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In simultaneous referenda on both sides of the Green Line, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriot last Saturday – 24th of April 2004 – delivered their verdict on the Annan Plan ˆ a proposal for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. The outcome of the twin referenda was a resounding oxi (no) (75.8 per cent) from the Greek Cypriots and a clear evet (yes) (64.9 per cent) from the Turkish Cypriots. The background Drafted by the U.N. in close consultation‚ with the parties, and first tabled in November 2002, the Annan Plan envisages the political reunification of the island along the lines of a federal state under a power-sharing regime. The United Cyprus Republic was to be composed of two equal constituent states, each exercising extensive autonomy. Other elements of the plan provide for the transfer of territory currently under Turkish Cypriot administration to the Greek Cypriot constituent state, reinstatement...

LONDON – From the headland here, the most easterly point of the Americas, where Brazil juts out towards Africa- the locals tease visitors that on a clear day you can see Nigeria- one question looms before all others. Why did this bounteous continent to the south do so much less well than its counterpart to the north? North America was settled by pilgrims, idealists, political and religious refugees. They wanted to create a New World and early on democracy became the chosen instrument. It was flawed, of course. It did not protect the Indians and it didn’t encompass the slaves, but it laid the basis for economic advance first and social and political reform later. The Brazilian historian Sergio Buarque de Holanda wrote that the English pioneers went to North America to build a paradise whereas the Portuguese went to Brazil to enjoy a ready made paradise. The Spanish and...

Det er lite vann i bassengene etter fire måneder uten regn. Men Colombo har ikke opplevd mange “power-cuts” den siste tiden. Grunnen er ganske enkelt at myndighetene ikke vil vise at de har problemer med kraftforsyningen rett før et valg. Slikt påvirker velgerne negativt for de partier som har sittet ved makten frem til i dag. I ukene som kommer regner folk med at strømmen forsvinner noen timer hver dag. Dessuten har Buddha, Kristus, Rama, Muhammed eller hvem du ellers tror på vist seg fra sin beste side og vi fikk skikkelige ettermiddagsregn de siste tre dagene før valget. I Sri Lanka er de fleste store religioner godt representert og de er viktige faktorer i valgkampen. Det er derfor godt om religiøse høytidsdager og selvsagt er det røde dager i kalenderen ved hver fullmåne. Men landet er delt etter mange andre linjer enn religion. Som for alle andre stater er...

Inngress Valget i Sri Lanka andre april gav støtte til president Kumaratunga, men uten eget flertall i parlamentet er det langt frem. Det ble langt mindre vold enn forventet og det forventede utegangsforbudet ble aldri utlyst. Av de 225 representantene som ble valgt er 13 kvinner. Presidenten vil forsøke å få gjennom en grunnlovsendring som gir henne og embetet mer makt på bekostning av statsminisiteren. Spørsmålet er om fredsforhandlingene blir lettere etter dette. Splittelser To år med våpenhvile har skapt en ny politisk virkelighet i Sri Lanka. Når krigen pågikk var det lett å glemme interne motsetninger i de forskjellige grupper. Nå som muligheten til en fremtid uten terror, krig og katastrofer åpner seg kommer interne motsetninger opp til overflaten. Noen av disse er gamle konflikter, andre oppstår som resultat av at maktkamp om politisk lederskap og ressurser blir mer akutte. Valget i Sri Lanka har vist en splittelse i...

LONDON – In Recife one can see the real abomination of Brazil. Over the last 30 years I’ve watched this north eastern city’s population grow like a fungus. A quarter of the people of Brazil’s fourth largest city live in the crime-ridden, extremely violent, favelas (shanty towns), many of them without sanitation. After I walked these filthy, mud-laced streets and returned to stay at the house of the local Catholic priests deep inside one favela lines of a Kipling poem turned in my mind, “Chance-directed, chance-erected, laid and built on the silt/ Palace, byre, hovel- poverty and pride- side by side/ And, above the packed and pestilential town, Death looked down.” Last year the newly elected president, Luiz Inacio da Silva, “Lula”, brought his cabinet here. He was waylaid with placards reading, “Lula, only you can save us”. Can Brazil move from Third World to First World? Can it rid itself...

Why did it fail to deal with themost destructive conflicts? Thirty-one year old Virgil Hawkins’ dissertation is a treasure of information and solid analysis at a time when the largest reforms of the United Nations since its establishment are being discussed. Although not his aim, Hawkins’s book could be said to make the case for the most important UN reform of all: learn from earlier mistakes and get engaged in the most important conflicts; take on the conflicts that cost many human lives and make, finally, the UN an organisation for all humankind not just for the few. The truth Hawkins tells us is this: the Council has failed miserably to respond to the conflicts that cost most lives and concentrated on minor ones – because of members’ narrow interest policies. Globalisation takes place in the economic and military spheres of international society – but there is not yet anything...

