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Photo: El Salvador President Salvador Sánchez Cerén greets Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro at his inauguration on 10 January 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It's Not Just About Overthrowing Maduro In Venezuela

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The 'Washington Consensus' on democracy today is not about respecting peoples’ right to elect their leaders by popular vote, but how to buy these votes to promote U.S. business interests. Thus, the ongoing campaign to bring “regime change” in Venezuela is not about overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolas Madura, but overthrowing the Bolivarian development model and an alternative trading system introduced by Hugo Chavez after he came to power in 1999.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 08 February 2019

Writing From A Sinking Vessel

Viewpoint by Federico Mayor Zaragoza*

BARCELONA (IDN) – “Suddenly,” said Leonardo Da Vinci, “there are no poor and rich, no young and old, no white and black on board … only a bunch of passengers toiling, working together to survive, to avoid a shipwreck.”

This is the advice we should convey today through all media so that the “peoples” become aware of the situation humanity is facing for the first time in history. In recent years a series of global threats have been recognised as potentially irreversible processes that need to be confronted and dealt with on time before it is too late.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 08 February 2019

Photo: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced 2019 as the year of youth. Credit: assembly.kz

Year of The Youth 2019 Stirs Up Kazakhs

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK | ASTANA (IDN) – "Today, there are about 300 million young people aged 18 to 30 years in the world who do not have a permanent job or are unemployed," said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev officially launching in Astana, the capital city, '2019 the Year of the Youth' that focuses on housing, employment and adequate education for young people.

Similar to the 'Youth 2030: The United Nations Youth Strategy', initiated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at a high-level event of the 73rd session of the General Assembly in September 2018, the Year of the Youth aims at meeting young people’s needs, and recognises their positive contributions as agents of change.

: Ramesh Jaura; CENTRAL ASIA; 07 February 2019

Photo: An exceptionally rare high quality 5,655 carat (1.13kg) emerald crystal discovered at Kagema mine in Lufwanyama. Source: Zambia Reports.

Emeralds, Rubies Could Make Zambia Rich

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Foreign mining companies extract more than a quarter of the world’s production of rare emeralds in Zambia yet, in some quarters, are alleged to declare losses to make themselves tax exempt.

So far, charges of tax evasion filed against Kagem mine, a subsidiary of the London-listed gemstone miner Gemfields, have been unsuccessful on investigation and dismissed by the Zambian Revenue Authority.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 February 2019

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres on his priorities for 2019 at the Press Conference on 18 January 2019 in New York. Credit: UN Web TV.

UN Chief Careful Not to Finger Point Any Of The P-5

By Erol Avdovic

This article is the first in a series of WebPublicaPress Online Magazine's analyses being published by IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Where there is no leadership and vision, the people perish – it's an old saying in different languages around the world.

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant,” said Max DePree, an American writer and businessman of the 20th century.

At the United Nations, the leadership credo has always been: do not antagonize the Permanent Five (P-5) Members of the 15-nation UN Security Council – USA, China, Russia, United Kingdom, and France. And, as Secretary-General strive your utmost to become the superman of political correctness.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 06 February 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (right) briefs the UN Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security. The focus of the meeting on February 4 was on mercenary activities as a source of insecurity and destabilization in Africa. UN Photo/Evan Schneider.

Mercenaries Undermine Rule Of Law, Perpetuate Impunity

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following is the text of UN Secretary-General's remarks to a high-level debate of the Security Council on 'Mercenary activities as a source of insecurity and destabilization in Africa' with the Central African sub-region as a focus, under the presidency of Equatorial Guinea for the month of February. Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo chaired the meeting on February 4. – The Editor.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The use of mercenaries dates back through the ages. From antiquity to the medieval era to the present day, those who fight for financial reward or other material compensation have been a near constant on the battlefield. The shadowy nature of the practice makes data hard to come by. Reports suggest a surge in the use of mercenaries and other foreign fighters. While the numerical picture may be murky, the impacts of mercenaries today are all too clear.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 February 2019

Photo: Global prosperity is at its highest level in the 12-year history of the Legatum Index. Only in the U.S. do we see a significant setback in such good fortune. Tragically for many, under Trump, it is going to get worse. Credit: Legatum Institute.

Global Prosperity Rises, Inequality Haunts The U.S.

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Every so often reports emerge that attempt to measure which are the best countries to live in. The Nordic countries plus New Zealand, Holland and Switzerland, usually come out on top. Sweden is number one just for the sheer stability of life and security. Denmark is seen as the most agreeable place to live. The highest rate of longevity is found in Japan. The best schools are in Finland, New Zealand and Canada. Political and press freedom put the Nordics at the top of the league.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 05 February 2019

Photo: Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. Credit: Graphic Online.

U.S. Hits Ghana With Visa Sanctions In Spat Over Deportees

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State Department say they will no longer issue visas for certain Ghanaians owing to a “lack of cooperation” by the West African nation – namely its refusal to accept 7,000 Ghanaian nationals that the U.S. wants to deport.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said Ghana has “denied or unreasonably delayed accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States.”

But Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey hotly disputed the charge, calling the allegations “unfounded.”

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 February 2019

Photo: Dumisani Kumalo served as Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations, from 1999 – 2009. Credit: Thabo Mbeki Foundation.

Remembering Dumisani Kumalo, Anti-Apartheid Campaigner And South Africa's Leading Diplomat

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – In an interview for the book No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists Over a Half Century, Dumisani Kumalo recalled the struggle to cut off the U.S. funds that were sustaining the apartheid government of South Africa.

“I spoke to more than 1,000 campuses all over the country in all 50 states,” Kumalo recalled. A particular triumph came in 1986, when the U.S. Congress, overriding a veto by President Ronald Reagan, passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 February 2019

Trashing Treaties: It’s Not Just Trump

Viewpoint by Rick Wayman

The writer is Deputy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. (Twitter @rickwayman)

SANTA BARBARA, CA (IDN) – There is no shortage of critics who have pointed out President Donald Trump’s monumental strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. It is indeed a blunder of the highest degree that not only makes the Trump administration look incompetent and foolish, but also puts the United States’ European allies and all of us at greater risk of nuclear catastrophe.