OPINION  Nation-states — have they served their purpose?

Are nation-states the only conceivable construction to bond people together? In an era marked by both globalization and separatism on the other, nations are feeling the pressure from all sides, says Alexander Görlach.


China has accused the West of hypocrisy, claiming that on the one hand Western-style democracies condemn its handling of unrest in Hong Kong, but on the other hand take a hard line against the Catalan independence movement. Beijing wonders why Europeans readily support Spain's government, but not China's. After all, both countries are merely defending themselves against separatists trying to split from the nation illegally.

Seeking an answer to that inevitably leads to a debate that's all too familiar: What actually constitutes a nation? A common language, history, and geography are all a part of what makes up a national identity. But beyond that, in my opinion, there is also the question of how someone can feel they are a member of a nation.

Whether in Spain or China, a nation is an abstract size. No single Spaniard will ever meet every other person who identifies as Spanish. And of course the same goes for the Chinese.

Read more: The quest for national sovereignty

Catalan pro-independence demonstrators block a road outside the Camp Nou stadium

Those who pray together stay together

Benedict Anderson eloquently describes the origins of the notion of belonging to a modern nation. In his book "Imagined Communities," he says it arose at the moment when the old abstractions that held people together no longer applied. When beliefs became divided, the "imagined community" of all believers was lost.

"Christianity" consisted of French people, Germans, Poles and Italians, but was held together by the ritualistic (and political) Latin language that also gave this sense of togetherness a practical nature.

The age of discovery in modern Europe laid the cornerstone for new communities far away from the aristocratic societies, from which "explorers" set out to discover the new world. In the respective national languages, a new sense of belonging was established in a very secular and administrative fashion. And it endures to this day, even though people on both sides of the Atlantic speak the same languages — English, Spanish, Portuguese — share the same religious beliefs and celebrate the same cultural and institutional heritage.

The technological advance of the printing press made all this possible. Translations of the bible gave rise to national languages, which in turn defined areas within which the same printed books could be sold. This digression is relevant because we currently live in a time when once again technological change raises questions about affiliation, paving the way for new "imagined communities" to emerge.

Indeed, there is a lively debate about the relevance of the nation-state these days. Everything that's implied by the catchwords globalization and digitalization reinforces the impression that the nation state has little to contribute in terms of progress, at least in its current form.

Supranational entities such as the European Union are based on nation-states. Harmonization attempts to establish a common rule of law over an area encompassing 27 nation-states. At the same time, there is a trend toward regionalization within those states.

More from Alexander Görlach

- Opinion: Democracies unite!

- Opinion: Is the crisis of capitalism a crisis of democracy?

- Opinion: Is today's digital society democratic or authoritarian?

Not every struggle for autonomy is equal

The Catalans and Basques do indeed have their own language and a checkered past with the rest of Spain. But because they are not deprived of any constitutional rights, their struggle for independence seems outdated and out of synch in a world in the midst of revising itself, especially in terms of its "imagined communities."

In Chna, the reverse is true. There, the people in Hong Kong are NOT granted guaranteed rights. It's for that very reason that many people in China's special administrative region now call themselves "Hong Kongers" and no longer consider themselves Chinese. Their distinct language and culture have become a unifying symbol against the external superpower. Incidentally, with the same effect that is common practice in European nation-states — a racist sense of superiority over others out there, but in the case of Hong Kong, over the people of mainland China.

Read more: Hong Kong protests: 'This discontent is really about China'

The world today thus finds itself in a constant state of tension between communities of the past and those of the future. The nation-state is enduring pressure from all sides. In that sense, further fragmentation of national identities, as Anderson puts it, is likely to persist.

At the same time, though, there is debate over whether a new international institution should be created to represent all democratic forces and build a safeguard against populist illiberalism. The new decade just dawning is set to be defined by this debate.

Alexander Görlach is a senior fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and a senior research associate at the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies. He has also held a number of scholarly and advisory positions at Harvard University. He holds doctorate degrees in comparative religion and linguistics and is a guest columnist for several publications, including The New York Times, Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung and business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.



MICRONATIONS: RUN YOUR OWN COUNTRY
Principality of Sealand

This micronation with a superb ocean view looks to be the size of two tennis courts. Paddy Bates and his family occupied the old WWII North Sea anti-aircraft fortress Roughs Towers in 1967 - and claimed it as an independent state a few years later. Not recognized by any state in the world, Sealand nevertheless has its own flag and currency, and is ruled today by Prince Michael.


DW RECOMMENDS

China slaps first sanctions on US over Hong Kong bill

US Navy visits to Hong Kong have been suspended. But sanctions on several pro-democracy US NGOs are more symbolic than substantive after China had threatened strong countermeasures. (02.12.2019)

Catalan president stands trial for 'disobedience'

Amid hightened tensions in Catalonia, the regional president has gone on trial for displaying and refusing to remove secessionist symbols from public buildings. Nine separatist leaders were sent to jail in October. (18.11.2019)

How Hong Kong protests are inspiring movements worldwide

From blocking airports to using encrypted messaging apps, the tactics used by anti-government demonstrators in Hong Kong have been increasingly adopted by protesters in places like Indonesia and Catalonia. (22.10.2019)

The quest for national sovereignty

Independence movements are gaining momentum in the Pacific. These areas are bound by a common history of colonialism, minority repression and a geopolitical tug-of-war. (11.12.2019)

Catalan protesters: 'We want to make a point'

Barcelona came to a standstill on Friday as thousands of Catalans converged on the city after a three-day march. Despite disruptions to transport and business, the protest remained peaceful. Mercedes Iniguez reports. (18.10.2019)

Hong Kong protesters march against 'totalitarianism'

Hong Kongers have taken to the streets as part of a coordinated day of global protests aimed at casting a shadow over communist China's upcoming 70th birthday. Rallies were also held in Sydney and Taipei. (29.09.2019)

Hong Kong protests: 'This discontent is really about China'


More than a million Hong Kongers have taken to the streets to protest against a Beijing-backed extradition bill. But are the rallies more about public anger toward China's role in the city's affairs? (13.06.2019)






Opinion: Democracies unite!




