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domingo, janeiro 24, 2021

Will this trigger middle class worries?

By Joseph Hanlon

One of Frelimo's essential successes has been to keep the Maputo middle class satisfied, and thus able to ignore the war in Cabo Delgado, greed and poverty. The middle class sends their children to private schools and uses private health facilities, and has cars (even if only second hand imported Japanese ones) and water tanks to cover water rationing, as well as generators in case of electricity cuts - thus able to pump water into the tanks. So the Maputo middle class is not affected by declining quality of education or the increasing water shortages.

But in the past week the number of Covid-19 cases hospitalised in Maputo city has jumped from 120 to 192, with 51 people admitted to hospital in Maputo in the 24 hours to this morning. Both private and public hospitals are now full. Maputo central hospital has to put up tents for Covid-19 patients.

"Have you noticed that elites, including political leaders, are being ravaged by Covid 19? That these elites cannot find beds in private sector clinics? That these clinics are charging astronomical sums in deposits, up front (another deregulated jungle, this one)?," asks Marcelo Mosse, editor of Carta de Mocambique.

Will the Maputo middle classes suddenly notice that in a pandemic their health and survival depends on a public sector, which they have allowed to be run down, assuming only the poor would suffer. jh

sexta-feira, janeiro 22, 2021

Nepotismo no Porto de Nacala?

 O Porto de Nacala parece pertencer a Agostinho Francisco Langa Junior, o actual Secretário de Estado de Ensino Técnico-Profissional.

Agostinho Francisco Langa Junior foi director do Porto de Nacala, mas parece que durante esse periodo, ele preparou tudo para que aquilo se transformasse em uma empresa familiar, trazendo para as chefias do Porto e CFM-Norte, seus familiares e amigos pessoais. Agora está lá, um jovem, seu sobrinho, filho da irmã, ocupando a posição de Director. Este por sua vez, abre vagas no Porto e CFM-Norte e chama seus familiares para preenchê-las.

A pergunta que não quer calar. Será que tudo o que no Porto de Nacala se passa não é do conhecimento de quem de direito? 

quinta-feira, janeiro 14, 2021

Proposta da UNITA para “frente ampla” da oposição encontra apoio e cepticismo

A maior força politica na oposição em Angola, a UNITA diz pretender criar “uma ampla frente" para tirar o MPLA do poder nas eleições de 2022.
O partido liderado por Adalberto Costa Júnior entende que só com uma única força da oposição em 2022 o eterno poder dos camaradas cairá e diz que 2021 deve ser o ano da "mobilização dos patriotas" para a alternância de poder. Ler mais

quinta-feira, janeiro 07, 2021

Atitude em defesa da democracia.

Não foi preciso ser do partido dos democratas para condenar a atitude anti-democrática, de um déspota e irresponsável de Donald Trump, mesmo os republicanos tais como o antigo Presidente Georg Bush, o primeiro secretário de defesa de Trump, James Mattis, o reformado General Joseph Dunford, o senador Mitt Romney entre muitos.

Na Europa, líderes políticos da direita e da esquerda e ou chefes de governos como Primeiro-Ministro da Grã-Bretanha, Boris Johnson, a chanceler Angela Merkel, o Primeiro-Ministro Sueco, Stefan Löfven, entre outros condenaram vêemente Donald Trump logo à primeira hora e chamaram a accão um ataque à democracia. Ver aqui

terça-feira, janeiro 05, 2021

Total accepts government cannot protect it

By Joseph Hanlon

UIR special forces are the best trained and paid and have been assigned to protect Afungi. But Total's staff evacuation shows the gas company no longer trusts government forces to protect the project. Insurgents have been marching north for a week. Fixed UIR units can repel attacks, but they are not mobile and could not stop the movement of the insurgents. They seem to be waiting for the guerrillas to knock on their door - and thus go right to gates of Afungi.Insurgents have been tightening the noose for weeks, recently closing the only open road to Palma - the terrible dirt road from Mueda that shippers had to use. And insurgents have been increasing pressure from the south. Mozambique's defence forces proudly win battles, but lose ground. The noose is tightening.

Total's standard response to the press is that it is accompanying the situation closely and maintains permanent contact with the government. So when Total decides to evacuate, it clearly means it has concluded that the government cannot protect it. And the evacuations of most staff and the ban on coastal shipping must slow down the project.

This raises broader questions. ExxonMobil was planning to build its gas liquification plants (LNG trains) on Afungi, and has repeatedly delayed its final investment decision. Insecurity must be raising questions for Total. They can build a big wall on the land side, but as the map shows, there is a large open area facing the sea. And the ban on cargo shipping suggests the Mozambican navy cannot protect that side either.

