the armed conflict that was spreading in the country: her city had been declared one of the most dangerous, and the only way to escape the violence was to leave. Having arrived in Ecuador with her family, she managed to find refuge and make a new start to her life, albeit with many difficulties. One meeting, in particular, represented the decisive turning point that moved the young woman to commit herself to help others and defending the human rights of the most vulnerable.

“I met a mother with her children, the father was not with them – says Angie -. They made the same journey as I did, crossing the border between Colombia and Ecuador. It was very difficult for her at the beginning: she had to find a job and, in the meantime, take care of her children, since they were still too young to go to school. She lived in an unsafe place, subject to violence and with poor sanitary conditions. Her house was flooded every time it rained. She needed help.”

It is therefore starting from the testimony of this mother that Torres felt for the first time the need to do something to support those who, like her, had lost their homes and had been forced to leave their homelands, facing an uncertain fate. “This situation moved me to want to fight for them. I wanted to help people move forward.”

Angie has lived in Ecuador with her family for eight years. For her too, it wasn’t easy at the beginning: it took two years before she was granted refugee status. “As an asylum seeker I didn’t have many rights, such as the right to education or a job that guaranteed an acceptable salary,”
she recalls.

For a year she tried to gain access to school, but it was only thanks to the help of some organizations that she managed to resume her studies and this year she graduated in Forestry Engineering. She is convinced that caring for the environment is also a fundamental element for migration issues: the impact of climate change has a great influence on migration both in the countries of origin and in those of arrival.

But education was not the only challenge he had to face: the relationship with the local community also proved to be rather difficult. Although the cultures of the two countries are very similar, discrimination against Colombians is very deep-rooted. “I have often been the victim of acts of violence, sometimes I had to imitate the local way of speaking to be treated fairly in public places,” said the young woman.

Ecuador is a country where a large number of immigrants periodically converge; in fact, many people from neighbouring states take refuge there due to conflicts and other situations of violence and suffering. For this reason, there are many NGOs present in the area, including the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) which plays a fundamental role. Precisely thanks to this organization and its courses in citizenship, Torres was able to inform herself about the conditions of refugees: “I learned a lot about issues such as discrimination, the culture of peace, interculturalism, new forms of machismo and more generally about human rights. With these tools and this awareness, I can mobilise on behalf of those in need.”

So, Angie today dedicates a lot of time to raising people’s awareness of the rights of migrants, especially those of women and girls, through specific campaigns and seminars in schools. She is also working to create support paths for women who have survived episodes of gender violence. All the activities she organizes are designed for both the Ecuadorian and refugee communities.

By working together, the relationship with the local population has also improved: “We have discovered that there are many more things that unite us than those that differentiate us.”

The focus on gender issues in the context of migration arises from a need that Torres has experienced firsthand: “As women, in my opinion, we are much more subject to the violation of our rights, both in the country of departure and in the country of arrival – explains Angie -. When we arrive in the host country, we often suffer double discrimination: as women and as foreigners.”

“I think we should first of all make our rights visible because even if they already exist, many of us are not aware of them. Then we should exercise them and strengthen them – insists Torres -. If we are aware of them and value them, we can fight for them and make sure they are observed. We can demand respect for them when we feel that they are being violated and be involved in the various decision-making processes to exercise them and make them visible.”

On the rights of migrant women, in particular, she maintains that “a principle of equality must be established, which guarantees equal conditions and job opportunities, and for this to happen gender stereotypes must be eradicated in many contexts and places. This fight becomes even more important given that, as refugees, the discrimination we suffer is greater.”

Angie concluded: “Let’s not give up, let’s keep fighting, and in small steps, we will achieve big changes. Revolutions are built by walking side by side.” (Rebecca Molteni/MM)

 

 

 

Mexico. New President, old president

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo is the heir apparent of Amlo, the outgoing president. She will lead the second country in Latin America by population. Many challenges to face from corruption to violence.

From October 1st, Claudia Sheinbaum, will lead Mexico. In the elections of June 2nd, she clearly beat (36 million votes against 16.5, over 30 percentage points), the senator of indigenous origin Xóchitl Gálvez. Claudia Sheinbaum will take the place of her mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Amlo), founder of Morena (now the country’s leading party) and a president as popular as he is controversial. Since his entry into the political arena, Amlo’s mission has been summed up in one phrase: “Por el bien de todos, primero los pobres” (For the good of all, first of all the poor), a praiseworthy statement, but a very demanding one. Certainly, after decades of domination by the two conservative parties (PAN and PRI), his presidency – perhaps classifiable as “centre-left populism” – was an absolute novelty.

Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Amlo), founder of Morena. President Amlo had proposed a package of twenty constitutional reforms.

During his six years in office, public spending on social programs increased significantly, but the fundamental problems – insecurity and poverty above all – remained unsolved. Despite six increases in the minimum daily wage (from 88 pesos in 2018 to 249 currently, equivalent to about 13 euros), the level of poverty remained high. According to data from Coneval (an autonomous constitutional body), 46.8 million people live in poverty, equivalent to 36.3 percent of the country’s population. Of these, over nine million (7.1 percent) are affected by extreme poverty.
Due to the strange games of politics and economics, Mexican billionaires have seen their fortunes increase (significantly) during Amlo’s six-year term. Behind Carlos Slim (seventeenth in the Forbes world ranking), there are 13 other people: this very small group of privileged people – says a report by Oxfam Mexico – controls 8 percent of the country’s overall economy. Things didn’t go any better in terms of security. Amlo’s policy summarized in the slogan “abrazos, no balazos” (embraces, not bullets) has failed, judging by the number of murders and disappearances, which is always very high.

Photos of the missing 43 Mexican students from the town of Ayotzinapa. About 110,000 people have disappeared since 1964 and have never been found. File swm

In the first four months of 2024, the average was 81 murders per day. In the statistics of the last six years, two figures are also impressive: the killing of 9 Catholic priests and 44 journalists.
According to Article 19, an independent and non-partisan Mexican organization that promotes freedom of expression, in 2023 there were 561 attacks on journalists or media in the Latin American country, a higher number than in the governments that preceded Amlo.
This is Obrador’s heavy legacy. That said, we must ask ourselves whether Claudia will be a mere executor of the wishes of the outgoing president, her great sponsor and political father, or whether she will manage to be autonomous and choose her own path.

Claudia Sheinbaum’s curriculum vitae
Born into a family of non-practising Jews, a chemist father with parents from Lithuania, a biologist mother with parents from Bulgaria, a degree in physics from the Universidad Autónoma de México (Unam), a master’s degree from Berkeley and a doctorate, Claudia Sheinbaum is a former mayor of Mexico City.
For years, Amlo has been talking about a “fourth transformation” of Mexican life. In his intentions, it is an indispensable historical passage after the previous three phases: the war of independence (1810-1821), the period of reform (1858-1861) and the years of the revolution (1910-1917), culminating with the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution (5 February 1917).

About 46.8 million people live in poverty, equivalent to 36.3 percent of the country’s population. File swm

Claudia Sheinbaum has promised several times that she will continue on the path marked out by Amlo to follow up on the fourth transformation. It will then be interesting to see how the president will address the climate issue in a country that is already suffering the consequences with extraordinary peaks of heat and serious shortages of water.
Her resume speaks in her favour, as she has collaborated with United Nations scientists gathered in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, her choices before the election have been contradictory. She has in fact been accused of having supported the Tren Maya, the great work of AMLO contested by environmentalists. On the energy front, Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed that she wants to increase renewable sources, without forgetting that Mexico is the eleventh world producer of oil through Pemex (Pétroleos mexicanos), a company entirely owned by the state. The president says that it will not be privatized, despite being burdened by a heavy debt.

The next-door neighbour
The day after Claudia Sheinbaum’s election victory, US President Joe Biden called the elected official to congratulate her. It was predictable, considering that Mexico and the United States share many businesses and problems. The Latin American country is the second largest trading partner of the United States after Canada. Furthermore, 11 of the 12 million Mexicans born in their country but living abroad reside in the United States, generating a huge flow of remittances.
Finally, the majority of illegal migrants headed to the United States pass through the northern border of Mexico – 3,169 kilometres long – one of the most debated issues in the electoral contest between Biden and his challenger Trump.

