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Feb 8, 2010 USA/Africa: Two to Tango
Corruption is not a solitary activity, and the networks that
promote corruption are rarely confined to one country or one
continent. For corruption in Africa, countries outside the
continent enter the picture not only when foreign companies pay
bribes for access. They are also a preferred location for stolen
wealth. A newly released investigative report from a U.S. Senate
Subcommittee provides four detailed case studies of funds from
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and Angola, tracing connections
to U.S. banks, lawyers, real-estate agents, financial institutions,
and even a university.
Feb 2, 2010 Africa: Haiti's Debt in Context
"Haiti was the only country in which the ex-slaves themselves were
expected to pay a foreign government [France] for their liberty [in
1804]. By 1900, it was spending 80% of its national budget on
repayments. ... In 1947, Haiti finally paid off the original
reparations, plus interest. Doing so left it destitute, corrupt,
disastrously lacking in investment and politically volatile." -
historian Alex von Tunzelmann, in London Sunday Times, May 17, 2009
Feb 2, 2010 Africa: Solidarity with Haiti
"Despite $402 million pledged to support the Haitian government's
Economic Recovery Program [in April 2009] ... as of yesterday we
estimate that 85% of the pledges made last year remain undisbursed.
... [we don't need more pledges] We need a reconstruction fund
that is large, managed transparently, creates jobs for Haitians,
and grows the Haitian economy. We need a reconstruction plan that
uses a pro-poor, rights-based approach far different from the
charity and failed development approaches that have marred
interactions between Haiti and much of the rest of the world for
the better part of two centuries." - Dr. Paul Farmer, U.N. Deputy
Special Envoy for Haiti January 27, 2010
Jan 24, 2010 Rwanda: Beyond Reasonable Doubt
"The April 6, 1994 assassination of Rwandan President Habyarimana
was the work of Hutu extremists who calculated that killing their
own leader would torpedo a power-sharing agreement known as the
Arusha Accords. The landmark deal would have ended years of
conflict by creating a broad-based transitional government and an
integrated Rwandan army. ... Despite the far-fetched conspiracy
theories that have circulated over the years, the assassination
plot was relatively straightforward. Colonel Bagosora was
intimately familiar with the president's travel schedule and
sufficiently powerful that the night before the summit, he was
able to change the composition of the Rwandan delegation to
ensure that Army Chief of Staff General Deogratias Nsabimana -
who opposed Bagosora's genocidal plans - would be on the
president's plane." Mutszinzi Report,
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