December Roundup: Qatar's World Cup, Afghanistan, Peru Protests
Good Morning, Afternoon, and Evening wherever you are,
Happy holidays to everyone hopefully many of you are spending it with family and friends. I’m not that big into the holiday spirit as some people are, I’m just glad I have a winter break where I don’t have think too much about school work. Hopefully many of you will get some awesome christmas gifts as well, if you did please let me know in the comments section. As of writing this is also the last post of the year so happy early new years everyone.
Reiterating one of the points I’ve said in the other article, I’m getting close to 50 subscribers which was the goal I set up for myself when I first started my blog in January. I would really appreciate it if you guys can spread the word of my blog to a few more people so I can hit that 50 mark. Hitting that milestone would be pretty good for me and give me newfound motivation to continue the blog heading into 2023. If you guys can do that it would be much appreciated.
Anyways here are this months headlines…
#5: Uncertainty in Peru as new interim government faces mass protests
Starting in Latin America, where at the start of this month the now former president of the country, Pedro Castillo was impeached and later arrested by Peruvian authorities over corruption charges. Castillo, who aligns with the country’s left, was elected only a year ago by Peruvians who were frustrated by the political crisis that had gripped the country since 2017, with Peruvians dealing with corruption scandals of previous administrations and the overall effects of the COVID-19 on the country as it was was one of the worst affected by the pandemic in South America, both in terms of COVID cases as well as in terms of its economy.
However, the Castillo administration had a rocky start such as dealing with a congress that leans right which has been hard for his administration to get policies passed through. The congress had also prior made two attempts at impeaching Castillo. Along with the after effects of COVID, the war in Ukraine, has seen the price of fuel and fertilizer to soar. This has led to protests early back in April against the Castillo administration which then led to him implementing a curfew.
The boiling point came this month when, Castillo announced he would dissolve the Peruvian congress and replace it with an “exceptional emergency government,” with many believing that the incoming impeachment vote around allegations of corruption under his presidency was the main motivator. There was also another theory that due to the unpopularity of his administration, although more popular than previous presidencies, he wanted to rule by decree to show Peruvians that his emergency government was more effective than the Congress. At this point Castillo’s reasons for his decision remains unknown to many in Peru including those who are close to him.
A wave of criticism came Castillo’s way, as the head of the country’s constitutional court criticized the move as a coup d'etat. His Vice President, criticized the move on twitter, and many of his cabinet ministers resigning from their positions. The congress had an emergency meeting and overwhelmingly decided to impeach him.
After his impeachment, Castillo and his family fled the Presidential Palace and was planning seek political asylum at the Mexican embassy, however his own bodyguards at the request of their new bosses and he was taken in the custody of Police and was charged by the attorney general for “rebellion and conspiracy”. He was later taken to a police-run prison where he has been since he was arrested.
The Prime Minister of Peru, Aníbal Torres, who was present with Castillo when he announced his decision to dissolve the Congress and was there when he was detained by Prosecutors had tweeted that he was “going underground”. No one knows what has happened to him.
Immediately after the impeachment, his Vice President, Dina Boularte took over as president and sworn in as December 7th, and will until 2026. Boularte has however considered to move elections from 2026 to potentially either April 2024 or December 2023. Boularte has sworn in her cabinet as well which she say is inclusive of all political backgrounds however almost all of them with the exclusion of one are independents. There were no appointments in the Ministries of Labour and Transport as they are the ones that have been accused of corruption under the Castillo administration. None of the previous ministers from Castillo’s cabinet were included in the new cabinet.
The main priority for Boularte will be to quell the nationwide protests organized by supporters of Pedro Castillo who believe that the former president was unfairly treated by a “corrupt” congress that has prevented him from fulfilling his promises. His supporters are continuing their protests and blocking roads even with the 30 day state of emergency that was implemented by the new government. As reported by Vanessa Buschschlüter, as Castillo’s supporters have increased their anger with every protestor that is killed by Peruvian authorities.
For those on the anti-Castillo side there was elation over his impeachment with not just anger over the allegations of corruption, but also the actions that led to this point. Many comparing Castillo’s actions to what happened in the 1990s under the then president Alberto Fujimori, who in 1992, dissolved the congress and succeeded with the support of the military. For Peruvians while Castillo might be impeached for many of them they are uncertain about what lies ahead in the future.
#4: Qatar World Cup: Argentina Wins world cup as hosts faced criticism throughout the tournament
From November 20th to December 18th, the world turned its eyes to Qatar for the world cup. The tournament that is usually held in summer was moved to winter due to the extremely hot weather that Qatar experiences during that time of season. This has meant that leagues in Europe had to pause their playing season during the period that the world cup was happening. The MLS, the league that contains American and Canadian teams had to finish their playoffs a few months earlier than usual.
There was many results that made this world cup one to remember. You had underdogs such as Morocco, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia shock some of the big boys of the tournament with how impressive their performances were compared to previous world cups. There was also many big nations who were contenders or considered powerhouses being dumped out of the world cup. like Germany, Belgium, Mexico, and Denmark.