The Mexican flag is superimposed on the American flag. Thousands of immigrants take part in a march to protest against the US Congress’s illegal immigration reform. 123rf

The scale of the problem is highlighted by one figure: in the month of December 2023 alone, the US border police stopped 250,000 migrants trying to cross the border between Mexico and the United States.
What will happen if the Republican candidate prevails in the November 5 elections? During the long election campaign, Trump has stated that, after his victory (which he takes for granted), he will deport millions of undocumented immigrants. According to the Pew Research Center, they number about 11 million. Of these, 4.1 million (40 per cent) are Mexicans, making them by far the largest group of undocumented (illegal) immigrants, preceding in order those from El Salvador, India, Guatemala and Honduras.

The new reform of the judiciary
The Mexican situation is complicated by another relevant issue, internal to the country. President Amlo had proposed a package of twenty constitutional reforms, on rights and the environment but also the controversial reform of the judicial system that was approved last September 4.To come into force, it will now also have to be approved by the majority of the individual state parliaments, but there is little doubt that this will happen: López Obrador’s party and his centre-left allies have a majority in 25 of the 32 state parliaments.
The discussion of the reform in the Senate had begun on Tuesday evening, and was interrupted after a group of protesters with megaphones and Mexican flags broke into the building asking the senators to block the vote. In the end, shortly after midnight local time, the reform was approved with 86 votes in favour and 41 against.

Mexico flag with statue of lady justice and judicial. The reform of the judicial system approved last September 4, highly contested. 123rf

The reform has been highly contested in recent weeks: at the end of August there was a large strike by judges and court workers, which the Mexican Supreme Court also decided to join. The most criticized point is the one that proposes to make the positions of federal judges, who are around 1,650, and of the judges of the Supreme Court itself elective.
Currently, the judges of the federal courts are appointed by the Court on the basis of qualifications, educational degrees and years of experience. The members of the Supreme Court are instead proposed by the president and appointed by the Senate for a renewable term of 15 years: López Obrador’s reform would reduce their number from 11 to nine, and shorten their term from 15 to 12 years.
The reform is one of the most significant changes to the Mexican judicial system in recent decades and should be seen as part of a progressive deterioration in relations between López Obrador and the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, which in the last year has prevented the implementation of several of the president’s proposals. Mexico’s president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum is in favour of the reform.
Labor unions and trade associations, as well as some legal experts, say that moving to an elective system — in which judges must run and campaign, in a country with serious corruption problems — could politicize the judiciary and make it more dependent on the government. (Open Photo: Shutterstock/Octavio Hoyos)

Paolo Moiola/MC

 

Uganda. Ngabi Clan the King’s Massage Therapists and Herd’s men.

Buganda Kingdom is found in Central Uganda and it’s the largest and oldest traditional kingdom in Uganda today. This kingdom is made up of 52 clans that make up the tribe of the Baganda People. Each clan has roles and duties in the Kabaka’s Place. We look at the Ngabi clan.

The Ngabi (Antelope) Clan is one of the largest clans in the kingdom with 27 sigas (branches). The Ngabi clan is made up of both indigenous clans and clans that migrated to Buganda. The largest group was the Ngabi Nsamba. The myth surrounding the Ngabi Nsamba clan is that they were the lot who migrated from the Bunyoro kingdom. Their clan chief was a prince from the Bunyoro kingdom.
The Ngabi clan has many branches that became independent and some of them also came from Ankole and others from Busoga.
It’s believed that the Ngabi clan has a connection to the first king of Buganda Kintu, because Kimera was Kintu’s great-grandson. Kintu’s son Chwa succeeded him as a king and also got a son called Kalemera . It’s believed that King Chwa loved his son Kalemera so much and this always distracted him from his royal and official duties.

Flag of Kingdom of Buganda. Illustration: Mysid

Chwa was advised to send Kalemera away so that he could concentrate on his work. Indeed, Kalemera was sent away from the kingdom, he was accused of falling in love with one of the king’s wives and he was told to go to Bunyoro to work so that he could be able to pay up a fine or face the penalty. He left for Bunyoro where he stayed for a long time. While in Bunyoro, he fell in love with one of the wives of the Omukama (king) of Bunyoro known as Wanyana and Kimera was born. Meanwhile, Wanyana already had an elder son with the Omukama called Nsamba.
When Kimera decided to leave Bunyoro to return to Buganda he came with his half brother Nsamba Lubega Lunkonge. When Nsamba and Kimera and their entourage who by now belonged to the Ngabi clan arrived in Buganda from Bunyoro. Kimera was installed Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Kimera decided to install his half-brother Nsamba as the head of clan of the Ngabi clan ousting the Nansagwawo clan head Mutaawe who worked in the Kabaka’s palace was herding Kabaka Kintu’s cow Nsi go Nke (few seeds). So, the Ngabi Nsamba clan was created and it dominated all the other Ngabi clans forcing them to merge.
Kimera was the third kabaka (King) of Buganda. Being a member of the Ngabi clan makes members of the Ngabi clan royals (Balangira and Bambejja) because of their connection with King Kimera. Mutaawe remained the head of the Ngabi sub-clan.

