The Caravel | Volume VIII, Issue III

VOL UM E 8 | ISSU E 3

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W A SH I N G TON , D.C. A P RI L 2019

Advances Mixed for LGBTQ Rights In the Balkans

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sienna Siu

Then-President Omar al-Bashir listens to a speech during the 2009 session of the NPAD in Ethiopia.

Protests Continue Despite Ousting of Sudanese President Macy Uustal

Protesters reacted jubilantly to the announcement that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had been ousted in a military coup. Celebrations began, and soldiers deserted their posts to dance among the people, reports the New York Times. The ousting came after months of civilian-led demonstrations and innumerable calls for revolution. This signals an end to 30 years of autocratic rule and al- Bashir’s bloodstained legacy. However, the mood quickly soured when protesters realized that a member of Bashir’s own regime, First Vice President Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, was chosen as the head of the transitional council, effectively

replacing al-Bashir. However, the next day, Ibn Auf stepped down, naming Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Adelrahman Burhan as the new leader.

Ibn Auf addressed the nation on state-run television on April 11, declaring the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of the government. He announced the institution of a two-year transition government, guided by a military council and headed by Ibn Auf himself, reports the Sudan Tribune. He demanded the release of all political prisoners, called for the establishment of a democratic constitution, and instituted a month-long curfew. He also spoke to al-Bashir’s whereabouts, confirming he was safe yet detained.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 2-3

W. EUROPE & CANADA, 6-7

Candida Auris Infections Spread, p. 2

Swiss Court Overturns Referendum, p. 6

E. EUROPE & RUSSIA, 4-5 Euroscepticism Entrenched in Eastern Europe, p. 5

Vatican Reopens Disappearance Investigation, p. 7

Ibn Auf was sworn in on that same day.

This ends al-Bashir’s decades-long rule of Sudan. He himself came to power in a 1989 military coup when the country was embattled in a civil war between the north and the south, according to BBC. During this time, he was an army commander charged with leading the fight against the south.

While this conflict was happening, another one was occurring in Darfur in the west. The International Criminal Court has accused al-Bashir of orchestrating war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Darfur conflict, which left hundreds of thousands dead.

See PROTESTS CONTINUE on p. 14

Politicians in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which co-holds the title of Europe’s 2019 Capital of Culture (along with Matera, Italy), are seeking to remove a photography exhibition called “Balkan Pride” from cultural programs in July, reports the Guardian.

The exhibition, organized by the LGBTQ rights group Glas Foundation, will feature photographs, artifacts, and audiovisual installations from past Pride events that took place across the Balkans, along with a concert and a forum, the Sofia Globe reports. Plovdiv 2019 Foundation’s website describes the exhibition as a means of challenging stereotypes and fostering dialogue.

Members of the nationalist VMRO party and the minority Union for Plovdiv party in the city council petitioned for a meeting to demand the

resignation of the foundation’s artistic director Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, Sofia Globe reported. Twenty-one out of the 51 members of Plovdiv city council signed the petition on April 1.

“We don’t want them to do it. And we will stop them, using all legal and, if required, illegal means,” Alexander Sidi of VMRO said, according to the Guardian. Borislav Inchev, also of VMRO, said last week that “this is the same as carrying out a gay pride parade in Plovdiv. I am very curious what would happen if a teacher made a mistake and sent her schoolchildren to see the exhibition. What would they see? How would she explain it?”

At the meeting on April 8, the city council rejected the demand for Kuyumdzhieva to resign, according to the Sofia Globe.

See LGBTQ RIGHTS IN THE BALKANS on p. 4

Indian General Election Voting Begins Kyle Wang India’s seven-phase election for the lower house of parliament began its first phase of voting on April 11 and will continue until May 19. BBC reports the government will count the votes on May 23. Experts expect this election, with nearly 900 million eligible voters, to be the largest election in history.

According to CNBC, the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, is composed of 545 representatives. Of these, 543 are elected and the remaining two are nominated by the president.

A party or a coalition that secures 272 seats can form a new government.

Members of the Lok Sabha are elected from single-member constituencies for five-year-terms, via a first-past-the-

post voting system, in which the first candidate to receive a plurality of votes wins, according to the Guardian.

BBC and Reuters report that the government stretched out the election over a month due to logistical concerns. Guidelines from the election commission mandate that no voter should be more than two kilometers away from a polling station, thus requiring more than 11 million officials to travel and set up 1 million polling stations.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the largest party of India and is part of the current ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), CNBC noted.

See INDIA VOTES FOR PARLIAMENT on p. 10

LAT. AM. & THE CARIBBEAN, 8-9 Environmentalists Protest in Brazil, p. 9

MIDDLE EAST & C. ASIA, 12-13

AFRICA, 14-15

Kazakhstan Presidential Election Date Set, p. 12

United States Airstrikes in Somalia Killed Civilians, p. 14

INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC, 10-11 Chinese Coders Organize Against Work Conditions p. 11

Saudi Arabia Detains Women’s Rights Activists, p. 13

Russian Interference Suspected in Madagascar Elections, p. 15

WWW.THECARAVELGU.COM

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Candida Auris Infections Spread Candida auris or C. auris, a fungal disease, has recently begun to spread across the United States. The disease causes severe and often fatal infections for anyone who comes across it. As of April 10, there are currently 617 confirmed cases in the United States alone, with these numbers steadily increasing.

According to USA Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently labeled C. auris a “serious global health threat.”

According to the CDC, there are three main reasons to be concerned.

The first is that C. auris “is often multidrug-resistant, meaning that it is resistant to several antifungal drugs commonly used to treat Candida infections.” C. auris has evolved to resist the antibiotics used by most medical professionals.

For many professionals, this resistance is the most worrisome aspect of the fungus, according to ABC News.

The CDC and other professionals have

handled other strains of the Candida fungi before but have never dealt with one as resistant as the Auris strain. Its resistance makes it incredibly difficult to treat once someone is affected.

Scientists have not yet found a cure to treat all strains of this disease.

The second reason that the CDC is concerned with the disease is related to the difficulties involved with identifying it using standard laboratory methods, as “it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology.” One of the challenges of treating patients with C. auris is that many professionals are unable to properly diagnose it in time.

Scientists have not yet found a cure to treat all strains of this disease.

Misdiagnosis is common with C. auris cases and can be dangerous.

According to the CDC, infections are often diagnosed using bodily fluids.

These tests are often inadequate and

Steven Vo PIXABAY

Alek Gozman

Homeland Security Secretary Resigns The C. auris infection poses a growing threat within the healthcare system.

can lead to mistakes. For example, other yeasts like candida haemulonii, are often mistaken for the auris strain.

Special laboratory tests are necessary for this strain, which can lead to an extended period of time during which the patient does not know diagnosis.

The third reason that the CDC is concerned is that it “has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings.” The prominence of C. auris in hospitals terrifies many patients. The disease came into the public eye when an elderly man, who had surgery at Mount Sinai hospital, developed the disease and died. His room was soon quarantined with the ceilings and tiles being ripped out.

The C. auris disease is growing and is very dangerous. USA Today reports that around 30 to 60 percent of patients with the disease die. Risk factors for the disease include “recent surgery, diabetes, broad-spectrum antibiotic and antifungal use. People who have recently spent time in nursing homes and have lines and tubes that go into their body (such as breathing tubes, feeding tubes and central venous catheters), seem to be at highest risk for C. auris infection.” C. auris is still relatively new and requires extensive research to be fully treated. However, with all of these circumstances, many are certain it is truly a dangerous disease.

Trumps Recommends Herman Cain for the Federal Reserve Board Zev Burton Louisa Christen Felipe Lobo Koerich Jackson Gillette Harry He Sarah Bothner Natalie Bazata Claire Hazbun Sarah Mathys Eric Schichlein Cristina Lopez Arin Chinnasathian James Gordy Catherine Liu April Artrip Jaime Moore-Carrillo Madison Stern Michael Abi-Habib Alejandra Rocha Ryan Nowaczyk

ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD Publisher Editor-in-Chief Director of Digital Operations Executive Director EDITORIAL STAFF Copy Chief Copy Chief Africa Editor Africa Editor Eastern Europe and Russia Editor Indo-Asia-Pacific Editor Indo-Asia-Pacific Editor Latin America and the Caribbean Editor Latin America and the Caribbean Editor Middle East and Central Asia Editor Middle East and Central Asia Editor United States of America Editor United States of America Editor Western Europe and Canada Editor Western Europe and Canada Editor

President Donald Trump recommended Herman Cain, a former candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and former CEO of Little Caesers Pizza, for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, as reported by CNN. The role requires confirmation by the Senate, which will almost certainly call attention to allegations Cain faced in the past over sexual harassment and infidelity.

“I find Herman to be an outstanding person,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office appearance. “I would think he would do very well there,” as quoted by NPR. Cain has been accused of paying hush money to women to cover up reports of groping and other sexual harassment and a 13-year extramarital affair. “President Trump’s statement that Herman Cain is ‘a truly outstanding individual’ is a message

that the president of the United States is willing to ignore the allegations of a number of women who alleged that Herman Cain either sexually harassed them or had an affair with them,” said Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented two of Cain’s accusers, in a recent New York Times article.

“This message is an insult to women and should be condemned by the Republican Party and all those who care about respect and dignity for women.”

The recommendation has not been universally well-liked, even by Republican members of Congress. According to Politico, Senate Republicans are in the midst of warning Trump and the White House that Cain will face one of the most difficult confirmation fights of the administration. Some senators are trying to convince Trump to not formally nominate him for the position.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, a 1994 SFS graduate, abruptly resigned on April 7.

Her resignation comes amidst tensions over illegal crossings over the Mexican border from Central America.

“Despite our progress in reforming homeland security for a new age, I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside,” wrote Nielsen in her resignation letter to President Trump, as reported by the Washington Post. “I hope that the next Secretary will have the support of Congress and the courts in fixing the laws which have impeded our ability to fully secure America’s borders and which have contributed to discord in our nation’s discourse.”

Nielsen traveled with the President to the U.S.–Mexico border last Friday and participated in a roundtable with local law enforcement and border officers. She echoed Trump’s concerns over the border situation but left the room without explanation as the President spoke, according to PBS. Nielsen first joined the Trump administration in early 2017, having served as assistant to former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. Nielsen took leadership at the department when Kelly became White House Chief of Staff in July 2017.

In office, Nielsen defended the administration’s zero tolerance policy, which sought to encourage harsher legislation and deter illegal immigration beginning in April 2018.

The policy was questioned among Congress for its practice of separating families, which provoked national discussion. Trump criticized Nielsen for failing to stymie the border crisis, according to the Economist.

Trump announced that Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would temporarily replace Nielsen as the department’s acting head.

McAleenan was confirmed with bipartisan agreement in 2018 as America’s leading border protection officer, reports the BBC. Under the Obama administration, he served as deputy commissioner of the federal law enforcement agency.

A PR. 2019 | 3

Secretary Pompeo Bars 16 Saudis from the U.S. Caleb Yip

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on April 8 that the State Department would bar 16 Saudi officials and their families from entering the U.S. The announcement comes after bipartisan criticisms that the Trump administration has not done enough to respond to the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October.

Among the list of barred officials

is Saud al-Qahtani, who was, until last year, the royal court advisor and media advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful defense minister and heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia.

American officials also believe he is the leader of the so-called Saudi Rapid Intervention Group, which the New York Times reports is behind the murder of Khashoggi and the detention of dozens of other dissidents.

