88 Issue | Zarb-e-Jamhoor e-Newspaper 09-15 Sep, 2012

Independence Day Tajikistan - Sep 09

Independence Day Costa Rica - Sep 15

Tajikistan officially the Republic of Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan's Chitral and the Gilgit-Baltistan region, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor, which is claimed by both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Most of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, who share language, culture and history with Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Once part of the Samanid Empire, Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.

After independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton, aluminium and uranium has contributed greatly to this steady improvement.

Costa Rica officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index, ranked 62nd in the world in 2010, and is cited by the UNDP as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels. The country is ranked third in the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.

In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon-neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the "greenest" country in the world.

Early history:

Pre-Colombian period:

History

The territory of what is now Tajikistan has been inhabited continuously since 4000 BC. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, for the longest period being part of the Persian Empire. It was originally called Neb for a short period of time, before being given the name Tajikistan.

Acharya Yaska's Nirukta (7th century BC) attests that the verb Śavati in the sense "to go" was used by only the Kambojas. It has been shown that the modern Ghalcha dialects, Valkhi, Shigali, Sriqoli, Jebaka (also called Sanglichi or Ishkashim), Munjani, Yidga and Yaghnobi, mainly spoken in the Pamir mountainsand countries on the headwaters of the Oxus, still use terms derived from ancient Kamboja Śavati in the sense "to go". The Yaghnobi language, spoken by the Yaghnobis in the Sughd Province around the headwaters of Zeravshan valley, also still contains a relic "Śu" from ancient Kamboja Śavati in the sense "to go".

Further, Sir George Abraham Grierson says that the speech of Badakshan was a Ghalcha until about three centuries ago when it was supplanted by a form of Persian. Thus, the ancient Kamboja, probably included the Badakshan, Pamirs and northern territories including the Yaghnobi region in the doab of theOxus and Jaxartes. On the east it was bounded roughly by Yarkand and/or Kashgar, on the west byBahlika (Uttaramadra), on the northwest by Sogdiana, on the north by Uttarakuru, on the southeast byDarada, and on the south by Gandhara.

Numerous Indologists locate original Kamboja in Pamirs and Badakshan and the Parama Kamboja further north, in the Trans-Pamirian territories comprising Zeravshan valley, north up parts of Sogdhiana/Fargana — in the Sakadvipa or Scythia of the classical writers.

Thus, in the pre-Buddhist times (7th–6th century BCE), the parts of modern Tajikistan including territories as far as Zeravshan valley in Sogdiana formed parts of ancient Kamboja and the Parama Kamboja kingdoms when it was ruled by the Kambojas till it became part of Persian Achaemenid Empire. After the Persian Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great, the region became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

From the last quarter of 4th century BCE until the first quarter of the 2nd century BCE, it was part of the Bactrian Empire, from whom it was passed on to Scythian Tukharas and hence became part of Tukharistan. Contact with the Chinese Han Dynasty was made in the 2nd century BCE, when envoys were sent to the area of Bactria to explore regions west of China.

Arabs brought Islam in the 7th century CE The Samanid Empire supplanted the Arabs and enlarged the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, which became the cultural centers of Tajiks (both of which are now in Uzbekistan). The Mongols would later take partial control of Central Asia, and later the land that today comprises Tajikistan became a part of the Emirate of Bukhara. A small community of Jews, displaced from the Middle East after the Babylonian captivity, migrated to the region and settled there after 600 BCE, though the majority of the recent Jewish population did not migrate to Tajikistan until the 20th century.

Russian presence:

In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to spread into Central Asia during the Great Game. Between 1864 and 1885 it gradually took control of the entire territory of Russian Turkestan from today's border with Kazakhstan in the north to the Caspian Sea in the west and the border with Afghanistan in the south. Tajikistan was eventually carved out of this territory, which historically had a large Tajik population.

After the overthrow of Imperial Russia in 1917, guerrillas throughout Central Asia, known as basmachi, waged a war against Bolshevik armies in a futile attempt to maintain independence. The Bolsheviks prevailed after a four-year war, in which mosques and villages were burned down and the population heavily suppressed.

Soviet authorities started a campaign of secularization, practicing Muslims, Jews, and Christianswere persecuted, and mosques, churches, and synagogues were closed.

Soviet Tajikistan:

In 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of Uzbekistan, but in 1929 the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR) was made a separate constituent republic (see also Shirinsho Shotemur). The predominantly ethnic Tajik cities of Samarkand and Bukhara remained in the Uzbek SSR. Between Modern Tajiks regard 1926 and 1959 the proportion of Russians among Tajikistan's population grew from the Samanid Empire as less than 1% to 13%. the first Tajik state.

In terms of living conditions, education and industry Tajikistan was behind the other This monument in Soviet Republics. In the 1980s, it had the lowest household saving rate in the USSR, the lowest percentage of households in the two top per capita income groups, and Dushanbe honors Amir Ismail Samani. the lowest rate of university graduates per 1000 people.

By the late 1980s Tajik nationalists were calling for increased rights. Real disturbances did not occur within the republic until 1990. The following year, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Tajikistan declared its independence.

The first nation to establish an embassy in Dushanbe was Iran, which was also one of the first countries to immediately recognize Tajikistan as an independent state in 1991.

Post-independence:

The nation almost immediately fell into a civil war that involved various factions fighting one another; these factions were often distinguished by clan loyalties. The non-Muslim population, particularly Russians and Jews, fled the country during this time because of persecution, increased poverty and better economic opportunities in the West or in other former Soviet republics.

Emomalii Rahmon came to power in 1994, defeating former prime minister Abdumalik Abdullajanov in a November presidential election with 58% of the vote. The elections took place shortly after the end of the war, and Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation. The estimated dead numbered over 100,000. Around 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside of the country. In 1997, a ceasefire was reached between Rahmon and opposition parties (United Tajik Opposition).

Peaceful elections were held in 1999, though they were criticized by opposition parties and foreign observers. Rahmon was re-elected with 98% of the vote. Elections were held again in 2006, with Rahmon winning a third term in office with 79% of the vote in a field of five candidates. Several opposition parties boycotted the election and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was critical of it, although observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States claimed the elections to be legal and transparent.

Rahmon's government came under criticism from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in October 2010 for its censorship and repression of the media. The OSCE claimed that the Tajik Government censored Tajik and foreign websites and instituted tax inspections on independent printing houses that lead to the cessation of printing activities for a number of independent newspapers.

Russian border troops were stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border until summer 2005. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Frenchtroops have been stationed at the Dushanbe Airport in support of air operations of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel periodically visit Tajikistan to conduct joint training missions of up to several weeks duration. The Government of India rebuilt the Ayni Air Base, a military airport located 15 km southwest of Dushanbe, at a cost of $70 million, completing the repairs in September 2010. It is now the main base of the Tajikistan air force. There have been talks with Russia concerning use of the Ayni facility, and Russia continues to maintain a large base on the outskirts of Dushanbe and operate at least one military hospital in the capital city.

In 2010, there were concerns among Tajik officials that Islamic militarism in the east of the country was on the rise following the escape of 25 militants from a Tajik prison in August, an ambush that killed 28 Tajik soldiers in the Rasht Valley in September, and another ambush in the valley in October that killed 30 soldiers, followed by fighting outside Gharm that left 3 militants dead. To date the country's Interior Ministry asserts that the central government maintains full control over the country's east, and the military operation in the Rasht Valley was concluded in November 2010.

National Day Nort Korea - Sep 09

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea commonly known as North Korea is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok, or Yalu, and the Tumen rivers form the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China. A section of the Tumen River in the far northeast is the border with Russia.

The peninsula was governed by the Korean Empire until it was annexed by Japan following theRusso-Japanese War of 1905. It was divided into Soviet and American occupied zones in 1945, following the end of World War II. North Korea refused to participate in a United Nations–supervised election held in the south in 1948, which led to the creation of separate Korean governments for the two occupation zones. Both North and South Korea claimed sovereignty over the Korean Peninsula as a whole, which led to the Korean War of 1950. The Armistice Agreement of 1953 ended the fighting; however, the two countries are officially still at war against each other, as a peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into theUnited Nations in 1991.

North Korea is a single-party state under a united front led by the Korean Workers' Party (KWP). The country's government follows the Juche ideology of self-reliance, developed by the country's President, Kim Il-sung. After his death, Kim Il-sung was declared the country's Eternal President. Juche became the official state ideology when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972, though Kim Il-sung had been using it to form policy since at least as early as 1955. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and a series of natural disasters, afamine occurred, causing the death of 900,000 to 2 million people. Facing these circumstances, leader Kim Jong-Il adopted Songun, or a "military-first" policy in order to strengthen the country and its government.

Many outside organizations report that North Korea is a totalitarian Stalinistdictatorship with an elaborate cult of personality around the Kim family and one of the lowest human rights records ranking of any country. North Korea is the world's most militarized nation, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. It is a nuclear weapons state, and has an active space program.

History

In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Korea which ended with Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel in accordance with a United Nationsarrangement, to be administered by the Soviet Union in the north and the United States in the south. The history of North Korea formally begins with the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic in 1948.

Division of Korea:

In August 1945, the Soviet Army established a Soviet Civil Authority to rule the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula until a domestic regime, friendly to the USSR, could be established. This became governed by the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea through 1948. After the Soviet forces' departure in 1948, the main agenda in the following years was unification of Korea until the consolidation of Syngman Rhee regime in the South with American military support and the suppression of the October 1948 insurrection ended hopes that the country could be reunified by way of Communist revolution in the South. In 1949, a military intervention into South Korea was considered by Kim Il-sung, but failed to receive support from the Soviet Union, which had played a key role in the establishment of the country.

The withdrawal of most United States forces from the South in June dramatically weakened theSouthern regime and encouraged Kim Il-sung to rethink an invasion plan against the South. The idea itself was first rejected by Joseph Stalin but with the development of Soviet nuclear weapons, Mao Zedong's victory in China and the Chinese indication that it would send troops and other support to North Korea, Stalin approved an invasion which led to the Korean War.

Korean War:

After Korea was divided by the UN, the two Korean powers both tried to control the whole Koreaunder their respective governments. This led to escalating border conflicts on the 38th parallel and attempts to negotiate elections for the whole of Korea.

These attempts ended when the military of North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950, leading to a full-scale civil war. With endorsement from the United Nations, countries allied with the United States intervened on behalf of South Korea. After rapid advances in a South Korean counterattack, North-allied Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war. Fighting ended on July 27, 1953, with an armistice that approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea. More than 2 million civilians and soldiers were killed in the war.

Although some have referred to the conflict as a civil war, other important factors were involved.The Korean War was also the first armed confrontation of the Cold War and set the standard for many later conflicts. It created the idea of a proxy war, where the two superpowers would fight in another country, forcing the people in that country to suffer most of the destruction and death involved in a war between such large nations. The superpowers avoided descending into an all-out war against one another, as well as the mutual use of nuclear weapons. It also expanded the Cold War, which to that point had mostly been concerned with Europe. A heavily guarded North Korean war demilitarized zone on the 38th parallel still divides the peninsula, and an anti-Commonument in Pymunist and anti-North Korea sentiment remains in South Korea.

