press
In the papers
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
By Angela Yeoh
PARAGUAY ELECTIONS
La Nacion (Argentina)
El hartazgo le ganó al sistema
Victory for Fernando Lugo in Sunday’s presidential election in Paraguay ended more than 60 years of rule by the Colorado party. This analysis piece from a major Argentinian daily tries to understand what has changed in Paraguayan society to make way for this historic change of power. For decades, Paraguayans lived under an authoritarian regime, and over time there’s been a shift to the left, as in other South American countries, including Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. This article cites movements by landless farmers and indigenous peoples as being key factors, as well as young Paraguayans not having known life under dictatorship, noting simply the inefficiency of Paraguayan politics and wanting an alternative to abandoning their country. Last year some 60,000 Paraguayans left the country to seek better fortunes elsewhere. Paraguay is the second-poorest country in South America, squeezed between bigger, richer neighbours Brazil and Argentina.
Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Lula says no renegotiating of Itaipu treaty, but Amorim admits revision
The main concern in Brazil, meanwhile, is a possible repeat of what happened in Bolivia two years ago when President Evo Morales came to power. Itaipu is one of the world’s biggest hydroelectric power plants, jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay, and Paraguay’s economy depends heavily on revenue from this project. One of Lugo’s campaign promises was to renegotiate the Itaipu treaty, and make Brazil pay more for electricity – currently at what Lugo calls a “laughable” sum of US$300 million per year, he says the market price is more like five or six times that figure (US$1.5 to US$2 billion). This echoes what happened two years ago in Bolivia, the only South American country poorer than Paraguay: President Evo Morales massively raised the price that Brazil pays for Bolivian natural gas, by some US$100 million a year. Brazilian President Lula says Brazil won’t renegotiate the Itaipu treaty with Paraguay, but his Foreign Minister says it will, in fact, be revised. Negotiations could become a sticking point between the two countries, and if it turns their relationship sour, that could throw water on Paraguayan hopes to boost the lot of its poor.
PARIS
Le Figaro (France)
Delanoë irritates Beijing by supporting the Dalai Lama
We know that French-Chinese relations are not at their best right now, with anti-China protests in France, and anti-France protests in China, in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. This French daily reports on a move by the Paris local council that will likely only exacerbate the situation: the council voted to make the Dalai Lama a citizen of honour in Paris. It was the mayor Bertrand Delanoë who proposed this symbolic gesture. The Chinese ambassador tried to stop it, sending a letter to all Paris councillors asking them to vote no, or else risk damaging the trust, friendship and cooperation between the two countries. But the plea didn’t work – the council even went beyond the Dalai Lama to award the same honour to Chinese dissident Hu Jia, jailed for writing articles critical of the Chinese regime.
LANDMINE VICTIMS
The Guardian (UK)
Miss Landmine: exploitation or bold publicity for the victims?
This British daily reports on a controversial beauty pageant for landmine victims. It’s a source of debate, after the first “Miss Landmine” competition took place in Angola earlier this month, and a second one is set to be held in Cambodia a year from now. It’s the idea of a Norwegian theatre director, who wanted to highlight the issue: in Angola more than 80,000 people were left maimed by landmines after the country’s 20-year civil war, and a 30-year civil war in Cambodia left tens of thousands of amputees and up to a million landmines remain buried. But many aid groups have dismissed the project as being in bad taste, and not necessarily the best way to shed light on the problem of landmines. In any case, this article puts the issue in the spotlight and provides another way of looking at it.