If liberal democracies that respect human rights and are based on the rule of law want to be role models for repressive countries, they should come together in a new institutional form, says Alexander Görlach. (11.12.2019)






Opinion: Is the crisis of capitalism a crisis of democracy?




The protests against established conditions, currently flaring up in many countries around the world, may have different triggers. But dissatisfaction has the same cause everywhere, writes Alexander Görlach. (29.10.2019)






Opinion: Is today's digital society democratic or authoritarian?




The digital revolution and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing not only the economy — but also societies. Not all political systems can deal with this equally well, writes Alexander Görlach. (18.09.2019)






Micronations: Run your own country




What do Kugelmugel, Sealand and Zaqistan have in common? Micronations are a bizarre lot: tiny self-proclaimed principalities and republics, often with their own passports and currencies - but no official recognition. (30.03.2017)

Opinion: The death of Indian democracy

India's Jawaharlal Nehru University is famous for its liberal environment and critical ethos. The attack by masked assailants on its students is an attempt to silence India's secular forces, says DW's Debarati Guha.


New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in India.

It was a dream project of Jawaharlal Nehru, the South Asian country's first prime minister. Nehru wanted to combine excellence and equality at JNU, offering quality education to students from all parts of the country, even from the underdeveloped states.

I remember the day when I first entered the JNU campus and took the small pathway to the Center of Social Sciences. On the way was an old banyan tree under which renowned scholars like Romila Thapar, Sudipta Kaviraj, Rajeev Bhargava, and even the country's latest Nobel laureate, Abhijit Banerjee, had sat.

Fellow students told me stories about the historic student protests at JNU when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed emergency rule in the 1970s, or how JNU students protected Sikhs during the 1984 riots. I myself participated in several hunger strikes during a brief stint as the student councilor.

I would never have imagined that masked goons, armed with sticks and stones, would one day storm the university campus, assaulting students and teachers

Debarati Guha, head of DW Asia


Widening gulf between intellectuals and masses

It is alarming that Indian universities, including JNU, have become a center stage of an ideological conflict, in which the right-wing groups are increasingly using the "nationalism card" to stifle dissent.

JNU has repeatedly been accused of promoting anti-government activities, which could be the reason for police inaction during the January 5 attack on secular students by the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (AVBP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's mother organization.

The masked attackers said their assault was part of their "united front against the left," as they unleashed terror on peaceful students that were protesting against a fee hike as well as a new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims.


Read more: Opinion: India's new citizenship act is unconstitutional

The current situation is definitely not conducive to progressive learning. Mahatma Gandhi's speeches on civil disobedience, Michel Foucault's texts on discipline, and Partha Chatterjee's lectures on good and bad nationalism ring hollow now.

The distance between intellectuals and the masses is rapidly increasing in India, posing a serious threat to the country's secular values and constitutional supremacy.

India finds itself in this quagmire not just because the BJP's government is trying to undermine India's secular ethos; it is also due to the fact that people have become skeptical of secularism in the past few years. This is also happening because of a lack of intellectual culture in the country and an attack on political decency.


Read more: India's Modi refuses to budge on citizenship law despite mass protests


Indian democracy could paralyze

I find it disturbing that a spate of anti-Muslim measures by the government is being hailed not only by Hindu supremacists but also a growing number of people from the "moderate" middle-class.

This relatively large group of people includes many "liberal Hindus," who are not necessarily anti-Muslim. But unfortunately, the fear-mongering has made them vulnerable to the Hindu nationalists' anti-secular propaganda. Hence, it is no longer a domain of the far-right groups to challenge special privileges for Muslims.

This trend can paralyze the world's largest democracy. It is time that India's secular people form a united front and confront the fundamentalist discourse.

India's future remains uncertain under the incumbent government. I am afraid that even if opposition parties eventually regain power, they will struggle to roll back the BJP's right-wing policies.

Read more: Protesters killed as India's Modi meets lawmakers over citizenship bill


INDIA'S NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW IGNITES RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

Shutdown in parts of India
The Indian government suspended internet services and tightened security on Friday in several parts of the country, including the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The government is expecting another wave of violent protests against the controversial new Citizenship Amendment Act, which was enacted on December 11.

DW RECOMMENDS
Fresh student protests hit India over university attack

Monday's protests follow a violent attack by masked assailants on students at a university in New Delhi. Some have blamed the clashes on a student group linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. (06.01.2020)

Protesters killed as India's Modi meets lawmakers over citizenship bill

India's Prime Minister called a meeting with ministers to assess the ongoing protests over a controversial citizenship bill. So far at least 23 people have died, with the violent protests showing no sign of stopping. (21.12.2019)

India's Modi refuses to budge on citizenship law despite mass protests

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to give in to the demands of tens of thousands of protesters opposing a controversial citizenship law. The country's top court refused to stall the law's implementation. (18.12.2019)

Indian parliament approves citizenship bill, sparking protests

Protesters in India's ethnically diverse northern regions clashed with police, as the contentious bill passed the upper house of parliament. Muslims will be excluded from the fast-track citizenship laws. (11.12.2019)

Opinion: India's new citizenship act is unconstitutional

India's move to exclude Muslims from seeking a fast track to citizenship is blatantly discriminatory. It will not be long before the fundamental pluralistic character of India is altered, says DW's Debarati Guha. (12.12.2019) India's new citizenship law ignites religious tensions

Dozens of people have been killed as a result of protests against India's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. Critics say the law is aimed at marginalizing Muslims and goes against India's secular constitution. (27.12.2019)

Date 08.01.2020
Author Debarati Guha
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3Vu0M

Indian universities at the center of an ideological war
The recent attack by masked assailants at a university in New Delhi has alarmed secular and liberal Indians, who see it as part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's scheme to push the country toward Hindu supremacy.


Indian students are protesting against a violent attack by masked assailants at a university in New Delhi. Videos circulating on social media show "gang members" beating Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and teachers with rods and bricks in an assault that opposition lawmakers say is linked to the government.

Sunday's violence was particularly blamed on the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have spread across many parts of the country, with liberal and secular Indians slamming the Hindu nationalist leader for enforcing a new citizenship law, alleging that it discriminates against Muslims.