Also on the list are two of the Crown Prince’s close associates,

Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb and Thaar Ghaleb al-Harbi. According to the Washington Post, Mutreb is an intelligence official who has traveled with the Crown Prince before, and al-Harbi is a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Royal Guard.

The remaining 13 people on the State Department list are also all members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group and are alleged by Turkish media to have been involved in the Khashoggi murder, according to Middle East Eye.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Missing from the list is the Crown Prince himself.

Secretary of State Pompeo met with the Saudi King to discuss Khashoggi’s murder.

Missing from the list is the Crown Prince himself, who the CIA believes personally ordered the killing of Khashoggi, reports CNN. Based on the CIA assessment, Pompeo, who headed the CIA until last year, would have been able to add the Crown Prince to the list, but Saudi Arabia remains a close U.S. ally.

Both President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have repeatedly declared that maintaining a close relationship with Saudi Arabia is crucial in counterterrorism efforts and efforts to curb Iranian influence.

The announcement was made under the authority given to the State Department to designate foreign government officials and their families as ineligible to enter the U.S. if the Secretary has reason to believe they are involved in gross violations of human rights, according to a State Department press release.

The announcement comes after a rare bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration’s Saudi Arabia policy last week, as the House voted to end American involvement in the Saudiled campaign in Yemen. President Trump is expected to veto.

The move was welcomed on the Hill, with Senator Feinstein (D-CA) saying in a press release that she “commended the administration for at least taking this action.” Senators in both parties have previously accused the administration of not doing enough to condemn the murder.

Trump Brands IRGC a Terrorist Organization Adrian Lopez

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was officially declared a foreign terrorist organization by President Donald Trump on April 8. In a statement issued by the White House, the president said that “Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”

The Commander in Chief ’s designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) marks the first time in American history that the country has designated a foreign government entity as an FTO. According to the BBC, the IRGC is the most elite branch of the Iranian military and sizes “more than 150,000 active personnel, boasts its own ground forces, navy and air force, and oversees Iran’s strategic weapons.”

However, what may have earned the IRGC its label as an FTO is its Quds Force. The New York Times defines the Quds Force as the most

elite force within the IRGC and mentions that its work lies mostly outside of Iran, most notably operating with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestinian territory, and Shia militants in Syria. The New York Times also notes that the Quds Force has been considered a supporter of FTOs for more than a decade by the U.S. Treasury Department because of the Force’s willingness to fund, train, and equip FTOs.

“The IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism.”­ —Donald Trump Trump’s decision to label the IRGC as an FTO came on the eve of Israeli elections. Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Twitter that thanked Trump for “keeping the world safe from Iran aggression and terrorism.”

The New York Times reports

that after this first tweet in English, Netanyahu wrote a second tweet in Hebrew saying “thank you for accepting another important request of mine” to Trump, fueling speculation that one of Trump’s’ reasons to designate the IRGC as an FTO was to aid his Middle Eastern ally in winning re-election on April 9.

Nonetheless, Brian Hook, a top State Department policy adviser on Iran, was quick to dismiss claims that Trump had political motivations to declare the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization. Hook stated in an interview with NPR that “the United States makes its national security decisions in the interests of Americans.” He went on to mention that not only Israel but “Sunni Arab partners in the region” would benefit from the designation, referencing Saudi Arabia.

Hook also used historical antecedents to support Trump’s labeling of the IRGC as an FTO by recalling attacks Iran has carried out against foreign nations. Citing the 1983 Hezbollah bombing of U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and

the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, Hook claimed that Iran “met the statutory definition of a foreign terrorist organization.”

Tehran has retaliated against the United States by designating the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the military authority responsible for all Middle Eastern operations, as a terrorist organization. Foreign Policy reports that Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the IRGC, said that “the U.S. Army in the region would not enjoy today’s peace.”

By designating USCENTCOM as a terrorist organization, Iran may now target U.S. military personnel in the region, a peril that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford outlined before Trump declared the IRGC an FTO, according to the New York Times.

The Pentagon reports that there are currently 5,200 troops in Iraq, a country where several Shia majority groups such as the Kataib Hezbollah and the Badr Organization have displayed loyalty to Tehran and its policies in the past.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Madison Stern

G

eorgetown University students voted to increase their tuition by $27.20 in a referendum on April 11 to create a fund benefiting the descendants of 272 slaves sold by the Jesuits who ran the university in 1838.

The referendum, called GU272, passed with two-thirds of the vote, and while the referendum is nonbinding, it sent a message to the University that students want it to take more tangible action when reckoning with the institution’s past of using slaves to ensure its financial future.

In a statement published nearly two years ago, in April 2017, Georgetown apologized for the 1838 sale and renamed two buildings which had previously been dedicated to two former Jesuit University presidents who had been heavily involved in the sale. The students, through this referendum, announced to the administration that they believed this was not enough.

Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs at Georgetown, said in a statement, according to ABC News, “Our students are contributing to an important national conversation and we share this commitment to addressing Georgetown’s history with slavery.”

Georgetown’s board of directors must now review the referendum before it can take effect, but if approved, the University would become the first to require a fee from the current students to benefit descendants of slaves sold by the University nearly two centuries before. In an email to the student body, Georgetown University President John DeGioia wrote that “the transformation that is invited in this moment will not happen immediately or easily” but affirms a long-term commitment to creating a more “equitable and just society.”

This referendum vote comes in the midst of a larger national conversation about how to recognize and ameliorate the legacies left over from years of slavery and discrimination in the United States. 2020 democratic candidates have tried to elucidate their opinions on reparations early into their campaigns, explains Vox. In recent years, reports of American high school students unable to identify key historical facts about the history of slavery and the Civil War came to light, according to the Washington Post, showing the long journey that the United States still has to not only acknowledge and apologize for but fix the bones of the system left over from the earliest days of the country.

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EASTERN EUROPE & RUSSIA

Corruption Scandals Plague Bucharest Romania is drawing attention from across the European Union for the wrong reason. Per Reuters, Romania holds the European Parliament’s rotating presidency until June of this year, yet the international community is focusing instead on a growing controversy around Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former head of Romania’s anti-corruption agency and the favored candidate to become the EU’s first chief prosecutor.

According to the New York Times, Romania’s Special Section for the Investigation of Crimes Committed

by Magistrates questioned Kovesi “for more than six hours” on March 28. As Reuters reports, the agency concluded its investigation the following day by filing criminal charges against Kovesi, including bribery, abuse of office, and false testimony. It then imposed a travel ban on her for two months.

However, the European Parliament, which continues to back Kovesi’s candidacy despite the Romanian government’s opposition, successfully appealed the ban.

According to Deutsche Welle (DW),

Ms. Kovesi “continues to enjoy our respect and support” Antonio Tajani to Transparency International, Romania ranks as one of the most corrupt nations in the European Union.

Popular in Brussels for her domestic anti-corruption efforts, Ms. Kovesi “made powerful enemies” as the director of the nation’s National Anticorruption Directorate, responsible for “successfully prosecut[ing] thousands of

government officials, lawmakers and business leaders,” reports the New York Times. The most prominent of those convicted include Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, who is serving three and a half years in prison for abuse of office.

The Kovesi debacle coincides with an emergency decree, approved without public debate by the ruling Social Democrats (PSD), to weaken anti-graft legislation, writes Reuters.

The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called for a referendum

on the action in the wake of mass protests. “The PSD continues the assault on justice since coming to power,” Iohannis told reporters, according to Reuters.

Kovesi now faces a two-front confrontation: the Romanian government investigating her at home and the European Parliament battling with the heads of the EU member states, who favor a different chief prosecutor for the EU. Bloomberg reports that the latter debate may not be resolved until after the election of a new parliament in May.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Cooper Vardy

the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, “voiced concerns over the charges again Kovesi” and personally contacted Bucharest on the matter. In speaking to lawmakers, Tajani said, “Ms. Kovesi remains our candidate and continues to enjoy our respect and support.”

While the European Commission admires Kovesi too, it criticized her home country for “backsliding on the rule of law,” writes Reuters. According

Laura Codruta Kovesi, a candidate for EU chief prosecutor, pictured in 2015.

LGBTQ Rights in the Balkans From p.1 Kuyumdzhieva previously mentioned that any intervention in the content of cultural programs would be unacceptable, and “can only be treated as manifestations of censorship and discrimination,” the Sofia Globe writes. The program intended to showcase diversity, and utilize art and culture to protect human rights.

Bulgaria has seen expressions of anti-LGBTQ sentiments prior to this incident. MSN reported in late 2018 that billboards featuring LGBTQ couples and the slogan “It’s not scary, it’s just love—Different People, Equal Rights” were vandalized, which sparked controversy. According to Foreign Policy, Veselin Mareshki, a member of the Bulgarian parliament who calls himself the “Bulgarian Donald Trump” said that sexual orientations could subject legislators to blackmailing and should be revealed as a potential form of conflict of interest.

Other countries in the Balkans are also not known for tolerant views on sexuality. Moves to legalize same-sex unions in Montenegro in summer 2018 angered the Serbian Orthodox Church and conservative opposition parties groups, while LGBTQ activists said that the proposed law grants them too few rights, Balkan Insight reports. According to France 24, a 2015 study by the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) found that in Kosovo, over 80 percent of LGBTQ people interviewed said they had been subjected to psychological abuse, and 29 percent to physical violence, because of their sexual orientation.

Progress has also been made.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that Bosnia-Herzegovina will host its first-ever gay pride parade on September 8 in its capital, Sarajevo.

Majority-Muslim Kosovo held its first gay pride march in October 2017.

Slovenia Founds First AI Research Center in Europe Morgan Smith Slovenia announced plans to open Europe’s first artificial intelligence research center at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) in Ljubljana. Sponsored

by UNESCO, the center aims to foster conversation around the social and political implications of AI. In establishing this AI unit, Slovenia builds on its historical dedication to pioneering technologies. Forbes notes that Slovenian AI research began in 1972 at JSI, which will house the new center. This center is the first of its kind in Europe: rather than developing AI technology, it will work to introduce AI into various fields, reports the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

“The guiding principle of AI is not to become autonomous or replace human intelligence,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay explained at a conference on the principles of AI last month, according to Science|Business. “We must ensure that AI is developed through a humanist approach.”

This is the founding mission of Slovenia’s research institute.

Science|Business reports the institute’s annual budget of €500,000 ($565,975) will be spent developing systematic ways to implement AI into different organizations.

There is no doubt Slovenia boasts a sustained commitment to the technology of the future. The country has the highest number of AI scientists per capita in Europe, according to Forbes.

“All of this Slovenian know-how which was applied over all these years for what now seems self-evident, but at the time was pioneering, and all the knowledge that we possessed then and that we possess today is undoubtedly a reason for us, or should I say you, to be proud,” Prime Minister Marjan Šarec declared at a gala at JSI, according to a government press release.

“You are the ones who know how to use this knowledge, who develop new technologies, and who will perhaps develop things that are unimaginable to us today.”

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Euroscepticism Entrenched in Eastern Europe Nick Okerlund

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

During the last week of May, the more than 500 million citizens of the European Union will get a chance to cast their vote for their representatives in the next European Parliament. As campaigns swing into motion from Portugal to Estonia, Euroscepticism appears to be the order of the day in Eastern Europe.

While the details of electoral systems vary from country to country, EU legislation requires that each member use a proportional representation

system, whether through a party list or single transferable vote, to pick European parliamentarians (MEPs).

Intuitively, a country’s size determines its representation in the parliament, ranging from Cyprus’s six seats to Germany’s 96. According to EU rules, the total number of seats remains fixed at 750.

