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Cambodia. The will to live.

Monday, 1 April 2024 8:00

Still traumatised by the bloody Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia is struggling to recover its economic strength, which is leading to a real social “cultural revolution” for the seventeen million inhabitants
of the Land of Smiles.

Cambodia is one of the oldest empires in the world. Throughout its history, it has been marked externally by wars with neighbouring empires and internally by clan struggles for power. However, the country has retained its national identity to this day. The succession of monarchs of the Khmer Empire was not strictly hereditary but governed by palace revolutions, hatched by members of clans more or less close to power.

Cambodia political map.123rf

The history of kingship is similar to that exercised in other kingdoms of the world. The sovereign by divine right must protect his subjects, like the father of a family. Belonging to the social group takes precedence over the individual. The use of appellatives in social relationships illustrates the predominance of the group over the individual, it shows the position of each person within the group and the respect that the younger one owes to the older person he meets. The use of personal pronouns marks a recent evolution in society and language. Appellations and qualifiers or honorifics mark the rank in society and social class of the person you are speaking to. Throughout its history, Cambodia has remained a rural country. Its economy was based on agriculture, and up until the late 1990’s there was a limited number of cities.

Families are attached to their land and cultivate it from generation to generation. Pixabay.

Families are attached to their land and cultivate it from generation to generation, it is a simple and dignified line of work. The social body gives meaning and regulates the lives of family members. Each family is led by one of its members, whom everyone must respect. Each person contributes to the life of the family according to their age and working capacity. Children have no responsibilities; they learn by watching the elderly work, education in schools is not considered a priority. From puberty, they begin to do their share of work but are declared “unmarried”, which is the the word used in the Khmer language equivalent to “celibate” or “not yet married” and are still under the yoke of the family. From the day after their wedding, they will take a full part by right in family life: their mission will be to have children and participate in agricultural work. Respect and exemplary behaviour are the pillars of family life and those who do not respect these values disgrace themselves. Apsara dance. (Illustration: Pixabay)
(F-X. D.)

The Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror.

Monday, 1 April 2024 8:00

Pol Pot’s regime caused one million seven hundred thousand deaths, devastating families and the entire country.

Being a French protectorate brought no significant changes in Cambodian life or economy except for introduction of more formal rules for civil registration and education.
Thus, the pagoda monks retained responsibility for primary schools but were required to obtain state teaching diplomas to professionalise and improve the quality of the education provided.
The administration was developed by the protectorate: centralised from the capital Phnom Penh and transmitted to the respective cities of the provinces. It was not able to prevent a form of cronyism between users of administrative services and the officials responsible for them, thus corruption was allowed to take hold. The rise in poverty, after the end of the protectorate and the political challenges of corrupt power, led Cambodia to civil war with the coming to power of the leaders of the movements grouped under the name of Khmer Rouge.

A plaque at the stupa/monument to mark the formation of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation monument on 2nd December 1978 in Kratie Province. Shutterstock /AlanMorris

The Chinese-inspired Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 had the same devastating effect as the cultural revolution in China. From a human, social and economic point of view, the death toll from the deadly violence associated with the Maoist ideology that animated the Khmer Rouge cadres devastated whole families and the entire country.
In 1979, Vietnam, then politically affiliated with the former USSR, ended the Khmer Rouge regime by sending its army into Cambodia with the help of dissident officers of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Vietnamese military officially left the country after the signing of the Paris Agreement in 1991. It was only from that year on that the country gradually regained its sovereignty and saw its economy slowly recover. As a first step, many non-governmental organizations, financed by the United Nations and donor countries, helped the country and the government in the work of reconstruction. The results of these actions are mixed.
While many development programs have had significant results, others have led to the diversion of funds into the country’s power circles and the spread of corruption.

Cambodian families who had been displaced lost everything. Pixabay

Cambodian families who had been displaced lost everything: their marital status, family members, land, homes, properties, property titles, etc. They were unable to reclaim anything of their pre-Civil War possessions. The watchword, which became law, was: “First come, first served”. This made it possible to generate, without faith or law, the movable and immovable heritage of a well-informed family, which had so far been a source of conflict. The economy, although growing at an impressive annual rate, started from a very low base. Everything had to be rebuilt: the country’s electricity grid and, first and foremost, access to and distribution of drinking water. The education and training of children and young people was a difficult topic. By taking responsibility for education as a whole, the government centralized its administration.

The quality of schools and the motivation of teachers in urban centres and in the areas surrounding the capital have created a gap with rural areas. Pixabay

The pagodas lost responsibility for primary schools: teachers became state officials. All intellectuals had been eliminated by the Khmer Rouge regime and professors had been arrested and killed in large numbers. The government has had to appeal to people of goodwill who are poorly educated and demotivated due to low wages and rather limited material conditions of education. The quality of schools and the motivation of teachers in urban centres and in the areas surrounding the capital have resulted in a gap with rural areas.
In recent years the government has paid more attention to the quality of teacher training and its distribution across the country.
However, the final dropout rate for pupils is still significant, as poor families take on large debts for their children’s education. Young people leave school too soon, to go to work. At the same time, we are seeing the emergence of an educated middle class in cities. (Open Photo: The former S-21 Security Prison, now Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. CC BY-SA 4.0/Bjørn Christian Tørrissen)
(F-X. D.)

Cameroon. Those ten seconds of humanity.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

This is the time necessary, according to Mireille Yoga, director of the Edimar Centre in Yaoundé, to restore a look of dignity to a street child. Testimony of personal and social commitment.

“My name is Mireille Yoga, director of the Edimar Centre in Yaoundé and mother of four adopted children and five in foster care.” This is how this Cameroonian woman introduces herself with a broad smile. As for children, she has had many more. They are the ones who have passed through the Edimar Centre. It is located in front of the station of the Cameroonian capital to offer a point of reference to all those children and young people who are forced to live on the streets.