Student organizations are at the forefront of these anti-government protests. But the attack on students has alarmed many in the South Asian country.

Many students and organizers at JNU have protested Modi's policies in recent years. Protests against the fee hike, which students said would make education too expensive, kicked off in November.

Growing violence in campuses

Violence at the university campuses is not a new phenomenon in India, but the situation has worsened since BJP came to power in 2014. Critics say the Hindu nationalist party is using its student arm to target left-leaning teachers and pupils.

Activists also accuse the BJP of unleashing police violence to crush dissent.

On December 15, 2019, police raided the Jamia Millia University (JMU) in the capital and used force against the protesting university students. On the same day, the security forces launched a crackdown against the students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

"Students' rights are being curbed [in India]. The students are angry and they are not going to accept it anymore. That is why they are protesting. The government wants to silence them," Yousuf Saeed, a documentary filmmaker, told DW.

Human rights activists and civil society campaigners say the government has been using various tactics to intimidate the students.

"Students have refused to surrender. That is why we see that authorities have become more brutal in handling them. The violence at the universities is a proof of that," Prabhat Patnaik, a JNU professor, told DW.

JNU is known for its active left-leaning and secular student groups. Deepak Nayyar, a former vice chancellor of the Delhi University, believes it was "not a coincidence" that the ABVP activists targeted the students.

Read more: India's Modi says new citizenship law is not against Muslims

Secularism vs. nationalism

Clashes between liberal student organizations and the BJP's student wings have spiked in the past few years. Analysts say it is a sign that university students are increasingly resorting to violence instead of indulging in healthy political debates.

"Whenever we raise secular slogans in campuses, the ABVP counters them by Hindu nationalism chants. They call us anti-state Maoists," Mayank Gupta, a doctoral student at the Jamia Millia University, told DW.

Rajeev Pandey, a former student activist, says the universities must be free of the government's influence to ensure a vibrant academic environment.

"Universities prepare future political leaders. That is why they need to be free and independent. The BJP does not want it," according to Rajeev Pandey, another former student activist.

Modi's BJP, however, denounced the attacks in a tweet. "This is a desperate attempt by forces of anarchy, which are determined to use students as cannon fodder, [to] create unrest to shore up their shrinking political footprint. Universities should remain places of learning and education," the party said.

INDIA'S NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW IGNITES RELIGIOUS TENSIONS
Shutdown in parts of India

The Indian government suspended internet services and tightened security on Friday in several parts of the country, including the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The government is expecting another wave of violent protests against the controversial new Citizenship Amendment Act, which was enacted on December 11.

DW RECOMMENDS

Fresh student protests hit India over university attack

Monday's protests follow a violent attack by masked assailants on students at a university in New Delhi. Some have blamed the clashes on a student group linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. (06.01.2020)
Indian state shuts down internet ahead of protests


Authorities in India's most-populous state have been bracing for protests after Friday prayers. At least 16 people have been killed in the state, most of them shot dead. (27.12.2019)

German student asked to leave India after joining student protests


A German student will leave India after receiving "oral directions" from immigration authorities. He had participated in protests against legislation to expand citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants in India. (24.12.2019)

India's Modi says new citizenship law is not against Muslims

Scores of people have been killed as a result of violent protests against a citizenship amendment law, which critics say discriminates against Muslims. Indian PM Narendra Modi says the opposition is distorting the facts. (22.12.2019)

Indian parliament approves citizenship bill, sparking protests

Protesters in India's ethnically diverse northern regions clashed with police, as the contentious bill passed the upper house of parliament. Muslims will be excluded from the fast-track citizenship laws. (11.12.2019)

India's new citizenship law ignites religious tensions


Dozens of people have been killed as a result of protests against India's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. Critics say the law is aimed at marginalizing Muslims and goes against India's secular constitution. (27.12.2019)


AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC

Attackers beat protesting students at Indian university


Date 08.01.2020
Author Murali Krishnan (New Delhi)

FILM

Werner Herzog: The extreme is his normal

The German movie director will will be honored by the American Society of Cinematographers. Herzog told DW why he thinks film schools are a waste of time and when he has faced his own limits.


European Film Award for Werner Herzog
The director is shown here receiving the German Film Award's honorary prize in 2013. On December 7 he is being honored in Berlin with the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. Having directed over 60 feature and documentary films, his oeuvre comprises a wide variety of genres — and many influential works.

After the Lifetime Achievement Award awarded by the European Film Academy in December 2019, veteran German filmmaker Werner Herzog (shown above left with actor Klaus Kinski) will also be honored by the American Society of Cinematographers on January 25, as reporter by Variety on Thursday.

DW's Hans Christoph von Bock spoke to Herzog in Munich ahead of the European Film Awards.

DW: You've already been obtaining awards for your body of work for 10 years now. How does it feel to be receiving new ones now?

Werner Herzog: A bit strange, because I'm still immersed in work and my film output is higher than it was 30 or 40 years ago. In the past year I've released three feature-length films: one about Gorbachev [Meeting Gorbachev], one about the writer Bruce Chatwin [Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin] and another fiction film shot in Japan [Family Romance, LLC]. All that within 12 months. Other people would need six or eight years to achieve as much. I mean, I'd rather expect this award to be thrown at me after having spent 10 years without making a movie, and I'd be rolled onto the stage on a wheelchair.


Herzog has also directed operas, such as the 2002 production in Erfurt of 'The Flying Dutchman' by Wagner (above, with Herzog at left)

Do you still see Bavaria in southeast Germany as your home, even though you haven't lived there for the past 20 years?

My cultural roots are here, even though my family comes from other areas. My father's side is of Swabian [south-central German] and Huguenot [French Protestant] origins, and my mother's family is from Austria and Croatia. But growing up in the mountains made it clear to me that Bavarian is my first language. When I'm traveling around the world, the thing I miss the most is that I never hear the Bavarian dialect.

You never went to a film school and you generally have a poor opinion of them. Why?

I think their direction is wrong and basically students are held captive there for too long. In the three or four years of their program, they could shoot three feature films instead of learning random film theory. What they need to know, they could learn in a week.