While no single country holds decisive power in the parliament, transnational movements can tilt its make-up. This potential is particularly significant given rising Euroscepticism in many countries, especially in

The EU Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg, pictured during a session in 2014.

Eastern Europe.

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has attacked the EU for its criticism of PiS judicial reform efforts.

While launching their campaign for the upcoming European election, the Polish opposition ginned up fear over the possibility of Polexit.

Euroscepticism appears to be the order of the day in Eastern Europe.

“What is being built is a system closer to Eastern rather than Western standards,” said a statement from a Polish progressive coalition formed to prevent a PiS majority and earn some of Poland’s 52 parliamentary seats.

“We will make it impossible for anyone to take Poland out of the European Union.”

At the same time, the European Parliament remains wary of Eurosceptic influence within the body.

The European People’s Party (EPP), the parliament’s largest coalition,

voted almost unanimously on March 20 to expel Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party from running for any positions within the coalition.

Judith Sargentini, a Dutch Green MEP, told Euractiv that Fidesz is “taking the EPP, that in itself is a democratic, pro-European family, to the extreme populist-nationalist right.”

Even in Croatia, Euractiv reports that the main center-right and centerleft parties are expected to lose a seat each, while the new Eurosceptic Human Shield party is expected to gain a seat for the first time.

The 33 seats designated to Romania will be fiercely contested by the ruling Romanian Social Democrats, projected to win a decreased 27 percent, and the National Liberal Party, projected to win 25 percent.

A London School of Economics report highlights that the Social Democrats’ anti-Brussels rhetoric is “something of a first for Romanian politics.”

Facing these influences, EUwide progressive alliance DiEM25 said, “Only a Europe of solidarity can guarantee peace, prosperity, and humanism in our continent.”

Potential Estonian Government Formed After Coalition Talks Max Dunat Coalition talks between the incumbent Centre Party, the Fatherland party, and the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) concluded on April 6 following weeks of deliberation.

The talks may see the formation of a government with Prime Minister Jüri Ratas’ Centre Party at the helm, Reuters reports.

In the March 3 parliamentary ballot, the center-right Reform Party won 34 seats with 28.8 percent of the vote, while the governing Centre Party came in second, winning 26 seats with 23 percent of the vote, Estonian World reports.

According to Reuters, the Estonian president formally asked the Reform Party to form a government on March 5. The Baltic Times writes that party leader Kaja Kallas has expressed openness to coalition talks with every party except for EKRE, stating that she “absolutely exclude[s] the possibility of EKRE in government.”

However, the Reform leader struggled to gain support for a government, despite offering equal

terms coalition talks to the Centre Party and even, according to ERR, floating the possibility of allowing Jüri Ratas of the Centre Party to remain Prime Minister.

Although the Reform Party is in talks with the Social Democrats, an alliance between the two would fail to secure a majority of parliament seats.

EKRE resembles “fascist regimes”—Guy Verhofstadt If the Centre Party’s coalition bears out, far-right EKRE would hold power in government for the first time. Estonian World reports that in the recent election, support for EKRE surged; the party won 19 seats with 17.8 percent of the vote, gaining 12 since the last election.

EKRE Deputy Chairman Martin Helme has a history of inflammatory rhetoric. DW quotes Helme in 2013 as stating, “If you’re black, go back …

I want Estonia to be a white country.”

Helme denies that these views have changed.

In addition, the Guardian cites another EKRE official calling for judges’ “heads to roll” following a landmark same-sex marriage ruling in 2017.

As a result, Ratas’ coalition has received international scrutiny.

According to the Guardian, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE block—to which the Centre Party belongs—in the European Parliament, implored Ratas to not form a coalition with EKRE, saying the party resembles “fascist regimes.”

Despite these incentives, Ratas has remained persistent in maintaining his current coalition. DW explains that in the current coalition agreement, the three parties have agreed on sustained EU and NATO membership, tax freezes, and pension hikes as government priorities, and will share among themselves control of government bodies. In addition, BNN reports that EKRE proposals for value added tax reductions and cutting state abortion funding were rejected.

Critics of the deal have painted a grim picture of Estonia’s future.

Writing for Estonian World, journalist Andrei Tuch warns that “far-right

EKRE will hold prime minister Jüri Ratas by the balls and dictate the coalition’s policy,” adding that history “will remember [Ratas] as the man who put the neo-Nazis in power in Estonia.”

However, ERR senior editor Dario Cavegn argues that Ratas is “a capable politician … playing high stakes poker” and has no intention of bringing EKRE into government. Instead, he claims that Ratas is simply trying to pressure Reform to make further concessions in a potential two-party agreement.

Ultimately, Kallas’ Reform Party has until April 20 to form a coalition which commands 51 of the 100 seats in parliament, reports ERR. If Kallas fails, the Estonian President will most likely choose Ratas to form the next government. This outcome appears increasingly likely as the Reform Party continues to struggle to find allies.

An alliance between the proRussian Centre Party and the eurosceptic EKRE could influence Estonia’s role in the European Union in the long-term and provide a boost to eurosceptic parties in the upcoming European parliamentary elections.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eric Schichlein

M

any Balkan states hope to join the European Union, yet lack progress towards meeting EU standards on the rule of law, corruption, and democracy. The coming months will determine whether the Balkans continue to stumble along on the road to reform and membership or whether they will make meaningful steps towards liberal democracy.

Serbia is entering month five of opposition protests, which began after unknown assailants attacked an opposition politician in the south of the country in December 2018. Every weekend since, thousands have poured onto the streets to demand greater democracy and the resignation of Serbian President Alexander Vucic, reports to Balkan Insight.

In Montenegro, the opposition held its seventh demonstration on March 30 against President Milo Djukanovic, who has occupied the post of prime minister and president of the country intermittently since 1991, according to Balkan Insight.

The catalyst for the opposition’s outrages comes from London, where a former Montenegrin tycoon has leaked information exposing endemic corruption in Monentregin politics for months, reports the Economist.

Finally, the Albanian opposition has rallied since February, with the opposition protesting on April 13 and calling for demonstrators to “terminate the ‘illegitimate’ rule of [Prime Minister Edi Rama’s] Socialist Party,” reports Balkan Insight. The opposition recently announced a boycott of the local elections in June.

I identified backsliding on corruption as one of the trends which will define Eastern Europe this year, in the Caravel’s Trends of 2019: Eastern Europe and Russia piece, published in February.

I hope the region proves me wrong, though. The leaders of Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania should, at the very least, commit to listening to the protesters’ demands and make substantial commitments to reform. However, this merely bandages over the deeper problems, and the three leaders should resign to open up space for renewed freedom and democracy in Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania.

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WESTERN EUROPE & CANADA Ryan Nowaczyk

T

he EU is ahead of the U.S. in establishing digital regulations, and EU officials have imposed heavy fines on Silicon Valley companies, Politico reports.

However, the EU lacks consensus on how to control cyberspace, and the European “techlash” is neither homogeneous nor irreversible.

States market national regulatory proposals to the EU as a whole, as France did in advocating bloc-wide “digital taxes” on tech corporations. Other members retain strong tech industry ties and obstruct the general policy push.

In March, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland blocked France’s EU tax proposal. However, on April 8, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager encouraged member states to implement national digital taxes before reaching bloc-wide consensus, Politico reports.

Conversely, tech lobbyists and internet free speech rights advocates use the rift between EU officials and national electorates to reverse policies at the EU level.

On March 26, the European Parliament passed a copyright reform with a controversial provision called Article 13, which forces platforms to filter and remove any infringing uploaded content that violates licensing deals. The Washington Post quoted a senior tech lobbyist’s reaction: “We urge Member States to ... minimize the consequences of the text when implementing it.”

Tech companies also face pressure for their platforms’ role in spreading harmful content.

NPR reports that a U.K. proposal, released April 8, outlines a “duty of care” for tech companies to ensure news accuracy, the absence of hate speech, and other conditions.

Opponents object that the “duty” is too broad and that it encourages platform “‘over-censor[ship]’” and user “self-censorship.”

While combating digital delinquency is admirable, the EU and its members are still debating, and they need to complement strictness and sense of urgency with savvy.

Nationalists Form Alliance for EU Parliament Elections Andi Kamyab In light of next month’s European Parliamentary elections, four major European nationalist parties plan to join forces in an attempt to expand their influence over the EU. They announced the move during a news conference in Milan on April 8, the BBC reported.

The alliance, comprised of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s right-wing League party, Jörg Meuthen’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Finland’s conservative Finns party, and Anders Vistisen’s Danish People’s Party, is intended to fly under the banner “European Alliance for People and Nations,” the Guardian reported.

Parties are scrambling to gain domestic national support before the European Parliament elections, which will be held between May 23 and 26.

Though competing in different countries, the four nationalist parties have announced their intentions to form a unified parliamentary group in an effort to challenge the power of the bloc’s centrist parties. According to Radio France Internationale, the

group is looking to occupy 70 to 80 seats of the 751-member council, thus establishing a sizable force in the body.

While a legitimate group has to consist of at least 25 Members of the European Parliament from a minimum of seven EU countries, according to parliamentary rules, Meuthen has expressed his confidence that at least 10 parties will take part in the venture.

Eurosceptics are currently among the smallest groups in the European Parliament, numbering a few dozen members.

Despite this, the Guardian reports, far-right groups’ influence has been gradually increasing over the past few years, with populist power in Hungary and Poland, as well as the powerful influence of groups such as Salvini’s League, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, and Heinz-Christian Strache’s Freedom Party in Austria, showing dramatic gains in far-right political power.

Salvini has expressed strong hope for a European government free from centralized control. During the news conference, he outlined his vision, noting that, “The European dream is being threatened by the bureaucrats

Swiss Court Overturns Referendum Felipe Lobo Koerich In a historic move, a Swiss court overturned a nationwide referendum on April 10, the BBC reported. The court ruled that the government had given voters insufficient information, requiring a revote for the first time in Switzerland’s modern history, according to the Guardian. A lack of transparency threatened the freedom of the vote, the court stated, thus justifying a revote.

The February 2016 referendum, proposed by the Christian Democratic party (CVP), asked voters whether married couples and cohabiting partners should pay the same tax. The vote saw a 50.8 percent against with 49.2 percent in favor, according to the BBC. The CVP argued that Switzerland taxes cohabiting partners separately, allowing both to benefit from a taxfree allowance, and penalizes married couples, the Independent reported.

The federal court stated, “Given the tight outcome of the vote and the seriousness of the irregularities, it is possible that the result of the ballot would have been different,” reported the Independent. During the referendum, the government told voters that 80,000 married couples paid higher taxes than cohabiting couples when in reality, 450,000 married couples pay higher taxes.

According to the federal court, voters “could not imagine that the number of couples affected by the married couples’ tax penalty was more than five times higher than the figure announced,” according to the Guardian.

The CDC welcomed the result as a “boost for the political rights of Swiss voters.” Detractors, however, argue that it undermines Switzerland’s political system and creates a precedent for future appeals against referendums, the BBC reported.

and bankers governing Europe. They have been governing Europe for too long; it should really be a government of people,” the Irish Times reported.

According to the BBC, while there are deep-rooted ideological differences between the parties on diplomatic and economic matters, such as the divergent views that Salvini and the Finns party hold about Russian President Vladimir Putin, the group has voiced its commitment to advocate for the goals they hold in common. Salvini argues that while the various movements have differences,

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

they overlap strongly on questions of tradition and identity.

While the EU has delayed the Brexit deadline to October 31, the bloc has already established plans for 27 of the U.K.’s 73 seats to be redistributed among the contending groups, adding extra incentive to those hoping for a larger foothold in the Parliament.

