Much to my wife’s eternal chagrin and lamentation, I have opted to fill in the Wednesday news column until such time as one of you fine readers decides to
Now many of the literary geniuses working here at 411 Politics cover domestic politics wall to wall 5 days a week and seldom do they ever miss a beat. However, there is a much bigger world out there Horatio and it too deserves some attention.
No, the 1 billionth article on Iraq or the millionth on Iran/China/North Korea etc, doesn’t count either. There are seven continents in this world with hundreds of countries all needing love and attention. That is what I want to do here on Wednesday; cover the international news from countries that don’t normally make the headlines that everyone else has neglected…like a poor child in the forgotten ghetto of time immortal.
But enough of all this shameless sentimentality, on with the news!
Asia/Middle East
Rice to Expand Melting Pot of Mongolia-US Relations
BILATERAL cooperation between Mongolia and USA will be expanded in 2007 by the signing of a compact agreement for the Millennium Challenge Account, according to a congratulatory letter by the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Mongolian Foreign Minister N. Enkhbold on January 25.
This year the two countries will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. “On January 27, 1987, our two countries forged a relationship that continues to broaden and deepen. Our cooperation over the years has demonstrated that the physical distance that separates us is far less significant than the shared values and common interests that unite us,” Rice said.
“The comprehensive partnership between our two countries is strong and mutually beneficial. From the work of the Peace Corps and USAID to our Defense Department’s assistance on strengthening Mongolia’s peacekeeping capabilities, we seek to help Mongolia build on its democratic and economic successes of the past 20 years.
“The United States greatly appreciates Mongolia’s contribution to the coalition forces assisting the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan in their efforts to secure their freedom and rebuild their nations. We also appreciate Mongolia’s leadership in the Community of Demo-cracies and other international forums.”
I’ll bet most of you didn’t even know Mongolia was still a real country. I’ll also bet you didn’t know that Mongolia had contributed forces to both Iraq and Afghanistan (frankly, neither had I). It’s good to see the US engaged in some degree of international cooperation with regards to poverty relief. I know the US had some resistance to meeting the Millenium Challenge goals so this appears to be a small step in the right direction.
There was also a story about the Mongolians denying two Russian aircrafts access to their airspace on two recent separate occasions. Now I can’t say for sure but I’m wondering if these two stories aren’t more than a little related.
Africa
United States: Libya: Recent Developments Impacting Foreign Investment
With 39.1 billion barrels in proven reserves,1 Libya is the country with the ninth-largest proven oil reserves, and its oil industry remains the country’s biggest draw for foreign investors. Libya is a major producer of light crude oil, the kind favored by oil refineries because of its low wax content and ease of transportation and refining. For U.S. companies, the race to Libya started slowly, not only because of slower than anticipated developments politically, but also because of the head start that many European counterparts had before the U.S. fully normalized relations with the former pariah state. In fact, full normalization of relations did not occur until May 2006, when the United States announced its intention to restore full diplomatic relations by establishing an embassy in Tripoli and removing Libya from the State Department’s list of designated state sponsors of terrorism…One example of the great changes is Libya’s telecommunications industry, headed by one of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, Mohammed Gaddafi. Libya skipped over landlines almost entirely and moved into the wireless and fiber-optic world…Libya’s real cash cow remains its oil industry, which accounts for 95 percent of its export revenues. The good news for potential investors in Libya is that recent developments in this sector will greatly improve the opportunities for profitable investments and successful operations in the country…The reduction in minimum start-up capital for foreign investors and the ability to borrow at least half of the capital from Libyan banks has had the obvious effect of encouraging more foreign investment in a country that has been closed to such investment from the United States for more than fifteen years. Because of the political and investment risks involved, Libya’s previous minimum capital investment hindered smaller investors from entering the marketplace. The reduction has spurred in- vestment in 2006, effectively breathing new life into the Libyan foreign investment sector…
I remember being in elementary school when the Libyans under Gaddafi were our mortal enemies and were even the terrorist du jour in the movie “Back to the Future.” Now it seems like since Gaddafi opted to dismantle his nuke program (thus resulting in the lifting of sanctions) and has lessened restrictions on foreign investment, they are seeing the benefits of an amiable relationship with the West. Now if this model is able to bear fruit in Libya, as has in China, India and a host of other places, the question will be whether or not this sort of success is able to lobby hostile countries like Iran to a more reasonable position with regards to foreign affairs. In other words, will the mullahs wake up and take the cash or will they continue with their desire to kill Jews?
South America
Canadian Gold Mine in Suriname Shuttered
The Canadian-owned Rosebel gold mine in Suriname has been temporarily shut down after striking workers allegedly flooded part of the plant, welded shut some gates and doors, and damaged 17 all-terrain vehicles, a company official said Thursday.