You offer your own master classes. What do people learn there in a week?

I founded the Rogue Film School as an alternative to what is being done in film schools around the world. There are only two things students really need to learn: First, how to crack security locks. Second, how to fake a film permit convincingly enough that you won't get caught. All the rest is dialogue and examples from film, music and literature.

Lately, I've been focusing on giving workshops in which participants have to direct a very short film within nine days — without a previously written script, because they do not know ahead of time the general topic I will be assigning. They're allowed to do anything they want; I only set the narrative frame.

I did one recently in the Peruvian Amazon jungle. The theme was "Fever dreams in the jungle." They had to come up with a story, find locations and actors, shoot the film, edit it themselves on their laptops and present it after nine days. Great movies came out of it.

Your own filmmaking work, whether documentary or drama, has always embodied extreme cinema: extreme landscapes, extreme situations, extreme characters. What drives you to keep looking for these extremes?

Actually, I'm not looking for extremes but rather for what I see as normal. People keep saying that it's extreme to shoot in the Amazon. But look, it's just a forest. That's nothing special.
Werner Herzog, Claudia Cardinale and Klaus Kinski (L to R) on the set of 'Fitzcarraldo'

In Fitzcarraldo you created one of cinema's most iconic sequences with this ship in the middle of the jungle that's being carried over a mountain at the demand of an obsessed opera lover, played by Klaus Kinski. The actor's outbursts of rage were just as legendary as the love-hate relationship between the two of you. How do you look back at this today

Kinski worked with me on five feature films, and I describe how I see him in the documentary My Best Fiend (1999). Kinski was a singular figure, in a way. But he wasn't the best actor I worked with — that was Bruno S. [Schleinstein] in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) and Stroszek (1976). I've worked with the best actors in the world, including Christian Bale, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, but none of them has ever come close to depth, charisma, loneliness and truth of Bruno S.

You filmed one of your most successful films, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), with Nicolas Cage, in the US, and in Jack Reacher (2012) with Tom Cruise, you starred as the main villain. How was it to embody the bad guy?

Effortless. Completely effortless work. I knew I'd be good, too. The director and Tom Cruise wanted me, and I didn't need to do any screen tests either. I just did something similar in The Mandalorian, the Star Wars spin-off series.

In front of the camera, not behind it: Herzog acted in the 2012 film 'Jack Reacher'

You have been living in Los Angeles, the center of the dream factory, for many years. You have often said that you didn't feel you belonged to the German film scene. But in the US you enjoy cult status, as a "Bavarian in Hollywood." How does that work?

You'd better used the "cult status" term with a pinch of salt. It's actually way stronger when I show up in Brazil, Poland, Ireland or Algeria. All hell breaks loose when I go there with a film.

And even though I live in Los Angeles, I don't really belong to the "dream factory." I really don't belong to the German film scene either. To me, that's a false categorization. I belong to something way more regional. It's Bavarian cinema — based on its fundamental character, its baroque style and mores. That's why I sometimes say that the only other person who could have made Fitzcarraldo would have been Ludwig II of Bavaria, the 19th century Bavarian kind

10 Bavarian filmmakers 
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog, born in 1942 in Munich, is currently the world's most famous Bavarian filmmaker. Ever since "My Best Fiend," his 1999 documentary about his favorite actor Klaus Kinski, Herzog has mostly directed in the US, combining fiction and documentary films, and charming the world with his unmistakable Bavarian accent. In Hollywood he has worked with stars such as Nicole Kidman.

Your films are often about borderline experiences, such as in your TV documentary mini-series On Death Row, in which you interview inmates facing capital punishment, or in your documentary Grizzly Man (2005), which portrays the life and death of a grizzly bear enthusiast. Were there moments when you faced your own limits?

There's a tape recording of the moment when Timothy Treadwell, who lived for years among grizzly bears, and his girlfriend are both eaten alive by bears, one piece at a time. The distributors and the producers of the film absolutely wanted to include this recording in the documentary. I listened to it and it was so incredibly horrifying that I said, "No, over my dead body!" That is an ethical limit, because the dignity and the privacy of a person's death must not be violated.

And if you talk to and film people on death row, knowing that they will be executed within eight days, there are also very specific limits of respect and human dignity. I always treated the convicts with great respect as I tried to peer into the abyss with them. Behind the camera I wore a formal suit and tie — which I otherwise never do — as a token of respect. The formal dress is also a way to protect yourself from personally getting too close


DW's von Bock spoke (L) to Herzog (R) in Munich. Herzog lives in Los Angeles

You were under water, in the jungle, in the desert, on Antarctica's ice. Is there anything else you are looking for or that you'd like to research?


I would like to join a space station mission. Or go to the moon or even to Mars, if that's possible some day.

What would be your first shot there?


I don't know that. I'd like to be surprised. Is there dust at landing, or what happens? But I find the idea of populating Mars because we've grazed our planet away like locust swarms absolutely obscene. We will not be able to do that. And we won't become immortal through any genetic manipulation either.

DW RECOMMENDS

Werner Herzog, Germany's genre-jumping Hollywood success, turns 75

Werner Herzog is the adventurer of German cinema, known for his unforgettable films with actor Klaus Kinski. His career has moved effortlessly between documentaries and major features, and his latest may snag an Emmy. (04.09.2017) 

Web critic Werner Herzog explores digital future in new documentary

He's famous for criticizing the stupidity of internet users and avoiding the web. Now Werner Herzog even met with SpaceX giant Elon Musk for his latest film on the future - and risks - of the digital revolution. (19.08.2016)

An outlandish quest for survival: Werner Herzog's 'Salt and Fire'

The latest film by German director Werner Herzog is an eco-thriller featuring an abducted scientist that ends up fending for her life in the middle of a salt desert in Bolivia. (07.12.2016)

Werner Herzog: A selection of cult films

As German filmmaker Werner Herzog is honored with the 2019 European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, we revisit some of his most important films. (05.12.2019)

For many cinema enthusiasts, Munich is Germany's secret film capital — although not everyone in the country would agree. But many great directors were in fact born in Bavaria. Here's 10 great Bavarian film directors. (03.07.2018)

Werner Herzog, a man of extremes

Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, feel less safe after strike: POLL

KENDALL KARSON,Good Morning America•January 12, 2020

Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, feel less safe after strike: POLL originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

In a week dominated by increased tension with Iran and speculation over when impeachment articles would be delivered to the U.S. Senate, a majority of Americans said they disapprove of President Trump's handling of the situation with Iran and feel less safe, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.