LONDON – There is a widely held opinion abroad that Brazil never had the chance of profoundly changing for the better- shedding its widespread poverty and dire income distribution- until Lula (President Luiz Inácio da Silva) came along last year. This is not entirely false, but neither is it entirely true. Brazil has long made a kind of progress- in the last century it was second only to Taiwan as the fastest growing economy in the world- but it has been appallingly uneven. Part of the story of contemporary Brazil is clear to the eye in this small village of 7,000 people in the arid north east, along with the Amazon the poorest part of this vast country. Twenty five years or so ago I used to come to Pilõezinhos regularly when I had a close friend living here, Valéria Rezende, a radical, grass roots-stirring nun, part of the Catholic Church...

LONDON – If Brazil has long lived out its personal fantasy as the archetypal relaxed, tolerant and gregarious country with Copacabana beach, the samba, the carnival and a great deal of sexual freedom it is now living out in real time its almost forgotten societal dream, an economic-cum-social revolution. Brazil has had economic growth before. For the first eighty years of the last century it was the country along with Taiwan with the world’s fastest growth rates. Even today after setback after setback it is the world’s eighth largest economy. Yet it has never kept up with its burgeoning population, the inequities of the feudal land system that cast millions into shanty towns and a murder rate that is more akin to a war zone than a normal society. But with a government led by a former lathe worker and union leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is determined to...

A multi-tier people’s programme commences the First Phase with ‘Enrolling 100,000 Families Pledged to Nonviolence on August 09, 2004 (Quit India Day)’ – an initiative of Indian Council of Gandhian Studies, New Delhi in association with institutions and organizations promoting peace. VIOLENCE-FREE SOCIETY NATIONAL CAMPAIGN Introduction: The manner in which violence is spreading in the emerging global context should cause concern in every peace-loving individual. While it would be naïve to believe that violence could be totally eliminated, it would be suicidal to accept it as a fact of life and not to respond with creative initiatives to contain this monster so that he will not be allowed to destroy all what humanity has achieved hither to. The emerging scenario is not conducive to nonviolence. Glorification of violence in media, particularly in television and films, is disturbing. The nexus between money and muscle power and the way women are depicted...

LONDON – The lure of membership of the European Union is working with Turkey, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia and even to a lesser extent with Serbia. All have upgraded their attitudes to justice and to minorities. When Europe walks softly with a big juicy carrot it seems to work far better than the old time policies of sanctions, reprobation and isolation. So why not with Israel? Europe could offer the Jews a security a fence never could. The security wall now being built to divide Israel from Palestine will end up enclosing the Palestinians inside an area that is 44% of the West Bank. This is a mere 9% of historic Palestine. No quasi independence for Gaza can compensate for this bald arithmetic. The Hamas line takes on a renewed resonance among an increasing number of Arabs: we have no choice, they say, but to drive the Israelis into the sea. There...

LONDON – In the short eight years of full democracy in Taiwan Saturday’s election will be the third. In each election the candidate that Beijing did not like won office. This time Beijing has made it clear that it doesn’t want to see President Chen Shui-bian re-elected. By the workings of normal electoral arithmetic he shouldn’t be. In the last election he won on a minority vote because the opposition- the successor party to Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang- was divided. This time there is no division and until recently many assumed Chen would lose. But once again China has been waving its fist and the chances are that Chen has a good chance of gaining a second term. The more Taiwan becomes democratic, the more the older generation of Chinese die off (a good many of whom crossed the strait as part of the fleeing troops of the Kuomintang defeated by the...

War and Peace War Must be Made Illegal AS EARLY AS 1931 Gandhi articulated his view that change, to be beneficial, needed to be achieved by nonviolent struggle: “I would wait, if need be, for ages rather than seek the freedom of my country through bloody means.” Gandhi added some optimistic words, declaring, “I feel in the innermost recesses of my heart that the world is sick unto death of blood-spilling. The world is seeking a way out, and I flatter myself with the belief that perhaps it will be the privilege of the ancient land of India to show the way out to the hungering world.” Of course, from the perspective of 2004 this would seem to be a prime instance of false prophesy. Although Gandhi’s literal coordinates of time and place were mistaken, we may yet be approaching a Gandhian Moment where there occurs a worldwide revulsion against...