Most notably the debate over who is the GOAT of Football/Soccer was decided in the most exciting final with Lionel Messi of Argentina winning the trophy that has eluded him from his trophy cabinet as Argentina beat reigning champions France on penalties 4-2, prior to that the game was tied at 3-3 in regular time, with Messi scoring two of Argentina’s goals and the player who is seen as his heir apparent, Kylian Mbappe scored all three of France’s goals.
Personally, I did not have much time to watch the world cup due to work at university. However I did watch a few of the games, such as England’s blowout victory with Iran, Japan’s shocking victories over both favourites, Germany and Spain. I also saw Morroco’s shocking victory over Portugal as well, and also witnessed my home country, Canada’s first goal at a world cup, what a header from Alphonso Davies.
Controversy over the tournament being hosted in Qatar had existed since it was first announced in 2010 when it along with Russia were both announced as host for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the tournament. There was concern over human rights abuses such as conditions regarding migrant workers, many of whom came from countries in South and Southeast Asia helping build many of the stadiums and facilities needed for the world cup.
Many of these workers were working in conditions where they were withheld salaries, they were also working under harsh conditions where there was not much care in there safety or even livability when it came to their residences. The Guardian in 2021 found that a total of 6,500 migrant workers were killed, although they stated that the statistic could be higher than what they found. Amnesty, the international human rights organization, found that while the Qatari government did make reforms regarding the Kafala system (the sponsorship-based employment system), there was a lack of enforcement from authorities to make sure employers followed those rules.
Workers still had little to no power in changing their jobs or the status of their residency which was being all looked after by the employers. When questions were brought up around the treatment of migrant workers, Qatari officials either refused to answer about it, as was the case when a reporter asked about the death of a Filipino worker, Alex, who fell to his death while carrying out repairs to a training resort, or many of them will deflect from the question and criticize their critics for being hypocrites on the issue of human rights.
LGBTQ rights were also of concern as Qatar’s laws are mandated against the LGBTQ community. There have been reports from human rights watch of alleged police brutality, and also have arrests based on gender expression and government funded forced conversion therapy for transgender people. Some teams such as Germany came out to protest these actions by covering their mouths, which the gesture would later be used to mock the team after it crashed out in the group stage of the tournament.
Some European teams wanted to raise awareness through wearing a One Love armband for their teams captains to wear, this however was too far for FIFA and Qatar with threats of giving penalties towards players and teams who decide to wear the armband, which was used against the England national team a few hours prior to the start of their game with Iran. The team later back down from wearing the armband.
Later at the Wales vs USA game, Welsh fans had rainbow bucket hat taken away from them and famed US sportswriter, Grant Wahl (who died later in the tournament due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm) was turned away from watching the game in the stadium due to him wearing a shirt with a rainbow on it. Through ought the tournament anything associating with a rainbow was taken away from supporters even a Brazilian flag that represented a specific state in Brazil was taken away from supporters.
In what was the most controversial tournaments since 1978 when Argentina were hosts and controversy over the human rights abuse of the military junta who ruled the country at the time, this tournament saw many people divided over the ethics of the tournament. FIFA’s own image as a credible organization had already been tattered given the manner and the way Qatar won bid to host the tournament. The weird statements from the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, just keeps making the organization look like clown world at this point. I however suggest you give this Financial Times article a read I thought it was a good perspective.
#3: Taliban bans women from attending secondary education
Last week, the Taliban have banned women in Afghanistan from attending post-secondary or higher education. This came after promises from the Taliban that it would have a “moderate” approach regarding women’s rights in Afghanistan and that it would ensure that girls and women in the country would have the right to an education just like their male counterparts. A few days later the Taliban extended the ban on women’s participation for working for NGOs which has led to four aid organizations to suspend their operations in the country. A month prior, the Taliban had ban women from being at parks and fun fairs while also being ban from leaving outside without a male escort and being forced to wear either a hijab or a niqab when outside.
The move to ban women from university comes at a time when Afghan girls had already finished their high school graduation exams even when they were banned from attending the classroom. The reaction from many girls and women in Afghanistan could be best summed up in these quotes and videos.
“I can’t fulfill my dreams, my hopes. Everything is disappearing before my eyes and I can’t do anything about it.” from a third year journalism student who talked to the Associated Press.
Here is reaction from another women:
Protests were also happening across Afghanistan with women as well as men joining in to express their anger towards the decision made by the Taliban as seen in the twitter posts below. A protestor who was at the protest have accused the Taliban of beating up and lashing protestors as well.
International condemnation came fast for the Taliban, who had came to power after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker, warned that the recent moves by the Taliban to ban women from working at NGOs, would put “terrible consequences” on the country. The US special for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, Rina Amiri, posted on twitter, “The world must reject, as Afghans have, that this is about culture or religion. In Afghan history, only the Taliban have enacted policies forbidding girls’ education. In no Muslim-majority country, in no place in the world, are girls denied an education.”
The UN Security Council released a statement agreed by consensus, denouncing the Taliban’s bans on women and girls and "represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
These moves will be hard for the Taliban to get any International aid as the country is facing a humanitarian crisis. According to the World Food Programme, 90% of people in Afghanistan face insufficient food consumption, leading to many people in the country to face starvation. Natural disasters such as flash floods and this years earthquake has forced more Afghans to rely on humanitarian aid.
