Beautiful Horizons

Good News

This is certainly good news:

The United States was expected to allow the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to refer war crimes suspects in Sudan's Darfur region to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, diplomats said.

They said the United States would abstain, rather than use its veto power to kill the resolution that would ask the ICC to investigate those responsible for pillage, rape and slaughter in Darfur.

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters he was confident the measure, drawn up by France, would be adopted by the 15-member council. And a French official told reporters: "There is a deal. There will not be a U.S. veto."

Regardless of how one feels about this, it's certainly better than a veto.

Obesity and Poverty in Brazil

Eric Umansky called my attention to this article about obesity in Brazil.  I've been down this road before and I don't want to belabor the issue, but I'm glad that they mention this:

Leonor Pacheco, a consultant to the Ministry of Social Development and Anti-Hunger, said obesity in Brazil was particularly prevalent among poor women in urban areas. She blamed that on not enough exercise, too much time spent watching television and using the little money they have to buy packaged food and soft drinks.

"The diets of poor people are unbalanced," Pacheco said. "They use a lot of cooking oil, and they eat a lot of fried foods and sugar. We have children suffering from hunger and adults suffering from obesity. We have the worst of both worlds."

One of the cheapest lunches you can get in Brazil is a couple of pasteis (a type of fried filled usually with beef or cheese) and a soda or juice. Foods like this are cheap and filling, and if one is poor I can only imagine that ridding yourself of hunger pangs is a daily struggle.

One important point the article does not mention, however, is that Brazilians (at least in my experience), do not seem to care for whole grains. Brown rice (arroz integral in Portuguese) and whole wheat bread (pão integral) are usually found only in specialty restaurants and are not very popular. Given the staple in the diet that rice and beans are, developing a taste for brown rice could at least reduce the rate of diabetes. One  positive thing I like in Brazil is that the midday meal is usually the main meal (again, in my experience).

There's another culprit here as well:

In a sign of the times in Brazil, the number of McDonald's restaurants - the whipping boy of the anti-fat crowd - has risen from 100 in 1992 to more than 1,200 today, although the Golden Arches here have begun serving salads, yogurt and other healthy food.

It's not just McDonald's. It's a matter of convenience and speed.  Unfortunately, Brazil is becoming so much like the rest of the world in this regard. Perhaps someone should consider establishing a branch of the Slow Food movement in Brazil.

A Measure of Vindication for Maher Arar

There appears to be a small measure of vindication for Maher Arar:

Maher Arar, a 35-year-old Canadian engineer, is suing the United States, saying American officials grabbed him in 2002 as he changed planes in New York and transported him to Syria where, he says, he was held for 10 months in a dank, tiny cell and brutally beaten with a metal cable.

Now federal aviation records examined by The New York Times appear to corroborate Mr. Arar's account of his flight, during which, he says, he sat chained on the leather seats of a luxury executive jet as his American guards watched movies and ignored his protests.

The article also goes on to say that Arar was rendered "deported to Syria based on secret information that he was a member of Al Qaeda." I truly hate to belabor the obvious, but why would the Bush administration trust the Syrians to interrogate Arar and their assurances that he would not be tortured, when the State Department has consistently criticized Syria's human rights record and reported on their use of torture? This is no longer a slippery slope; it's a greased water slide worthy of Kafka. And it's a crime in every sense of the word.

Lula Says Tchau to the IMF

This is encouraging news for Brazil and, in advance of his anticipated reëlection bid next year, a smart move for Lula:

Brazil on Monday said it would not renew a $41.75 billion loan accord with the International Monetary Fund when it expires at the end of March, electing to brave financial markets alone for the first time since 1998.

Brazil, the IMF's largest debtor, said improved fiscal controls and external accounts, combined with the best economic growth in a decade, had cut its vulnerability to foreign financial shocks and improved its creditworthiness.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a longtime critic of the IMF before becoming president, said the decision to end support showed his unpopular spending cuts and commitment to orthodox fiscal policy had paid off.

"This decision was taken with the calm and serenity of a government that, with the sacrifice of all Brazilians, won the right to walk with its own two legs," said Lula, who faces re-election in October 2006.

Assuming current trends in terms of Brazil's budget surplus, the trade surplus and inflation are maintained this is a can't lose proposition for Lula. His critics on the left are happy that the IMF is out of the picture:

"It is important we are no longer subordinate to the IMF," said Workers' Party congressman Ivan Valente.

The right also seems to be pleased:

"It's terrific news, a hallmark of financial accomplishment for the country, and great credit goes to President Lula for this success," U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said in a statement on Monday.

As does the center-right:

Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who signed Brazil's IMF accord in 1998, said countries should only negotiate deals when they are needed.

"If it isn't necessary, there is no reason to maintain it," he said.

A word about Snow's comments.  Here are some of the reasons for the plan's success:

• Although the debt remains high at 960.5 billion reais ($350.54 billion), or 51.3 percent of gross domestic product, it is still down from 57.2 percent of GDP in 2003.
• The government posted a primary budget surplus of more than 4.5% of GDP.
• Inflation has declined and the economy grew 5.2% last year.

So they've reduced the debt, have a budget surplus and inflation was reduced while the economy grew. Maybe the US will do that again some day, hopefully before we need the IMF to bail us out . . .

Padre Cicero

The part of Brazil that fascinates me the most is the Northeast. Aside from the stunningly beautiful beaches, the graciously welcoming people and the music, the culture is steeped deeply in Brazil's past and makes for fascinating reading. Whether it's the Canudos War, the Literatura de Cordel, the story of Lampião and Maria Bonita or the way Luis Gonzaga's music gave pride to the region, Brazil's Northeast is a rich source of history and seemingly endless supply of captivating history.

