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Antigua Guatemala. Holy Week

The ancient capital of Guatemala, a baroque jewel among the mountains, is the scene of spectacular processions on carpets of flowers in the days before Easter. Holy Week is not just devotion, it combines faith, religiosity, art, gastronomy, life stories
and mutual help.

Evocative processions pass through the streets of the historic centre covered with elaborate carpets of flowers: Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala is an event that involves the entire community, between popular devotion and artisanal skill handed down from father to son.
Antigua, as the town is also known, was founded with the name of Santiago of the Knights of Guatemala at the beginning of the 16th century by Spanish colonists who made the capital, at 1,500 meters above sea level, an important cultural, economic, religious and political centre, lasting until 1773 when, following an earthquake that largely destroyed it, the capital was moved to Guatemala City. But the ancient one – Antigua itself – was rebuilt on a grid model inspired by the Italian Renaissance, with new monuments and superb Baroque churches, whose beauty adds to the charm of the ruined historic buildings, so much so that UNESCO has declared the city a World Heritage site. But it is in the days before Easter that streets and squares come alive, with a collective celebration of the passion and death of Jesus: the churches host vigils while the streets are covered with splendid carpets of flowers and coloured sawdust to welcome the processions.

Antigua, Guatemala – Man wearing purple robes in a Holy Cross procession. 123rf

The introduction of processions is closely linked to the arrival of the Spanish in the territory and was one of the evangelisation activities carried out by the missionaries who accompanied the conquistadors. With the processions, the first images and the first small floats emerged, created by Guatemalan artists. Initially, only six to eight people were required to transport the wagons. The event has grown in all its aspects and today the largest procession in the world, that of Calvary (linked to the Church of Our Lady of Remedies), has a float of approximately 26 meters, which is transported by 140 people who take turns carrying it leading the way through the streets of the city. Blood processions once existed, in which penitents walked with their faces covered and their backs scourged along the route, but they quickly died out. Holy Week processions in Guatemala are so important for the population that they can last up to eighteen hours without interruption.

Processions and the Confraternities
In Antigua, the first processions take place on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, continuing throughout Lent. They navigate the streets of the city, starting from a church and returning to the same place. One of the things that must not be missing in any Lenten or Easter procession in Guatemala is the processional carpets. They are made with coloured sawdust, flowers, fruit and pine cones.

The streets are covered with splendid carpets of flowers and coloured sawdust to welcome the processions.123rf

Also fundamental to the procession are the ornaments such as the cross, candles, images or banners of the brotherhoods responsible for the organization. Incense hovers in the air, devotees carry floats called cucuruchos from the cone-shaped hood they wear – and the essential brass band plays both funeral marches as well as festive tunes. We carry with us the awareness that the celebration is double, that of the passion and death of Christ, but also of his resurrection, a source of hope and life that continues.
An important role is played by brotherhoods, composed of people from all social backgrounds. They wear colourful clothes that vary depending on the day: black – for mourning – on Friday, purple on the remaining days of Lent. They carry huge platforms with images of Jesus, Mary and, in some cases, angels and/or their patron saint.

Antigua Guatemala. People with pointed hood costumes carrying paintings of the way of the cross at the procession of San Bartolome de Becerra. 123rf

The carrier formations alternate along the route. Every bearer sees this as a very important moment. The task of carrying the image is sometimes passed down from generation to generation. Other members of the brotherhood burn incense in thuribles along the route.
The most evocative moment is Palm Sunday, when men dressed in purple tunics, the cucuruchos, come out of the Church of La Merced holding up a canopy with the statue of Christ, followed by women, carcadoras, holding an image of the Blessed Virgin.

The Female Figure in Holy Week
The female figure in Holy Week has played an important role from the beginning. Proof of this is the coronation of Nuestra Señora del Manchén (Our Lady of Sorrows) in 1738. This sculpture shows the pain of the Mother of Christ during her passion. Created in 1660 and exposed for veneration on Good Friday of that year, she is venerated in the homonymous hermitage of Santiago of the Knights of Guatemala.

Antigua Guatemala. The female figure in Holy Week has played an important role from the beginning. 123rf

The image shows the maternal face of pain and reveals the model of female holiness, that of the Mother of God. Some of its characteristics make it a unique image, it is the first Image of the Consecrated Blessed Virgin in America and the second image to be consecrated in Guatemala 21 years after Jesus the Nazarene of la Merced in Guatemala City.
In 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the inclusion of Guatemala’s Holy Week in the World Heritage List because, as we read, “It is a religious and cultural celebration that forges the identity of Guatemalans around an expression of their faith, promotes tolerance, respect and social cohesion in the territories in which it is present.”

Pedro Santacruz

Paraguay. A Buffer State.

A landlocked country with almost all its rivers navigable. The difficult road to independence. Lugo’s parenthesis. The world of the triple frontier. The landed oligarchies.

Paraguay nestles in the heart of the southern Latin American cone between Bolivia, which surrounds it to the north and northwest, Brazil which it borders to the east, and Argentina to the south, southeast and southwest.The country, whose territory is predominantly hilly with reliefs that do not exceed a thousand meters in height, has no access to the sea. This closure is compensated for by being a river platform, the centre of the passage of the major rivers, all navigable, which cross Latin America from north to south, from which it is possible to reach various other areas. Among the major rivers, Paraguay certainly stands out, from which the country takes its name and whose length is 2,620 km. It originates in the Brazilian region of Mato Grasso, flows briefly through Bolivia, enters the interior of the country crossing it from north to south forms the southern border with Argentina, and then flows to the right of the Paraná River in the Triple Frontier area.

Paraguay map. 123rf

The Paraguay River, flowing within the country for 1,300 km, divides the nation into two distinct parts both at a geo-morphological and population level considering that to the west of it, in the Chaco, less than 3% of Paraguayans live in an area that corresponds to 61% of the country. This area, arid and impervious, has always been perceived as a marginal space unsuitable for human settlement, unlike the southeastern region, rich in natural resources, which constitutes the socio-economic engine of the country.
Proof of this is the fact that, while the former hosts only three departments in which two hundred thousand of the over seven million inhabitants live, the latter has only fourteen departments. As the analyst Federico Larsen highlights, the existence of a small thriving production centre and an immense under-exploited and under-protected periphery reflects a constant in history that many South American countries have in common.In addition to the Paraguay River, there is the Paraná, whose length is 4,800 km, 800 of which flow through Paraguayan territory, delineating part of the border with Brazil and the border with Argentina, while in the western part there flows the Plicomayo which originates in the Andes, flows for approximately 1,800 km, including the Bolivian and Argentine sections, and then joins the Paraguay river of which it is the largest right-hand tributary.Unlike the number of its rivers, the territory is not very rich in lake basins.
Among the most important we have Lake Ypacaraí whose diameter is 56 km² and is located near Asunción, the capital. The country can also boast of possessing the Guarani aquifer which constitutes one of the largest underground freshwater reservoirs on the planet.

Ruins of the Jesuit Guarani reduction La Santisima Trinidad de Parana, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Paraguay. File swm

Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, around the year 1500, the area was sparsely populated and its only residents were the farmers of the Guarani, a population who immediately showed hospitality towards the expeditions, passing through their territories and in transit towards the Rio de la Plata in search of gold and silver mines.
The geographical position, the navigability of the rivers and the hospitality of the inhabitants constituted optimal conditions for conceiving the territory as a strategic base both for the control of the entire southern cone and for the achievement of the mining objectives in the Rio de la Plata, the latter being downsized following the discovery of the very rich Peruvian and Bolivian mines.
In this era, the Reductions experiment was carried out by the Jesuit Fathers aimed at promoting coexistence between Europeans and natives, i.e., self-sufficient communities capable of producing what they needed to live and defend themselves. This project constituted an important piece of a broader political plan of the Spanish Crown aimed at putting a stop to the exploitation of the natives and limiting Portuguese ambitions in South America.

