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At UN, d'Escoto Fears for Obama's Life, Dubious
of
Responsibility to Protect, Gutierrez to Be Invited
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City
Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, April 14
-- The responsibility
to protect, a doctrine that if a government cannot or does not serve
its people
others may step in to do so, was called by the President of the UN
General
Assembly on Tuesday a "new cosmetic improvement" on the "right
to intervene." Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, formerly Nicaragua's foreign
minister, said that R2P reminds him of the United States' interventions
in
Latin America "to protect its interests."
Inner
City
Press asked d'Escoto about his appointment earlier this month of former
Indian
Ambassador to the UN Nirupam Sen as his advisor on the Responsibility
to Protect,
as well as on the global financial crisis, and asked if d'Escoto is a
supporter
of or skeptic about R2P. D'Escoto answered that he has "reservations"
about R2P, and may organize an interactive panel on the topic.
D'Escoto has
already scheduled for June 1-3 a meeting on the global financial
crisis. Inner
City Press asked, in light of d'Escoto's public praise of Barack Obama,
who
might come to the event from the U.S. government. D'Escoto answered
that he
"hopes God protects Obama," comparing him to Martin Luther King.
Immediately after that, d'Escoto praised a book asserting that the CIA
killed
John F. Kennedy.
When
Hillary Clinton engaged in such free association on the campaign trail,
there
was a fire storm. For d'Escoto, it was one of his least controversial
statement. He began the press conference by referring to the UN's
failure to
bring about a Palestinian state. Asked about his past, he said he is
more of a
Sandinista today than in 1979.
D'Escoto and Evo Morales": Obama,
Mother Earth Day, R2P and Sen's G-4 Visa not shown
On
why Sen
sought and took the post, on April
6 Inner City Press asked d'Escoto's
spokesman Enrique Yeves
Inner
City Press: I’ve
noticed now subsequent to that [inaudible] on the website of the
President, a
letter appointing Nirupam Sen of India as “Special Senior Adviser” on
three
topics, including responsibility to protect.
First, is the Ambassador a proponent of the
responsibility to protect or
a doubter, and does this position involve a G-4 visa; do these
positions, these
Special Adviser positions? And what’s
the difference between the Special Advisers, the Senior Advisers and
Specials? Is this along the lines of Mr.
De Schutter’s or is it something else?
Spokesperson: No, he is a Special
Adviser. In this particular case -- as
you know, Ambassador Sen had ended his work in the Mission here -- he
has been
so involved in many of the issues that he talked with President
d´Escoto and
they both agreed that it would be a very good idea to start giving him
advice
on all these issues that are mentioned in the letter until the end of
the
presidency of President d´Escoto. And…
Inner
City Press: Is it
a paying position, does it involve a G-4 visa?
Spokesperson: It is not a paid position.
And on the G-4 visa, to be honest, I don’t
know, but I can find out for you.
Inner
City Press: Is
this the exact same phrasing and status as Mr. De Schutter, Noam
Chomsky and…?
Spokesperson: That’s correct. As
you know, none of these Special Advisers
are getting any salary or have any contractual arrangement as such.
Inner
City Press: [inaudible] Ambassador Sen
will come as
required or will he be based here?
Spokesperson: He is based here and he has already been
giving advice since 1 April, which is when his assignment started.
Inner
City Press: I’m
sorry, I forgot to follow up. On
responsibility to protect, can you say something about whether he is
thought to
be a proponent or a doubter on responsibility to protect?
Spokesperson: Well,
I think this is a question for him to
answer than for me. But obviously, you
will have a chance to talk to him.
See
above
-- d'Escoto is a doubter, or "has reservations." On April
7, Inner
City Press asked
Inner
City Press: To
this question yesterday of the G-4 visa, did you get to the bottom of
it? Whether the Special Adviser,
particularly the
new one…?
Spokesperson: I understand now that it is up to the [
United States] State Department to decide on this issue, because the
Permanent
Representative of India is entitled to a G-1 visa and he is now
informing the
State Department of his new status and he will know what kind of visa
he is
going to get.
Inner
City Press: But
it’s the position of the President of the General Assembly that these
part-time…this is a part-time position, right?
It’s a part-time Special Senior Adviser?
Spokesperson: Correct.
I have asked him. Well,
I already
did and he said he is waiting for an answer from the State Department,
so we
don’t know yet.
Inner
City Press: But
he’s definitely seeking one and it’s based on that position?
Spokesperson: Yes,
that’s correct.
And so, as soon as he obtained the assignment,
Sen applied to the State Department for the visa status...
On Tuesday,
D'Escoto
described upcoming trips to Venezuela and Cuba, and to Alaska to meet
with
indigenous people. He has invited to the UN for an April 22 event about
"Mother Earth Day" the theologian Leonardo Boff, saying he asked Lula
if Boff could come. The Mother Earth Day, sponsored by Bolivia, will
feature Bolivian president Evo Morales, who Tuesday ended a five-day
hunger strike or fast. Afterwards Inner City Press asked if fellow
theologian
Gustavo Gutierrez would also be coming. Good idea, d'Escoto said, thank
you for
reminding me, I'll see if Gustavo can come. And then d'Escoto was gone.
Click here
for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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