Mireille and some boys at the Edimar Centre. Photo: Avsi

Mireille is the soul of this centre and of all the activities that take place around it because what drives her is a deep faith and a profound sense of closeness which is also translated into very strong personal choices. “My husband and I couldn’t have children – she says. At one point I was truly obsessed with the desire to give my husband a child. Luckily, he is an open and understanding person. One day my husband told me that perhaps the Lord was calling me to spiritual motherhood. I felt that what he was offering me was not just a job. It was something much bigger that responded to my need and my pain.”
It was something that opened the doors to a welcome that became family and community, personal and social commitment, and which has translated into a myriad of meetings and friendships which,
in turn, continue to create new possibilities for building a new humanity from the bottom up.
The Edimar Centre itself today is truly something very big and special, not only because it has helped – and continues to do so – hundreds of street children and young people, but because it has inoculated Cameroonian society with many signs of hope. “The Edimar Centre is a large tree, that continues to grow and bear fruit which gives us incredible strength. Its first seed was planted in the country of Cameroon by an Italian priest, Father Maurizio Bezzi, to help create a new sort of humanity for all those who have been abandoned or who feel abandoned, who have taken refuge in the streets and places where no one dares to go. Edimar is the possibility of discovering the beauty of their hearts and the ability to see that there is hope.”

Street Children at the Edimar Centre. Photo: Avsi

It is not easy, nor is it for everyone. In Cameroon, many don’t even want to see these kids. They call them nanga boko, which means ‘Those who sleep outside’, but the term has taken on a very derogatory meaning. People and authorities consider them as the scum of society and treat them as criminals, thieves and liars.
Father Maurizio, who lived in Cameroon from 1987 to 2018, was inspired by Brother Yves Lascanne, a Little Brother, a pioneer in working with street children; he had first collaborated with the Foyer de l’Espérance, the House of Hope, and then he created the Edimar Centre in 2002 with a specific objective: to contrast violence with friendship, mistrust with confidence.
“In these twenty-two years – Mireille recalls -, we can say that a generation of children have left the streets and after them their children who have never known that way of life, who have never slept, eaten, stolen or been abused on the streets. A new generation is going to school. And this is an incredible and beautiful thing.”
At the same time, Mireille is worried about the increasing number of street girls whose situation is even more dramatic because they suffer a lot of abuse. They often become pregnant and their children are born and grow up on the street. Furthermore, there are more and more “families” on the street, often obviously dysfunctional.
Economic difficulties and the loss of values have aggravated the situation, creating a “Parallel” society.
Mireille and her staff, however, were not discouraged, on the contrary. Without the Centre, the boys and girls would have gone to the streets. “With our educators, we have tried to follow especially the little ones in the places where they meet. Whenever possible, we directed them to return to the village or join some relatives.”

Mireille with her husband Victorien and their children, Andrée and Jéremie. Photo: Avsi

So, they intensified their presence on the streets, trying to reach even the most ‘difficult’ kids, those who use alcohol and drugs: kids who, almost always, also reveal themselves to be the most vulnerable because they are exposed to everything. “With the Edimar operators – continues Mireille – we returned to the streets more frequently. We tried to raise awareness so that they could protect themselves from contagion and many other risks. And then we started a kind of school in the street, teaching reading and writing on the ground, in the sand and the dust.”
From the experience of street schools, we began to create some basic professional courses. “It’s a first step – says Mireille – but it’s very important that children realise the importance of education for their future and that they may one day be included in a real school. For this reason, we have also started the construction of some dormitories, a little outside the centre, so that they can have a simple but quiet place to concentrate on their studies.”
Street school, like many other activities, is not just a learning opportunity, but first and foremost a chance to meet and shake hands with kids, to look them in the eyes for ten seconds. «Ten seconds of dignity! – Mireille underlines forcefully -.
Some of the kids who met that gaze today have returned as volunteers to help those still on the streets. “It’s wonderful to see that those who have encountered an outstretched hand now have the desire to do the same with others. Friendship and education can bring out the desire and ability to give as well as receive. In this way the circle never closes,” concludes Mireille. And so those ten seconds full of humanity allow a beautiful story to continue to be written. (Open Photo: 123rf)

Anna Pozzi/MM

The Long Journey of Shea Butter.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

From the savannahs of Africa to the global cosmetics industry, we reveal the secrets of a prodigious butter. Shea dominates advertisements and the labels of body care creams, but its uses in Africa are multiple, not only linked to cosmetics. We went to Ghana to see how this surprising butter is created, a product that generates jobs for women and helps protect the environment.

A group of colourfully dressed women are sitting on bright mats arranged around a tree. Each one has at her side a large aluminium container full of a thick dark brown mush that she mixes with gestures that seem to recall ancient rituals. The Slender arms of young girls in their early teens and the wrinkled wrists of elderly women move in unison, almost caressing the brown molasses with circular gestures and then giving it a sudden blow, very like a slap that makes the entire contents of the tub tremble. It’s hard to believe, but that fluid with the colour and consistency of mud will become, after a long refining process, a highly sought-after white opaline substance now widespread throughout the world: shea butter.
We are in Nyankpala, a village on the road that connects Tolon to Tamale, in northern Ghana, one of the regions where the production of karité or shea butter, is most widespread. As often happens, it is the name of the product that best explains its origins: it is believed that the English word shea derives from the Bambara term shìs, while in the Wolof language, the nuts and their butter are called kharitì, from which comes the French karité.

A woman processes Shea tree nuts into Shea butter. CC BY-SA 2.0/ Treeaid

The so-called Shea Belt, the territory of shea butter, occurs in fact in the savannah areas south of the Sahara, from the hinterland of Senegal to the north of Cameroon, with peaks in Central Africa and Chad, but the bulk of production is concentrated between Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Nigeria.For at least ten years, shea has dominated advertising and the labels of creams and body care products, but it has many uses in these areas that are not necessarily linked to the production of cosmetics: butter is used to make candles, medicines and soaps, but it is used primarily as food. It is an excellent fat for frying and is both economical and nutritious; the flavour that shea imparts to dishes is unmistakable, strong and at times earthy, halfway between that of hazelnuts and roots, so much so that it has become a distinctive feature of the traditional cuisine of many Sahelian regions.

From fruit to butter
This versatile and highly sought-after product originates as a small fruit, similar to a green plum, which grows on tall trees with thin, oblong leaves. However, the sweet and tasty pulp hides a much greater treasure: a smooth stone with the appearance of a chestnut, which through long processing and refining processes will transform into the well-known butter.In these areas of Ghana, domestic production is practised by almost all families in the rainy season, when the green fruits ripen, but, since butter is the cheapest and most appreciated element for frying, demand is high throughout the year.