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. Doctor Francia’s long regime  lasted until 1840. Museo Histórico Nacional de Uruguay

Until 1782, the area represented an important epicentre of local equilibrium. It is no coincidence that the Spanish kingdom decided that the largest province of the Viceregency of Peru would be that of Paraguay which initially extended to Tierra del Fuego, allowing access to both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Subsequently, the area lost its importance, both because it was deprived of an outlet to the sea and due to the growth of other regional realities and above all, that of Buenos Aires, continuing however to represent a bastion of defence for the Spaniards against the indigenous insurrections of the Chaco and against the ‘Portuguese Empire’ in the East.
In 1811, the country acquired independence at the cost of commercial isolation from Buenos Aires whose intent was to establish a sort of protectorate over Asunción. Argentine determination was such that it attempted to obtain the objective even through an invasion, repelled by a massive reaction which saw the mobilization of all sectors of society. The event constituted a watershed in the history of the country and favoured the immediate creation of an army and a government, led by the landed aristocracy, whose father was the liberal Jacobin José Gaspar García y Rodríguez de Francia, better known as Doctor Francia.
Doctor Francia’s long regime, which lasted until 1840, was characterized by a policy aimed at making Paraguay an autonomous industrial power. In those years, the country was one of the first to equip itself with its railway and carry out other important public infrastructure works, but also to impose customs duties aimed at protecting products. At a regional level, it developed an interchange with Montevideo, seeking to maintain free trade on the rivers that connected it to the Atlantic.

Francisco Solano Lopez Carrillo. Photo: Domenico Parodi

Doctor Francia’s policy was carried out by the Lòpez family under whose guidance the foundries, shipyards, metalworking industries, and water infrastructure were built which gave a strong impetus to agricultural activities. This policy, supported by the popular classes, the medium-sized producers and the lower clergy worried both the powers of the region, Argentina and Brazil, and Great Britain. The latter, in particular, worked to limit the industrial development of the entire region to guarantee a market for its manufacturing and secure the raw materials necessary for its production. Thus, the development that the country had known up to that point was interrupted following the defeat suffered in the disastrous war against the Triple Alliance – Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay – still considered today the greatest national tragedy, in which Paraguay suffered a drastic territorial reduction, the extermination of the adult population and the elimination of the industrial sector which was razed to the ground. (Open Photo: Paraguayan flag.123rf)

F.R.

Mexico. Thirty years after NAFTA and the uprising of the Zapatistas.

Last January it recalled the 30th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement signed between the United States, Canada and Mexico as well as the insurrection of the Zapatista movement.

The indigenous movement that broke out at that time, led by the so-called “Subcomandante Marcos”, still exists in the Mexican state of Chiapas (bordering with Guatemala), but today has less weight and attention than in the past.

In a negotiation that was not clear, the government of then-president Carlos Salinas de Gortari decided not to confront the Zapatista movement militarily, opting for negotiation and allowing it to exercise a de facto government in a part of the territory of that state of Chiapas. This agreement worked for both parties. The insurrection did not spread but continued to exist. As for the Mexican government, it was able to isolate the movement, preventing its spread.

In January 1994, the North American trade integration agreement, called NAFTA, looked like a turning point for modern Mexico. A new beginning also started, which since the third decade of the 20th century had been governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a hegemonic party without alternation, but with limited power: the presidential mandate was six years without any possibility of ever being re-elected, though the outgoing president would elect his successor, the process was called the “dedozo”.

After the PRI, the centre-right party called PAN governed for two terms, the third term saw the return of the PRI with Enrique Peña Nieto, and finally with Manuel Lopez Obrador of MORENA (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (National Regeneration Movement) as president, which embodied the return of traditional populism, but with pragmatism in relations with the United States.

In economic terms, Mexico is celebrating three decades of trade integration with the United States and Canada with a growing economy, which is attractive to investors. Mexico – together with Chile it is the country with the largest number of trade agreements with the world in Latin America – has integrated economically with the United States and Canada and increased its role as an exporting country.

A long the years NAFTA was reformulated and renamed USMCA – The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – which entered into force on July 1, 2020.  But this economic integration also had a geopolitical face.

In the American view, the hemisphere runs from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. North America is assumed to be a region that integrates Mexico with the United States and Canada. In geopolitical terms, for Washington, the border with Guatemala is an integrated space in its own right.

This does not prevent the existence of conflicts such as the one generated by the growing illegal immigration of Mexicans and Latin Americans crossing the southern border of the United States. But integration is not just economic.

Lopez Obrador’s pragmatism has allowed him to maintain good relations with Trump and Biden. In foreign policy, Mexico maintains its traditional attitude by keeping a low-profile role in international relations and avoiding a regional leadership role.

At the national level, Lopez Obrador has delegated a growing role to the Armed Forces by increasingly expanding the military role beyond its specific security area. In 2023 he gave the Navy a role in the administration of the ports and in the corridor that connects the Atlantic with the Pacific.

He relaunched the Mexican airline, under the leadership and control of the Air Force. He launched the national production of medicines with a distribution system throughout the territory and appointed a general as leader. This is the weakness of the Mexican state that has made it increasingly rely on the military structure which maintains an important organisation, discipline and territorial deployment.

As regards the presidential elections which will be held on June 2, the polls give a clear advantage to the official candidate, Claudia Sheinmaum. She is expected to defeat the only opposition option, Xchitl Gàlvez, with the support of the centre-right PAN party; the PRI, whose last run of government was pragmatic social democracy; and the left-wing PRD. The US presidential election will be held five months after the Mexican one. A possible Trump victory is not perceived by the current Mexican president as a threat. (Open Photo: Logo of the NAFTA Secretariat of North American Free Trade Agreement. CC BY 3.0/ Nicoguaro – Subcomandante Marcos.  CC BY-SA 4.0/ Mangokeylime)

Rosendo Fraga/Nueva Mayoria
Latin American Affairs Analyst

Nigeria. At the top of the crime world.

Africa’s most populated country and leading economy boasts the continent’s highest crime index and cumulates all superlatives as new forms of criminality are emerging.

Nigeria which ranked sixth in the world and first in Africa with a population of 236 million in early 2024 and also boasts the largest GDP on the continent, alongside South Africa and Egypt, holds a leading position in terms of criminality. According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, the country ranks 6th worldwide with a crime index of 7.28, and second in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo (7.35) but ahead of South Africa and its gangs (7.18).
The range of crimes is extremely wide and is adapting to the evolution of society. In November 2023, the Nigerian Senate estimated the country’s annual loss caused just by cybercrime, including hacking, identity theft, cyber terrorism, harassment and internet fraud at $500 million.

A woman is being attended to by a nurse in a clinic. Most hospitals have introduced a practice known as “family substitution”, in which patients must find a family member to donate the same amount of blood that has been used for them. File swm

Criminality is infiltrating the entire society. Poverty and the lack of health facilities have led to an enormous blood traffic. Blood shortages in hospitals have forced patients to find their private donors. The unmet demand for blood has generated a huge black market in which people donate blood for profit. Only one-third of the demand is collected through official channels. The rest of the blood is unchecked and therefore there is no guarantee that it is free from disease which is illegal according to the National Blood Service Commission.
This situation forced most hospitals to set up a practice known as “family replacement”, in which patients must find a family member to donate the same amount of blood that has been used for them. Most donors simply pose as family members and the hospitals do not bother to check IDs. The blood type does not always match. Commercial donors are contacted by middlemen who broker deals between them and the patients who buy the blood for $10 to $25 a pint and cash half of it. There are also private blood banks. In principle, illegal commercial blood donations carry a six-month jail penalty but few people are prosecuted.