But when it comes to a key conflict at home, impeachment, attitudes are more mixed, with Americans split in their assessment of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's motivations for delaying the transmittal of the articles of impeachment.

(MORE: Iran fired more than 20 missiles at US targets in Iraq: What we know about the attack)

The poll, conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News, using Ipsos' Knowledge Panel, asked Americans about their attitudes on two unfolding challenges for the Trump presidency -- escalating tensions with Iran and the impending impeachment trial in the Senate.
ABC News/Ipsos Poll_Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the current situation with Iran? (ABC News)

Overall attitudes about Trump and the consequences of his actions against Iran largely were driven by Independents, a critical target for both parties in electoral politics. The poll showed a majority of Independents, 57%, and all U.S. adults, 56%, disapproving of Trump's handling of the situation with Iran, with 43% of both Independents and U.S. adults approving.

(MORE: Pentagon to deploy roughly 3,500 more troops to Middle East with others placed on alert status, amid tensions with Iran)

Respondents also were asked about the fallout of the strike against Qassem Soleimani, the second-most-important official in Iran's government behind Ayatollah Khamenei, which marked a major escalation in months of tension between the U.S. and Iran, which launched retaliatory missile strikes on American bases in Iraq.
 
PHOTO: ABC News/Ipsos Poll_ Do you think the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has made the United States (ABC News)

In the aftermath of the U.S. strike, only 28% of Independents, and 25% of Americans, said they felt more safe, while just over half, 51% of Independents and 52% of U.S. adults, said they felt less safe.

When it comes to attitudes on the conflict with Iran, partisanship drives opinions. An overwhelming 87% of Republicans approved of Trump's handling of Iran, and 54% say they feel safer. Among Democrats, 90% disapproved and 82% felt less safe.

Still, when asked about concerns over the possibility of the United States getting involved in a full-scale war with Iran, Democrats are more united in expressing concern than Republicans.

A net total of 94% of Democrats, and 52% of Republicans, are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the possibility of entering into another war in the Middle East, compared with 6% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans who said they were not so concerned or not concerned at all.

PHOTO: ABC News/Ipsos Poll_How concerned are you about the possibility of the United States getting involved in a full-scale war with Iran (ABC News)

Independents once again tracked the country's positions as a whole, with 72% of Independents and 73% of Americans saying they're concerned about a new war, and 28% of Independents and 27% of U.S. adults dismissing such concerns.

Attitudes on the homefront's chief political conflict, impeachment, also are driven by partisanship, with 66% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans maintaining that Pelosi and Democrats were abiding by a constitutional duty to ensure a full and deliberate trial in the Senate, while 81% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats stood by the statement that not immediately transmitting the articles showed that allegations against Trump are not serious and that the Democrats are playing partisan politics.

PHOTO: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks ahead of a House vote on a war powers resolution, as she addresses her weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters, FILE)More

However, when it comes to gauging Pelosi's motivations around delaying the transmittal of the articles, independents were splintered, and their division drove overall attitudes. Identical percentages, 39%, of Independents and Americans each agree that Pelosi, by withholding the articles, was fulfilling a constitutional duty. But a similar number of Independents, 36%, and U.S. adults, 37%, agreed with the sentiment that the speaker and her party were playing politics by delaying the articles' transmission.
After three weeks of waiting and recent pressure from within her own party, the Democratic leader announced on Friday she planned to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate this coming week.

This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs‘ KnowledgePanel® Jan. 10-11, 2020, in English and in Spanish, among a random national sample of 525 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.8 points, including the design effect. See the poll's top-line results and details on the methodology here.

---30---

Ocasio-Cortez sums up inequality in 5 words after Dow breaks through 29,000

Published: Jan 13, 2020

Getty Images/Mario TamaAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a fundraiser in Los Angeles.

By SHAWNLANGLOIS SOCIAL-MEDIA EDITOR

‘The Dow soars, wages don’t.’

That’s “inequality in a nutshell,” according to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who fired off those words in a tweet response to NBC’s coverage of a fresh high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.29% on Friday.

The New York Democrat was making the point that while the blue-chip index rallied more than 20% last year, U.S. average hourly earnings gained less than 3%. And since stocks are generally held by those with higher wealth levels, the data would support her “rich getting richer” stance.

Of course, President Trump constantly touts record highs in the market — like his “409K” tweet last week — but critics like Ocasio-Cortez maintain that such a message is irrelevant to the working class, which has missed out on such gains.

Only about half of Americans own stock, according to the Fed.

Check out: It now costs the average U.S. worker a record 114 hours of pay to buy the S&P 500

These attacks on Trump are nothing new. Here’s a tweet from early last year when Ocasio-Cortez delivered the same message:

Economics 101 reminder: The stock market is NOT the economy.
Stocks aren’t jobs. Stocks aren’t wages.
That’s why stock prices can go up and normal people still won’t feel any more secure about their future.
Recessions are when real GDP growth falls for 2 quarters in a row.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 5, 2018

At last check, the Dow had yet to reclaim the 29,000 mark, but was still trading higher in Monday’s trading session, as were both the S&P 500 SPX, +0.70% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.04% .

The U.S. jobs market is healthy, but workers in these small towns are being left behind

Analysis finds significant slack in places like Mobile, Alabama, and Lexington, Kentucky

Getty Images

By CHRIS MATTHEWS MARKETS REPORTER
Published: Jan 13, 2020

The U.S. economy has been on a spectacular run of job creation.

During the past decade, it has created 22.3 million new jobs, or an average of 184,000 per month, well above the 100,000 or so necessary to keep up with the natural growth of the labor force, according to the Federal Reserve.