A number of workers began the strike one week ago at the mine, located about 60 miles south of the capital of Paramaribo, saying negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement were going too slow.
"We have no choice but to keep the plant shut for a couple of days. The damage is significant and things have to be restored first before production can start again," said Roy van Aerde, a spokesman for Rosebel Gold Mines NV.
The plant could remain closed for another week, van Aerde said.
The union said earlier this week that both sides had reached a deal to end the strike, but parent company IAMGold had said that was not the case.
During the strike, the union's board and more than 100 workers remained in the plant at the mine site.
"The damage was done during the first day of the strike. A group of workers were able to stop them from causing more damage," van Aerde said.
Thursday evening on Suriname Today talk show, union chairman Errol Snijders, a former Labor Minister, denied that union members damaged the equipment.
Unions are a necessary evil but they can also be a terrible pain in the ass and quite frankly, a bit spoiled. If it is true that the workers caused this much damage because the collective bargaining wasn’t going fast enough then quite frankly they should be jailed. Though it is also believable that the management made this up to make labor look like a bunch of animals. Either way, if you own gold, I’m sure it went up a pretty penny because of this incident.
North America
More evidence of drugs-for-guns trade between Jamaica and Haiti
Jamaican police have carried out a series of arrests and seizures of firearms that appear to confirm long-held suspicions of the existence of an extensive criminal network smuggling marijuana and guns between Jamaica and the nearby nation of Haiti.
On February 4th, following a shoot-out between Jamaican police and an unidentified man in Spanish Town in the central parish of St Catherine, a gun was recovered from the man who had been shot dead by the police. The weapon was found to have originated in Haiti and to have once belonged to a Haitian police officer. "The firearm was stolen from the Haitian police," said Jamaican police inspector, Steve Brown. "We suspect that it’s a part of the ongoing ’guns for drugs’ trade between Jamaica and Haiti, and again this raises concerns about the viable trade that is going on."
Jamaican police officials have sought the assistance of international policing organisation, Interpol, to try and locate the Haitian police officer to whom the gun was issued, and to determine how the gun got into the hands of local criminals…
As my foreign exchange student Fifi from Haiti would say, “It’s bad, these people are crazy.”
This is essentially why you can’t completely legalize drugs. I’m all for decriminalization of small amounts and moving to a prescription policy but as for total legalization, it can’t be done. Drugs are too much ingrained in criminal culture and thus to legalize it is to miss large swaths of opportunities to break up rings of terrorism, gun running and other assorted misdeeds.
And you think marijuana is harmless? HA!
Europe
Slot-machines And Concert Hall Spark Revolt In Riga Council
lmost half the members of Riga City Council called for the city's mayor to resign on Tuesday as disputes surrounding a planned concert hall and the city's many gambling halls boiled over.
Twenty-seven of Riga's 60 councillors signed a petition calling for the sacking of Mayor Aivars Aksenoks, who has led the city since 2004, according to city council spokesman Ugis Vidauskis. Twenty signatures would have been enough to launch the motion.
The rebels, members of one left-wing and three right-wing parties, had already accused Aksenoks of "lacking vision" and being "unable to work with his partners" in a letter published on the council's website.
Two weeks ago Aksenoks masterminded the rejection of a plan to build a concert hall on a wharf by the Daugava river, which flows through Riga. Supporters claimed that the hall would help revitalize the city, but opponents criticized its cost and location.
"We fully support the idea of a concert hall for Riga, but for the project to be acceptable, it should be located somewhere else," Aksenoks told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa before the vote.
Last week the council revoked licences issued to 11 gambling venues only eight months before. Aksenoks' foes have blamed him for the confusion, which is thought likely to lead to litigation.
"It's clear that there will be legal proceedings, but nobody can predict what the outcome will be," Vidauskis said.
The disputes over the concert hall and gambling halls reflect an ongoing debate on Riga's future. The city, which is famous for its art-nouveau buildings and its musical scene, aspires to become a major destination for tourists in search of high-class culture.
But since Latvia joined the EU in 2004, Riga has seen a dramatic growth in the number of its strip bars and gambling halls. More than 300 of the latter are currently operating, according to Vidauskis.
And the city council's perceived failure to limit the spread of such clubs has been criticized in the media, where it is argued that Riga is becoming a haven for sleaze, rather than cultural tourism.
However, the debate is also shaped by party politics. Riga council is dominated by right-wing party New Era (JL), which swept to power in the city on an anti-corruption platform in 2004.
