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Republic of Panama. The Hub of the Americas.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

The geographical location gives the country considerable strategic importance. The Panama Canal. The migration crisis. The challenges of the new president

The Republic of Panama constitutes the last section of the isthmus of Central America, as well as a link between different realities and geographical areas. In fact, it is bordered to the north by the Antilles Sea and to the south by the Pacific Ocean, while to the east it borders with Colombia, and therefore with the area of the South Latin American cone, and to the west with Costa Rica.
Its territory, with a rather small size of 75,517 km², is fragmented and predominantly mountainous criss-crossed by chains of volcanic origin which are the continuation of the Costa Rican cordillera with altitudes above 3,000 meters in the western part and around 2,000 meters in the east. There are also flat areas of modest extension, which open both to the Pacific and the Atlantic. The country has a considerable coastline of 2,988 km, rich in inlets, gulfs, peninsulas and islands. Regarding the latter, among the largest we have Coiba, Isla del Rey and Cébaco located in the Pacific Ocean, while on the Atlantic side we find the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. In addition, the country is rich in rivers, but lacks lake basins of natural origin, while the equatorial climate is characterized by high rainfall, particularly on the Caribbean side.

Map of Panama. Illustration: Peter Hermes Furian. 123rf

Its geographical location gives the country considerable strategic importance, but also a mix of cultures and ethnic groups that had already formed before the arrival of the conquistadors who, understanding the value of its position, made Portobelo one of the major commercial ports. This importance grew immeasurably with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, which generated a real revolution in global traffic and which still today constitutes one of the major choke points at an international level. The changes produced by the Canal were such that, in the world of logistics, the Panamax unit of measurement was introduced indicating the classes of ships whose dimensions were compatible with those of the canal (295 m long, 32.2 m wide and 13, 5 m draught) and, therefore, able to cross it. The early twentieth century, in which this important infrastructure was created, were the years in which President Roosevelt was experimenting with his imperialistic projection into the area of Central America through the installation of a naval base in Cuba, which occurred following the Spanish defeat, and the establishment of the State of Panama which separated from Colombia precisely for issues relating to the Canal the strategic importance of which Roosevelt himself understood, also in light of the very rapid development experienced by California during those years.

Excavation and removal of dirt at the Culebra Cut, Panama Canal, 1907. Archive

At first, Colombia started the construction by entrusting the work to a French company which, due to technical difficulties, was unable to proceed with the work and went bankrupt. From the ashes of this company a new one was born, which was also doomed to failure. It was at this juncture that the United States took over the operation by stipulating with the Colombian diplomatic representative in Washington, in January 1903, a rental contract for a strip of territory between the two oceans which would have allowed them to build the Canal and some fortifications. But in August of the same year the Colombian Senate refused to ratify this contract, thus pushing the White House to support, even militarily, the Panamanian independence oligarchy that led the country to independence, achieved on 4 November 1903. The construction of the new state took place in a climate of peace between the conservative and liberal parties, a harmony symbolized in the national flag which surrounds the blue of the conservatives and the red of the liberals in white. As soon as it took office, the government of the Republic of Panama proceeded with the signing of the contract to lease the territory to the United States – the famous Hay – Bunau-Varilla Treaty – which, in exchange, gave the newly formed Republic 10 million dollars, plus an annual subsidy of 250 thousand dollars, and guaranteed independence from possible Colombian attacks.
Thus, in 1904, the US military engineers undertook the work of the Canal and concluded it ten years later. The new infrastructure ensured Washington a hegemonic position in Latin America, but also control of the interoceanic mercantile routes, allowing it to establish itself as a guarantor of trade between the great powers.

US President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with General Omar Torrijos after signing the Panama Canal Treaties (September 7, 1977). Photo: White House

During the following decades, however, this condition aroused ire and hatred on the part of the local population to the point of causing the outbreak, in 1964, of a bloody revolt organized by activists who, in the wake of what had already happened in Egypt, were pushing for the nationalization of the Canal. The level of the protests was such that it pushed the United States to start negotiations to redefine the status of the infrastructure even if internal and regional events slowed down the course of the negotiations which reached a conclusion after a decade, with the signing of the Torrijos-Carter treaty of 1977 signed, in fact, by the presidents of Panama and the United States. Therefore, Washington committed to abandoning control of the Canal in 1979, while remaining the guarantor of defence and non-interference in the neutrality of the management of the infrastructure. Another crucial episode in the history of the country was the coming to power in 1983 of General Noriega, former head of Panamanian intelligence.

Buildings engulfed in flames following the U.S. invasion of Panama, December 1989. US. National Archives.

The General was a corrupt character involved in drug trafficking, but at that moment he was useful to the US cause in terms of supporting the Nicaraguan Contras fighting against the Sandinista government. But in 1989, following his non-reconfirmation in the presidential elections, he decided to cancel the elections and still maintain power. At that point the United States, which was nevertheless projecting itself towards a new geopolitical era following the fall of the Soviet Union, intervened by force to depose the inconvenient ally, replacing him with the winning candidate Guillermo Endara. In the opinion of authoritative analysts “the invasion of Panama was a true ad personam invasion, in the sense that the declared and official objective was not so much the overthrow of the regime, but rather the neutralization of its dictator, Manuel Noriega”. The Operation, called Just Cause, caused hundreds of victims – according to some sources up to 3000 – and led to the abolition of the Panamanian army while, in 1999, as foreseen by the 1977 agreements, the canal zone returned to Panamanian control and US troops withdrew from the territory. (Open Photo: Skyline of Panama City skyscrapers with the flag of Panama in the foreground. Shutterstock/Walter Otto).
(F.R.)

Towards a Christianity with an African face.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

Economic autonomy and autonomy of thought. These are the prerequisites for facing the great challenges that the Church of Africa is experiencing today. The Vice-rector of the Catholic University of West Africa, Father Benjamin Akotia, talks to us about it.

Father Akotia is originally from Togo, but he is used to discussing and exchanging views between two continents: his homeland, Africa, and Europe, the continent where he studied and where he often returns. Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of West Africa (UCAO), based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, he became Vice-rector in February 2023. With him we discuss some of the themes and challenges that the African church is experiencing today, such as inculturation, identity, autonomy, young people, synodality, homosexuality…

Father Benjamin Akotia / D.R

Speaking of inculturation, Father Akotia sees a return to traditionalism and a lack of interest among young African priests: “When I was a young student and then a priest, there was a lot of talk about inculturation and a lot of effort was also made to introduce new elements into the liturgy. Inculturation was also experienced as a search for identity. Today I see a movement in reverse. Paradoxically, we are trying to be more like the West. I have the impression that we are more concerned with doing what everyone else does: in the new generations of priests, even in Africa, I see a return to traditionalism or perhaps even a certain superficiality. There is no longer any drive, not even in claiming to be ourselves.”The Vice-rector continues: “I notice a strong anti-Western feeling. Sometimes it is a way to express the fact that we no longer want to feel inferior, that we no longer accept the lessons of others. But not in the right way. We think we are equal because we know how to do what Europeans do. It is a problem of reflection on ourselves. Who are we really? What are we capable of? What can we bring
that is authentically ours?”

DR. Congo. A priest giving communion in a parish in Kinshasa. File swm

From a theological point of view, Father Benjamin recognizes that it is difficult to see figures or schools emerging as there have been in the past. He comments: “In universities, even some great theologians of the past such as Jean Marc Ela or Engelbert Mveng and others are barely mentioned. Also, because it is believed that in their theological reflection, they used the categories of Western thought. It was a cycle that had closed. Now, the new cycle that is timidly opening up is that of a theology that starts from African traditions, for example by rereading the Bible in the way in which we pass on our stories. The attitude is no longer to “purify” African culture, but to understand it and use it to reinterpret Christ, the sacraments, God, and our way of life”.