The European political climate seems to be advancing towards isolation and Euroscepticism, and a significant victory for the nationalist cohort could prove an ideological shift for the future of EU policy-making.

AfD leader Jörg Meuthen at AfD Baden-Württemberg party convention in 2015.

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EU Grants the U.K. a Brexit Extension Yet Again SNC-Lavalin Escalates The British Parliament voted on March 14 to ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond the March 29 deadline. In the elapsed month, Brexit remains uncertain. However, some observers believe the U.K. may not leave the EU after all, the New York Times reports.

The 27 remaining EU countries and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to a “flexible extension” until October 31, according to CBS News.

While some EU members expressed sympathy for the U.K., many struck a harsher tone. EU President Donald Tusk urged the U.K. to “not waste this time,” the BBC reports. French President Emmanuel Macron went a step further, arguing that, “What is indispensable is that nothing should compromise the European project in the months to come.” Prior to the EU’s decision, Macron advocated for a short delay to force the U.K. into making a decision, the Financial Times said.

While the U.K.’s delay request received begrudging approval, May remained firm in her commitment to an expedited Brexit. May wanted to move the deadline to June 30 reports the BBC. The EU gave her even more time.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer declared that the October 31 delay would serve as a relief to British businesses. However, the delay also means that businesses will delay important investment decisions even further. According to CNN, a weak housing market, slowing automobile production, and low investment all indicate that Brexit has already begun to take its toll on the economy. News of the delay assuages short-term fears but doesn’t impact overall negative economic trends generated by Brexit.

“Just bloody stay and we’ll move on to other things.” —Nick Ferrari In order to pass Brexit, May needs support from Labour, Democratic Unionists, and remaining Conservative holdouts, reports the Financial Times.

May seeks to negotiate with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to compromise on future U.K.-EU relations and approve the agreement in its present form. However, despite May’s best efforts little evidence exists that opinions are budging, reports the Financial Times. Former Brexit Secretary David Davis laments that

“There’s been no progress whatsoever, really,” putting May’s objectives in doubt, the BBC reports.

May will attempt to pass her deal one more time before May 22, reports the Financial Times. If this effort fails, the U.K. will conduct EU Parliament elections on May 23, or it will automatically leave the EU in a no-deal Brexit. To avoid this scenario, the EU ruled that the U.K. must hold elections. The Financial Times reports that barring an earlier decision, the U.K. must decide by October 31 whether to ratify the exit treaty, opt for a no-deal Brexit, or cancel its departure completely.

As deadlines pass and frustrations mount, the British public is tiring, reports Politico. Nick Ferrari, a former pro-Brexit broadcaster announced that he gave up on Brexit, according to LBC Radio. “Just bloody stay and we’ll move on to other things,” he said.

“Enough is enough.” May sums up her views in her statement that, “The U.K. should have left the EU by now and I sincerely regret the fact that I have not yet been able to persuade Parliament to approve a deal,” the BBC reports.

Ultimately, fatigue and public support, or lack thereof, may end up being the determining factors of Brexit’s fate.

Vatican Reopens Disappearance Investigation Peyton Rhodes The Vatican will launch an internal investigation into the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, according to the Guardian. The decision, announced on April 10, reopens one of the most mysterious cases in recent Italian history.

Laura Sgrò, the Orlandi family’s lawyer, commented to the Guardian, “The time has finally come to reach the truth and give justice to this girl after decades of silence.”

Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican policeman, disappeared on June 22, 1983, the Local reports.

Bystanders witnessed her leaving a music class, and the teenager was never seen again.

The case has been a matter of great contention and speculation over the years. Italian police hold many different theories about Emanuela’s disappearance: an organized crime group may have kidnapped her in an attempt to extract an unpaid loan from the Vatican; or her disappearance may have been part of the effort to engineer the release of Mehmet Ali Ağca, the would-be Turkish assassin of Pope

John Paul II, according to the Local.

One official floated an even more disturbing theory. As reported by the Daily Circle, the Vatican’s chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth commented, “This was a crime with a sexual motive… The [trafficking] network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. I believe Emanuela ended up a victim of this circle.”

“The time has finally come to reach the truth and give justice to this girl after decades of silence.”—Laura Sgrò Complicating the case further, a second 15-year-old student, Mirella Gregori, disappeared exactly 40 days before the last day Emanuela was seen.

Although the two missing girls did not know each other, officials have never ruled out the possibility that the two cases are connected, according to the Local.

About a month before the Vatican’s announcement that it was reopening the investigation, the case saw its

first breakthrough in months. On the grounds of the Vatican, a statue of an angel holding a sheet inscribed with the epitaph, “Rest in Peace,” lies next to a tomb. According to the Guardian, the decision to open the tomb in search of Emanuela’s remains followed Laura Sgrò’s reception of an anonymous tip, which told her to “look where the angel is pointing.”

The Guardian reports that Emanuela’s brother, Pietro, commented to the press, “After 35 years without cooperation, the start of an investigation is an important breakthrough.”

Many times over the years, what looked like new progress in the case has led to nothing. In October 2018, human remains were found at a site in Rome owned by the Vatican; the remains were thought to be connected to either Mirella or Emanuela’s disappearances, the Local reports.

After further investigation officials determined that the remains belonged to a man who died between the years AD 90 and AD 230, according to the Guardian. The Orlandi and Gregori families continue to wait for a substantial breakthrough.

With Lawsuit Threat Vincent Doehr Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has threatened a libel lawsuit against an opposition leader for his comments about the SNC-Lavalin Affair, the BBC reported. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer stated that Trudeau’s lawyers contacted him on March 31, and he responded on April 10 by repeating his precipitating comments.

Scheer’s response to Trudeau’s threats is the newest development in a months-long string of revelations and discourses. According to CBC, SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based corporation, allegedly paid bribes to then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s family in order to obtain contracts with the regime.

Trudeau is accused of pressuring several of his ministers, most prominently former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody WilsonRaybould, to avoid prosecuting the firm.

With these more recent developments, Trudeau faces renewed criticism from members of his own center-left Liberal Party and the opposition, the center-right Conservative Party, as well as Canada’s smaller parties.

In February, Wilson-Raybould testified before the House of Commons justice committee regarding the affair, the BBC reported. At the end of March, she released a recording she made in 2018 of a phone call between herself (in her role as Attorney General and Minister of Justice) and Canada’s top civil servant: Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick. In the conversation, Wernick conveyed Trudeau’s apparent desire to avoid having SNC-Lavalin prosecuted in court, due to the number of jobs at stake, according to the Globe and

JOINT BASE ANDREWS

Luke Sekowski

Mail. Wernick had already resigned his position in mid-March, also in connection to the affair.

Andrew Scheer condemned Trudeau once again for his role in the scandal. Additionally, the leftwing New Democratic Party, Canada’s third-largest party, called for a public inquiry.

In response to Wilson-Raybould’s release of the recording, Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, both former cabinet ministers who had resigned over the SNC-Lavalin affair, from the Liberal Party, according to the BBC. Trudeau cited the recording Wilson-Raybould had made as breaking “the trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team.”

Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were also deselected as Liberal Party candidates in the upcoming federal election in October. Both women have defended their actions as putting country above party and also indicated that they will continue to serve as independents in the House of Commons.

More recently, Scheer revealed that Trudeau’s lawyers sent him a letter on March 31 threatening to sue the Opposition Leader for making “highly defamatory comments,” CBC reported. Scheer had accused Trudeau of corruption and lying.

On April 10, Scheer restated the allegedly libelous accusation in what observers saw as an attempt to provoke Trudeau to take him to court. While Trudeau has defended his lawyer’s letter, he has yet to take any legal action.

According to analysis by Maclean’s, the affair has wreaked havoc on Trudeau’s reputation as a trustworthy, progressive leader in Canadian politics and could imperil Trudeau in the upcoming federal election in October.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has threatened legal action against an opposition leader.

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LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN James Gordy

E

cuador removed Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and allowed British police to arrest him on April 11. Ecuador’s decision to remove Assange from its embassy belies a greater shift in the foreign relations of the newly-elected Latin American left.

According to TRT World, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, who was elected in 2017 as part of the left-wing Alianza PAIS coalition, described Assange as “an inherited problem” and sought to get rid of him as quickly as possible. His involvement in the political affairs of other countries strained Assange’s relationship with his hosts, as Moreno perceived this as reflecting poorly on Ecuador.

Assange claimed political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in June 2012, when Ecuador was led by President Rafael Correa, who allied the country with Venezuela and Cuba in the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), according to Vox. Deepening ties with other Latin American countries led by leftist presidents and a rejection of American imperialism in the region marked foreign policy under Correa.

On the other hand, Moreno blamed Assange for prohibiting the country from seeking closer ties with the United States, including technical assistance and international loans. Moreno has sought a better relationship, hosting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Quito in June 2018.

Left-leaning leaders around Latin America have followed a similar pattern of rapprochement with the United States, or at the very least ceased hostile rhetoric.

According to Fronteras Desk, Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has avoided public entanglements with the United States, preferring to focus on domestic issues, and is amenable to the passage of the new USMCA trade agreement.

Despite better relationships with the newly-elected left-wing presidents, U.S. relations are still hostile with more established figures in the region like Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.

OAS Accepts Juan Guaidó’s Ambassadors

Leticia Chacon

The United States and the Organization of American States accepted two of interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó’s chosen ambassadors for his transitional administration on April 8 and 9.

One of the primary ways Guaidó hopes to force his opponent Nicolás Maduro to leave Venezuelan office is through pressure from the international community. His various ambassadorial appointments are part of his effort to continue to legitimize his leadership in Venezuela on a global scale.

On April 8, President Trump recognized several new ambassadors, including Carlos Vecchio, an exiled Venezuelan opposition leader and politician.

In an interview in January with CNN, Vecchio, then ambassadorial nominee, stated that his term as the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States would help in garnering more international support for a regime change.

When he received this official

recognition from the United States, Vecchio tweeted, “The world is with Venezuela and with our fight to end the dictatorship in order to reestablish democracy and liberty.”

Member states of the OAS voted on Guaidó’s choice for Venezuela’s Permanent Representative on April 9. According to VOA News, the majority of the 34 member states voted for the opposition leader’s candidate, with 18 countries voting in favor, 9 voting against, 6 abstaining from the vote, and one absence from the Permanent Council Meeting.

Among the states who voted against the measure are Mexico, Bolivia, and Uruguay, while El Salvador, Guyana, and Nicaragua are three of the six countries that abstained.

Maduro and his administration reacted negatively to this change in representation at the OAS, saying that the decision was a “criminal and rampant violation of international law and the OAS Charter.” Additionally, Maduro’s Foreign Ministry stated that decisions made by Tarre would be ignored and considered null by

Nicaraguan Bishop Baéz Leaves Country Adam Tahyar

Bishop Silvio Baéz, a beloved religious leader and notable critic of President Daniel Ortega, announced he is leaving Nicaragua after receiving numerous threats to his life. The New York Times reports that Baez began plans to move to Rome after Pope Francis extended a formal invitation for his relocation. Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes made the announcement on April 10 with Bishop Baéz by his side.

According to Vatican News, after Pope Francis and Bishop Baez met at the Vatican, the Pope praised Baéz’s work in Nicaragua and bade him to continue God’s work in Rome. The invitation was mostly a formality, as the Vatican had already made the decision during a hearing. The bishop welcomed the invitation, saying “I accepted the Pope’s decision and will assume it with full and loving obedience.” However, La Prensa notes Baéz also described the pain he would

feel if he were not to “remain physically with his beloved Nicaraguan people.”

