IDN-InDepthNews

By Eva Weiler | IDN-InDepth NewsInterview

ROME (IDN) – A broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South, also known as South-South cooperation, is important but it cannot serve as a substitute for existing forms of cooperation between developing and developed countries, according to an expert.

“We must not see South-South cooperation as idyllic, we need to take into account a number of realities. Even if conditions are not imposed, each country has its own interests. South-South cooperation does not automatically lead to more democratic relations between countries: it depends on their policies. The challenge lies in countries maintaining their South-South Cooperation spirit in relations with other developing countries,” said Youssef Brahimi on the eve of his retirement from Global Mechanism (GM).

By Nimal Fernando* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

WASINGTON DC (IDN) – Simon Peter’s latest successor is now in place. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis I, who had been the archbishop of Buenos Aires, follows 265 other pontiffs as the representative of Jesus Christ on Earth.

He will no doubt have to summon all his management skills to deal effectively with more than a few challenges before the Roman Catholic Church.

As the past year and more has made abundantly clear, Catholics worldwide have voiced their unease, if not displeasure, in the church’s handling of the sex abuse by clergy. Catholics in the United States, for instance, tend to view the scandal over sex abuse by clergy as the most pressing issue for their church today, as an early-March poll by the Pew Research Centre showed.

By Ernest Corea* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – The death of President Hugo Chavez, after a drawn-out battle with cancer, brought out huge crowds of grieving Venezuelans onto the country’s streets. Their grief suggested that he had been a more effective ruler than many of his critics allowed.

His visceral reaction to most things American was unfortunate, standing in the way of expanded economic relations which could have benefitted both countries, while each remained faithful to its internal political imperatives. In one area, however, he was personally responsible for a strong and beneficial link with the US.

By Roberto Savio* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

ROME (IDN | OtherNews) – For those who think that Occupy Wall Street, the indignados in Spain, the World Social Forum and the hundreds manifestation of protest worldwide are expressions without concrete outcome, the result of the recent Swiss referendum (March 3 2013) on capping the salaries and bonuses of banks executives should make them think twice.

Like it or not, two-thirds of the Swiss, who are not exactly a revolutionary people, have given the shareholders of financial institutions the right to decide salaries and bonuses of their executives, which is thus no longer to the cosy mutual enrichment of their boards, and another referendum is due shortly on limiting the salaries and bonuses of executives of companies of all sectors to a figure that does not exceed 15 times that of the average salary of their employees.