Daydreaming

We need a better world, less selfish, more solidary, though fighting for it is sort of daydreaming

[elynoreme]

ONLY THE BELT WAS MISSING, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

"The “Open Letter” that Amnesty International addressed yesterday to the Dominican authorities, far from being a document that points out aspects that could be improved within the procedures contemplated in the immigration legal framework of the Dominican State, is an international reprimand full of falsehoods and insults, and it constitutes a “fallacy of half-truth”, as it mixes undeniable truths (isolated cases of abuse, human rights violations, expulsions of vulnerable people) with false accusations of racist practices, which do belong to the past of first world countries, and not to us.

What we do have is a constitutional framework that clearly indicates who is Dominican and who is not; an immigration legal framework that determines who can be in the country and who cannot; a government determined to fulfill it, and a society that supports it.

It would seem that Amnesty, more than an NGO, pretends to be the Dominican government; because only in this way would one understand the insolence of demanding open doors in the face of a country collapsed by violence and chaos, or that we collectively grant “refugee status to Haitian people.”

Let the gentlemen of Amnesty International and their local henchmen know that here there is a State that functions and that its institutions are respected. And they should also know that we Dominicans will not accept anyone from outside telling us what to do in our country… or the island will sink."

Free extraction and translation from: https://listindiario.com/puntos-de-vista/20240404/amnistia-internacional-solo-le-falto-correa_802750.html

[elynoreme]

La Gran Reparación Moral

La situación actual expresa la necesidad de un nuevo pacto social, político, económico y ambiental a favor de la reconstrucción de Haití y que compromete como nunca a la comunidad internacional y especialmente a las potencias coloniales y neocoloniales co-responsables del derrotero haitiano.

La Española es una Isla de poco más de 76 mil km2 con una población conjunta que supera los 22 millones de habitantes, es decir con una densidad de alrededor de 289 habitantes por kilómetro cuadrado.  Mientras que Colombia es un país en el que La Española cabe cerca de 15 veces (1.14 millones de km2) con una densidad demográfica de alrededor de 45 Hab/km2.  Es decir, la presión demográfica sobre el territorio en La Española es más de seis veces la presión que en un país continental como Colombia. Al margen de cualquier influjo malthusiano, sabemos que a partir determinado nivel de desarrollo o de ingresos, la curva de población tiende a estabilizarse y en el caso de economías de muy altos ingresos el fenómeno es inverso, es decir, se ven afectadas negativamente por las restricciones que supone el declive demográfico como ocurre en estados avanzados como Japón (por cierto, un estado insular) o en las economías de Europa Occidental[1].

La cuestión demográfica se torna en un problema en escenarios complejos de muy baja capacidades de desarrollo y agotamiento de los recursos naturales, como ocurre en Haití, una situación particular en la que queda menos de un 1% de   bosques primarios y en donde la degradación y agotamiento de los recursos naturales se convierte en un desafío en materia de sustentabilidad.  Esta situación se ve agravada por los efectos del cambio climático y la variabilidad climática que parcialmente pueden explicar las tendencias migratorias de Haití de las últimas décadas.  De modo que el migrante haitiano es un migrante climático y ambiental además de un migrante por razones de seguridad y economía empujado a salir de su territorio por las restricciones económicas y sociales, así como por las bajas capacidades de sus ecosistemas de proveer bienes y servicios.  Esa migración no sólo va a la República Dominicana, su destino inmediato,  sino a todo el continente y se ha convertido en un desafío regional que pone a prueba la solidaridad de todos nuestros países.

La conversación con mis alumnos giró en torno a las raíces económicas del drama secular de la estabilización de Haití desde su independencia en 1804 y de cómo las potencias coloniales no perdonaron que un país de negros y esclavos proclamará su independencia.   Especialmente La Francia, la cuna de la Revolución que acabo con el absolutismo e inspiró la independencia de las colonias españolas del Nuevo Mundo y que nos

legó la concepción moderna de los derechos humanos (libertad, igualdad y fraternidad).

Les contaba a mis alumnos, que hasta 1825 Francia se negó a reconocer la independencia de Haití y que para hacerlo pidió una reparación económica equivalente a 150 millones de francos oro. Se estima que a lo largo de siete décadas Haití pago a Francia alrededor de 560 millones de dólares a precios actuales que, de haber permanecido en Haití, hubiesen impulsado el crecimiento económico de ese país por un valor de entre los US$ 21 mil millones y los US$115 mil millones, dependiendo del escenario de ritmo de crecimiento económico que se considere.  Pero el drama no queda ahí. Como la República de Haití literalmente estaba quebrada y era tierra arrasada, tuvo que endeudarse con la banca francesa para pagar la reparación de su independencia. Es decir,  Haití no sólo accedió a pagar la reparación, sino que se vio obligado a pedir prestado dinero a la banca francesa para pagarla bajo un régimen de intereses draconianos que comprometió por décadas las capacidades financieras del estado haitiano generando lo que se conoce como la doble deuda de la independencia haitiana.