Read: Where the jobs were in 2019 — and how much they paid

But an important caveat to this success story is the geographic inequality of the distribution of these jobs, one that is well illustrated by a Monday analysis by Ben Breitholtz, data scientist at Arbor Research.
Arbor Research

Breiholtz used search and browser data from Google to calculate the relative activity of job seekers and labor seekers across 212 U.S. metro areas. In the above chart, cities that appear in the top left side have more job seekers than employers, while cities in the bottom right quadrant have more jobs than available labor.

“These data show that we’ve had a huge bowing out in job seeking post financial crisis,” he told MarketWatch. “The more you’re in a tech-heavy metro, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Dulles or San Francisco, job seekers are met with recruiters. But you can see that in a lot of smaller cities and towns, there’s a lot of slack in the labor market.”

Towns and cities with the most amount of job market slack include Mobile, Alabama, Lexington, Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Wheeling, West Virginia.

Breitholtz said that this geographic unequal distribution of jobs is helping to keep wage growth tame, even as the national unemployment rate has remained at historic lows. He found that historically, periods with a significant variance of job matching between metropolitan areas have correlated with weaker wage growth.

“It’s possible that businesses have abandoned these small cities,” Brietholz said, which would create fewer jobs in those areas, while the businesses that stay suffer from the flight of the most talented workers to large metropolises.

Other data reinforce this idea of rising geographic inequality in America.

“While wage inequality narrowed in 2019, geographic inequality has been widening,” wrote Indeed Hiring Lab economists Nick Bunker and Jed Kolko in a study released in December.

Indeed Hiring Lab

“The richest places in America — those in the top 1% — are pulling away from the rest and are near the highest level of this measure of inequality since the mid-2000s and well above 1990s levels,” they added. “The tech industry has boosted job growth even in the metros where housing is most expensive, and tech jobs increasingly are concentrated in a handful of top tech hubs.”

---30---

Israel's left-wing parties unite ahead of elections

AFP•January 13, 2020


Head of the Meretz party Nitzan Horowitz attends the launch of the Democratic Union list on July 25, 2019 in Tel Aviv (AFP Photo/JACK GUEZ)More



Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's left-wing Meretz and Labor-Gesher parties announced Monday they have joined forces ahead of March 2 elections to boost their chances against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing base.

Israel's political scene is in turmoil ahead of the third national vote in less than a year after neither Netanyahu nor his centrist rival Benny Gantz were able to form a coalition following two polls last year.

With Israel's two major political blocs almost neck-and-neck, smaller parties and coalitions could emerge as potential kingmakers after the upcoming elections.

The new left-wing joint list called "Emet" -- "truth" in Hebrew -- was agreed by Labor-Gesher leader Amir Peretz and Meretz head Nitzan Horowitz, who want to join forces against the prime minister's Likud party.
- ADVERTISEMENT -


"Peretz and Horowitz stressed the message of union and hope of political change which will be at the social heart and the political direction of the next government after the end of the Netanyahu era," they said in a joint statement.

Labor-Gesher and Meretz won six and five seats respectively last September in the 120-seat Knesset and must clinch at least 3.25 percent of total votes cast in order to enter the legislature after the March polls.

"To have a chance at replacing Netanyahu, the things we have in common are more important than our differences," Peretz said at a press conference alongside Horowitz.

Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader and has vowed to continue his premiership despite being indicted in three separate corruption cases.

He has sought parliamentary immunity, but even if he faces court he does not have to step down until all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.

Netanyahu's main rival Gantz, who heads the Blue and White alliance, praised the leftist parties for coming together.

"I am glad that things worked out and applaud the unification," he said.

"There should be a party to the left of Blue and White, which is a party at the centre of the political stage."

But Horowitz rebuffed Gantz's comments, suggesting right-wing Israelis "can vote for Blue and White".

Three far-right alliances were in talks Monday aimed at uniting ahead of polls, according to Israeli media.

Defence Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday ruled out his New Right party joining an election pact.

---30---

Canada Strong Campaign launched to raise $1.5M for families of victims of downed plane in Iran

CBC January 13, 2020

A Canada-wide campaign to raise funds for family members of those killed on Flight PS752 in Iran was launched Monday with a call for people across the country to support those left behind with "the unexpected expenses that have tragically fallen upon them."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down the Boeing 737-800 using surface-to-air missiles, Iranian leaders said Saturday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. Fifty-seven of those who died were Canadian citizens, while dozens of others were travelling to Canada.

"I'm here to announce the Canada Strong Campaign, a national campaign to raise, hopefully, $1.5 million for the families of the victims — all Canadian victims all across the country," Mohamad Fakih, president of Paramount Fine Foods and founder of the Fakih Foundation said at the launch in Toronto.

"They leave behind spouses, colleagues and friends who need your support during this life-altering period. If there was ever a time, the time is now for all of us to come together and support one another."

Fakih called on Canadians to find it in their hearts to donate, and also to help by sharing the campaign with everyone they know.

"Let's all stand together united in ensuring that those we lost are never forgotten and that their families and friends feel Canada's embrace," he said.

Michael Wilson/CBCMore

Fakih said he wants the families and friends of the victims to know that he recognizes it's not always easy to accept financial help.

But he also assured them, "You are not accepting any help from strangers. We are one family, one big family, a Canadian family."

The campaign will be overseen by a charitable fund that also raised money for the families of victims of the Toronto van attack.

"We will ensure that this initiative is very well governed and managed with full transparency and accountability," Fakih said.

"I will take care personally of all the expenses and costs of the campaign and I will make sure, along [with] all our partners, that 100 per cent of the money donated will be given to the victims' families and friends," Fakih said.

'Please step forward'

Mayor John Tory took part in Monday's campaign launch, and he too encouraged Canadians and companies to step forward with donations.

"I think many, many Canadians, [corporations] and individual will want to contribute to this because they understand the fact that beyond their outpouring of affection and grief … the other thing that is needed is some degree of financial help," Tory said.

"This is a national initiative. This is meant to ask Canadians … to please follow through on the generosity of spirit that you've demonstrated with respect to all of the vigils and commemorations, which have happened across the country … and to stay to the corporate community, please step forward."