Kabaka Ronald Edward Frederick Kimera Muwenda Mutebi II (born 13 April 1955) is King of the Kingdom of Buganda. He is the 36th Kabaka of Buganda. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Saidi Hussen

The lineage of the Ngabi clan was formed in such a way that Akasolya(top) is headed by Nsamba, Esiga (Branch) is headed by Mutaawe, omutuuba (a lower branch), then Lunyiriri (Lineage) and Lujja which is the compound or family of individuals of the Ngabi clan.
All these titles are hereditary in Buganda to date. All the other Ngabi clans found in Buganda joined Ngabi Nsamba through the lineage (Olunyiriri).
Another story also states that other clan members of Ngabi headed by Muntu came from Bwera Mawogola in Ankole.
When the Muntu group arrived in Buganda, they joined the Ngabi Nsamba. And other Ngabi members came with another group of people and their leader was Kasiita he was a mutaaka of Buyaaga Kyambalango, This group of Ngabi clan was called e’ngabi y’abasiita ( Ngabi of Basiita).
E’ngabi abeleki came from a man known as Lwekika Ngwando, Ngabi abakonga the founder of the abakongga county in Buddu
from a village called Banda.
There was also the branch of Ngabi that was called E’ngabi ennanzi ( Ngabi of Prophets) the people from this branch are referred to as abalanzi ( Prophets). They came from Bwamijja in Buddu, and another branch came from a man known as Kojja Mpiima he was the head of the clan of Ngabi in Kyagwe County, they were known as E’ngabi abagerere (Ngabi from Bugerere).The Ngabi people who came from the Eastern part of Buganda kingdom were known as  Abayise Musoko they came from Lutembe or Ntembe from Jinja in Busoga and unlike the others, these people’s totem is a female antelope, they are only found in Bugerere and Kyagwe they also belong to Nsamba’s clan now. It’s known that each clan has a main totem and the second totem and for Ngabi people, their second totem is Jerengesa a creeping plant which the antelope feeds on.
The motto (Omubaala) of the Ngabi people is “ Tade Kadu” literary meaning ‘Kadu will not return’, Another of their mottos is “Kalikutanda neka twala mube ngabi abalwanyi”. Meaning ‘One should avoid meeting with fighters from the Ngabi clan’.The head of the Ngabi clan is known as Nsamba Lukonge and he lives in Buwanda in Mawokota.

The Buganda monument in Kampala. 123rf

Some of the male names given to babies from the Ngabi clan are Bukenya, Kasozi, Jjengo, Kabitto, Kamoga, Lubega, and Lubinga and female names given to girls of Ngabi clan are Nabukeera, Nakanwagi, Namuyiga and Namirimu,The major role of the clan members of Ngabi in the palace was to give massage therapy to the Kabaka if he had gotten a fracture or dislocation on his bones. This can only be treated by the people from Ngabi. They are also called Bakyondwa because their indigenous clan head Mutaawe Sekyondwa was taking care of Kabaka’s cow. Mutaawe is a title given to the Kabaka’s herd’s men
Whenever a new Kabaka of Buganda is installed, Mutaawe comes in with a decorated calabash which contains milk and gives it to a man titled Mpindi this man should only belong to the Lugave clan. Mpindi will take the calabash to the Kabaka, and hand it over telling the king, “This is from the herd’s man who takes care of your grandfather’s cow Nsi go nke,” Mpindi will give the milk to the Kabaka who will drink it in turn. The offspring of Nsi go nke still exist today and this ritual is still performed after the Kabaka’s coronation. (Open Photo:The Kabaka Palace in Kampala. CC BY-SA 3.0/ NatureDan)

Irene Lumunu

Brazil. The violin’s sound.