According to the New York Times, there have been several threats and attempts on Baéz’s life, including one scuffle which led to him being knifed in the arm. Nicaragua has faced a tumultuous year, seeing violent protests regarding social security reform and severe government crackdowns. According to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, the bishop and his family face a “situation of seriousness and urgency.”

The former vice president of Nicaragua, Sergio Ramírez, expressed via Twitter that Nicaraguans “must recognize the forcible exile of monsignor Silvio Baéz as a large setback to democracy in Nicaragua.”

Baéz himself lamented the situation, describing it to Vatican News as “untruthfulness, injustice, repression and ambition that pitifully worships the gods of money and wealth at the expense of human beings.”

Venezuela.

Tarre officially presented his credentials to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro in a ceremony at the OAS on April 10.

According to the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, Tarre stated at the ceremony that the “voices in favor of democracy in the hemisphere” were audible at the Permanent Council Meeting approving Guaidó’s choice.

Permanent Representative of the United States Carlos Trujillo, who

WHITE HOUSE

EDITOR’S NOTE:

acts as president of the Permanent Council, took part in welcoming Tarre to the OAS, calling the ceremony a “historic milestone” for the region in tweet posted later that day.

At the ceremony, Tarre made sure to emphasize his commitment to the Venezuelan people and the continued efforts for democracy in the country, saying “yesterday the usurpation ended with regard to the chair of Venezuela, now we will work for a transition government and free elections.”

Juan Guaidó meets with Mike Pence and Iván Duque in February 2019.

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Bolsonaro Denies Dictatorship Was A Coup Peruvian Indigenous Group Ends Protests Of Las Bambas Bolsonaro claimed Mining Corridor the dictatorship was The official Brazilian Congress website published a video on March 31 denying that the Brazilian military dictatorship began because of a coup in March 1964. In the video, a paid actor proclaims that the military “saved” the country from communist threats and that because of the new government, “fear was turned into light and hope for the future.” It was released soon after President Jair Bolsonaro proposed “deserved celebrations” for the anniversary of the coup, according to Globo.

The Presidency’s Press Office stated that it is not aware of who produced or released the video or how it was uploaded to the Congress website.

However, Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo, who is a congressman himself, retweeted the video to demonstrate that he supported its message.

The video’s release marks another controversial incident concerning the legitimacy of the military dictatorship—Bolsonaro and other top-ranking ministers and congressmen have also been criticized for praising the regime in the lead up to its 55th anniversary. The language in the video echoes earlier comments

Bolsonaro made in an interview with NPR. He claimed the dictatorship was “very good” and that it “stopped Brazil from falling under the sway of communism,” in the interview with NPR.

“very good.”

Ruling from 1964 to 1985, the military dictatorship led to the deaths or disappearances of 434 people, and only 33 bodies were ever found.

The regime tortured Brazil’s former president, Dilma Rousseff, along with thousands of others who were considered political threats to the rightwing government. The dictatorship began on March 31, when the military took over the government and forced then-president João Goulart into exile in Uruguay.

Bolsonaro, however, has not shied away from offering rebuttals of the official historical narrative. He previously stated that the only issue with the military dictatorship was the

low number of deaths and tortures, and also released a speech called “The 31st of March, 1964” which was read out loud at army bases to commemorate the start date of the dictatorship. At no point were the words “military coup” mentioned, and once again the rise of the regime was explained as a logical consequence of the communist threat.

The Vladimir Herzog Institute and the Brazilian Association of Lawyers reported the publishing of the video to the United Nations, citing the Bolsonaro administration’s “disregard for the atrocities committed by the regime” and the public manifestations against the dictatorship took place in major Brazilian cities on March 31.

The two organizations highlighted the “importance of remembering the atrocities and preventing their recurrence along with revisionist tendencies.”

A recent study by Datafolha shows that the majority of the Brazilian population does not support Bolsonaro’s proposed commemoration of the military dictatorship: 57 percent of those interviewed believe the anniversary of the regime should be condemned and despised, against 36 percent who believe it should be celebrated.

Environmentalists Protest in Brazil Sean Fulmer Documents obtained by the Associated Press on April 8 reveal that President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil plans to stack the National Council of the Environment, an environmental policy advisory body, with his political acolytes. Environmental activists have rebuked the move.

The National Council of the Environment is currently comprised of nearly one hundred representatives from environmental and business groups. The independent group serves an advisory purpose and does not directly affect policy. However, the council plays an important role in protecting the Amazon rainforest, sixty percent of which is located in Brazil, according to the Washington Post.

The Brazilian Climate Observatory published documents on April 8 from the Bolsonaro transition team that detailed future regime policies.

One of the documents mentioned replacing the National Council of the Environment with five presidential appointees and Environmental Minister Ricardo Salles, who helped create the plan. In a statement to the Independent, Salles claimed that the

National Council of the Environment is poorly run and is controlled by progressive ideology.

Environmental activists rebuked Bolsonaro’s decision.

The plot against the National Council on the Environment is not the first time the advisory body has been threatened by the Bolsonaro administration. According to the Washington Post, police stopped alternate members of the council on Match 20 from attending a major meeting, which violates a long-held tradition of allowing open debate in the council.

After public outrage, Reuters reports, Environment Minister Salles claimed that the plan to eliminate the National Council on the Environment is not currently being considered.

According to Minister Salles, the plan was discussed by members of the transition team, but the administration decided to not proceed. Instead, the current government plan is to reduce the members of the council, due to perceived inefficiency.

This intention follows previous moves by the Bolsonaro administration, some of which were also detailed in the transition plan.

The Washington Post notes that the forestry protection department has already been placed under the Agriculture Ministry, which is notably pro-agribusiness.

Bolsonaro frequently casts environmental protection groups as foreign-influenced and accuses them of attempting to limit the growth of Brazil’s agriculture industries. During his presidential campaign, Bolsonaro repeatedly suggested a complete elimination of the environmental ministry, but avoided following through on it so as not to affect Brazil’s trade industry, according to ABC News. Former Environment Minister Rubens Ricupero told the Washington Post that he suspects the potential plan would have been implemented had it not been for the dam collapse at Brumadinho, which resulted in over two hundred deaths.

Public confidence continues to plummet in the Brazilian government’s ability to properly run the country.

According to a Datafolha poll, sixty percent of Brazilians rate Bolsonaro’s performance as below expectations.

Natalia Lopez Protesters ended their blockade of the Southern Mining Corridor to Las Bambas, a copper mine in the Apurimac region of Peru, after strenuous negotiations between the indigenous groups involved in the protests and the Peruvian government.

The Las Bambas mine accounts for almost 15 percent of Peru’s total copper production, according to LatinNews, amounting to almost $22.5 million in revenue from this mine alone. The opening of the mine in 2011 created contentious relations with the nearby indigenous community in the municipality of Fuerabamba.

The project forced the relocation of the community and since then, there have been escalating protests about the conditions of the resettlement.

According to the resettlement agreement, the Fuerabamba community was to move to the Yavi Yavi rural community. Once resettled, new roads were built near the land where the community now lived. According to LatinNews, the community complained about perceived environmental threats, such as air pollution, created by the nearby transportation and the lack of financial compensation for the roads built on the community’s land.

Since early February, the Fuerabamba community has staged a giant demonstration along the corridor, blocking the road and stopping vehicles from reaching the mine. Although this recent protest did not turn violent, there were past altercations between the community members and local security forces.

According to the Diario Correo,

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Juliana Albuquerque

between 2015 and 2016, security forces killed seven protesters near Las Bambas.

Reuters reported on a meeting between several government officials, representatives of the Fuerabamba community, and executives from the Minerals and Metals Group Ltd (MMG), the mining company that owns Las Bambas, to renegotiate the terms of the settlement. All parties expressed their open-mindedness and willingness to sit down and solve the conflict. Gregorio Rojas, president and representative of the Fuerabamba community, expressed to Reuters how he was hopeful that “the agreement can be ratified.”

Among the new commitments made by the three groups, the Fuerabamba community agreed to restore free transit on the Southern Mining Corridor. This part of the agreement met some contention by members of the indigenous group, as they claim that the government illegally turned the road into a national highway, while the Peruvian government and MMG claim that the corridor had always been declared for public use.

According to Peru21, other commitments made include an agreement by MMG to employ workers from the nearby communities and the Peruvian government’s assurance that it would increase its security presence to ensure that the rights of the communities are protected.

Following a past history of violent clashes at these protests, the end of this blockade on diplomatic and peaceful terms is a positive result for both the Peruvian government and the indigenous groups involved.

A protest occurs in Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city.

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INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC China’s State Pension Fund To Run Dry in 2035 New research by the World Social Security Center at the governmentsupported Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has predicted that China’s state pension fund will run out in 2035.

According to Bloomberg, the decline in the available workforce due to the aging population will create a significant inflow-outflow gap in the pension fund that covers the largest number of Chinese citizens: the urban worker fund.

The urban worker pension fund held reserves of 4.8 trillion yuan ($714 billion) at the end of 2018, South China Morning Post reports. The World Social Security Center predicts the fund will peak at 7 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion) in 2027, followed by a steady decline until it is empty in 2035.

According to the latest annual report by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, at the end of 2017, the urban worker pension fund covered 403 million people.

At the time, there were 293 million

workers contributing to the fund and 110 million retirees claiming pension benefits.

The report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also calculated that the gap between fund inflows and outflows could be as wide as 11 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion) in 2050. This would mean that each retired citizen would be supported by only one worker, instead of the current 1:2 ratio of retirees to workers.

The inflow-outflow gap could be as wide as 11 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion) in 2050.

“The basic pension insurance system faces the challenge of financial unsustainability for the medium-tolong term,” the report concludes.

To promote economic growth, the government aims to reduce the financial burden on corporate employers contributing to the pension

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Rael Baird

South Korean Court Overturns Abortion Ban Serena Lu

Youth cohorts are not large enough to support China’s aging population.

fund. According to the China Labour Bulletin, China’s State Council announced in March that the employer contribution rate would be cut to 16 percent. This rate varies by region, but when the plan was first introduced in 1997, the rate was usually around 20 percent.

China’s aging population has been an issue of rising consequence as the number of retirees increases. At the end of 2018, there were 249 million retirees. China News Service noted that the current Chinese retirement age varies by sex and occupation: 60 for men, 55 for female white-collar workers, and 50 for female blue-collar workers. However, the vice minister of

human resources and social security, Tang Tao, has suggested that the government will adopt a gradual increase in the retirement age. The plan would increase the retirement age to 65 for both men and women to alleviate the potential pension problems of an aging population.

The pension fund’s inflow-outflow gap is one example of the problems caused by China’s aging demographics.

For many Chinese households today, one married couple is responsible for caring for both pairs of parents and any children they may have, as the One Child Policy precluded the possibility of any siblings with whom to share the financial burden of elder care.

India Votes for Parliament

From p.1 According to the Times of India, the BJP, a right-wing Hindu nationalist party, won a majority of 282 seats by itself in the 2014 election. Modi came into office promising economic modernization, but critics have said his promises have not been met, and his leadership has fostered religious sectarianism, the New York Times observed.

The main challenger to the BJP is the Indian National Congress (INC, or Congress), a secular center-left party that has led India for most of its postindependence history. According to the Diplomat, Congress performed poorly in the 2014 election, winning an all-time-low of only 44 seats. It is a member of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the other major coalition in Parliament, according to CNBC. Rahul Gandhi, whose father, grandmother, and great-grandfather are all former prime ministers, leads the party.