Lagos. A billboard warns of the dangers of being a victim of human trafficking. File swm

Human beings and their organs are another traded commodity. In 2021 the local press reported that such factories were on the rise, often disguised as private medical clinics, orphanages or social welfare homes which are part of a large industry that makes advantage of desperate teenagers with unwanted pregnancies or who are simply poor. Sometimes, women are kidnapped and raped and their babies are taken away from them, sold for adoption or trafficked to become
prostitutes or child labourers.
According to a joint report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Nigeria’s National Institute for Security Studies published in 2022, in Enugu state, baby boys are sold for illegal adoption for between Euro 1,500 and Euro 3,000 while baby girls are sold for between Euro 1,000 and Euro 2,000.
This criminal business is part of the wider trafficking of persons. Nigerian women and children are the principal victims of both domestic and international trafficking. Between 2015 and 2018, about 6,350 victims were identified, including 1,680 in Western Europe.  Most of the cross-border trafficking is perpetrated by transnational organised criminal groups for sexual exploitation. And of course, there is also the lucrative business of migration to Europe. Around 32,000 Nigerians were present in Libya as of April 2022 according to the International Organisation of Migration.

View of Lagos. Nigeria’s strategic location along global shipping routes between the Americas, Europe and Asia. File swm

Nigeria’s strategic location along global shipping routes between the Americas, Europe and Asia, its large-scale transport infrastructure, and its porous borders make it an attractive platform for criminal organisations which use it as a base for drug trafficking operations. Nigeria has become a transit hub for the South American cartels to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the European Union.
While cannabis is the only drug cultivated domestically, synthetic, Nigerian criminal organisations are increasingly producing illicit synthetic opioid drugs such as methamphetamine with a total of 16 labs seized by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency over the period 2011-2019, reports UNODC.
Synthetic opioids represent a market worth more than $ 1 billion annually. This production of opioids is connected with the import of tramadol from Southern Asia which is used non-medically. Methamphetamine is then reexported to Japan, to the Philippines or elsewhere. According to the US State Department, one kilogram sold $ 7,500 in Nigeria can be re-sold for $ 250,000 in Australia.
Oil theft, refining and dealing are one of the country’s most important economic activities. In 2023, the Nigerian army destroyed 233 illegal refineries in the four states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Rivers and arrested 1,112 suspected oil thieves. The troops also impounded 72 trucks and recovered more than 356 arms and ammunition, say military sources. Oil theft and the related sabotage of pipelines to siphon the crude are causing a loss of more than 200,000 barrels per day, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.

A lot of kidnappers operate on the highways, especially between Abuja and Kaduna. File swm

The Stakeholder Democracy Network, which supports local populations affected by extractive industries, has described two methods to steal oil. One consists of diverting oil from a pipeline to convey it by smaller pipes to barges which either supply local refineries or bring the crude to larger vessels that refuel tankers in the high sea.
The second technique, called “topping”, consists of adding undeclared crude to a shipment for which the export permits have been issued. Sources in the Niger Delta say that bunkering activity cannot stop because the military and the police are involved. Some speak of a “sophisticated mafia of powerful Nigerians and foreigners”, including also government officials, retired oil industry personnel, politicians and businessmen. One of the consequences of this theft is the lack of safety in these operations. In April 2022, a blast at an illegal oil refinery on the border of Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states killed 100 people. Such incidents are frequent.
Piracy is endemic along Nigerian coasts. Before the amnesty granted to Niger Delta militants in 2010, most attacks were robberies. Between 2011 and 2016, oil tankers were targeted for hijacking to offload the content. After 2016, began a wave of kidnappings for ransom, targeting crews rather than cargo, reports UNODC. In 2020, 23 kidnapping attacks at sea were reported. Maritime crime is rooted in unemployment and environmental grievances. Fishermen unable to make a living in contaminated waters are increasingly preying on maritime commercial flows. Some of the hijackings are politically directed. Ironically, criminal groups also provide escort services.

Close-up view of ship’s stern fortified with razor wire. Anti-piracy protection. Shutterstock/Jouni Niskakoski

Yet, Nigeria has several distinct kidnapping problems. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Database, the number of incidents quadrupled between 2019 and 2021. Kidnapping is associated with banditry and political violence. The number of abductions has soared from 28 in 2015 to 413 in 2021 and the number of victims raised from 900 to 5,287 during the same period. The more important incidents were the kidnapping of 344 schoolboys in Kankara (Katsina state) in 2020 and the kidnapping of 277 schoolgirls in Jangebe (Zamfara state) in 2021. Sometimes kidnappers, disguised as policemen also operate on highways, specially between Abuja and Kaduna.
Despite it has little wildlife left Nigeria has become an important wildlife trafficking hub. Before 2014, most African ivory came out of East Africa while most pangolin scales emanated from Central Africa. Since then, despite being home to less than 0.2 percent of the world elephant population, over 25 percent of all seizures of elephant tusks around the globe between 2015 and 2019 could be traced back to Nigeria. Vietnamese customs also seized in February 2022 6.2 tons of pangolin scales shipped from Lagos.
All these groups and their activities are often intertwined. According to the UNODC report, cult-related violence of brutal mafias, seeped in secrecy and blood rituals are common in the Rivers, Edo and Lagos states. Junior confraternities recruit among unemployed youth and out-of-school children even secondary school students who join also street gangs used for political agitation with names such as Black Axe or Vikings Confraternity. One of these groups called the Icelanders became involved with the militant group Niger Delta Vigilante Service.
The range of activities is wide and includes revenge attacks, attacking other cults, oil theft, refining and dealing, attacking political enemies, forcing businesses to pay protection, drug dealing, selling guns, disrupting elections, pimping prostitutes, etc. Sometimes, politicians who are themselves cult members use these groups during elections for services such as causing chaos to suppress voter turnout, stealing ballot boxes, or killing opponents. (Open Photo: Nigerian Police.123rf

François Misser

Journey to Beauty Through Arts and Creativity.

A journey towards Beauty is also a journey to God. Fr Raul Tabaranza, a Comboni missionary from the Philippines is exploring this journey, making use of his artistic painting talents.

Art says a lot; if you can read the message of a painting, the artist’s emotion is always there. Even though a work of art may not be easy to understand or to like for everyone, we should learn to read a work of art and to find its beauty, no matter how abstract it may be.
Some may appreciate an abstract painting even when they do not find meaning in it or are incapable of interpreting it. The colour combination, the strokes and delicate details, and the harmony of the different elements make the piece beautiful. It may not be relevant to some, yet very meaningful to others.

The Woman of Payatas, the biggest garbage dumping site in Manila, Philippines.

Recently, I have visited the chapel of St Little Brother Charles de Foucauld, in Rome. I fondly called him my Seraphic Little Brother. The artist, through his painting, uses a unique way of expressing his prayer and reaching out to God. He captures the Beauty of God and the Blessed Mother Mary, in simple ways as fruits of his contemplation. As a hermit, he was constantly praying, writing journals and poems, and painting his thoughts. Art can be a form of prayer and meditation.
My works of art are also very varied in form and style: from abstract paintings, paper collages, clothes collages, doodles, newspaper canvasses and more. My strokes vary according to my time and mood. An artist is like a chameleon: changing styles and colours, blending paints, enjoying a wild imagination and varied ideas of artwork based on reflection prayer. St. Charles de Foucauld expressed beauty in many different ways too.

Spirituality in Arts
There are always spiritual motivations in art. If one visits museums and galleries, one sees the beauty of art in for example sacred walks or sacred dances. There we find the artist’s hidden “spiritual posture” painted with striking colors. The fascinating book “Two Dancers in the Desert” portrays Charles de Foucauld and his Unseen Partner (God), as experiencing a spiritual dance during his eremitic journey. With great trust in God, one need not be afraid during one’s life journey, for one will always have a safe landing. Even though I was given that book more than ten years ago, the images are still very present in my heart. I painted my version of the same title.