There was a man who had an only son. When the man died, the son was left all alone in the world. There were not many possessions – just a cat and a dog, a small piece of land and some orange trees. The boy gave the dog to a neighbour and sold the land and orange trees. Any money he got from the sale he invested in a violin.

He had longed for a violin all his life and now he wanted one more than ever. While his father had lived, he could tell his thoughts to his father, but now there was none to tell them to except the violin. What his violin said back to him made the very sweetest music in the world.

The boy went to hire as shepherd to care for the sheep of the king, but he was told that the king already had plenty of shepherds and had no need of another. The boy took his violin which he had brought with him and hid himself in the deep forest.

There he made sweet music with the violin. The shepherds who were nearby guarding the king’s sheep heard the sweet strains, but they could not find out who was playing.

The sheep, too, heard the music. Several of them left the flock and followed the sound of the music into the forest. They followed it until they reached the boy and the cat and the violin.

The shepherds were greatly disturbed when they found out how their sheep were straying away into the forest. They went after them to bring them back, but they could find no trace of them. Sometimes it would seem that they were quite near to the place from which the music came, but when they hurried in that direction, they would hear the strains of music coming from a distant point in the opposite direction. They were afraid of getting lost themselves so they gave up in despair.

When the boy saw how the sheep came to hear his music he was very happy. His music was no longer the sad sweet sound it had been when he was lonely. It became gayer and gayer. After a while, it became so happy that the cat began to dance. When the sheep saw the cat dancing they began to dance, too.

Soon a company of monkeys passed that way and heard the sound of the music. They began dancing immediately. They made such a chattering that they almost drowned the music. The boy threatened to stop playing if they could not be happy without being so noisy. After that, the monkeys chattered less.

After a while, a tapir heard the jolly sound. Immediately his three-toed hind feet and four-toed front feet began to dance. He just couldn’t keep them from dancing; so, he, too, joined the procession of boy, cat,
sheep, and monkeys.

Next the armadillo heard the music. In spite of his heavy armour he had to dance too. Then a herd of small deer joined the company. Then the anteater danced along with them. The wild cat and the tiger came, too. The sheep and the deer were terribly frightened, but they kept
dancing on just the same.

The tiger and wild cat were so happy dancing that they never noticed them at all. The big snakes curled their huge bodies about the tree trunks and wished that they, too, had feet with which to dance. The birds tried to dance, but they could not use their feet well enough and had to give it up and keep flying. Every beast of the forests and jungles which had feet with which to dance came and joined the gay procession.

The jolly company wandered on and on until finally, they came to the high wall which surrounds the land of the giants. The enormous giant who stood on the wall as a guard laughed so hard that he almost fell off the wall. He took them to the king at once. The king laughed so hard that he almost fell off his throne. His laugh shook the earth. The earth had never before been shaken at the laugh of the king of the giants, though it had often heard his angry voice in the thunder. The people did not know what to make of it.

Now it happened that the king of the land of giants had a beautiful giantess daughter who never laughed. She remained sad all the time. The king had offered half his kingdom to the one who could make her laugh, and all the giants had done their very funniest tricks for her. Never once had they brought even a tiny little smile to her lovely face.

“If my daughter can keep from laughing when she sees this funny sight I’ll give up in despair and eat my hat,” said the king of the land of giants, as he saw the jolly little figure playing upon the violin and the assembly of cat, sheep, monkeys and everything else dancing to the gay music.

If the giant king had known how to dance, he would have danced himself, but it was fortunate for the people of the earth that he did not know how. If he had, there is no knowing what might have
happened to the earth.

As it was, he took the little band into his daughter’s palace where she sat surrounded by her servants. Her lovely face was as sad as sad could be. When she saw the funny sight, her expression changed. The happy smile that the king of the land of giants had always wanted to see played about her beautiful lips. A happy laugh was heard for the first time in all her life. The king of the land of giants was so happy that he grew a league in height and nobody knows how much he gained in weight. “You shall have half my kingdom,” he said to the boy, “just as I promised if anyone made my daughter laugh.”

The boy from that time on reigned over half of the kingdom of giants as prince of the land. He never had the least bit of difficulty in preserving his authority, for the biggest giants would at once obey his slightest request if he played on his violin to them. The beasts stayed in the land of the giants so long that they grew into giant beasts, but the boy and his violin always remained just as they were when they entered the land.