---30---

Walmart and The Walmart Foundation announce $500,000 commitment to assist Puerto Rico with earthquake relief and recovery

John Jannarone CorpGov.com January 13, 2020

BENTONVILLE, Ark.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In response to the devastation caused by the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committing up to $500,000 in cash and in-kind support for relief and recovery.


The commitment will support the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, World Central Kitchen and Mercy Corps through both cash grants and in-kind product donations. These organizations are actively engaged in responding to the needs of the communities impacted by the earthquakes.

“Our hearts go out to the people of Puerto Rico as they work to recover from the impact of the earthquakes,” said Julie Gehrki, vice president, philanthropy at Walmart. “In times like these, it’s so important to help meet the needs of our associates and our customers in the devastated area, as well as support the non-profits, first responders, local officials and government organizations that are working tirelessly to provide relief.”

In emergencies like this, the company’s priority is the safety of its associates. Walmart has more than 12,600 associates and 37 facilities in Puerto Rico, all of which are currently operational. Stores are assisting associates that have been displaced from their homes due to the damage caused by the disaster. Walmart and Sam’s Club teams are also assisting those affected by the earthquake by delivering much needed supplies to impacted communities.

Walmart has a long history of providing aid in times of disasters, helping communities prepare and recover by donating emergency supplies, such as food and water, home and personal products. In the last few years, for example, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave nearly $50 million in cash, water, food and other products to support victims of hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.

To learn more about how Walmart and the Walmart Foundation respond in times of disaster visit Walmart.org.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, over 275 million customers and members visit our more than 11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27 countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2019 revenue of $514.4 billion, Walmart employs over 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart.

About Philanthropy at Walmart

Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By leaning in where our business has unique strengths, we work to tackle key social issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 27 countries, employing more than 2 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs that work to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, address hunger and make healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality, and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org or find us on Twitter @walmartorg.

Haiti’s 2010 earthquake killed hundreds of thousands. The next one could be worse

Jacqueline Charle Miami Herald•January 12, 2020

Ten years ago, when Haiti was hit by its worst natural disaster in more than a century, the country didn’t have its own earthquake surveillance network.

It does now. The problem is, the 10 foreign-trained quake monitors who work there can’t stay in the building that houses the unit overnight because it is not earthquake resistant, and even if it were, there isn’t enough money to pay anyone to spend the night.

When the ground shakes again, they’ll have to run out of the facility’s only exit.

“Am I scared? Well, that’s the job. I have to do it,” said Claude Prépetit, 68, Haiti’s foremost earthquake expert and as close as the country gets to having an in-country seismologist. “The conditions are not ideal ... but we have to do it. We have an entire nation that’s waiting on us to give them information.”
 

The building that houses Haiti’s Bureau of Mines and Energy in Port-au-Prince also is home to the unit that measures seismic activity. But Haiti’s Seismology Technical Unit can’t be staffed 24/7 because there is not enough money for that and the building isn’t earthquake resistant.More

Prépetit is not actually a seismologist. He’s a geologist and the director of Haiti’s Bureau of Mines and Energy, and supervises the small seismic monitoring team inside the one-story structure in the city of Delmas. The city is part of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area that was decimated by the catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010.

Before the quake, Haiti had to consult the global U.S. Geological Survey for information on earthquakes larger than magnitude 4. Since Prépetit set up the network in 2011, Haiti now receives information broadcast via satellite from solar-powered seismic stations dotted around the country, and via internet from a network of seismometers that record tremors in real time. The seismic team analyzes the data and issues bulletins on quake occurrences and the potential for future earthquakes.

Progress, but...

The 2010 quake caused more than 100,000 structures to crumble and created enough rubble to fill five football stadiums. At the time, Haiti had no quake-resistant building codes or in-depth understanding of its vulnerability. There are four major fault lines and many secondary ones crossing the country, which sits on two tectonic plates. As the plates slowly move past one another over time, stress builds up. The Léogâne fault that caused the 2010 quake was previously unknown.

Since the devastation, there has been progress, though. There is Prépetit’s seismic surveillance network, as well as active-fault and hazard maps, tsunami evacuation routes in the northern region and the first class of students soon to graduate with a master’s degree in geoscience from the State University of Haiti in Port-au-Prince. There is also considerably more knowledge about how the country’s various soil types, when combined with the effect of an earthquake, can liquefy and cause the ground to behave like quicksand in certain regions.

But for every bit of progress, there is plenty that has not been done to prevent a repeat of the cataclysmic disaster that claimed more than 300,000 lives and left 1.5 million people injured and another 1.5 million homeless.

“We do not have a national disaster risk management plan. We do not have a national plan to reduce the seismic vulnerabilities,” Prépetit said. “There is not a plan that says it is mandatory that they do awareness in all the schools and teach them what to do before, during and after. All of these are weaknesses that we have, which means that the next earthquake, if it’s of a high magnitude, well, the damages will be considerable.”

At best, the progress has been halting, he said, pointing out that $9 million worth of earthquake-related studies approved by the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, co-chaired by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, has been collecting dust in drawers because there is no money or political will to confront the looming problem.

Nowhere is this more profound than inside Prépetit’s Seismology Technical Unit, where they recorded 301 tremors in 2019.
‘It’s not normal’

When a Miami Herald team visited in mid-November, Prépetit was the only one at work. The unit’s employees and staffers assigned to the mining bureau were home due to a countrywide lockdown, prompted by an ongoing political crisis. At the same time, the seismic station in Hinche was broken. There was no fuel for the generator, so the equipment was operating on a backup battery.

Weeks earlier, the United Nations Development Program had to cut a check for $7,500 because there was no money to pay for the satellite connection after the bill came due on Oct. 31.

“It’s not normal for a country that’s functioning, that’s doing seismic surveillance,” Prépetit said. “There should be a minimum budget. It should get a minimum of attention.”
Claude Prépetit sits in an office in the building that houses Haiti’s Bureau of Mines and Energy. This is also where the trained geologist’s seismic team monitors quakes. The building, however, is not earthquake resistant, and there is no budget for people to work through the night or over the weekends.More

Sophia Ulysse, who works with Prépetit in the seismic unit, said she and the other monitors do try to track quake activity from home, but “sometimes we try to connect and we can’t,” she said. “What is ideal is to have around-the-clock surveillance.”

