World
Counting the costs of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan
America’s longest war, the two-decade-long conflict in Afghanistan that started in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, killed tens of thousands of people, dogged four U.S. presidents and ultimately proved unwinnable despite its staggering cost in blood and treasure.
This final chapter, with President Joe Biden’s decision to pull all American troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, has prompted a reckoning over the war’s lost lives and colossal expenditure.
Also Read: US to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11
Here’s a look at the spiraling cost of America’s campaign — the bloodshed, wasted funds and future consequences for the war-battered nation teetering on the brink of chaos.
THE COST IN LIVES
Afghans have paid the highest price. Since 2001, at least 47,245 civilians have been killed in the war as of mid-April, according to the Costs of War project at Brown University, which documents the hidden costs of the post-9/11 wars.
Gun and bomb attacks targeting civilians surged to previously unseen heights since the intra-Afghan peace negotiations opened in Qatar last fall, according to the U.N. Watchdogs say the conflict has killed a total of 72 journalists and 444 aid workers.
The Afghan government keeps the toll among its soldiers secret to avoid undermining morale, but Costs of War estimates the war has killed 66,000 to 69,000 Afghan troops.
The war has forced 2.7 million Afghans to flee abroad, mostly to Iran, Pakistan and Europe, the U.N. said. Another 4 million are displaced within the country, which has a total population of 36 million.
Meanwhile, 2,442 U.S. troops have been killed and 20,666 wounded in the war since 2001, according to the Defense Department. It’s estimated that over 3,800 U.S. private security contractors have been killed. The Pentagon does not track their deaths.
The conflict also has killed 1,144 personnel from the 40-nation NATO coalition that trained Afghan forces over the years, according to a tally kept by the website iCasualties. The remaining 7,000 allied troops also will withdraw by Biden’s 9/11 deadline.
THE COST IN DOLLARS
The U.S. has spent a stunning total of $2.26 trillion on a dizzying array of expenses, according to the Costs of War project.
The Defense Department’s latest 2020 report said war-fighting costs totaled $815.7 billion over the years. That covers the operating costs of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, everything from fuel and food to Humvees, weapons and ammunition, from tanks and armored vehicles to aircraft carriers and airstrikes.
Although America first invaded to retaliate against al-Qaida and rout its hosts, the Taliban, the U.S. and NATO soon pivoted to a more open-ended mission: nation-building on a massive scale.
Washington has poured over $143 billion into that goal since 2002, according to the latest figures from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
Of that, $88 billion went to training, equipping and funding Afghan military and police forces. Another $36 billion was spent on reconstruction projects, education and infrastructure like dams and highways, the SIGAR report said. Another $4.1 billion has gone to humanitarian aid for refugees and disasters. The campaign to deter Afghans from selling heroin around the world cost over $9 billion.
Unlike with other conflicts in American history, the U.S. borrowed heavily to fund the war in Afghanistan and has paid some $530 billion in interest. It has also paid $296 billion in medical and other care for veterans, according to Costs of War. It will continue to pay both those expenses for years to come.
FOLLOWING THE MONEY
Much of the billions lavished on huge infrastructure projects went to waste, the U.S. inspector general discovered. Canals, dams and highways fell into disrepair, as Afghanistan failed to absorb the flood of aid. Newly built hospitals and schools stood empty. Without proper oversight, the U.S. money bred corruption that undermined government legitimacy.
Despite the costly counternarcotics campaign, opium exports reached record heights. Despite the billions in weapons and training to Afghan security forces, the Taliban increased the amount of territory they control. Despite vast spending on job creation and welfare, unemployment hovers around 25%. The poverty rate has fluctuated over the years, reaching 47% through 2020, according to the World Bank, compared to 36% when the fund first began calculating in 2007.
“We invested too much with too little to show for it,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Century Foundation.
THE COST OF LEAVING
Although few want to prolong the war interminably, many fear its final end may jeopardize Afghanistan’s modest gains in health, education and women’s rights, made in the early years as the U.S. expanded the economy and toppled the Taliban, which had imposed tough strictures on women.
Since 2001, life expectancy has increased to 64 years from 56, the World Bank says. Maternal mortality has more than halved. Opportunities for education have grown, with the literacy rate rising 8% to roughly 43%. Life in cities has improved, with 89% of residents having access to clean water, compared to 16% before the war.
Child marriage has declined by 17%, according to U.N. data. Girls’ enrollment in primary school has nearly doubled, and more women have entered college and served in Parliament. These figures still pale compared with global standards.
Also Read: US to leave troops in Afghanistan beyond May, 9/11 new goal
But more broadly, the failure of America’s ambitions to build a stable, democratic Afghanistan has left the country mired in uncertainty as U.S. forces leave. The nation’s history tells of civil war that follows foreign invasions and withdrawals.