Mary and John at the foot of the cross

The journey towards Beauty through art requires a great deal of imagination and the use of one’s senses. It is always transformative, as one develops patience, appreciation of silence or solitude, valuing of time and resources, communing with nature and getting closer to God, as one executes one’s talents. As a self-taught artist, I am still on a journey, exploring my talents. There is still so much to learn and to develop. I feel increasingly closer to myself, knowing myself better and probably becoming closer to God in many hidden ways.
Expressing beauty in art is life-enhancing; it helps us to rediscover resources that are present within us. It is about creating our own space, expressing our faith, cultivating our imagination with vision, and transcending our current moment in life into the future, which is spiritual and hopeful.
Many people visit museums and galleries seeking religious motivation, regardless of their religious denominations. They experience awe, great reverence, and stimulated emotions recognizing the presence of God. Visiting sacred places makes one wonder because many paintings will lead one to reflect on and experience God’s presence. These places display ancient works of art and religious and cultural artefacts which are instrumental in strengthening our faith.

Prayer and Arts
Another inspiring icon in capturing beauty through art is St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She was given the duty of painting and was relieved from her work in the sacristy. She expressed her prayers more in art through painting and poetry, including community and social activities through plays and drama, like the production of Joan of Arc. Her artistic talents were the fruit of her prayer and deep contemplation. Paul Claudel, French poet wrote: “Looking at a work of art that illustrates the spiritual testament of St. Therese of Lisieux, we could say that the eye listens and the soul is elevated”.

Holy Spirit. A combination of abstract painting and doodle

My latest doodles engage more gospel stories, traditional celebrations and the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. I also have many doodles with varied expressions. My paintings are more abstract, having deeper symbols and meaning.
The journey of an artist is not only about capturing beauty but also about delivering messages of faith, hope, and love. I guess that this is the real essence when your message is conveyed artistically. It is a spiritual process for an artist, hoping to bring about spiritual experiences for others. Art is an approach, a method of evangelization, presenting the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. I look at myself, asking if painting is affecting my journey as a missionary priest: in the real sense, not at all! In fact, it helps me strike a balance. I juggle with multiple roles and many other commitments. I paint my prayers and capture their beauty. It has been a challenge, but my priesthood and my commitments are sources of inspiration too. It is all about flexibility of time and remaining an active participant in our missionary and community life.

Fr Raul designing a doodle in his office.

I had other dreams when I was young, I wanted to be a doctor and a teacher, but God chose me to become a Comboni missionary priest. Therefore, I see it as a great privilege because I have discovered more gifts and talents in myself, being a missionary priest.
I feel that I must nurture all the gifts entrusted to me by God, and make them fruitful for the kingdom.
Finally, I think that artists are not merely painting, singing, dancing, writing, and performing, but they are heralds and witnesses of hope for humanity. For me, painting started as a hobby, yet now, I feel it my responsibility to let my fellow human beings see and experience the real beauty around us: the beauty that God has created for us. (Painting: Dancers in the Desert, inspired by St. Charles de Foucauld’s book Two Dancers in the Desert)

Chad. Restoring Dignity.

In the southern region of Chad, in Bodo, to be exact, an African fashion project is coming to life to offer women the opportunity to earn a living by working in a sewing atelier. Sister Paola Letizia who heads the project, tells us about it.

Their names are Paterne, Brigitte, Priscilla, Janette, and Eliane and they are five nembadje, a word which in ngambay (Chadian language) means ‘queens’. They are queens for their bearing, their innate elegance, the clothes they wear, their colourful headdresses and the taste they demonstrate. Every morning they emerge from their houses with walls made of dried earth, straw, and cow dung, with a sheet of metal for a roof, and “they come to my school with such natural elegance that they seem ready for a fashion show. They convinced me to put my dream into practice: opening an atelier for the production of African fashion accessories”, admits Sister Paola Letizia Pieraccioni, Italian missionary of the Alcantarine Franciscan nuns and director of the École Catholique Associée (ECA) of Bodo, a rural village in southern Chad.

Sister Paola Letizia Pieraccioni with a married couple in the Bodo area. File swm

Paterne, Brigitte, Priscilla, Janette and Eliane are all teachers at her school, but for some months now, they have also been the first seamstresses of the workshop that Sister Paola Letizia opened in the Chadian bush with one objective: to challenge fragility, here personified in women. And so, thanks to the contribution of some friends, five sewing machines were purchased with the material required to get started, and thanks to a room made available by the parish priest, the atelier came to life.
Sister Paola Letizia created this project with a very ambitious ultimate goal: to defeat the alcoholism that grips local society, a phenomenon in which women play a central role. Yes, because they are the ones who produce the alcoholic beverage that is consumed by the litre and that empties the millet granaries. On the other hand, for them, this is one of the few jobs that allows them to earn that little bit of income essential for family expenses.

Bilibili is an alcoholic drink made from fermented millet. File swm

“I understood – explains the missionary – that the redemption of women’s dignity starts from an economic redemption. The fact that they are not financially independent, but depend on their husbands who leave all the expenses of the family household on their shoulders, forces them to do anything to earn some immediate money. Those who do not produce bilibili, i.e., the alcoholic drink made from fermented millet, even sell their bodies, an increasingly frequent phenomenon even among adolescents: men take advantage of this economic poverty and the consequences are many, on a moral, spiritual and health level and also socially, due to unwanted pregnancies”.
The condition of women in Chad, especially in rural areas, is one of submission in the marital relationship, which often leads to states of oppression or episodes of violence.
The Church is committed to the promotion of women to restore their dignity, starting with that economic autonomy which is fundamental to free oneself from all slavery. Unfortunately, polygamy is also widespread in this area of Chad: with second marriages by men, first wives find themselves abandoned with their dependent children. “And to eat and survive they have to earn something quickly, they turn to the production of bilibili because the demand is high, given that everyone drinks!”, observes Sister Paola Letizia who is also responsible for the diocesan Committee for the fight against alcohol-related evils.
The team visits all the parishes of the diocese of Doba and does a great job of prevention and awareness, with listening groups, especially for young people, but it also visits primary schools because the scourge of alcoholism spreads across the entire population and it is a dominant factor of moral degradation and poverty. “If they made polenta with that millet used to make the drink, there would be even fewer food problems given that here the food is barely enough for subsistence,” the sister remarks. But how can we motivate these women and convince them to stop producing bilibili?

At the market in Bodo. the demand for Bilibili is very high. File swm

The African fashion atelier project is Sister Paola Letizia’s answer to this question and the attempt to pull the plug on the phenomenon of alcoholism, offering women an alternative income. “In the daily exchange of glances with the young people I meet – confesses the nun – my heart as a woman and as a consecrated person is increasingly compassionate: if I think about the way people see me, I have not seen people looking in the same way on the young and teenage girls or the women of Chad. The beginning of this project is in the heart, from woman to woman, but it is also in the sense of injustice that I experience firsthand because if you love a people, the one who wounds their heart, also wounds your heart and your dignity”. And so, Sister Paola Letizia set out to challenge fragility: to start the atelier, however, “I couldn’t start with the women who make bilibili, because unfortunately I can’t guarantee them an immediate profit: it takes time, both to learn to sew and to market the products made. I started with the teachers of the school of which I am director because they already have a fixed salary for their work and therefore can trust the project which in the initial phase does not have an instant economic return”.Certainly, the marketing of the artifacts is still to be developed: for this reason, everything “depends on Divine Providence, also on our hopes, our courage and perhaps even a little recklessness”, Sister Paola Letizia adds.