Shea Butter seeds are used for preparing oil. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Amuzujoe

For this reason, artisanal wholesalers or professional producers accumulate large quantities of stones to be able to make and sell the product even in the dry season.
Initially, the process begins with boiling, followed by breaking the shell, the so-called crushing, which in the villages still happens manually, in wooden mortars struck rhythmically with long poles; the nuts are then roasted for the first time and again ground. This is but the beginning of a still long process that continues with the meticulous mixing phases, an ancient art that takes place in groups, in courtyards, or under a tree, and which enables the production of a preparation that is perfectly fluid and easily refined. The last step is the long boiling of the raw butter and its refinement, gradually removing the light parts that come to the surface to obtain a product with its characteristic amber-white colour.

The challenges of the economy and the climate
At Tamale market, shea butter is sold in small, coloured pots from which it flows out in tall white cones that resemble the spires of traditional mosques made of plastered mud. A customer lets out a cry of surprise when she hears the price. Inflation and the increase in the cost of living are hitting hard here too, but the challenges are many: the ever-increasing demand for butter for the cosmetics industry in the Western world has caused a significant increase in prices but also a distortion of traditional production and sales networks.
In such a delicate context, urbanization also becomes a challenge: Tamale and the other medium-small towns are growing at frightening rates, much higher than the regional average. Although shea trees are protected by law, they are increasingly being cut down to make way for houses and roads or even for firewood.

Women selling shea butter in Ghana. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Dominic A. Kyilleh

A significant environmental problem: these plants which require little water, survive drought, and do not require fertilisers, are fundamental for ensuring an ecosystem balance in savannah areas; not to mention that a shea tree can take up to twenty years to bear new fruit, a very long time that does not allow this heritage to be affected. A further demonstration of how traditional productions, social networks and environmental protection go hand in hand and are all parts of a single precious mosaic that must be preserved.
The sun, still high in the sky, filters through the leaves and enhances the bright colours of the mats; the laughter and voices of the women overlap the rhythmic sounds of hands as they stir the butter: the long journey of the shea butter is just beginning, but it is already rich in colours, sounds and timeless traditions. (Open Photo: Shea Butter. Shutterstock/Maramorosz)

Federico Monica/Africa

The Horn of Africa Unprotected.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

A political earthquake in the Middle East with strong repercussions, also for the economy, on the part of Africa that overlooks the Red Sea. These are consequences of the Hamas attack on Israel followed by the war of annihilation in Gaza. The already fragile architecture of peace and security in the Horn of Africa is at risk.

The Red Sea has always been a strategic element for Israel and its instability arouses concern in Tel Aviv. A quarter of Israeli maritime trade, until now handled by the port of Eilat, in the Gulf of Aqaba, an inlet of the Red Sea, has already been seriously reduced. Hundreds of ships choose to circumnavigate Africa to avoid the risks of attacks by drones launched by the Houthis of Yemen.
Israel has long viewed the Red Sea littoral countries – Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia – as pieces of the puzzle of its long security frontier.
Historically, Egypt has shared the same concern of losing considerable resources related to the passage of ships through the Suez Canal. Last year, the Canal’s revenue was $9.4 billion: Egypt’s third largest producer of American foreign currency, preceded only by remittances from Egyptians working in the Gulf states and the tourism industry.
The collapse of maritime security from Suez and Eilat to the Gulf of Aden would cause immense damage to both Israel and Egypt.

Cargo ships stand in the port of Eilat on the Red Sea (Israel).123rf

The Red Sea has today become a strategic area, not only for the other powers present for years, but also for China which has established its first military base abroad in Djibouti. Every year over 10% of world maritime trade, with 25 thousand ships, enters the Red Sea coming from the Gulf of Aden through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb.
Saudi Arabia, for its part, after having neglected those coasts for a long time, has rediscovered their importance in the last decade. Among other things, in the 1980s, out of fear that Iran could block oil tanker traffic through the Persian Gulf, Arabia built an oil pipeline and a large refinery in an east-west direction to exploit the Aqaig oil fields at the port of Yanbu’al-Bahr on the Red Sea. Now strategic, this structure has returned to the centre of Riyadh’s attention. At the same time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on track to secure a monopoly on the ports of the Gulf of Aden, which constitutes the eastern access to the Red Sea.
In this way, they effectively annexed the Yemeni island of Socotra to make it a naval base. The UAE are therefore also looking for a foothold in the Red Sea and a series of strategic positions on the African shore. Even before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out, therefore, all the Arab countries in the area had intensified the race to secure naval bases in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The famous Camp Lemonnier of the USA is present in Djibouti together with similar French, Italian, Japanese, Saudi and Chinese structures (the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain rely on them). Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia have long been trying to obtain space for military bases in Port Sudan and on the coast of Eritrea.

The Ambitions of the Gulf States
In short, there is nothing unusual in the Horn of Africa being at the mercy of the great powers and those of the Middle East. But this process has now intensified. Furthermore, for decades there has been competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran to gain hegemony over Sudan and Eritrea in different ways.
Sudanese general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, former political partner of Benjamin Netanyahu and signatory of the so-called Abraham Agreement, now in full conflict with his former ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), signed an agreement with Iran, to obtain armaments. A move that has brought its proximity to Egypt and Saudi Arabia into question.

Large container vessel ship MSC Maya passing Suez Canal. 123rf

More recently, the regional ambitions of Turkey and Qatar have clashed with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, largely due to the Muslim Brotherhood – supported by Ankara and opposed by Riyadh. Among Middle Eastern states, the UAE has been the most moderate in condemning Israel for the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The government in Doha has stated that it does not intend to confuse trade and politics, which means it will continue to implement the economic cooperation agreements signed with Israel following the Abraham Accords.
The UAE is also located at the centre of the India/Middle East/Europe corridor (Imec), a geo-strategic asset sponsored by the United States and presented at the G20 summit in September in India as a response to the Chinese Silk Road initiative (Belt and Road).

Sudan between Riyad and Abu Dhabi
After the outbreak of the war in Sudan in April 2023, the joint Saudi-American mediation had the aim, among other things, of mending relations between Washington and Riyadh on the US side. The talks in Jeddah, which resumed at the end of October with a program of a ceasefire and humanitarian access, and with the involvement of the African Union, have so far not had a positive outcome. Meanwhile, the Emirates continues to support General Hemeti, who is gaining ground and now controls Khartoum, Wad Madani and other locations.

The president of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan.

This after almost eleven months of fighting in which Hemeti’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have earned a reputation for military capability but also for total disregard for the dignity, life and rights of civilians. Although the Sudanese middle class opposes the RSF, the president of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, known as MBZ, has remained a strong ally of Hemeti who could soon proclaim a new government, legitimising himself by involving civil society leaders.
His recent trips to Uganda and Ethiopia to win over their governments seem to go in this direction. At the same time, General al-Burhan is probably planning to form a government based in Port Sudan. A Libyan scenario is looming.

