Bissau: 21 candidatos a Presidente da República?!

Bissau, 06 Mar. 14 (ANG) - O prazo limite para entrega de candidaturas as eleições presidenciais e legislativas de 13 de Abril na Guiné-Bissau terminou ontem, tendo registado 21 concorrentes ao cargo de Presidente da República e 22 partidos que pretendem assumir o governo. Dentre os candidatos a presidência da República, de salientar que dez deles estão a ser suportados ou apoiados por partidos políticos, enquanto os restantes 8 decidiram avançar como independentes. No que concerne às legislativas, 19 partidos já participaram nas eleições anteriores e apenas 2 são novos nestas andanças, nomeadamente o Partido Democrático para o Desenvolvimento, PDD, do jovem Policiano Gomes e o Movimento Patriótico, MP do pastor evangélico José Paulo Semedo. A data de 5 de Março havia sido estabelecida pelo Presidente da República de Transição, através de um decreto Presidencial. Candidatos às Presidenciais: · Abel Incada (Partido da Renovacao Social, PRS) · · Antonieta Rosa Gomes (Fórum Cívico, FC) · · António Afonso Té (Partido Republicano da Independência para o Desenvolvimento, PRID) · · Arregado Mantenque Té (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) · · Cirilo Augusto Rodrigues de Oliveira (Partido Socialista da Guiné-Bissau, PS-GB) · · Domingos Quadé (Independente) · · Iaia Djaló (Partido da Nova Democracia, PND) Ibraima Djaló (Congresso Nacional Africano) I · Ibraima Sori Djaló (Partido da Reconciliação Nacional, PRN) · · Faustino Fudut Imbali (Manifesto do Povo, MP) · · Fernando Jorge Almada (Independente) · Hélder Vaz (Resistência da Guiné-Bissau, RGB) · · Jorge Malú (Independente) · · José Mário Vaz (Partido Africano da Independência da Guine e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) · · Luís Nancassa (Independente) · · Mohamed Aladje Djimo (Independente) Impossa Ié (Centro Democrático) · · Nuno Nabiam (Independente) · · Paulo Gomes (Independente) · · Tcherno Djaló (Independente) Lassana na Brama (Independente) Legislativas (lista parcial): · Centro Democrático, CD · · Congresso Nacional Africano, CNA · · Fórum Cívico Social Democracia, FCSD · · Frente Democrática Social, FDS · · Liga Guineense de Protecção Ecológica, LIPE · · Movimento Democrático Guineense, MDG Manifesto do Povo, MP · · Movimento Patriótico, MP · · Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC · · Partido da Convergência Democrática, PCD · · Partido Democrático para o Desenvolvimento, PDD · · Partido da Nova Democracia, PND · · Partido da Reconciliação Nacional, PRN · · Partido da Renovação Social, PRS · · Partido Social Democrático, PSD · Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT · Partido Unido Social Democracia. PUSD · · União para a Mudança, UM · · União Patriótica Guineense, UPG Partido Republicano da Independencia para o Desenvolvimento, PRID Partido Socialista da Guiné Bissau, PS-GB, Partido Democrático para o Desenvolvimento e Cidadania, PADEC

