Portugal’s Guantanamo Offer Echoes Across World Media

APPA NEWSROOM, LONDON, 13/12/08 -Portugal’s sudden offer to take some prisoners from Guantanamo Bay has taken media and diplomatic circles in Europe and across the Atlantic by storm, by taking a leadership in a matter that has been on the Euro-American agenda since Barack Obama was elected, though not with much in terms of European good-will to help resolving a problem European Union leaders are often keen to classify as an “American Problem”.

The issue, of course, departs from President Elect Barack Obama’s electoral promise to close down Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp - Cuba, but there is no easy solution. Guantanamo Bay houses about 250 prisoners, most of whom linked with the anti-terrorism investigations following the attack on New York twin towers and ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Amado’s position however, has toppled upside down EU’s “cold feet” in regards to helping the United States, not just by taking the lead - offering to remove some prisoners from Guantanamo and transfer them to Portugal - but more significantly by pushing European Union leaders to follow suit, a move which clearly most European Union member countries appear to be reluctant to follow.

In a letter released just two days ago, the Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister urged European Union governments to take action saying that “the time has come for the European Union to step forward”, adding that Portugal was ready to take part in an European resettlement program.

Mr Amado’s timing - we might add - was spot on, if we consider Obama’s Administration is due to take office in about one month’s time, incidentally a clear signal that Portugal is not doing a favour to the departing Bush Administration, but rather embracing efforts for a new World order, seeking fresh solutions for old problems.

At the core of the issue are 60 prisoners, already cleared by the Pentagon, but who cannot be returned back to their native countries for fears of persecution, torture and even death, placing Portugal at the forefront of Human Rights defence concerns.

 The first European country to take a positive lead in the issue, Portugal jumped to the front page of World media, being given coverage for an offer that has been understood as genuine, positive and the first friendly move to unfreeze relations between the United States and the European Union, paving the ground for Obama’s Administration and easing pressure in diplomatic relations across the Atlantic.

Human Rights organisations across the Globe have welcomed the Portuguese Leadership in this issue. The Centre for Constitutional Rights’s chief lawyer, Mr MacLean said: “This step is an important one to usher us into a new era”. And there is little doubt the Portuguese initiative has placed Portugal in the good auspices across the Arab world.

Portugal’s lead was this morning hailed across all major international media, including the BBC and the New York Times. The Arabic TV channel AL JAZEERA has also given the Portuguese initiative ample coverage, as well as The Guardian, Amnesty International, the International Human Rights Watch, among almost 500 other international media organisations.

Not surprisingly, the London Times has taken a different, more conservative view, playing down the Portuguese Leadership in this Human Rights important issue, preferring to focus on American pressure.

Dom Duarte Duke of Braganza Advocates National Referendum for Portugal

APPA NEWS, LONDON-UK - At a time when George W. Bush is on the way out at the term of a mandate - according to many - peppered with concessions to big money lobbies and oil groups; and at the same time, Barack Obama proudly struggled to finance his electoral campaign, free from economic and big money lobbyists, Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza’s interview in 2002 to an Education Portuguese magazine makes compelling reading.

Being Duke of Braganza, thus Head of the Royal House of Portugal and for that reason, the successor in the Crown of Portugal, it is hardly surprising that Dom Duarte advocates the return to a constitutional democratic parliamentary monarchy in Portugal.

Is it a matter of Power then?… Well, hardly really. Dom Duarte is not alone and counts on at least 20% of the Portuguese population who seem to think that way.

For the Duke of Braganza, monarchies are actually similar to republics these days, but have a monarch as head of state, instead of a president and is adamant in his view that a king or queen is far more independent from political parties and economical lobbies than a president.

Having on his shoulders the full weight of almost 900 years of national identity and history, Dom Duarte declares his full awareness of the responsibility and availability to serve the Portuguese people, should theneed arise; and thinks the current situation in which the Portuguese Constitution prohibits any other form of governance but republican, an insult to Democracy, explaining that European monarchies do not have such limitations in their constitutions.

Basically, says the Portuguese “king-in-waiting”, a keen observation of existing modern monarchies demonstrates their benefits, as though kings are not elected, they actually contribute with considerable added-value to democracies, simply because they are more independent and freer than elected presidents. Presidents, Dom Duarte adds, “need political parties and considerable sums of money to be elected or re-elected and for this reason have difficulties in criticizing economic lobby powers, as by doing so, they may incurr into the risk of not being elected at all”.