America and the Pax Africana
As with Trump, peace and security in the Horn of Africa is not a real priority for Biden. While an American security umbrella has long existed on the Arabian Peninsula, the countries of the Horn of Africa have had to develop their own peace and security system, based on a multi-level multilateral structure involving the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the UN, with peacekeeping forces and missions financed mostly by the European Union.

The USA Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. File swm

Donald Trump, being indifferent to Africa, had allowed his intermediaries – Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – to freely pursue their interests through the Horn of Africa. On the whole, the Biden administration has not changed this approach. Rare visits to Africa by American officials are not enough… As long as Biden’s policy in the Horn of Africa is managed by the State Department’s Bureau for Africa – whose diplomats are unlikely to earn the attention needed from their counterparts in the regimes of the Gulf – Washington’s views will remain essentially irrelevant. This political shortsightedness has contributed to worsening the crisis of the entire region. On the other hand, the political tradition of the United States of allowing Israel to ignore international law has seen growing discredit for the United States by Israel’s allies in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in particular), who are actively dismantling the already faltering pillars of Africa’s peace and security system. Those who pay the price, as always, are the African countries that most need an internal and external apparatus for the continent that acts in the line of multilateralism based on well-defined principles. (Open Photo: The cargo ship transporting containers across the Red Sea.123rf)

Alex De Waal

Peace in the Holy Land.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

God of Comfort,
send your Spirit to encompass all those whose lives
are torn apart by violence and death in Israel and Palestine.
You are the Advocate of the oppressed
and the One whose eye is on the sparrow.
Let arms reach out in healing, rather than aggression.
Let hearts mourn rather than militarize.

God of Justice,

give strength to those whose long work for just peace
might seem fruitless now. Strengthen their resolve.
Do not let them feel alone. Show us how to support their work
and bolster their courage. Guide religious leaders to model
unity and reconciliation across lines of division.
Guide political leaders to listen with their hearts as they seek peace and pursue it. Help all people choose the rigorous path of just peace and disavow violence.

God of Love,

we lift up Palestine and Israel – its people, its land, its creatures.
War is a monster that consumes everything in its path.
Peace is a gift shared at meals of memory with Christians,
Muslims, and Jews.
Let us burn incense, not children. Let us break bread, not bodies.
Let us plant olive groves, not cemeteries.
We beg for love and compassion to prevail
on all your holy mountains.

God of Hope,

we lift up the cities of the region: Gaza City and Tel Aviv,
Ramallah and Ashkelon, Deir El Balah and Sderot,
so long divided, yet so filled with life and creativity.
Come again to breathe peace on your peoples
that all may recognize you.

God of Mercy,

even now work on the hearts of combatants
to choose life over death, reconciliation over retaliation,
restoration over destruction. Help us resist antisemitism in all its forms,
especially in our own churches. All people, Israelis and Palestinians,
deserve to live in peace and unafraid, with a right to determine their future together.

God of the Nations,

let not one more child or elder be sacrificed on altars
of political expediency.
Keep safe all people from unjust leaders who would exploit
vulnerability for their own distorted ends.
Give wise discernment to those making decisions to pursue peace.
Provide them insight into fostering well-being, freedom,
and thriving for all.

Teach all of us to resolve injustices with righteousness, not rockets.
Guard our hearts against retaliation, and give us hearts for love alone.Strengthen our faith in you, O God of All Flesh,
even when we don’t have clear answers,
so that we may still offer ourselves non-violently
for the cause of peace. Amen
Photo: 123rf

A tortuous political journey.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

After the catastrophic war against the Triple Alliance, the country was crisscrossed by bitter political struggles and episodes of civil war between gangs, supported by Brazil and Argentina, who competed for the division of the Paraguayan territory.

The Colorado party was in power and governed uninterruptedly from 1870 to 1904 when it was ousted by the victory of the liberals who remained there until the Chaco war of 1932, won by Paraguay. In the following years, the country was overwhelmed by a militarist wave, with coups d’état soon followed by civil wars and armed clashes, until reaching the coup of 1954 which ensured Alfredo Stroessner, head of the Colorado party, power for thirty-five years.

Alfredo Stroessner. He was president from 1954 to 1989. CC BY-SA 4.0/TheStronista1954.

Stroessner, who was initially supported by the Argentine president Juan Domingo Perón, initially enjoyed broad popular consensus which was shattered between 1958 and 1962 with the growth of the phenomenon of armed struggle, carried out largely by Paraguayan exiles in Argentina whose intent was to establish a true democratic government.
From an economic point of view, Stroessner took measures aimed at a more equitable distribution of wealth which, however, proved ineffective. These included the expropriation of enormous quantities of land which, in a short space of time returned to the hands of large landowners, as the farmers, without the tools for processing and adequate resources, were forced to sell their lands. During his presidency, the Itaipú dam was also built which, even if it immediately guaranteed an impetus to the country’s economy with economic growth of 9% per year – the highest in Latin America, these effects proved to be short-lived due to the burdensome foreign debt.

Aerial view of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam on the Parana River. It was built under Stroesser’s presidency. Shutterstock/Jose Luis Stephens

A new Constitution was also passed which, not providing for any maximum limit on the re-election of the President, allowed Stroessner to remain in power until 1989, the year in which the strength of the opposition became evident also due to the profound economic crisis. This created the conditions for a new coup d’état which gave power into the hands of Andrés Rodríguez, Stroessner’s father-in-law. Rodríguez, animated by democratic intentions, prepared the ground for the 1993 elections which began a period of democratic stability in which the Colorado Party almost always had the upper hand in the electoral consultations. These electoral affirmations were also determined by the fact that the Paraguayan elites, as Federico Larsen clearly highlights, have historically had a conservative and traditionalist imprint. This applies both to the revolutionary aristocracy that led the independence process of 1811 and to the military, civil and ecclesiastical groups that supported the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.
On closer inspection, in fact, the nationalist conservatives governed the country without interruption for 61 years – supporting General Alfredo Stroessner for 35 years – and precisely until 2008, the year in which the unprecedented administration of centre-left took power, chaired by Fernando Lugo. Except the Lugo parenthesis, Paraguay was, in fact, the only country in the southern cone not to be involved in the waves of progressive governments that swept the region at the beginning of the 20th century, in the 1940s and in the early 2000s.