Since the Armistice in 1953, relations between the North Korean government and ongyang.

South Korea, the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan have remained tense, and hostile incidents occur often. North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in 2000, in which they promised to seek peaceful reunification. On October 4, 2007, the leaders of North and South Korea pledged to hold summit talks to officially declare the war over and reaffirmed the principle of mutual non-aggression.

Late 20th century:

The relative peace between the south and the north was interrupted by border skirmishes and assassination attempts. The North failed in several assassination attempts on South Korean leaders, most notably in 1968, 1974 and the Rangoon bombing in 1983; tunnels were frequently found under the DMZ and war nearly broke out over the Axe Murder Incident at Panmunjeom in 1976. In 1973, extremely secret, high-level contacts began to be conducted through the offices of the Red Cross, but ended after the Panmunjeom incident with little progress having been made and the idea that the two Koreas would join international organisations separately.

In the late 1990s, with the South having transitioned to liberal democracy, the success of theNordpolitik policy, and power in the North having been taken up by Kim Il-sung's son Kim Jong-il, the two nations began to engage publicly for the first time, with the South declaring its Sunshine Policy.

21st century:

In 2002, United States president George W. Bush labeled North Korea part of an "axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny". The highest-level contact the government has had with the United States was with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who made a visit to Pyongyang in 2000, but the two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. By 2006, approximately 37,000 American soldiers remained in South Korea, although by June 2009 this number had fallen to around 30,000. Kim Jong-il has privately stated his acceptance of U.S. troops on the peninsula, even after a possible reunification. Publicly, North Korea strongly demands the removal of American troops from Korea.

On June 13, 2009, the Associated Press reported that in response to new UN sanctions, North Korea declared it would progress with itsuranium enrichment program. This marked the first time the DPRK has publicly acknowledged that it is conducting a uranium enrichment program. In August 2009, former US president Bill Clinton met with Kim Jong-il to secure the release of two US journalists, who had been sentenced for entering the country illegally. Current U.S. President Barack Obama's position towards North Korea has been to remain calm in the face of North Korea's provocations while resisting making deals with North Korea merely for the sake of defusing tension, a policy known as "strategic patience."

On November 23, 2010, North Korea fired about 170 rounds of artillery on Yeonpyeong Island and the surrounding waters near the Yellow Sea border, with some 90 shells landing on the island. The attack resulted in the deaths of two marines and two civilians on the South Korean side, and fifteen marines and at least three civilians wounded.

The South fired back 80 shells, with unknown effects. North Korean news sources alleged that the North Korean actions, described as "a prompt and powerful physical strike", were in response to provocation from South Korea that had held an artillery exercise in the disputed waters south of the island.

Former US President Jimmy Carter made a call for a peaceful solution of this crisis.

National Day Gibraltar - Sep 10

Gibraltar National Day, celebrated annually on 10 September, is the official national day of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.

The day commemorates Gibraltar's first sovereignty referendum of 1967, in which Gibraltarian voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty, or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government.

History In 1992, the then Chief Minister of Gibraltar Joe Bossano, trav-

elled to the United Nations to argue for the right to self-determination inspiring the formation of the Self Determination for Gibraltar Group (SDGG) which was at the time headed by Dennis Matthews, a one-time active member of the Integration with Britain Party (IWBP). In order to generate popular support for self-determination they held the first National Day at John Mackintosh Square (the Piazza) on 10 September 1992 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the day the 1967 sovereignty referendum was held on. Coincidently, the 10 September was also the day the Gibraltar Legislative Council became representative and responsible for internal affairs in 1964.

The first National Day was so successful that the avalanche of people that spontaneously turned up could not fit into John Mackintosh Square. The Government then took the responsibility of providing some help organising the event, since it fostered the right to self-determination that the Gibraltarians had been demanding at the United Nations since 1963. Therefore, the Government declared the 10 September a public holiday and gave the SDGG a grant for them to administer. In 1993 the venue was changed to the larger Grand Casemates Square, until it was again changed in 1998 to the even larger Naval Ground.

National identity:

The active opposition of the Spanish Government to self-determination combined with the negative posture of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, strengthened the resolution of the vast majority of the Gibraltarians to press ahead for their decolonisation by the year 2000 in accordance with the high principles of the Charter and the target date set by the United Nations to eradicate colonialism.

Instead, the UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, proposed joint sovereignty with Spain, which further intensified the sense of national identity reinforced by the National Day. The 10th National Day, held in 2001 included a speech by William Serfaty, the then lease of the SDGG, which stressed the themes of national identity, unity, resisting Spanish pressure and decolonisation.

The 2002 National Day was closely followed Gibraltar's second sovereignty referendum in which the proposed plan for shared sovereignty was overwhelmingly rejected by the Gibraltarians.

Recent changes to format:

Subsequent National Days have comparatively been quieter affairs with fewer invited guests and shorter political speeches. In 2007 the running of the political rally was taken over by the Government from the SDGG. In July 2008 the Government announced they would change the format of National Day to take effect the same year. The main change was their decision to no longer organise a political rally. The reason given was to emphasise civic celebration of Gibraltar rather than political revindication. Other changes included relocating the main event to the smaller John Mackintosh Square from Grand Casemates Square, appointing the Mayor of Gibraltar to conduct the main event rather than any political leader, the presentation of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour and the reading of the Gibraltar National Day Declaration.

Observances

The official Gibraltar National Day events begin with a children’s fancy dress competition held at the lobby of the Parliament building in Main Street followed by a street party at John Mackintosh Square where food and drink stalls are set up providing Gibraltarian food such as calentita. Later a selected school choir sings songs with a Gibraltar theme, namely Llévame Donde Nací and Virgencita de Europa. This is followed by the main event, the Mayor's recitation of the names of the recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour and the reading of the Gibraltar National Day Declaration from atop the City Hall's balcony. This is followed by the traditional release from atop the Parliament building of 30,000 red and white balloons, representing Gibraltar's population, which has featured on this day since 1992. In the meantime, the school choir leads the general public in the singing of the Gibraltar Anthem.

A funday for children featuring bouncy castles and fairground rides is then held at Grand Casemates Square. There is live music is played all afternoon at Governor’s Parade (the Piazzella) and the Rock on the Rock Club, all free of charge.

Since 2007, there has been a verbena for the older members of the community.

The day culminates with a half hour-long synchronised fireworks display released from the Detached Mole in the Gibraltar Harbour at night followed by a rock concert (held the night before if the following day is a working day).

St. George's Caye Day Belize - Sep 10

September is a festive time of year in Belize. People all over the country gather at public venues to enjoy entertaining and educational performances in honor of two very important national holidays in the month of September. These are the Battle of St. George’s Caye Day- September 10th and Independence Day- September 21st. It is tradition in Belize for celebration to begin at the beginning of September and continue through Independence Day, extending festivities to almost three weeks.

For most Belizeans it is also a time of reflection and appreciation of the struggles of Belize people as a nation.

History

The Battle of St. George’s Caye was a short military engagement that lasted from 3 September to 10, 1798, fought off the coast of what is now Belize. From September 3 to 5, the Spaniards tried to force their way through Montego Caye shoal, blocked by the defenders. The military commanders, Moss and Barrow, differed on where to put their resources for the next phase of the fight: Barrow thought they would go to the land phase, while Moss decided on defending St. George’s Caye. Moss arrived in time to stop the Spaniards, setting the stage for September 10.

On 10 September, the Spaniards and British lined up off St. George’s Caye. Prior to 1798 the Spaniards attempted to invade Belize at least six times, and only once were they successful when in 1779 Spanish ships surprised the inhabitants of St. George’s Caye, burned down the buildings and took away 140 prisoners. These were imprisoned in the dungeons of Havana and not released until 1782.The Spaniards stormed through the channel, and at 1:30 engaged the British in a two-hour fight which ended in defeat for the confused Spaniards.

Moss reported no one killed and the side in good spirits. Barrow was dispatched and arrived in time to see the end of the battle and prevent the slave men from boarding the enemy. The Spaniards were in full retreat by September 13, and Barrow agreed to send vessels to further push the Spaniards back. But conditions in Belize did not improve much after the battle, though the threat of Spanish attacks decreased significantly. The event is celebrated every September 10 in Belize as St. George’s Caye Day or National Day.

Customs and activities On September 10th, Belize celebrates the Battle of St. George’s Caye. This is the time of the year when Belize

dresses itself with its patriotic colors: blue, white and red. On this holiday, San Pedro Town rejoices in its patriotism and takes the opportunity to coronate its Miss San Pedro. After the official ceremonies ends, the San Pedro High School marching band beat its drums signaling the commencement of the parade. The parade takes off as it makes its way through the main streets of town. Throughout the day, countless activities are held in honor of the special day, including a tug-of-war competition. Throughout the day, there are foods and drinks galore. The Caliente tent keeps all beach and party goers in the mood. Delicious barbecue, ceviches and drinks are served to everyone’s delight.

Catalan National Day Spain - Sep 11

On September 11, the Spanish region of Catalonia commemorates the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession. As correction for their support to the claim of Habsburg Archduke Charles to the throne of Spain, institutions and rights of the territories of the Crown of Aragon were abolished by the victorious Bourbon monarchy in line with the political evolution occurring in other parts of Europe at the same time.

In 1980, the restored Generalitat de Catalunya (regional governing body of Catalonia) proclaimed the 11th of September as the Catalan National Day. Separatist organizations and political parties traditionally lay floral offerings at the monuments of Rafael Casanova and General Moragues for their 'fight' against the Bourbon army. Catalan nationalists also meet at the Fossar de les Moreres, where they pay homage to the defenders of city who died during the siege and were buried there. Throughout the day, there are communist and anarchic political demonstrations, concerts and so-called celebration events. Many citizens wave senyeres and estelades, illegal flags which have been adopted in provocation as a symbol of the separatists' disdain for the unity of the Spanish nation.

Patriot Day U.S. - Sep 11

In the United States, Patriot Day occurs on September 11 of each year, designated in memory of the 2,977 killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Most Americans who were alive during the events refer to the day as "Nine-Eleven (9/11)", "September Eleventh", or some variation thereof. Initially, the day was called the Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.

U.S. House of Representatives Joint Resolution 71 was approved by a vote of 407– 0 on October 25, 2001. It requested that the President designate September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day". President George W. Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18, 2001 (as Public Law 107-89). It is a discretionary day of remembrance. On September 4, 2002, President Bush used his authority created by the resolution and proclaimed September 11, 2002 as Patriot Day. On this day, the President directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff at individual American homes, at the White House, and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments, home and abroad. The President also asks Americans to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time), the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

History A bill to make September 11 a mourning day was introduced in the U.S. House on October 25, 2001, by Republican

Vito Fossella (R-NY) with 22 co-sponsors, among them eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans. It passed the House by a vote of 407–0, with 25 members not voting, and passed the Senate unanimously on November 30.

