Azawad: entre o Mali e o integrismo

L’intervention militaire française/européenne, avec l’accord de l’ONU pour mettre en échec l’agression arabo-islamo-intégriste au Mali est une initiative louable. Cette action montre que le monde n’est pas seulement régi par les lois de l’intérêt économique, de la géostratégie et du profit. L’Algérie et le Maroc coopèrent, en autorisant le survol de leur espace aérien, c’est tout à leur honneur. Cependant, la mobilisation actuelle pour reconstituer l’armée malienne et le déploiement des troupes de la CEDEAO pour protéger le Mali du Sud ne signifient pas la «reconquête du Nord Mali» pour finalement se transformer en « permis de massacre des Touaregs », comme cela s’est fait depuis les années 60. Le MNLA, en soutenant cette intervention, a bien défini les conditions de son soutien : « l’armée malienne ne doit en aucune manière passer au nord de la frontière de l’Azawad ». La mise en échec de la nébuleuse arabo-islamo-intégriste au Sahara ne devrait pas se réaliser sur le dos de l’autonomie des peuples de l’Azawad, dont le projet de société est aux antipodes du projet islamiste : une république laïque et multi-éthnique. La communauté internationale ne devrait pas uniquement se « protéger du terrorisme islamiste » en détruisant ses capacités de nuisance au Sahel. Elle devrait aussi contribuer à instaurer la paix dans cette région en assurant un règlement équitable du conflit entre le Mali du Sud et l’Azawad. Une armée régulière de l’Azawad serait la meilleure garantie pour assurer la fin du règne des activistes islamistes et des prises d’otages. Il y va de la sécurité de tous les pays de la région. Aumer U Lamara Physicien.

Equador: a resistência do povo Kichwa

In the heart of Ecuador, a mega oil company is trying to turn the most pristine rainforest into an oil field. The Kichwa tribe are bravely resisting, and they have just asked for our help to save their home. The community has signed a pledge never to sell their land, where jaguars roam and a single hectare can hold more diverse animal life than all of North America! But Ecuador’s government is trying to buy them off and open up 4 million hectares of the Amazon to big oil. President Correa is in an election battle right now, and he rides on a reputation of respect for the environment and indigenous peoples. If we can kick up a global stink and make the Amazon protection an election issue, we could stop the oil rush. So far the community has courageously stood firm, but the oil men could come with their drilling gear any day now. The Kichwa are appealing for our help to save their Amazon. Sign this petition now and share it widely -- if 1 million people sign, we’ll have the clout to bring international journalists into the area and build a media storm that forces Correa to pull back: http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_global/?bFXXgbb&v=21304 After Texaco and other oil companies polluted Ecuadorian waters and irreversibly devastated precious ecosystems, Correa led his country to be the world’s first nation to recognize the rights of “Mother Earth” in its constitution. He announced Ecuador was not for sale, and in Yasuni National Park promoted an innovative initiative where other governments pay Ecuador to keep oil in the ground to protect the rainforest rather than destroy it. But now he’s on the verge of selling out. Shockingly, the Kichwa land is partly in Yasuni National Park. But even more shocking is Correa's bigger plan -- in days government officials begin a world tour to offer foreign investors the right to drill across 4 million hectares of forest (an area larger than the Netherlands!) Ecuador, as any country, may argue it has the right to profit from its natural resources, but the constitution itself says it must respect indigenous rights and its amazing forests, which bring millions in tourist dollars every year. Right now, Correa is in a tough fight to win a second term as president. It’s the perfect time to make him honour his environmental promises and make this green constitution come to life. Sign now to stand with the Kichwa people and save their forest: http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_global/?bFXXgbb&v=21304 Our community has fought year after year to protect the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia, and won many victories standing in solidarity with indigenous communities. Now it’s Ecuador’s turn -- let’s respond to this urgent call for action and save their forest. With hope and determination, Alex, Pedro, Alice, Laura, Marie, Ricken, Taylor, Morgan and all the Avaaz team More Information: Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion (The Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/17/indigenous-ecuadorian-tribe-oil-intrusion Ecuador adopts rights of nature in constitution (Rights of Nature) http://therightsofnature.org/ecuador-rights/ How oil extraction impacts the rainforest (Amazon Watch) http://amazonwatch.org/news/2013/0107-oil-extraction-how-oil-production-impacts-the-rainforest Drilling for oil in Eden: initiative to save Amazon rainforest in Ecuador is uncertain (Scientific American) http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/17/drilling-for-oil-in-eden-initiative-to-save-amazon-rainforest-in-ecuador-is-uncertain/ Ecuador’s indigenous leaders oppose new oil exploration plans in Amazon region (Earth Island Journal) http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/ecuadors_indigenous_leaders_oppose_new_oil_exploration/