The Conversation cited the BJP’s failure to fulfill its promise to create

jobs for millions of Indians as a key election issue. Unemployment reached a 45-year high of 6.1 percent in 2017, despite consistent economic growth.

Another key issue that US News noted is the crisis in India’s farming sector, caused by a combination of droughts, falling produce prices, rising production costs, and ineffective governmental attempts to curb the crisis. Modi’s demonetization of high-denomination banknotes in 2016 further contributed to a sharp deflation in agricultural prices.

Despite the discontent of urban and rural voters, a surge in nationalist fervor amid tension between India and Pakistan in February likely boosted support for Modi and the BJP, according to the Washington Post.

While the Congress party is expected to gain seats, the Times of India reported that recent opinion polls predicted that the ruling NDA coalition will likely keep a slim majority of 273 seats, one more than the required number of seats to form a government.

The South Korean Constitutional Court ruled the country’s 65-yearold abortion ban unconstitutional on April 11. Under the ban, women who underwent an abortion could be punished with up to a year in prison or a fine of two million won ($1,750), although there were exceptions for rape or health risks to the mother.

Despite being illegal, abortion is common in South Korea. According to the New York Times, the governmentrun Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs reported that there were about 49,700 abortions in 2017, 94 percent of which were illegal.

Some scholars consider this to be a very conservative estimate: according to the Guardian, Park Myung-bae, a professor at Pai Chai University, suggested that there were over 500,000 abortions in 2016. According to the New York Times, however, the ban is severely under-enforced, with only 80 cases going to trial between 2012 and 2017 and only one case resulting in jail time.

Many women’s rights activists have criticized the law in the past due to its restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. Activists claimed the unregulated system of abortion services undermined women’s health, according to the LA Times, especially since few doctors were willing to risk prosecution to provide abortionrelated services.

Additionally, according to the Guardian, some women have reported that their husbands and ex-boyfriends have used the law as blackmail, threatening to reveal their abortions to authorities as a form of revenge.

The court ruling is a victory for women’s rights activists in South Korea, albeit a tentative one: according to the Guardian, the ban will remain in place for now, allowing Parliament to amend or repeal the law. Otherwise, the ban will automatically become null and void by the end of 2020.

For now, the New York Times reports that Seoul groups are celebrating the decision as an “important stride in strengthening gender equality.”

A PR. 2019 | 11

Chinese Coders Organize Against Work Conditions Nareg Kuyumjian

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Online activists from some of China’s largest technology firms launched a website called 996.icu on March 26 to openly protest the working conditions of China’s tech industry employees, according to Reuters. At 176,000 followers, the website is the most bookmarked page on Microsoft GitHub, the world’s largest code host.

Specifically, the online activists have voiced grievances over excessive overtime work hours. The name of the website itself is symbolic of the alleged

conditions: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., six days a week. On 996.icu, one employee called out the mistreatment of tech workers, saying, “What’s the difference between these 996 companies and the old landlords who oppressed peasants???”

The collaborative effort, says Reuters, has demonstrated a great level of nonviolent mobilization that has started to pick up worldwide media attention. The online activists put together a list of companies that demand “996” working conditions.

Wired reported that among the targeted

Alibaba is one of the Chinese companies that anti-996 activists have criticized.

firms is Alibaba, the Fortune 500 Chinese e-commerce transnational corporation, and Bytedance, the owner of Tik-Tok, a trending music-media application.

The movement’s high level of nonviolent mobilization picked up media attention.

Two Chinese software developers, Katt Gu and Suji Yan, further contributed to the movement by creating an Anti-996 license requiring companies who use their software to pledge to keep their working conditions in check with International Labour Organization Standards. Though major corporations have refused to acknowledge their complicity, Voice of America reports that the installable Anti-996 software license has gained some momentum recently.

Wired points out that the Anti996 license has itself been a source of controversy within the open-source programming community because of its challenge to, as Chinese-American

programming entrepreneur Evan You frames it, the “very spirit” of the software. This perspective warns corporations of the wave of restrictions and discriminatory add-ons that could follow should they accept the Anti-996 license.

On the other hand, Geoffrey Crothall of the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, pushed back by countering that “people are being laid off, people are not getting the same kind of bonuses, they are not getting the same pay increases that they are used to, and so people are saying, ‘I am not getting paid as much, why should I work as hard?’” reports Voice of America.

Gu and Yan, however, point out that targeting Chinese companies is only the first step. Their experiences abroad, including in Japan, demonstrate how technology employees, specifically coders, are denied proper working conditions and overtime pay in other countries as well.

Though the Anti-996 movement has experienced record-breaking growth even in China’s censored cyberspace, it is hard to say how long this online activism will last.

Solomon Islands Announces General Election Results Cristina Lopez Following nationwide general elections on April 3, the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) posted the verified vote count for each of the archipelago’s 50 constituencies on its Facebook page on April 7.

As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, the 2019 elections were the first to take place since the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) officially concluded in 2017.

According to the Nautilus Institute, the $2.6 billion peacekeeping program first launched in 2003 in response to a formal request for assistance from Solomon Islands then-GovernorGeneral John Lapli. The mission aimed to address the country’s growing problems of ethnic violence, crime and extortion, and government destabilization, according to Voice of America.

For the election, Australia also sent 200 defensive troops to assist 1,600 local police officers in monitoring the polls. Four Australian military helicopters helped distribute ballots to voters living in remote regions of the

archipelago.

Other major logistical concerns arose in the capital, Honiara, as a consequence of the election’s narrow one-day voting timeframe, ABC News noted. At the wharf, police officers struggled to prevent ferries from becoming overcrowded as tens of thousands of people prepared to travel to their rural home constituencies.

Moreover, many key healthcare staff took leave from work on April 3 to vote, forcing Honiara’s National Referral Hospital to partially shut down. Due to limited personnel, the hospital had to cancel elective surgeries, and it could only provide emergency services.

Major logistical concerns arose due to the narrow one-day voting timeframe.

Some critiqued the government for not taking steps to ensure that hospitals and other essential services would remain functional on Election Day. “To my knowledge, I think the police and other areas were allowed

to pre-vote using an electronic voting system, and they should extend this to the health sector,” said Dr. Claude Posala, president of the Solomon Islands Medical Association.

According to Radio New Zealand, 37 members of the newest National Parliament, approximately threefourths of the body, are incumbents.

This includes Prime Minister Rick Hou, as well as the only two female members, Lanelle Tanangada and Freda Soriacomua.

Although eight parties are represented in the National Parliament, Radio New Zealand noted that no party has achieved majority rule. The parties with the most seats, the Kadere Party and Democratic Party, each have only eight members.

Currently, the 21 members who ran as independent make up the largest faction, but Radio New Zealand reported the balance of power may shift as the largest parties engage in the tradition of setting up impromptu headquarters in local hotels. Each party competes to build a majority coalition of at least 26 members by recruiting independent and smaller party “grasshoppers” with offers of

important ministerial and board chairman positions, as well as money.

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Democratic Party currently leads the larger Heritage Hotel coalition, while the Kadere Party leads the rivaling Honiara Hotel coalition.

According to ABC News and Solomon Times, once a coalition has a majority and an agreement is signed, National Parliament members will elect a prime minister by secret ballot.

The election caught multinational public attention for its important geopolitical implications, notes the South China Morning Post. Solomon Islands is the largest of the six Pacific Islands to currently recognize Taiwan, but some politicians have mentioned plans to review diplomatic relations and consider switching recognition to Beijing, the market for two-thirds of its exports.

In a recent effort to bolster Taiwan’s South Pacific alliances, the deputy foreign minister visited Honiara in March, and President Tsai Ing-wen also embarked on an eight-day trip to Palau, Nauru, and the Marshall Islands.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Arin Chinnasathian

I

ndia has started its nationwide general election process.

Over 900 million people are eligible to vote in one of the most divisive elections in recent Indian history. According to the New York Times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to win re-election, has stoked Hindu-nationalist rhetoric and brought the nation to a showdown with Pakistan in Kashmir. Reuters reports that, to that end, Modi has shown himself willing to strip Kashmir of its autonomous status, a move that invited Pakistani retaliation, according to BBC. The internet has also allowed extremists to spread false news on WhatsApp, which has previously led to widespread lynching incidents targeting India’s sizable Muslim minority, Time reports. Additionally, there are also reports of violence and fake ballots that threaten to undermine the election. As such, religious division might be further deepened after this election, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Kingdom of Brunei shocked the world by instituting stoning as a punishment for homosexuality, according to CNN. After Brunei became the first Southeast Asian nation to adopt Sharia law in 2014, the country has incrementally implemented a plan to punish homosexuals. After a report that the sultan’s son may in fact be gay, observers speculate that it may be a move to get rid of his own son, CNN reports. This is a clear example of the deteriorating civil rights climate in the Southeast Asian oil kingdom.

Thailand just concluded its first general election after eight years of political abnormality, but the election commission delays announcing the official vote count until May, reports CNN. The Future Forward Party, a one-year-old political party, shocked the junta by winning over 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives.

Subsequently, the government charged the party’s leader with sedition for assisting an asylum seeker out of the country, according to BBC. With the royal coronation drawing near, the head of the privy council still gives blessing to the junta leader. Ultimately, the junta proves hesitant to democratization, the Bangkok Post reports.

12 | APR. 2 0 1 9

MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA Yemeni Civilians Killed by Air Raid

Uzbekistan Launches Nuclear Power Plant Local officials in Uzbekistan confirmed on April 8 that the country has begun the process of site selection for its first nuclear power plant, according to the IAEA. UzAtom, the Uzbekistani Nuclear Energy Development Agency, plans to give away the site license in September 2020.

Uzbekistan is the latest country to establish a nuclear power program.

The demand for electricity in Uzbekistan is rapidly increasing; Jurabek Mirzamakhudov, the director of UzAtom, told World Nuclear News that the country will have to double energy output by 2030. Uzbekistan seeks to reduce its reliance on natural gas and instead develop renewable energy sources, including nuclear power. The government hopes that the nuclear power plant will promote economic development and improve the business climate.

In January 2019, Mirzamakhudov told the Financial Times that “the

choice was made in favor of nuclear power given uranium availability and most importantly, economic benefits to the country. Today this is one of the cleanest, ecologically safest sources of power, as well as the cheapest one after hydropower.” Uzbekistan is the seventh largest producer of uranium.

The government hopes the nuclear power plant will promote economic development.

Uzbekistani officials met with their Russian counterparts in October 2018 to discuss the launch of Uzbekistan’s nuclear power project, Reuters reports.

Russia is set to loan around $11 billion to cover the expenses of constructing the nuclear power project. According to Kazakh TV, the plant will have two nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. Uzbekistan and Russia plan to begin constructing the

Will Rau

THE KREMLIN

April Artrip & Jaime Moore-Carrillo

Nuclear cooperation is a new phase of collaboration between Russia and Uzbekistan.

first reactor in 2022; it is set to launch in 2028. By 2030, nuclear power will make up 15 percent of the country’s energy supply.

Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom is assisting the Uzbek effort, according to Sightline U3O8, a nuclear energy research group. Alexander Loshkin, Rosatom’s deputy director general for operational management, believes cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan will ensure the success of the process; Rosatom is prepared to play its part.

“Much of the success and timing of this process depends on the level of intercountry cooperation [and] we rate the level of cooperation between

our [two] countries very highly,” he said, as reported by Sightline.

World Nuclear News reports that the IAEA and UzAtom held a workshop in February on safety standards and safety review services for the site selection process. The workshop covered the array of services that the IAEA provides to countries developing a nuclear power program.