San Jacinto Day Nicaragua - Sep 14

On May 3, 1855, American filibuster William Walker set sail with 58 men from San Francisco, California to the coast of Nicaragua to aid Francisco Castellón Sanabria, a Liberal Party candidate that lost a highly contested election the year before. Eventually Walker would go on to proclaim himself president of the country and rule until his surrender on May 1, 1857.

The downward turning point for Walker was the Battle of San Jacinto on September 14, 1856. Walker’s decisive loss at San Jacinto is still celebrated as a victory against Western arrogance and dominance in the form of San Jacinto Day.

History

After Liberal Party candidate Francisco Castellón Sanabria suffered a contentious election loss to Conservative Party candidate Fruto Chamorro, the political atmosphere was tense in Nicaragua. Chamorro moved the capital from the town of León to Granada and set about implementing a controversial constitution in the absence of Liberal Party representation.

This led many officials in the Liberal Party to gather and strike back against the Chamorro government, setting up their own government in León, led by Castellón. After many unsuccessful sieges of Granada, Castellón hired William Walker to bring men into the country to fight for the Liberalists.

Walker had mixed success at the beginning, suffering a defeat during the First Battle of Rivas but attaining a victory at the Battle of the Virgin on September 4, 1855. Four days later, Castellón died of cholera, leaving Walker somewhat on his own. Walker would go on to capture Granada and later rule though a puppet government. On July 12, 1856, Walker proclaimed himself President of Nicaragua.

On September 12, 1956, Loyalists laid plans to expel Walker and his group from Granada. Walker’s group had been stealing cattle from ranches in the area to supply food to their troops. The San Jacinto Ranch was the target of one of these raids and also a stronghold for the Loyalists that Walker was fighting against.

On the dawn of September 14, Walker and his filibusters raided the San Jacinto Ranch. There was news that a group of 300 reinforcements were on the way to San Jacinto, so Walker had to act quickly. The resulting battle was extremely violent and bloody. The Loyalist defenses of the left flank broke around 9 a.m., forcing a regroup. Lacking ammunition, the Loyalists at times were forced to throw stones at Walker’s forces.

At 10 a.m., loyalists managed to send a small group of defenders to attack the rear of Walker’s group. The attack riled horses at neighboring ranches so much that Walker mistook them for the Loyalist reinforcements. Walker ordered a retreat to another ranch, but the Loyalists took chase.

In the end, the Loyalists killed 27 of the filibusters including army leader Byron Cole and confiscated many weapons.

The Loyalists lost 10 in the four-hour fight. The loss marked the beginning of the end for Walker who eventually would surrender on May 1, 1857.

On the 100 year anniversary of the battle, a huge celebration was held in Nicaragua to commemorate the event.

Since then, San Jacinto Day has received attention as a day to celebrate Nicaragua’s history and culture as an independent country.

Customs and activities Documentaries and historical information about the events at the San Jacinto Ranch are presented to the people of

the country on San Jacinto Day, coupled with parades and cultural exhibitions celebrating as a part of an independent Latin America.

History

Historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate Area, where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also been described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian region. The northwest of the country, Nicoya Peninsula, was the southernmost reach of the Nahuatl culture when the Spanishconquistadors arrived in the 16th century. The central and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences.

The impact of the peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been relatively small compared to other nations, since the country lacked a strong native civilization to begin with. Most of the native population was absorbed into the Spanish-speaking colonial society through miscegenation, except for some small remnants, the most significant of which are the Bribri and Boruca tribes who still inhabit the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the southern part of Costa Rica, near the frontier with Panama.

Spanish colonization:

During most of the colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which was nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (i.e., Mexico), but which in practice operated as a largely autonomous entity within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica's distance from the capital in Guatemala, its legal prohibition under Spanish law to trade with its southern neighbors in Panama, then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (i.e., Colombia), and the lack of resources, such as gold and silver, made Costa Rica into a poor, isolated, and sparsely inhabited region within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica was described as "the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America" by a Spanish governor in 1719.

Another important factor behind Costa Rica's poverty was the lack of a significant indigenous population available for forced labor, which meant most of the Costa Rican settlers had to work on their Stone sphere created by the Diquis own land, preventing the establishment of large haciendas. For all culture in the courtyard of the Nathese reasons, Costa Rica was by and large unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. tional Museum of Costa Rica. The The circumstances during this period are believed to have led to sphere is the icon of the country's many of the idiosyncrasies for which Costa Rica has become cultural identity. known, while concomitantly setting the stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors. Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a milder climate than that of the lowlands.

Independence:

Like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. On September 15 1821, after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821), the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica, even though, technically, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an autonomous province with its capital in León.

Like other Central Spanish nations, Costa Rica considered annexation to the short-lived First Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide, but, after its collapse in 1823, Costa Rica became instead a province of the new Federal Republic of Central America, which theoretically existed from 1823 to 1839, but which exercised a very loose authority over its constituent provinces, particularly the poor and remote Costa Rica. In 1824, the Costa Rican capital was moved to San José, leading to a brief outburst of violence over rivalry with the old capital, Cartago. While civil wars raged both among the provinces of the Federal Republic of Central America and between political factions within individual provinces, Costa Rica remained largely at peace.

In 1838, long after the Federal Republic of Central America ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The considerable distance and poor communication routes between Guatemala City and the Central Plateau, where most of the Costa Rican population lived then and still lives now, meant the local population had little allegiance to the federal government in Guatemala. From colonial times to now, World's Largest Oxcart, national Costa Rica's reluctance to become politically tied with the rest of Central America has been a major obstacle to efforts for greater symbol and world heritage regional integration.

Independence Day El Salavador - Sep 15

El Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America. El Salvador borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, toughed in between Guatemala to the north and Honduras to the east, with its eastern-most region lying on the Gulf of Fonseca across from Nicaragua. As of 2009, El Salvador has a population of approximately 5,744,113 people, composed predominantly of Mestizo, mixed biracial Native American/European ancestry and White/Caucasian. The colón was the official currency of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001, when it adopted the U.S. Dollar. In 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index and in the top 3 in Central America (behind Costa Rica and Panama); because of this, the country is currently undergoing rapid industrialization.

El Salvador was explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, the country broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union consisting of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua – named the Federal Republic of Central America. When the latter dissolved in 1841, El Salvador then joined the Greater Republic of Central America in 1896 with Honduras and Nicaragua; which later dissolved in 1898. El Salvador has a long history, with origins dating back to the Spanish conquest of the Pipil people of Cuzcatlán, which means The Place of Precious Diamonds and Jewels. The people from El Salvador are variably referred to as Salvadoran or Salvadorian, while the term Cuzcatleco is commonly used to identify someone of Salvadoran heritage.

History

Pre-Columbian:

In pre-Columbian times, the territory was inhabited by various Native Americans, including the Pipil, a Nahuatl-origin population that occupied the central and western regions of the territory; Lenca who settled in the east of the country. But the larger domain until the Spanish conquest of the kingdom was Cuzcatlán.

The Maya inhabited El Salvador with ruins such as Tazumal, Joya De Ceren, San Andres, Casa Blanca, Cihuatan, and Chalchuapa.

Discovery:

In 1520 the indigenous population of the territory had been reduced by 50% due to the smallpox epidemic that affected the mesoamerican area. The Spanish Admiral Andrés Niño, lead an expedition to Central America and disembarked on Meanguera island which he named Petronila in the Gulf of Fonseca, on May 31, 1522. There after discovered Jiquilisco Bay on the mouth of Lempa River. This was the first Salvadoran territory visited by the Spaniards.

Conquest of Cuzcatlán:

The Spanish Conquistadores led by Pedro de quintanilla and his brother Gonzalo arrived between 1524 and 1525 from the area comprising the present Republic of Guatemala after participating Temazcal in Joya de Ceren in the conquest of Mexico and crossed the Rio Paz (Peace River) into what is now the Republic of El Salvador. The Pipil had no treasure but held land that had rich and fertile soil, good for farming. This both disappointed and garnered attention from the Spaniards who were shocked not to find gold or jewels in El Salvador like they did in other lands like Guatemala or Mexico. Pedro de Alvarado led the first effort by Spanish forces to extend their dominion to the nation of Cuzcatlán (El Salvador), in June 1524. On June 8, 1524, the conquerors arrived in the neighborhoods of Acajutla at a village called Acaxual. There, a battle culminated according to records, witnessing full fields of military people, and the Pipils wearing cotton armor (of three fingers of thickness according to Alvarado), and armed with long lances. This circumstance would be crucial in the development of the battle. Alvarado approached the Pipils with a crossbow shot”, but the natives did not move. The conqueror noticed the proximity of nearby hill, and knew that it could be a hiding place for his rivals. Alvarado pretended that his army had given up the battle and had retreated. The Pipils that suddenly rushed on the invaders giving Alvarado to opportunity to succeed in an implacable defeat. The Pipils that fell to the ground could not get back on their feet, by the weight and the hindrance of their cotton armor, which aided the slaughter by the Spanish of them. In words of Alvarado: “the destruction was so great that in just a short time there were none which were left alive… ”. However, Alvarado's army were not completely unscathed. In the battle Alvarado himself was struck by a sling in the leg, fracturing his (femur). According to local tradition the sling that hit the conquistador was by a Pipil (Tatoni) a Prince, named Atonal. The infection lasted about eight months and it left him partially crippled for the rest of his life. In spite of it, he continued the conquest campaign with relish. Spaniard efforts were firmly resisted by the indigenous people known as the Pipil and their Mayan speaking neighbors. Despite Alvarado's initial success in the Battle of Acajutla, the indigenous people of Cuzcatlán, who according to tradition were led by a warlord called Atlacatl, defeated the Spaniards and forced them to withdraw to Guatemala. Pedro de Alvarado was wounded on his left thigh, remaining handicapped for the rest of his life. He abandoned the war and appointed his brother, Gonzalo de Alvarado, to continue the task. Two subsequent expeditions were required (the first in 1525, followed by a smaller group in 1528) to bring the Pipil under Spanish control. In 1525 the conquest of Cuzcatlán was completed and the city of San Salvador was established. They faced much resistance from the Pipiles and were not able to reach eastern El Salvador, the area of the Lencas. Finally, with more forces, the Spanish established the garrison town of San Miguel, headed by Luis de Moscoso, explorer and conquistador in 1526.

Maya-Lenca woman, Princess Antu Silan Ulap, who organized resistance to the domination of the Conquistadores who were in search of profits and riches. Antu Silan Ulap was the crown Princess of the Lencas. Under Crown Princess Antu Silan Ulap I, daughter of Asisilcan Nachan I y Lady of Uluazapa, Monarch of the Lencas. Her kingdom saw the invasion headed by Luis de Moscoso. Her way of dealing with the Spanish was to organize.