La banca francesa generó un entramado financiero del que se beneficiaron sus principales entidades bancarias que actuaron como acreedores de un país de negros y esclavos que solamente quería ser reconocido en el concierto de las naciones. Entidades financieras el como el actual Crédit Industriel et Comercial (que financió la torre Eiffel de París), entre otras entidades, fueron parte de ese fatídico entramando que continúo enriqueciendo las arcas francesas durante 122 años, hasta una fecha relativamente reciente como1947, cuando fue cancelada la deuda contraída en calidad de reparación a los intereses de La Francia colonial[2].

La expoliación de las finanzas haitianas durante 122 años alimentó además otro relato que fomentó el neocolonialismo,  un relato en el que los pueblos negros del sur no se pueden gobernar, que están condenados a las penurias y violencia y a convertirse en estados fallidos. En esta narrativa todavía resuenan los ecos del determinismo geográfico que tuvo un gran influjo en el mundo neocolonial de finales del siglo XIX incluyendo las contribuciones de pensadores como Frederick Ratzel (1844-1904) y que precisamente indican que la geografía, el clima o la raza pueden explicar las diferencias de desarrollo entre los pueblos.  De modo que no sólo hubo una doble deuda, sino un doble relato y este último aún pesa cuando se piensa en el Haití contemporáneo como un estado fallido.

El pecado de nacimiento de Haití, su anatema fue nacer como un país de negros y esclavos libres que procuraron su emancipación al amparo de los principios de la propia revolución francesa.  Los bosques arrasados, la tierra quemada, el lecho expuesto de los cauces y ríos, el hambre, la pobreza sistémica tienen sin dudas sus raíces en las oportunidades perdidas de desarrollo económico que le fueron esquilmadas a los negros que se atrevieron a desafiar al mundo con su canto de liberación.  ¿Se puede eximir de responsabilidad a los haitianos de lo que ocurre en la actualidad? Por supuesto que no, pero lo que son hoy es el resultado de su pasado colonial extendido por 122 años.   Las elites coloniales fueron sustituidas por élites mulatas y negras extractivas e hiper-corruptas que le dieron forma a un estado cleptocrático que, en ausencia de instituciones fuertes, continuaron esquilmando a una nación imposibilitada de construir su futuro prácticamente desde su mismo nacimiento.

La situación actual expresa la necesidad de un nuevo pacto social, político, económico y ambiental a favor de la reconstrucción de Haití y que compromete como nunca a la comunidad internacional y especialmente a las potencias coloniales y neocoloniales co-responsables del derrotero haitiano. Ese nuevo pacto debe basarse en dos directivas principales. La primera directiva es el reconocimiento de la autonomía haitiana para abordar sus propios desafíos y para ello la comunidad internacional está en el deber de apoyar técnica y financieramente los esfuerzos de reconstrucción del Estado haitiano.  La segunda directiva es que el conflicto de gobernanza de Haití no se puede extender de ningún modo al lado dominicano.

La primera directiva implica que con urgencia se convoquen elecciones políticas que en el muy corto plazo conduzcan a refundar el Estado haitiano superando la retórica del estado fallido.  La evidencia preliminar sugiere que es posible gestionar de otra manera el deterioro ambiental en Haití y fomentar un escenario de sustentabilidad para el futuro.  La segunda directiva implica reconocer que en buena medida la sustentabilidad ambiental del futuro de Haití depende de los servicios que proveen los ecosistemas protegidos del lado dominicano y que por tanto no tiene sentido empobrecer o debilitar a un segundo país inclusive por razones de seguridad regional.

Por consiguiente, la misión de pacificación en Haití debe sustentarse en un plan de largo plazo con hitos claramente definidos y acompañada de una misión de asistencia técnica paralela tanto en el lado haitiano como en el lado dominicano de la Frontera. Del lado oriental se debe apoyar al Estado dominicano con recursos no sólo para reforzar la vigilancia y control fronterizo sino como salvaguarda del cumplimiento de los deberes del estado dominicano en lo que respecta al cuidado de su soberanía nacional dentro del derecho internacional que le asiste.   El Estado dominicano puede verse desbordado en la frontera y esto no supone en modo alguno una debilidad sino el reconocimiento de que la gestión de la crisis haitiana debe hacerse con un sentido de largo plazo y en el marco de la cooperación técnica que apoye a los dos estados que comparten la Isla.

De este lado de La Española la clave ha estado en que, con sus diferencias, la clase política dominicana, los grupos empresariales y la sociedad civil han sabido ponerse de acuerdo en los temas y en los momentos críticos de nuestro pasado reciente. La sustentabilidad es sin duda uno de ellos en especial para un estado insular en desarrollo.  Esa capacidad de dialogar y ponerse de acuerdo nunca puede ser puesta a prueba, en ello nos jugamos el futuro.    El consenso básico es que el desarrollo para que sea tal debe ser inclusivo y sustentable basado en instituciones fuertes y creíbles.   Debe tener, por ejemplo, la capacidad de derribar la pared que impide que Juan pueda ver desde su lado de la calle el paisaje de la Bahía de Samaná que ha disfrutado desde niño, pero también la persuasión para disuadir intenciones similares.

Más de 200 años después Haití sigue luchando por su emancipación, el lamento de un pueblo negro que tuvo la osadía de alzar su voz en el concierto de las naciones blancas colonialistas y al que no se le podía tolerar que se saliera con la suya.  La comunidad internacional y en particular las potencias coloniales que la oprimieron financieramente hasta mediados del siglo XX le deben una doble reparación a Haití: una económica, pero también moral.