#2: Benjamin Netanyahu returns back to power as he leads a coalition with the Far Right
After holding it’s fourth election in three years, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu returned back to power as Prime Minister of Israel for the third time after winning this years election throwing out the broad coalition government of Israeli parties from the left to the right that was formed after last year’s election as a way to kick the Netanyahu cabinet out of government. who is still under investigation by Israeli authorities over corruption charges.
Prior to his third term, Netanyahu was Prime Minister of Israel on two different occasions, the first was from 1996 to 1999, and the second one was from 2009 to 2021. The third time however has seen him built a coalition government with the help of the country’s most far right parties who some of their most extreme members are now a part of his cabinet.
One of the most notable names in his cabinet, is Otzma Yehudit, a leader for the party, Jewish Power, Yehudit is known for his past of being convicted of Anti-Arab racism and supporting a terrorist group. He will now be serving as the National Security Minister which means he will be responsible for the Israeli police force.
Another name in the Israeli cabinet is Avi Moaz, who will be deputy minister for the prime minister. Moaz is the leader of a party called Noam which is against LGBT rights. Moaz himself has called for the banning of Jerusalem’s Pride Parade saying that it is “a promiscuous parade of abomination.” Netanyahu had rebuked Moaz’s position saying that the pride parade would still go on.
Fears and anger are brewing with Palestinians as Netanyahu has promised that his first priority would be the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, a move that the International community sees as a violation of International law. The West Bank is a region where over 2.5 million live and have faced restriction around their movement in the region.
According to the UN, this year has been the deadliest year since it first started tracking fatalities since 2005. For many young Palestinians they are now resorting to taking up arms as high unemployment and frustration over their rights and living conditions have been main motivators for why they are taking such actions.
With the new far right Israeli government coming into power, the fears of increasing violence in the region is growing. The new government’s promises and actions could potentially see a rise in tension with countries it deems as partners such as the United States and Canada.
#1: Ukraine War: Developments in December
On the battlefield, there has not been much development in terms of advancements this month, Ukraine’s army has made gains in the eastern part of the country as there have been an increase of fighting near the Russian-occupied city of Kreminna, where there have been reports of a partial retreat from the Russian army there. Here is a map from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Blue are areas where Ukrainians have made gains over the past few months and the red and orange areas are areas currently controlled by Russia. The green circles is where fighting is happening.
Heading into the new year, there will be an increase in fighting in the Donbass region. For example, one of the main towns in the battle front is Bakhmut. The fighting in this town has been described as the most deadliest battle since the invasion first started, with one advisor to the Ukrainian president saying the Ukrainian army face “heavy losses” in Bakhmut. The Russians have sent in the notorious mercenary group, Wagner, to the battle lines as they have been using everything they have got in terms of their fighting with Ukrainians. To sum it up fighting remains deadlocked with both sides calling it the “Bakhmut meat grinder”.
The other important fronts in terms of fighting in the Donbass, is the two cities of Kreminna and Svatove, If the Ukranians recapture these cities, it gives the Ukranians a good possibility of gaining two other cities of Sivierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Another front that has been of focus in in the south of the city of Zaporizhzhia and to Melitopol where they could sever the Russian land bridge. Below is a tweet thread that gives more of a technical overview of what’s going on.
Away from the battlefield, The big news this month regarding Ukraine, was the surprise visit made by Ukranian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to the United States. This was the first time he has left Ukraine since the start of the conflict. The visit was supposed to be a secret until the last minute when Punchbowl News reported about the visit last Tuesday.
Zelenskyy who wore his familiar get up that we have seen since the start of the conflict, which is a green sweater and cargo pants, a symbol to show to whomever his audience is that he is not just any other leader, but a wartime leader. As he visited the White House in Washington DC, Zelensky told reporters at a press conference that there is no road yet for a “just peace” which he desires. For him the end of the war sees Ukraine not compromising on giving up territory or sovereignty. He also expressed that ending the war means making no concessions to Russia.
Zelensky had shown Biden and his advisors a 10 point peace formula, although US officials said it was the same plan that was presented to world at the G20 summit. There were times where Biden had to jump in when Zelensky talked about Ukraine’s demands for the end of the war as well as regarding the Patriot Missile system which Zelensky had been asking for months, saying that they are defensive weapons rather than offensive weapons.
Zelensky later addressed the US congress where some compared it to Churchill’s address to Congress in 1941. Zelensky’s address aimed at thanking and encouraging the US to continue the support for Ukraine as he wanted more artillery. He also gave the Vice President, Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi a flag of Ukraine signed by soldiers fighting in Bakhmut where he was prior to the day of his US visit.
The historic visit came as the US congress decided to approved a 1.6 trillion dollars government funding bill, with a record 45 billion dollars going towards military funding and emergency aid to Ukraine. Which he said in his speech to congress, “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.” However there was opposition from some Republicans publicly saying they do not want to send anymore weapons to Ukraine.