Angola. During a lesson at the seminary in Huambo. “Even some great theologians of the past, such as Jean Marc Ela or Engelbert Mveng and others, are hardly mentioned in the universities.” Photo: José Luis Silván Sen.

But what are the great themes and challenges of the Church in Africa today? “The first, it may seem banal,” says Father Benjamin, “but perhaps it is the most important, is the economic challenge. We appreciate the generosity of a mother who has nourished us, but the time has come for weaning. It is a delicate phase both for the “child” and for the “mother”. But this process must take place in peace to avoid unnecessary trauma. Personally, I am optimistic. I see many things being born, I see that we are becoming very inventive. And I see that the African Church is growing quickly, not only in numbers. And in any case, I believe that we have no choice. Only if we do not depend on others, only if we are autonomous, do we also become capable of producing our own thoughts”.At the same time, Father Benjamin emphasizes: “I think that Africa can finally say how it wants to live Christianity. There are signs. For example, we have not yet dealt with the issues of witchcraft or polygamy in depth in an African Christian spirit, using our own schemes, and our own categories. As well as, the question of the blessing of homosexual couples, which in Africa is experienced as a marginal issue, or worse, as something imposed from elsewhere. Only if the Church of Africa is able to face challenges and priorities that it feels are more its own and more urgent, African Christianity will finally have its own face and make its contribution to the heritage of universal Christianity”.

Mozambique. Pastoral centre in Anchilo. “There’s already a strong sense of synodality in our communities”. File swm

Looking at the Synod on Synodality that is being celebrated this month in Rome. Father Benjamin says: “Africa is the continent that has probably lived this synodal journey most intensely: it believes in it very much, also because it corresponds to the ways of functioning of our societies, which have the word at their centre. We talk and move forward slowly. Everyone talks. And the leader never speaks only in his own name. When he does, it’s because everyone else has already spoken. There’s already a strong sense of synodality in our communities.”

Uganda. Young people during the procession of Palm Sunday in Kampala. “We see many young people who discover the Christian faith when they come from the villages to the city or to the university, where they meet someone who is Christian”. File swm

Speaking of young Africans who represent 70% of the African population. Father Benjamin says: “We see many young people who discover the Christian faith when they come from the villages to the city or to the university, where they meet someone who is Christian. For some, the Church is synonymous with “modernity” and everything that the Western world represents. But we do not “sell” modernity, we announce Jesus Christ, an announcement of salvation. On the other hand, we also see many young people who spend their days on social media that today have the effect of prolonging and amplifying the epochal cultural changes that our societies have gone through, even in their encounter with the West. They appear standardized to us, but it is only a superficial impression. The “stuff” they are made of, that which the screen or the cell phone shapes is not the same as that of a young Westerner. And even the answers of faith must take into account that “stuff” and everything it is made of in terms of culture, traditions, and categories of thought. And also ways of living the faith.”
Anna Pozzi/MM

Herbs & Plants. Combretum molle. A source of medicinal mumuye gum.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

It has been used in traditional medicine since time immemorial for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Indeed, almost every part of this plant (roots, leaves, seeds, twigs, and stem bark) has been
used in African traditional medicine for the treatment
of various ailments and diseases.

Combretum molle is commonly referred to as velvet bush willow is a medium-sized evergreen deciduous tree with a larger, straight trunk, rough bark and dense crown. It’s an extremely variable shrub or small tree, usually growing to an average of 13m in height.
The leaves are simple, opposite, densely covered by velvety hairs when immature and smoother when mature. Young leaves are attractive with light pink or orange colour. The flowers are in dense axillary spikes with greenish yellow colour, strongly scented.
The fruit is four-winged, about 20mm in diameter, light green with reddish shade which turns red-brown when dry.
Combretum molle (Family Combretaceae), occurs throughout savanna regions of Africa and it’s harvested from the wild for a mumuye gum which is traded locally. The plant also has traditional medicinal uses
and is a valuable timber.

Combretum molle has been used in traditional medicine since time immemorial for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. CC BY-SA 4.0/JMK

Combretum molle has been used in traditional medicine since time immemorial for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Indeed, almost every part of this plant (roots, leaves, seeds, twigs, and stem bark) has been used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments and diseases. An infusion or decoction of the roots, stem bark or leaves is taken to treat a large variety of health complications including abdominal pain, colic, constipation, intestinal worms, dysentery, fever, malaria, oedema, headache, backache, leprosy, HIV infections, cough, angina, tuberculosis and other chest complaints. The plant is used for treating jaundice and yellow fever, diarrhoea, blennorrhoea, anuria, and sometimes administered to women in childbirth to hasten the expulsion of the after-birth. It is also taken to induce abortion and to treat post-partum bleeding.

The young leaves are chewed or soaked in water and the juice drunk for treatment of chest complaints. CC BY-SA 3.0/JMK

The bark is used medicinally in many parts of Africa. Combined with cereal foods, the bark is administered for the treatment of dysentery, and is used in ceremonial preparation for young children to prevent sickness and other troubles. An infusion of the inner bark is taken orally or as an enema to relieve various stomach ailments. The bark exudes a mumuye gum that can be used to treat wounds. An aqueous suspension of the powdered bark together with the mumuye gum obtained from its bark is used as a gargle and in draught for treating sore-throat. The powdered bark is applied to body sores. In some communities, the stem bark of Combretum molle have a long-standing reputation for the treatment of liver diseases, malaria and tuberculosis.
The roots of Combretum molle is believed to have a variety of uses against myriads of disease conditions. The boiled root decoction of Combretum molle is administered for the treatment of constipation, headaches, leprosy, stomach pains, fever, dysentery, body swellings, snake bite, and as an anthelmintic for hookworm. The breasts are washed with a root extract as a galactagogue. A decoction of the roots, mixed with roots of several other plant species is drunk to treat impotence, syphilis and female sterility and also as an aphrodisiac.

The root and leaf are used in combination as an antidote for snake bite. CC BY-SA 4.0/JMK

The young leaves are chewed or soaked in water and the juice drunk for treatment of chest complaints. The leaves can also be used as an inhalant in a hot steam bath to relieve chest pains. Whitlows are treated by steeping the affected part in a leaf-decoction. The crushed dried or fresh leaves of Combretum molle can be applied directly to the wounds to enhance quick healing. The leaves are prepared as a decoction for baths and draughts or powdered and added to food in the treatment of dropsy, ascites and oedemas. A leaf decoction is used to treat itch and skin infections. The crushed fresh roots or leaves, alone or mixed with other plants are applied to snakebites. The infusion of the pounded root or stem bark can also be administered for the treatment of the snakebites. The leafy twigs in draughts and baths are used in the treatment of bronchial affections.

An infusion of the inner bark is taken orally or as an enema to relieve various stomach ailments.
CC BY-SA 4.0/JMK

The seeds of Combretum molle plant are widely used by traditional medicine practitioners for treatment of malaria, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and other diseases. Sometimes a fruit decoction is taken by women after a difficult delivery. The root and leaf are used in combination as an antidote for snake bite. The peeled twigs are used as chewing sticks in order to clean the teeth and maintain oral hygiene. Apart from its uses in African Traditional Medicine to treat and manage human diseases, Combretum molle is also used in veterinary medicine where the leaves are fed to sheep to treat intestinal worms. The leaves are browsed by cattle. The timber/polls from Combretum molle are termite-proof and can be used to make fence posts, and implement handles. The bark exudes a gum known as mumuye gum which at times is used as a substitute for gum-arabic which is obtained from Acacia senegal (L.) Willd. tree. A black/red dye is obtained from the leaves. A yellow dye is obtained from the roots. (Open Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0/JMK)

Richard Komakech

Sudan. Art against war.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

Marked by decades of political instability and conflict, Sudanese artists narrate the complex reality of their country through works that reflect their identity, originality and resilience.

