Bissau: Militares são "instrumento de tirania"

Volvidos 40 anos sobre a proclamação da independência da Guiné Bissau, as suas Forças Armadas transfiguraram-se "em instrumento de tirania e de delinquência". A acusação é feita pelo ex-Presidente da República de Cabo Verde, Pedro Pires, que lutou de armas na mão pela independência da Guiné. Pedro Pires, de 79 anos é um dos mais respeitados dirigentes dos movimentos de libertação, fala com a autoridade reforçada de quem representou as Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo (FARP) na cerimónia de proclamação da independência da Guiné-Bissau, no dia 24 de Setembro de 1973. Numa entrevista concedida ao Expresso a propósito dos 40 anos da independência da Guiné-Bissau, Pedro Pires entende que o "objetivo principal" do PAIGC foi alcançado: "as independências das colónias da Guiné-Bissau e de Cabo Verde". Reconhece, no entanto, que "a segunda parte" do projeto - a unidade daqueles dois territórios - "fracassou". Sem nunca mencionar nomes, diz que a segunda dimensão do projeto do PAIGC e do seu líder, Amílcar Cabral, "foi interrompido pelo golpe de Estado que teve lugar na Guiné". Pedro Pires alude ao golpe militar de 14 de Novembro de 1980, em que o Presidente da República Luís Cabral (meio irmão de Amílcar) foi deposto por "Nino" Vieira, que assumiu então a chefia do Estado. O assassinato de Amílcar Cabral e o rapto de Aristides Pereira Para o antigo primeiro-ministro e Presidente da República de Cabo Verde, que foi um dos principais comandantes da guerrilha do PAIGC na Guiné, "não seria objetivo nem razoável pretender atribuir responsabilidades unicamente a Amílcar Cabral. O insucesso foi, em grande medida, da responsabilidade dos seus sucessores que não souberam construir as condições subjetivas e os mecanismos políticos para a viabilização do projeto". O projeto de unidade entre a Guiné e Cabo Verde terá começado a ser posto em causa aquando do assassinato do próprio Amílcar Cabral, em Janeiro de 1973. Baleado por um dos seus guarda-costas, a morte do fundador do PAIGC acentuou a enorme tensão existente entre guineenses e cabo-verdianos. "Estou em crer que o assassinato do Amílcar" e o simultâneo "rapto e tortura do Aristides Pereira enfraqueceram, em boa medida, a confiança necessária" entre os dirigentes e militantes do partido. Recusando-se a especular "sobre como faria Amílcar Cabral para garantir a realização do projeto unitário", prefere manifestar uma outra "inquietação", não tanto sobre o passado, mas sobre o presente: "Como foi possível a transfiguração das valorosas FARP em instrumento de tirania e de delinquência?" EUA querem capturar o general António Injai Como se sabe, as Forças Armadas da Guiné têm estado no centro da vida política e económica do país, promovendo sucessivos golpes de Estado pelo menos desde Maio de 1999, quando uma Junta Militar liderada pelo brigadeiro Ansumane Mané tentou depor o Presidente da República, Nino Vieira. Ansumane e Nino foram dois dos muitos militares que, desde então, foram assassinados pelos seus camaradas de armas, quase sempre em circunstância de extrema violência. O atual poder em Bissau resultou de mais um desses golpes de Estado, consumado a 12 de Abril do ano passado. Um dos homens mais poderosos do país, o almirante Bubo Na Tchuto, foi detido em Abril passado em águas internacionais por forças da Agência Antidroga dos EUA (DEA), aguardando-se o início do seu julgamento. Os EUA estão mesmo decididos a capturar o atual Chefe de Estado-Maior das Forças Armadas, general António Injai, considerado o homem-forte do país. Injai é suspeito, tal como o seu camarada da Marinha, Na Tchuto, de tráfico de droga e de armas. José Pedro Castanheira/Expresso