“For better or worse, the U.S. has a serious stabilizing presence right now, and once that’s gone there’s going to be a power vacuum,” said Michael Callen, an Afghanistan economy expert at the London School of Economics. “In the 20 years’ war, there’s going to be a whole lot of scores that need to be settled.”
India launches effort to inoculate all adults against COVID
In hopes of taming a monstrous spike in COVID-19 infections, India opened vaccinations to all adults Saturday, launching a huge inoculation effort that was sure to tax the limits of the federal government, the country’s vaccine factories and the patience of its 1.4 billion people.
The world’s largest maker of vaccines was still short of critical supplies — the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages that delayed the rollout in several states. And even in places where the shots were in stock, the country’s wide economic disparities made access to the vaccine inconsistent.
Also Read: India: 18 die in fire at Covid hospital
Only a fraction of India’s population will be able to afford the prices charged by private hospitals for the shot, experts said, meaning that states will be saddled with immunizing the 600 million Indian adults younger than 45, while the federal government gives shots to 300 million health care and front-line workers and people older than 45.
Also Read: India grieves 200000 dead with many more probably uncounted
So far, government vaccines have been free, and private hospitals have been permitted to sell shots at a price capped at 250 rupees, or around $3. That practice will now change: Prices for state governments and private hospitals will be determined by vaccine companies. Some states might not be able to provide vaccines for free since they are paying twice as much as the federal government for the same shot, and prices at private hospitals could rise.
Since state governments and private players compete for shots in the same marketplace, and states pay less for the doses, vaccine makers can reap more profit by selling to the private sector, said Chandrakant Lahariya, a health policy expert. That cost can then be passed on to people receiving the shots, increasing inequity.
“There is no logic that two different governments should be paying two prices,” he said.
Concerns that pricing issues could deepen inequities are only the most recent hitch in India’s sluggish immunization efforts. Less than 2% of the population has been fully immunized against COVID-19 and around 10% has received a single dose. Immunization rates have also fallen. The average number of shots per day dipped from over 3.6 million in early April to less than 2.5 million right now.
In the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, the health minister promised free vaccines for those ages 18 to 44, but he also acknowledged that the shortage of doses meant immunization would not start as planned on Saturday. States say the paucity of shots is one reason why immunizations have declined.
India thought the worst was over when cases ebbed in September. But mass gatherings such as political rallies and religious events were allowed to continue, and relaxed attitudes on the risks fueled a major humanitarian crisis, according to health experts. New variants of the coronavirus have partly led the surge. Deaths officially surpassed 200,000 this week, and the true death toll is believed to be far higher.
The country’s shortage of shots has global implications because, in addition to its own inoculation efforts, India has promised to ship vaccines abroad as part of a United Nations vaccine-sharing program that is dependent on its supply.
Indian vaccine makers produce an estimated 70 million doses each month of the two approved shots — the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and another one made by Bharat Biotech.
The federal government is buying half of those vaccines to give to states. The remaining half can then be bought by states and private hospitals to be given to anyone over 18, but at prices set by the companies.
The federal government is buying shots at 150 rupees each, or $2. The Serum Institute will sell the shots to states at 300 rupees each, or $4, and to private players at 600 rupees each, or $8. Bharat Biotech said it will charge states 400 rupees, or less than $5.50 for a shot, and private players 1,200 rupees, or more than $16.
By comparison, the European Union paid $2.15 per dose for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The company says that price is discounted because the EU contributed to the vaccine’s development.
The strain is mounting on the Serum Institute, which in addition to being India’s main supplier is also a critical supplier of the U.N.-backed initiative known as COVAX, which more than 90 countries are depending on. The institute paused exports in March.
“The urgent demand for vaccines in India is bad for the rest of the world,” said Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University.
Some experts warned that conducting a massive inoculation effort now could worsen the surge in a country that is second only to the United States in its number of infections — more than 19.1 million
“There’s ample evidence that having people wait in a long, crowded, disorderly queue could itself be a source of infection,” said Dr. Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer specializing in infectious diseases at Britain’s University of Exeter. He urged India to first stop the circulation of the virus by imposing “a long, sustained, strictly enforced lockdown.”
Pankhania cautioned that immunization efforts alone would not help immediately stem the current spike of COVID-19, since shots “only start to bear fruit in about three months’ time.” Vaccination would help prevent future waves of infection, he said.
India is also importing shots from the Russian makers of Sputnik V. The first batch was due to arrive Saturday. Another 125 million doses of Sputnik V will be distributed by an Indian pharmaceutical company later this year.
Given the urgent need for vaccines, some experts said rationing available doses is critical.
“Vaccines need to be delivered to the areas with the most intense transmission,” Gupta said, explaining that vaccines should be used as “emergency control measures” in specific regions of India rather than offering doses to all adults across the subcontinent.