Brigitte with one of the bags she has made. Photo PM

Certainly, the project is a challenge to fragility because it is designed for people seen to be on the margins of Chadian rural society (such as women) but also because the pillar of the atelier is Auguste, a disabled man forced to live in a wheelchair, whom the Sisters have helped since he was a child: after a cutting and sewing course, he became the village tailor and today he is the cornerstone of the African fashion project. He is the manager of the atelier, the one who has to kneel on the mat to cut the fabrics and design the models. He cannot go and check the work of the young seamstresses. He is fragility personified. But it was for people like him that the tailoring shop was organized, precisely according to his needs. Auguste, if he had not found the support and love of the nuns, would no longer be alive like all children who are born with serious malformations and disabilities, because here the social context does not provide any type of assistance and the daily living conditions are so harsh that they do not allow those who are not self-sufficient to survive. Furthermore, traditional religion sees witchcraft in every anomaly: this is also why families tend to remove or, worse, eliminate disabled children. Auguste, with his personal, social, and professional success, is a living challenge to fragility, just like ‘his’ atelier. (Open Photo: swm)

Chiara Pellicci/PM

 

 

The Catholic Church. Values and Service.

There is a trait that distinguishes the Congolese Episcopal Conference (CEC): its ability to intervene in the various sectors of society in which it is directly involved. And it does so with competence and determination by a widespread ecclesial presence in the territories.

This does not mean a desire for political interference, but a desire to reaffirm Christian values: respect for human rights, justice, peace… And it is, therefore, a point of reference, even civic, for all Congolese.
It is a well-articulated action that involves the Catholic base. In fact, the Secular Coordination Committee (CLC) was established in 1992 – in the 1990s, the democratic transition which has yet to be completed was outlined – and is one of the strong points of Congolese civil society.
The CLC, starting from the messages of the bishops, who are often critical of governments, provokes the institutions, denounces bad government and organizes peaceful protest demonstrations.

The Catholic Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo. Photo Secam

In this way, lay Catholics have the function of protecting the bishops, who express themselves while maintaining the “neutral” character of their declarations and avoiding being seen as political opponents.It has a “political” commitment carried out through the structures of the Justice and Peace Commissions, present in all the dioceses, which is also very active in civic awareness and the observation of the electoral process. During the national elections last December, twenty-four thousand Catholic and Protestant election observers were trained to follow the voting process until the results were counted. Church observers covered more than two-thirds of the seats in the country, allowing international criteria on electoral transparency to be respected.

The Congolese Catholic Church is one of the most active Churches in Africa. File swm

It is a Catholic Church that acts through various diocesan services, pastoral care, catechesis, liturgy (a specific rite recognized by Rome), Caritas, the Justice and Peace Commission and school and health services. It is thanks to all its social services that the Church offers a very important service to tens of millions of Congolese.
The Congolese Catholic Church is one of the most active Churches in Africa. Catholics, who are continuously increasing, represent around 40% of the population (90% Christian). Church attendance is also high among young people, and the Church enjoys an important flourishing of vocations. There are a total of 4,602 diocesan priests exercising their ministry in almost 1,500 parishes and 48 dioceses. Many Congolese priests and missionaries are working in other countries in Africa, Europe and America. There are also 11,000 religious Congolese men and women involved in pastoral care, education and health services.

No to silence
Relations between the Church and the political world are governed by the principle established by the Constitution, that is, secularism, the pillars of which are freedom of belief, the exercise of worship and the autonomy of the Churches and the State. Christians do not have their own political party and the Church does not support candidates. But everyone knows where and who the Congolese Church looks to. For decades, with its bishops first and foremost, the Church has closely followed the local and national socio-political situation, intervening with messages and statements to denounce the widespread plague of corruption, bad governance and the abuse of authority.

Caritas members in Isiro. Catholic Church acts through various diocesan services, pastoral care, catechesis, liturgy, Caritas, the Justice and Peace Commission, school and health services. File swm

The Congolese Catholic Church remains solidly a reality recognized by the people who count on it in its attempts to channel its human and social development efforts, as well as to mobilize personally and collectively. Today this Church is led by the president of the bishops’ conference, the Archbishop of Kisangani Marcel Utembi Tapa (in communion with the other outspoken prelate who is the Cardinal Archbishop of Kinshasa, Fridolin Ambongo, since 2019) who is not afraid to denounce the wars for the minerals of energy transition, the exploitation of Congolese resources for a supposed global ecologism which in reality causes enormous environmental and human damage to the country. And he is not silent about the exploitation of minerals and rare earths by foreign multinationals with the complicity of local governments: «A very rich country in which a large part of the population lives in poverty – he says. Faced with this situation, we as pastors cannot remain silent.” And he never tires of denouncing the gangrenous insecurity in the east of the country in particular (with hundreds, even thousands of deaths), urging the government to intervene to stop the violence and restore peace. (Open Photo: After Sunday Mass in Isiro Parish. File swm)
Elio Boscaini

 

 

France. Sowing Hope in the Suburbs of Marseille.

In the northern districts of Marseille, a drug trafficking stronghold, people grow up surrounded by marginalization and violence. Here, some Catholic groups have chosen to share life with the residents, almost all of whom are Muslim, to create a brotherhood
and promote development.

To access the city of Campagne-Lévêque, with its ochre public housing blocks, you have to pass an informal checkpoint manned by a boy with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his face. In the infamous northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, where since the beginning of the year there have already been around forty victims of score-settling between drug trafficking gangs, the State is struggling to gain a foothold.
And it is the choufs, at the lowest level of the drug dealing system, who control who passes through and act as lookouts in case of unexpected visits from the police.

Located on the outskirts of Marseille in the Campagne-Lévêque suburb. Photo: Le Rocher

Mark, a 22-year-old engineering student, gets around with no problems: everyone here knows and respects Le Rocher, the Catholic association with which the young man is doing a period of civil service in this sort of ghetto, 95% inhabited by people of Maghrebi and African origin, in a situation of economic and social precariousness. Next to a dilapidated block of flats stands a deserted football pitch: “Mothers prefer not to let their children go down to play because they fear they will be involved in illegal activities…” Mark explains. However, when Le Rocher operators are there, the courtyard fills up with kids. “After fifteen years, families trust us”, says Arthur Belo, the leader, together with his wife Tiphaine, of the Marseille section of the association, created to offer educational and social interventions in the most difficult urban areas of France.

“They can have dreams”
Here in Campagne-Lévêque, the initiatives range from after-school activities for the little ones to weekly lunches with specialities cooked by the neighbourhood maman, from assistance with bureaucratic procedures to street cafés to create opportunities for conviviality with the residents. But there are also visits to the city – with kids who sometimes have never seen the old port of Marseille – and summer camps in the countryside for teenagers. All ways to open the horizons of young people accustomed to having fewer opportunities than their peers, in an area where unemployment reaches 50%.

Le Rocher operator in conversation with people. Photo: Le Rocher

“We want to convince them that they too are worth it, that they can have dreams”. Arthur and Tiphaine arrived two years ago, with their newborn son in tow, following a choice made thanks to their faith: “We wanted to share the daily life of these families and create bonds of brotherhood. For us this is a mission”. The couple, who today are expecting another child, begin each day with prayer: “Together with the volunteers and collaborators who so desire, we have half an hour of adoration, we participate in the Mass celebrated by the priest of the nearby parish and then we continue with Lauds and songs. Only then do we begin our work”. And even if the residents are almost all Muslim, the common faith in God represents a factor of closeness and trust. It is no coincidence that, during Pope Francis’ recent visit to Marseille, Arthur and Tiphaine attended Mass at the Velodrome stadium together with their Muslim neighbours Arbana and Messahoud.