Síria: Recuo estratégico de Obama

US President Barack Obama has warned of "consequences" if the Syrian regime fails to comply with a framework deal to destroy its chemical weapons. A framework document agreed by the US and Russia on Saturday stipulates that Syria must provide full details of its stockpile within a week. The chemical arsenal must then be eliminated by mid-2014. If Syria fails to comply, the deal could be enforced by a UN resolution with the use of force as a last resort. But US officials say the president reserves the right to act without the agreement of the UN. China, France, the UK, the UN and Nato have all expressed satisfaction at the agreement. In Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China the deal "will enable tensions in Syria to be eased". There has so far been no reaction from Damascus. Mr Obama said in a statement that the deal was an "important step" but urged Syria to "live up to its public commitments". "If diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act," he said. The Pentagon said the US military was still in position for military strikes. The US says the Syrian regime killed hundreds in a poison-gas attack in eastern Damascus on 21 August. President Bashar al-Assad's government denies the allegations and has accused the rebels of carrying out the attack. Syria recently agreed to join the global Chemical Weapons Convention, and the UN said it would come under the treaty from 14 October. The framework deal was unveiled by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in a news conference in Geneva. Mr Kerry outlined a timetable that analysts said was extremely ambitious. It envisages Syria providing a full inventory of its chemical weapons in one week, all production equipment being destroyed by November, and all weapons being removed from Syria or destroyed by mid-2014. Both men confirmed that a UN resolution could be sought under Chapter VII of the UN charter, which allows for the use of force, if Syria fails to comply. However the Russian foreign minister said force remained a last-ditch option. "Naturally, no use of force is mentioned in these agreed approaches. Nor are any automatic sanctions mentioned. Any violations must be convincingly and unambiguously proven in the UN Security Council," he said. ---- Russia has significant leverage over the regime in Damascus, as it supplies its weapons. Perhaps more importantly, Russia has been watching President Assad's back at the United Nations. It seems likely that the Russians will already have had some sort of promise of co-operation from the Assad regime. The timescale of work to be done is ambitious. But a logical assumption is that the chemical stockpiles and factories are in territory held by the regime. If so, it means access depends on President Assad's orders, not on the progress of the war. The Free Syria Army, the loose coalition of armed rebels that has been hoping for Western help to fight the Assad regime, has rejected the agreement. Less than a week ago the FSA believed that the Americans were about to launch a military attack, which it hoped would tip the balance of the war its way. Now it believes that the Americans have been sidetracked. Whether or not chemical weapons are destroyed is not the point. The FSA want the Americans to destroy the regime's military power, and the US agreement with Russia means the chances of that happening are receding. ------- De 25 de Agosto a 15 de Setembro avançou-se muito no sentido de evitar, para já, o agravamento do conflito na Síria. Os apelos ao bom senso foram ouvidos e o Presidente Obama teve de retroceder, pois com ele só tinha o seu homólogo francês.

Síria: Por agora não haverá ataque americano

China's foreign minister on Sunday welcomed a deal between the United States and Russia to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, which ruled out the prospect of U.S. strikes against Bashar al-Assad's regime. “The Chinese side welcomes the general agreement between the U.S. and Russia. This agreement will enable tensions in Syria to be eased,” Wang Yi said at a meeting with his visiting French counterpart Laurent Fabius, Agence France-Presse reported. Fabius arrived in Beijing Sunday morning and was due to head back to Paris later. Iran, a staunch Syrian regime ally, also welcomed the deal. The Iranian deputy foreign minister said on Saturday the deal should mean that the United States no longer has a pretext to attack Syria. "The new situation means in fact that any pretext for the United States and certain countries to engage in military action against Syria has been removed," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. "We can even talk of a success by the front of the resistance (against Israel)" -- Iran, Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, Amir-Abdollahian said. Meanwhile, the French foreign minister called the pact “a significant step forward” and said “important decisions need to be taken on Syria,” according to AFP. “We must move forward on the basis of this general agreement,” he said. The U.S.-Russian agreement was reached in Geneva on Saturday after three days of talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Sergei Lavrov. The deal intends to bring Syria's chemical weapons under international control by the middle of next year and leaves the door open to sanctions if Damascus fails to comply, but does not specify what they would be. Assad has a week to hand over details of his regime's stockpile of chemical weapons and Kerry said he must provide “immediate and unfettered” access to chemical weapons inspectors, according to AFP. France has been supporting the U.S. in urging military action in response to an Aug. 21 chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus allegedly carried out by Assad’s regime which killed more than 1,000 people, according to Syrian opposition figures. China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a veto power. It has consistently supported Russia’s position to block resolutions supported by the U.S. and its allies over the course of the Syrian conflict. Beijing says it opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs. (With AFP)