Brazilian folktale

 

DR Congo. On the verge of collapse.

Tshisekedi hires mercenaries, recruits militias, urges foreign armies to assist the Congolese troops to fight the rebel offensive but nothing seems to stop it.

Since the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels resumed the war in the eastern province of North Kivu in 2021, the DRC government has lost large swathes of territory. By September 2024, the rebels had also made progress on the political front. Born as a militia of disgruntled ex-soldiers, mainly Tutsis, of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), the movement is now called the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC) and has become the armed wing of the coalition formed in December 2023 by the M23 and the Congo River Alliance, created by the former chairman of the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) between 2015 and 2021, Corneille Nangaa, a man from the province of Upper Uélé, who aims to overthrow the regime of President Felix Tshisekedi, which he considers corrupt and illegitimate, following the rigging of the 2023 elections. Today, the M23 and its allies can no longer be described as a Tutsi group.

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo. Photo: Pres.Office

Moreover, in recent interviews, Felix Tshiskedi has accused his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, of complicity with the Nangaa, giving the impression that the rebels are broadening their base, since Kabila’s stronghold is indeed the Katanga region.
On 30 July 2024, a ceasefire was signed between the DRC and Rwanda, which was supporting the rebels. But on 16 August 2024, the deal’s mediator, Angolan President João Lourenço, admitted that negotiations had stalled. Kigali felt that the conditions for the withdrawal of the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) from the DRC had not been met. President Paul Kagame suggested on 19 August that the DRC should first “solve the FDLR problem” before asking Kigali to withdraw its troops from Congo. According to Kagame, the DRC should stop supporting the FDLR (the French acronym for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), which was formed in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis by former officers of the Hutu-led Rwandan army that perpetrated the massacres, and was supported by the FARDC after they fled to Congo.

Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda since 2000. CC BY 2.0/WT

The deal requires the DRC to commit to neutralising the FDLR’s 2,000 troops, while Rwanda is expected to withdraw its 4,000 soldiers, accused by the UN of systematic border incursions, supporting the M23 with drones and guided mortars, and controlling the operations of these rebels, who initially wanted to be integrated into the FARDC. By early September, the agreement had not been implemented. And neither the M23, whose leaders were sentenced by a military tribunal in Kinshasa on 9 August 2024, nor the Congo River Alliance (better known by its French acronym AFC) were concerned by the ceasefire.
On 2 August 2024, one of the founders of the AFC, Adam Chalwe, told the Brussels daily ‘La Libre Belgique’ that his group would continue its advance anyway.During August, the rebels continued to march north towards the town of Butembo and Lake Edward, gaining control of areas covered by oil blocks representing a potential bonanza of several billion barrels of crude oil. On 4 August, the M23 captured the town of Ishasha on the Ugandan border without resistance.
Then, on 7 August, the AFC took control of the town of Nyakakoma, home to an important fishing industry.

Soldiers of the FARDC in Goma. MONUSCO/Clara Padovan

In Butembo, the capital of the Nande region, the AFC held talks with local authorities last August to allow their fighters to move freely to the gold-rich areas of Ituri province. The Nande have several reasons to accept such a deal. After years of terror by the Ugandan Salafists of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, Nande businessmen concluded that the AFC-M23 coalition would be more effective against the ADF than the undisciplined FARDC.
For the rebels, the capture of the Ishasha border post means gaining access to tens of millions of dollars a year in customs revenue, while the capture of Nyakokoma allows them to levy taxes on fishing to pay their soldiers and gain greater autonomy to finance the war and reduce their dependence on Kigali and Kampala.
The rebel offensive developed despite the involvement of many actors on the side of the Congolese government. In February, 1,000 men from a private military company called Congo Protection, founded by Horatius Potra, a Romanian ex-French Foreign Legion officer, were hired by Kinshasa to train the FARDC. A second Bulgarian-registered company called Agemira, run by French businessman Olivier Bazin, alias ‘Colonel Mario’, has been contracted to repair and maintain the DRC’s small fleet of warplanes and secure its airfields. It employs dozens of Bulgarians, Georgians and Belarusians.