Santiago Peña Palacio, president of Paraguay since 2023.

The success of the conservatives was also confirmed in the electoral round of last April 30 with the affirmation of Santiago Pena of the Colorado party who obtained 42.74 percent of the votes, more than 1.29 million, as against 27.49 percent for Alegre. In third place was the ultra-conservative leader Payo Cubas, candidate of the National Crusade, with 22.92 percent of the vote, thus proving to be the surprise of the electoral round. During the electoral campaign, the issue relating to relations with Taiwan and the renewal of the agreements with Brazil, for the management of Itaipú, which expired last August, was heavily debated. Paraguay is one of the few countries in the world to recognize Taiwan and not the People’s Republic of China. This factor is of crucial importance for the United States given that if Paraguay were to change front it would make possible the opening of negotiations for a free trade agreement between China and Mercosur, a topic that has been debated for years between the four member countries of the organization also following the impressive Chinese economic penetration in Latin America. Paraguay, however, is skilled in using this leverage both in relations with the United States, which is the country’s largest economic donor, and with Taipei which guarantees it the technology to improve its monitoring of the Paraná basin. Regarding relations with Brazil, the two countries find themselves at a crucial point in which they are about to start negotiations for the renewal of the dam management contracts.
In this regard, during a bilateral meeting last July between the two Presidents Peña and Lula, the need for progress was highlighted: in the integration of production chains and transport infrastructure, including the river routes in the Paraná basin and the interoceanic corridor, and in the EU Mercosur agreement.

The legislative building in Asunción. CC BY-SA 4.0/Cryaven

The current geopolitical posture of the country is in continuity with that assumed in the past in which it held, together with Uruguay, a role as a buffer country to avoid regional integration and, in particular, between Argentina and Brazil. In this regard, Larsen cites two examples from recent history that give a good idea of the objectives pursued by the country: the first concerns the construction of dams for electricity generation near the Triple Border (with Argentina and Brazil) in the seventies, which allowed Asunción to carve out a certain strategic importance by fuelling the rivalry between Brasilia and Buenos Aires; while the second concerns the entry of Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela into Mercosur – greatly desired by Lula and the then Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, but rejected by the Paraguayan parliament – which was only possible after the suspension of Paraguay from the organization, as it was deemed an anti-democratic country, due to the impeachment of Fernando Lugo carried out by the Chambers in 2012. (Open Photo: Lopez presidential palace at night in Asuncion, Paraguay capital. Shutterstock/Paulo Nabas)
F.R.

Guinea-Bissau. Getting married.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

The Manjak people are an ethnic group living in Guinea-Bissau. They number about 100,000 and are scattered throughout both the continental and insular region. They are mainly rice cultivators. Keeping cultural traditions alive is important among this group.
The ritual and traditions related to marriage are among the most interesting ones.

During the kakaw, when rice begins to sprout, the young people of the villages organise parties with dinners and dances. Girls also attend dances and, on these occasions, they wear the dress that they will wear on the day they leave their parental home to get married.The commitment between a couple becomes official when some members of the boyfriend’s family (those related to the father’s side) visit the girlfriend’s family and bring them two or three pumpkin bowls
filled with palm wine.

The commitment between a couple becomes official when some members of the boyfriend’s family visit the girlfriend’s family and bring them two or three pumpkin bowls filled with palm wine. 123rf

The acceptance of the gifts means that a tie has been established between the two families. At this point, the girl visits her future parents-in-law and stays with them for about two weeks. During this time, she helps them with housework and gets to know the habits of her future husband’s family. The family patriarch’s wife generally assists her and, in most cases, the two of them become friends.

The procession
On the eve of the girl’s departure from home, the naekkalo, the family patriarch, consults a soothsayer, and offers sacrifices to the u-caay, the spirit of the house, and to the p-cap, the spirits of the ancestors.
On the departure day, at nightfall, the namaka, the patriarch’s wife, anoints the spouse’s body with palm oil and helps her to wear the pagne, the wedding dress, then covers her shoulders with the kalenj kafang, the funeral pagne, and they reach the place where two bridesmaids are waiting.

On the sixth day, the bride returns to her parents to pick up the gifts the couple received. 123rf

The bride, leaves her home and helped by the bridesmaids joins a procession made up of women and her future husband’ s friends. The procession moves slowly, it is supposed to reach the bride and groom’s future house only at dawn. The bride sings a song, which she has composed herself, along with the bridesmaids and the other women.
Men mark the rhythm. From time to time, they lift the bride and take her 50 metres ahead, since they are convinced that she, like the king, is not supposed to step on the big fromagers’ roots.
The women, in their turn, during song pausing, give suggestions to the bride and remind her of the ritual she must perform once she has reached the threshold of her future house.
An old woman is waiting for the people in procession outside the house. She is clutching a rooster in one hand and a gourd in the other. She welcomes the people attending the ceremony and proceeds with the kalat uging ritual. She draws a line on the floor and pours a little wine. She then lays the rooster down on the line and invites the bride to come closer. Another woman grasps the bride’s right foot and places it
on the head of the roster.

An old woman is waiting for the people in procession outside the house. 123rf

The old woman now, beheads the bird with a sudden jerk. A third woman, then, takes the bride’s little finger and helps her to cross the line soaked with blood. Now the marriage is consecrated. The bride promises to respect marriage commitments. Any infringement would have serious consequences. When the ritual is over, the people enter the house and split into two groups.
The men with the husband’s friends and relatives reach the courtyard where the ‘pumpkins of the night’ have been placed. The bride’s sisters and the other women stay inside the house. The older wife offers the young bride a gourd full of palm wine, the girl pours some drops on the floor, as a sacrificial gesture, and drinks some of it. She then invites the other women to enjoy the banquet.

Together at last
The day after the wedding celebration, the family patriarch and his wife, take the amount of rice destined to wedding dinners away from the barn. The eldest sister of the family is in charge of the wedding dinner preparation. She will be the cook and the supervisor of meals, supposed to be four a day. She will present the bride with a rice-based menu with palm oil, bananas and chicken.
The first four nights after the wedding ceremony, the bride and the groom do not sleep together. The bride shares the house with two bridesmaids. Then, finally, on the fifth night, an old woman takes the bride to her husband. On the sixth day, the bride returns to her parents to pick up the gifts the couple received. She then visits the relatives of both families to ask for more gifts. Afterward, she will visit the peers and the elders of the village. Before returning to the conjugal house, the bride gives half of the gifts she received to her family. (Open Photo: 123rf)

Kabi Manuel Kumba

An economy controlled by a few.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

Paraguay is a country with a strong rural vocation where the agri-food sector predominates, firmly in the hands of the landed oligarchies active in the production of soya, mostly transgenic, wheat, and rice.

