Presidents return to upheaval
PRESIDENT Ivan Duque’s call for changes to key peace legislation has prompted former rebels to warn he has put Colombia on the path to war, but with his government on a weak footing in Congress, major revisions that could reignite conflict seem unlikely.
Duque last week objected to six out of 159 articles in the law implementing a 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrillas and said he would return it to congress.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace law – which established a tribunal to investigate war crimes during Colombia’s five-decade conflict – has been criticised by Duque for being too lenient on Farc commanders accused of atrocities.
Duque, whose 2018 presidential campaign focused on changing the peace deal, said the law was not clear enough that the Farc must fully repay its victims. THE PRESIDENTS of Mozambique and Zimbabwe returned home to deal with the effects of a powerful cyclone that has killed more than 150 people across southern Africa.
Hundreds more were missing yesterday, while tens of thousands were cut off from roads and telephones in mainly poor, rural areas.
Cyclone Idai has affected more than 1.5 million people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, according to the UN and government officials.
The SANDF has been called upon to assist in support of the humanitarian efforts in both Malawi and Mozambique.
“The SANDF has committed air assets and personnel to supplement joint interdepartmental, interagency and multinational efforts as authorised by the president of the Republic of South Africa.
“A team of 10 military health practitioners with search and rescue air assets were dispatched to Malawi on Saturday.
“Front elements were also deployed to Mozambique to assess the situation with a view to assisting on the ground for humanitarian purposes,” said the SANDF.
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa both left for foreign trips just as the cyclone hit their respective countries.
This drew criticism from some who thought they should have stayed at home to deal with a disaster, whose overwhelming magnitude has not been experienced in years.
The International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent societies said on Saturday at least 126 people died in Mozambique and Malawi.
In Zimbabwe, 31 people died in the floods, said the country’s information ministry.
State radio in Mozambique reported that the president planned to visit affected areas after returning yesterday from Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland.
Mozambique’s central port city of Beira was hardest hit, with the airport closed and many homes destroyed.
The storm hit Beira late on Thursday and moved westward into Zimbabwe and Malawi, affecting thousands more, particularly in eastern areas bordering Mozambique.
Zimbabwe’s president was returning home from the UAE “to make sure he is involved directly with the national response by way of relief to victims of Cyclone Idai,” the country’s information ministry said yesterday.
UN agencies and the Red Cross are helping with rescue efforts that include delivering food supplies and medicines by helicopter in the impoverished countries.
Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers was also on high alert, saying they would respond depending on the degree of devastation, but more importantly, only if a call was made by the Mozambican government for urgent assistance.
“Our intervention includes 70 personnel (aquatic rescue, rescue technicians, rescue divers, advanced life support paramedics, and doctors), 22 vehicles (4x4), 10 power boats, 4 jet skis, 14 inflatable, non-motorised twoman rescue boats, a range of rescue equipment and access to an eightseater plane.
“This is Gift of the Givers’ largest water rescue preparation in its 26-year history.
“We have assisted Mozambique in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2013.
“We have already engaged the Mozambican government and the head of disaster management in that we are ready to respond if they require assistance.” | AP and Staff Writer
His policy positions have been largely non-specific. He champions universal health care, immigration reform and combating climate change, but says any reforms would have to be pragmatic.