Missionary Frontier
For Sr. Francesca, Sr. Anna and Sr. Lara, the city of La Solidarité, in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille, is ‘a missionary frontier’. The three nuns live on the 17th floor of one of the colourful buildings in which 3,500 people live, who today greet them with a smile on the street.
The Sisters are members of the Disciples of the Gospel, a religious institute born in the diocese of Treviso (Italy) in the wake of the spirituality of Charles de Foucauld, and which for some years has opened a fraternity in this corner of Europe where they meet, not without difficulty, many portions of the world. “Marseille is a city made up of contrasts: it is welcoming, supportive, rich in different cultures.
but the poverty is palpable and integration is not always easy”,
Sr. Francesca explains.

Park Kalliste in the northern suburbs of Marseille. Photo Ministère de la cultura

Amid these contradictions, she and her sisters chose to ‘offer a presence of prayer and fraternity, which seeks to create bridges through friendship’. Both in neighbourly relations and in the professional context: Sr. Lara, in addition to working for youth ministry, teaches in a Catholic school (where, however, the majority of students are of the Muslim faith) and is a member of the funeral service team of the diocese, while Sr. Anna is a chaplain at the nearby Hôpital Nord and in a psychiatric hospital. “In moments of particular pain and vulnerability, we try to reach people with a word of hope”, she says.
Sr. Francesca, on the other hand, accompanies the catechumens of the diocese: “Every year around a hundred Baptisms is administered to people from very different contexts and of all ages”, she testifies. In the neighbourhood, the nuns collaborate with the Missionaries of Africa, who manage the nearby parish complex of Saint Antoine – Notre Dame Limite. “For a few years, in a room in the parish on the ground floor of a public building, we held a sewing and crochet course for women, both Christian and Muslim: a place of friendship and sharing that we have called ‘Abraham’s Tent’. Weekly activities are also organized here for primary school children, which focus on manual skills and art ‘as tools for expressing themselves and enhancing their potential’”.

The presence of the Catholic Sisters is “To offer a presence of prayer and fraternity, which seeks to create bridges through friendship”. Photo: Le Rocher

This is the same idea from which the Arts and Development Association was born, which brings established artists to the suburbs to organize painting workshops and expressive activities, from dance to music. “Beauty attracts young people and allows them to channel their energies into activities that bring joy”, explains Patrice Boulan, president of this branch of ATD Quart Monde, an organization founded in the 1950s by the priest Joseph Wresinski in the slums outside Paris. “When we set up small exhibitions with their children’s works among the dilapidated barracks, even the parents of the neighbourhood come to see, full of curiosity – says Boulan – It is a way to reclaim spaces often perceived as ‘off limits’ because they are a fiefdom of criminals”.
Cultivating humanity and sowing hope where violence and marginalisation prevail: a challenge in which much of the future of our Europe is at stake. (Open Photo: The view of Marseille. 123rf)

Chiara Zappa/MM

 

The Mysteries of the Forest.

Many years ago, peace reigned in the forest under the rule of the leopard, the ruler of all animals.

But one day news spread that a monster was lurking in a corner of the forest, terrorizing all who ventured that way. A menacing voice came out from among the plants, shouting at every intruder: “Stop! Woe to you if you dare enter my kingdom! If you take one more step, I will tear you to pieces and devour you.”

Faced with such a threat, the animals fled. The leopard, concerned to preserve the tranquillity of his kingdom, and offended at the idea of someone usurping a corner of his territory, called the strongest of his soldiers, the elephant, and sent him to fight the mysterious invader.
“Go – he told him – and destroy the monster who dares to claim rights in my kingdom. Fear not. There is no monster bigger and more
powerful than you.”

The elephant set off full of confidence in the power of his tusks and trunk. But as soon as he had set foot in the contested area, the mysterious voice paralyzed him. Nevertheless, he took courage and moved a few more steps. But the voice boomed in his ears again and froze the blood in his veins. “No – he said to himself -, I still need to live. Who will protect my elephants? I don’t want to die so soon!”.
And he ran away.

When the leopard saw him come back still trembling with fear, he became alarmed and summoned the strongest animals in his kingdom. He promised a big prize to the one who defeated the mysterious monster. Then the buffalo offered to attempt the feat. But he too, on hearing the threatening voice, panicked and turned back to confirm the elephant’s testimony.

Then others tried, lured by the promised prize, but always with the same result. The terrible voice was enough to put the strongest inhabitants of the forest to flight. In the meantime, however, no one had seen the mysterious enemy.

Some time passed. And then the hare appeared at the king’s assembly. “If you allow me – he said to the leopard -, I will go and unseat the overbearing usurper of your kingdom.”  “You? – said the leopard to her – do you pretend to drive out of the forest the monster who drove away the elephant, the buffalo and the lion? Go ahead. But do not call for help if you get into trouble, for no one will hear you.”

“Let me try – said the hare -, perhaps a grain of intelligence is worth more than strength.” So, saying, he departed.

When he arrived on the scene he was also greeted by a threatening voice: “Stop! If you take one more step, I will kill you”.
The hare felt fear, but remained motionless, turning his head to guess where the voice was coming from. He took one more step and the voice doubled in violence. He decided to flee, but only after he had at least seen the terrible monster.

He advanced another two steps while a hail of insults rained down upon him from the invisible enemy. He took one more step, poking her eyes in all directions, and suddenly spotted a green tree frog crouched on a leaf; it was a frog, swelling its cheeks and making all that noise.

He jumped and grabbed the little beast with one paw, then, swollen with joy, ran quickly to the leopard’s village. The drums rolled and the animals gathered. Then the hare, with solemn stride, advanced and showed everyone the tiny frog that had caused such a fright.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the nightmare was finally over, but felt ashamed that they had not been able to understand what the hare had suddenly realized. The hare received his prize and his fame spread throughout the forest. He had proved that strength is worth nothing without a grain of intelligence. (Folktale from Lena People – Rd Congo) – (Open photo: 123rf)

 

Smart Cities on the Asian geopolitical scene.

The development of smart cities in ASEAN countries is of fundamental importance to respond to the challenges posed by the dizzying urbanization of South-East Asia. The need to develop more resilient, efficient and sustainable urban centres.

The challenges posed by urbanization increasingly require the help of technology and artificial intelligence for the administration of public spaces. From this need, the concept of “Smart City” was born, i.e. an urban environment that uses IT tools for purposes that include resource management, security, pollution control, green mobility and crime monitoring. By collecting and analysing a large amount of data, smart cities would guarantee better and more efficient city management, filling the usual gaps in public administration. The development of smart cities is an increasingly pressing need in areas that foresee vertiginous population growth, including South-East Asia: according to statistics, it is expected that there will be a further 70 million people living in the major urban centres of the ASEAN countries.

China. The view of the Guangzhou city skyline in the Zhujiang New Town downtown financial district area.123rf

China has long developed a system of smart cities based on a solid and proven architecture, which is also in line with national development objectives and priorities. The Ministry of Public Security and several private companies  –  the main promoters of smart cities  –  have been able to connect various devices and IT solutions to develop urban spaces with a command centre called “City Brain”. Using artificial intelligence, the “city brain” analyses the data and transmits it to a city control centre. The data is then processed and transformed into indications, suggestions, warnings and further inputs: local decision-makers are finally required to translate this information into decision-making outputs. The objectives of the Chinese Government range far beyond mere urban management: Beijing plans to agglomerate numerous urban “city brains” into groups of megacities – possible projects include the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta area -, expanding the system up to provincial and regional “city-brains”. This network should then evolve into a national “city brain” and, ultimately, a global system. Despite the ambitious projects, at the moment the largest market for smart cities remains China, with around 500 plans underway.

