At
UN,
Bolivia's Reception Features Subway Sandwich and No Music,
Climate Change on Tap
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 4 -- In recent weeks we have reviewed UN receptions
large and small, from the gala
farewell to Japanese Ambassador Yukio
Takasu and Morocco's
Throne Day in the Waldorf Astoria to Nigeria's
down
home, Gambari-heavy end of Security Council presidency reception
last week.
But
on the night of
August 4, invited to an event of Bolivia
on the Lower East Side,
Inner City Press and its fellow travelers were truly excited. Bolivia
after all is a major player in the Grupo Alba, and the leader of
developing countries as a whole on climate change and water as a
human right.
The
event was to
take place on Allen Street on the Lower East Side. A diplomat of
another Alba Group country treated it as very exclusive, saying he
had to go back to his mission to print the invitation to guarantee
the party's entrance.
But
once on Allen
Street, the first floor bar was empty. Upstairs, there were perhaps
six people, and remnants of a sandwich from Subway. There was not
even any music. At the end, two men took plastic covered flags of the
General Consulate of Bolivia down to a four by four, with not
diplomatic but New Jersey plates.
Bolivians including Evo to GA, muted celebration not shown
“You have to
write this,” a UN staffer urged Inner City Press. Consider it done.
The
irony is that
of the Alba countries, Bolivia is among the most serious, with a
detailed knowledge of climate change, and a recent victory on
water
as a human right. Perhaps the attraction of receptions does not
measure much. Perm Rep Solon is in Bonn. We will have more on this.
* * *
At
Morocco's
Throne
Day, W.Sahara and Kosovo Contrasted, Non-Recognition by India
and Romania, Diplomats
Pay Cut
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
31 -- On Morocco's Throne Day, the talk was of
sovereignty. In Rabat, King Mohammed VI broadcast
that
"Morocco
remains committed to its sovereignty" over Western Sahara and
"will not cede an inch of its Sahara.”
In
New York's
Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Moroccan Ambassador to the UN Mohammed
Loulichki greeted guests by the 18th floor entrance to the Skylight
Room. Inside there were musician, carved lamb, sweet tea and a slew
of diplomats, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his
wife.
Inner
City
Press
wanted to ask about this “won't give one inch” statement, in
light of the long standing obligation
of the UN to run a referendum
on independence for Western Sahara. While this might have to wait,
surprisingly what other Ambassadors approached Inner City Press about
was another sovereignty dispute, that of Kosovo.
While
Serbia,
with
out without a throne might feel like the Moroccan king, earlier this
month the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion
largely upholding Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. Kosovar
foreign minister Hyseni told the Press he is staying in New
York to meet with non-recognizing states.
But
just for
example, two such states told Inner City Press on Friday night they
have no intention of recognizing Kosovo, even after the ICJ opinion.
Romania's Permanent Representative Simona-Mirela Miculescu told Inner
City Press that for “historical reasons” her country will not
recognize Kosovo, and the European Union can't force it to. She
called the EU like a family, in which some can disagree.
(Ambassador
Miculescu
also
told Inner City Press that the surviving parts of the
austerity measures required for an International Monetary Fund
facility to Romania have resulted in her salary being cut by fifty
percent. Click here for
Inner City Press' previous coverage of
the
IMF and Romania.)
UN's Ban and Loulichki, Sahara vote,
2bl standards and lamb and tea not shown
India,
too,
will
not recognize Kosovo. Hyseni has asked to meet with them, but it
appears this will be a waste of the Kosovars time. And with the
world's largest democracy, and country with the world's second
largest Muslim population, not recognizing your state, is
independence complete?
Things
turned
decidedly
more philosophical as the night wore on. As others left,
citing the lack of alcohol, Inner City Press was regaled with tale
after tale of Morocco's openness, to Moshe Dayan in Ifrane in the
1970s and before that those fleeing for Spain, to Morocco standing up
to Vichy France.
The
synthesizer and
sweet tea were packed away, and Throne Day was over. Watch this site.
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