RCA: Ban Ki-moon pede 12.000 capacetes azuis

La proposition du secrétaire général des Nations unies, Ban Ki-moon, de déployer d'ici à la mi-septembre 12 000 soldats et policiers en Centrafrique a été l'objet d'intenses discussions jeudi au Conseil de sécurité. Si les membres du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU s'accordent sur le fait qu'il faut déployer des Casques bleus à Bangui, la question de la taille et du financement de cette opération de maintien de la paix font l'objet d'intenses pourparlers. "Ce sera une négociation difficile car pour beaucoup de pays, le coût des opérations de maintien de la paix pose problème", a souligné l'ambassadeur français Gérard Araud à l'issue d'une réunion jeudi 6 mars à New York. Ces discussions étaient les premières du Conseil sur la proposition de Ban Ki-moon de déployer d'ici la mi-septembre 12 000 soldats et policiers en RCA. "Tous les États membres comprennent la nécessité d'une opération de maintien de la paix mais il y a des questions, des nuances sur la nature de la menace", a poursuivi l'ambassadeur français. Il a admis qu'il s'agirait d'une "opération lourde et inscrite dans la durée", qui coûterait plusieurs centaines de millions de dollars par an selon les estimations de l'ONU. La France va proposer dans les semaines qui viennent à ses partenaires d'adopter une résolution autorisant cette opération, qui prendra le relais de la force de l'Union africaine (Misca) déjà sur place aux côtés des 2 000 soldats français de l'opération Sangaris. Selon l'ambassadrice américaine à l'ONU, Samantha Power, les États-Unis "soutiennent" la demande du secrétaire général de l'ONU et sont prêts à "travailler en collaboration étroite avec leurs partenaires" sur ce projet. "Il est clair qu'une (telle) opération devra être soutenue par des partenaires sur le terrain, y compris par le biais d'une présence militaire continue et solide", a-t-elle déclaré. L'administration Obama devra cependant convaincre le Congrès de financer l'opération. "Nous sommes d'accord sur l'objectif (...) mais un certain nombre de questions ont été posées", a de son côté expliqué le patron des opérations de maintien de la paix de l'ONU, Hervé Ladsous. Il a fait valoir que l'opération serait "flexible" et sa mise en place progressive afin d'amortir un "coût important", qu'il a chiffré à "des centaines de millions mais pas un milliard" de dollars par an. Mais "retarder une réponse durable pourrait être encore plus coûteux", a-t-il plaidé en soulignant "l'impact négatif potentiel pour la stabilité de la région, y compris une division du pays et la création d'un terrain propice aux groupes extrémistes". En attendant l'arrivée des Casques bleus à l'automne, il avait appelé "à apporter d'urgence à la Misca un soutien financier rapide et généreux". La plupart des futurs Casques bleus viendront des rangs de la Misca. La patronne des opérations humanitaires de l'ONU Valerie Amos a également plaidé pour l'envoi de renforts. "À l'heure où je vous parle, des gens vivent dans la peur d'être attaqués et la communauté internationale semble paralysée", a-t-elle déclaré devant le Conseil. (Avec AFP) Lire l'article sur Jeuneafrique.com

Um roteiro da Guiné-Bissau

As razões por que escrevemos este livro A documentação histórica sobre a Guiné portuguesa já estava profundamente desatualizada quando se deu a independência. E a caminho das quatro décadas da independência de facto, a República da Guiné-Bissau continua a não dispor de uma narrativa em sequência desde a luta da libertação até acontecimentos recentes. Atendendo a esta inaceitável lacuna, os autores procuraram nalgumas centenas de páginas compendiar o que, na sua lógica, pode ser entendido como mais relevante sobre a presença dos portugueses na Guiné, como se desenrolou a guerra de libertação e o que tem sido a vida do novo Estado, logo sacudido por intentonas, cisões, a rutura entre a Guiné e Cabo Verde, uma guerra civil e crise endémicas intermináveis. O arco histórico vai, pois, desde a chegada dos navegadores a esse território indefinido da Senegâmbia, em meados do século XV, até ao golpe de Estado de 12 de Abril de 2012. Trata-se de um roteiro destinado a equipar estudiosos ou mesmo leitores meramente curiosos por essa fascinante e assombrosa Guiné, propiciar-lhes uma vasta gama de leituras e referências bibliográficas, mostrar os protagonistas envolvidos e determinantes (como é o caso de Amílcar Cabral). Não é uma enciclopédia nem uma antologia de textos avulsos, é uma rosa-dos-ventos que pode vir a sugerir aos investigadores ideias para estudos mais abalizados. É um roteiro sem intuitos doutrinários, fica ao dispor principalmente dos leitores de Portugal e da Guiné-Bissau, já que os autores estão plenamente esperançados que este livro irá incitar estudos mais desenvolvidos que deem continuidade à modéstia do presente empreendimento. Esta obra mais não pretende do que atrair mais e melhor estudo sobre a História da Guiné portuguesa e da Guiné-Bissau. Francisco Henriques da Silva Mário Beja Santos Sobre os autores: Francisco Henriques da Silva Licenciado em História, foi Alferes Miliciano de Infantaria na Guiné, de 1968 a 1970. Ingressou no serviço diplomático em 1975. Serviu nos Estados Unidos da América, em França, no Canadá e na Comissão Europeia na qualidade de perito nacional destacado. Foi Director dos Serviços do Médio Oriente e Magrebe. Vice-Presidente do Instituto Camões e Director-Geral dos Assuntos Multilaterais do Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros. Exerceu as funções de Embaixador na Guiné-Bissau, Costa do Marfim, Índia, México e Hungria. Possui a Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Cristo. É autor da obra "Crónicas dos (des)Feitos da Guiné" e de diversos outros trabalhos. Mário Beja Santos Licenciado em História, foi Alferes Miliciano de Infantaria na Guiné, de 1968 a 1970. Toda a sua vida profissional entre 1974 e 2012 esteve orientada para a política do consumidor. É autor de mais de três dezenas de títulos relacionados com as temáticas da política dos consumidores. Foi professor do ensino superior, colaborou durante mais de duas décadas em emissões radiofónicas ligadas à defesa do consumidor e foi autor e apresentador de programas televisivos e teve uma participação activa no consumo europeu. Alguns dos seus últimos livros foram dedicados à Guiné: "Diário da Guiné - Na Terra dos Soncó", Diário da Guiné - O Tigre Vadio", "Mulher Grande", "A Viagem do Tangomau" e "Adeus, Até ao Meu Regresso", um levantamento da literatura sobre e de combatentes na Guiné.

