Ebola: Bring the resources to West Africa

I wrote my bi-weekly column to the Portuguese magazine Visão this morning. Everybody is writing about Ebola these days. I also did. It is the second time in recent weeks that I focus on this matter. I just felt it was necessary once more to emphasize that the fight against the epidemic ought to be fought in West Africa. Rich countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council have the duty of assistance. They should make all types of resources available. The disease has crushed the response capacities of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. These countries are in need of immediate help. And it is the duty of the developed world to assist. International solidarity is a key pillar of the new international order. We should insist on that. And also on the fact that we are saving lives. For now, it is the lives of West Africans. That´s a strong reason. But later on, if we are late to act, it could be our own lives, in our part of the world. And that´s also a strong reason for us to move without any further delay. 

Nigeria: can we believe there is an agreement with Boko Haram?

Knowing as I know the players, I am afraid the announcement made by the Nigerian presidency regarding an accord with Boko Haram might just be wishful thinking, at best. But it can even be worse than that. It can just be a deceitful statement at a time the electoral fever is about to start.

The next few days will tell. 

Arrogance in politics is so common

In politics it is a grave mistake to confuse arrogance with firmness. Arrogance leads to disaster. It narrows down your analytical capacity. It puts everybody else off and makes you an easy target. Firmness, on the other hand, reveals leadership and inspires confidence. It makes people believe you know what you are up to. It sends the message that you are a person of courage, ready to fight for your views. And that’s one of the best signals a politician can communicate. 

Credible leadership is missing

There aren´t enough reasonable voices around. The current circumstances require leaders that speak clearly and give sense and hope in response to destabilising events. Leaders that are good at inspiring confidence. We are confronted with exceptional times and have very ordinary and soulless individuals at the helm. 

Dilma´s political future is at stake

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil´s head of State, is fighting for her political future.

The second round of the presidential elections will take place in about eleven days, on October 26. The odds are playing against Dilma. Her party has been in power for the last twelve years. It is strongly embedded in the administrative apparatus and it has also a solid support in the poorer segments of the country. But at a time of economic slowdown, as it is today the case in Brazil, when public resources have become scarcer, it is easy to put the blame on the government and vote against those in power. On top of that, large sectors of the urban and better educated Brazilians are today against Dilma´s party and her control of the administrative machinery. They are basically afraid of Dilma´s interventionist policies, of new taxes, and they want change.

In many ways, the Brazilian society is today much polarised. And less solidary. Class plays a defining role. And individualism, personal success, is also a common trait in a country that prides itself for its self-made men and women. Many do not understand the social policies Dilma´s party has implemented in favour of the poor.

All that runs objectively against a candidate that is identified with a strong option for a more redistributive social policy.

I am afraid Dilma might be the loser at the end of the day, on the 26^th. 

Turkey and its approach to the Islamic State bandits

Just a very simple question: what is Turkey doing to fight the terrorists that call themselves the Islamic State? The Turkish government is indeed very difficult to understand. 

Near Lisbon there is plenty to visit

As I drove around the greater Lisbon area I came to the conclusion that there are still many places near the Portuguese capital that are of great interest for a visitor. They should be better talked about. Sintra and Cascais are well known. They attract a good number of foreign visitors.  But there are other places, such as Ericeira by the sea or Mafra and its convent and rural landscapes that good be better publicised. Including for their cuisine and the variety of the landscapes.

Tourism is very much about the way you talk about your region. It is also about making sure you offer quality at a reasonable price. And it is nowadays, during the off-season, about being able to catch the attention of the retirees from elsewhere. They are a very important segment of the market during the low season. Things need to be organised to cater for their interests. 

Argentinian blues...

Argentina is again in the midst of economic and financial chaos. People are desperate and the country seems to be directionless.

I raised the issue this morning as part of my regular discussions with some people at the centre of European decision making. I was told, in very direct and brief words, that Argentina matters very little in international affairs. If they have a problem – and they do have some very serious ones, I thought to myself –then it is up to them to sort them out.

I believe that´s what people call internationalist realism…

Hong Kong is different

The Hong Kong mass demonstrations show once again that people cherish their freedom once they have been able to acquire it. Freedom is one of the top aspirations of humankind.

The political pact that underwrites stability and state control in China is based on growing well-being for the people. The Chinese accept at this stage, not always with a warm heart, that their liberty be curtailed as long as the government keeps the economic expansion and is in a position to augment the population´s purchasing power.

In Hong Kong, the standard of living is much higher than in Mainland China. Therefore, that part of the pact has very attraction. People are already there, they are wealthy. But they have also enjoyed political freedom. And they do not want to lose it. Once you have tasted it you want to keep it.

Furthermore, the people of Hong Kong have a serious dislike for the Mainlanders. They look at their fellow compatriots from Mainland China with a deep, open feeling of superiority. Hong Kong citizens complaint about the other Chinese by saying they are greedy, dishonest, uneducated and too narrow-minded. That feeling is quite perceptible when you talk to the people in Hong Kong. If you tell them that you are planning to visit the Mainland, as I did, they will keep warning you about the cheating you might be subject to once you have crossed the border.

The Beijing authorities know they cannot send the army to deal with the street protests in Hong Kong. They would like the demonstrators to take a false step and try to invade the administrative buildings in the city. But that seems not to be the case. So, Beijing will wait. They know that the streets will get tired and the demonstrations will end up by fading away. That will probably be the case.

But Beijing also knows that the people of Hong Kong do not want the kind of political dispensation that prevails in the Mainland. And that´s a very strong message. 

An Indian face in Europe´s politics

The Portuguese Socialist Party has a new leader: António Costa, the current mayor of Lisbon. On Sunday he won the party´s nomination by an overwhelming majority of the votes. He was running against the outgoing Secretary-General of the party, António José Seguro, and received the support of more than two-thirds of the voters. The mandate is clear. And the level of hope invested on him as well.

On the father´s side, António Costa has his family roots in Goa, India. His election places him in a very good position to be the next Prime-minister of Portugal, by next year´s autumn. To have a Prime-minister that is of Indian origin shows how much Portugal and Europe´s ethnicity mix has changed and keeps changing. This is the new Europe, built on old nations and new immigrants. This is also a Europe that has to adjust to a more globalised world.

In my opinion it is good news to open up. We Europeans need to have a much broader view of ourselves and of our position in the affairs of the world. It is not just about being more tolerant. It is also about getting a better grasp about the world´s diversity and how to insert ourselves in an international reality that has changed and will continue to change at a very high speed.