Pankhania said the widely seen images of Indian virus patients gasping for air and smoke billowing from makeshift funeral pyres should spur rich countries to share their vaccines more freely. He criticized the approach taken by many Western countries that are attempting to vaccinate all citizens, including younger people at low risk, before sharing any doses.
“It is better globally to immunize all the (vulnerable) people that need to be protected rather than to immunize entire populations in only some countries,” Pankhania said.
UN calls for return to democracy in Myanmar, end to violence
The U.N. Security Council on Friday again demanded the restoration of democracy in Myanmar and the release of all detainees including Aung San Suu Kyi and strongly backed calls by Southeast Asian nations for an immediate cessation of violence and talks as a first step toward a solution following the Feb. 1 military coup.
The council’s press statement followed a briefing by the top U.N. envoy that the strong, united demand for democracy by the people of Myanmar who have been protesting since the coup has created “unexpected difficulties” for military leaders in consolidating power and risks bringing the administration of the nation to a standstill.
Also Read: UN Human Rights Office says 18 killed in Myanmar crackdown
Christine Schraner Burgener said in remarks to the closed council meeting obtained by The Associated Press that her discussions in the region “compounded” her concern that the situation in Myanmar is deteriorating in all areas. She pointed to a resurgence of fighting in ethnic areas, more poor people losing jobs, civil servants refusing to work to protest the coup and a brewing crisis of families in and around the main city Yangon “pushed to the edge” for food, going into debt and trying to survive.
Security Council members “reiterated their deep concern at the situation in Myanmar following the declaration of the state of emergency imposed by the military on Feb. 1 and reiterated their support for Myanmar’s democratic transition.”
The council also reiterated its previous statements which include strongly condemning the use of violence against peaceful protesters and the deaths of hundreds of civilians, calling for the restoration of democracy and release of detainees. Council members have also called on the military “to exercise utmost restraint” and “on all sides to refrain from violence,” and stressed “the need to fully respect human rights and to pursue dialogue and reconciliation.”
Schraner Burgener spoke by video from Bangkok where she returned after traveling to Jakarta to meet participants in the April 24 ministerial meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations known as ASEAN which includes Myanmar and was attended by the junta’s military commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
The U.N. envoy said she met the commander-in-chief on the ASEAN sidelines and they agreed “to keep details of the exchange discreet to allow for continued frank and open discussions,” but she assured the council she “amplified” on the statements its 15 members had approved.
Based on her meeting with Gen. Hlaing, Schraner Burgener told the council that on Thursday she again requested to visit Myanmar. Her previous requests have been turned down by the military, which said the time was not right.
Also Read: Myanmar crackdown on protests, widely filmed, sparks outrage
“In the past three years, I have built constructive relations and confidence with key actors in Myanmar and this would allow me to get straight to substantive exchanges on how the current deadlock could be resolved, if given access to the country,” she said. “My presence could also help calm tensions.”
The Security Council expressed hope that Schraner Burgener would visit Myanmar “as soon as possible.”
Schraner Burgener said she plans to stay in the region in the coming weeks and will remain in close contact with ASEAN members to support “the timely and comprehensive implementation” of its “five-point consensus” on Myanmar’s crisis.
It calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation of the dialogue process by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels and a visit to Myanmar by the association’s special envoy to meet all concerned parties.
The Security Council reiterated its “strong support for ASEAN’s positive and constructive role in facilitating a peaceful solution in support of the people of Myanmar and commended ASEAN’s continued efforts to engage with all relevant parties in Myanmar.
Council members called for full implementation of the “five-point consensus” without delay, encouraged continued ASEAN leadership, and backed an early visit to Myanmar by an ASEAN envoy, who has not yet been appointed.
The Security Council and Schraner Burgener made clear that they see the roles of the Security Council and ASEAN as complementary — the U.N.’s most powerful body as the critical international player and the Southeast Asian organization as the critical regional player.
Schraner Burgener said she held “important discussions” with the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand as well as ASEAN’s secretary general Lim Jock Hoi, calling these meetings “a testament to the commitment of the United Nations to support ASEAN and ensure complementarity.”
The Security Council also “encouraged complementarity of her work to the work of ASEAN.”
Britain’s acting ambassador James Roscoe called the ASEAN demand for the immediate cessation of violence an “unconditional requirement” agreed by the Myanmar junta.
He expressed concern that general Hlaing said after the ASEAN meeting he would only consider its five points “recommended steps for solving the crisis after the situation stabilizes.”
The Feb. 1 coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country. The coup took place following November elections, which Suu Kyi’s party won overwhelmingly and the military contests.
Since the ASEAN summit, demonstrations have continued in many parts of Myanmar against the junta, as have arrests and beatings by security forces, despite an apparent agreement by Hlaing to end the violence. Many demonstrators expressed discontent at the ASEAN meeting’s outcome, especially its failure to demand the release of political leaders. Suu Kyi was arrested in the coup and is among an estimated 3,400 people still being held.