China: PNB cresce perto de 7,5 por cento

The annual session of China's National People's Congress, the closest it has to a legislature, opened this week. The announcement that the GDP growth target for 2014 will be "about 7.5%" was keenly awaited, and comes in at the top end of what we think is sustainable. The government is rightly keen to rein in credit growth, amid worries about bad loans, local government debt and a possible housing bubble, but doing that will put the brakes on growth. This target sets up a tough choice for 2014: miss the target or stop cleaning up the financial system. Given the importance of the latter, we expect the government to have to accept a lower growth rate. We are currently forecasting 7.2% growth, but we will nudge this up to 7.3%, because the Chinese Communist Party has a good track record of not being too far off target, at least as far as the official statistics go. While growth in China is slowing, even if the target is met, it is worth remembering that it still has one of the fastest growth rates in the world: quite an achievement for an economy of its size. The Economist

Birmânia: O drama do povo Rohingya

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Malaysia, March 6 (Reuters) - Human traffickers have kept hundreds of Rohingya Muslims captive in houses in northern Malaysia, beating them, depriving them of food, and demanding a ransom from their families, according to detailed accounts by the victims. The accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on jungle camps near the border that have become a prison for the Muslim asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Police in the northern Malaysian states of Penang and Kedah have conducted several raids on the houses in recent months, including an operation in February that discovered four Rohingya men bound together with metal chains in an apartment. But Reuters' interviews reveal a trafficking network on a far bigger scale than authorities have acknowledged so far, with brokers herding groups of hundreds of Rohingya at night over the border and holding them captive in the Southeast Asian country. The abuse in Malaysia is the latest oppression against the Rohingya. They are mostly stateless Muslims from western Myanmar, where clashes with majority Buddhists since the middle of 2012 have killed hundreds and forced about 140,000 into squalid camps. Many of the tens of thousands of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar by boat have fallen into the hands of human traffickers at sea who then hold them hostage in remote Thai camps near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them, according to a Reuters investigation published on Dec 5. Some were beaten and killed, others held in cages where they suffered malnutrition. The Reuters investigation found Thai authorities were sometimes working with the traffickers in an effort to push the Rohingyas out of Thailand because immigration detention camps were getting overwhelmed with asylum-seekers. In January, Thai police said they rescued hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from a remote camp in southern Thailand, a raid they said was prompted by the Reuters investigation, and had launched a manhunt for the "kingpins" who routinely smuggle humans through southern Thailand to Malaysia with impunity. The intensified trafficking of Rohingyas into Muslim-majority Malaysia threatens to undermine its anti-human-trafficking record, which is at imminent risk of being downgraded by the United States to a par with North Korea. It also highlights the porous state of Malaysia's 500 km (310 mile)-long northern border, with thousands of Rohingya entering unhindered at a time when the government has taken a tough public stance against illegal immigration. For the desperate Rohingya, Malaysia is the promised land, where at least 30,000 already live. The country does not give them full refugee rights, but has allowed them to stay and register with the United Nations. Thousands have picked up work at the bottom rungs of the informal economy. "NOW WE DON'T HAVE LAND" Mohamed Einous, a 19-year-old Rohingya from Buthidaung township, felt relief sweep over him as he scrambled over a border wall in a group of 270 refugees in mid-February, about a month after he left Myanmar. The crossing took place at night using two ladders supplied by his captors. "I believed I could make money here," Einous told Reuters. His hope of freedom was short-lived. Handed to a new gang of brokers on the Malaysia side of the border, the Rohingya were packed into vans and driven to a house with blacked-out windows the traffickers said was in the border town of Padang Besar. Once there, the brokers beat Einous with long wooden sticks and threatened to kill him if he did not secure a payment of $2,000 from his parents in Myanmar. Distraught at Einous' cries over the telephone, his parents sold their family home for $1,600 and borrowed the rest from relatives, Einous said. "There are no words to express how sorry I feel," Einous told Reuters on Feb. 21, just hours after the brokers dumped him near a market in the town of Bukit