City of Butembo. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Gavin Finnegan

The DRC government also armed local militias on the assumption that it could achieve peace through military force after failing to implement a peace agreement signed with the M23 in Nairobi in 2013, which in fact contributed to the resumption of fighting in 2021. Initially, the M23 agreed to disarm and transform itself into a political party, while a general amnesty was declared for its fighters, except for war crimes. The agreement also included a demobilisation programme, the integration of some fighters into the FARDC and the creation of a commission to settle land disputes. But in the end, the Congolese government preferred to recruit and arm these militias, called “Wazalendo” (patriots in Swahili), even though some of their warlords are under UN or EU sanctions.
The DRC also receives a great deal of foreign aid. In addition to the UN and the EU, which train infantry and artillery officers, the DRC army benefits from 14 bilateral military cooperation agreements. Angola, Belgium, France, South Africa and the US are training or have trained battalions. Belarus and the Ukraine have trained pilots.
The Czech Republic and Russia have provided T-55 tanks and trained officers to operate them. Serbia has sent instructors to military academies. Moroccan trainers are present in the Presidential Guard, which also benefits from the anti-riot and artillery skills of Egyptian experts. China is providing training in logistics and communications, while Russia signed an agreement in March that includes the possibility of joint exercises.

M23 rebels. CC BY-SA 2.0/ Al Jazeera

The mandate of the East African Mission, which expired in December 2023, had become a point of contention between the EAC and Kinshasa. According to the EAC, its force should monitor the withdrawal of armed groups from eastern DRC and ensure that a ceasefire negotiated in December 2022 was respected. But Kinshasa wanted the East African troops to carry out offensive operations. Tshisekedi even accused the EAC force of colluding with the rebels after Kenya refused to crack down on Nangaa, who was allowed to hold a press conference in Nairobi in December 2023. On 15 December 2023, the East African soldiers were replaced by the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), but the latter also failed to make significant gains against the rebels, despite Kinshasa’s claim that the Southern African troops had an “offensive mandate”. By September 2024, SAMIRDC troops remained around Goma, while AFC/M23 troops captured large swathes
of territory further north.

The population of Mutaho fled to Goma following fighting between M23 elements and FARDC soldiers. MONUSCO/Clara Padovan

The ANC’s partner in the new South African governing coalition, the Democratic Alliance, wants to repatriate the 2,900 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers. In July 2024, the DA’s defence spokesman, Chris Hattingh, said that his party had called for the withdrawal of South African soldiers from the DRC in light of the SANDF’s underfunding and the changing nature of warfare.
As a result, South African soldiers lack the necessary logistical, tactical and medical support and training for high-tech warfare. Moreover, Hattingh told the South African Parliament that the SANDF’s deployment in the DRC was not a peacekeeping mission but an involvement in an undeclared war in which no South African national interest was at stake.
While MONUSCO began withdrawing its 12,000 troops in April 2024, to be completed by the end of the year, the scenario of a third collapse (after 1996 and 1998) of the Congolese state in the face of a rebel army is becoming more likely. (Open Photo: File swm)

François Misser

A crucible of peoples.

Its geographical location, historical processes and economic and commercial developments have made Panama a true melting pot of cultures, in which the mestizo constitute over half of the population, while the Afro-descendants amount to around a fifth.

The latter arrived there to work on the sugar plantations and were subsequently also employed on the construction sites of the interoceanic railway and those of the canal and their rooting was such as to characterize Panamanian culture.
In the country there is also a large percentage of indigenous populations, divided into 7 different cultural groups, which make up approximately 12% of the population, who mainly dedicate themselves to agriculture and crafts and live in the “indigenous districts”:

kuna Indian women with a little girl .123rf

Emberà-Wounaan (Union Choco), Kuna Yala (El Porvenir), Ngöbe-Buglé (Chichica), to which are added the two sub-provincial indigenous autonomous areas of the comarcas of Kuna Yala, Kuna de Madugandí (Akua Yala) and Kuna de Wargandí (Nurra ).
These territories, where indigenous languages are spoken, have special jurisdiction and their own institutions.
Communities of recent immigrants have also taken root in Panama, arriving from all over the world and in particular from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua and China. This presence is reflected in the diversity of languages and in the multiple religious groups present in the country, even if Spanish is the official language and Catholicism the most practiced religion, followed by Protestantism.
The population is concentrated above all in the capital Panama City which has around three million inhabitants, including those who live in urban areas, which constitutes the only metropolis in the country. In the immediate vicinity of the city there are towns with between 100 and 200 thousand inhabitants and among these are La Chorrera, which has 206,000 inhabitants, Colón 159,000 inhabitants and Vista Alegre 129,000 inhabitants, while David, with its 104,000 inhabitants is located in the western area of the country.
Among these, the city of Colón is the most important because it hosts an important free trade zone, established in 1948, and widely used by the United States as a gateway to Latin America for its companies.

