Feb 19th 2009

Politics this week
Feb 19th 2009
From The Economist print edition

AFP
Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, won his referendum to abolish term limits by 55% to 45%. He said it was a victory “for socialism, for revolution” and that he would be a candidate in the next presidential election in 2012. The opposition complained that his “yes” campaign used public money and state facilities. See article

A month-long general strike in Guadeloupe, a French territory in the Caribbean, turned violent. A protester was killed and businesses were looted. France dispatched 260 gendarmes. The strikers want an increase in the minimum wage; many also resent the fact that a lot of businesses are white-owned in a mainly Afro-Caribbean island. See article


Several hundred people blocked bridges at three cities on Mexico’s border with the United States to protest against the use of Mexican troops to fight drug-traffickers. They claim that troops have committed abuses. Traffickers killed four policemen in Ciudad Juárez, one of the cities.

A cruise ship carrying 64 tourists to Antarctica ran aground in high winds. The ship’s operator dispatched a rescue vessel. The navies of Chile and Argentina have expressed worries that the growth in tourist traffic in the area will cause a serious accident.

Oops
It emerged that two submarines carrying missiles armed with nuclear weapons—one British and one French— accidentally collided beneath the Atlantic earlier this month. The two countries said there were no injuries when Le Triomphant and HMS Vanguard bumped into each other “at low speed”, apparently unaware of each other’s presence, during routine patrols. The weapons remained safe, they said.

An Italian court sentenced a British lawyer, David Mills, the separated husband of a British minister, Tessa Jowell, to four-and-a-half years in prison for taking a $600,000 bribe from Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Mr Berlusconi does not face prosecution, thanks to a law granting him immunity while in office.

Markets were spooked by more bad economic news in much of eastern and central Europe. Fears rose that Ukraine might refuse to abide by the terms of an IMF bail-out and default on its debt. In Poland the zloty fell further, hurting many who took out home loans in foreign currencies. In Russia, the rouble slid as the Kremlin forecast that the economy would contract by 2.2% this year. See article

Inflation buster
Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s prime minister under a power-sharing agreement with President Robert Mugabe, said he would pay civil servants in foreign currency. Western governments sounded sceptical as to whether he could afford to do so. See article

Equatorial Guinea’s island capital was unsuccessfully attacked by men in gunboats while President Obiang Nguema was away on the mainland part of his country. He survived a coup attempt five years ago by mercenaries from South Africa.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia made the most thorough reshuffle of his government since assuming the throne in 2005. He promoted reformers, sacked reactionaries and appointed his first-ever female minister, for women’s education. But women are still not allowed to drive a car.

Egypt’s authorities freed Ayman Nour, who had the temerity to run against Hosni Mubarak for the presidency in 2005, after he had served three years of a five-year sentence for fraud. Mr Nour says the charge was trumped up.

Shifting priorities
Hillary Clinton embarked on her first tour abroad as America’s secretary of state, visiting Japan, Indonesia, China and South Korea. The choice of Asian destinations was seen as symbolising the Obama administration’s determination to give the region new prominence in American diplomacy. Mrs Clinton invited Taro Aso, Japan’s prime minister, to become the first foreign leader to meet Barack Obama in Washington since his inauguration. See article

Mr Obama said America would send a further 17,000 troops to join the 65,000 foreign soldiers already based in Afghanistan to combat the worsening insurgency. America wants its NATO allies to dispatch reinforcements, too. See article

EPA
Taro Aso, Japan’s prime minister, visited the Russian island of Sakhalin for the opening of a liquefied natural-gas plant. He met Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, for talks on resolving the two countries’ long-running dispute over four islands held by Russia and claimed by Japan.

Pakistan’s government agreed a truce to end fighting with Islamist insurgents in the Swat valley in its North-West Frontier Province. As part of the agreement, sharia law will be implemented in the district. NATO commanders in neighbouring Afghanistan expressed concern at the deal. See article

Thirty years after the downfall of Cambodia’s Khmers Rouges, the first trial of one of their leading members for crimes committed during their rule began in Phnom Penh. The defendant is Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who ran the notorious Tuol Sleng interrogation centre. See article

Spend, spend, spend
AP
Barack Obama signed his $787 billion stimulus package into law at a ceremony in Denver. It is hoped that the bill will create or save 3.5m jobs. Mr Obama then travelled to Phoenix where he unveiled a $75 billion bail-out plan for homeowners facing foreclosure. See article

Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary on February 12th. The New Hampshire senator, a Republican, cited differences with the White House over both the stimulus bill and its desire to control next year’s census of the population. See article

Frantic negotiations to pass California’s budget took place as the process to lay off thousands of state workers began. Some Republicans in the legislature remained unhappy at a temporary tax increase in the bill, and ousted their leader in the state Senate after he agreed to support the measure so that the budget could pass. See article

The founder of an Islamic television station in upstate New York that was set up to improve the image of Muslims was charged with beheading his wife. The couple had filed for divorce. The local prosecutor described it as “the worst form of domestic violence”, sparking outrage from feminists, who say the murder resembles an “honour killing”.