Schraner Burgener told the council: “The release of all political prisoners and other detainees as well as full respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms will be paramount.”
She warned that “ongoing reports of lethal force, arrests and mistreatment since, risk undermining momentum generated from the ASEAN leaders’ meeting.”
Schraner Burgener cited “a resurgence of fighting in ethnic areas ... with reports of continued airstrikes displacing thousands and killing innocent civilians.”
The U.N. envoy also noted “the reported use of improvised explosive devices” and “concerning reports that civilians, mostly students from the urban areas, are now receiving training in the use of weapons in the regions of the ethnic armed organizations.”
“Confidence-building measures are urgently required,” she said, expressing hope that her visit will take place “as it could help provide space to move ahead on the consensus points.”
Schraner Burgener said fatalities are rising every day, citing the latest figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners that more than 756 people have been killed and 3,450 arrested, charged or sentenced.
The United Nations estimates that around 20,000 people have fled their home and remain internally displaced in Myanmar while almost 10,000 have fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. envoy said, and the World Food Program says preexisting poverty, COVID-19 and the political crisis are likely to lead 3.4 million more people to suffer from hunger within the next six months.
Virus surge, vaccine shortages spread beyond India’s borders
India has tried to fight skyrocketting coronavirus infections by increasing its production of vaccines and banning their export, cutting off supplies to neighbors such as Bangladesh and Nepal as they struggle with infection surges of their own.
These nations have imposed lockdowns as residents of big cities flee to the countryside seeking safety. They are also turning to China and Russia for vaccines in a desperate effort to deal with a pandemic that is becoming bigger and deadlier across South Asia.
Also Read: Border with India to remain shut for 14 days: FM
Although new, more transmissible variants appear to be partly behind the surge, experts say other factors are contributing, including large holiday gatherings and growing fatigue with social distancing and mask wearing.
Here is a look at the situation in parts of South Asia, a region with about one-fourth of the world’s population:
BANGLADESH
The surge in India has created huge worries for Bangladesh, which shares a land border stretching 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) with India and where infections and deaths have surged in recent weeks.
The Muslim-majority country of 160 million people is under a lockdown lasting through May 5, which authorities say could be extended.
Also Read: Liquid oxygen import from India suspended at Benapole
Bangladesh officials fear that new variants circulating in India could bring devastation.
“This is a matter of serious concern for us,” said Dr. A.S.M. Alamgir, principal scientific officer of the government’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. “That concern has prompted the government to suspend all cross-border movement of people.”
With India imposing a ban on the export of AstraZeneca vaccines made by its Serum Institute of India, Bangladesh is attempting to obtain technology from Russia and China to produce their vaccines locally.
NEPAL
An infection surge in Nepal has prompted the government to impose new lockdowns in major cities and towns, restricting the movement of people and vehicles and shuttering markets, offices and schools.
Hospital beds were already scarce and medical resources stretched as the country entered the new wave trying to recover from an economic hit from a nearly four-month lockdown last year.
Nepal’s latest concern has been the 1,800-kilometer (1,125-mile) open border the Himalayan nation shares with India. Tens of thousands of Nepalese migrant workers have been returning to Nepal across this border as India’s health system breaks down.
The government has ordered tests and quarantines for those arriving, but in practice many people slip through undetected and travel to their villages.
Nepal began a vaccination campaign in January with 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by India, but it was suspended because of India’s refusal to allow exports as its domestic situation worsened.
Nepal has also paid for an addition 1 million doses from India, but has been waiting for the delivery since March. This shipment is needed for elderly people scheduled for a second dose in May.
The campaign was resumed with 800,000 vaccine doses donated by China, and now Nepal is negotiating with Russian authorities for supplies of Russian vaccines.
SRI LANKA
For many weeks, the number of daily COVID-19 infections in the island nation of Sri Lanka stood below 200. But last week, the figure suddenly surged and reached 1,466 on Thursday, the highest amount in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
Government and health officials say the rising numbers are party driven by celebrations and shopping surrounding the traditional New Year’s festival that fell on April 14 — and they warn the worst is yet to come.
Dr. Padma Gunarathne, president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, said the country is at the early stages of another spike in infections and “this is a very risky situation for Sri Lanka.”
The country, with a population of nearly 22 million, has recorded 104,953 coronavirus infections and 655 deaths.
Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine at Sri Jayewardenepura University, said a more transmissible variant circulating now is contributing to the surge.
The government reacted by imposing restrictions, including suspending schools and state functions and banning private meetings and parties. Yet media show some people ignoring social distancing and failing to wear face masks.
Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera warned that the number of patients “could go up very decisively within the next two weeks.”
BHUTAN
The tiny nation of Bhutan is a success story in the region despite being poor and sharing land borders with China, where the virus was first detected, and India, which is facing a disaster now.
The nation of about 800,000 people has registered only one death and 1,059 infections.