Panama City has around three million inhabitants. CC BY-SA 3.0/ Mariordo

At the social level, the plague of inequalities is very strong and remains one of the country’s main problems as it creates a clear divide between urban and rural areas, making indigenous communities and almost all citizens who live in rural areas increasingly vulnerable and destitute. To this we must also add the problem of infant malnutrition, which affects approximately 19% of Indian children under five years of age, a percentage which in some regions reaches peaks of 30% and 55% including that of Ngäbe Buglé and Guna Yala. The great inequality that characterizes the country can also be seen from an architectural point of view which produces a considerable visual impact that clearly highlights the great difference between the skyscrapers on the coast and the disadvantaged metropolitan areas.

Panama came to the attention of world news due to the explosion of one of the most sensational tax scandals following the publication of the so-called Panama Papers. 123rf

Furthermore, the country is gripped by problems not dissimilar to those that characterize other Latin American countries, among which corruption stands out. Panama, in particular, is considered the largest “tax haven” on a global scale, included in the EU black list reserved for those who have not only adopted favourable tax regimes with very low taxes, but who have not joined the tax data exchange system with other states. In 2016, in particular, the Republic of Panama came to the attention of world news due to the explosion of one of the most sensational tax scandals following the publication of the so-called Panama Papers in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. This is an enormous amount of encrypted documents, equal to 11.5 million files, owned by the Mossack Fonseca law firm, containing information on Mossack Fonseca’s work and on the companies in tax havens that it manages, thus revealing the tax secrets of numerous wealthy people, including politicians from around the world, heads of state and a member of the FIFA ethics commission.

Members of the Naval Service of Panama patrolling the coast. Panama is also a transit territory for drugs which flow from the South towards the United States and the rest of the Western countries. Shutterstock/ Gualberto Becerra

This scandal deeply affected the country’s international image and has pushed successive governments over the years to launch legal reforms and establish prison sentences for tax evasion crimes, even if only for amounts exceeding 300 thousand dollars. These reforms allowed the country to exit, in 2023, from the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), but not from that of the European Union.
However, after much media hype, the Panama Papers case ended, after about 8 years of trial, with the Panamanian court’s acquittal due to insufficient evidence for the 28 defendants for whom the prosecutor’s office had requested severe sentences.
Panama, like the other Central American countries, is also a transit territory for drugs which flow from the South towards the United States and the rest of the Western countries, despite the intensification of the fight against drug smuggling, under agreements with the United States government. Despite the intensification of controls, the results obtained were quite modest also due to the large coastal area on which to land the cargo and from which to start the overland transport. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the numerous seizures, the Gulf of Urabà also constitutes the access area for a large part of the chemical precursors for the refining of cocaine, while the consumption of crack has become widespread among the local population. The country is under the strong influence of Colombian crime, in addition to the presence on its territory of the Calabrian Ndrangheta, and the numerous murders and criminal episodes that have occurred in recent years are also linked to drug trafficking. (Open Photo: Young Ladies dancing at 1000 Polleras Parade, known as the ‘Desfile De Las Mill Polleras’ in Las Tablas, Panama. Shutterstock/Marek Poplawski)
(F.R.)

 

Photo Gallery – Snapshots from Africa

Advocacy

Semia Gharbi. Fighting against eco-mafias.

She played a key role in a campaign that challenged a corrupt waste trafficking scheme between Italy and Tunisia, resulting in the return of 6,000…

Read more

Baobab

The swallow brings the summer.

The Black and white swallow flew high up in the clear, blue sky, wheeling and diving, his fast, pointed wings carrying him at a great speed. Swallow…

Read more

Youth & Mission

Pope Leo and the Youth.

Welcoming, listening and guiding. Some characteristics of Pope Leo with the youth During the years when Father Robert Francis Prevost was pastor of the church of Our…

Read more