🗺️ Picks of the Week — May 28
🗺️ Picks of the Week — May 28
Belarus Diverts Plane to Arrest Journalist, Samoan Female PM Locked Out, Peru Pre-Election Violence, Colombian Ex-FARC Leader Killed, Another Mali Coup, Couple Dodges Covid in Plane Wedding
Happy Friday folks! Welcome to another Picks of the Week, where we dissect the latest news from around the globe.
Today we’ll visit Belarus who diverted a commercial flight to arrest a journalist; Samoa where the country’s first female PM was locked out of parliament by her opposition; Peru where a massacre has rocked the country days before its election; Colombia where a key ex-FARC fighter was killed; Mali who experienced its second coup in less than a year; and India where a couple dodged Covid restrictions and got married on an airplane.
Be sure to read Daniel’s thank you message from Monday, and Saksha’s Inside The Middle East from yesterday as she updated us on the situation in Israel and Palestine. Next week we’ll have another column-y piece from Daniel, as well as this month’s Data Corner from Mirela!
Until then, keep spreading the word about what we’re doing! Thank you a million! 😘
Job Corner ✍️
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Data Corner 🧮
A few datasets referenced in today’s edition…
Female Heads of State: List of female heads of state and other relevant data, from the Council on Foreign Relations
Women In Parliament: Number of women in each country’s upper and lower chambers of parliament, from IPU Parline
FARC Attacks: List of major attacks by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, from Stanford University
Crisis Watch: Map of the world’s crises, from Crisis Group
Coup D'états: List of coups per country (1945-2019), from the University of Illinois
CoupCast: Forecasting data on global coups, from One Earth Future
Samoan Female PM Lock Out of Parliament
We begin our roundup on the Pacific Island of Samoa, where the country's first elected female prime minister was locked out of parliament by her opponent who refused to concede the election. Instead, Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa had to be sworn into office in a tent.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who was elected PM in 1998, accused Mata'afa of treason, claiming, “there remains to be only one recognisable government, even if it is a custodian government.” Malielegaoi was referring to the Human Rights Protection Party, which has governed Samoa for almost 40 years.
The 64-year old Mata'afa meanwhile has been politically active since the mid 1980s, and was previously the island’s first female deputy prime minister. Among her promises as PM, she pledged to stop a Chinese-backed port development in favor of not increasing its sizeable debt to the communist country.
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa 👇
Colombian Ex-FARC Leader Killed
While we took a break last week for some important personal news from Daniel, Colombian ex-FARC fighter Jesus Santrich was killed in Venezuela. Three senior Venezuelan government officials confirmed his death, but didn’t disclose the cause. Santrich was key to the Colombian government’s fragile 2016 peace agreement with the leftist guerrilla group, which put an end to half a century of armed conflict.
But in 2019, Santrich took up arms again and joined another dissident group, accusing the government of not complying with the deal. As part of the peace deal, former rebels like Santrich were due to be offered a seat in Colombia’s Congress. But the U.S. government accused Santrich of smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S., meaning he never held a seat. The charges were eventually dismissed by Colombia’s Supreme Court and Santrich was released.
While some 13,000 ex-FARC combatants signed the peace deal, there are still between 24 and 28 FARC dissident groups operating. Most of the factions have dismissed the original FARC Marxist-Leninist ideology and now resemble criminal organizations. Colombia’s countryside remains a site of armed conflict, with regular massacres, as well as the systematic killing of social leaders, human rights defenders, activists and certain ex-FARC combatants still committed to the peace process.
Previous Picks of the Week 👀
🔎 Picks of the Week — May 14
🔎 Picks of the Week — May 7
🔎 Picks of the Week — April 30
🔎 Picks of the Week — April 23
Deadly Pre-Election Violence Hits Peru
Staying in South America, we visit Peru where a rural massacre has taken place days before the country’s general election. The killings took place in the central VRAEM region known as the valley of the three rivers Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro, a largely lawless area where 75 percent of the country’s cocaine is produced. The area is home to Shining Path, an insurgency group that’s carried out similar attacks since its formation in 1970.
Death counts vary: According to the police 18 people were killed, whereas the military say 14 people lost their lives, including two policemen. The massacre is one of Peru’s worst atrocities in decades, and President Francisco Sagasti called it an “act of terrorism.” A security expert speaking to The Guardian said such attacks weren’t uncommon around election time, and the aim was to send a message to the two presidential candidates.
It comes as the election enters its second round, as leftist Pedro Castillo is gaining a lead over conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori, who is being investigated for corruption. Leaflets scattered at the site of the attack reportedly warned locals against voting for Fujimori, who adopts a zero-tolerance approach to crime.
Mali Coup Leader Seizes Power Again
To Mali next, where military officer Assimi Goïta has seized power and declared himself president, less than a year since his last coup. Goïta claimed that President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were sabotaging Mali’s transition to democracy. Both men were arrested and are yet to be released. Goïta was upset by a recent cabinet reshuffle in which he was not named vice-president, according to the BBC.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is traditionally a key ally of Mali, threatened targeted sanctions in the E.U. And jihadist activity has increased in recent years, with Mali and nearby Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad seeing some of the worst violence.
Belarus Diverts Plane, Arrests Journalist
More shocking news next as a commercial flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Belarus, because of a suspected bomb plot. A Ryanair airplane suddenly changed course just six miles from Lithuania after air traffic controllers in Belarus alerted the pilots to a bomb threat on board. But the real reason for the diversion was to arrest Raman Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist and activist, charged with attempting to incite a “bloody rebellion” against authoritarian President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko.
Described as Europe’s “last dictator”, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, after it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He's accused of preserving Soviet communism and rigging the 2020 election. Ryanair’s CEO called it an “act of state-sponsored hijacking,” while the E.U. called for a boycott of Belarusian airspace and monetary sanctions for those involved.
Video: Calls grow to investigate Belarus plane diversion
Couple Dodges Covid Restrictions, Weds on Plane
We finish in India where for the past year, weddings have been postponed or drastically downsized because of strict social distancing rules. Amid a deadly second wave that’s seen more than 4,000 daily deaths, one couple thought they could dodge the restrictions by chartering a flight so that 160 guests could attend their midair wedding. Videos of the wedding showed guests packed tightly on the plane, with many not wearing face masks.
Indian authorities still found the wedding to be in breach of Covid restrictions, and are now investigating the couple. The country’s second wave, largely caused by a highly-infectious variant that has spread to more than 50 countries, has completely overwhelmed India’s healthcare system. Some hospitals have been left short of medical staff and oxygen. Fortunately, it’s thought that India’s second wave is finally beginning to stabilize.
Thanks for making it all the way to the bottom. We’ll speak again on Monday for another job board update! 🌊