Visitors share thoughts on global issues

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

By Mary Grossman

Jackson Hole, Wyo--Perhaps last week you saw some “foreign-looking” guys walking around town. Definitely not Hill Climbers. Four Seasons celebs? Nope.

The three international visitors – Bekim Sijdiu, a teaching assistant in international law from Kosovo; Abdus Salam, a news editor for United News of India; and Samy Adghirni, a reporter for Correio Braziliense in Brazil – were here as part  of the State Department’s National Council for International Visitors program.

In Jackson Hole, the Wyoming Global Leadership Exchange makes the program possible – one of 95 volunteer councils that assists by arranging meetings with local professionals in visitors’ fields of interest.

Planet Jackson Hole was given the chance to talk with the three visitors before they hit the Cowboy Bar.

On freedom of the press:
Bekim Sejdiu, Kosovo: “We are not an independent state or country yet and one of the priorities is democratization of the country. All of Eastern Europe is facing this process, moving from a centralized, authoritarian regime towards free-market democracy.

The legal framework for media and free press is in place. The problem is “freedom” in general, including human liberty and the free press. … This is a struggle. Coming from totalitarian regimes creates this culture that is prohibitive of freedom of expression.”
 
Abdus Salam, India: “In our country, the press is free, but with some restrictions. You can’t print or publish or craft anything only for hate. To create hate between two communities is not allowed. Some papers break these rules.”

Samy Adghirni, Brazil: “Brazil is a big, stable democracy. We have many problems, but we have 100 percent freedom of press. If I publish something that the government doesn’t like, [they] can send a letter to my editor … Some journalists have problems with local businessmen, for instance; in remote, rural areas, where maybe there are slave workers, if a journalist denounces it, then he can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, we still have some journalists that are being killed because of their job, but it’s not related to the government.”

On the United States as a global leader:
BS: My country was liberated thanks to the global leadership of the U.S. and NATO’s intervention ... So, in my country the U.S. is very popular because of [the liberation] first, and secondly because the defeat of communism. But if you take it from an international relations perspective, it’s become common to say that the U.S. is not that popular.

AS: In our country, we have relations with America on a political front. We don’t have any military relations. But as far as Iraq, Iran ... there are some reservations in India as well as other South Asian countries. We do agree with some things … Saddam was a criminal in our opinion. But how is America handling the situation? We have some reservations.

SA: In Brazil, I think the United States is becoming more and more unpopular. One of the biggest reasons is that we don’t have a war culture; we are a very peaceful country. … We have a peaceful approach to international affairs and we just don’t understand when a country goes and invades another.

There’s another important element. It’s been seven years that George Bush has been in power and after all this time, he’s starting to notice Latin America. Now he goes on this big tour and there were a lot of protests. … I’ve never seen that in my life.

When we opened our economy in the beginning of the ’90s, many things went well. Our economy grew up, but there are many segments of our society that didn’t take advantage of that. So, unfortunately capitalism made many people even poorer. Many people associate capitalism with the United States.

On their country’s response to global climate change:
BS: It’s not a priority ... until this winter. This winter was extremely hot ... we had just one week of snow ... Now people are talking and talking and talking about global warming. But if we have a normal summer, it will not be a topic again. This topic is being discussed in the academic circles, in universities, but still it’s a very limited circle – it’s not that common among our people.

AS: I think global warming [is debated] in the academic circles. In the English newspapers they publish some items ... But in the Indian newspapers you won’t find anything about global warming. Because the climate in India is a fixed climate ... it’s always warm. [laugh]

SA: In Brazil, people are very concerned about it because we have the biggest rain forest in the world, the Amazon. Al Gore’s movie [“An Inconvenient Truth”], it was a big debate in the media. We’re expecting him to come to Brazil in the next few weeks. … There were a lot of scientists who criticized the movie. They said it was just science fiction, it’s scientifically inconsistent, etc. ... But in the public opinion, this is a matter of concern.

On talking smack about their government:
BS: It’s a trend. It’s very fancy to criticize the government in our country.

AS: We can criticize freely; criticism is allowed by anyone.

SA: Yes, anyone can criticize the government. The media and ordinary people. In fact, in the media it’s what we do most. It’s a national sport.

Photo by Andrew Wyatt. Bekim Sijdiu and Abdus Salam visit the Cowboy.

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Visitors share thoughts on global issues | Planet JH News Article: General Politics

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