These crops also constitute the majority of exported goods, together with hydroelectric energy of which the country is the world’s leading exporter thanks to the production of the two large binational hydroelectric power plants: Itaipu (Paraguay and Brazil) and Yacyretà (Paraguay-Argentina), and that of further plants, certainly of smaller size, located within the national territory.
Paraguay also produces sugar cane, used mainly for the manufacture of rum and alcohol, tobacco, and cotton. In the few plots of land owned by farmers and small landowners, subsistence agriculture has developed, producing corn, cassava, beans, and fruit. The predominance of the agricultural sector, both industrial and subsistence, must, however, deal with the climate factor whose effects make crops vulnerable and, consequently, the economy of the entire country. Also of great importance is the livestock sector, which is gaining importance in the international meat market, and in particular, the extensive beef sector, which is dominant in the central regions of the Chaco and is among the main causes of deforestation in this area.

Herd of cows near Coronel Bogado town. About 85% of the land, around 30 million hectares, is owned by just 2% of the agrarian oligarchy.123rf

In addition to agriculture, trade and services also offer good support to the country’s economy which, unfortunately, is characterized by significant territorial heterogeneity in which the departments of Asunción, Alto Paraná, Central and Presidente Hayes are remarkable for their vivacity. The major national industries linked to the food sector are concentrated in Asunción and Central – sugar factories, meat processing and preservation industries and the production of alcoholic beverages – electromechanical chemical industries, cotton textiles, tobacco, wood, leather, glass, and concrete.
Last year the country stood out, compared to the countries in the area, for its economic performance whose growth is around 4.5%, reversing the trend of 2022 which reached only 0.2% due to climatic factors that have had a strong impact on the agricultural sector. This year’s positive performance, however, is unlikely to produce benefits for the entire population which experiences high levels of poverty dictated by the unequal redistribution of resources. We must bear in mind that 85% of the land, around 30 million hectares, is owned by just 2% of the agrarian oligarchy, the Human Development Index, calculated by the United Nations, places the country 105th in the global ranking, while 40% of the population live below the poverty line. In rural areas, 41.2% of the population does not have a monthly income to cover basic needs, while in urban centres this percentage is 27.6%.

In rural areas, 41.2% of the population does not have a monthly income to cover basic needs. Photo: Pixabay

For many poor people, the river constitutes a thriving economic resource, enabling them to irrigate their fields and engage in fishing. They sell their fish and agricultural products in the local markets.
This has, however, generated problems in large cities such as Asunción where farmers who have fallen into poverty have moved along the banks of the river in search of an easier life, even if they are periodically
forced to deal with the floods that oblige them to move to temporary accommodation.Paraguay is among the founding countries
of Mercosur and the WTO.
At the regional level, Brazil and Argentina constitute the major economic partners. Furthermore, the country has also signed trade agreements with Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Morocco, Mexico, and India. Profitable trade relations are maintained with the United States, the Russian Federation, Singapore, and China. Regarding China, it is worth highlighting that in recent years, following the pandemic and swine fever which also spread to the Asian continent, Paraguayan soy and meat producers have exerted strong pressure on the country’s governments, aimed at facilitating exports towards the Chinese market. This pressure, however, has not had the desired effects due to the strong diplomatic ties that exist with Taiwan which, if called into question, would alter regional geopolitical structures.

The Triple Frontier, a tri-border area between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Shutterstock/ lu_sea

The expansion of the country’s trade and industrial development are also strongly conditioned by infrastructure and telecommunications deficiencies, despite the geographical centrality of the country and the connection with the river system, known as Hidrovia and of which the Paraná is also a part, on which ports of international importance such as that of Rosario are located on the coasts. However, this system is heavily exploited by criminal organizations for their illicit trafficking which benefits from the poor security conditions and the absence of controls, also by a Mercosur regulation which, to facilitate navigation on the channels, provides for the prohibition of carrying out checks on goods in transit. This led to the signing of a memorandum with Washington which allowed the landing of US military personnel, whose presence should guarantee ‘better navigability conditions’ in the stretch of river that crosses Paraguay, as well as combatting drug trafficking, in particular cannabis, of which the country is the main producer in the area. Cocaine also travels via river from Bolivia and Peru and has an important logistical hub in Paraguay, as demonstrated by the huge drug seizures made in Europe, managed by massive criminal structures. From there, the drugs are directed towards Montevideo where the Hidrovia ends, thus entering into connection with the Atlantic ports. The porosity of the Triple Frontera, defined as a strategic hub for criminal and terrorist groups from across the continent, becomes crucial for the development of this business whose value is said to amount to 43 billion dollars a year. It is worth pointing out that some analysts warn against excessive emphasis on the criminal and terrorist phenomenon present in the Triple. It will be functional, in their opinion, to create the conditions for greater penetration by Washington in the area, to exploit the natural water resources (which the USA lacks) of the Guarani basin and, at the same time, keeping Brazil and Argentina under strict control. (Open Photo: Asunción waterfront. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Overkill53)

Filippo Romeo

Asia. Walking together.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

The experience of the Missions Etrangères de Paris which from Europe paved the way for evangelization on the continent in the 17th century. The commitment to the church in China. The reception of Asian priests in France. We talked with Father Vincent Sénéchal, the Superior General Father of the Missions Etrangères de Paris

“We are currently around 150 missionaries present in 14 different countries: 12 in Asia and two in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar and Mauritius – said the superior general Father Vincent Sénéchal, a missionary in Cambodia for years -. In the 17th century, we were founded to accompany the growth of the Churches in Asian countries. What does this charism mean today? Of course, the mission has changed since then. Interreligious dialogue is an example of this: living in India cultivating relationships with Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims is something we have never done before and also helps us reflect on evangelization. But our main task remains the same: to strengthen the Church where it is numerically small, to evangelise together with local communities. And we do this by trying to respond to their needs: in some contexts, it means helping in the training of local clergy. But there are others where the Church is still being born today: I think, for example, of the diocese of Port-Bergé in Madagascar, where Catholics are a small minority and where the bishop is still one of our missionaries.”

Father Vincent Sénéchal, the Superior General Father of the Missions Etrangères de Paris.