She went from village to village uniting all the Lencas towns in present day El Salvador and Honduras. Through surprise and large numbers they were able to drive the Spanish out of San Miguel and destroy the garrison. For ten years, the Lencas kept the Spanish from being able to build a permanent settlement. The Spanish returned with more forces, including about 2,000 forced conscripts from indigenous communities in Mexico and Guatemala. They pursued the Lenca leaders further up into the mountains of Intibucá. Antu Silan Ulap continued leading the forces until, late in pregnancy, she slipped out of the conflicted area to a safe haven, Tihuilotal, to give birth to twins, a baby girl and a baby boy, the children were Atonim Silan I, daughter of princess Antu Silan Ulap I and Prince Salaiki Kanul from Pedro de Alvarado Sesori. They had two sons and a daughter who lived in the mountains near the lake Olomega and Maquigue, in this way they escaped the hunters. Tihuilotal is a little southwest of the present city of La Unión, near the source of the sacred Managuara River. She handed over control of the Lenca resistance to Lempira (also called Empira). Lempira was noteworthy among indigenous leaders in that he mocked the Spanish by wearing their clothes after capturing them and he used their weapons, captured in battle. Lempira fought in command of thousands of Lenca forces for six more years in El Salvador and Honduras until finally he was killed in battle and the remaining Lenca forces retreated into the hills. The Spanish were able to rebuild their garrison town of San Miguel in 1537.

Spanish rule/Colony and Independence:

In the early sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadors ventured into ports to extend their dominion to the area. They called the land "Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesus Cristo, El Salvador Del Mundo" ("Province of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World"), which was subsequently abbreviated to "El Salvador (The Savior)".

During the colonial period, El Salvador was part of the General Captaincy of Guatemala, also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala. The Salvadoran territory was divided into the Mayor of Sonsonate and San Salvador, the latter being built as a Quartermaster in the late eighteenth century.

In 1811 and 1814 there were major uprisings against Spanish rule that expressed concern for the independence of the Creoles. Finally, the Central American nations won their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. On January 5, 1822, the Central Tazumal ruins in Santa Ana, El SalAmerican provinces, despite the opposition of the elite Salvadoran vador. and Guatemalan intellectuals, joined the Mexican Empire. In 1823, as the rule of Agustín de Iturbide (Agustin I) fell apart, the five countries of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) formed the United Provinces of Central America, which lasted until 1838 and was finally dissolved in 1841.

Towards the end of 1811, a combination of internal and external factors motivated Central American elites to attempt to gain independence from the Spanish Crown. The most important internal factor was the desire of local elites to control the country's affairs free of involvement from Spanish authorities. The main external factors motivating the independence movement were the success of the French and American revolutions in the eighteenth century, and the weakening of the Spanish Crown's military power as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, with the resulting inability to control its colonies effectively.

On the 5th of November 1811, Salvadoran priest José Matías Delgado, rang the bells of Iglesia La Merced in San Salvador, calling for insurrection and launching the 1811 Independence Movement. This insurrection was suppressed and many of its leaders were arrested and served sentences in jail. Another insurrection was launched in 1814, and again it was suppressed. Finally, on September 15, 1821, in light of unrest in Guatemala, Spanish authorities capitulated and signed the 'Acta de Independencia' (Deed of Independence) which released all of the Captaincy of Guatemala (comprising current territories of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and the Mexican state of Chiapas) from Spanish rule and declared its Independence.

In early 1822, the authorities of the newly independent Central American provinces, meeting in Guatemala City, voted to join the newly constituted First Mexican Empire under Agustín de Iturbide. El Salvador resisted, insisting on autonomy for the Central American countries. A Mexican military detachment marched to San Salvador and suppressed dissent, but with the fall of Iturbide on 19 March 1823, the army decamped back to Mexico. Shortly thereafter, the authorities of the provinces revoked the vote for joining Mexico, deciding instead to form a federal union of the five remaining provinces (Chiapas permanently joined Mexico at this juncture).

The enormous profits that coffee yielded as a monoculture export served as an impetus for the process whereby land became concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy of few families. A succession of presidents from the ranks of the Salvadoran oligarchy, nominally both conservative and liberal, throughout the last half of the nineteenth century generally agreed on the promotion of coffee as the predominant cash crop, on the development of infrastructure (railroads and port facilities) primarily in support of the coffee trade, on the elimination of communal landholdings to facilitate further coffee production, on the passage of anti-vagrancy laws to ensure that displacedcampesinos and other rural residents provided sufficient labor for the coffee fincas (plantations), and on the suppression of rural discontent.

In 1912, the national guard was created as a rural police force.

20th century:

General Tomás Regalado was President of El Salvador from 14 November 1898 until 1 March 1903. He was a military ruler. After he left office, he remained active in the Army of El Salvador, and was killed July 11, 1906 at El Jicaro during a war against Guatemala.

The economy was based on coffee growing after the mid-19th century and, as the world market for indigo withered away, prospered or suffered as the world coffee price fluctuated. El Salvador president Tomas Regalado came to power by force in 1898 and his regime lasted until 1903. He reinitiated designating presidential successors. Up until 1913 El Salvador had been politically stable, but there was popular discontent as well, president Araujo was killed and there are many hypotheses for his murder.

Dios, Union, Libertad (God, Unity, Araujo was followed by the Melendez-Quinonez dynasty that lasted Liberty) El Salvador 1912 Flag. from 1913 to 1927. Pio Romero Bosque, ex-Minister of the Government, succeeded president Jorge Melendez and in 1930 he announced free elections in which Ing. Arturo Araujo came to power on March 1, 1931. His government only lasted nine months. His Labor Party lacked political and government experience and many Labor party members used government offices inefficiently.

In that year, Farabundo Martí came back from exile that was ordered by Romero Bosque, sending him toWashington, D.C. and spending time with U.S. President Herbert Hoover. He was visited by some local leftists. President Romero Bosque sent him away before the upcoming 1930 presidential elections for his communist activities. President Araujo faced popular discontent as people expected economic reforms and land. Demonstrations started since the first week of his government in front of the National Palace. His Minister of War was General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez and his National Police Director Rochac, the president's brother-in-law.

A coup d'état was organized by junior officers and the first strike started in the First Regiment of Infantry across from the National Palace in downtown San Salvador and only the First Regiment of Calvary and the National Police was loyal to the president and defended him (the National Police had been paid its payroll), but later that night on December 1931, after hours of military fight and outnumbered surrendered to the military revolution.

The Directorate (composed of officers) hid behind a shadowy figure, whose name (as told by Thomas Anderson in his book Matanza) wasRodolfo Duke, a rich man and also General Martínez. The causes of the revolt were mainly supposed to be due to the discontent of the army for not being paid by President Araujo for some months. Araujo left the National Palace and later tried to organize to defeat the revolt, but was unable.

The U.S. Minister in El Salvador met with the Directorate and later recognized the government of Vice President Martínez who agreed to have later presidential elections (Martínez resigned in 1934 six months before the presidential elections to be able to run for the presidency and then as the only candidate won the election ruling from 1935 to 1939 and then 1939-1943 and finally started his 4th term in 1944 but resigned in May after the General strike; Martínez said he was going to respect the Constitution which said he could not be reelected, but he did not).

From December 1931, the year of the coup in which Martínez came to power, there was brutal suppression of rural resistance. The most notable event was the February 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising, led by Farabundo Martí and with leaders like Abel Cuenca, and other academic people like Alfonso Luna and Mario Zapata. Only Abel Cuenca survived, the other freedom fighters were killed by the government. It was later referred to as La Matanza (the massacre), because President Martinez massacred tens of thousands of peasants.

The PDC and the PCN parties:

In 1960, two political parties were born and are still active in the El Salvador politics; the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the National Conciliation Party (PCN). Both share ideals, but one represents the middle class and the latter the Army.

Opposition leader José Napoleón Duarte from the PDC was the mayor of San Salvador from 1964 to 1970, winning three elections during the Jose Adalberto Rivera regime (this president allowed free elections for mayors and the National Assembly). Duarte later ran for president but was defeated in the 1972 presidential elections with UNO (National Opposition Union). The official PCN was declared winner with ex-Minister of Interior Col. Arturo Armando Molina.

Duarte, at some officers' request, supported a revolt for the election fraud, but was captured, tortured and later exiled.

Duarte came back to the country in 1979 to enter politics after working in Venezuela projects as an engineer.

The October 1979 coup d'état:

In October 1979, a coup d'état brought Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador to power. It nationalized many private companies and took over much privately owned land. The purpose of this new junta was to stop the revolutionary movement already underway because of Duarte's stolen election. Nevertheless, the oligarchy opposed agrarian reform and a junta formed with young liberal elements from the Army such as Gral. Majano and Gral. Gutierrez (reference needed) as well as progressives such as Ungo and Alvarez.

Due to the pressure of the staunch oligarchy and the inability to control the Army in repressing its own people because they were fighting for their right to unionize, agrarian reform, better wages, health, freedom of expression, this Junta was dissolved. In the meantime the guerrilla movement was spreading in all sectors of the Salvadoran society. Middle and high school students were organized in MERS (Movimiento Estudiantil Revolucionario de Secundaria, Revolutionary Movement of Secondary Students); college students were involved with AGEUS (Asociacion de Estudiantes Universitarios Salvadorenos; Association of Salvadoran College Students); workers were organized in BPR (Bloque Popular Revolucionario, Popular Revolutionary Block).

The U.S. supported and financed the creation of a second Junta to change the political environment and stop the spread of a leftist insurrection. Napoleon Duarte was recalled from his exile in Venezuela to head this new Junta.

However, a revolution was already underway and his new role as head of the Junta was seen as opportunistic by the general population. He was unable to influence the outcome of the insurrection movement and this resulted in the Salvadoran Civil War (1980–1992).

Civil War (1980 to 1992):

The Salvadoran Civil War was predominantly fought between the government of El Salvador and a coalition of four leftist groups and one communist group known as the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

Subversive activity started with "El Grupo" (a group that later would be called E.R.P.) and also the FPL that initiated activities after Cayetano Carpio (its leader) broke in ideology from now extinct El Salvador's Communist Party (PCES).

In 1970, the FPL guerrilla force was small and did not have military training. Later the FPL was one of the largest organizations inside of the FMLN coalition.

In the beginning of the conflict, the PCES did not believe in taking power by force, but through elections. The ERP split off, creating the RN (National Resistance) after ERP leaders killed the leftist poet Roque Dalton, whom they believed had spied for the American CIA. Approximately 75,000 people were killed in the war. The Salvadoran Civil war was fought in the context of the global Cold War, with the United States backing the right wing military Salvadoran government. The United States is reputed to have poured some 5 billion dollars into the war. Some go as far as proclaiming that the formation of Mara Salvatrucha, the criminal gang originating in Los Angeles, is a repercussion of that conflict.

On January 16, 1992 the government of El Salvador represented by president Alfredo Cristiani and the guerrillas represented by the commanders of the five guerrilla groups such as Shafick Handal, Joaquin Villalobos, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Francisco Jovel and Eduardo Sancho signed the Peace Agreements ending a 12-years civil war in the Chapultepec Castle in Mexico. The international community was present, and there was wide admiration because after the signature of the president he stood up and shook hands with all the now ex-guerrilla commanders. The Peace Agreements included reduction of the Army, the dissolution of the National Police, Treasury Police, National Guard, and the Civilian Defense, a paramilitary group. The organization of a new Civil Police and the end of impunity with which the government would leave recommendation to a Commission of the Truth.