Since then the party has fallen out with Latvia's three other main right-wing parties, whom it has accused of corruption. In national elections held last October, JL was beaten into third place by right- wing rivals, entering the parliamentary opposition.
Those same three right-wing parties instigated the move to oust JL's Aksenoks, and have reportedly already signed a new coalition deal which would leave JL in a weak and fragmented opposition.
A vote to decide on Aksenoks' fate is due within two weeks.
I know many readers hate the evangelical Right in this country but when was the last time James Dobson was able to shut down a casino? I love stories like this because it illustrates similars struggles going on in democracies across the world rather than the misguided belief that “we’re the worst country ever!”
I wonder how much a lap dance is in Riga?
Australia/Oceania
Commonwealth wants democracy for Fiji
THE head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Don McKinnon, says his organisation is committed to ensuring Fiji returns to democratic rule.
Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth after the democratically-elected government of Laisenia Qarase was overthrown by the military on 5 December.
A report carried by Radio Australia says Mr McKinnon confirmed the Commonwealth is working closely with the Pacific Forum, the Eminent Persons Group and the Pacific foreign ministers to find a resolution.
"We want to ensure that the Fiji military realise that what they're doing now should not have happened," Mr McKinnon said.
"What they wanted could have been achieved through the normal democratic processes," he added.
Mr McKinnon said what Fiji has got to do now is put on the table a blueprint or a roadmap to get the country back to democracy.
WOW! You know, when someone speaks about tyranny in the world or despotism, one might think of N Korea or Saudi Arabia…but who the hell comes up with Fiji?
No go an impress your friends with that bit of trivia.
Antarctica
Disaster awaits in Antarctica
The grounding of a cruise ship in Antarctica has reignited fears that unstrengthened tourist ships will cause an "unthinkable disaster" in the pristine area.
The Nordkapp struck rocks as it entered the flooded caldera of Deception Island, near the Antarctic peninsula, on Tuesday.
It had to seek help from its sister ship, the Nordnorge, and a British navy ship, HMS Endurance.
Although none of the 294 passengers and 76 crew on board the Norwegian ship were injured and floating booms restricted the threat of polluting the environment, the incident has revived concerns about the risks associated with cruising the region.
This week, the Golden Princess – a ship roughly 10 times the size of the Nordkapp and the first megaliner to ply Antarctica's waters – will reach the peninsula from South America.
There are about 2600 passengers and 1000 crew on board. The 290m-long ship will include a visit to Deception Island during its 21-day excursion from Rio to Buenos Aires.
The ships' presence exemplifies the booming interest in tourism in Antarctica, with nearly 29,000 people due to visit the Ice by the end of this summer – more people than ever before – and bigger cruise ships travelling to the peninsula as a way of earning money during the off-season between northern summers.
Although the ships plying the New Zealand sector of Antarctica in the Ross Sea are either ice strengthened or full icebreakers, most ships cruising the peninsula have no extra strengthening.
The combination of unmodified ships and unknown hazards – such as the one that caused the Nordkapp to ground – are being touted as the makings of a disaster.
Dr Mike Richardson, head of a British delegation to an international Antarctic conference in Scotland last year, urged a ban on superliners and a cap on the size of ships because of what he described as the potential for an "unthinkable disaster" that could be worse than the Titanic or Exxon Valdez in terms of deaths and pollution.
Tourism on the Ice is principally self-regulated by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO).
The Norway-based Hurtigruten Group, which operates the Nordkapp and Nordnorge, and California-based Princess Cruises, which operates the Golden Princess, are both IAATO members.
IAATO executive director Denise Landau said the organisation had set "the highest possible tourism operating standards in its effort to protect Antarctica".
But Trevor Hughes, the head of the Antarctic policy unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said there had been a growing belief among the nations with a stake in Antarctica that self-regulation by the industry was insufficient.
"Where we're coming from is that Antarctica is designated as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science. That establishes the fundamental values for human activities in Antarctica," he told an Antarctic conference in Christchurch in 2004.
"Having to provide search and rescue and that sort of thing impacts on national Antarctic programmes. There are a range of potential risks and one is always surprised by what can happen.
"We're very concerned about the potential for a maritime accident."
The environmental pollution aspect of this story is fascinating but the more important question is, “Why would anyone want to tour Antarctica?”
And now for the shameless plugs:
Listen to my radio show, it’s like kittens on skis…
Read the The Political Universe, it’s the cat’s pajamas.
Read Joe Rivett and then read him again because he’s one bad cat.
Read 411 Politics Fact or Fiction and show Ryan some love, he’s the meow.
Now before my wife gets home from school and wonders why nothing has been done around the house, I’m outta here…until tomorrow when were return to the valley of the prostitots…or Iran, whichever I feel like writing about.
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