Urbanisation, security and resources
China’s global ambitions find fertile ground in ASEAN countries, driven by the need to develop more resilient, efficient and sustainable urban centres. This need was expressed during the 2018 ASEAN Smart Cities Network, held during the Presidency of Singapore. The following year, during the ASEAN summit in Bangkok, the ASEAN Smart Cities Network Action Plan was drawn up, aimed at identifying the six main focus areas – health, security, ecology, infrastructure, industry and innovation and civil society – and the launch of 26 pilot projects. These include cities such as Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Vientiane and Yangon. At the same time, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China were designated as main partners for the implementation of the development plans.

Thailand. Road with traffic jams. Area in front of Central World. The Economic Centre of Bangkok. 123rf

This partnership fits well with the global ambitions of Beijing, which has encapsulated the aforementioned projects within the broader perimeter of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and, in particular, the Digital Silk Road. Already experts in offering similar services at a national level, companies such as Huawei, Tencent and ZTE have a significant advantage over their competitors and in fact, dominate the Asian market. Beijing has already started a collaboration with Jakarta for the construction of the new capital, Nusantara, and for the launch of a further hundred smart cities by 2045: Indonesia is especially interested in developing solutions for the use of resources, the management of energy sources and the monitoring of pollution. Starting in 2020, Kuala Lumpur has instead adopted Alibaba’s “city brain” to guide Malaysia’s tech transition, provide the necessary IT tools to universities, businesses and institutions and improve city management.
Beijing is also engaged in additional projects, including New Manila in the Philippines, New Yangon City in Myanmar, the Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand and Forest City in Malaysia.

Japan. Asia business concept for real estate and corporate construction in Tokyo. 123rf

Although the solutions offered by Beijing are aligned with the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2023, there are several problems. Competition between China and the United States, as well as concerns in terms of security and privacy, have in fact discouraged Vietnam from relying on Chinese tech solutions, leading Hanoi to rely instead on Western companies such as Qualcomm, Nokia and Ericsson. Although supportive of Beijing’s initiatives, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have similarly expressed the need to diversify partnerships so as not to be negatively affected by the zero-sum competition between China and the United States.

A competitive game
The construction of smart cities in ASEAN countries takes on increasingly geopolitical connotations in the intricate Asian scene: despite the consolidated Chinese expertise representing an indisputable advantage for Beijing, China has to face various issues. Among these, the difficulty of entering a strictly regulated market like that of Singapore has led to the defeat of Huawei vis-à-vis Ericsson and Nokia.
In Indonesia, however, China experienced the complications of a market economy with full private property rights in the construction of the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway.
Finally, Malaysia expressed uncertainty about how Forest City Johor Bahru will bring employment and access to affordable housing for the population. Coupled with data security and privacy concerns, national security considerations and incompatibility of tech standards, China’s top-down approach is being questioned by ASEAN members themselves.

Beautiful architecture building skyscrapers around Marina Bay in Singapore City. 123rf

To respond to these concerns, additional actors such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, India, Russia, Japan and South Korea are included in the equation: these countries represent an important alternative for the ASEAN countries, which have always been committed to maintaining a strategic balance between the major global players. There are also further non-state actors, such as Singaporean investor Temasek Holdings – Mitsubishi and Amata Corporation – a Thai industrial construction contractor – which has launched or announced projects in the region, increasing competition and pressure between the various stakeholders involved.
The rivalry between Beijing and Washington represents another important variable capable of influencing the geopolitics of smart cities: following the US ban on Huawei, there has been a polarization of IT systems for smart cities and a technological decoupling. This competition could push China to seek further tech independence and accelerate research and development. The incompatibility of standards and systems could make any future attempt at collaboration between the actors involved impossible, also making the construction of smart cities a zero-sum competitive project.(Open Photo:The city scene of Shanghai at night.123rf)

Francesca Leva/CgP

 

Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bleak future.

On 20 January, President Tshisekedi was sworn in for a second term. But electoral fraud has reached such proportions that the future
looks rather bleak.

Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in as president on 20 January 2024 for a second mandate. On the last 31 December, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) had already declared him the winner of the 20 December 2023 election with 73.4 percent of the votes cast. The incumbent’s victory was confirmed on the last 10 January by the Constitutional Court which is controlled like CENI by Tshisekedi’s appointees. Tshisekedi’s main rival, the former governor of Katanga, Moise Katumbi obtained 18.8 % of the votes. Martin Fayulu, came third with 5.33% while the Peace Nobel 2018, the gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, obtained only 0.27 % of the votes. Yet, such results look surprising since pre-election surveys did not show any of the 20 candidates securing a majority in an election characterized by a low turnout of 43 percent compared to 67 percent in 2018, which can be explained by logistical problems and insecurity which prevented most of the seven million displaced people in the Ituri, Mai Ndombe and North Kivu provinces to cast their votes.

The headquarters of the Congolese Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in Kinshasa. File swm

The election was marred with incidents. The Mission of Observers set by the Catholic bishops’ Conference (CENCO) and the protestant Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) documented over 3,000 cases of interrupted voting. About 42 percent of its reports mentioned missing voter lists, ballot papers and indelible ink or ineligible voter cards.
The Christian observers documented also 247 cases of vote buying, 49 cases of ballot stuffing, the destruction of 51 ballot stations (namely in the Sankuru and Tanganyika provinces), fighting in 551 ballot stations, over 2,000 cases of electronic vote malfunctioning, and 180 cases of intimidation. In 14% of the cases, the lists of voters were not publicly disclosed. About one-third of the reports mention that witnesses did not sign the election minutes.
Thousands of “pirate” voting machines were identified by opposition sources, including five in the home of the President’s mother, Marthe Tshisekedi. The possible involvement in the fraud of CENI’s chairman Denis Kadima was mentioned on social media after he announced the results of the Upper Katanga province before the compilation of the votes had begun.

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, was sworn in for a second term. Photo: The President’s Office.

On 31 December, the main opposition leaders condemned in a joint communiqué what they called “a mock election” and called for “the organization of true elections”. They urged the citizens to demonstrate against the “vote stealers” and save democracy.
The Catholic Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, called the polls “a gigantic organized disorder” during the Christmas mass. In their report, the Christian observers urged CENI and all Congolese courts to draw all appropriate conclusions before proclaiming the provisional results of the ballots of the presidential, legislative, provincial and local elections. It insisted on the need to take into account all the irregularities to ensure the acceptance of the results by the citizens. The authorities’ response was violent: on 27 December police and security forces broke up a protest in Kinshasa, organized by the supporters of Martin Fayulu who spoke of “CENI’s farfetched results”. Other demonstrations took place in Bunia, Goma and Lubumbashi.

In May 2023, the Catholic bishops called for an independent audit of the voter register to foster public confidence. File swm

This chaos was a foretold story. In May 2023, the Catholic bishops called for an independent audit of the voter register to foster public confidence. But their offer to assist experts was dismissed by CENI despite lots of malpractices including the registration of minors, breakdowns of voting machines and the poor quality of voter cards. By then, the Christian observers stressed the lack of consensus in the appointment of CENI members whose president was handpicked by Tshisekedi. The credibility of the election was also harmed by the DRC government’s decision to refuse to accredit observers from the European Union and the East African Community.
The suspicious death on 24 December of a computer expert of the EU Observers Mission who had remained in Kinshasa raised suspicions since he could have been able to assess the validity of the vote and the mismanagement of computerized data by CENI. According to the official version, this expert committed suicide by jumping out from his room at the Hilton hotel. Shortly before, the news agency ACP raised the possibility of assassination before adopting the version of the suicide after the author of the news report was interrogated by the ANR intelligence officers.

The People’s Palace in Kinshasa, which houses the Congolese Parliament. The DRC ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party of President Felix Tshisekedi won the majority of seats in the December parliamentary elections.
CC BY 2.0/ Antoine Moens de hase.