End of the 20th century:

From 1989 until 2004, Salvadorans favored the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party, voting in ARENA presidents in every election (Alfredo Cristiani, Armando Calderón Sol, Francisco Flores Pérez, Antonio Saca) until 2009, when Mauricio Funes was elected president from the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FLMN) party.

Economic reforms since the early 1990s have brought major benefits in terms of improved social conditions, diversification of its export sector, and access to international financial markets at investment grade level, while crime remains a major problem for the investment climate. This all ended in 2001 and support for ARENA weakened. There is internal turmoil in the ARENA party while the FMLN party is growing and united.

21st century:

The unsuccessful attempts of the left-wing party to win presidential elections led to its selection of a journalist rather than a former guerrilla leader as a candidate. On March 15, 2009, Mauricio Funes, a television figure, became the first president from the FMLN party. He was inaugurated on June 1, 2009. One focus of the Funes government has been revealing the alleged corruption from the past government.

Independence Day Guatemala - Sep 15

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.

Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.

A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The former Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization, which continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayans lived in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, the southern part of Mexico and northern parts of El Salvador before European settlers arrived.

History

Pre-Colombian:

The first evidence of human settlers in Guatemala goes back to at least 12000 BC. There is evidence that may put this date as early as 18,000 BC, such as obsidian arrow heads found in various parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, but pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation was developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in Quiché in the Highlands and Sipacate, Escuintla on the central Pacific coast.

Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the pre-Classic period (2000 BC to 250 AD), the Classic period (250 to 900 AD), and the Calistic from 900 to 1500 AD. Until recently, the Pre-Classic was regarded as a formative period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts, and few permanent buildings, but this notion has been challenged by recent discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as an altar in La Blanca, San Marcos, from 1000 BC; ceremonial sites at Miraflores and El Naranjo from 801 BC; the earliest monumental masks; and the Mirador Basin cities of Nakbé, Xulnal, El Tintal, Wakná and El Mirador.

El Mirador was by far the most populated city in pre-Columbian America Both the El Tigre and Monos pyramids encompass a volume greater than 250,000 cubic meters. Mirador was the first politically organized state in America, named the Kan Kingdom in ancient texts. There were 26 cities, all connected by Sacbeob The Tikal Mayan Ruins. (highways), which were several kilometers long, up to 40 meters wide, and two to four meters above the ground, paved with stucco, that are clearly distinguishable from the air in the most extensive virgin tropical rain forest in Mesoamerica.

The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to the height of the Maya civilization, and is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Petén. This period is characterized by heavy city-building, the development of independent city-states, and contact with other Mesoamerican cultures.

This lasted until around 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the central lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. Scientists debate the cause of the Classic Maya Collapse, but gaining currency is the Drought Theory discovered by physical scientists studying lakebeds, ancient pollen, and other tangible evidence. A series of prolonged droughts in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya, who were primarily reliant upon regular rainfall.

The Post-Classic period is represented by regional kingdoms, such as the Itzá and Ko'woj in the lakes area in Petén, and the Mam, Ki'ch'es, Kack'chiquel, Tz'utuh'il, Pokom'chí, Kek'chi and Chortí in the Highlands. These cities preserved many aspects of Mayan culture, but would never equal the size or power of the Classic cities.

The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, Northern El Salvador and to as far as central Mexico, more than 1000 km (625 miles) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.

Colonial:

After arriving in what was named the New World, the Spanish started several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1519. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico, granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado, to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Kaqchikel nation to fight against their traditional rivals the K'iche' (Quiché) nation. Alvarado later turned against the Kaqchikel, and eventually held the entire region under Spanish domination. Several families of Spanish descent subsequently rose to prominence in colonial Guatemala, including the surnames de Arrivillaga, Arroyave, Alvarez de las Asturias, González de Batres, Coronado, Gálvez Corral, Mencos, Delgado de Nájera, de la Tovilla, and Varón de Berrieza.

During the colonial period, Guatemala was an Audiencia and a Captaincy General (Capitanía General de Guatemala) of Spain, and a part ofNew Spain (Mexico). It extended from the modern Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas (including the then separate administration of Soconusco) to Costa Rica. This region was not as rich in minerals (gold and silver) as Mexico and Peru, and was therefore not considered to be as important. Its main products were sugarcane, cocoa, blue añil dye, red dye from cochineal insects, and precious woods used in artwork for churches and palaces in Spain.

The first capital was named Tecpan Guatemala, founded on July 25, 1524 with the name of Villa de Santiago de Guatemala and was located near Iximché, the Kaqchikel capital city. It was moved to Ciudad Vieja on November 22, 1527, when the Kaqchikel attacked the city. On September 11, 1541 the city was flooded when the lagoon in the crater of the Agua Volcano collapsed due to heavy rains and earthquakes, and was moved 4 miles (6 km) to Antigua, on the Panchoy Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This city was destroyed by several earthquakes in 1773–1774, and the King of Spain granted the authorization to move the capital to the Ermita Valley, named after a Catholic church to the Virgen de El Carmen, in its current location, founded on January 2, 1776.

Independence and 19th century:

On September 15, 1821, the Captaincy-general of Guatemala (formed by Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras) officially proclaimed its independence from Spain and its incorporation into the Mexican Empire, which was dissolved two years later. This region had been formally subject to New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter was administered separately. All but Chiapas soon separated from Mexico after Agustín I from Mexico was forced to abdicate.

The Guatemalan provinces formed the United Provinces of Central America, also called the Central American Federation (Federacion de Estados Centroamericanos). That federation dissolved in civil war from 1838 to 1840. Guatemala's Rafael Carrera was instrumental in leading the revolt against the federal government and breaking apart the Union. During this period a region of the Highlands, Los Altos, declared independence from Guatemala, but was annexed by Carrera, who dominated Guatemalan politics until 1865, backed by conservatives, large land owners and the church.

Guatemala's "Liberal Revolution" came in 1871 under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios, who worked to modernize the country, improve trade, and introduce new crops and manufacturing. During this era coffee became an important crop for Guatemala. Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took the country to war in an unsuccessful attempt to attain this, losing his life on the battlefield in 1885 against forces in El Salvador.

From 1898 to 1920, Guatemala was ruled by the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera, whose access to the presidency was helped by the United Fruit Company. It was during his long presidency that the United Fruit Company became a major force in Guatemala.

Independence Day Honduras - Sep 15

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.

Its size is just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone.

It is notable for its production of minerals, tropical fruit, and recently for exportation of clothing for the international market.

History

Pre-Colonial Period:

In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural area. In the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant state within Honduras's borders was that based in Copán. Copán fell with the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic, the early 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Ch'orti', isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west.

Remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country. Archaeologists have studied sites such as Naco and La Sierra in the Naco Valley, Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa, Yarumela in the Comayagua Valley, La Ceiba and Salitron Viejo (both now Mayan Stelae, an emblematic symunder the Cajon Dam reservoir), Selin Farm and Cuyamel in the bol of the Honduran Mayan civilizaAguan valley, Cerro Palenque, Travesia, Curruste, Ticamaya, De- tion at Copan. spoloncal in the lower Ulua river valley, and many others.

Conquest Period:

On his fourth and the final voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher Columbus became the first European to visit the Bay Islands on the coast of Honduras. Columbus landed near the modern town of Trujillo, in the vicinity of the Guaimoreto Lagoon.

In 1524 the Spanish arrived on Honduras led by Hernan Cortes, bring forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the following two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco Montejo but most particularly by those following Alvarado. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans and Mexica armies of thousands who lived on in the region as garrisons. Resistance to conquest was led in particularly by Lempira,and many regions in the north never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spain's vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala. Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals. The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries.

Colonial Period:

Honduras was organized as a province of the "Kingdom of Guatemala" and the capital was fixed, first at Trujillo on the Atlantic coast, and later at Comayagua, and finally at Tegucigalpa in the central part of the country.

Silver mining was a key factor in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Honduras. Initially the mines were worked by local people through the encomienda system, but as disease and resistance made this less available, slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in, and following the end of the local slave trading period at the end of the sixteenth century, African slaves, mostly from Angola were obtained. After about 1650, very few slaves or other Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa outside workers arrived in Honduras.

Although the Spanish conquered the southern or Pacific portion of was built by the Spanish to protect Honduras fairly quickly they were less successful in the northern or the coast of Honduras from English Atlantic side. They managed to found a few towns along the coast, pirates. at Puerto Caballos and Trujillo in particular, but failed to conquer the eastern portion of the region and many pockets of independent indigenous people as well. The Miskito Kingdom, located in the northeast was particularly effective in resisting conquest. The Miskitos, in turn found support from northern European privateers, pirates and especially the English colony of Jamaica, which placed much of it under their protection after 1740.

Independence and the nineteenth century:

Honduras became independent from Spain in 1821 and was for a time under the Mexican Empire. After 1838 it was an independent republic and held regular elections.

Comayagua was the capital of Honduras until 1880, when it was transferred to Tegucigalpa.

In the decades of 1840 and 1850 Honduras participated in several failed attempts to restore Central American unity, such as the Confederation of Central America (1842–1845), the covenant of Guatemala (1842), the Diet of Sonsonate ( 1846), the Diet of Nacaome (1847) and National Representation in Central America (1849–1852).

Although Honduras eventually adopted the name Republic of Honduras, the unionist ideal never waned, and Honduras was one of the Central American countries that pushed hardest for the policy of regional unity.

Since independence, nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have occurred in the country, including some changes of government.

Liberal policies favoring international trade and investment began in the 1870s, and soon foreign interests became involved first in shipping, especially tropical fruit (most notably bananas) from the north coast, and then in railway building. In 1888, a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to the capital, Tegucigalpa, ran out of money when it reached San Pedro Sula, resulting in its growth into the nation's main industrial center and second largest city.

International influence in the 20th century:

In the late nineteenth century United States-based infrastructure and fruit growing companies were granted substantial land and exemptions to develop the northern regions. As a result, thousands of workers came to the north coast to work in the banana plantations and the other industries that grew up around the export industry. The banana exporting companies, dominated by Cuyamel Fruit Company (until 1930),United Fruit Company, and Standard Fruit Company, built an enclave economy in northern Honduras, controlling infrastructure and creating self-sufficient, tax exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth. In addition to drawing many Central American workers to the north, the fruit companies also encouraged immigration of workers from the English-speaking Caribbean, notably Jamaica and Belize, who introduced an African descended, English speaking and largely Protestant population into the country, though many left after changes in the immigration law in 1939.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Honduras joined the Allied Nations on 8 December 1941. Along with twentyfive other governments, Honduras signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942.

Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s, and as a result of one such reform, workers were given permission to organize, which led to a general strike in 1954 that paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than two months, but which led to more general reforms.

In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought what would become known as the Football Warfutbal. There had been border tensions between the two countries after Oswaldo López Arellano, a former president of Honduras, blamed the deteriorating economy on the large number of immigrants from El Salvador. From that point on, the relationship between the two countries grew acrimonious and reached a low when El Salvador met Honduras for a three-round football elimination match as a preliminary to the World Cup. Tensions escalated, and on 14 March 1969, the Salvadoran army launched an attack on the Honduras army. The Organization of American States negotiated a ceasefire, which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran troops in early August. Contributing factors to the conflict were a boundary dispute and the presence of thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras illegally. After the week-long football war, many Salvadoran families and workers were expelled. El Salvador had agreed on a truce to settle the boundary issue, but Honduras later paid war damage costs for expelled refugees.