Grandes cheias no Sul de Moçambique

Maputo, 24 Jan (AIM) – A massive flood surge down the Limpopo River hit the town of Chokwe, in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza, on Wednesday morning. The waters of the Limpopo were rising sharply as from 20.00 on Tuesday evening, but according to the mayor of Chokwe, Jorge Macuacua, cited by the independent television station STV, the main flood wave hit Chokwe at about 11.00 on Wednesday morning. By midday the entire town was swamped. Some of the smaller houses were completely submerged. In some Chokwe streets, the water was about two metres deep. All the roads were impassable, and movement through the town was only possible in boats operated by the country’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC). The whole town has shut down, with all banks and shops closed. Electricity supplies have been cut. These are certainly the worse floods Chokwe has faced since the huge flood on the Limpopo in 2000. The authorities have tried to organise evacuation. The INGC has set up a temporary accommodation centre at the village of Xihaquelane, 40 kilometres from Chokwe town, but this centre can only accommodate around 600 people in 50 tents. The number of people at risk in Chokwe town and district is put at 55,000. So many people have preferred to move 60 kilometres to Macia, capital of the neighbouring district of Bilene. A long queue of vehicles could be seen on the road from Chokwe to Macia, carrying people to safety. The same road became a corridor for herds of cattle, goats and sheep, as farmers tried to move their livestock out of the path of the flood. A Chokwe magistrate, Fernando Macamo, contacted by the independent newsheet “Mediafax” described the situation as one of “extreme emergency”, “My residence has been engulfed by the waters, all my property has been submerged, and to escape from this situation I have taken refuge on the terrace of the Limpopo hotel”, said Macamo. The hotel was much in demand from Chokwe residents who had ignored recommendations to leave the town. Macamo and Macuacua both said that many other people have climbed trees or are stranded on rooftops. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Maputo, the INGC general director, Joao Ribeiro, regretted that, although most people in high risk zones had left their homes, many others had stubbornly ignored recommendations to leave flood prone areas in the river basins of southern and central Mozambique. The INGC was therefore forced to resort to coercive evacuations in order to save lives, he said. “We have begun to remove people affected by force, and now we’re stepping this up, because there’s still resistance and the danger is real”, he stressed, Over the last few days, Ribeiro said, the INGC has increased its communications with endangered communities, including the use of megaphones urging people to leave their homes. “It’s not for lack of communication that people have not left”, he added. “We have informed people to abandon areas at risk, and most of them have now done so”. The flood surge that engulfed Chokwe is moving downstream, and by Friday it will strike the Gaza provincial capital, Xai-Xai, near the mouth of the Limpopo. The National Water Board (DNA) has urged everyone living on the lower Limpopo to evacuate now. “The situation is critical and so people should evacuate”, declared Rute Nhamucho, head of the DNA Water Resource Department. “Xai-Xai is on maximum alert, and the city could be evacuated at any moment”. The Maputo daily “Noticias” reports that people and institutions (both public and private) are already leaving Xai-Xai, fearing a repeat of the catastrophic floods of 2000.

Bissau: Ramos-Horta continua a constatar o óbvio

O representante das Nações Unidas para a Guiné-Bissau, José Ramos-Horta, admitiu hoje que será difícil mobilizar a comunidade internacional para apoiar o processo eleitoral no país e mostrou-se favorável a um adiamento das eleições. "Não é fácil (...) devido à crise financeira e económica que prevalece no mundo, em particular nos países ricos amigos e apoiantes tradicionais da Guiné-Bissau. "[Será] Difícil devido aos constantes recuos no processo na Guiné-Bissau, alguma desilusão, desencanto", disse o timorense José Ramos-Horta. O representante das Nações Unidas para a Guiné-Bissau, que falava aos jornalistas em Lisboa, após uma reunião com o secretário executivo da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP), Isaac Murade Murargy, adiantou contudo ser possível inverter este cenário. LUSA --- Ou seja, o Mundo está-se borrifando para os processos eleitorais na Guiné-Bissau, pois que sabe muito bem que eles ali não resolvem nada. São apenas uma panaceia; uma tentativa de se fingir que se está a fazer alguma coisa de útil para um pseudo Estado que ainda não arranjou pernas para andar.

RAS: Ramaphosa depois de Zuma

For years to come, Jacob Zuma will be paying for the deals he made with both allies and enemies to secure the ANC presidency President Jacob Zuma is to be the face of the African National Congress in the 2014 elections and after winning them will gradually transfer power to Cyril Ramaphosa. Before December’s ANC conference, Zuma struck one of the biggest deals of his career with Ramaphosa. The broad aim is to give business tycoon Ramaphosa the national presidency, while Zuma stays on as ANC President.

RCA: Bozizé até 2016

RCA:The deal to install an interim government belies how close the rebels came to toppling the President before allies – and luck – came to his rescue. Peace, however fragile, reigned in Central African Republic as Africa Confidential went to press. The government and the Séléka rebels signed a peace agreement in Libreville, Gabon, on 11 January. President François Bozizé Yangouvonda will serve out the rest of his term until 2016, while a government of national unity will implement reforms and oversee parliamentary elections....

Mali: uma luta para muitos meses

For now, the region is cheering France’s launching of a war on many fronts against the jihadists although it is likely to drag on for many more months As France pours men and money into the battle against jihadists, the contours of Mali’s crisis are rapidly changing. Bombing raids may have ended the militants’ hegemony over the people of Timbuktu and Gao, but their campaign is far from over. Restoring some security across the Sahara will be a slow and painful business, with many reverses. Pounded by French air strikes near Leré, fighters led by Al Qaida’s Algerian commander Abdel Hamid Abou Zeid quickly hit back, attacking Diabali. Then, half a desert away, on 16 January Moulathmine Islamist militants took 41 foreign oil workers hostage at In Amenas, south-east Algeria. The timetable for the West African military intervention approved by the United Nations Security Council in December has been accelerated . Yet the effectiveness of this new force remains to be tested. Governments have quickly promised deployments but are slower to deliver them. So has the European mission to retrain Mali’s army, whose fragility is evident. Will contributing countries still want their experts to work alongside Malian troops if they are hurried into combat? Africa Confidential