Despite all the incidents that occurred during the ballot, the Christian Observers mission came up with rather “soft” conclusions at the end of December. Their preliminary statement praised CENI’s and the government’s efforts to carry out the electoral process. It also noted that one candidate was well ahead of the others with more than half of the votes cast, confirming thereby Tshisekedi’s lead. This timid conclusion of the churches of their findings is easily understandable, owing to the intimidations and threats they received.
On 27 December 2023, a violent voice message by a pro-Tshisekedi supporter said: “Dear Congolese compatriots, we are fed up with this so-called roman catholic CENCO and co. If the catholic church reacts in a way that is contrary to the truth of the ballots, I shall call all Congolese, the young, the bravest to attack all the buildings of this so-called church, destroy them, attack the faithful during the mass (…) and to beat them to death”.
Such threats were taken seriously by the bishops who remembered earlier violence against the churches. In August 2021, the archbishopric building in Kinshasa and 12 churches in Kasai were attacked and desecrated by pro-Tshisekedi youth after CENCO and the ECC had voiced their disagreement over the appointment of a pro-Tshisekedi chairman at CENI.
The opposition was also intimidated by the murder on 13 July 2023 of Chérubin Okende, a former Minister of Transports and Moise Katumbi’s spokesperson who was found dead in his jeep in Kinshasa after he was kidnapped by six military intelligence officers. Before, on 30 May, the military intelligence arrested at the international airport of Kinshasa, Katumbi’s main adviser Salomon Kalonda who was charged with illegal possession of a weapon and high treason on behalf of Rwanda and of the M23 rebels and, despite the lack of evidence, he is still in jail.

Villagers going to the local market in Bogoro walk past a Bangladeshi patrol unit of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
UN Photo/Martine Perret.

The timid reaction was also encouraged by the attitude of international partners. Before the election, on 19 December, during the debate at the UN Security Council on a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission for the Stabilisation of Congo (MONUSCO), the US ambassador, Robert Wood made this comment, suggesting that the result of elections was not the main issue: “We know that democracy does not end at the ballot box. In fact, it is what comes next that truly matters”, he said.
The impression prevails that the United States’ position is to accept the “fait accompli”, in the hope that Tshisekedi, in contrast with his predecessor Joseph Kabila, will better take into account Western interests suggests the Congolese president’s announcement in May 2023 that huge mining contract with China would be reviewed.
The Belgian government was the first to congratulate Tshisekedi for his alleged victory after the official announcement by the Constitutional Court. The Belgian Foreign Affairs communiqué mentioned logistical and operational failures during the ballot and urged Tshisekedi to continue his efforts in favour of good governance and human rights, despite the assassination and the jailing of opponents and the embezzlement of electoral funds. France also congratulated Tshisekedi in a gesture that meant to avoid a confrontation with the most populated French-speaking country worldwide in a context where its influence in Africa is waning after its troops were ordered out by three Sahel countries.
We also heard that Western diplomates exerted discrete pressures on the bishops to dissuade them from challenging openly the validity of the results. Time will tell if this kind of realpolitik which ignores the will of the Congolese people will bear fruits.
Even if no major trouble has been reported since the proclamation of Tshisekedi’s victory, it is not guaranteed that some of the constitutional reforms proposed by his supporters such as the extension of the presidential mandate from five to seven years or the suppression of the limit of the number of mandates, will be accepted by the Congolese people. (Open Photo: The national flag of the DR. Congo. 123rf)

François Misser

The Paradox of a Country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 64 years after its independence, has, for many years, embodied the paradox of abundance. It is very rich in natural resources while its population is extremely poor.

It is the paradox of a country whose lands are home to the Congo basin, the second largest rainforest in the world in terms of size (smaller only that of the Amazon River basin), as well as Lake Tanganyika, the deepest in Africa and the second largest in the continent.The mineral riches of the DRC are among the richest and most diversified in the world and include vast deposits of copper, cobalt (essential for the production of lithium-ion batteries), coltan (essential for the electronics industry), diamonds, gold, tin, iron, zinc, uranium and petroleum.

The DRC is the world’s fourth-largest producer of diamonds. File swm

Copper production, for example, stood at 2.2 million tonnes in 2022, making DRC the largest copper producer in Africa, second only to Chile and with the same production as Peru.
The country accounts for about 16% of global diamond production and its oil potential remains largely untapped. It also has enormous agricultural potential: it boasts around 80 million hectares of non-forest arable land, of which only 10% is currently cultivated. If this potential were adequately exploited, the country could move from a net importer to a net exporter of food.

Failed objectives
But the data on the living conditions of the population, combining economic, social and environmental dimensions, are not encouraging. Suffice it to say that it has not achieved any of the Millennium Development Goals, set internationally in 2000 and which were to be achieved by 2015, while significant improvements have been recorded
in other countries.
Today, the sustainable development agenda has set ambitious new goals to be achieved by 2030, but poverty continues to remain pervasive and higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa.

The DRC is among the five poorest nations in the world. 123rf

The DRC is among the five poorest nations in the world and, in 2022, almost 62% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day, the threshold adopted by the World Bank to define absolute economic poverty. About one in six people living in absolute poverty in sub-Saharan Africa are in that country.
In 2005 the percentage of people below the absolute poverty threshold was 69.3%, so the situation has improved slightly if read in relative terms. However, in the face of a significant demographic increase, the slight reduction in the percentage has translated into an increase in the absolute number of poor: it has gone from 39.2 million in 2005 (with a population of 56.5 million inhabitants) to 61.4 million in 2022 (with a population of 99 million).

Riches and opportunities wasted
This the story of a country of extraordinary potential riches dotted with missed opportunities, because the high demographic growth (currently 3.23% per year) also means that it is a very young country, with an average age of 15.6 years, that is, with extraordinary energies projected towards the future and an overall population that will double in the space of twenty years.

DR Congo. Group of children. The quality of education is extremely poor. 123rf

Absolute economic poverty is widespread but also very low levels of human development according to the indicators used by the United Nations Development Programme, which uses the Human Development Index (HDI) integrating three fundamental dimensions: health, education and standard of living. Even today, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, life expectancy at birth does not reach 60 years and the infant mortality rate (i.e. the percentage of children who die before they are one year old) is 5%, a very high percentage, which rises to 7.5% considering children who die before reaching the age of 5.

The vicious circle of poverty
The poverty trap is a perverse mechanism that feeds on itself and reinforces itself with poor health, the lack of education, decent working conditions and a living wage – the inability to participate actively in decision-making processes or count for something – and access to resources.However, this is the sort of poverty that does not affect everyone without distinction. Poverty in the DR Congo is not distributed evenly between the regions and the situation worsens where there are conflicts and where employment in the mining sector, especially in artisanal and small-scale mining, has greatly decreased over the years. Then there are particularly vulnerable groups, especially children, people with disabilities, displaced populations, women (especially widows and heads of families), the elderly and indigenous populations.

The DRC is home to a diverse array of indigenous peoples (IPs) who have faced a range of challenges, including forced displacement from their ancestral lands, discrimination, and lack of access to basic services such as healthcare and education. File swm

The poverty trap is a vicious cycle in which poverty itself makes it difficult to escape from poverty because the poor who have limited access to basic rights and resources are more likely to be exposed to violence and conflict. The Indian economist Amartya Sen has repeated it many times: poverty is the deprivation of skills and opportunities that makes people incapable of leading the kind of life they value. And it is this deprivation that takes away spaces of freedom and constitutes the true tragedy of being poor. What is certain is that the future will have to go beyond paying attention to estimates to change things. According to forecasts from the African Development Bank, the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo should grow – mainly driven by the extractive sector – by 7.2% in 2024. (Open Photo: Mauro Burzio)

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