Furthermore, the Duke of Braganza argues a misconception that in monarchies the biological hazard of a “bad” sovereign makes the case in favour of republican regimes. For Dom Duarte, whilst throughout the 20th century we can find many cases of incompetent, out of balance and mentally “derailed” presidents, there have been no such cases in monarchies, because whilst a president may be elected without being well known to voters, a future king is well known since birth.

As the Duke of Braganza puts it, “the future king is well known since birth and constitutionally, all mechanisms are in place - such as a State Council or Parliament - they can replace him/her with the next in-line of succession to the Throne”.

But kings do not perform executive functions. Governments do. Kings reign and depend on the Constitution, and ultimately their judgement. Dom Duarte believes the Portuguese people actually would prefer a sovereign as head of state. As elections demonstrate, all presidents of Portugal were re-elected, showing a popular preference for stable continuity, but this is “mission impossible” in a republican regime, because presidents are limited to a maximum of two mandates.

Far from being biased, Dom Duarte points out a strong point. Former president of the Portuguese Republic Antonio Eanes stated on a number of occasions that he tried to act like a neutral and independent monarch and there is an ever increasing number of republicans who begin to see the Portuguese Republic would be better served with a monarch as head of state. As far as the Duke is concerned, there is no conflict, but simply an option to be made in regards to what sort of head of state would be better for the Republic. After all, all monarchies in Europe are “republics” with kings or queens as heads of state, a theory that even Portuguese republicans seem to get along with.

The issue though, says the Duke of Braganza, is the prohibition within the Portuguese Constitution, which does not allow any form of government other than republican. The Portuguese Republic, says Dom Duarte, “came into being through a coup, and for this reason falls short in being democratic”. For the successor in the Crown of Portugal, there is no other way but to change the Constitution in order to allow a referendum.

But when confronted with whether he believes the Portuguese will opt for a monarchy, the Duke of Braganza is cautious: “It all depends on how the people is correctly and honestly informed and the honesty of the question being asked to the Portuguese. A biased question - as in the recent abortion referendum - may purposely lead to the desired answer”.

However, one thing is for certain. There is no bias in regards to Dom Duarte’s understanding of a modern constitutional monarch, when questioned to what the role entails. According to the Duke, “Kings do not interfere publicly, their interventions are private. They have a profound knowledge of problems and issues and assist in their resolution together with governments, oppositions and other social partners”.

Interview given to “Educação Magazine”, 2002.

EU Commission President Durao Barroso Hails Barack Obama

APPA NEWS, LONDON - UK - European Union Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso has been quick, in fact one of the very first to salute President elect of the United States of America, Barack Obama, on what is being estimated in political circles around the World, as a huge landslide victory!

According to British newswires, Mr Durão Barroso has sent messages of congratulations to the newly elected President of the United States saying that “Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis and global warming.”

However politically correct, the move is nonetheless a surprising 360 degrees twist, as it is historically well known that Mr Barroso played host at the Azores Summit, which he proposed himself, to Toni Blair and President George W. Bush, days before America and

 the UK embarked on the War against Iraq.

Mr Durão Barroso, who was at the time the Portuguese Prime Minister, became the nominee of choice for the presidency of the European Commission, shortly after.

Popular memory may be short, but journalism must remain independent and recall the record of that day, 16 of March 2003, when José Manuel Durão Barroso, Toni Blair, José Maria Aznar and George W. Bush met to come up with a declarative statement on the issue of Iraq, which, we may agree, presented some Peace rhetoric, courtesy of Mr Barroso, together with enough jargon about weapons of mass destruction which never

existed, based upon intelligence, which was wrong, despite United Nations resolutions that condemned Iraq but did not convey a licence to invade or go to war and ultimately, against scores and scores in Public Opinion, strongly opposed to war in Iraq, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Doubtless, five years later, Mr Barroso is right about the new USA President elect taking office “at a critical juncture”.

We are wondering and keen to find out indeed, whose “juncture” ?… Barack Obama’s?… Or Mr Barroso’s himself?

For a full transcript of the Azores Summit, 16 March 2003, click here.