Almost one year passed since the beginning of the Arab spring. It is another landscape. There are other dreams. Islamic parties won everywhere in the region. The military managed to maintain the power. The consolidation of democracy falters, but here goes. A look back and understanding at this revolutionary year, which also reveals embarrassing intervention from world great powers.
Find an article of analysis of the 2011 Arab uprising on the Colombian online political review Razon Publica, with the title 2011. El mundo: Primavera, verano, otoño, invierno… y otra vez primavera.
Muammar Gaddafi is dead. NTC forces sieged the town of Sirte for several weeks. Gaddafi and a bunch of his hardcore followers tried to escape the town after fierce and long battle. NATO air force intercepted the convoy and bombed them indiscriminately. Several died, but Gaddafi was shown as alive at the moment of his capture by rebel forces. Few minutes later was probably killed by the same rebels who found him.
Main looser of this epic outcome is the role of Justice. Although too many are now judging Libyans for such a tragic end for Gaddafi. The final scene of the tragedy was predictable. But beyond the historical anecdote, serious questions float against foreign interference in Libya. The population will not be silent, in Libya and elsewhere within the region. The Arab Spring is definitely not dead.
Libyans, just as Tunisians during this weekend elections and the other Arabs, finally decide their own path for the future.
Find an analysis on the death of Gaddafi and the ongoing situation in Libya on the Colombian online political review Razon Publica, with the title La muerte de Gadafi: sombras sobre la justicia y colores de otoño.
(Cartoon is courtesy of VictorNdula@CartoonMovement)
As soon as the Rebels reached the Libyan capital and the guns in Tripoli began to cool down, already the great powers who invested in the CNT they found themselves sitting at the table of the banqueting hall: oil and reconstruction represent now a delicious booty and a legitimate reward for their humanitarian support.
But along the way of the war in Libya many lost their dignity: the UN and the ICC first missed the opportunity to win back a bit of credibility. The Rebels, the real heroes on the ground and still up in arms, should start now another war: the war for freedom and justice. A war which main challenge is represented by the duty to rewrite a national inclusive history.
Find an analysis of the situation in Libya after the Rebels reached the capital Tripoli on the Colombian online political review Razon Publica, with the title La historia de los libios, los intereses de los demás.
(Cartoon is courtesy of Matt Bors@Cartoon Movement)
Mubarak trial started few weeks ago in Cairo. That was in perfect timing with the beginning of Ramadan, holy month devoted to fasting, musalsalat (telenovelas) and more and more consumerism. The trial seemed to stop (just for a while) the ongoing protests against the transition governments in Egypt and in Tunisia.
While in Cairo opposite factions were clashing outside the court room, in Tunisia the trial woke up the revolutionary forces who are now wondering why ZABA is still in Saudi Arabia and not judged in court in the capital.
Find an analysis of the situation in the two North African countries on the Colombian online political review Razon Publica, with the title El Ramadán, el juicio a Mubarak y la segunda ola revolucionaria.
Posted in Egypt, Tunisia
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Place de la Kasbah in Tunisi was the stage on Friday of a demonstration that was quickly dispersed by the police. The demonstration wanted to highlight the disappointment by many Tunisian on the revolutionary process, but at the same time it looks like as a clash for power in an emblematic space, among actors trying to get the leadership of this no-leader revolution.
Place de la Kasbah in Tunis, where main government building lies, it was during the uprising and in the following months the emblematic place of the revolution (just behind the town of Sidi Bouzid and Avenue Habib Bourghiba in Tunis) with graffiti, tags and banners in all the marbles of the square and buildings. Nowadays the process of nettoyage accomplished the task of removing the tangible memories of the soulevement, and it is only possible to see old marks of previous graffiti in the surrounding of the square. That reminds me of the same Sukleen-operation in Beirut Martyrs’ Square after the Intifada al-Istiqlal of 2005. Here one of the few tags still around Place de la Kasbah (it reads “down with the dictatorship of the parties”)
Few more graffiti are still around in town.
The street art scene after the revolution has been hectic in Tunisia, especially with public space interventions. One remnant of these several public space installations is the project Artocratie, which still is on in some places all around Tunisia, here in La Marsa.
However it looks like post-revolutionary and “democratic” art scene as it is appearing in Egypt today, is not that strong in Tunisia. Instead it looks like art revolution started much before the uprising in Tunisia. And artists seems to follow on with their own path.