Riahiem Shadad is an art curator. He owned an art gallery in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, called Downtown Gallery, where nine artists from his country were represented. However, the civil war that began in 2023 destroyed the gallery. Providentially, Rahiem had started preparing a travelling exhibition a year earlier, with the intention of taking it to several European countries. “I wanted this exhibition to show Sudanese art and give it a face… This was the idea before the war, luckily because we sent the works on Thursday, April 12, 2023, and the war started the following Saturday. It was a coincidence that we left in the last hours when the airport was working because it was the first target to be attacked,” Shadad tells us.

Riahiem Shadad is an art curator. He owned an art gallery in Khartoum. Photo: Laura M. Lombardía

And suddenly the exhibition that Shadad had titled “Troubles on the Nile” took on a whole new meaning. “We had not planned to defend the Sudanese people and tell their story, but suddenly we felt responsible. It was our duty,” the Sudanese curator explained. Rahiem Shadad explains that the name “Troubles on the Nile” “is not about the war, but about the turmoil that Sudan has experienced over the past thirty years and how it has affected art.”
“The exhibition spans several generations of artists and each of the works has experienced its own war. With the current war, we have added two videos and there is an additional painting, by Bakri Moaz, done later, of a woman walking next to a tank. At the moment, the paintings by Waleed Mohammed on display are the only three that remain from his studio. The same goes for Rashid Diab. That the collection in his house in Sudan was lost is absurd. I have been there several times and there were hundreds of paintings and works. God only knows what happened to them”, Rahiem said.

Art is a relationship with influence
Of the nine artists represented by Downtown Gallery and with works in the travelling exhibition “Troubles on the Nile,” three have lived outside of Sudan and have been influenced by the diaspora. Rahiem Shadad continues, “I think anyone who sees the paintings will immediately see who has lived outside of Sudan and who has always stayed in Sudan.”

Works by Sudanese artists on display in Madrid. Photo: Gonzalo Gómez

“Rashid Diab, Eltayeb Dawelbait, and Miska Mohmmed have all lived abroad. Sudanese artists are, for the most part, quite classical. If they use oil, they paint everything in oil. They don’t do a lot of collage or mixing. It’s something to do with school in Sudan and art education. However, with the three artists I mentioned, you can immediately see that they break the rules. Dawelbait paints on wood and then scrapes it off. This is an unusual practice, especially for artists his age. Rashid uses monochrome to create colour transitions and then paints over them, accentuating the impression of depth and movement. Miska paints landscapes. His subjects are classical, but he draws with horizontal lines and uses green and blue colours that are not the usual yellows and browns, more common in nature in Sudan. He learned this in Kenya from the artists who attend the Makerere School in Uganda”.

The Sudanese artist reflects experience
The older artists of the group of nine works in this travelling exhibition—which has been shown in Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon—represent a generation that lived through the Arabization of the regime of al-Bashir, president of Sudan from 1993 to 2019. At the time, everyone had to obey a model that greatly limited expression and individuality. “If you look at the artists of that period, they deal with themes related to the community as a whole, they rarely talk about themselves. Mohammed A. Otaybi, for example, paints African faces as masks with Arabic calligraphy. It is a statement against the government, a denunciation of what it was trying to do by forcing Sudanese people to be Arabs and Muslims. His paintings say that there is an African identity mixed with an Arab one. We accept both identities and embrace them…”,
explains Rahiem Shadad.

A woman walks towards a tank by artist Bakri Moaz. Photo: Gonzalo Gómez

The art curator goes on to explain the differences they perceive in the group: “But if you look at Yasmeen Abdullah, she paints what she feels, it’s not about what her community is experiencing. Reem Aljeally also paints her bedroom, she reflects on the limits of women, their participation in society and the invasion of women’s privacy in modern Sudan. Her work is located between the public and the private and is very personal.” In this context, Rahiem highlights “Waleed Mohammed, whose origin is an African tribe from Darfur, but whose family moved to the Arab state of Al-Jazeera, dominated by Sudan since 1930. In his paintings, there is a personal search, but relevant to many individuals who are going through the same identity issues.”

The impact expected from the exhibition
Rahiem Shadad hopes the exhibition will help people understand what Sudan is and see it differently, humanising its history and the numbers, such as the twenty million deaths the war has already caused, while also identifying those who are struggling to survive. He says: “The World Food Programme says there are 18.6 million people in Sudan at risk of famine. Our fellow artist Waleed Mohammed is one of them. This is a humanising story. We cannot communicate with him. I am sure he has lost half his weight because there is no food. There is nothing in Khartoum. The 18.6 million Sudanese with food shortages is nine times the population of Gaza. So, I hope that if something can be done, it will be done. In addition to the exhibition, we provide information and there is a lot of documentation on the Internet about how to help.” Art lives in exile and Rahiem Shadad regrets that the travelling exhibition is living in exile: “These works of art should return to Sudan, but they can’t because of the war. The nine artists are scattered across six countries.”

Rashid Diab, artist and researcher. Photo: Gonzalo Gómez

Rashid Diab is one of them. He lives in Spain. An affable character, he says he is sad. The war in his country made him lose everything: work, home, the gallery… According to the news, everything has been destroyed.” Rashid had already lived in Spain in the 1980s and 1990s. He earned a doctorate in Fine Arts on the philosophy of Sudanese art and returned to his country in 1999 because, in his opinion, “If we all leave and don’t come back, we are not helping our people.” Upon his return, he opened an art gallery and founded a cultural centre … which was destroyed by the war in 2023. He explains that, for him, “The root of wars is the lack of understanding between peoples and the best way to understand each other is through the appreciation of art. We must realize that the artist does not paint a picture for his own people but for all of humanity”. (Open Photo: A group of Sudanese women talk and walk in this work by Rashid Diab. Photo: Gonzalo Gómez)

Gonzalo Gómez

Egypt. The long night of the Egyptian economy.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

Economic crisis. The burden of foreign debt. Education in collapse. Episodes of xenophobia. The conflict in Gaza aggravates the situation.

Since taking power in 2013, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has focused on major infrastructure projects to establish his power. Over the last decade, Egyptian governments have spent tens of billions of dollars on megaprojects and international events, including the creation of a new capital and the organization of Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022. Although Cairo’s politics had as its first objective the reconstruction of Egypt’s image abroad, with mixed results, the enormous expenditures have had a profound impact on the reality of the country.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. CC BY 4.0/Min. of Communications and Information Technology.

The brand-new road networks south of the capital open onto the suburbs of the Zahraa Al Maadi area. Far from the typical aggregation centres of Cairo, a new and different urban planning model is developing. Under the viaducts, and in the pedestrian areas, cafes and restaurants attract wealthy citizens. But although the new system appears clean, organized and impeccable, it hides the chronic difficulties of the city, and more generally of the country. Some causes of the crisis, not directly attributable to the al-Sisi cycle, date back decades. The lack of industrial development due to poor planning and burdensome bureaucracy, and the export policies that have created a persistent trade deficit, are heavy burdens to carry. Added to these are other chronic problems that Egypt has been with for decades. Corruption, property rights and weak institutions, as well as an overbearing state and military that continue to discourage investment and competition.