Because the building that houses the seismic unit is not quake resistant, Ulysse said, “if an earthquake were to happen and the building isn’t able to resist, then all of the efforts we have made since Jan. 12, 2010, risks collapsing in a matter of seconds.“

Reginald DesRoches, the dean of engineering and incoming provost at Rice University in Houston, who traveled to Haiti to help after the quake, said there is no question that Prépetit and his team need adequate funding and support.

But that’s not their only challenge, said DesRoches, who is of Haitian descent and counts among his PhD students at Rice a young Haitian man who plans to return to Haiti to teach and work in seismic-resistant design.

“The biggest challenge that Haiti faces is the lack of an infrastructure and framework to enforce earthquake-resistant design standards,” he said. ”It is meaningless to have a [building] code if you have no way to enforce it. Over 90 percent of the buildings in Haiti are informal or non-engineered homes. ... It is very difficult to enforce proper construction practices.”

Prépetit agrees.

“It’s a rare engineer or person who builds differently, who uses [quake-resistant] construction techniques” in Haiti, he said. “The state doesn’t have the authority to say, ’No. I don’t agree.’ Things are being done the same way they were being done before January 12.”

While municipalities are responsible for issuing construction permits, they have neither the authority, capabilities, staff nor financial resources to enforce them or apply any of the recommendations from the various studies, Prépetit said.

After the 2010 disaster, the Haitian government estimated that more than 208,000 buildings were damaged, 105,000 were destroyed and 44 public buildings had collapsed, including the National Palace, the Parliament and the Supreme Court.

Since then, Haiti has had four presidents and seven prime ministers. Prépetit has had contact with them all, he said, as well as the various interior ministers whose job it is to oversee the government’s management of disaster risks.
 

The Haitian government recommends that builders follow earthquake-resistant standards. But because Parliament has not voted on a national building code, there is no way to enforce it in construction, like at this apartment building going up in Port-au-Prince.More

None of them, he said, has really tried to focus on helping Haiti become earthquake-ready — or as ready as the small nation can be.

“I’ve never seen any will manifested from them to say that they consider this to be an emergency and it should be given the proper budget,” he said. ”It is the institutions that are concerned. They each have tried to do a little something. That’s why we have the progress that we have today.

“It’s like you have a band, there are several musicians, everyone is playing his own part but there is no maestro,” he said. “We don’t know where we are going.”
‘We have no means’

The Bureau of Mines and Energy, which oversees geology, mining and energy as well as earthquake surveillance, has an annual budget of just 60,000,000 gourdes — or $617,852. The amount represents just 0.04 percent of the country’s national budget, and 86 percent of it goes into salaries, Prépetit said.

“It’s 14 percent [left over] for us to function; to purchase vehicles, to purchase fuel, to purchase water, to purchase paper, ink cartridges,” Prépetit said. “We have no means.”

Money is also needed for the internet, and to replace the solar panels and batteries that are often stolen from the seismic stations around the country.

“What we do here is a Haitian effort,” he said. ‘We have a lot of will. We have the stations, we have donations, we’ve tried to install the system, but we don’t have a budget or program to really attack the problem.”


In recent years, some foreign donors have tried to provide funds to help support Prépetit’s work and help strengthen Haiti’s response structures. But the government also has to do its part, donors say.


“It remains critical to advocate for dedicated national budgetary allocations for both prevention and response capacities, and to ensure that risk awareness is mainstreamed throughout national planning processes,” said Stephanie Ziebell, the United Nations Development Program’s deputy resident representative. “This includes ensuring that those responsible for essential monitoring and analysis have the appropriate tools and facilities to enable their work.”

‘People got on their knees’

A tall, lean man, Prépetit considers it his duty to do what he can, even with all of the challenges. Twice he could have died on Jan. 12. First, the building at the Université GOC Haiti where he taught a construction course collapsed. Luckily for him, he said, the course had been canceled that semester.

His office at the bureau of mines, which he left before the quake struck, also buckled.

“I am conscious of the fact that I am living in a country that is very vulnerable,” he said. “I know that if we have an earthquake in a country that is very vulnerable, a lot of my fellow countrymen will die. And I believe that it is through education that we have to reduce vulnerability.”

While the death estimates from the 2010 quake toll have varied — the U.N. cites 220,000; the Haitian government, 316,000 — one thing is clear: Many people died not just because of poor construction but because of ignorance.

“The earth shook and people got on their knees. They thought it was God shaking the earth. They did not understand what was happening,” Prépetit said. “There were people who were in the streets, the ground was shaking and they ran inside a house. The houses fell on them.”

Prépetit said he does have a plan for an earthquake-resistant facility to work out of. He also has a spot, an empty space in the yard of the current facility. But again, there is no money.

“A seismic surveillance system needs to operate around the clock. There should be dormitories so that even if the office closes at 4 p.m., there are personnel who remain on site throughout the night to monitor because earthquakes don’t have schedules,” he said.

Haiti was reminded of this in October 2018 when a relatively moderate 5.9 temblor struck the northwest city of Port-de-Paix and its surrounding towns. Seventeen people died, hundreds more were injured, and schools and homes collapsed. Studies have shown that the region is due to experience a major magnitude 7 or stronger quake.

“We are not yet ready,” Prépetit said. “All of the towns that were close to the epicenter were affected by a very moderate earthquake. ... If what we anticipate were to happen, the devastation would be more considerable than what happened in Port-au-Prince in 2010.”

And should another quake strike Port-au-Prince while he’s at work? Well, there is the evacuation plan. But the plan, he concedes, depends on the magnitude and where it catches him at the moment.

The building that houses Haiti’s Bureau of Mines and Energy in Port-au-Prince also houses its unit that measures seismic activity. But it cannot be staffed 24/7 because there is not enough in the budget for that and the building is not earthquake resistant.More

“If I am in my office, there is nothing else that I can do other than go under my desk, wait until the earthquake is over and get out,” he said.

And if it’s a powerful one like the one that struck 10 years ago?

“There would be a big risk that we would be buried underneath the rubble of this building.


This project was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting .

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=HAITI

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=EARTHQUAKE