Its success is based on the early adoption of lockdowns, quarantines, contact tracing and other measures, as well as a fast vaccination program this year. More than 480,000 vaccine doses were administered by April 26, according to government statistics.
US to restrict travel from India over COVID starting Tuesday
The U.S. will restrict travel from India starting on May 4, the White House said Friday, citing a devastating rise in COVID-19 cases in the country and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden’s administration made the determination on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read CDC says many Americans can now go outside without a mask
“The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India,” she said.
With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported 18.7 million Covid cases since the pandemic began, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry on Friday also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts believe both figures are an undercount, but it’s unclear by how much.
Read Around 6,000 Americans contracted Covid after being fully vaccinated, 74 died: CDC
The U.S. action comes days after Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the growing health crisis in his country and pledged to immediately send assistance. The U.S. has already moved to send therapeutics, rapid virus test and oxygen to India, along with some materials needed for that country to boost its domestic production of COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, a CDC team of public health experts was expected to soon be on the ground in India to help health officials there move to slow the spread of the virus.
The White House waited on the CDC recommendation before moving to restrict travel, noting that the U.S. already requires negative tests and quarantines for all international travelers. Other restrictions are in place on travel from China, Iran, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa, which are or have been hotspots for the coronavirus.
Superville reported from Philadelphia.
Read Half of US adults have received at least one COVID-19 shot
Guaraná: The edible 'eyes of the Amazon'
The pristine stretch of sand on Ponta da Maresia beach is a gathering point in the Brazilian town of Maués. Early risers head down to swim in warm waters that have neither waves nor salt, for the beach is on the banks of the Maués-Acú River in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, some 1,000km from the ocean.
The beach only emerges for a few months of the year, from August onwards, at the start of the dry season when the river levels drop. This time of year also marks the start of the guaraná season, when the fruit native to the Maués region begins to ripen, its red skins bursting open to reveal white flesh and a black seed that bears a disconcerting resemblance to an eyeball, reports BBC.
Maués is one of the top guaraná-producing regions in Brazil. Both its economy and its culture revolve around the fruit, whose seeds are highly prized for their stimulant and medicinal properties and find their way around the world into everything from fizzy drinks to energy drinks such as Monster and Rockstar, as well as medicines and cosmetics. It's an industry worth millions of dollars to the Brazilian economy each year.
Guaraná contains high levels of caffeine – as much as four times that of coffee beans, as well as other psychoactive stimulants (including saponins and tannins) associated with improved cognitive performance. And numerous research papers explore its potential in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidepressant, intestinal regulator and even an aphrodisiac.
Maués might be dubbed the "land of guaraná" but the fruit's history long predates the town. The Sateré-Mawé indigenous people have been cultivating guaraná in their ancestral forests nearby for millennia. It was their ancestors who domesticated the species, learned of its properties and devised the best cultivation and processing techniques.
It was only 352 years ago, however, that the earliest written record of guaraná appeared, when the Sateré-Mawé first came into contact with Europeans. The year was 1669, and a Jesuit priest, João Felipe Betendorf, on one of the many missions sent by the Portuguese crown to open up the Amazon and extract its riches, wrote of a "little fruit, which [the Sateré-Mawé] dry and crush, forming balls which they value as the whites value gold". Portuguese colonisers in the 18th Century also described guaraná as the Sateré-Mawé's "most precious asset" and of its use "as currency for payments". By the early 19th Century, records describe an intense commerce of the Amazonian fruit as far and wide as Bolivia, Argentina and even Europe, where it was "greatly appreciated" by the men of science at the International Exhibition in London in 1862.
The Sateré-Mawé had a monopoly on the production of guaraná (or waraná, in their language) up until the late 19th Century, but to talk of their connection to it in purely commercial terms is to entirely miss the political, moral, cultural and spiritual significance it has.
"For us, it's a mystical plant. It's the origin of our people" explained Obadias Batista Garcia, president of the General Council of the Sateré-Mawé Tribe (CGSTM).
Their oral legends describe how they descended from a murdered child, whose eye was buried and grew into the first waraná plant, from which the first Sateré-Mawé person emerged. Garcia tells me their origin story in as concise a way as he can, but it's a bit like explaining the Bible or the Quran in 10 minutes. "It's a long story," he said afterwards. "It's something that parents tell their children every night, so we can learn to live, to be leaders, to be good parents and good children."
Just 75km upriver from Maués, the Sateré-Mawé still cultivate guaraná in their traditional way, on 8,000sq km of protected indigenous territory. They gather seedlings from underneath wild guaraná vines (Latin name Paullinia Cupana), which are then transplanted to clearings where they grow into fruit-bearing bushes.