Will Total try to force the government to accept a major presence of the French army and navy? Or might it give up? Could it decide that the Anadarko/Occidental gas assets it bought elsewhere in Africa are a better bet? jh

Fonte: Mozambique New reports & clippings, 03.01.2021

Célebre cientista político Olivier Duhamel é acusado de incesto na França

Horas antes, o renomado cientista político renunciou a todos os cargos que ocupava, inclusive o de presidente da Fundação Nacional de Ciência Política (FNSP).

 "“Sendo alvo de ataques pessoais e desejando preservar as instituições em que trabalho, pedi demissão de minhas funções”, escreveu no Twitter."

Nota: éis a diferenca com o que acontece em Mocambique. ver o artigo na íntegra aqui

Em Cabo Verde e Guiné-Buissau o PAIGV (PAICV e PAIGV da Guiné Bissau) não estão no poder

O Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) foi um movimento que sob Álmicar Cabral organizou e lutou pela independência de Guiné-Bissau e Cabo Verde.
Em 1980 deu-se a ruptura devido ao golpe de Estado em Guiné-Bissau sob Nino Vieira. Cabo Verde formou o seu PAICV e a Guiné Bissau manteve o PAIGC. Contudo, tanto o PAIGV como o PAICV mantiveram o monopartidarismo até 1990.
Houve ruptura, mas houve conflitos entre os dois países? Ainda procuro saber. Do que mais sei é que Cabo Verde é um dos bons exemplos em governação e direito de estado democrático. Guiné- Bissau tem tido golpes estado mas sempre melhor em múltiplos índices que Moçambique e Angola.
Nota: 1) Posso não estar certo nos meus comentários e nessa tentativa de compreender a história do PAIGC, estou lendo o que está à minha disposição.
2) No programa de Fortunato sobre a guerra colonial, admirei que Pedro Pires que não se agarrou ao poder, estava no teatro da guerra e não num gabinete.
3) Os veteranos da luta pela libertacão de Guiné-Bissau e Cabo Verde são necessariamente associados dos partidos PAIGC e PAICV?
Danilo Tiago, Carlos Trocado Ferreira e 11 outras pessoas
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domingo, janeiro 03, 2021

Total evacuates Afungi, correctly predicting 1 Jan attack

By Joseph Hanlon

Insurgents reached the gates of the Afungi LNG project on Friday 1 January. After a series of ever closer attacks, Total evacuated most of its staff from Afungi and Palma last week. Fighting continued yesterday, and the military has banned sea traffic to Afungi and Palma. Insurgents have been moving north and closing in on Afungi:

Since August insurgents have controlled Mocimboa da Praia, 55 km south of Afungi.
9 December: insurgents attacked Mute (also Muite), 21 km south of Afungi. The insurgents then were repelled with the assistance of DAG (mercenary) helicopters. President Filipe Nyusi personally confirmed the attack and went on to say “Three days ago, the enemy wanted to approach Afungi. But thanks to our young people they were unsuccessful. Our young fighters have been accepting their role in this combat." But he spoke too soon.
24 December: Insurgents returned to Mute, burning houses and taking food. The group of 80-120 insurgents was again ousted after heavy fighting, with deaths and injuries.
29 December: Insurgents attacked Monjane (also called Mondlane) just 5 km south of the Afungi border fence; again there was fighting. A military patrol was ambushed on the road from Monjane north to Patacua on the edge of the Afungi zone, with two military and one insurgent killed. There was also an attack on Olumbe (also Olombe) on the coast 14 km south of the Afungi boundary, with people kidnapped. This accelerated the flight of Total staff. (Bloomberg 29 Dec, 1 Jan; Intelyse 25 Dec; Pinnacle News 29 Dec, 2 Jan; Lusa 10, 29 Dec; AIM 11 Dec)
+ Friday, 1 January: There were attacks on the resettlement village of Quitunda which is in the Total area but outside the fence, and on the Riot Police (UIR) camp on the main road to the Afungi development, just at the gates of the project. There was some fighting and casualties, but it is difficult to establish the seriousness of these two attacks. Pinnacle News (2 Jan) reports that the fighting was continuing late yesterday. The rainy season has started and insurgents have been gathering food reserves in most raids, and the UIR camp is the main kitchen for the joint military-police task force. Insurgents have also left leaflets saying Palma will be attacked on Tuesday 5 January

The map shows the sites of the attacks (purple arrows). The project has a land concession (Duat) which is the 6625 ha inside the yellow line. The blue line encircles the 4371 ha of the actual LNG industrial zone which includes the port, airport and will include gas liquefaction plants. Quituda resettlement village is in orange, within the Duat but outside the industrial zone. Palma town is at the upper left of the map and Mondlane (Monjane) at the bottom.
 
Fonte: Mozambique New reports & clippings, 03.01.2021