The burden of the debt
But al-Sisi’s administration is not entirely free of direct responsibility. The borrowing frenzy that characterized his government, in addition to having left a country with a heavy foreign debt, which grew from around 70% in 2010 to 96% in 2023, pushed the Central Bank to increase interest rates in an attempt to attract new investors and refinance loans, thus generating ever larger deficits.

Around 10% of the country’s population has fallen into poverty since 2010. File swm

The result of all this translates into ten million Egyptians – approximately 10% of the country’s population – who have fallen into poverty from 2010 up to today. And while unemployment fell to around 7% in 2024, participation in the labour market also decreased steadily in the decade up to 2020. The litmus test of these phenomena can be seen in the high rate of emigration from the North African country. According to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, in 2023 the number of Egyptians abroad has reached 12 million. Closing the vicious circle is the state of public education – close to collapse. A dynamic that pushes many graduates to look for work outside Egypt.
In an already complicated context, the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have further fuelled inflation. The North African country has therefore turned increasingly eastward, to the other side of the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have become fundamental partners for the stability of Egypt.

Central business district (CPD) in the New administrative capital of Egypt. CC BY-SA 4.0/Mahan84848.

But if on the one hand, loans and guarantees helped the Cairo government avoid default, on the other, great discontent was generated over what it all cost. In the beginning, it was the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located in the Red Sea and sold to Riyadh in 2016 for 20 billion dollars in investments. Today, at the centre of the Egyptians’ silent murmurings is the 35-billion-dollar agreement between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates for the Ras Al-Hekma area, 200 kilometres east of Alexandria. The project involves the construction of a new city on the Mediterranean coast, a possible tourist centre, in which Abu Dhabi will hold 65% of the property.

Scapegoats
And while the militarization of the Egyptian economy is a long-standing problem that is plaguing the country, on the streets we can see the clear symptoms of a suffering society, while the tensions of those who see no future ahead are projected outward. The main signals come from episodes of racism and xenophobia towards migrants. According to data from the World Organization for Migration (IOM), in addition to the almost 500 thousand asylum seekers, around 9 million people of different nationalities live in Egypt. Sudanese, Yemeni and Syrian passports are the most numerous. As reported by several NGOs and think tanks, cases of violence against these communities are commonplace, while the authorities prefer not to intervene.

Displaced Palestinians set up their tents next to the Egyptian border. Shutterstock/Anas-Mohammed

Episodes of xenophobia are also recorded against Egyptian populations. The Nubians, an ethnic group from the south of the country, endure a fate similar to that of migrants. Considered second-class citizens, they have been denouncing the brutality and repression of the authorities for years. In this context, the Gaza crisis risks triggering a social bomb. Egypt’s dependence on revenue from remittances, tourism and taxes from trade passing through the Suez Canal makes its economy particularly vulnerable to external shocks. The conflict in the Strip is weighing on all three of these revenue streams, making the issue of displaced Gazans in the North African country even more sensitive. But if Egypt’s situation has the typical features of a countdown, there are still those who think that the country, thanks to its position and its assets, has the typical characteristics of being “too big to fail”.
A vision which on the one hand gives a glimmer of hope to the Egyptian government, but on the other hand does not take into account the possible consequences of a further authoritarian spiral and the impact in economic terms on the lives of Egyptians and non-Egyptians alike. (Open Photo: A great pyramid at Giza. 123rf)

Davide Lemmi

A Priest for the World.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

Giuseppe Allamano, founder of the Consolata Missionaries will be canonized on October 20th. Mission must be given the best.

He was born on January 21, 1851, in Castelnuovo d’Asti (now Castelnuovo Don Bosco), in Northern Italy. Educated in solid Christian virtues by his mother, the sister of Saint Joseph Cafasso, he then went to the school of Don Bosco, another illustrious fellow countryman. With firm intent, he responded to the call of the Lord and, having become a priest on September 20, 1873, he would have liked to devote himself to pastoral ministry but his archbishop assigned him to the formation of seminarians at the major seminary of the diocese of Turin.

Giuseppe Allamano, founder of the Consolata Missionaries

He distinguished himself for his firmness in principles and his gentleness in asking for their implementation. In this task, as later in the formation of priests, he demonstrated excellent qualities, for which he was recognized as a true “master in the formation of the clergy”, “a truly perfect copy of his great predecessor and uncle”, Saint Joseph Cafasso.
At the same time, he continued his studies, obtaining a degree in theology from the Theological Faculty of Turin, and a qualification for university teaching. He was later appointed an adjunct member of the Faculty of Canon and Civil Law and also held the position of Dean in both Faculties. In 1880, he was appointed Rector of the sanctuary and the Ecclesiastical Convitto della Consolata. From then until his death, his activity always took place in the shadow of the Marian sanctuary of the diocese. He found it physically dilapidated and spiritually decayed. He took care of its restoration, expansion and embellishment, and increased its pastoral, liturgical and associative activity.

Consolata missionaries in the mission of Catrimani, in the land of the indigenous Yanomami people, in Amazonia. Photo MC

It became a centre of Marian spirituality and pastoral initiatives. He also contributed with the charisma with which he was endowed by God to advise, comfort and direct. People of all walks of life experienced the secrets of his enlightened mind and his great heart. The laity found in him support for new initiatives, required by the times: the press, Catholic Action and workers’ associations.
He reopened and directed the Ecclesiastical Convitto for the preparation of young priests for the apostolate. He took their spiritual, intellectual and pastoral priestly formation very seriously, updating it to new situations and needs. To give them a model, he undertook the Cause of Canonization of Cafasso, whose Beatification he had the joy of seeing on May 3, 1925.
He gave new vigour to the house for spiritual exercises annexed to the sanctuary. Driven by powerful zeal for the good of his brothers and by a lively sense of the universal Mission of the Church, he broadened his horizons to the entire world.

Cardinal Giorgio Marengo of the Consolata baptises a little girl during the Easter Vigil in Arvaiheer, Mongolia. Photo MC

He felt the urgency of Christ’s mandate to bring the Gospel to everyone. He found it unnatural that in his Church, fruitful with so many charitable institutions, there was not one dedicated solely to the missions. He decided to remedy this and to help those who were animated by the missionary ideal to realize their vocation. In 1901 he founded the Institute of Missionaries and in 1910 that of the Consolata Missionaries Sisters. While continuing his numerous commitments in the diocese, he devoted his main care to them, forming them in the spirit that he believed he had received from the Lord. Convinced that the Mission must be given the best, he aimed at quality rather than number. He wanted prepared evangelizers, “superlatively holy”, “zealous to the point of giving their lives”. On May 8, 1902, the first four missionaries, two priests and two lay brothers left for Kenya, soon followed by others. Giuseppe Allamano died on February 16, 1926, in Turin at the Consolata sanctuary. By proclaiming him Blessed on October 7, 1990, Pope John Paul II sealed the recognition that the people of God have paid him with various expressions: “the saint of the Consolata”, “provident and compassionate Father, educator and teacher of the clergy”, “priest for the world”. He will be canonized on October 20, World Mission Day.

Lay Missionaries of the Consolata (LMC) from Portugal celebrating their 25th anniversary of life and mission. Photo MC

In recent decades, inspired by the missionary spirit of the Founder and by missionary spirituality and testimony, communities of Consolata Lay Missionaries (LMC) and Young Consolata Missionaries (JMC) have also sprung up. Starting from their lay state of life, they feel called to evangelisation and take on the lifestyle and spirituality of the Consolata, departing and committing themselves for a considerable period of time to a missionary project. Currently, the missionaries (fathers and brothers) are almost 1000 and the missionary sisters are almost 600. They are present in 33 countries. (C.C.)

