On September 25, Mariano Rajoy took the podium at the UN General Assembly in New York, where Spain was hoping to win a rotating seat on the Security Council. The Spanish prime minister chose the moment to press for joint talks with the UK about the sovereignty of Gibraltar. He called on London to “reinitiate bilateral dialogue on the decolonisation of Gibraltar… We have now lost too many years.” Unsurprisingly, Spain failed to secure a seat on the Security Council, and London issued a waspish response, denying that decolonisation was even an appropriate concept: “The 2006 Gibraltar Constitution provides for a modern and mature relationship between Gibraltar and the UK. This description … [Read more...] about Gibraltar: Fish, football and frontiers
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Sábato, Argentina’s contradictory literary giant
Ernesto Sábato, who died on April 30 at the age of 99, was, as Voltaire said of all great men and women, a mass of contradictions. And therein lies the strength of the Argentine’s writing: he always wrote what he understood to be true, according to his often contradictory experiences. He was chosen to head the committee (CONADEP) tasked with investigating the "disappearances" of thousands of people during Argentina’s dictatorship, yet had initially supported the military when it took over in 1976 at a time of mounting economic problems, social turmoil, and clashes with leftist guerrillas who carried out kidnappings and killings. He had joined other writers in a meeting with dictator … [Read more...] about Sábato, Argentina’s contradictory literary giant
Mixed feelings in Spain over Libya mission
Publicly, however, Spaniards are split over the merits of an intervention in an Arab state, which to some observers at least brings back uncomfortable memories of the former Popular Party administration’s backing for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. While the Iraq intervention was widely unpopular – drawing millions of Spaniards onto the country’s streets in protest – the Libya mission has drawn no such outcry. Among Iberosphere readers, 45 percent support Spain’s involvement in the NATO mission, according to an (admittedly unscientific) poll on this website last month. Forty percent oppose Spain being involved, and 15 percent said they were indifferent. Spain is backing the NATO … [Read more...] about Mixed feelings in Spain over Libya mission