Escribo estas líneas atento al vaivén de las olas que besan las calas de la Bahía de Samaná y se fusionan con el canto de las aves en una mañana nublada y preñada del rocío del atlántico.  El murmuro atemporal de las olas rompiendo en la orilla suena como el canto hipnótico de nuestra insularidad.

[1] A los lectores interesados en las cuestiones demográficas  recomiendo un artículo científico que publicamos recientemente titulado: Growth and decline in rural Spain que puede ser consultado aquí.

[2] A los lectores interesados en las finanzas de la independencia haitiana y su impacto en el desarrollo del vecino país les recomiendo el extenso trabajo periodístico bajo las firmas de Catherine Porter, Constant Méheut, Matt Apuzzo y Selam Gebrekidan, publicado por el New York Times y que puede ser consultado en el siguiente enlace; https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/americas/haiti-history-colonized-france.html.

La gran reparación moral

La situación actual expresa la necesidad de un nuevo pacto social, político, económico y ambiental a favor de la reconstrucción de Haití y q

[elynoreme]

ABOUT THE BI-NATIONAL CONFLICT OVER THE CONSTRUCTION OF A CANAL ON THE DOMINICAN-HAITIEN BORDER

The greatest challenge that this shared island, Santo Domingo, has, is the proper management of its natural resources, particularly water, says the author of this article, and add that the worst yoke of Haiti is not only the one of the criminal gangs that plague it, but that of so many Haitian nationals who have preferred to profit, rather than sincerely and responsibly assume the cause of their country.

The author states that "the current conflict over the construction in Haiti of a canal on the Masacre River without having respected the mandates of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Arbitration between both countries signed in 1929, and which has been alleged to have critical technical failures that entail risks of flooding derived of the height of the canal with respect to the riverbed, which motivated the decision to completely close the borders since September 15 by order of the President of the Dominican Republic, is a dispute that should set a precedent for the proper management of binational water resources, whose future looks bleak due to the effects of climate change."

Selection and free translation from: "https://acento.com.do/opinion/meterse-en-la-candela-9250692.html

[elynoreme]

Daydreaming turned 10 today!

[elynoreme]

"

The unveiling of an intimidation

As it is noticeable at first glance, Haitian migration in the Dominican Republic has ended up gaining a dizzying pace that has become a synthesis of the multiple problems of the national community.

Certainly, behind the process lies the aggravation of the atrocious living conditions of the Haitian people, although the weight of other causal components has been changing. In addition to the demand for cheap labor in our country, to rationalize a scheme of social exploitation, increasing international pressure has been superimposed so that the Dominican State allows the indefinite expansion of the migrant population under illegal conditions. As a result of these pressures, migration has spiraled out of control, fueled by the endemic corruption that corrodes the functioning of the political system.

For the first time in a long time, President Luis Abinader has proposed to impose corrective measures to this phenomenon. It is not an improvised position in him, since it was a campaign issue, in manifestation of the awareness of the incessant worsening of the problem.

What is proposed as an objective for the generality of Dominicans is very simple and incontrovertible in its convenience: that the existence of illegal migrants cease, so that there is a regularization of their status and a minimum organization of the labor market, and that the repatriation of illegals in compliance with legal mandates is carried out.

It has been enough that the set of provisions started to be applied in this direction for the pressures on the Dominican State externalized in unknown ways. Except for minor exceptions, as far as the capacity of daily memory goes, the questioning to the application of the legal precepts of the State were made from international organizations supported by nuclei of Haitians abroad or through subtle diplomatic channels that were out of reach of the knowledge of the population. But, beyond the versions about specific situations, there was irrefutable evidence about more serious attempts, such as a plan for the establishment of refugee camps that was not carried out before due to the position of Joaquín Balaguer. It would have implied the influx of many tens of thousands of “refugees” and accelerated the migratory chaos that is currently being experienced.

In recent weeks, the harsh truth has emerged about the origin of the design for the Dominican Republic to receive a much greater volume of migrants from the neighboring country in permanent and non-revocable refugee status. The allegations of a UN "high commissioner" were not enough, according to the patterns until now basically used, whose allegations were accurately described by President Abinader as irresponsible. Surprisingly, the following act opened with a combination of sanctions, one directly economic for the export of sugar, based on the alleged mistreatment of workers by Central Romana, and the other on tourism with the exorbitant imputation, in a shameless falsification. , that tourists of dark color are mistreated.

The quintessential racist country of the developed Western world, in which millions of members of extreme right formations express hatred and train in the exercise of ethnic violence, has the luxury of accusing Dominican Republic of practicing racism.

Now is not the time to analyze the validity of the accusation. But it is clear that, although there are still criteria associated with racism or color prejudice among minority sectors of Dominicans, they have no point of comparison with what is characteristic of the "great democracy of the north." Contrary to the country of self-constituted judges of the world, since ancient times, tolerance in terms of color diversity has prevailed among Dominicans, to the extent that it has operated as one of the foundations of the structuring of the nation. Moreover, also contrary to the prevailing ideological intolerance among the ruling elites of the leader of the "free world", after the fall of Trujillo's tyranny among Dominicans there is a capacity for dialogue resulting from tolerance towards the opinions of others.