Larry Rohter had an article in yesterday's New York Times about Padre Cicero , the town of Juazeiro do Norte and the support that still exists among the population for Padre Cicero more than seventy years after his death at 90. The Roman Catholic Church, which had long shied away from Padre Cicero is starting to embrace him:

While the Roman Catholic Church continued to be skittish about embracing Father Cicero and his legacy, others were not. For years, any politician running for national or state office has had to make a stop in Juazeiro do Norte; some candidates and elected officials even pay for the chartered buses and overcrowded trucks, known as "parrot perches," that bring pilgrims here.

One factor in the church's recent turnabout may be that the army of pilgrims is simply too powerful a spiritual force to ignore. When fundamentalist Protestant denominations are challenging the Roman Catholic Church's dominance all over Brazil, it makes more sense to view Father Cicero's devotees as allies, rather than fanatics or schismatics.

"Thanks to the pilgrims and their faith, the evangelical churches are not making many inroads here," Bishop Panico said. "Father Cicero is like an antivirus."

It's worth noting that the evangelical churches have made their greatest recruitment efforts among the poor, so this shift in thinking on Padre Cicero certainly seems to make sense.

American Street Post

My latest post on The American Street site is up here. Click over and check it out.

Speaking of Variety

Speaking of Variety and its headlines, everyone always references "Wall Street Lays an Egg" for the stock market crash of 1929 or "Hick Nix Sticks Pix" for negative reaction by rural residents to films about them, but my favorite is this one which was dicsussing low box-office returns prior to Christmas 1983, during which Yentl was the only film doing well and Amityville 3-D had just been released to high expectations:

Business is gentle,
Excepting Yentl
Amity so-so:
Biz awaits ho-ho.

That is some fine headline writing. It's stayed in my head for 21 years!

Augie Skates on Prats Case

(I was reading Variety today which explains the funky title.)  The Chilean Supreme Court voted to overturn a lower court decision and allow Augusto Pinochet to retain his immunity as a former president in the murder of his predecessor as commander of the Army, General Carlos Prats. Prats and his wife were killed by a car bomb in September 1974 in Buenos Aires where they had gone in exile.

This is a particularly venal crime along with the Letelier-Moffitt murders and the attempted assassination of Bernardo Leighton. The investigation in Argentina has pointed squarely to DINA, Pinochet's secret police, and among those who have admitted involvement is Michael Townley, who turned state's evidence in the Letelier-Moffitt case and who has also claimed that Manuel Contreras ordered the assassination of Prats. Contreras was the head of DINA, and in that role regularly breakfasted with Pinochet.

Of course it's always good to be the king or ex-king in this case. Not everyone can have their ex-boss blown to bits and have immunity from prosecution.

Twenty-Five Years

My buddy Stephen reminded me that today marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of  Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Romero was assassinated while saying mass in a small chapel at a cancer hospice. Here was a key phrase from his final homily:

"We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us."

Indeed he does. It also appears that the Roman Catholic Church is moving towards beatifying him. The sheer courage of Romero is humbling to me. Consider that during that time in El Salvador leaflets were being distributed saying "Be a patriot - kill a priest," yet Romero soldiered on in a manner of speaking.

Not content with making a martyr of Romero, at his funeral, in full view of television cameras forty people were shot dead by snipers, yet Romero's influence remains important, even if the man's life and the lives of so many others in El Salvador were taken so brutally. Stephen also reminds me of why Romero remains important.

David Holiday has more as does Tim.

Haiti News

I haven't posted much on Haiti, but there has been some news lately - and very little of it is encouraging:

• Donors met in French Guiana last Friday to address the aid situation in Haiti and approved 380 rebuilding projects totaling some $1 billion.
• Two UN peacekeepers have been killed in fighting with rebel former soldiers.
• The entire UN Security Council will be visiting Haiti next month.

On the latter issue, here's the sole saving grace:

Representing the United States will be acting U.N. Ambassador Anne Patterson. A Patterson spokesman declined to comment on the trip.

God help them if John Bolton were going . . .

At least they are striking the right tone and sending the right message:

Brazilian Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, who holds the council's rotating presidency, said the trip is designed to promote security, stability and human rights and lay the groundwork for national elections set for late this year.

Haiti ''is a problem of our region. We really cannot miss this opportunity now, because now it is the last chance to help find a solution, a long-term solution. The United Nations cannot afford to have another crisis in Haiti in five years, in 10 years,'' Sardenberg told The Herald.

[...]

The trip's goals cover ''the whole agenda of Haiti, the economic, the social agenda, human rights,'' Sardenberg told The Herald at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

The success of the upcoming elections will center on the government's ability to make progress on national reconciliation, security and development, council members have said.

It's also important for them to remember that they are still dealing with the absolutely wretched Gerard Latortue, the man who has proclaimed the violent rebels, some of whom may have had ties to those who killed the peacekeepers, as freedom fighters and who has paid bribes to self-described former soldiers.

So I do find it heartening when I read this:

Recent council statements have called on the interim government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue to expedite all legal cases against Aristide government officials such as former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who has been jailed for months without formal charges.

Sardenberg acknowledged that part of the U.N.'s problems in Haiti arose from the attention demanded by other crisis around the world, such as the Sudan civil war and the Indian Ocean tsunami.

''There is competition (for U.N. resources) from different operations, there are 18 currently and so it is only natural that some attention is diverted to different issues every week,'' he said.  "So it is important to keep Haiti on the agenda of the council. The effort for Haiti must be seen as a long-term one.'' [my emphasis]

Not merely "seen," but must, in fact, be a long-term effort.