Traficante panamiano condenado a 15 anos

SEP 10 (WILMINGTON, Del.) - Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Ronaldo Edmund, age 38, of Wilmington, Delaware, was sentenced on September 9, 2013, to a term of imprisonment of 15 years for his role as a leader of an international drug trafficking conspiracy. According to facts introduced in prior hearings, Edmund was the leader of an organization which recruited multiple drug couriers to travel to Panama in order to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the United States. Edmund, a Panamanian national, facilitated and coordinated the travel of the couriers to Panama, and he maintained and managed contact with the Panamanian sources of supply. Agents identified a total of at least 19 couriers who took smuggling trips to Panama on behalf of the organization, and who smuggled, or attempted to smuggle, more than 13 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin from Panama to Wilmington. The investigation also uncovered a separate source of supply, Saleem A. Sharif, a former West Point graduate and Captain in the United States Army, who shipped multiple kilograms of heroin from Kabul, Afghanistan, to the United States. Sharif and three other individuals – Charles Richardson, Darrold Thomas, and Sayeed A. Behrooz – have pleaded, or are scheduled to plead guilty, to offenses relating to the shipment of heroin from Afghanistan. To date, the government has charged 23 individuals in the United States with drug trafficking offenses as a result of the investigation. All but four of those defendants – each of whom remain abroad in Panama – have pleaded guilty, or have agreed to plead guilty, to drug-related offenses. United States Attorney Charles M. Oberly, III, stated, “I commend the hard work and relentless dedication of our law enforcement partners over the past four years in dismantling two major drug trafficking organizations that imported cocaine and heroin from Panama and Afghanistan into the United States. The fact that these drugs made it onto the streets of Wilmington and our surrounding communities demonstrates the reach of international drug trafficking organizations – and the importance of utilizing all necessary resources to stop them. The sentence imposed on Mr. Edmund is significant, reflects his leadership role in the offense, and should serve as a serious deterrent for others in the community who would consider getting involved in international drug smuggling.” The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the Wilmington Police Department. Investigators also received invaluable assistance from the Panamanian National Police; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; the United States Marshals Service for the District of Delaware; the Newark (Delaware) Police Department; the Delaware State Police; the New Castle County Police Department; the Delaware Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole; the Cecil County (Maryland) Drug Task Force; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Maryland State Police; and the Elkton (Maryland) Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert F. Kravetz. DEA

O novo Governo de Mugabe

The new cabinet is ill-equipped to face the economic and diplomatic challenges ahead but promotes some moderates and brings in some youthful talent It took President Robert Mugabe and his advisors the best part of a month to name a cabinet that mainly redistributes the top jobs to the old political elite, sidelines some of the more bumptious elements but brings in a younger and more business-savvy generation of junior ministers. Some suggest this is Mugabe's last attempt at political renewal. By giving younger members of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front some political experience, he may be preparing them for elevation to the cabinet while organising the retirement of the more troublesome old guard. Africa Confidential