The allegations show with crystal clarity what lies behind this unseemly condemnation to Dominican Republic: that the massive entry of Haitians into the territory of the State that shares the island operates as an escape valve so that they do not emigrate to the country where the right to intervene in the affairs of others is exercised, even through the use of warlike aggression (Iraq or Afghanistan, not to mention Vietnam). The purpose of the operation is long-standing, but it is reinforced in the present conditions. It is more than revealing of the double standards involved that concomitantly in several of its state demarcations has been decided to implement measures that allow the deportation of illegals with the flagrant violation of human rights that they claim to defend on a planetary scale as moralizing imperialism.

A delicate panorama opens for Dominican Republic. The small and weak national economy gravitates around the powerful giant: half of the income from tourism, the destination of the vast majority of exports, the even greater proportion of remittances from residents abroad. This relationship has been based on a geopolitical order implemented since the early years of the last century, for which two military interventions were required.

But Dominicans continue to be constituted as a nation, and therefore with the prerogative of exercising sovereignty through an autonomous order.

At the same time, as a result of the avalanche of illegal migration, a consensus has emerged in the country that tends to put a stop to it. This auspicious phenomenon is what has led to the sharpening of imperial interference. Dishonestly, the state of opinion has been disqualified, outside and also here, as an expression of racism and xenophobia. In truth, on the contrary, the call of the Duartiano Institute responds to the persistence of patriotism. It is not true, therefore, that the questioning of illegal immigration comes from a fascist extreme right, as has been alleged from a coalition of "leftists" or "liberals" supported by NGOs instrumented by international organizations and magnates of world power encouraged by shady goals.

Thirdly, what is underlying is not anti-Haitianism, but the demand for immigration control, a demand that can only be questioned on the limit of lack of responsibility.

Now is not the time to discuss the implications of a migration policy either. What is required is, purely and simply, the return of the illegals to their country of origin.

Until now, no one has advocated for the expulsion of all Haitians, the unfounded specter of the search for "ethnic cleansing" for an alleged obsession with color among Dominicans. Nobody has tried in recent decades to "mess with Haiti" or anything like that, as the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela asserted, in a demonstration of at least a convenient distraction. Haiti's undoubted condition as a victim of the imperial system also calls for thoughtless confusion. Meanwhile, without exception, Haitians arriving in Cuba are interned at a facility in Guantánamo before being returned.

t is sufficiently established that a serious problem lies behind the migration agenda, because the incessant expansion of the Haitian population would lead to a national duality bound to degenerate into growing tensions that could lead to disastrous consequences.

Worse still, if things continue like this, the foreseeable demand for national duality, encouraged by imperial power, would result in the disappearance of the nation in the terms in which it has been constituted since the 19th century as a result of prolonged struggles of the entire population.

Consequently, an unprecedented dilemma has opened up. Something too sad because it involves poor immigrants from a neighboring country that must be a friend. It is not just any challenge. But at least a state of opinion has been created that migration must be stopped, diminished and regulated. This demand is not directed against the Haitian people. It responds to a survival requirement of the Dominican people, sovereign over the territory of their State.

On the other hand, is fallacious the allegation that the return of illegal migrants is not appropriate at the moment due to the humanitarian crisis that Haiti is going through. In truth, migration only operates as an escape valve for the preservation of the ominous status in which the Haitian people have been subjected. Even if more millions of Haitians were received here, the foundations of the current catastrophic humanitarian situation in the neighboring country would not be altered, to which are no strangers the powers that now demonize Dominicans .

IIt is precisely the opposite: to the extent that the expectation of emigration is reproduced, the reproduction of an order that subjects almost all of a people to the most appalling misery is facilitated.

The neuralgic problem involved should not lead to forgetting the Haitian people. President Abinader's call for the international community to assume the duty of contributing to overcoming the existing fear in the neighboring country is also absolutely correct. However, the realization of an action of this nature is fraught with difficulties. First, because of the indifference to the absence of risks within the chess of struggles between the powers. On the other hand, for a long time, clearly since the ascension of Michel Martelly, the hegemonic powers of the West have compromised themselves with the worst interests in Haiti, seen as a paradoxical guarantee of stability. The intervention variants have been useless, or rather have contributed to making things worse. Thus, we are faced with the challenge of difficulties in producing auspicious aid that respects the sovereign attributes of the Haitian people.

Although it may seem paradoxical, Dominicans must exempt themselves from meddling in any aspect of the affairs of the neighboring country. They must offer the example, in the first place to the countries of Latin America, of a unilateral and disinterested action. What can be done from here could contribute to opening a viable cooperation dynamic. The spontaneous popular reaction to the 2010 earthquake surprised not a few Haitians who may well have good faith convictions but who do not calibrate the position of the generality of Dominicans.

Unfortunately, even in the best of cases, reversing conditions in Haiti is a long-term matter. Apparently, nothing announces for the moment the establishment of an order prepared to undertake a reconstruction of the neighboring country. The damage that mafia politicians and business groups manipulated by international interests have inflicted for decades is too severe. Ultimately, any solution will only be the result of the action of the Haitian people themselves, with whom they have a human duty of solidarity. But it will never be overemphasized that foreign interventions will bring nothing convenient and that the key to solutions is in the hands of the Haitians in Haiti.