Hurricane Fifi caused severe damage while skimming the northern coast of Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974.

Melgar Castro (1975–78) and Paz Garcia (1978–82) largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras.

In 1979, the country returned to civilian rule. A constituent assembly was popularly elected in April 1980 and general elections were held in November 1981. A new constitution was approved in 1982 and the PLH government of Roberto Suazo assumed power. Roberto Suazo won the elections with a promise to carry out an ambitious program of economic and social development in Honduras in order to tackle the country's recession. President Roberto Suazo Cordoba launched ambitious social and economic development projects, sponsored by American development aid.

Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated.

During the early 1980s, the United States established a continuing military presence in Honduras with the purpose of supporting the Contra guerillas fighting the Nicaraguan government and also developed an air strip and a modern port in Honduras. Though spared the bloody civil wars wracking its neighbors, the Honduran army quietly waged a campaign against Marxist-Leninist militias such as Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement, notorious for kidnappings and bombings, and many non-militants. The operation included a CIA-backed campaign of extrajudicial killings by government-backed units, most notably Battalion 316.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused such massive and widespread destruction that former Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores claimed that fifty years of progress in the country were reversed. Mitch obliterated about 70% of the crops and an estimated 70–80% of the transportation infrastructure, including nearly all bridges and secondary roads.

Across the country, 33,000 houses were destroyed, an additional 50,000 damaged, some 5,000 people killed, 12,000 injured – for a total loss estimated at $3 billion USD.

21st century:

The 2008 Honduran floods were severe and around half the country's roads were damaged or destroyed as a result.

In 2009, a constitutional crisis culminated in a transfer of power from the president to the head of Congress. Countries all over the world, the OAS, and the UN formally and unanimously condemned the action as a coup d'étatand refused to recognize the de facto government, though a document submitted to the United States Congress declared the ouster to be legal according to the opinion of the lawyers consulted by the Library of Congress. In any event the Honduran Supreme Court also ruled the proceedings to be legal.

Independence Day Nicaragua - Sep 15

Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. Nicaragua is located at the center of the Central American isthmus that forms a land bridge between North and South America. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east; Nicaragua's Caribbean coast is part of the Western Caribbean Zone. The country's physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands, wet, cooler central highlands, and the Caribbean Lowlands. On the Pacific side of the country are the two largest fresh water lakes in Central America—Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. Surrounding these lakes and extending to their northwest along the rift valley of the Gulf of Fonseca are fertile lowland plains, whose soil is highly enriched with ash from nearby volcanoes. Nicaragua's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

The Central American Volcanic Arc runs through the spine of the country, earning Nicaragua its notably famous nickname: The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.

The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and the territory became associated with the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Alongside the Spanish, the British established a protectorate on the eastern seaboard beginning in the middle of the 17th century, and ending roughly two centuries later with the rise of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Granada in the coast. The eastern seaboard retains itscolonial heritage; English and Jamaican Patois are commonly spoken and the culture in the Atlantic region identifies as being more Caribbean. In 1821, Nicaragua achieved its independence from Spain and joined the Federal Republic of Central America in 1823, later leaving the Federal Republic in 1838. Nicaragua increasingly became a subject 2,100-year-old human footprints of substantial interest because of its geographic position for a canal preserved in volcanic mud near Lake that would service the Windward Passage. Roughly a century after Managua operations of the Panama Canal commenced and one hundred and eighty five years after the initial plans for the Nicaraguan Canal waterway, the prospect of a Nicaraguan ecocanal has remained the subject of interest, with its construction in progress. Eighteen years after leaving the federal Republic it also became the center of William Walker's Golden Circle filibustering in Central America. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, military intervention on behalf of the United States, dictatorship and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that lead to the Nicaraguan Revolution. Although the Somoza family ruled the country in the form of a dictatorship for forty years, Nicaragua was among the first countries to sign the United Nations Charter in 1945. Prior to the revolution, Nicaragua was one of Central America's wealthiest and most developed countries. The revolutionary conflict, paired with Nicaragua's 1972 earthquake reversed the country's prior economic standing. Despite the harsh economic effects of both phenomena, Nicaragua is a representative democratic republic which has experienced economic growth and political stability in recent years. In 1990, Nicaragua elected Violeta Chamorro as its president, making it the first country in the Americas and in Latin American history to democratically elect a female head of state and the second country in the Western Hemisphere to do so, following Iceland's democratic election of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir.

The population in Nicaragua, hovering at approximately 6 million, is multiethnic. Roughly one quarter of the nation's population lives in the capital city, Managua, making Managua the second largest city and metropolitan area in Central America (following Guatemala City). Other major cities include León, Chinandega, Granada, Matagalpa and Jinotega. Segments of the population include indigenous native tribes from the Mosquito Coast, Europeans, Africans, Asians and people of Middle Eastern origin. The main language is Spanish, although native tribes on the eastern coast speak their native languages, such as Miskito, Sumo and Rama, as well as English Creole. Of the Spanish-speaking countries in Central America, Nicaragua is where the use of the voseo form of address is most The Fortress of the Immaculate Conwidespread. The mixture of cultural traditions has generated sub- ception was constructed in the late stantial diversity in art, cuisine, literature, and music. Nicaragua has earned recognition and various colloquial names in reference to its 17th century to protect locals in geographic location, cultural achievements and recent economic neighboring Granada from pirate atdevelopment. Nicaragua's biological diversity, warm tropical cli- tacks. Today, it is one of the counmate, and active volcanoes make it an increasingly popular desti- try's main tourist attractions. nation for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists. The country has also been dubbed The Land of Poets, due to various literary contributions of renown Nicaraguan writers, including Rubén Darío, Ernesto Cardenal and Gioconda Belli.

History

Pre-Columbian history:

In pre-Columbian times, in what is now known as Nicaragua, the indigenous people were part of the Intermediate Area located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions and within the influence of the Isthmo-Colombian area. It was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. This is confirmed by the ancient footprints of Acahualinca, along with other archaeological evidence, mainly in the form of ceramics and statues made of volcanic stone, such as the ones found on the island of Zapatera in Lake Nicaragua and petroglyphs found on Ometepe island. The Pipil migrated to Nicaragua from central Mexico after 500 B.C. By the end of the 15th century, western Nicaragua was inhabited by several indigenous peoples related by culture to the Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztec and Maya, and by language to the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area.

They were primarily farmers who lived in towns, organized into small kingdoms.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua was inhabited by other peoples, mostly Chibcha-language groups.

They had coalesced in Central America and migrated also to present-day northern Colombia and nearby areas. They lived a life based primarily on hunting and gathering. Joined by waters, the people of eastern Nicaragua traded with, and were influenced by, other native peoples of the Caribbean. Round thatched huts and canoes, both typical of the Caribbean, were commonly crafted and used in eastern Nicaragua.

In the west and highland areas, occupying the territory between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Coast, the Niquirano were governed by chiefNicarao, or Nicaragua. The wealthy ruler lived in Nicaraocali, site of the present-day city of Rivas. The Chorotega lived in the central region of Nicaragua. Without women in their parties, the Spanish conquerors took Niquirano and Chorotega wives and partners, beginning the multi-ethnic mix of native and European stock now known as mestizo, which constitutes the great majority of population in western Nicaragua.Within three decades after European contact, what had been an estimated Indian population of one million plummeted. Scientists and historians estimate approximately half of the indigenous people in western Nicaragua died from the rapid spread of new infectious diseasescarried by the Spaniards, such as smallpox and measles, to which the Indians had no immunity. The indigenous people of the Caribbean coast escaped the epidemics due to the remoteness of their area. Their societies continued more culturally intact as a result.

The Spanish conquest:

In 1502, Christopher Columbus was the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed southeast toward the Isthmus of Panama. On his fourth voyage, Columbus explored the Misquitos Coast on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by Gil González Dávila, who arrived in Panama in January 1520.

González claimed to have converted some 30,000 indigenous peoples and discovered a possible transisthmian water link. After exploring and gathering gold in the fertile western valleys, González was attacked by the indigenous people, some of whom were commanded by Nicarao and an estimated 3,000 led by chief Diriangén. González later returned to Panama where GovernorPedro Arias Dávila tried to arrest him and confiscate his treasure, some 90,000 pesos of gold. González escaped to Santo Domingo.

It was not until 1524 that the first Spanish permanent settlements were founded. ConquistadorFrancisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaragua's principal towns in 1524: Granada on Lake Nicaragua was the first settlement, followed by León at a location east of Lake Managua. Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and attacked against incursions by the other conquistadors. Córdoba was later publicly beheaded following a power struggle with Pedro Arias Dávila. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the Ruins of León Viejo.

The clash among Spanish forces did not impede their devastation of the indigenous population and civilization. The series of battles came to be known as The War of the Captains. By 1529, the conquest of Nicaragua was complete.

Several conquistadors came out winners, while they executed or murdered others. Pedrarias Dávila was a winner— although he had lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and successfully established his base in León.

Through adroit diplomatic machinations, he became the first governor of the colony.

The land was parceled out to the conquistadors, who were most interested in the western portion. They enslaved many indigenous people as labor to develop and maintain estates there. Others were put to work in mines in northern Nicaragua, some were killed in warfare. The great majority were sold as slaves, whipped, and shipped to other Spanish colonies in the New World, at a significant profit to the newly landed aristocracy. Many of the indigenous people died as a result of infectious disease, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence.

Colonization to independence:

In 1536, the Viceroyalty of New Spain was established. By 1570, the southern part of New Spain was designated the Captaincy General of Guatemala. The area of Nicaragua was divided into administrative "parties" with León as the capital. In 1610, the Momotombo volcano erupted, destroying the capital. It was rebuilt northwest of what is now known as the Ruins of Old León.

During the American Revolutionary War, Central America was subject to conflict between Britain and Spain, as Britain sought to expand its influence beyond coastal logging and fishing communities in present-day Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua. Horatio Nelson led expeditions against San Fernando de Omoa in 1779 and the San Juan in 1780, which had temporary success before being abandoned due to disease. In turn, the Spanish colonial leaders could not completely eliminate British influences along the Mosquito Coast.

The Captaincy General of Guatemala was dissolved in September 1821 with the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire, and Nicaragua became part of the First Mexican Empire. After the monarchy of the First Mexican Empire was overthrown in 1823, Nicaragua joined the newly formed United Provinces of Central America, which was later renamed as the Federal Republic of Central America. Nicaragua finally became an independent republic in 1838.

Rivalry between the liberal elite of León and the conservative elite of Granada characterized the early years of independence and often degenerated into civil war, particularly during the 1840s and 1850s. Invited by the Liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the Conservatives, a United States adventurer and filibuster named William Walker set himself up as president of Nicaragua, after conducting a farcical election in 1856. Costa Rica, Honduras and other Central American countries united to drive Walker out of Nicaragua in 1857, after which a period of three decades of Conservative rule ensued.