Music. Apple Music’s list no African artists.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

Apple Music’s latest list of the 100 greatest albums of all time has excluded any contributions from Africa. The musical richness of the continent continues has been ignored.

The exclusion of African music from Apple Music’s recent list of the 100 best albums of all time is disconcerting but at the same time not a real surprise. However, the probable reasons behind this omission are discouraging. Africa is still perceived musically as an unknown territory that more often than not arouses consternation, if not a lack of interest. Apple Music has simply chosen to ignore the reviled continent with its endless array of A-list musicians. Like the vast continent, the African musical tradition is equally heterogeneous, changing a lot based on the historical periods and regions of origin.
It is not always easy to find your way around this variety. Look at Kendrick Lamar. When the American hip-hop superstar was chosen to oversee the soundtrack of the Afrofuturist-themed Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther, he basically limited himself to randomly choosing a group of artists mostly from the southern regions of the continent, South Africa in particular.

The DNA of jazz, blues and his own rap can be traced back to Africa, and how their roots are deeply rooted in the continent’s musical panorama.123rf

The Afropop singer Sjava, the queen of Gqom music Babes Wodumo and the rapper Saudi were then selected. From the experience of Black Panther, it clearly emerges that the rapper had no idea how to bring artists from the continent together organically. His selection ended up giving life to a fragmented and above all poorly representative ensemble of the enormous musical richness of the region. Illuminating, in this sense, is an exchange published online some time ago between Lamar and the jazz musician and super producer Quincy Jones, the mind behind Michael Jackson’s trilogy of masterpieces composed of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. During the aforementioned conversation, Jones gives the rap star a lesson in African music, assuring him how the DNA of jazz, blues and his own rap can be traced back to Africa, and how their roots are deeply rooted in the continent’s musical panorama. Lamar, in response, appears completely incredulous and not at all sure what to do with all the knowledge Jones instilled. In short, despite the great cultural connection that exists between America and Africa, confusion still reigns supreme.

Salif Keïta is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the “Golden Voice of Africa”. CC BY 2.0/ John Leeson

Another great opportunity to showcase the complexity of Africa’s musical heritage has been lost. In fact, each of the regions of the continent is home to incredibly varied musical traditions and genres:
just naming them makes you dizzy.
Only in Mali, the land of burning blues, do we find Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keita and the incomparable Toumani Diabaté. Their hymn to mystery, the dignity and value of the creative majesty of the Malian soul deserve to be known. Unfortunately, in the West, there are very few circles that recognize and appreciate the greatness of these artists. Obviously, Aya Nakamura also deserves a special mention, a Malian-born singer based in France who has been churning out global hits for some time now.

Discord
Often however, what is celebrated in the West is not what is popular in Africa, and vice versa. For example, the South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, winner of Grammy Awards and constantly on tour in the USA and Great Britain, is respected at home but is certainly not considered as one of the most avant-garde groups. And the same can be said of the flautist Wouter Kellerman, also a winner of several Grammys. The artist’s trajectory started from abroad and then arrived home: first, his non-South African fans came, and then he started to be appreciated in his own area too.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. CC BY 2.0/ Raph_PH

Artists like the ones just mentioned are in a certain way a cause of embarrassment for the South African public, who don’t really know what to do with them. The impression then is that Western critics and opinion leaders have their own preconceived idea of what African music should be. Everything that is outside this imagery is usually simply ignored, while those who enter it end up enjoying a certain recognition.
In South Africa, rock/pop bands such as Prime Circle, Parlotones, Jeremy Loops and Beatenberg have thriving careers, which also involve extensive touring outside the country’s borders.
As well as the alternative rap duo Die Antwoord, at least until their recent social oblivion. A success that does not, however, translate into greater consideration from critics. Examples of a misalignment as to how artists are received at home and abroad.

From Johannesburg to Cape Town
After all, the South African scene is truly complex and we understand the difficulty encountered by non-local markets in accommodating all this variety. The country’s musical reality is not only divided into different genres but is also fragmented along regional and ethnic lines. Cape Town’s rap scene is very different to that found in Johannesburg or the North-West Province. Modern and traditional genres then present further specificities and differences.

Tyla Laura Seethal as Tyla, is a South African singer and songwriter. The “Queen of Popiano.” CC BY 3.0/ Condé Nast.

Popular styles such as maskandi, mbaqanga and iscathamiya sit alongside jazz, gospel, neo-soul and hip-hop. Each of these variations has its enthusiastic fan base, its awards and its recognitions. Even the amapiano, the last great “export” product of South African music, can count on a pool of events, publications and blogs aimed at its diffusion. Ultimately, each genre relies on its systems and networks to take root in the territory. It’s easier now to understand how complex and multifaceted the South African music scene is. And we are referring here to only one of the 55 countries in the region.
Each of these, in turn, presents a musical scene that changes in heterogeneity and complexity. It almost seems that for the West all this is too much and that it is therefore more convenient to ignore a large part of all this musical wealth.

At the top
There ought to be some exceptions. The global rise of Afrobeats led to the creation of an “African music” category at the Grammys. Billboard magazine, which publishes relaunched charts all over the world, also seems to be following the same path.
The vast majority of the big names in Afrobeats are at the height of their careers, with tours followed all over the world: this is the case, among others, of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Asake, Rema, Omah Lay, Olamide, Sarkodie, Stone Bwoy, Shatta Wale, Flavour, Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, Ayra Starr, Tems and Adekunle Gold.

The exclusion of African albums from Apple’s list is probably the result of a combination of different factors: political, racial or simply ignorance. 123rf

From these extensive forays into the European and American music scenes, much infrastructure is developed, further networks are created and more and more inroads are made. Burna Boy can fill entire European stadiums and people like Davido, Wizkid and Asake prove that they are no different. Afrobeats and amapiano are fresh and popular genres. They manage to cross several dividing lines transversely. Afrobeats artists are increasingly gaining a place in other geographical spaces, collaborating on hits around the world with European, US, Caribbean and Latin American artists. Musicians from other regions find the style, native to Nigeria, simply irresistible, characterized as it is by infectious rhythms, joyful inspirations and profound sensibilities.
Ultimately, it can be said that the exclusion of African albums from Apple’s list is probably the result of a combination of different factors: political, racial or simply ignorance.
What is certain is that this is a mistake, with significant consequences for the continent’s industry. (Open Photo:123rf)

Sanya Osha

USA Presidential elections. For the Palestinians, nothing will change.

Tuesday, 1 October 2024 8:00

American administrations have always been close to the state of Israel. Democrats and Republicans adopt more or less the same policies. Among the Gazans, little hope for change.

The presidential elections will be held in the United States on November 5. The White House will be contested between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, currently Joe Biden’s vice president. Until a few months ago, the road to the White House seemed clear for Trump, because Biden was in trouble due to his health.

But the Democrats’ move to replace him with Harris, less than 4 months before the elections, has reshuffled the cards. And the outcome of the electoral competition today is far from certain. Generally, it is domestic politics that influence the vote of Americans, in particular the economy, work and security. However, for these elections, the “geopolitical” factor could be decisive, due to the serious crisis in the Middle East that features the state of Israel, an undisputed ally of the United States regardless of the president’s political colour.

