Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Thursday 27 November 2014


27 November 2014
Le Monde diplomatique

December 2014

...Mexico, a massacre too far; Ukraine's uncertain east; Afghans fearful as West pulls back; US, philanthropy or welfare? Italy stems migration; South Africa's own subprime crisis; fall of France's man in Africa; China's workers strike; media information belongs to us all; scripting the future ... and more...

  • In search of an enemy within - Serge Halimi

    A young environmentalist, Rémi Fraisse, 21, was killed by a grenade fired by French police on the night of 25-26 October while he was protesting against the building of a dam in the southwest region of Tarn. The government said nothing about it for two days (although it was quick to honour the memory of an oil company boss who died in a plane crash). The Socialist head of the region's executive council, Thierry Carcenac, said it was "stupid and dumb" of the protestor to die for an idea. His own (...)
    Translated by Barbara Wilson
  • Eastern Ukraine divided within itself

    Failing states* - Laurent Geslin and Sébastien Gobert

    The Ukraine government has withdrawn state financial support from the two rebel 'republics' of eastern Ukraine, and the Russian government meddles there but gives little practical assistance. Money is running out, work has run out. And winter has hardly started.
    Translated by Charles Goulden
  • After the West's troops fly out

    Afghanistan alone again* - Camelia Entekhabifard

    Afghanistan now has a shaky coalition leadership, a vulnerable army and police force, and very soon, only a few western troops, who will mainly be confined to training roles. The wealthy are decamping, and Afghans are worried.
    Original text in English
  • Latin America: from poet presidents to narco-state

    Mexico, a criminal country - Rafael Barajas and Pedro Miguel

    Without drug money, the Mexican economy would collapse, which is why politics, economics and gangsterism are entwined at the highest levels. That reality, underlying the students' massacre, has led to a rare display of anger on Mexico's streets.
    Translated by George Miller

  • Ode to the banana tree* - Ericka Beckman

    Many 19th-century Latin American presidents were writers, using literature to legitimise their economic beliefs. More recent literature still addresses economic issues, but the stories no longer have happy endings.
    Original text in English
  • US gives what it wants where it wants

    Charity for love and profit* - Benoît Bréville

    Only in the New Deal era did Americans not expect the philanthropy of the wealthy (later boosted by tax rebate subsidies) to matter as much as social welfare.
    Translated by Charles Goulden

  • Subcontracting social welfare* - Benoît Bréville

    The Conservative Party in the UK was keen for a while on the idea of Big Society voluntary work to supplement or replace actual social welfare.
    Translated by Charles Goulden
  • Italy reverses migrant policy to appease EU

    Whose Europe? - Stefano Liberti

    Italy has borne the cost of policing the migrant waterways of the Mediterranean, in order to save lives, then to allow those saved to try to find a future elsewhere in Europe. That policy no longer operates.
    LMD English edition exclusive
  • South Africa has its own subprime crisis

    The economic miracle that isn't - Alain Vicky

    Microlenders offering unsecured credit to middle- and working-class consumers in South Africa created a bubble that crashed South Africa's fifth largest bank. The country's growth rate is now based on debt.
    Translated by Charles Goulden
  • Demonstrators kick out France's man in Africa

    The fall of Blaise Compaoré* - Anne Frintz

    Two days of protests ended the almost 30-year regime of Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso. He flew away to exile in a French-provided helicopter, leaving unrest spreading through the region.
    Translated by Krystyna Horko
  • New naval base just 500km from chinese coast

    South Korean sea power* - Frédéric Ojardias

    Despite opposition, a new naval base will be completed on Korea's offshore island of Jeju next year. Will it offer its facilities to the US, which is backing the project?
    Translated by George Miller
  • Social democracy by the union route

    A Chinese alternative* - Han Dongfang

    Chinese business enterprises are like the Chinese state - exploitative, repressive, undemocratic. Changing them through active labour unions would also change the social structure of the country.
    Translated by George Miller
  • Information belongs to us all

    Freeing the fourth estate* - Pierre Rimbert

    France subsidises its press indiscriminately. For the same money, the country could have a shared resources system that would effectively fund the publication of public-interest information.
    Translated by Charles Goulden

  • The bottom line* - Pierre Rimbert and Sébastien Rolland

  • Historic paper of the Italian left fights back

    Buying back 'il manifesto' - Dominique Vidal

    The paper that came out of the Italian Communist Party of the 1960s has struggled on into a changed political and media world. Can its remaining staff buy the brand and carry on?
    Translated by Charles Goulden
  • 'A tradable commodity in the huge, globalised ideas market'

    Inventing the future* - Evelyne Pieiller

    What sort of world do we want? Experts and writers are competing loudly and publicly to offer their visions of what is to come.
    Translated by George Miller

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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 20:21