Once the project is completed, Uzbekistan will become the first Central Asian country with a nuclear power plant, according to data from the European Nuclear Society. The construction of the plant would mark a new stage of development for Uzbekistan and the region.

Kazakhstan Presidential Election Date Set Christopher Stein Interim president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, announced on April 9 that the country will hold snap elections on June 9, reports Al Jazeera. Tokayev has led the country since the recent resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev. Euronews reports that Nazarbayev was the world’s last Soviet-era leader.

“In order to ensure social and political harmony ... it is necessary to get rid of any uncertainty,” Tokayev said, according to Eurasianet.

Though Nazarbayev resigned the presidency, he retains power through influential roles in the state security apparatus and governing party, Euronews reports. Tokayev, his handpicked successor, did not say whether he would run for president in the June snap election, according to Eurasianet.

However, during his short tenure he has already made a state visit to Russia and toured Kazakhstan to build

support among voters.

Tokayev, formerly the Senate leader, has been replaced in that role

by Dariga Nazarbayeva, Nazarbayev’s daughter. Al Jazeera reports that past elections in Kazakhstan have been followed by criticism from international election monitors: in April 2015, Nazarbayev won with 97.5 percent of the vote. However, Tokayev has pledged “that the elections will be held honestly, openly, and fairly.”

Kazakhstan’s electoral system will make it hard for an opponent of Nazarbayev to win, Eurasianet reports.

Candidates wishing to run may only do so on behalf of a registered political party. The licensing process for such parties has been used to restrict speech critical of the incumbent government, Eurasianet has said. A former U.S. ambassador to the country, William Courtney, was quick to denounce Tokayev’s decision, saying, “People of this great country deserve better than another dishonest election.”

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, claimed the lives of a dozen civilians and injured many more on April 7, according to Reuters. The attack occurred in a residential zone, damaging a school and killing twelve young girls inside.

A local source told Al Jazeera that thousands attended the victims funeral and demanded that the coalition cease air raids immediately.

Human rights issues dominate this crisis; the French nonprofit “Doctors Without Borders” told Reuters that 18,000 civilians have fled their homes, adding to the 10,000 already displaced in the Sana’a metropolitan area. The most recent incident comes two weeks after the Saudi allies bombed a Yemeni hospital, killing at least four children. In light of a recent UN resolution calling for bombings to end, the coalition is under criticism for its recklessness and disregard for collateral damage.

Its leaders counter that the opposition uses civilians as human shields and benefits from international attention, Reuters reports.

The coalition, composed primarily of Yemeni and Arab forces, has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi movement since the latter exiled Yemen’s president in 2015.

The Houthis control Yemen’s urban centers, including the residential and industrial neighborhoods of Sana’a.

The coalition thus encounters civilian casualties on a regular basis. Still, American support has emboldened coalition leaders to expel the Houthis with speed and brute force.

The conflict has divided policymakers overseas. Freelance journalist Jake Johnson of Common Dreams Media notes that while U.S. lawmakers have crossed partisan lines to propose a bill striking Washington’s coalition funding, President Trump is expected to veto the joint legislation.

Senate and House Democrats including Bernie Sanders and Ted Lieu suggest that humanitarian aid might cut costs and save lives, while foreign military sales would ensure the conflict’s continuity.

A PR. 2019 | 13

Saudi Arabia Detains Women’s Rights Activists Emma Morris

THE KREMLIN

Saudi Arabia arrested at least nine women’s rights activists on April 5, the New York Times reported. Two U.S.Saudi dual citizens were among those detained. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has accused the nine activists of publicizing improper treatment of detainees at the hands of Saudi authorities.

The two U.S. citizens who were arrested are Bader al-Ibrahim, a doctor and author, and Salah al-Haidar, a journalist whose mother is one of

the women on trial, according to Al Jazeera. Haidar’s mother is Aziza alYousef, a prominent women’s rights activist. All nine of those arrested had connections to Yousef. They were predominantly writers and social media bloggers. Among the arrested is Khadijah al-Harbi, who is in late-stage pregnancy.

The arrests signal bin Salman’s unwillingness to give in to rising foreign and domestic criticism of his rule. Eleven women were arrested in May 2018 and labeled traitors to the kingdom. They had protested the

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has cracked down on dissent in the kingdom.

country’s conservative social code, taking issue with the limitations on women’s driving and the male guardianship system, which mandates a woman’s father, brother, husband, or son to make critical decisions on her behalf. Applying for a passport, traveling outside the country, getting married, leaving a shelter or prison, and studying abroad all require the approval of a male relative.

Five men protested alongside the women in May, yet none are being held for trial.

Five men protested alongside the women in May, yet none are being held for trial. Several of the women on trial have accused those keeping them in custody of torture and sexual assault, Al Jazeera reports, but the government denies these charges. The siblings of another of the women on trial, Loujainal-Hathloul, a longtime activist, told the media that authorities asked their parents to stop them from

speaking out on behalf of their sister.

Western governments have urged Saudi Arabia to release the women on trial, especially since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October. Khashoggi had moved from Saudi Arabia to the U.S. and begun a column in the Washington Post critical of the policies of bin Salman.

Last year, he traveled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in an attempt to obtain divorce papers when he was killed by lethal injection and dismembered. Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge of the incident and then offered conflicting accounts of bin Salman’s death. Investigations carried out by both Turkish and U.S. intelligence agencies implicated bin Salman in the case.

The most recent roundup suggests that, despite international attention, the country will maintain its hardline against activism and dissent. Since becoming crown prince in 2017, bin Salman has expanded state suppression of dissidents and activists and targeted clerics, human rights defenders, and academics. This crackdown comes in the midst of the Crown Prince’s attempts to modernize the kingdom.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Positioned for Fifth Term Noah Clarke In a closer-than-expected race, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to a historic fifth term as Prime Minister of Israel, beating out his competitor Benny Gantz, according to CNN. Haaretz reported that Benny Gantz was the Chief of General Staff for the Israel Defense Force from 2011 to 2015. Gantz was seen as Netanyahu’s toughest electoral competitor to date, in part because he proposed a popular alternative to Netanyahu’s peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu was also challenged by corruption and bribery charges that the Israeli Attorney General had brought against him just weeks prior, according to Haaretz.

CNN covered Gantz’s concession speech on April 10, with the candidate declaring, “We are all democratic, we all accept the decision of the nation.”

Haaretz further reported that while Gantz lost the prime minister election, the Blue and White Party (a coalition party that combines Gantz’s Israeli Resilience party and former Finance

Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party) performed equally to his political opposition.

“We are all democratic, we all accept the decision of the nation.”—Benny Gantz Although both Blue and White and Netanyahu’s Likud Party each won 35 seats in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, Knesset, a number of right-wing political parties have given their support to Netanyahu and his Likud party, giving him a majority of 65 seats compared to the Blue and White’s 55seat coalition.

Gantz vowed to mount a hard opposition against Netanyahu in the Knesset, according to NBC. “We will make Likud’s life hell,” he added in his televised concession speech.

Several weeks before the election, the Israeli Attorney General declared that he was considering indicting

Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, which the Prime Minister has categorically denied, according to Israel Hayom.

The Times of Israel reported that the judges on the Israeli High Court had ruled that it would be acceptable for the Attorney General to release the indictment charges against Netanyahu before the April 9 elections. While the Attorney General was allowed to announce the charges, he agreed to hold off on transferring the evidence to the relevant parties until April 10, a day after the elections, according to the Jerusalem Post.

To obtain victory, Netanyahu moved further to the right, gaining support from far-right parties such as Kulanu, the Union of Right-Wing Parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, according to Haaretz.

Days before the election, Netanyahu pledged to annex Palestinian territory if re-elected, NBC reported.

The Jerusalem Telegraphic Agency reported that Likud supporters were sent in to Arab voting centers to secretly record them voting. In

addition, several of these right-wing parties openly endorsed expelling all Palestinians from Israel and the West Bank, believing that those lands should be solely for Jewish peoples.

President Trump’s policies may have had an effect on the outcome of the election as well. For example, the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv—where most members of the international community have built their embassies—to Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Washington Post reported that in March, President Trump recognized the Golan Heights, which had been seized by Israel in the Yom Kippur War from Syria, as part of Israeli territory. Al Jazeera stated that Netanyahu, due to the support he enjoys from the Trump administration and his electoral victory, could move forward with annexing parts of the West Bank, which would be detrimental to IsraeliPalestinian peace talks. Experts and American politicians fear the move will jeopardize the possibility of a twostate solution.

EDITOR’S NOTE: April Artrip

I

srael extended the Gaza fishing zone to a maximum of 15 miles as part of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, AlMonitor reports. Although the Oslo Accords in 1993 established a fishing zone of 20 miles from the Gazan shore, Israel has usually severely restricted the distance that Palestinian fishers are allowed to go offshore, sometimes down to a mere three miles, over security concerns. Following rocket fire from Gaza in mid-March, Israel prohibited fishing and shut down the movement of all goods and people in and out of Gaza.

According to Al-Monitor, the ceasefire also eased some restrictions on the imports of certain materials into Gaza and opened the two border crossings into Israel. Israel agreed to permit the import of steel cables and wires, which are essential to fishing. However, authorities have not decided whether to permit the import of fiberglass, used in repairing boats, citing its possible diversion into violent activities.

Israeli restrictions have deeply and negatively impacted Gaza’s fishing industry for decades, according to Al Jazeera. Gaza’s 4,000 fishermen face harassment by Israeli security forces and lack the ability to operate at full function due to a shortage of materials and equipment. According to The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 6,000 fishermen have left the fishing sector since 2000 as a result of Israeli policies, and many of the remaining 4,000 cannot work because their damaged boats require materials that are impossible to acquire.

Although any easing of the severe blockade on Gaza is a welcome development, the economic and humanitarian situation is unlikely to improve a result. According to the World Bank, the unemployment in Gaza is over 50 percent, and even those employed, such as the fishermen, rely on scant humanitarian assistance to survive.

The international community’s tolerance of Israel’s mistreatment of the Gaza Strip, often referred to as an “open-air prison,” is disheartening, and Israel’s harsh practices continue to foster grievances among the Palestinians.

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AFRICA Macron Announces Investigation into France’s Role in Rwandan Genocide United States On the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he has organized a two-year investigation into France’s possible role in the genocide, according to the BBC. In the span of 100 days in 1994, extremists of the Hutu ethnic majority in Rwanda systematically killed approximately 800,000 people, most of whom were members of the Tutsi ethnic minority.

Since then, some Rwandans have accused France of complying with or even being actively involved in the genocide.

Though Hutus make up about 85 percent of the population, the Tutsi minority dominated the country until 1959 when Hutus overthrew the Tutsi monarchy and tens of thousands of Tutsis fled to neighboring countries, according to BBC. In 1990, a group of Tutsi exiles formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and invaded Rwanda, where fighting went on until a peace deal was struck in 1993.

Tensions between the two groups remained high when a plane carrying the Hutu president at the time, Juvenal

Habyarimana, was fatally shot down on April 6, 1994. Hutu extremists blamed the RPF, the Tutsi rebels, for carrying out this attack and subsequently began a well-organized genocide of Tutsis the next day. The atrocities were carried out on a local level, with neighbors, Hutu family members, and even some priests participating in Tutsi murders.

Relations between Rwanda and France have improved since Macron’s election.

After 100 days of slaughter, the RPF, led by Paul Kagame, the current president, seized control. The genocide remains a tragic reminder of what happened as the international community stood by. The UN, Belgium, and France all had forces in Rwanda and withdrew their citizens rather than stopping the mass killing.