It is inevitable that the correction of the migratory chaos feeds back reasons for resentment in Haiti. The influx of Haitian nationals to the Dominican Republic has operated as one of the bow flags of power holders of all orientations since Jean Bertrand Aristide. It is not, therefore, a new subject, and requires a specific examination."

Translation from: https://acento.com.do/opinion/develamiento-de-una-intimidacion-9135613.html

[elynoreme]

Daydreaming turned 9 today!

Thanks, Tumblr!

[elynoreme]

250 posts!

[elynoreme]

The Dominican Republic pension system

The Dominican pension system in general and the individual accounts system in particular "suffer from severe problems," states a critical report published this July by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The document also indicates that the administration of the system by pension fund administrators (AFP) "demonstrates very little competence."

In addition, the replacement interest rate, which is the percentage of income in retirement compared to previous income as an active worker, is the lowest in the region: 22.8% estimated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2010 and 27% for an academic study in 2020, about half the minimum of 45% set by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

(Free translation from: https://www.diariolibre.com/economia/empleo/2022/07/24/lo-que-dice-informe-de-cepal-sobre-sistema-de-pensiones-rd/1963593

[elynoreme]

"Contrarreforma: republicanos y el fundamentalismo religioso

El año 1959 inició dos décadas de avance de los movimientos reivindicativos en Estados Unidos y el año 1980 inició lo que lleva más de cuatro décadas de ofensiva de contrarreforma.

La prosperidad económica de la pos Segunda Guerra Mundial permitió la articulación de nuevas demandas sociales, proceso que en Estados Unidos se inició con el movimiento por los derechos civiles de los negros por acceso igualitario a la educación, al trabajo y al voto.

Ese movimiento tuvo como pilar las iglesias evangélicas negras, uno de los pocos espacios donde los negros podían congregarse y los pastores contaban con autoridad y carisma para movilizar las masas de negros discriminados. He ahí el reverendo Martin Luther King.

Bajo presión social, el Estado tuvo que garantizar mayores derechos a esa población y en la Presidencia estaban John F. Kennedy y Lyndon Johnson, ambos del Partido Demócrata. Así se sedimentó el apoyo político-electoral de los negros a ese partido (alrededor del 95% vota demócrata).

Al movimiento de derechos civiles le siguió el movimiento de mujeres y el movimiento gay. También el Partido Demócrata fue el abanderado de sus reclamos.

En 1974, el Partido Republicano se descalabró con la renuncia de Richard Nixon por el escándalo Watergate. Necesitaba urgentemente articular una nueva base social de apoyo para ser electoralmente competitivo.

En ese contexto comenzó a forjarse la alianza entre el Partido Republicano y la llamada Mayoría Moral, un movimiento religioso fundamentalista, encabezado por líderes evangélicos blancos, cuyo propósito era detener la supuesta degradación moral de la sociedad norteamericana por la interracialidad, el aborto, la homosexualidad y el secularismo.

Este movimiento se expandió rápidamente por el sur del país, cuya población blanca guardaba un resentimiento con el Partido Demócrata por haber favorecido las reformas a favor de los negros en la década de 1960.

Ese resentimiento encontró entonces una articulación político-religiosa. El llamado tele evangelismo prosperó, así como las mega iglesias evangélicas donde comenzaron a levantarse las consignas antiaborto y antigay. A ese movimiento se unió un segmento católico.

Desde entonces, el Partido Republicano ha contado con una base electoral segura que conforman blancos fundamentalistas religiosos, muchos sin educación universitaria. Este segmento social aumentó numéricamente en tanto las medidas económicas neoliberales, que impulsaron inicialmente los mismos republicanos, trajo mayor precarizaron del trabajo obrero.

A partir de 1980, el Partido Republicano promovió la desregulación de las empresas y propinó un golpe mortal al sindicalismo, que desde la década de 1930 había sido soporte político-electoral del Partido Demócrata.

En la medida que los sindicatos perdieron poder y los obreros perdieron sus trabajos por la relocalización de las industrias a México, China y el Caribe, el Partido Republicano encontró más ex obreros blancos empobrecidos y resentidos para aglutinar electoralmente contra los negros, los inmigrantes, los gais y el aborto.

Ahora, con una mayoría conservadora en la Suprema Corte de Justicia, parecería que los conservadores tienen la oportunidad de revertir derechos adquiridos por esos grupos en los últimos 50 años. Esto augura una agudización de la llamada guerra cultural que lleva ya más de cuatro décadas."

Contrarreforma: republicanos y el fundamentalismo religioso

El Partido Republicano encontró más ex obreros blancos empobrecidos y resentidos para aglutinar electoralmente contra los negros, los inmigr

[elynoreme]

"The behavior of a leftist man of the 21st century -full of humanism and ethos- must clearly be dual: to reject and to condemn the irresponsible and aggressive extension of NATO towards the Russian borders while rejecting and condemning the embarrassing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Supporting invasions is embarrassing. Conflicts will always exist. The peaceful solution, acceptable to all parties, is the only possible way to be used by civilized beings. Everyone can give reasons to invade neighbors and the 21st century will be a pandemonium. If this happens, the planet will have entered a new era of geopolitics. A very dangerous one."

