Violence in Ethiopia Doesn’t Stay There - Reader Mode

Violence in Ethiopia Doesn't Stay There

Biden should learn from Carter and head off further conflict while he still can, says Alex de Waal

Among other parting gifts, when U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in January he will bequeath the incoming foreign policy team with an intractable conflict in Ethiopia, one that threatens to wreak havoc across northeast Africa and destroy the African Union's fragile institutions for peace and security.

Like in all wars, the truth was an early casualty in Ethiopia. Both sides—the government under President Abiy Ahmed and the leadership of the rebellious region of Tigray, the area where Ethiopia's ruling class came from until Abiy took power—blames the other for firing the first shot. And both have their own interpretation of Ethiopia's delicate federal constitution, and the powers it grants the central government and regions like Tigray. With every passing day, every massacre of civilians, every air attack on a Tigrayan town and drone strike, every rocket launched by the Tigrayans at a city elsewhere in Ethiopia or in neighboring Eritrea, the grievances accumulate, and the risks of violent chaos across the region increase.

There's history to learn here. Over four decades ago, the incoming Carter administration promised a new era of human rights as a guiding principle for U.S. foreign policy. One of its first challenges was Ethiopia, where a military junta had recently overthrown Emperor Haile Selassie and was embarked upon a ruthless campaign of suppression.

#Bitcoin 101 with @Saifedean Ammous, Author of The Bitcoin Standard

One of the best interviews for those just getting to know #Bitcoin from one of its best exponents, Saifedean Ammous, author of the Bitcoin Standard. 

If you had any doubts, #China’s #XiJinping Was The One Who Pulled The Plug on @JackMa’s #Ant #IPO

The re­buke was the cul­mi­nation of years of tense re­la­tions be­tween Chi­na's most cel­ebrated en­trepreneur and a gov­ern­ment un­easy about his in­flu­ence and the rapid growth of the digi­tal-pay­ments be­he­moth he con­trolled. 

Mr. Xi, for his part, has displayed a diminishing tolerance for big private businesses that have amassed capital and influence—and are perceived to have challenged both his rule and the stability craved by factions in the country's newly assertive Communist Party.

Read the whole story on The Wall Street Journal:

China's President Xi Jinping Pulled Plug on Jack Ma's Ant IPO

#Venezuela’s #Zelle-ots

Venezuelans' embrace of digital money is less a matter of choice than of necessity.  The Bolivar is now about as valuable as Monopoly money, Andy Rosati of Bloomberg reports from Caracas. 

Zelle Has Turned Dollar-Starved Venezuela Into a Cashless Test Lab

Since taking office in 2013, Nicolás Maduro's socialist government has presided over seven consecutive years of economic contraction. Gross domestic product is one-fifth what it was when his tenure began, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund.

Inflation, as measured by a Bloomberg index pegged to the price of a café con leche, is running above 4,000%. The largest currency note, the 50,000-bolívar bill, is equivalent to less than a dime.

Venezuela…is an example of what economists call spontaneous dollarization. "The government doesn't tell you, many times it's even illegal," says Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University and an expert on hyperinflation. "It happens big time if you have sanctions or occupying armies."

Ecoanalítica estimates that more than 60% of all transactions in Venezuela are now in dollars.

And Venezuelans preferred method of making payments in dollars? Zelle. The digital Peer to peer payment Network owned by consortium of US banks.

"Zelle allows customers of its member banks to send money to friends and merchants, often at no charge, via a mobile phone app. Its owner, Early Warning Services, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has never promoted it abroad. It's hard to conceive its owners, which include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., would have picked as a test market a country ruled by a vehemently anticapitalist government and whose economy is in shambles."

And yet, so it is, in the Magical Land that is Venezuela.

Read the whole piece by Andy Rosati on Bloomberg here:

Zelle Has Turned Dollar-Starved Venezuela Into a Cashless Test Lab  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-11-11/zelle-has-turned-dollar-starved-venezuela-into-a-cashless-test-lab

In Surprise #Impeachment Vote, #Peru President Ousted by Congress

#Peru's President Vizcarra Ousted in Surprise Impeachment Vote by congress 5 months before elections. 

Vizcarra is accused of taking 2.3 million soles ($641,000) in bribes from companies building infrastructure projects in the Moquegua region, where he was governor from 2011 to 2014. He denies receiving kickbacks and reiterated that he's ready to cooperate with prosecutors investigating the case.

The president's position was weakened in the last few hours after several local media outlets published excerpts of text messages between him and a former cabinet minister in which they appear to discuss meeting with construction executives alleged to have paid him bribes. 

The reports said the text messages also suggest that he may have had contacts with the opposition during an attempt to impeach his predecessor Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018, something which he has denied. 

In a statement from his office, Vizcarra said the reports showed nothing illegal and are designed to damage the population's trust in his government.

See the whole story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-10/peru-president-ousted-after-losing-impeachment-vote-in-congress

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#Tigray crisis #Ethiopia: Federal government marches towards war with #TPLF, declares 6 months state of emergency in Tigray Region

Regional governments of Oromia and Amhara regions, as well as members from the federal parliament, claim that the TPLF played a big role in the massacre over the weekend of 54 people in the western part of Ethiopia by giving arms supplies to members of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). 

Meanwhile, Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch HRW is calling for the Federal government to restore the communication network within the Tigray region.

"Ethiopians throughout the country have faced daily violence and abuses over the last year. There is no quick fix to Ethiopia's unfolding crisis, and federal and regional authorities should respond to the unraveling security situation in a manner that protects the rights of all Ethiopians. Their international partners – largely silent until now – should send this message", says Segun.

"Disrupting the communications network in the Tigray region also restricts critical reporting on the impact of events on the civilian population and people's access to information affecting their health and safety. It also undermines their right to question the government's account of events. Authorities should immediately restore access".

Ethiopia's Council of Minister has declared six months of state of emergency in Tigray after war broke out between the forces of the federal and regional governments.

https://t.co/qchQXrCLCe