Mertajam in Penang, ending his eight-day nightmare in the house. "Now we don't have land. My parents have nowhere to live." Einous said the brokers in Thailand had told him he could pay a much smaller amount ("whatever I wanted") to be released once in Malaysia. He said the refugees only received rice once a day in the house and were packed so tightly into two rooms that they couldn't lie down. Abdul Hamid, a 23-year-old motorbike mechanic from Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state, recalled similar conditions at the compound where he was imprisoned for a week with more than 200 others in Penang. About 16 guards kept watch over them in two shifts. The traffickers' boss, a man in his 30s known as "Razak" who wore a suit and steel-rimmed spectacles, regularly kicked, beat and threatened the cowering prisoners, Hamid said. "They said we don't have money to give you food. You need to get money if you want to be free," Hamid told Reuters in Kuala Lumpur following his release in mid-February. Malaysia, a labour-short country with an estimated two million undocumented workers that offers higher wages than its neighbours, has long struggled with a reputation as a haven for human trafficking. Like Thailand, Malaysia is at risk of being downgraded in the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report from the Tier Two watchlist to the lowest rank of Tier Three. The scale of the problem appears to have surged in recent months. "It is definitely increasing," said Chris Lewa, coordinator of Rohingya advocacy group Arakan Project, who regularly interviews those who make the journey. "In more and more stories I have heard recently they (Rohingya) have been detained in Malaysia." Several of the 10 witnesses cited the brokers as telling them they had bribed Malaysian immigration officials to turn a blind eye when they crossed the border. Reuters found no direct evidence of corruption by Malaysian officials. Five immigration officials were arrested in 2009 for working with a smuggling syndicate to traffic Rohingya into the country. "We didn't see any officials on the Malaysia side," said Korimullah, a 17-year-old from Maungdaw township, who spent more than three months in Thai camps and was then held by traffickers in a house in the northern Malaysian city of Alor Star. "The brokers said they had already given money to them." Officials from Malaysia's immigration department, the prime minister's office, and police in Penang and Kedah states did not respond to requests for comment. BORDER CHAOS The surge of Rohingya trafficking activity in Malaysia followed a series of raids to harass human smugglers and drive them from illegal camps dotted across remote areas of southern Thailand. In two raids in January, Thai police rescued and detained more than 600 Rohingya and Bangladeshis. Abdul Hamid and several other witnesses described chaotic scenes on the Thai side of the border in recent weeks as their captors moved them from camp to camp and hurried them over the border before they had time to secure payments from their relatives. "The guards said the police would come and drop a bomb on the camp and that we had to move into Malaysia," Hamid said. Increasingly overcrowded and deadly conditions in the makeshift jungle camps in Thailand could be another reason for the shift of operations into Malaysia. "We couldn't get enough food or water. People were dying with terrible pains in their body," said Eisoup, a 20-year-old from Sittwe, who estimates that 45 people died in 15 days at his camp in January. Many of those involved in Rohingya trafficking are Rohingya themselves, according to Reuters' interviews and the Arakan Project's Lewa. Mohamed Aslom's arms bear cuts and burn marks from where he says cigarettes were stubbed out on him by Rohingya brokers during seven days he spent in captivity in a locked, dark room in Penang with about 20 other victims. The 21-year-old former shopkeeper said he was then sold to another group of brokers who drove him and three others across Malaysia to the east coast town of Kuantan, where the torture continued for four days in a three-storey house. Finally, he saw a chance to escape. When one of his captors went to the toilet, he said he rushed the remaining one and bolted into the street. "It feels worse when those from Rakhine (state) hurt us - they are our own people," said Aslom, speaking in Kuala Lumpur days after his brother picked him up from Kuantan. (Reporting By Stuart Grudgings: Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Líbia: O Níger entregou Saadi Kaddafi

Les autorités nigériennes ont remis Saadi Kaddafi au gouvernement libyen. Le fils de l'ancien "Guide" Mouammar Kaddafi vivait depuis fin 2011 dans une villa de Niamey. L'exil nigérien de Saadi Kaddafi s'est achevé mercredi 5 mars. Le fils de l'ancien dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kaddafi a été remis au gouvernement libyen. "Il est arrivé en Libye et est aux mains de la police judiciaire", a indiqué un communiqué des autorités libyennes qui se sont engagées à le traiter "conformément aux normes internationales sur le traitement des prisonniers".