Free translation from:

https://acento.com.do/opinion/ucrania-jugada-magistral-o-chapuza-de-vladimir-putin-9046209.html?fbclid=IwAR2j7Z_cwwNjHMldp90ny156mhY_Cfl3jxpeO1g-Z8RE56TKNXPgY4PgnJ8

Please translate

[elynoreme]

DRUMS OF WAR SOUND

It is said that even if you know how a war started, you never know how it will end. The only sure thing, if it flares up, is that many young Russians and Ukrainians will die tragically, others will be disabled, and many will be psychologically traumatized forever, no matter how many medals hang on them.

"The crisis in Ukraine is threatening to become a new war at the gates of Europe. But the threat has yielded political dividends for the US as NATO's supremacy is reasserted and Nord Stream 2 is on the verge of collapse.

On Friday morning, China and Russia called in a joint declaration for a halt to NATO expansion, as both governments continue to freely offer every country in their respective orbits some of the most powerful arguments in decades to sign up to the alliance.

Case in point for their arguments is one of Russia's neighbors — no, not Ukraine — but Finland. Historically, the country has been a cautious player in a very sensitive geopolitical theater; public opposition among Finns to their country joining NATO had never dropped below 53%, not even in the wake of Russia's 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea.

But now the distant drums of war on the Russian-Ukrainian border have brought about one of the most dramatic changes in outlook since the annexation. While opposition to joining the alliance has dropped to a record low, a study just released by the think tank Toivo for the polling agency Kantar found that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, 60% of Finns would support joining NATO.

The geopolitical crisis and the magnitude of the threat has breathed new life into one of the dearest items on Washington's agenda in Europe, and one that unites parties across the political aisle: the dismantling of the already-completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany and is set to begin delivery soon.

The project, set up by Russia's Gazprom — whose board former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has recently joined — would pipe gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, which until now has been the main route for Russian gas into Europe. Americans across the political spectrum had opposed the project and had tried by several different means, including intimidation and threats, to stop the project even as it approached completion.

Now, the Kremlin itself — through its brinkmanship on Ukraine — has put the German government in the unhappy position of having to accept that the project has become a major security liability. In forcing Germany to reassess the viability of the already finished project, the Russian strongman has managed to do what no American politician had so far."

Extracted from: https://www.dw.com/en/how-russia-is-helping-the-us-reassert-its-dominance-in-european-security/a-60677785

[elynoreme]

The next US civil war is already here – we just refuse to see it

"The problem is not who is in power, but the structures of power.

United States has never faced an institutional crisis quite like the one it is facing now.

Two things are happening at the same time. Most of the American right have abandoned faith in government as such. Their politics is, increasingly, the politics of the gun. The American left is slower on the uptake, but they are starting to figure out that the system which they give the name of democracy is less deserving of the name every year.

The white supremacists in the United States are not a marginal force; they are inside its institutions.

What the American left needs now is allegiance, not allyship. It must abandon any imagined fantasies about the sanctity of governmental institutions that long ago gave up any claim to legitimacy. Stack the supreme court, end the filibuster, make Washington DC a state, and let the dogs howl, and now, before it is too late. The moment the right takes control of institutions, they will use them to overthrow democracy in its most basic forms; they are already rushing to dissolve whatever norms stand in the way of their full empowerment.

It would be entirely possible for the United States to implement a modern electoral system, to restore the legitimacy of the courts, to reform its police forces, to root out domestic terrorism, to alter its tax code to address inequality, to prepare its cities and its agriculture for the effects of climate change, to regulate and to control the mechanisms of violence. All of these futures are possible. There is one hope, however, that must be rejected outright: the hope that everything will work out by itself, that America will bumble along into better times. It won’t. Americans have believed their country is an exception, a necessary nation. If history has shown us anything it’s that the world doesn’t have any necessary nations.

The crises the United States now faces in its basic governmental functions are so profound that they require starting over. The founders understood that government is supposed to work for living people, rather than for a bunch of old ghosts. And now their ghostly constitution, worshipped like a religious document, is strangling the spirit that animated their enterprise, the idea that you mold politics to suit people, not the other way around.

Once again, as before, the hope for America is Americans. But it is time to face what the Americans of the 1850s found so difficult to face: The system is broken, all along the line. The situation is clear and the choice is basic: reinvention or fall."

Free extraction from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/04/next-us-civil-war-already-here-we-refuse-to-see-it?fbclid=IwAR3PgSRgE5t_O6ZXY08WDFIWwhI-S1ALP43OGZHOPW4uHNyFarArqQj8haA

[elynoreme]

Report on 2020 global inequalities

For the first time, thanks to the work of Luis Bauluz, Thomas Blanchet, and Clara Martinez-Toledano, researchers have compiled systematic data that make it possible to compare the distributions of wealth in all countries of the world, from the bottom of the distribution to the top.

"The "Global Inequalities Report" reports the hyperconcentration of wealth, but also the progress that is too slow in the fight against environmental and gender inequalities, explains French economist Thomas Piketty.