During the harvest season from November through to March, the seeds are washed, roasted, peeled, ground and then mixed with water to be shaped into batons that are left to dry in a smokehouse and can be kept for years. These batons are then grated on a stone and steeped in water to make an earthy-tasting drink called çapó. It's both a daily beverage and the accompaniment to rituals and rites of passage, such as the Festa da Tocandeira, a coming-of-age ceremony for young men. Preparing and drinking çapó has its own set of rules that are observed, such as who should serve the drink to guests, the order in which it must passed around, and that the bowl should never be handed back empty to the host.
Tourists are welcome to visit and learn about the Sateré-Mawé's waraná-making traditions; the community opened up a pousada (guest house) nearly 30 years ago, taking visitors on hikes through their forest and to see handicrafts being made.
Over the centuries, people across the region have learnt the Sateré-Mawé methods for cultivating and processing guaraná, and nowadays some 2,400 families around Maués grow and sell upwards of 500 tonnes of processed seeds in a good year. "The ribeirinhos [traditional riverside communities] in Maués learnt from the Sateré-Mawé," said Ramom Morato, coordinator of the Guaraná Alliance of Maués (AGM), a network set up in 2017 to improve the quality of life for the people of Maués. "They're all family farmers and a lot of them are descendants of indigenous people or identify as indigenous. The process is artisanal and guarantees a high-quality product. The fruit is selectively harvested by hand and the seeds spend hours and hours in clay pans to reach the perfect humidity. It's different to other regions where the process is industrial."
The AGM was instrumental in securing a geographical indication status for guaraná from Maués in 2018, a guarantee of sorts to buyers of a superior quality product. Another focus of the alliance is to develop community tourism initiatives, through local guides such as Ítalo Michiles, who set up Experiência Mawé in 2019. Almost any excursion with Michiles starts and ends on a small motorboat, navigating the vast web of rivers that wiggle and wind through the forest, connecting rural farms and communities. He takes visitors to have a fish lunch with ribeirinhos and see how they cultivate and process guaraná.
Like the Sateré-Mawé, drinking guaraná is part of their daily routine and part of the experience for visitors, too. The ribeirinhos grate the brown guaraná baton using the coarse dried tongue of a pirarucu, one of the world's largest freshwater fish, which can weigh up to 200kg and has – unsurprisingly – a pretty big tongue, about 10cm long.
Visitors can also take in the modern side of guaraná production in Maués, touring plantations belonging to the state-owned agricultural research agency Embrapa, which is developing more productive cloned varieties of guarana; or the 1,000-hectare Santa Helena Farm, which is owned by global drinks giant Ambev. Most of the farm is protected forest but Ambev grows a small amount of guaraná here, sourcing 90% of their guaraná supply from around 2,000 local farmers. The seeds are sent to Manaus where they become the magic ingredient in the fizzy drink Guaraná Antártica, Brazil's answer to Coca-Cola. While many Brazilians have never heard of the Sateré-Mawé, Guaraná Antártica is a household name; they drink nearly 400 million litres of it each year.
There's also the Festa de Guaraná (The Guaraná Festival), set up in 1979 by an enterprising mayor to celebrate the fruit's harvest. The festival is held in late November or early December and it's the highlight of Maués' social and business calendar, drawing tens of thousands of revellers to a three-day celebration on Ponta de Maresias beach.
An all-encompassing line-up of activities generally includes a trade fair, sporting competitions, concerts and even a Guaraná Queen beauty pageant. The Sateré-Mawé waraná legends are liberally reinterpreted on stage as flamboyant musicals, though the indigenous people are notably excluded from the festivities.
"The music starts up at 19:00," Michiles explained. "All along the beach, stalls sell food and drink, and guaraná of course. People drink turbinado ["turbocharged"] – a non-alcoholic shake with guaraná, avocado, peanuts, and dance till 3, 4 or 5 in the morning. Guaraná gives you so much energy."
Chances are, a fair few pensioners are among the crowds that dance till dawn at the festival. The percentage of elderly people in Maués is double Brazil's national average. This curious phenomenon sparked interest in the Brazilian press when it came to light 10 years ago, with TV crews interviewing razor-sharp 90-year-olds who still do a hard day's work outdoors. It could be down to active lifestyles or the lean Amazonian diet, but their regular guaraná habit seems a likely factor, too.
Scientists from three public universities (Brazil's Universidade do Estado do Amazonas and Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, and the University of León in Spain) began a research project in Maués in 2009 to study the impact of guaraná on the local elderly population. Their findings have been published in a handful of scientific papers published in international journals, including a 2011 paper in the monthly journal Phytotherapy Research, which showed that the elderly in Maués who consume guaraná have more protection against metabolic disorders than those who don't.
Of course, the Sateré-Mawé knew of its health- and energy-boosting properties long before it became a global commodity. Guaraná is their gift to the world and they're finally getting recognition for it. In late 2020, the Sateré-Mawé's waraná was awarded a Brazilian Appellation of Origin status – an official recognition of the exclusive link between the product and its place of origin. It's the first time this certification has been granted to an indigenous people in Brazil and will open the door to a similar status (Protected Designation of Origin) granted by the European Union.
