The other day, a rather peculiar case made national headlines in Colombian newspapers: An, until then, unknown sub-secretary of the Senate, Colombia’s second chamber, shoved himself into a news network’s camera team. Mr Saúl Cruz, a high-ranking veteran Senate clerk with a 23-year long public sector career, unwillingly caught the public eye when his ruthless actions were […]
Los bailes de la diplomacia: el aporte de los colombianos en el exterior al posconflicto
De mis numerosos amigos y conocidos de orígen colombiano que viven en el exterior nadie se había podido imaginar que una delgada mayoría iba a votar en contra del Acuerdo de Paz en el plebiscito del último año. La votación también se realizó en casi 1.500 mesas dispuestas en 138 ciudades de 64 países y mundialmente sorprendió no […]
#FreeDeniz ya!
El reconocido periodista alemán Deniz Yücel, de ascendencia turca, quien se encuentra en prisión preventiva en Estambul, bajo acusaciones judiciales de propaganda terrorista y amotinamiento del pueblo, es otro recuerdo del camino de la República de Turquía hacia la censura y dictadura. Yücel fue detenido desde el 14 de febrero, por casi dos semanas sin […]
Runoff vote in Ecuador: Has President Correa failed?
A runoff vote it is then. Ecuadorians will have to go to the polls again in April after Lenín Moreno, the candidate of Correa‘s ruling leftwing Alianza PAIS movement, had fallen just short of the votes necessary to secure the presidency, a minimum of 40 % and a 10-point lead over any other candidate, in last Sunday’s […]
It’s on: Fake news versus free speech
Fake or fabricated news are potentially harmful to our liberal democracies. Commonly, they serve monetary purposes, but are also used to manipulate public opinion. Their recent success is only possible because the unfiltered flow of information has increased manifold in the digital age. The scary part about fake news: it runs contrary to the fundamental […]
Retweeting Trump, AfD and Wilders: Helping the bad guys?
The swift rise of populist political parties and candidates, mostly from the far-right, owes much to extremely provocative social media campaigns, also dubbed “extreme tweeting”. This is mainly because social media reward starkness rather than subtlety. Besides making noise on Twitter and Facebook, they manage to strengthen their support base by reaffirming it about its political inclinations. Role […]
No censorship: Immunise against fake news
Following the US presidential election (and the revelation about the infamous moneymaking scheme by teenagers in Macedonia), the disruptive impact of “fake news” has caught a lot of attention. The rise of fake news, especially across Facebook, is said to have become a global problem, with tech companies attempting to thwart the trend as they face pressure […]
Parliaments in regional organisations. What are they good for (absolutely nothing)?
A growing number of regional organisations such as the EU, Mercosur or the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has set up representative assemblies, or regional parliaments, in an attempt to increase their own democratic legitimacy. As the public demands more political accountability, regional parliaments have taken shape in great variance as regards design, […]
President Trump. A chance for Europe?
Ridiculous, right? A preposterous man with the weirdest of haircuts, simple language and silly hand gestures has been elected the next President of the United States of America. The incomprehension and ingenuousness with which the US political establishment has tried to deal with the phenomenon Trump is most alarming. No-one should ever again underestimate the […]
Why is Iceland’s Pirate Party so successful?
National polls suggest that the Icelandic Pirate Party, the local branch of the worldwide social protest movement spawned by the digital revolution, might be within striking distance to form a government in Iceland by the end of this month. In essence still a protest movement, the Pirates find themselves in a neck-and-neck race with the right-leaning Independence party, […]