A role, therefore, of service to the local Churches, rather than carrying out their programs: “Many bishops tell us: we are grateful because you come to stay with us, not to build your house here – continued Father Sénéchal -. For us, this is a fundamental face of the missionary spirit.”One of the forms of this service is also the welcome given in France to priests who come from Asia to study at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the most important French theological faculty. “We usually accommodate between 65 and 70. Today, more than a third are Vietnamese, other large groups are Indians, Koreans and Indonesians. They stay in our community in Paris for a few years.”
Among these students, there are also some priests from mainland China. “We try to work for the unity of the Church in China – explained the vicar general of the Missions Etrangères de Paris, Father Étienne Frécon, a missionary in Taiwan -. We know that there are wounds to heal and that it will take a long time: we try to maintain a balance, to be attentive to the sensitivities of all Catholics in China, including the underground communities. But it is important that priests and bishops of the “official communities” can go out and have contact with the Churches of the rest of the world. The mission in China is friendship, being brothers, with simple gestures: it is a different commitment compared to our presence in Hong Kong or Taiwan, but it is a concrete way to support
these communities.”

François Pallu, founding father of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. CC BY-SA 4.0/Archive MEP

The Missions Etrangères de Paris are aware that Asia itself is a protagonist in the mission today, even in a land like France. “These local Churches have been helping for some time now. Personally, I come from a French diocese where one of our missionaries died a martyr in Korea in the 19th century. Well, today in Le Mans we have six Korean priests. Evangelizing is also this”, assured Father Sénéchal. The parable of the Vietnamese Church is also very significant: “From its foundation to today – continued the superior general of the MEP – our institute has had around 4,300 missionaries: of these, 1,200 have carried out their ministry in Vietnam. This is a community that has experienced harsh persecution, with priests killed or expelled, and many injuries. Today we no longer have missionaries there, but there is great vitality in the local Church. Catholics make up around 8% of the population and are a significant presence: they too send missionaries all over the world. They have never separated but always walked together. We continue to support them in their needs, but they themselves are creative. For example, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is a city that has grown a lot in recent years. Thus, the local Catholic communities have been divided into groups to create new parishes: to each, they sent missionary teams made up of a priest and some lay people. As soon as they can, they open churches, built with very simple materials. They accompany the changes in the country.”

A Christian community in Mondolkiri, in the northeast of Cambodia. Photo: MEP

“When I go to Vietnam – added Father Sénéchal – I am always very struck by how strong the local lay people are in their faith, also nourished by organizations such as the Legio Mariae or the Sacred Heart Group. I am also struck by how much they cultivate the memory of the roots of their own Church: this year the episcopal conference decided to start the cause of beatification of the first two bishops of Hanoi and Saigon, François Pallu (1626-1684) and Pierre Lambert de La Motte (1624-1679), two missionaries of our institute. I found it a courageous gesture: despite the wounds of history, they want these two Frenchmen to become blesseds. They are capable of going beyond the criticisms of those who say that Christianity in Asia is the religion of foreigners. They say: they are our bishops; this is the Church.”

Father Nicolas de Francqueville in Taiwan. Photo: MEP

The enduring strong bond with the Churches of Asia is also a sign for France of today: “In Paris – commented Father Etienne Frécon – our task is to promote the mission ad gentes, sharing the experience we live in the world. We have a volunteer program for young people and vocational animation activities. There is the museum in our headquarters on rue du Bac, the Hall of Memory of our Martyrs. A few years ago, we also created an institute of research on Asia, which works on our historical archive but also includes a library with thousands of books on Asia and in Asian languages, a photo library, maps… All materials are available to students and scholars. Our goal is not so much to have many activities in Paris or France, but to share the experience we lived in the field on mission.”

A young MEP volunteer in Cambodia. “We do not propose taking a job in a developing country, but a way to live the mission”. Photo: MEP

The proposal to young French people to experience a period of volunteering on a mission also fits into this spirit. “These are experiences that can last from a few months to two whole years – continues the vicar general of the institute -. We do not propose taking a job in a developing country, but a way to live the mission. Some collaborate directly in pastoral activities; others work in boys’ hostels or slums. Sometimes in their service, they also work with other congregations.” (Open Photo: Chinese lanterns and the Symbol of the Missions Étrangères de Paris. 123rf)

Giorgio Bernardelli/MM

Morocco. The challenge of culture.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

Over the last ten years, fourteen museums have been opened. A cultural strategy that aims at rediscovering its rich cultural,
traditional and artistic heritage.

Rabat is not part of the tourist circuit of a country with incredible geographical variety and richness. The quiet capital of the Kingdom of Morocco is far from the chaos of Casablanca, the frenzy of Marrakesh, the perennial international atmosphere of Tangier, or the ancient charm of Fez, with its impressive medina. However, something began to move at the beginning of the century when the country witnessed the succession of the monarchy and presumed changes in the way of governing, after the death of Hassan II, which did little to transform a regime that controlled everything.With the coming to power of Mohammed VI, in addition to investments in infrastructure in the north of the country – an area traditionally vindictive and far from the blind obedience of the rest of the country – Morocco seemed to rediscover its rich cultural, traditional and artistic heritage.

Jamaa el Fna in Marrakesh. The Jamaa el-Fna Museum helps to explain the richness of public space, a square, in which both the culinary aspects of the country’s culture and entertainment and theatre converge. 123rf

At the top of Rabat’s Mohamed V Avenue, at the main entrance of the capital’s Royal Palace – there is one in every major city in the country – construction began on what was inaugurated in 2014 as the Museum of Contemporary Art Mohamed VI. Three years earlier, as its director Mohamed El Idrissi recalls, the Alawite monarch appointed the artist Mehdi Qotbi – acclaimed for his work related to Arabic calligraphy and his collaboration with writers such as Léopold Sédar Senghor, Octavio Paz or Aimé-Césaire, among others – president of the National Museum Foundation. El Idrissi defines it “an independent and autonomous structure, responsible for managing museums in Morocco”.
The director continues: “We started by working on a diagnosis that allowed us to get an idea of the buildings that needed specific interventions to transform them into museums and prepare them to host works that require particular conditions; of the collections which had to be redistributed throughout the national territory to make each museum as lively as possible; and the plans that focused on the public, on the people we wanted to come to visit us, generating a cultural mediation and programming that did not exist until today”. The intense work on these three central areas has made it possible to boast, ten years later, a circuit of 14 museums inaugurated and two under construction, located in Tangier, Tetouan, Meknes, Rabat, Marrakesh, Safi and Agadir.