"The Appellation of Origin is the recognition of a decades-long fight to defend a product that should not be reduced to a commodity," said Maurizio Fraboni, an Italian development socioeconomist who has been working with the Sateré-Mawé to protect their culture for years, alongside organisations such as Slow Food.
Their annual production of waraná is tiny compared to that of the wider Maués region, but it's sold in 22 countries around the world, to authorised partners who value its quality and its origin. "Commercialising it has given us financial and political autonomy so that we can create our own policies to manage our land," said Garcia. After all, as he put it: "there would be no Sateré-Mawé without waraná and no waraná without the Sateré-Mawé.
India's top court warns against any clampdown on social media Covid appeals
India's top court on Friday warned state governments across the country against any clampdown on citizens taking to social media for help or airing their grievances amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court said that it would initiate contempt action against state governments and law enforcement authorities if they file a police case or arrest people appealing for help or putting out their SOS messages on social media or elsewhere during the pandemic.
"It is of grave concern to me as a citizen or (a) judge. If citizens communicate their grievances on social media, we do not want a clampdown on information. Let us hear their voices. We will treat this as contempt if any citizen is harassed if they want bed or oxygen. We are in (a) human crisis," said Justice DY Chandrachud, who led the bench.
"Even doctors and healthcare workers are not getting beds," he said, describing the situation in the country "grim".
The court's warning came in the wake of a deluge of SOS messages on social media amid an escalating oxygen crisis in India, particularly in the national capital. Hospitals after hospitals in Delhi and its suburbs are sending out SOS messages to health authorities daily, seeking adequate supply of the life-saving gas.
Last week, at least 50 Covid patients on life support died at two leading Delhi hospitals due to oxygen shortage. Jaipur Golden Hospital, a dedicated Covid medical facility in Delhi, said on Saturday morning that 25 Covid patients died around midnight on Friday due to "low-supply oxygen" to critical patients on ventilator.
On Friday morning too, another leading hospital in Delhi announced the deaths of 25 patients in 24 hours due to a shortage of oxygen.In a statement, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had said, "25 sickest patients have died in the last 24 hours. Oxygen will last another two hours. Major crisis likely. Lives of another 60 sickest patients at risk, need urgent intervention."
It may also be mentioned here that 24 Covid patients on ventilator at a government hospital in the western Indian state of Maharashtra died on Wednesday after their oxygen supply ran out following leakage of the life-supporting gas from a tanker.
The tanker was brought to Zakir Hussain Municipal Hospital in the state's Nashik district to replenish the oxygen cylinders at the medical facility for continuous supply to the 150-plus Covid-19 patients on life support.
UN report says Myanmar poverty could double from coup chaos
Political turmoil and disruptions following the coup in Myanmar could undo years of progress and double the number of its people living in poverty to nearly half the population, a United Nations report said Friday.
The report by the U.N. Development Program, or UNDP, said 12 million people could fall into dire economic straits as businesses remain shuttered in a standoff between the junta and a mass civil disobedience movement.
“The hardest hit will be poor urban populations and the worst affected will be female heads of household,” Kanni Wignaraja, the UNDP’s assistant secretary-general for the region, told The Associated Press via a Zoom recording.
The Feb. 1 coup wrested power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained along with more than 3,400 other people. Since then, the military has severely restricted internet access and gradually stepped up violent repression of protests.
Many factories, offices, banks and other facilities have closed and trade has been disrupted by work stoppages and other disruptions at ports, economists and others familiar with the situation inside Myanmar say. That has worsened already bleak conditions due to the pandemic.
Also read: Myanmar airstrikes target ethnic forces on 2 fronts
The UNDP said conditions could deteriorate by early 2022 to a level of poverty last seen in 2005.
The economy grew rapidly after a previous military regime initiated a partial transition to a civilian government, while keeping control of key ministries and industries and seats in parliament.
Foreign investment in garment manufacturing, tourism and other industries helped create millions of jobs, providing a lifeline of support for many families living in rural areas.
But that progress has ground to a halt as the coup added to troubles from the pandemic.
“With the effects of the political crisis, we could see these gains removed in just a few months,” Wignaraja said.
The research agency Fitch Solutions has forecast that the economy will contract 20% in the current fiscal year, which ends in September. In a report released last week, economist Jason Yek noted that food insecurity is rising due to hoarding and inflation, while people struggle to access cash to pay for necessities due to the closure and cash limits put on ATMs.
A weakening of the Myanmar kyat to about 1,600 kyat per dollar from about 1,350 kyat before the coup also hinders the country’s ability to import much needed medicines and other supplies.
“We really cannot rule out any worst-case scenario,” Yek said in an online briefing.