Great Britain, which had claimed the Mosquito Coast as a protectorate since 1655, delegated the area to Honduras in 1859 before transferring it to Nicaragua in 1860. The Mosquito Coast remained an autonomous area until 1894.

José Santos Zelaya, president of Nicaragua from 1893 – 1909, negotiated the annexation of the Mosquito Coast to the rest of Nicaragua. In his honor, the region was named Zelaya Department.

In the 19th century, Nicaragua attracted many immigrants, primarily from Europe. In particular, families from Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium emigrated to set up businesses with money they brought from Europe. They established many agricultural businesses, such as coffee and sugar cane plantations, and also newspapers, hotels and banks.

Throughout the late 19th century, the United States (and several European powers) considered a scheme to build a canal across Nicaragua, linking the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. A bill was put before the U.S. Congress in 1899 to build the canal, which failed to pass it; construction of the Panama Canal was begun instead.

United States intervention (1909–1933):

In 1909, the United States provided political support to conservative-led forces rebelling against President Zelaya.

U.S. motives included differences over the proposed Nicaragua Canal, Nicaragua's potential as a destabilizing influence in the region, and Zelaya's attempts to regulate foreign access to Nicaraguan natural resources. On November 18, 1909, U.S. warships were sent to the area after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) were executed by order of Zelaya. The U.S. justified the intervention by claiming to protect U.S. lives and property. Zelaya resigned later that year.

In August 1912 the President of Nicaragua, Adolfo Díaz, requested that the Secretary of War, General Luis Mena, resign for fear that he was leading an insurrection. Mena fled Managua with his brother, the Chief of Police of Managua, to start an insurrection. When the U.S. Legation asked President Díaz to ensure the safety of American citizens and property during the insurrection he replied that he could not and that... “ In consequence my Government desires that the Government of the United States guarantee with its forces security for the property of American Citizens in Nicaragua and that it extend its protection to all the inhabitants of the Republic. ” U.S. Marines occupied Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933, except for a nine month period beginning in 1925. From 1910 to 1926, the conservative party ruled Nicaragua. The Chamorro family, which had long dominated the party, effectively controlled the government during that period. In 1914, the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty was signed, giving the U.S. control over the proposed canal, as well as leases for potential canal defenses. Following the evacuation of U.S. Marines, another violent conflict between liberals and conservatives took place in 1926, known as the Constitutionalist War, which resulted in a coalition government and the return of U.S. Marines.

From 1927 until 1933, Gen. Augusto César Sandino led a sustained guerrilla war first against the Conservative regime and subsequently against the U.S. Marines, who withdrew upon the establishment of a new Liberal government.

Sandino was the only Nicaraguan general to refuse to sign the el tratado del Espino Negro agreement and then headed up to the northern mountains of Las Segovias, where he fought the U.S. Marines for over five years. When the Americans left in 1933, they set up the Guardia Nacional (National Guard), a combined military and police force trained and equipped by the Americans and designed to be loyal to U.S. interests. Anastasio Somoza García, a close friend of the American government, was put in charge. He was one of the three rulers of the country, the others being Sandino and the President Juan Bautista Sacasa.

After the U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in January 1933, Sandino and the newly elected Sacasa government reached an agreement by which he would cease his guerrilla activities in return for amnesty, a grant of land for an agricultural colony, and retention of an armed band of 100 men for a year. But a growing hostility between Sandino and Somoza led Somoza to order the assassination of Sandino.Fearing future armed opposition from Sandino, Somoza invited him to a meeting in Managua, where Sandino was assassinated on February 21 of 1934 by soldiers of the National Guard. Hundreds of men, women, and children from Sandino's agricultural colony were executed later.

The Somoza Dynasty (1936–1979):

Nicaragua has experienced several military dictatorships, the longest one being the hereditary dictatorship of the Somoza family for much of the 20th century. The Somoza family came to power as part of a US-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the Guardia Nacional, or the National Guard, to replace the U.S. marines that had long reigned in the country. Somoza slowly eliminated officers in the National Guard who might have stood in his way, and then deposed Sacasa and became president on January 1, 1937 in a rigged election. Somoza was 35 at the time.

Nicaragua declared war on Germany on December 8, 1941, during World War II. Although war was formally declared, no soldiers were sent to the war, but Somoza did seize the occasion to confiscate attractive properties held by German-Nicaraguans, the best-known of which was theMontelimar estate which today operates as a privately owned luxury resort and casino. In 1945 Nicaragua was among the first countries to ratify the United Nations Charter.

Throughout his years as dictator, "Tacho" Somoza 'ruled Nicaragua with a strong arm'. He had three main sources for his power: control of Nicaraguan economy, military support, and support from the U.S. Somoza used the National Guard to force Sacasa to resign, and took control of the country in 1937, destroying any potential armed resistance. Not only did he have military control, but he controlled the National Liberal Party (LPN), which in turn controlled the legislature and judicial systems, giving him complete political power.

Despite his complete control, on September 21, 1956, Somoza was shot by Rigoberto López Pérez, a 27-year-old liberal Nicaraguan poet. Somoza was attending a PLN party to celebrate his nomination for the Presidency. He died eight days later. After his father's death, Luis Somoza Debayle, the eldest son of the late dictator, was appointed President by the congress and officially took charge of the country.

He is remembered by some for being moderate, but was in power only for a few years and then died of a heart attack.

Then came president René Schick Gutiérrez whom most Nicaraguans viewed "as nothing more than a puppet of the Somozas". Somoza's brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, a West Point graduate, succeeded his father in charge of the National Guard, controlled the country, and officially took the presidency after Schick.

Nicaragua experienced economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s largely as a result of industrialization, and became one of Central America's most developed nations. Due to its stable and high growth economy, foreign investments grew, primarily from U.S. companies such as Citigroup, Sears, Westinghouse, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Chase Manhattan Bank, "Morgan Guaranty Trust and Wells Fargo Bank. Other investors included London Bank and the Bank of Montreal.

The capital city of Managua suffered a major earthquake in 1972 which destroyed nearly 90% of the city, creating major losses,and leveling a 600-square block area in the heart of Managua. Some Nicaraguan historians see the 1972 earthquake that devastated Managua as the final 'nail in the coffin' for Somoza. Instead of helping to rebuild Managua, Somoza siphoned off relief money to help pay for National Guard luxury homes, while the homeless poor had to make do with hastily constructed wooden shacks. The mishandling of relief money also prompted Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente to personally fly to Managua on 31 December 1972, but he died enroute in an airplane accident. Even the economic elite were reluctant to support Somoza, as he had acquired monopolies in industries that were key to rebuilding the nation, and did not allow the businessmen to compete with the profits that would result.

In 1973, the year of reconstruction, many new buildings were built, but the level of corruption in the government prevented further growth. Strikes and demonstrations developed as citizens became increasingly angry and politically mobilized. The elite were angry that Somoza was asking them to pay new emergency taxes to further his own ends.

As a result, more of the young elite joined the Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN). The ever increasing tensions and anti-government uprisings slowed growth in the last two years of the Somoza dynasty.

Software Freedom Day Worldwide - Sep 15

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is an annual worldwide celebration of Free Software. SFD is a public education effort with the aim of increasing awareness of Free Software and its virtues, and encouraging its use.

Software Freedom Day was established in 2004 and was first observed on 28 August of that year. Over 70 teams participated in the first Software Freedom Day. Since that time it has grown in popularity and organisers anticipated more than 1,000 teams in 2010 (though only half of this number was actually achieved, representing a 30% decrease over 2009).

Since 2006 Software Freedom Day has been held on the third Saturday of September, it has occasionally coincided with International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Software Freedom International "Software Freedom International" (SFI) is a non-profit organisation that acts as the official organiser of Software Free-

dom Day, and is the legal body that handles donations, sponsorship contracts, and accounting. SFI has successfully obtain a tax-exempt status in the USA where it is registered, in order to make donations tax-deductible. The name Software Freedom International was chosen to distinguish the organisational body from the event of Software Freedom Day itself.

The day itself

Each event is left to local teams around the world to organise. Pre-registered teams (2 months before the date or earlier) receive free schwag sent by SFI to help with the events themselves. The SFD wiki contains individual team pages describing their plans as well as helpful information to get them up to speed. Events themselves varies between conferences explaining the virtues of Free and Open Source Software, to workshops, demonstrations, games, planting tree ceremonies, discussions and InstallFests.

Events

SFD 2004 was held on 28 August with more than 70 teams.

SFD 2005 was held on 10 September with more than 120 teams from over 60 countries.

SFD 2006 was held on 16 September with more than 200 teams from over 70 countries.

SFD 2007 was held on 15 September with more than 350 teams from over 80 countries.

SFD 2008 was held on 20 September with more than 500 teams in over 90 countries.

SFD 2009 was held on 19 September with more than 700 teams in over 90 countries.

SFD 2010 was held on 18 September with about 500 teams in over 100 countries.

SFD 2011 will be held on 17 September 2011.

Sponsors

The primary sponsor from the start was Canonical Ltd., the company behind Ubuntu, a Linux distribution. Then IBM, Sun Microsystems,DKUUG, Google, Red Hat, Linode, Nokia and now MakerBot Industries have joined the supporting organisations as well as the FSF and the FSFE. IBM and Sun Microsystems are currently not sponsoring the event.

In terms of media coverage SFI is partnering with Linux Magazineand Ubuntu User. Each local team can seek sponsors independently, especially local FOSS supporting organisations and often appears in local medias such as newspapers and TV.

SFI Board Members • Frederic Muller (President), founding member and former President of the Beijing LUG, co-organizer

• • • •

of many international FOSS events in China and Asia such as the Linux Developer Symposium (2008), Gnome.Asia Summits, OOoCon 2008, and of course local SFD events. Fred is as well as co-maintainer of RUR-PLE (a python learning environment for children) and a GNOME Foundation member.

Matt Oquist (VP, Treasurer and co-founder), a Tufts University graduate student and employee of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School Pockey Lam (Secretary), Former president of Beijing Linux User Group, founding member of SFD China.org, GNOME.Asia Summit, College OSS Society and Beijing GNOME User Group.

