This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Europeans broker a ‘peace agreement’ in Ukraine
- Ukraine’s parliament votes to free president’s arch-enemy from jail
- Venezuela and other countries increasingly block press freedom
Europeans broker a ‘peace agreement’ in Ukraine
Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s arch-enemy
With violence growing in Ukraine and the country becoming increasingly lawless and ungovernable, foreign ministers from Poland, France, andGermany brokered a Ukraine peace agreement between president ViktorYanukovych and the leaders of the opposition. Whether the agreementwill be fully implemented remains to be seen, and it leavesYanukovych in power, at least for the time being, in defiance of thekey demand of the opposition that he step down. Instead, theagreement calls for new elections by December, which oppositionleaders say is far too late. However, the opposition signedbecause European leaders warned them that the alternativewas martial law.
Under the agreement, Ukraine’s parliament voted to restore the 2004constitution, limiting some of Yanukovych’s power and giving morepower to the parliament. The parliament also voted to fire theinterior minister who ordered police violence that resulted inhundreds of deaths.
It’s not clear how much support the agreement will continueto have. In particular, the Russian envoy to the negotiationsoriginally initialed the agreement, but then disappeared beforethe final signing, apparently on orders from Moscow.
Some people sang Ukraine’s national anthem after the agreement:
Ukraine has not yet perished,
The glory and the freedom!
Still upon us brave brothers,
Fate shall smile!
Our enemies will vanish
Like dew in the sun;
We too shall rule
In our country.
That’s the original 1863 version. In later versions, the first twolines were changed to: “Ukraine’s glory has not yet perished, nor herfreedom.” AP
Ukraine’s parliament votes to free president’s arch-enemy from jail
After the agreement was signed, Ukraine’s parliament voted to freeYulia Tymoshenko, a bitter political enemy of President ViktorYanukovych. Tymoshenko became a world recognized figure in 2004 for her distinctive mix of peasant hair and high-fashion dresses, aftershe played a major role in the 2004 “Orange Revolution” that oustedViktor Yanukovych, the current president, from power. Tymoshenkoherself became prime minister in 2007, but then lost the 2010 electionto Yanukovych.
Yanukovych got his revenge in 2011 by sending Tymoshenko to jail oncharges that many consider to be trumped up. The European Union hasbeen demanding that Tymoshenko be freed, and now the parliament hasagreed. However, there’s no timetable for freeing her.
She’s developed back problems in jail, so it’s not clear whether she is capable of entering politics again, but if she did and joined theopposition against Yanukovych, then watching those two fight it outwould be quite a spectacle. AP and AFP
Venezuela and other countries increasingly block press freedom
On Thursday, Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro announced that hewould expel CNN if it did not “rectify” its coverage ofanti-government protests, saying, “They [CNN] want to show theworld that there is a civil war in Venezuela.”
On Friday, Maduro carried out his threat, notifying seven journalistsfor CNN International and CNN en Español that their press credentialshad been denied or revoked and that they should book flights backhome. So far, CNN International and CNN en Español continue tobroadcast in Venezuela.
Increasingly, countries around the world are taking legal measures torestrict press freedom when the press doesn’t support the government.Besides Venezuela, examples are:
- Egypt has declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a “terrorist organization,” and has arrested 20 journalists from al-Jazeera who have been covering the news in Egypt, accusing them of terrorism for their reports on MB. The arrests include four foreigners, an Australian, two Britons, and one Dutch, accusing them of “airing false news” to “undermine the state’s status and disrupt public security.” Al-Jazeera has called the charges absurd.
- Russian officials are becoming increasingly panicked over the chaos in Ukraine, fearing that similar anti-government protests could take place in Moscow. Russia has already shut down one popular cable channel for taking occasional anti-Putin positions and is now threatening another one.
- In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the Obama administration proposed a new program, “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” which would place government monitors in the newsrooms of TV networks, “news and talk-radio stations,” and newspaper companies across the United States. Both liberal and conservative groups expressed outrage, and the administration was forced to back down, at least for the time being. The administration has frequently sought to use its power to intimidate Fox News Channel and has even threatened Fox’s White House reporter James Rosen with criminal charges, which were later dropped.
Other countries, like China and Iran, have strict controls on allmedia, most of which is state-owned. CNN and Al-Ahram (Cairo) and Jamestown and Washington Times
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Ukraine, Kiev, Viktor Yanukovych,Yulia Tymoshenko, Poland, France, Germany,Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, CNN,Egypt, al-Jazeera, Russia, Fox News Channel
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