One of the 3,500 pieces of Amazigh jewellery exhibited at the Oudayas Museum. Photo: National Museum Foundation

The reign of Hassan II was indisputably associated with the great mosque of Casablanca – whose 200-meter-high minaret made it the tallest Islamic temple in the world in 1993, second only to those in Mecca and Medina, and whose financing was partly paid for by the “voluntary” contribution of each citizen in the years of its construction – and his successor Mohammed VI, chose to use culture to improve the country’s image.
In this attempt by African countries to leave behind the strongholds of the colonial era – Morocco remained a French protectorate until 1956 and a Spanish protectorate until 1958 – the Maghreb country has implemented a deliberately decentralized cultural strategy in the last decade, with a theme as varied as its culture itself.”The museums we started with dated back to the colonial era, they were fossilized in time and presented a rigid display, invariable in time and space, which did not adapt to our regional specificity. Furthermore, in that period, Morocco was starting to develop a regional strategy that we had to accompany from a cultural point of view. Looking at the map of our museums, we realized that they were not representative of the reality of our heritage. There were cities where there was not a single museum”, says El Idrissi, adding “We needed to do the work of adapting the contents to the region of origin and creating museums
where they did not exist”.
The pedagogical dimension is one of the innovations that can be noted in some of the new proposals. “We want them to become attractive spaces for young people and schools; we are working on a more active programme. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, we also needed temporary ones. And we wanted to make sure we could receive exhibitions from abroad, to modernize our spaces.”

In a single day
Today in Rabat it is possible, in just one day, to visit the halls of the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art – where, in addition to Moroccan artists, works by Picasso, Goya, Giacometti or the Impressionists have been exhibited, contemplate jewels dating back to 150,000 years ago – found in 2021 in a cave near Essaouira – in the Chellah Museum, or the caftans (traditional costumes) at the Oudayas Museum, finishing with an immersion in the artistic works of the new generation of Moroccan photographers at the carefully maintained Museum of Photography for which the Fort of Rottenburg (dating back to 1869), located on the Atlantic, was restored.
This space was inaugurated shortly before the pandemic with an exhibition of 20 photographers selected by Younes Alaoui Ismaili, a Moroccan documentary photographer.

Fez city medina old town. The museum collects the Jewish tradition of the city of Fez. 123rf

Director El Idrissi explains the particularities of each restored space: “In Tangiers, it is important to create a place to exhibit the history of the country’s painting, as well as to invite foreign exhibitions or convey the fact that it is the diplomatic capital of the Kingdom. As in Tetouan, we exploit the ethnographic heritage, the Andalusian character and the local heritage to talk about an art that has developed over the years.
The National Museum Foundation has set up three museums in Marrakesh to encourage reflection on material (fabrics and artifacts) and intangible items (due to the confluence of cultures) of its heritage. The Jamaa el-Fna Museum helps to explain the richness of a public space, a square, in which both the culinary aspects of the country’s culture and entertainment and theatre converge, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001 for hosting a vibrant concentration of popular cultures through music, religion and oral artistic expressions.

The main gate of Chellah. in the Chellah Museum there are jewellery exhibited j dating back to 150,000 years ago. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Fernando Pascullo

El Idrissi continues his story with the restoration of the spaces dedicated to music in Meknès, to the cultural heritage of Agadir – on which work is still in progress – and to the museum that collects the Jewish tradition of the city of Fez: “There are 16 museums, but we have also staged 20 major exhibitions at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, starting in 2014 with a major exhibition on medieval Morocco, then moving on to Giacometti, Picasso from the Pompidou collection, the Bank of Spain collection from Goya to the present day, to the impressionists and, currently, one on Arab modernity from the collection of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, together with an exhibition dedicated to Beninese art.”
On opening days, entry is free and the museums overall register an average of 10,000 visitors per day, and in the three months in which they hosted the Rabat Biennial (before the pandemic), 150,000 people passed through the halls of the Mohamed VI Museum. “When you offer something of quality, the public responds and comes, it shows interest and is eager to learn and live new cultural experiences,” he concludes.

Carla Fibla García-Sala

Adriano Karipuna. The Amazon. Protecting our territory.

Friday, 1 March 2024 8:00

He has inherited the legacy of his father, one of the few survivors of the genocide half a century ago, and represents a “people” that today numbers only 59 people.

Adriano and his few companions are so attached to his land that they have taken its name: Karipuna, is a segment of the immense Brazilian Amazon, in the municipality of Panorama, 186 kilometres from
the city of Porto Velho.

In 1998 – when Adriano was eight years old – this territory was “demarcated”, that is, officially recognized by the State as the property of the Karipuna (who agreed to see it reduced by almost half compared to its original size): as a result, it is coveted by the indigenous peoples of Brazil because it should mean security, self-determination, freedom of movement, protection of their culture and biodiversity…

But these conditions are essential, given the appetites of the timber industry and of the companies that would like to profit from the destruction of the forest: invasions and raids are frequent and in recent years there has been no shortage of murders of defenceless Indians.

For years, Adriano – who has also been threatened with death – has been asking the Brazilian government, on behalf of the Karipuna people, to fulfil its duty to protect the land and the forest. And his battle has become, symbolically, a battle in defence of all the indigenous peoples who inhabit the green lung of the planet.

“In the Amazon – he recently recalled – in the first half of 2022, almost four thousand square kilometres of forest were lost, much of which will be transformed into soybean crops and pastures. As well as that, at least 350 indigenous peoples are in extremely difficult conditions and are resisting strenuously to defend their environment.”

He continued: “We are afraid of a genocide because they are after our land. The Brazilian government must remove these invaders and protect our territory and our people. This is the role of the state. And the world must pay attention to the Karipuna people. We protect the forest not just for indigenous people, but for everyone.”

“We are taking care of this heritage. And we need you to be more responsible towards us, indigenous people. We are crying out for help and assistance in protecting our territory, this piece of the Amazon.”

Mentioned by Pope Francis on the occasion of the 2019 Synod for the Amazon, Adriano recalled: «The forest is a sacred place to be entered very carefully. When we hunt, we never kill a mother with her cubs and if small fish end up in our nets, we throw them back into the water. We would rather go hungry than destroy a food source: Brazilians should learn from us; the world should learn about the real love we have for nature.” (Photo: Sermig)

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