Sur sa page Facebook, la Brigade des révolutionnaires de Tripoli (ex-rebelles) a publié cinq photos du fils Kaddafi le montrant alors qu'un homme lui rase la tête et la barbe à l'aide d'un rasoir électrique. Il est agenouillé en tenue bleue sur un matelas à même le sol entouré de plusieurs hommes. Saadi Kadhafi, 39 ans, s'était réfugié en septembre 2011 au Niger, peu avant la chute du régime de son père, le 20 octobre 2011. Niamey, qui lui a accordé l'asile, refusait de l'extrader malgré les demandes répétées des nouvelles autorités libyennes. Le président nigérien, Mahamadou Issoufou, avait annoncé en novembre 2012 que son pays avait accordé l'asile à Saadi Kadhafi pour des "raisons humanitaires". Tripoli l'accuse de "s'être emparé de biens par la force et l'intimidation quand il dirigeait la Fédération libyenne de football". Interpol avait émis une "notice rouge" pour demander à ses 188 pays membres son arrestation Lire l'article sur Jeuneafrique.com

Ucrânia: Algumas manobras sujas

Una grabación siembra dudas sobre el origen de los francotiradores de Kiev Una televisión rusa recoge una conversación entre el ministro de Exteriores estonio y la jefa de la diplomacia de la UE de la que interpreta que los tiradores podrían ser del bando opositor AGENCIAS Bruselas / Tallin 6 MAR 2014 La televisión rusa RT reprodujo el miércoles el audio de una llamada de teléfono interceptada entre el ministro de Exteriores estonio, Urmas Paet, y la jefa de la diplomacia europea, Catherine Ashton, en la que el primero sugiere que los francotiradores que actuaron en Kiev contra los manifestantes del Maidán en los días más violentos de la protesta fueron contratados por la oposición. "Se hace cada vez más evidente que detrás de los francotiradores no estaba [el presidente Víctor] Yanukóvich, sino alguien de la nueva coalición", dijo Paet a Ashton, según la llamada pinchada supuestamente por los servicios secretos de Ucrania y filtrada en YouTube. El ministro explica que una doctora Kiev le dijo que los mismos francotiradores disparaban a los manifestantes opositores y a los policías, durante los días de febrero en que se desató la mayor violencia en Kiev, unos disturbios que causaron cerca de cien muertos. Paet hace referencia minutos antes al testimonio de una activista médica llamada Olga, que Ashton admite conocer. "La misma Olga dijo también que las pruebas muestran que la gente que fue abatida en ambos bandos por francotiradores, incluidos policías y gente de la calle, eran los mismos francotiradores, matando a gente de ambos bandos", dice Paet. El ministro también le dice a Ashton en la grabación que "es preocupante que la nueva coalición no quiera investigar" ese asunto, en referencia a las nuevas autoridades que llegaron al poder en Ucrania tras la destitución de Yanukóvich el 22 de febrero. "Creo que sí queremos investigarlo. Quiero decir, no he dejado esto, esto es interesante, cielos", responde Ashton al ministro estonio, a lo que éste le señala que se trata de un "factor muy irritante". En un comunicado citado por Reuters, el Gobierno estonio negó que Paet considere que la oposición esté relacionada con los disparos, pero reconoce la autenticidad de la grabación. “El ministro de Exteriores estaba haciendo un repaso de lo que había oído el día anterior en Kiev y expresaba su preocupación por la situación sobre el terreno”, afirma. “Rechazamos la afirmación de que Paet esté diciendo que la oposición está implicada en la violencia”. Una portavoz de Ashton rechazó comentar la grabación. De acuerdo al canal de televisión, la llamada fue subida a la red por responsables del Servicio de Seguridad de Ucrania leales al depuesto presidente Yanukóvich, que pincharon los teléfonos de ambos. Esta es la segunda filtración por medios rusos de llamadas telefónicas de políticos occidentales sobre la crisis de Ucrania. Hace unas semanas, apareció un vídeo en Youtube, con subtítulos en ruso, con una llamada entre la secretaria de Estado adjunta para Asuntos Europeos, Victoria Nuland, y el embajador de EEUU en Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt. En ella, Nuland expresaba la preferencia de EEUU por el opositor Arseni Yatseniuk (actual primer ministro), frente a Vitali Klichkó, favorito de los europeos, y en un momento dado, la diplomática afirma "que se joda la UE". El País