Browsing Tag Gustavo Destro
Iranian cinema finding success under tyranny
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By Gustavo Destro Strict censorship laws have not quashed the fighting spirit of Iranian cinema and filmmakers Iran has been making headlines every day for the wrong reasons as far as recent memory goes. Nuclear ambitions and a potential war are painting the Persian nation in a bad light, but two weeks ago, Iran had some good international attention for a more...
Blood on our hands: How the international community has failed the Syrian people
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By Gustavo Destro In February, 1982, Hafez al-Assad ordered his army to besiege and shell the city of Hama in order to quell an uprising so strong that it threatened to overrun his regime. The army followed the orders to a tee and effectively destroyed the city, using a scorched earth tactic that left much of the city lying in rubble and as many as 40,000 dead. The more...
21st Century Democracy – The changing face of democracy
| 8:00 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro It started in Tunisia late in 2010, it spread to Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, soon it made its way west, into the streets of New York City and across the globe, and by the end of 2011 it had reached the frozen streets of Moscow. 2011 could be named the Year of the Protests. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement and the anti-Putin more...
Going nuclear
| 5:00 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro On November 8, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released its report on Iran’s nuclear program. It only confirmed what most already believed: that Iran is actively pursuing the technology to produce a nuclear weapon. The report states that Iran is looking to develop a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead; that it more...
The one per cent aren’t the only ones to blame
| 12:01 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro The world economy is a funny thing; it fluctuates, sometimes wildly, between opposites. It has always done so, and it likely always will. When you add human reasoning into the equation, the results are often nothing short of bizarre. The 1920s saw a rapid increase in industry and development, seemingly without end, and nobody believed more...
Don’t blame the one per cent
| 12:01 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro At first, the Occupy protest in New York piqued my interest. It seemed like a grassroots movement that would add some much-needed counterweight to the far-right Tea Party movement of a year before — only with significantly fewer guns, racial undertones, and Glenn Becks; thank God for the lack of Glenn Beck. As the protest grew, however, and as more...
Bringing the Egyptian army to power
| 5:00 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro The people of Egypt were the ones who rose up in anger at now former president Hosni Mubarak, they were the ones who gathered at Tahrir Square and demanded change, and they were the ones who faced the bullets and nightsticks of the Egyptian riot police. But, eventually it was the army who told Mubarak to leave, the army who chose to take the side of more...
The return of the man who never left
| 5:00 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro For the past four years, Vladimir Putin has remained in the spotlight, be it doing photo ops in the middle of the Siberian plains, playing the piano in front of a full opera house, or test driving a Formula One race car (no, really). One thing is for certain: Mr. Putin doesn’t want to be forgotten. It was easier done than said; although he is more...
Economic crises call for strong leadership
| 12:01 am | 0 CommentBy Gustavo Destro It’s no secret that the world economy is a mess; what’s less accepted is just how bad the problem is. 2011 is looking eerily similar to 2008, and that in and of itself is enough to sink anyone’s confidence in the markets. After all, how can a recession so similar happen just three short years later? Who could be daft enough to let that more...
Israel & Palestine: Lots of words, little action
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By Gustavo Destro Amid applause from members of the United Nations General Assembly, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, held in his hand a piece of paper for all to see. This one piece of paper was the official request by the PA for their recognition of Palestine as an independent state and for full membership to the UN. The gesture more...