Since the beginning of the military offensive against Gaza – following the armed operation by Hamas on October 7, 2023 – the Americans have been supplying weapons to Tel Aviv and supporting it diplomatically. This despite the apparent political differences between Biden and Netanyahu in managing the conflict.

To date, according to the Hamas Health Minister, the Palestinian victims number more than 40,000, of which more than 16 thousand are children. And it is estimated that the missing under the rubble are more than 10,000. The Israeli army has destroyed 75% of Gaza’s infrastructure: hospitals, schools and water systems that
supply water to Gazans.

In the eyes of many countries and international institutions – and even some Jewish intellectuals – what is happening in Gaza is genocide. But faced with the appeal of the international community to stop the war, Netanyahu turns a deaf ear. Indeed, he is trying to extend it to the rest of the Middle East, provoking Iran.

On July 31, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in an Israeli raid. This shows that Tel Aviv is not interested in negotiations to stop the war against Gaza because you cannot assassinate the leader of the other side with whom you are negotiating to find a solution to the conflict. But even more serious was the violation of the sovereignty of Iranian territory in defiance of international law, which Israel has never respected.

Last April, Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus. With these operations, the Netanyahu-led government aims to drag Iran into war. In this scenario, the US and its European allies would be forced to enter the conflict. In America, many Republican parliamentarians support this idea. It should be remembered that in Congress, many, both Republicans and Democrats, are financially supported by the pro-Israel lobby (AIPAC, in particular) and therefore fully support the policies of the
Israeli government.

This lobby has always influenced the presidential elections in the US. And so, it will also have a decisive role in the November elections. Netanyahu relies heavily on Zionist pressure groups. This is why the Israeli prime minister is dragging out the war against Gaza while waiting for the inauguration of the new president, hoping that it will be Trump, his great ally.

The Palestinians, instead, expect nothing positive from these elections, because they consider the US establishment to be Tel Aviv’s accomplice in the Nakba in which they have been living for 76 years. (Photo 123rf)

Mostafa El Ayoubi
Middle East Analyst

Agadez. The Gateway to the Sahara.

Sunday, 1 September 2024 8:00

The city in the north of the country is the main hub of the migration routes towards the Mediterranean. In 2016, the EU imposed a law that criminalized the transport and activities related to fleeing people. The coup junta repealed it. Return to “normality”.

Ousmane Mamou, a young Guinean, is waiting in front of a petrol station in Agadez in the middle of the desert of Niger. In life, Ousmane is a passeur: he organizes the journey of migrants who want to reach the coast of the Mediterranean and from there try to reach Europe.
Until a few months ago it was impossible to have an open conversation with people who carry out this profession. But now everything has changed: “I came back because I heard that the military junta had repealed that law and I came to take revenge. The policemen who treated us like traffickers and bandits, today feel ashamed,” he explains.
“That law” is the controversial Law 2015-36 which criminalized the transport of irregular migrants with heavy fines and sentences of up to ten years. Last November the new military junta, the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP), which took power in Niger at the end of July 2023, announced its abrogation.

The city administers a desert region that covers half the territory of Niger. File swm

Agadez has always been considered the “Gateway to the Sahara”. The city administers a desert region that covers half the territory of Niger and in recent decades has become a pole of interest for Western European leaders, because some of the main migratory routes that lead from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean pass through here. The transit of migrants to Libya and Algeria has always been considered a legitimate activity that provided thousands of families with a decent income and created related activities and economic impulse.
Suddenly in 2016, after the entry into force of the law adopted under strong pressure from the European Union, hundreds of drivers, facilitators and passers usually based here were prosecuted and arrested. Ousmane experienced all this. Arriving in Agadez as a migrant, he decided to enter the business. In 2021 he was arrested by the Nigerien police and after two and a half years in prison in Niamey, he was released. A few weeks ago, he returned to the scene.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2023, 60 thousand migrants crossed Niger towards Libya and Algeria. File swm

In the Dubai neighbourhood, homes are barely visible behind high iron gates. Ousmane enters a “ghetto” to meet some clients. “Ghettos” are houses used to house migrants in transit. When the 2015-36 law was in force, migrants were forced to live locked up in these homes for months, in difficult conditions, until the day the facilitators managed to help them leave. There is no furniture inside, people sleep on the floor on mats. Outside there is usually a courtyard where people eat and from there is access to common latrines. “Everything had to happen in secret. Upon arrival, we had strategies to get the migrants out of the bus station and bring them here,” explains Ousmane. “We would make contact with people well beforehand in their countries, speaking in code due to the risk of wiretaps”. The passer says that waiting for the right moment to leave the pick-up in the desert was crucial and “it took place at night over unbeaten routes”.
In fact, Law 2015-36 did not stem the flow but only forced passers and migrants to avoid official roads, using more dangerous routes, where there were neither points of reference nor the possibility of asking for help. The data shows that irregular immigration to Europe from the Mediterranean has increased, as has the number of victims in the desert who remain mostly undocumented. Kaba, a migrant from Sierra Leone, is not afraid of this. He is waiting for more money from friends in Europe to be able to continue his journey and become an electrician there. “I have been thinking about it for a while and as soon as I heard about the revocation of the law, I decided to leave. They told me it’s faster now. They used to ask you questions and arrest you for your documents. Now all you need is the money.”

According to the mayor of Agadez, 98% of the vehicles that leave Agadez for the various destinations in the north are official. File swm

In the house opposite, a Senegalese passer has temporarily left the management of the “ghetto” to Khalifa, an Ivorian boy with a troubled past. A former bus driver, Khalifa fled after a fatal accident that almost led to his lynching. Since the law was repealed, he and others feel relieved “because departing vehicles fill up more quickly than before and leave more often.” Now he’s trying to save money for the crossing: “I’ve been informed that to get from here to Libya it takes 300 thousand CFA francs (457 euros), but I want to get more together so I will also have something to save my life along the way.” In fact, there is the risk of being stuck in the desert and being attacked by bandits or terrorists.
Bamira Hassane is the switchboard operator of the emergency number of Alarm Phone Sahara (Aps), an NGO that helps migrants in difficulty in the desert. Previously she received 10-20 calls a day, while after November she received double that: “These are mostly requests for health support and above all emergency calls from the desert or people expelled from neighbouring countries.”

In the desert there is the risk of being stuck and being attacked by bandits or terrorists. File swm

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2023, 60 thousand migrants crossed Niger towards Libya and Algeria. Now, however, it is difficult to have data on the flow of people because after the coup the activity of humanitarian organizations on the spot has decreased. In the city, in the area around the bus stations, stalls sell everything you need for the trip: clothes, food, water cans and cell phone batteries. The houses around the central station have been used as garages, where several pick-ups in line are tuned up and loaded with as much goods as possible. In the office of the transporters’ union, Abdou Amma is among the most experienced passers back in business. For 19 years he sent ‘people from all over Africa’. Once the law came into force, he fled to avoid arrest. According to Abdou, “The EU promised us help, but nothing arrived. Many drivers have turned to drug and weapons trafficking, as well as banditry.”
Now Agadez “has become a paradise again, because everyone lives on migration from the merchant to the passer, from the restaurateur right up to the Municipality. Each migrant pays a tax of one thousand CFA.” By all accounts, migrants today travel in better conditions because every Tuesday the transporters take advantage of a military convoy that goes towards the northern borders.
The mayor of Agadez, Aboubacar Touraoua, confirms that everything is authorized by the authorities of Niamey: “98% of the vehicles that leave Agadez for the various destinations in the north are official. Before it was the opposite, only 30% showed up. Now we know who comes in and out.” For the mayor, the agreements made with the EU were accompanied by promises of support, but in reality “everything was aimed at bringing the European borders here. Now, however, everything that does not respect our sovereignty is called into question by the new government. This is why we are all on their side.” (Open Photo: Agadez: the “Gateway to the Sahara”. File swm)

Marco Simoncelli

Uruguay. A Buffer State.