A French investigative judge, Jean Louis Brudiere, accused the Tutsi rebels of downing the plane on April 6, 1994, souring relations between the two countries. But some UN officials

present at the time and a British expert on the genocide have instead pointed to Hutus as the ones to blame for shooting down the plane, using it as an excuse to instigate the killings.

Kagame, the de facto leader of Rwanda from the end of the genocide in 1994 and the president since 2000, has long accused France of involvement in the tragedy. France was closely allied with the Hutu-led government prior to the massacres.

Many Rwandans have accused France of providing weapons and military training to the Hutu officers in the

years before the genocide, and had the information and capability to stop the killings, but did not.

Relations between Rwanda and France have improved since Macron’s election in 2017, evident in Macron’s statement of intent to “analyze the role and involvement of France” during the massacres and to subsequently help shape French school curricula.

Additionally, Macron announced that April 7 would be the national day of commemoration of the Rwandan genocide.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Marianna Aslund

A memorial in Liverpool honors the Rwandans killed in the 1994 genocide.

Protests Continue From p.1 Sudan’s demonstrations began in December over the skyrocketing prices of bread, but this widespread resentment was soon channeled into a movement advocating for the replacement of al-Bashir and an overhaul of his government. The Sudanese Professional Association, the organization that planned these rallies, advocated for one “sole demand” of ending “the regime’s 30 years of dictatorship.”

Amnesty International reports that security forces have been violently cracking down on protests since the December protests, firing tear gas and stun grenades at demonstrators and killing numerous people.

Many have rejected defense minister Ibn Auf ’s authority and have decried the new military government as too similar to the one they revolted against. Both al-Bashir and Ibn Auf have been accused of perpetrating war crimes in Darfur, a western region of Sudan. To demonstrate disregard for the new military government’s supposed authority, protesters have

remained in place, already breaking Ibn Auf ’s newly instituted curfew. Over Twitter, the Sudanese Professional Association encouraged protesters to break curfew, writing “stay put and guard your revolution,” adding, “to comply with the curfew is to recognize the clone rescue government.”

The protesters’ efforts have not gone unnoticed, it seems. Soon after the coup, Ibn Auf announced his decision to step down, naming Lieutenant General Burhan as his replacement.

Burhan announced the “restructuring of state institutions” and promised to “uproot the regime” in a televised address on April 13. He also confirmed the release of jailed protesters, ended the curfew, and dissolved all provincial governments.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said, “People are celebrating on the streets; they are saying that they managed to topple President Omar al-Bashir after four months of protests and less than 48 hours after the military council took over, they managed to bring down Ibn Auf, too.”

Airstrikes in Somalia Killed Civilians Paulina Song The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), which is responsible for U.S. military operations in all African countries except Egypt, has acknowledged the death of two civilians—a woman and a child— in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia last year, according to Voice of America.

The admission, released on April 5, follows AFRICOM’s denial of claims made by an Amnesty Internationals report titled “The Hidden U.S. War in Somalia,” a nine-month investigation of five airstrikes attributed to US forces. The report found “credible evidence” that at least 14 civilians were killed and eight were injured.

In 2011, the U.S. began airstrikes against al-Shabaab, a militant group in Somalia which later pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2012. Strikes surged in April 2017 after President Trump declared areas of “active hostilities” in Southern Somalia, allowing the military to carry out additional strikes, according to News24. The BBC reported that American forces carried out 110 airstrikes in Somalia over the past two years, killing 800 people, who the U.S. previously claimed to all be militants. However, after the release of Amnesty’s report, General Thomas Waldhauser, head of AFRICOM, ordered an internal review which identified a “break down in reporting” between AFRICOM and commanders.

The attack responsible for the death of the woman and child occurred on April 1, 2018 in central Somalia and was not listed in Amnesty’s report.

Officials initially reported that the strike had killed five al-Shabaab militants. However, new information prompted an investigation which eventually revealed the two civilian deaths, according to Voice of America.

While AFRICOM has not affirmed the findings of Amnesty’s report, BBC reports General Gregg Olson, AFRICOM Director of Operations, as stating, “If an innocent loss of life occurs, we are committed to being transparent and learning from this regrettable incident to prevent future occurrences.”

A PR. 2019 | 15

Former Liberian President Visits Georgetown Georgetown students and faculty had the opportunity to hear the former president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, speak about women in diplomacy on April 10 as part of an allwoman panel organized by the School of Foreign Service. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a senior U.S. diplomat; Roya Rahmani, the current Afghan Ambassador to the United States; and Ambassador Melanie Verveer, who moderated the conversations, joined Sirleaf in a

discussion during her three-day visit to campus.

Much of the discussion centered on the speakers’ extensive diplomatic experience. Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia in 2005 as the West African country emerged from two decades of instability and civil conflict. She recounted the significant role activist women played in bringing that conflict to a peaceful end, including a particularly memorable anecdote about Liberian negotiators who ensured their safety by locking themselves in a room and

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf served as the president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Abigail Adams-Spiers

threatening that anyone who entered would find them naked—something she recognized was “not exactly a repeatable negotiating strategy.”

Sirleaf also reflected on the considerable challenges that faced her presidency, specifically on how to preside over a country in which conflict and division had become part of the national psyche. She acknowledged the triumph she considers her greatest legacy: replacing 15 years of continuous conflict with 15 years of continuous peace.

Sirleaf also reflected on the considerable challenges that faced her presidency.

Thomas-Greenfield also played a role in this transformation as ambassador to Liberia from 2008 to 2012 and the first female diplomat to represent the U.S. in Africa. She remembered this period as a “lifechanging four years” for herself and the country, remarking on how easy it was to work alongside a president

with a vision. Sirleaf returned the compliment, insisting that, despite her own symbolic victory in becoming the first female head of state in Africa, sustained peace would have been impossible without strong partnerships.

In terms of what their own experiences mean for the prospects of female leadership and diplomacy on the continent, Sirleaf reflected simply, “One president does not women in power make.” She noted that her groundbreaking premiership was an outlier and that every other African nation is currently headed by a male leader.

Sirleaf also emphasized the need to “walk the talk” and support empowering rhetoric with greater resources. Women need to penetrate traditionally male leadership positions in ministerial posts, political parties, and corporate bodies. It was on this theme that she rounded off the discussion. She cautioned that “we have a lot more work to do,” and used her last words to address the women in the audience: “It’s not going to be given to you. You gotta take it, you gotta earn it.”

Russian Interference Suspected in Madagascar Elections Kate Fin Russian meddling in foreign elections may extend far beyond its historical area of control and even beyond the Democratic National Convention. A BBC investigation revealed that Russians offered money to at least six candidates in Madagascar’s 2018 presidential elections in what BBC reporter Gaelle Borgia called a “systematic and coordinated operation by dozens of Russians.”

The scandal raises doubts about the stability of the east African nation’s democracy. Madagascar held its first multiparty elections in 1991, and despite political turmoil between 2009 and 2014 following former President Ravalomanana’s abrupt cessation of power and flight to South Africa, the country has remained a multiparty state with regular elections.

The suspected Russian interference was not the only complication involved in the recent election. In April 2018, Madagascar’s opposition organized a rally against proposed electoral laws. The protests were also fueled by complaints about corruption and poverty. Police opened fired on

the protesters, killing two people and injuring several others. The president at the time, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, even claimed the demonstrations were a coup attempt.

Though Madagascar is imperfect—Washington Post columnist Washington Klaas referred to Madagascar as a “counterfeit democracy” in a 2016 Foreign Policy article due to its admittedly powerful and corrupt cadre of elites—its political institutions since the 2014 democratic re-consolidation make it far from an authoritarian regime.

Madagascar is not the first African country to be targeted by Russian political analysts.

Russia’s interference in the country’s most recent election, however, threatens to undermine popular faith in Madagascar’s democracy and to reduce support for the current regime.

The BBC report identified the Russians involved in the scandal as Andrei Kamar, who is described as

having strong “political connections,” businessman Roman Pozdnyakov, and Vladimir Boyarishchev, who reportedly has a history in the diamond trade.

Among the Malagasy targets was presidential candidate Pastor Mailhol, who was given suitcases of cash amounting to ten of thousands of euros. In exchange for the money, the recipients were required to sign a contract promising to support whichever Russia-backed candidate won the first round.

The campaign manager for another former presidential candidate, Omer Beriziky, corroborated the claims that Russian “visitors” offered $2 million of financial assistance. In return, the Russians asked if he would be open to reassessing Madagascar’s historically western-oriented foreign policy.

As for the actual president, Andry Rajoelina, no evidence exists that he received financial support from Russians, and he denies any foreign involvement in his campaign.

International observers sent to monitor the elections found the election to be fraud-free, according to Reuters.

Madagascar might have been an

“easy target” for foreign meddlers, as the country has no limit on campaign spending or financial contributions from abroad. Additionally, despite the country’s high poverty rate, electoral campaigns are extraordinarily expensive to run, making candidates desperate for cash.

Madagascar is not the first African country to be targeted by Russian political analysts. In recent months, there have been reports of growing Russian presence and influence in the region. According to Al Jazeera, President Touadera of the Central African Republic called on the Russian government to send military instructors to train its domestic forces in the wake of internal chaos.

Additionally, Russia has allied with Algerian strongman and former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and has vowed to assist Uganda in building up its nuclear power capabilities.

These developments are likely part of Vladimir Putin’s attempt to unseat democratic western rivals in the region and project Russian power across the globe. Consequently, processes of growth and democratization in Africa could be destabilized or reversed.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sarah Mathys

S

ince March 26, both Afrobarometer and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation have published reports on migration trends in Africa. The two organizations both found that more than 70 percent of sub-Saharan African migrants move within the continent, rather than to foreign destinations such as Europe.

Additionally, Africans make up only 14 percent of global migration flows, while 65 percent of migrants come from Europe and Asia.

Migrants are mostly young and educated and spend approximately 85 percent of their incomes in their host countries.

Many European nations still consider African migration a crisis, however. Some states, such as France, have pursued what many feel to be transparently xenophobic policies, such as requiring border police to “systematically check the identity documents of people who do not have the right skin color,” according to French NGO La Cimade. Others, like Germany, which initially pursued a policy of Willkommenskultur by welcoming millions of immigrants, have faced significant challenges from populist and anti-immigrant branches of their parties.

Shortly after the release of the Mo Ibrahim report, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called for an end to perceptions of African migration as a crisis, emphasizing the “very positive impact” of African migrants on their host countries.

“These are people moving across borders carrying skills, carrying capital, carrying technology, information, creating jobs, paying taxes,” said Johnson Sirleaf, as reported by Reuters. They are a benefit “not only for Africa but for the countries in which they are hosted because they do bring diversity, they bring culture ... and they also contribute to the life of the country.”

Rather than demonizing migrants by framing African immigration as a crisis, European nations should recognize both their contributions and the actual scale of their migration. Only by avoiding traps of racism and fear-mongering can those nations implement effective migration policy.

16 | APR. 2 0 1 9

TRAVEL

Trains tracks in Hanoi cross a residential neighborhood.

BRYCE COUCH (SFS ‘19)

CHRISTOPHER STEIN (SFS ‘20)

A lone palm tree sways in the wind on a beach in Kribi, Cameroon.

ISABELLE LAHAUSSOIS (COL ‘19)

CLAIRE HAZBUN (SFS ‘20)

Check out the photos below to follow fellow Hoyas on their adventures!

Stonhenge in England likely functioned as a burial place after its construction.

Women wear the hijab in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.