The immorality of denying the Holocaust

Bernardo Kliksberg explains that the recent international conference, held in Teheran, to ridicule the Holocaust should not be considered as merely one more anti-semitic and racist act, but as the murder, for the second time, of the six million Jewish children, women, men, elderly, artisans, tailors, farmers, and workers who died in Nazi extermination camps. In Kliksberg‘s opinion, by denying the existence of the Holocaust, Iran is paving the way for genocide and racism of all kinds to be carried out with impunity. If the Holocaust can be denied, why not also negate Rwanda, Darfur, and the countless other brutal massacres that have blemished human history? Now, more than ever, Kliksberg writes, the free men and women of the world must rescue memory, and stand up in defiance of hatred, racism, and genocide.

Crisis or opportunity?

Aldo Civico compares the collusion between politicians and paramilitaries in Colombia, to the Mafia-controlled government of Palermo in the 1970s. In Civico‘s opinion, a lot can be learned from Sicily‘s two decade long struggle against Mafia-induced corruption. The revelation of the well known, yet never publicized paramilitary involvement in Colombian politics should be used as an opportunity to rally behind the judges who brought the truth to light, and to take civic action in support of a deeper and more mature democracy.

Why Israel should negotiate with Damascus

Mario Sznajder questions Ehud Olmert‘s policy decisions in relation to the Palestinians, and Syria, noting that Olmert‘s leadership has taken on new levels of uncertainty that are uncommon to Israeli politics. In Sznajder‘s opinion, Prime Minister Olmert must define a clear political strategy and move forward in negotiations with Damascus. The following article explains why.

The comeback of Iran’s reformist and centrist movements

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (for Safe Democracy)

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam writes on the recent rise of the neoconservative movement in Iran‘s increasingly diversified political spectrum. Unlike the neoconservative movements of the US or the UK, Iran‘s neoconservatives have advocated social welfare, capital redistribution, anti-corruption measures and have pursued a pragmatic foreign policy agenda. Yet, in Adib-Moghaddam‘s opinion, their traditionalist preference for preservation over reform, and their combination of the repressive tendencies of the Shah, with the revolutionary rhetoric of Khomeini, has not convinced the Iranian electorate, thus instigating the comeback, in the recent elections, of the reformist and centrist movements.

20 years after dictatorship, democracy still fragile

Pedro G. Cavallero writes on how corruption is the greatest menace to the establishment of a stable democracy in Paraguay. Pervasive, massive corruption has characterized Paraguayan democracy since its inception in 1989, draining scarce societal resources, alienating the citizenry, discrediting the democratic system, and weakening democratic institutions. In Cavallero‘s opinion, if Paraguay does not meet its corruption head-on, the degradation of its already vulnerable democratic system, and the tradition of complete impunity for politicians, will continue.