spotlight madagascar

AFP reports today on an explosion that happened outside the home of Madagascar’s justice minister late last night in Antananarivo. This is the third report of home-made bomb explosions in less than a week – no one has been injured.

The objective is to spread fear, but we mustn’t play their game and begin to panic. We are taking measures and are remaining calm,” said [Colonel Richard Ravalomanana].

In other news, Razia Said is pretty great. If you’re in NYC, go see this show tonight:

New Album ZEBU NATION Release Party
Celebrating Earth Day
Thu Apr 22 2010, 9:00 pm
S.O.B.’s
New York, NY

for more information:
www.sobs.com/node/112

I don’t know how many hours I was in the air, and I’m not sure even what time it is right now, but I do know that I made it in one piece and it’s great to be back in Madagascar! The detritus from my packing has fit nicely into one backpack and one satchel, which should make my traveling a little easier (hopefully).

plastic bags are the best

I spent last night in Johannesburg. As I feared, the shuttle from my hotel didn’t show, even after a very nice person at the airport used her cellphone to call them. I ended up starting a conversation with a young woman who made me a reservation at a different hotel, cheaper, and closer to the airport, with a 24-hour free shuttle! Highly recommended for those who only need to spend on night in Joburg, the Ekurhuleni Lodge is a self-proclaimed ‘Place of Peace and Tranquility’. I don’t know about all that, since there were really weird bird sounds that I couldn’t identify, and I woke up at 3:30 in the morning thanks to my shocked Circadian rhythms. Otherwise, the people were really nice, the shuttle driver is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the breakfast lady was from Zimbabwe, which made for interesting conversation. The room was clean, the shower was really great (probably the best I’ve had in a long, long time, actually), and there was a TV. The only weird thing was the electrical outlets didn’t seem to be functioning, but who needs those anyway.

'Affordable Luxury' at the Lodge

So I’m here at the Sakamanga, one of my favorite hotels in Antananarivo, and they now have free wireless, which is incredible. I probably won’t encounter this again on my trip around the country, so I’m taking full advantage of it until I pass out. The view from my room leaves a little to be desired:

big pile of rocks, hmm

But that’s not why I came here, obviously. I know there are cuter rooms, but I’m leaving in the morning so I don’t really care. At least it has character. I asked, and the writing on the wall means ‘we need a change’. It’s true.

The food here is good, and not too expensive. I’m not looking forward to going to the taxibrousse station tomorrow. It’s my least favorite place on earth.

IOL News is reporting this today:

Antananarivo – A Madagascan government minister claimed on Thursday an angry mob attacked and burnt his private jet as he visited the country’s Farafanaga region earlier this week.

Economy, Commerce and Industry Minister Ivohasina Razafimahefa told AFP that rumours had circulated that he was carrying money aboard while on an official visit to the town of Farafangana on Tuesday.

“Acting on this information, people stormed the plane hoping there would be a large amount of money inside but of course they did not find anything. Disappointed, they decided to set fire to the plane,” he said.

The minister said he had to seek refuge in his hotel before flying back to the capital Antananarivo by helicopter later.

There are all sorts of happenings in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Tensions have been steadily increasing between the Mayor, Andry Rajaolina and President Ravalomanana, who have opposing viewpoints about what democracy is and how one should run a country. This just happened:

From the Gulf Times: Mayor calls for Monday Strike

My glee at the cancellation of the Daewoo land deal was apparently premature, as Ravalomanana seems to want to go ahead with it, despite protests from the people and those political leaders who seem to want to actually serve them well. The AFP posted this article the other day:

AFP: Maverick mayor says Madagascar is ‘dictatorship’

Addressing more than 20,000 supporters at the historic Place du 13 Mai square on Saturday, Andry Rajoelina said “leaders who do not care about the people should not be there. We are here because we refuse to be gagged.”

Rajoelina is young, handsome and charismatic. He reminds me of a non-gun-toting Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso for a tiny snippet of time, who led a revolution from 1983-1987, at which time he was brutally murdered. Look him up, he’s a really interesting character who believed in women’s rights, equality, and he even made his government officials drive themselves around in cheap cars. He died as poor as he lived, while most leaders in Africa were getting rich off the spoils of disgusting loans from institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, which should be completely shut down as far as I’m concerned.

In other news:

Speaking of the World Bank, I read this the other day:

Even the World Bank is continuing its role as a neo-colonial consensus agent by actively pursuing and financing access to ‘under-utilised land’ around the world through its International Finance Corporation.

Check out this article to learn more about land grabbing and its implications for those who have their land grabbed and those of us who may benefit from it without knowing:

MADAGASCAR: THE NEW LAND GRAB