So far, foreign governments and businesses have sought to levy pressure on Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and others in the junta through targeted sanctions meant to cut off financial support to the army, or Tatmadaw.
The UNDP report’s findings suggest that ordinary people already are suffering regardless of sanctions.
Also read: Myanmar guerrillas capture gov't base; airstrikes follow
The magazine Nikkei Asia Review said Thursday that the group Independent Economists for Myanmar issued a report urging the targeting of sources of foreign exchange, such as Myanmar’s exports of natural gas, its biggest revenue earner, and of gems and jade.
Sanctions could freeze deposits linked to the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank, it said.
It said targeting the junta’s sources of hard currency with international sanctions could reduce its revenues by roughly $2 billion annually.
It said the military was prioritizing spending on weapons and security operations over providing desperately needed public services.
Also read: ASEAN leaders demand Myanmar coup leaders end killings
The U.S. recently ordered sanctions against the company that controls most of Myanmar’s gems, pearls and jade sales, though a huge share of that trade is done illicitly.
So far, foreign energy companies involved in Myanmar’s natural gas industry have resisted calls for them to stop paying revenues to the government, saying such moves might endanger their employees and hurt access to already scarce electricity.
Activist says he flew 500K leaflets across Koreas’ border
A South Korean activist said Friday he launched 500,000 propaganda leaflets by balloon into North Korea this week in defiance of a contentious new law that criminalizes such actions.
If confirmed, Park Sang-hak’s action would be the first known violation of the law that punishes anti-Pyongyang leafleting with up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won ($27,040). The law that took effect in March has invited criticism South Korea is sacrificing freedom of expression to improve ties with rival North Korea, which has repeatedly protested the leafleting.
Also read: North Korea fires missiles into sea, criticized by South
Police stations in frontline Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces said they couldn’t immediately confirm if Park sent balloons from their areas, which Park has used in the past and said he used in two launches this week. Cha Duck Chul, a deputy spokesman at Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said the government would handle the case in line with the objective of the law, though police and military authorities were still working to confirm Park’s statements.
Park said his organization floated 10 giant balloons carrying the leaflets, reading materials critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government, and 5,000 one-dollar bills over two launches from frontline areas this week. He would not disclose the exact locations in the two border provinces he used, citing worries police would stop future attempts.
“Though (authorities) can handcuff and put me to a prison cell, they cannot stop (my leafleting) with whatever threats or violence as long as the North Korean people waits for the letters of freedom, truth and hopes,” said Park, a North Korean defector known for years of leafleting campaigns.
Park called the anti-leafleting legislation “the worst law” that “sides with cruel human rights abuser Kim Jong Un and covers the eyes and ears of the North Korean people that have become the modern-day slaves of the Kim dynasty.”
Video released by Park showed him releasing a balloon with leaflets toward a dark sky and showed him standing in the woods with a sign that partly reads, “The world condemns Kim Jong Un who is crazy for nuclear and rocket provocations.”
Also read: North Korea flies out foreign diplomats amid virus fight
The anti-leafleting legislation was passed in December by Parliament, where lawmakers supporting President Moon Jae-in’s engagement policy on North Korea hold a three-fifths supermajority. It went into effect in March.
It’s the first South Korean law that formally bans civilians from floating anti-North Korea leaflets across border. South Korea has previously banned such activities only during sensitive times in inter-Korean relations and normally allowed activists to exercise their freedom of speech despite repeated protests from North Korea.
Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, last year furiously demanded South Korea ban the leafleting and called North Korean defectors involved in it “human scum” and “mongrel dogs.”
Despite the law, ties between the Koreas remain strained amid a standstill in broader nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington. North Korea has made a series of derisive statements against Seoul, including Kim Yo Jong calling Moon “a parrot raised by America” after he criticized the North’s recent missile launches.
4th flight fizzles for NASA’s Mars helicopter, retry Friday
NASA’s Mars helicopter fizzled Thursday on its fourth flight attempt.
The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter named Ingenuity was supposed to lift off on its longest, fastest flight yet, after three successes. But the chopper remained on the ground.
Flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will attempt a redo on Friday.
Also read: NASA’s Mars helicopter takes flight, 1st for another planet
Ingenuity’s took flight for the first time at Mars on April 19 — becoming the first powered aircraft to soar at another planet — after controllers fixed a software error.
Managers said the solution would work 85% of the time. After three successful flights, Thursday’s attempt was not one of them.
The helicopter team has until early next week to test Ingenuity in the Martian skies. Two more flights are planned before NASA’s Perseverance rover shoves off on its primary mission: seeking signs of past life in the Martian rocks. The rover will collect core samples and set them aside for pickup by a future robotic craft, for eventual return to Earth.
Also read: NASA releases Mars landing video: 'Stuff of our dreams'
Perseverance and Ingenuity arrived at Mars on Feb. 18, landing in an ancient river delta.