Bissau: Eleições...quando for possível

12 September 2013 – The United Nations Security Council has called on Bissau Guinean authorities to resolve any outstanding issues and allow the start of the electoral process in the shortest time possible. In a statement issued late last night, the 15-member Council stressed that “it is imperative that the presidential and legislative elections be held as soon as possible,” taking into account the end of the transition period set on 31 December 2013. Members called for any obstacles to be resolved, including by adopting a code of conduct and ensuring that all political actors can safely participate in the political process. Its members also insisted that authorities in charge of the transitional period “take all appropriate measures to further deepen the internal political dialogue” and ensure that these elections are credible, transparent, inclusive and democratic. Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau – which has had a history of coups, misrule and political instability since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974 – seized power in April 2012. Constitutional order has still not been restored in the country, where a transitional government led by Transitional President Serifo Nhamadjo is in place until elections are held. Earlier this month, UN Special Representative Jose Ramos Horta, who is also the head of the UN political mission in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), briefed the Security Council, noting that a potential delay to the polls could “destabilize the political situation, undermining the efforts we have achieved so far.” In its latest statement on the situation in the West African country, the Security Council welcomed the commitments of Guinea Bissau’s international partners, and called upon them to remain engaged in the political process. “The support of Guinea Bissau’s partners is required to finance the electoral process,” the Security Council members said noting the need for financial support for the polls. The Council also reiterated its concerns about the “prevailing culture of impunity and lack of accountability” in Guinea Bissau, and urged implementation of the National Conference on Impunity, Justice and Human Rights. In July, the African Union had led a second joint assessment mission in Bissau involving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), European Union, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, and the UN.

ONU: "Peacekeeping" sem acordo, sem recomendações

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its substantive work for the General Assembly’s sixty-seventh session, adopting a draft resolution by which it endorsed a procedural report on the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. The meeting followed the conclusion of the Special Committee’s 2013 substantive session last week. Adoption of today’s draft ended the Fourth Committee’s yearly review of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects. Under the terms of the draft, adopted without a vote, the Fourth Committee decided that the Special Committee should continue to review implementation of its previous proposals and consider any new ones that could enhance United Nations capacity to fulfil its peacekeeping duties. It also reiterated that States contributing personnel to those operations or participating in the Special Committee as observers for three consecutive years would, upon written request to the Chair, become members at the following session. Mohamed Selim ( Egypt), Rapporteur of the Special Committee, introduced the report, along with the draft resolution. He said no agreement had been reached on the substantive part of the report, and so it contained no recommendations. He added that the Special Committee’s Chair would convene an open-ended inter-sessional group of “friends of the Chair” to consider working methods, with the aim of recommending an agreed format for the report prior to its next session. Following the text’s adoption, a representative of the European Union delegation expressed regret at the Special Committee’s inability to finalize a substantive report. Noting the emergence of new challenges in the peacekeeping agenda, she stressed the importance of cooperation to ensure a solid basis for missions in the field. The representative of Egypt, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, also regretted the inability to deliver a substantive report, especially given that troops were on the ground. Stressing the Movement’s willingness to improve the Special Committee’s working methods, he said time was of the essence and that it was time for action, not rhetoric. India’s delegate, associating with the Non-Aligned Movement, said that the Special Committee had “struggled to catch up”, while peacekeeping moved on. Important developments in that realm had occurred, such as the inclusion of the Intervention Brigade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the increased use of technology in peacekeeping operations, but the Special Committee remained “bedevilled” by procedural issues, which affected its engagement with peacekeeping’s substantive agenda. Also associating with the Movement was the representative of the Philippines, who said that 2013 had been a particularly exacting year for peacekeepers, especially those from the Philippines. He added that he would throw himself into the working group to eliminate future problems and called on States to recognize the common responsibility of all to peacekeeping. The representatives of Indonesia and Brazil also delivered statements following the resolution’s adoption. In other business today, the Fourth Committee elected two new Vice-Chairs by acclamation to fill seats vacated by departing Bureau members. With their terms valid for the remainder of the General Assembly’s sixty-seventh session, Lois Young ( Belize) was selected from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, and Vachara Pawutiyapong ( Thailand) hailed from the Asia and Pacific Group. ----------------- Words, words, words...