Chronicle. What does the new "Global Inequality Report 2022", published this week, tell us? The result of the collaboration of around 100 researchers from all continents, this report, which appears every four years, allows us to examine the main lines of inequality in the world. Beyond the now well-known findings on the rise in income inequalities in recent decades, we can distinguish three main innovations, related to wealth, gender and environmental inequalities.

Let's start with wealth. The general conclusion is that the hyperconcentration of wealth, which was further aggravated during the Covid-19 crisis, affects all regions of the planet. Globally, the poorest 50% own in 2020 just 2% of total private property (real estate, professional and financial assets, net of debts), while the richest 10% own 76% of the total.

"In Europe, the poorest 50% have 4% of the total against the 58% of the richest 10%"

The greatest inequality is found in Latin America and the Middle East, followed by Russia and sub-Saharan Africa, where the poorest 50% own just 1% of everything there is, while the richest 10% hover around 80%. The situation is a little less extreme in Europe, but there is really nothing to boast about: the poorest 50% have 4% of the total against 58% of the richest 10%.

Faced with this observation, several attitudes are possible. We can wait patiently for growth and market forces to spread wealth. But given that the share of the poorest 50% is just 4% in Europe and 2% in the United States, more than two centuries after the Industrial Revolution, we run the risk of having to wait too long.

It can also be said that the current situation is the best thing to do and that any attempt to redistribute wealth would be economically dangerous. The argument is not conclusive. In Europe, the share of the richest 10% reached between 80% and 90% of total wealth until 1914. It has fallen in a century to less than 60% today, mainly to the benefit of 40% of the population between the top 10% and the bottom 50%. This wealthy middle class was thus able to acquire homes and create businesses, which contributed greatly to the prosperity of the “glorious thirty years”. " (Free translation)

https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2021/12/11/thomas-piketty-plus-que-jamais-la-planete-va-devoir-prendre-en-compte-les-multiples-fractures-inegalitaires-qui-la-traversent_6105628_3232.html?utm_campaign=Lehuit&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter

[elynoreme]

There is an island in the Caribbean shared by two nations: Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, called on the international community today to "act urgently" in Haiti, a country that is experiencing serious instability due to the political crisis and the action of armed gangs.

The president, who made a similar appeal last month in the UN General Assembly, assured that his government "will continue the announced plan with stricter immigration measures" towards the citizens of the neighboring country.

Last month Abinader announced that he will strictly apply the immigration and labor rules that exist but are not enforced, especially the rule that requires hiring 80% of Dominican workforce.

Abinader also announced that pregnant women of more than six months would be prohibited from entering the country, to avoid the cost of caring for Haitian women in public hospitals.

The crisis in Haiti has been aggravated in recent weeks by the growing violence of armed gangs, which have caused fuel shortages in the country and have intensified their campaign of indiscriminate kidnappings.

The most notorious case is that of a group of 17 missionaries and their families, 16 of them Americans and a Canadian, who have been kidnapped since last October 16.

Dominican authorities fear the consequences in their country of Haiti´s political crisis, insecurity and the effects of the devastating earthquake.

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2021/11/01/694938/abinader-pide-a-potencias-mundiales-actuar-con-urgencia-en-haiti-y-anuncia-mayores-restricciones-a-migracion

[elynoreme]

ABOUT HAITI

French journalist Jean Michel Caroit, who has lived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for a long time, married to a native lawyer, has been covering Haitian information and political processes for 30 years.

He said in an interview that taking gangs off the stage is indispensable for elections in Haiti and warns that a credible electoral board needs to be created.

The provisional government of Haiti is obliged to organize elections; however, it is not possible to choose new authorities without first neutralizing the gangs that control part of the country, and rebuilding the Provisional Electoral Council that was designated by assassinated President Young Moise alone.

He said that in order to have elections with some credibility, it will be necessary to include voters who are not registered in the Haitian electoral roll, and who have been left out due to lack of documents.

The journalist said that Haiti must approve a law on political parties, because now there are 103 parties and anyone can form a party, as happened with the party in government, which was created by Michael Martelly, and as it had no name he called it the party of the bald.

He said that the great responsibility for the current Haitian crisis lies with Hillary Clinton, when she was Secretary of State, and Bill Clinton, when he was special envoy for Haiti, because they were the ones who imposed the candidate who came in third place in the elections to replace the government of René Preval. The candidates who came in first and second place in those elections were sidelined, and the one who came in third place - singer Michael Martelly - by the will of the Clintons became president.

He suggested that the Dominican Republic should continue to speak with the Core Group (UN, United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, France) and seek support that allows Haitians to produce food. He said that MINUSTAH spent $ 6 billion, and that the international community pledged $ 10 billion after the earthquake and that few saw any of that money in Haiti. (Free translation)

https://acento.com.do/politica/sacar-las-pandillas-de-escenario-indispensable-para-elecciones-en-haiti-8969430.html

[elynoreme]