Sunday, 1 September 2024 8:00

The country is preparing for the next presidential elections which will be held on October 27th. The Frente Amplio is currently ahead in the polls. We retrace the political and economic path of this South American country.

Located on the Atlantic side of the Southern Cone, and second in extension only to Suriname, Uruguay is the smallest country in South America with a surface area of 176,215 thousand km2. Its size also appears reduced considering that the country is nestled between the two South American giants, Argentina and Brazil, from which it obtained independence in 1828 and with which it shares borders of 580 km to the west and 1,068 km to the east, with the remaining 660 km of coast washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

From a morphological point of view, the country is flat on which, at times, the cuchillas, low hill systems rise, rarely exceeding 500 m, and is crossed from East to West by two large rivers, the Uruguay and the Río Negro, its tributary, whose basin occupies approximately half of the state’s territory. Other tributaries of Uruguay are the Cuareim and the Queguay Grande; the Río Negro, in turn, receives the Tacuarembó and the Yi. From a historical point of view, Uruguay represents an exception within the South American continent since, unlike neighbouring countries, it has not undergone the experience of long dictatorial periods, except that which occurred from 1973 to 1984.
This has allowed it to develop, over the years, a democratic path that has led authoritative observers to define the country as the “Switzerland of Latin America”.

José Pablo Torcuato Batlle was the president of Uruguay for the Colorado Party for two terms: from 1903 to 1907 and from 1911 to 1915. Photo Archive.

The roots of the renowned economic prosperity and political stability that existed until almost the middle of the last century can be found in batillismo, an experiment implemented by then President Josè Batlle who managed to build a state free from the pressures of territorial caudillos, open both to modernization and industrialisation and capable of meeting the demands of the population of Montevideo and those of the nascent working class who, together, formed the basis of the interclass social bloc that merged into the Colorado Party. Not only from a political but also from a social point of view, Uruguay is unique since it was the first country in the area to admit divorce even at the sole will of the wife in 1923, to extend suffrage to women in 1927 and to found a truly secular state, equipped with an advanced welfare state system. These were factors which in those years made it become a model for avid supporters of liberalism.Overall, the system took shape as the unprecedented democratic version of an interventionist state, led by a charismatic leader and structured on a two-party system, the Colorados as the expression of the city bourgeoisie and the Masonic lodges, and the Blancos of agrarian inspiration and Catholic brand, whose alternation characterized Uruguayan political life.
The 1960s began to overshadow that period of splendour that had characterized Uruguay up to that point. The economy began to be suffocated by tremendous inflation which reached 40%, resulting in a high level of social unrest which translated into strikes and student mobilisations. It was in this phase (already in the two-year period 1958-1959) that for the first time in ninety years, the Blancos took back the reins of the country’s government and, in order to face the growing economic disaster, agreed with the IMF on a series of liberalist measures that, promptly adopted, consisted mainly in the reduction of credit and public spending and in the downsizing of the active role of the State. These measures, however, contrary to expectations, worsened the economic situation to the point of generating a process of unification of different social segments – such as the working class and students –
who aspired to obtain political representation that
differed from that of the two parallel parties and was historically
convergent in the government of the country.

It is in the described panorama of irritation and discouragement due to the insensitivity of a political class now in disarray and the obstinacy of the strong powers, that a group of politically prepared and determined people sanctioned the birth of the Tupamaros Nacional Liberation Movement in 1962 (MLN), among whose exponents was the future President Pepe Mujica. The Movement quickly managed to involve and attract students and intellectuals, as well as the most sensitive sections of the workers’ movement into its ranks and radicalized its work to the point of accentuating the breakdown of the political balance already tested by the crisis. In 1967, the Colorados returned to power and applied a bloody repressive policy which, contrary to predictions, contributed to increasing guerrilla actions in urban areas. Thus it was that from 1973 onwards the country’s democracy was channelled into a narrow bottleneck. The political forces represented in parliament, with the exception of the Frente Amplio – a movement that had entered the scene in 1967 bringing together the democratic and progressive forces and supported by the MLN – agreed on the suspension of individual rights and on the declaration of a state of war, entrusting, for the first time in Uruguay, the defence of national sovereignty to the armed forces. A Consejo de Seguridad Nacional was also established made up of soldiers and civilians which worked to suspend political activities with the closure of parliament and traditional parties and implemented ferocious repression with arrests and deportations.

Parade of the army of Uruguay. In 1967, for the first time in Uruguay, the political parties entrusted the defence of national sovereignty to the armed forces. Shutterstock/ Ceswal

Even the military, obviously, relied on liberalist recipes to deal with economic imbalances, significantly reducing the role of the State with the aim of reinvigorating demand and market forces, aiming mainly at relaunching exports in the agri-food sector. These manoeuvres, however, which had very heavy costs in terms of the real economy, did not have the desired effect; on the contrary, they led the country towards a terrible and burdensome indebtedness, exposing it in 1984 to a foreign debt four times greater than the total exports the military junta had aimed for.

Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo was president of Uruguay from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2000. He was the first democratically elected president after twelve years of military dictatorship.
CC BY-SA 3.0/ Agmontesdeoca

This unfortunate dictatorial parenthesis ended, at least formally, in 1984 when the presidential elections placed the civilian Julio M. Sanguinetti at the helm of the country. A member of the Colorado party, he was, moreover, reluctant to free himself from the protection of the army, benefiting on the contrary from its protection to repress the strikes and mass mobilizations that again affected the country in those years.A few years later, in 1989, the MNL returned to legality by participating – as the MPP – in the Frente Amplio which with Tabaré Vázquez would win the administrative elections in the capital in 1994 and, subsequently, the presidential election in 2004. This last date marked the end of the Uruguayan bipartisanship that was mainly responsible for the economic crisis and the military coup. (Open Photo: Uruguay Flag. 123rf)
(F.R.)

Angola. Not only rich in oil but also in (rare) earths.

Sunday, 1 September 2024 8:00

The Longonjo mine is attracting interest from foreign governments and companies, including the British ones. Meanwhile, the US is busy interfering with China’s control over the supply chain of critical minerals mined in DR Congo.

Three hundred and twenty kilometres. This is the distance by rail that separates the port of Lobito, the largest in Angola, from Longonjo, a town in the central-western province of Huambo. It is in this area that the country’s first rare earth mine will come into operation in 2025.
A goal on which the government of President João Lourenço is focusing heavily to diversify the Angolan economy, anchored to the exports of diamonds and oil.
According to estimates by the British company Pensana, responsible for the project entrusted in the field to its subsidiary Ozango Minerais, the Longonjo mine has reserves equal to 30 million tonnes of critical minerals, mainly containing neodymium and praseodymium.
The mixed rare earth carbonate (Mrec) obtained will be used for the production of permanent magnets used for the construction of electric vehicle engines and wind turbines.

The cargoes will travel along the Lobito railway line, which from the Angolan port extends inland for 1,600 kilometres reaching Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and only 5 kilometres from the Longonjo site. It is on railway line that the precious minerals extracted in Congo, Zambia and Angola can reach the Atlantic outlet and from there the international markets.
“Work at Longonjo seems to be proceeding smoothly and the site is scheduled to be in operation by August 2025”, economist Dirk Kohnert, formerly deputy director of the German Giga Institute for African Affairs and author, explains to SouthWorld Magazine , in recent months, in an article entitled Prospects and challenges for the export of rare earths from Sub-Saharan Africa to the EU. “Thanks to the Lobito corridor, Angola could transform itself into an interesting new player in the sector in the next decade”, predicts Kohnert.
And this is where the interests of foreign players come into play. The concession that Pensana obtained in Longonjo from the Angolan government in 2020 is valid for 35 years.