KEYS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CRISIS IN HAITI Dominican paper published today (July 7th, 2021), just after the murder of the president of Haiti, this article of evaluation of the chronic Haitian situation, chronic but worsening every day.  Free translation. “The president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated this Wednesday by armed men at his residence in Port-au-Prince, an assassination that occurs at a time when the country is going through a deeply unstable situation. These are the keys for understanding the crisis in which the country is plunged. 1. AT THE DOORS OF THE ELECTIONS Haiti has called presidential and legislative elections for next September 26th, elections in which Moise could not be a candidate. On that date, a referendum was also scheduled to approve a new Constitution, a project promoted by Moise with a view to reinforcing the figure of the head of state, although he assured that he would not benefit from the new constitution. The new Constitution had strong resistance from the opposition and the entire process was viewed with suspicion by the international community, for lack of transparency and for not being sufficiently inclusive. 2. A NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR SUCCESSION In the event of the death of the president, the 1987 Constitution establishes that the Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister, exercises executive power until the election of a new ruler. In the event that the death occurs after the fourth year of the five of the mandate, the National Assembly must meet to elect a president who fulfills the mandate of the deceased, but since January 2020 the Legislative has been closed due to the postponement of the legislative elections planed for 2019. The situation at the head of government is not entirely clear either, since there are currently two prime ministers appointed. Claude Joseph has held the position on an interim basis since last April, but this Monday Moise appointed Ariel Henry to that position, who had not yet officially assumed. At the moment, the only official communication on the events has come from Claude Joseph, who has assured that the Police and the Armed Forces are in control of the situation. 3. COMPLAINT OF COUP D'ÉTAT IN FEBRUARY The political crisis was triggered in 2018 by allegations of Moise´s corruption around funds from the Venezuelan aid program Petrocaribe, and has been aggravated in recent years by economic problems and an increasingly tense political climate. The protests, often violent, have paralyzed activities in Port-au-Prince for several weeks throughout these three years of instability, and led to the postponement of the 2019 legislative elections. The crisis worsened on February 7, the day on which Moise denounced that the opposition, together with a group of judges from the Supreme Court of Cassation and high-ranking police officers, were plotting an attack to assassinate him on that day. The authorities made several arrests, but those involved in the alleged coup attempt were released by court order. 4. DISPUTE ABOUT THE END OF THE TERM OF OFFICE The opposition has not recognized Moise's legitimacy since February 7, 2021, the date on which they consider that his term ended, due to an interpretation of an article of the Constitution, which would allow understanding that his Government began in 2015, coinciding with the date of an election that ended up being annulled and not with his investiture, which took place in 2017. Opposition parties, especially those on the left, treated Moise as a "dictator" for the controversial way he has governed by decree since the closing of Parliament, something for which he has also been criticized by the international community. However, Moise has always assured that his intention was to leave power on February 7, 2022, five years after his inauguration, and to hand it over to whoever was elected in the voting. 5. ENEMIES OF THE OLIGARCHY AND THE GANGS As the crisis has worsened, Moise has made enemies among the wealthy families that control key businesses in the country, such as energy, telephony or banking, whom he has blamed for the systemic corruption and chronic instability that experiences. the country. Recently, Moise has also made enemies among the powerful armed gangs that control numerous slums in Port-au-Prince. Gang violence has intensified since the beginning of June, especially due to the action of G9 an Fanmi e Alye, a federation of gangs that until recently was considered in the orbit of the Government and that in recent weeks declared war on Moise . The conflicts between the gangs have caused dozens of deaths and injuries and at least 17,000 displaced since the beginning of June due to the clashes in neighborhoods such as Martissant and Delmas.” https://listindiario.com/las-mundiales/2021/07/07/678288/claves-para-entender-la-crisis-en-haiti

[elynoreme]

Another conflict in the Middle East

Part of the speech given in Jerusalem to the Knesset in February 2000 by Johannes Rau, then Federal President of Germany, dealt with relations between Israel and the Arab countries of the Middle East.

He said, then: "Could the European experience serve as a paradigm for other parts of the world, including Israel and the Middle East? That is a question which is often asked. Yet conflicts are never the same; the solution to one particular conflict will seldom provide a blueprint for solving others. That is particularly clear at the present time, when violence has erupted once again. There is, however, one conclusion we can draw: To move from warfare to an order of shared welfare is possible only if, beyond what is written in treaties, there is a common basic consensus: national egoisms must be translated into productive common action. That is the core of the European success. Out of supposed irreconcilable enmity there may grow orderly relations and eventually real human ties and interaction. The specific situation in your region precludes of course any hasty assumptions about the relevance of European unification to the search for ways to end Israeli-Arab divisions. It would be foolish to forget that your country's very existence has been jeopardized time and again. Nevertheless, there need be no such thing as "perpetual enmity". History has a brighter side, too. I am convinced therefore that today in your region as well those of good will be in the majority and that makes me hopeful for the future. Despite all the setbacks hope for an end to the conflict is growing, the product of a long and difficult labor starting with the peace negotiations of the seventies - here I recall Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin -, a labor carried forward by the great Itzak Rabin and continuing in the efforts currently under way. However tough the going may be, people's hopes for peace are now raised as never before. I am convinced for my part that peace can be achieved.

Europe and the Middle East are regions intimately linked in multiple different ways. This region played a key role in the evolution of European culture as we know it today. Stability in the Middle East and across the whole region is crucial to a peaceful and prosperous future for Europe. No one can live a quiet life if his neighbors are threatened with political and social insecurity. Only the parties to the conflict can make peace in the Middle East. But Europe will do its share to build that peace and offers you its willing support.”