The Longonjo mine has reserves equal to 30 million tonnes of critical minerals, mainly containing neodymium and praseodymium. 123rf

Together with the company, the Sovereign Fund of Angola is also investing in the mine (2.2 billion dollars). But it is London that dictates the timing of the project, which went from paper to the opening of the first construction site with the funds raised by the investment company M&G and those of the government program Automotive Transformation Fund.The Longonjo mine is just one part of a much larger plan designed by the British government.
At the end of 2023, with a loan of 415 million euros, disbursed through Export Finance, London entered the race to develop the Lobito corridor, a real challenge in this quadrant of southern Africa in which China, the United States and the European Union. But there is more.
The Canadian Ivanhoe Mines in November 2023 obtained exploration permits in an area of over 22 thousand km2 in the provinces of Moxico and Cuando Cubango, in the eastern part of the country.
A few months earlier, in August, the Minister of Economy and Industry of Japan, Nishimura Yasutoshi, had flown to Angola to sign a cooperation agreement between the two countries in the fields of trade and investment. At the moment, however, the United States seems to have the greatest grip on President Lourenço, and is interested in interfering with the control that China exercises over the supply chain.
Last November the Geological Institute of Angola and the United States Geological Survey signed an agreement under which the US government agency will support Angola in mapping its mineral resources. The country has 36 of 51 minerals classified as critical, including chromium, cobalt, graphite, lead, lithium and nickel. But only about 60% of these reserves have been explored to date. For Washington, grabbing even just part of these resources would mean gaining points over Beijing in the ongoing global energy transition process.

Lobito Port. CC BY-SA 2.0/Alan Jamieson

The Angolan government is, however, aware of the need to gradually distance itself from the exploitation of its two main resources: diamonds and oil. The country is the world’s second largest producer of diamonds which make up 5% of its exports, with 9.7 million gems produced in 2023. Also in 2023, Angola was the third largest crude oil producer in Africa, after Nigeria and Libya, as well as the largest offshore oil producer. Within the next five years, in addition to Longonjo, other rare earth mines should also be operational in the provinces of Uige, Cuanza-Norte and Huila. It is an ambitious path, but there is no shortage of obstacles. Starting with anti-personnel mines, a legacy of the civil war (1975-2002) and which remain scattered in various areas of the country. Other critical factors are represented by corruption (121st place out of 180 in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index), the scarcity of water which complicates mining activities, and the dangerous conditions in which miners are forced to work, with deaths and cases of silicosis commonplace. If in the coming years the government does not get to grips with these structural limits by introducing stringent safety regulations in these workplaces, there is a real risk that the country will transform into yet another African mining state. (Open Photo: Longonjo Minesite. Photo Courtesy: Pensana)

Rocco Bellantone

Between China and EU.

Sunday, 1 September 2024 8:00

Despite the privileged position it enjoys and the fertility of its land, Uruguay presents a large disproportion between its territorial area of 176, 215 thousand km², and the number of its inhabitants equal to 3, 5 million, comparable to those of any capital.

Of these, approximately 1,381,000 live in the capital Montevideo. In the opinion of some historians, this disproportion is linked to the historical origins of the birth of the country, strongly desired by English diplomacy but without concrete cultural reasons. This artificiality, determined by the desire to create a buffer between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, between Argentina and Brazil, in a key area for the navigation of the rivers leading to the heart of Latin America, has had a negative impact on the increase in population. It was the migratory flows of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coming mostly from Spain and Italy, but also from Brazil and Argentina albeit to a lesser extent, that caused the inhabitants to grow in number.
It is estimated that around 600,000 people entered Uruguay from Europe between 1860 and 1920, transforming Montevideo into a cosmopolitan city, inhabited by Spaniards, Brazilians, Italians, French, English, Portuguese and other foreign communities. In the opinion of other historians, the development of the country in terms of population was conditioned by the indigenous factor.

Montevideo. Interior of the Mercado del Puerto.The majority of the Uruguayan GDP is made up of services. Shutterstock/ quiggyt4

According to this thesis, the Guarani and the indigenous Charruas, who inhabited those territories, continued to maintain control even after the arrival of the Europeans, and in particular of the internal part of the country, forcing the new arrivals to remain on the coast.
Today, indigenous peoples are almost extinct, even though 30% of the current population descends from them.
Since its birth, the country has presented itself as a secular state. Furthermore, unlike other countries in the region, Uruguay has not undergone the process of colonization of indigenous peoples. Despite this, Catholicism constitutes an essential component of national culture even if Catholics represent only 42% of the population. Concerning other religious cults, the presence of Protestants is recorded, equal to 16%, and there are 17% who profess to be believers but without affiliation, 16% are atheists, 5% are agnostics and 5% belong to other religions.
From an administrative point of view, the country is divided into 19 Departments each governed with a degree of autonomy from its relative executive bodies, by the mayor and by the Departmental Council. Mayors are elected by universal suffrage every five years.
While at a national level, the highest institution is the President of the Republic, who is elected directly by the people and whose mandate is not immediately renewable. He heads Executive Power and has the power to designate and dismiss Ministers.

Montevideo. Legislative Palace. Legislative power lies with the General Assembly, made up of two Chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Shutterstock/Leonid Andronov

Together with the President, the Vice President is also elected, who automatically becomes President of the General Assembly and President of the Senate and in the event of temporary or permanent impediment of the President of the Republic in office, the Vice President takes over his duties. Legislative power lies with the General Assembly, made up of two Chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate, within the framework of a perfect bicameral system, made up respectively of 99 and 30 members elected with a proportional system.
From an economic point of view, the country recorded interrupted growth in GDP from 2003 to 2019, mainly due to a significant increase in private consumption and the relaunch of exports. A relatively favourable situation that allowed Uruguay to face the global economic crisis caused by Covid-19.
The majority of the Uruguayan GDP is made up of services which correspond to approximately 70% of the total, the industrial sector equals 20%, while the primary sector stands at 10%, constituting, however, an important item in the export chapter. Cereal crops and livestock represent the two major sectors of this sector, despite the problems linked to drought and the reduction of freshwater basins.

Uruguay holds the record for the highest number of cows per inhabitant in the world. 123rf

Uruguay, in particular, holds the record for the highest number of cows per inhabitant in the world, equal to 11 million, almost triple the local population and beef represents the main export, with sales of two and a half billion dollars in 2022, of which China is among the largest importers. However, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed with Beijing to strengthen economic cooperation in the sectors of artificial intelligence and technological innovation, of which the Huawei company is the leader and in that of renewables. The United States, in order to stem Chinese penetration, is also intensifying its investments in both the technological and agricultural fields. Furthermore, partnership with the EU is also of great interest to Montevideo as it constitutes the main foreign investor in Uruguayan territory. This partnership is greatly facilitated by the country’s recent infrastructural development which has allowed trade in goods and services between EU countries and Uruguay to make a leap of 15% more in 2022, reaching the record figure of 3.9 billion euros, of which 1.8 exclusively in the trade of services. (Open Photo: Pedestrians on a wide walkway outside of Museo Toerres Garcia in the old town of Montevideo. Shutterstock/ Todamo)

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