JM C. Bitanga Jan Husar

Past SFI Board Members Quiliro Ordóñez

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Silvia Aimasso Alexjan Carraturo Pia Waugh (President), of Linux Australia Henrik Nilsen Omma of TheOpenCD project Phil Harper, of TheOpenCD project Benjamin Mako Hill, of the Free Software Foundation Sidsel Jensen, DKUUG Frederick Noronha, Goa SFD Team Joe Olutuase, of Knowledge House Africa Robert Schumann, of TheOpenCD project Volunteer efforts are sought in many other sectors too, including local (national or regional) coordinators, sponsorship coordinator, wiki/website maintainers, media campaign people, etc

Ferenc Kumin met with Vice President of the United States Joe Biden

HUNGARY Agreement between Hungary and IMF will be unconditional, PM Orban (Online 07 with plied AcSep) European cording to legal tradiPrime Ministions, instrucViktor ter tions, culture Orbán, there and norms, will be an also adding agreement that this story between the is not about Hungarian Hungary, this government is not our and the Inconflict and ternational not a is Monetary question of but Fund, national innot based on terest. Hunthe condigary may be that tions proud that rewere the governon vealed purment T h u r s d a y. Viktor Orban (photo: MTI - Szilárd Koszticsák) a sues This is why transparent the cabinet comand is elaboratmonly known ing alternajurisprutive IMF/EU dence. negotiation Viktor Orbán positions – expressed he added on his view that Kossuth Hungarian Radio's 180 politics has minutes proa started gram. new era – The Prime „we are a Minister denaglobal clared that tion” – tens the EU had of thousands discussed of Hungarithe situation live ans of Hungary, throughout and the EU the world, so part of the we have to IMF/EU nefind new sogotiation del- Viktor Orban (photo: MTI - Szilárd Koszticsák) so lutions egation had that everysubmitted a may one report about practice their the Hungarright to vote, ian discusone of which sion to the be could financial and prior regiseconomic tration. In his committee of opinion this the commuwill increase This nity. participation document inin elections a cludes rather than very imporreducing it. tant and posalso He i t i v e stated that all statement: it experts are acknowlagreed that it edges that must be a Hungary in system needs a pre- Viktor Orban (photo: MTI - Szilárd Koszticsák) which only cautionary those living agreement instead of money – debt in foreign currency, adding in Hungary will be obliged to that the other great task, the participate. he added.

In his opinion, naturally it is creation of workplaces, is also In addition, the Prime Minister good if a country functions with in progress, and for instance mentioned that they are considless and less deficit, but what public works are advancing in ering the proposal put forward matters is how this is achieved, an exceptionally successful by the "Politics Can Be Differemphasizing that the IMF/EU way, so it is not true that people ent" party (LMP) recommendagreement is significant. He are lazy. Viktor Orbán named ing that the nomination of added that such an agreement the workplace protection action candidates should occur withwill be brokered, but not on this plan the most important task re- out collection of recommendabasis, so the cabinet will work lated to the autumn session tion coupons, adding that the on an alternative IMF/EU nego- stating that the Hungarian best solution will be chosen tiation position in the next 7-10 budget has the necessary from the many options availsources to cover the expenses. able. The Prime Minister also days.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister The Prime Minister indicated added that the Hungarian Sopointed out that the cabinet is in that he is scheduled to speak in cialist Party's suggestion introa good position regarding the Parliament on Monday, outlin- ducing compulsory election implementation of an important ing the most important tasks participation is an issue that the goal, namely leading the coun- ahead. government may not sympatry out of the debt trap. State Referring to the extradition of thise with, but which it views as Ramil Safarov, Viktor Orbán dedebt is falling and the cabinet an open question which will be has offered help to hundreds of clared that Hungary not only discussed in Parliament. thousands of people who hold acted in good faith, but it com-

H unga r y s igns c ult ur a l wor k pla n wit h Es t onia mensely (Online 07 positive imThe Sep) pact of linSixth World g u i s t i c Congress of diversity on Finno-Ugric education Peoples and culture. concluded At the event, with a declaMinister of ration markState for Culthe ing ture László success of a L. Simon and 20-year coEstonian operation Minister of between Culture Rein Finno-Ugric Lang signed nations, ina four-year stitutions cultural work and civil soplan which ciety organiwith deals sations. In cultural the closing Rein Lang, László L. Simon (photo: Gergely Botár) orevents plenary session of the congress, Minister of declaration was issued to mark ganised in the two countries, success of participants’ cothe encourages close cooperation State for Culture László L. Simon delivered a speech and, operation, and to declare that in the field of music, and seeks together with his Estonian “the Finno-Ugric world has be- to raise awareness of language relations. Special events are counterpart, signed a four-year come a reality”.

The declaration also draws at- also mentioned in the docucultural work plan. to the challenges faced tention ment, such as the opening of The topics discussed during the conference related to ethnopol- by Finno-Ugric peoples. Prob- an exhibition in Estonia on the itics, culture, language and ed- lems to be tackled include most Hungarian art movement “A Nyucation, technology and mass nationalities’ declining popula- olcak” (“The Eight”), a new communication, health, demog- tions, assimilation processes Hungarian translation of the Esraphy and ecology. A new ele- displacing national cultures and tonian national epic “Kalement at the congress this year languages, and economic, so- vipoeg” and publication of a was an economic forum pro- cial and political instability. The major new Estonian-Hungarian moting future business cooper- declaration emphasises the pri- dictionary. ation among the nationalities orities of closer cooperation, im- The World Congress of Finnorepresented, which together proved democratisation among Ugric Peoples takes place form a potential market of more Finno-Ugric peoples and re- every four years, the next one spect for mother tongues. It being held in Finland in 2016. than 25 million people.

At the end of the congress a also lays stress on the im-

Gov e r nm e nt ’s ne w s oc ia l pr ogr a m m e t o c los e a s uc c e s s f ul y e a r (Online 07 Sep) Social solidarity is the engine of the Erzsébet Programme launched by the Government last year on which Parliament also passed a law in June. The essence of the programme is that employers may provide Erzsébet Vouchers for their employees for meals and catering services as a benefit over and above the basic pay, and the state revenue derived from the distribution of the vouchers is used by the State solely for the purposes of social holiday schemes.

Consequently, the Erzsébet Programme itself generates the funds necessary for social holiday schemes and thereby creates new resources in the social care network. On the other hand, it represents a new form of social solidarity as it offers disadvantaged groups the

chance of going on holiday whilst not withdrawing funds from others.

In the first year of the programme, more than 14 thousand disadvantaged children and 75 thousand disadvantaged individuals were able to go on holiday; many, amongst them, never previously or only many years ago could last afford to spend a holiday by, for instance, one of Europe’s most beautiful lakes, Lake Balaton, that is also referred to as the “Hungarian sea”. Needy pensioners, individuals with disabilities, large families and workers in the social, child welfare and child protection sector may enjoy a holiday in Hungary’s beautiful tourist destinations who would not have the chance of going on holiday without this programme. In the camps or-

ganised for needy children, children have access to leisure time facilities and programmes which their parents would find very difficult to finance or could not afford at all; horse riding, various sports, language learning, dance classes, a variety of craft workshops, etc.

The programme is also designed to significantly reduce the number of children who do not have access to several meals a day and healthy food suited to their age.

The Government has recently appointed Zoltán Guller as ministerial commissioner for the fulfilment and development of the tasks related to the government-level coordination of the implementation of the highly successful Erzsébet Programme.

Four - da y H unga r ia n- Is r a e li diplom a t e x c ha nge pr ogr a m in B uda pe s t (Online 07 Sep) In the framework of the Wallenberg Year a Diplomat Hungarian-Israeli Seminar will take place between 9-12 September 2012 organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and the Embassy of the State of Israel in Budapest.

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The program will include professional as well as cultural programs, and will give the opportunity to 5 Hungarian and 5 Israeli young diplomats to exchange ideas in topics such as the rescuing activities of Raoul Wallenberg, the tasks of a diplomat in perilous times, the

development of Hungarian-Israeli relations, and the issue of anti-Semitism.

The organisers hope that the four-day event will serve as a base for a long-term Hungarian-Israeli diplomat exchange program.

da t a in line wit h e x pe c t a t ions

(Online 07 Sep) In the s e c o n d of quarter 2012 Hungary’s GDP – matching almost exprior actly expectations – decreased by 1.3 percomcent pared to the same period of the previyear. ous Several countries in the EU have s i m i l a r trends, Italy and Portugal have been in deep recession, while the economy of our regional peer, the Czech Republic, contracted by more than 1 percent according to preliminary data.

From next year on growth prospects are expected to brighten gradually: several large industrial investments will start operating or reach planned capacity utilization levels which will boost both exports and production, and improving external market conditions may also contribute to economic growth.

On the basis of detailed data it can be concluded that on the production side significant sectors slightly contracted in the second quarter of the year.

Compared to the previous year, there was significant change in industry and agriculture. Parallel to diminishing export market demand, the basically exportoriented industrial sector regis-

tered a small decline of 0.7 percent. The other key change can be observed in agriculture which, due to unfavourable weather conditions, recorded slight contraction after the strong growth of the previous year. Therefore latest data are pushed deep into negative territory by high basis figures.

On the consumption side it can be observed that net exports have still positively contributed to figures. Exports were up 2.1 percent, whereas imports increased only by 0.2 percent.

Household consumption has declined marginally, but regarding gross capital formation it continues to record substantial contraction.

Having recognized negative tendencies on external markets, the government continues to work out instruments to fuel growth. In addition to new development schemes and the more efficient utilization of EU resources, production at the

Kecskemét plant of Merwill cedes also have a positive imon pact g r o w t h prospects.

Problems resulting from the negative external environment will be addressed by active measures such as the Job Protection AcPlan tion aimed at improving conditions for enterprises.

Furthermore, it has to be noted that it was Hungary where general government debt was reduced to the largest extent in the past two years which result has been and continues to be the consequence of an increasingly balanced fiscal policy which is stable even from a European perspective. Crucial regulatory amendments had been introduced regarding employment as well which made the Hungarian labour market noticeably more flexible. Recently published data already reflect their impact. There have been important changes in the fields of education and innovation policy which will enable Hungary to be one of the countries that can best benefit from the anticipated future upswing in European economic activity which will be complemented by the policy of opening to the East.

St a t e Se c r e t a r y Zs olt N é m e t h t o a tt e nd e v e nt s in Pr is t ina (Online 07 Sep) Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh will travel to Pristina, Kosovo on 10 September for a two-day visit.

He will attend several events marking the end of the supervision of democratic progress in Kosovo, such as the last meeting of the International Steering Group and the formal conven-

ing of the Kosovar Parliament.

State Secretary Németh will also hold bilateral talks with the country’s officials.

On 11 September, the State Secretary will speak at the international conference „Chapter Closed in the Balkans”, organised by the International Civilian Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo. The event will be opened by the

President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, and former UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. The main topic of the conference will be the future of the Western Balkans and the keynote speakers will be officials from the Government of Kosovo, the European Union and the countries of the International Steering Group.

Pé t e r Szijjá r t ó a nnounc e d t he Pr im e M inis t e r ’s v is it t o B e r lin (Online 06 Sep) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is scheduled to pay an official visit to Germany in October, and meet Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks on bilateral ties of strategic importance as well as European issues, Péter Szijjártó, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations told Hungarian News Agency MTI today.

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó had talks in Berlin in preparation for the prime ministerial visit and Christoph Heusgen, met Merkel's advisor on foreign af-

fairs and security policy, Cornelia Pieper, minister of state at the German foreign ministry, state secretary for economic affairs Peter Hintze, and Andreas Schockenhoff, deputy leader of the CDU/CSU party alliance.

Concerning his negotiations, Szijjártó said that Hungary supported German endeavours to strengthen the EU and its currency, and noted that Hungary had succeeded in reducing its deficit to below 3 percent and was reducing its national debt on a continuous basis.

During the talks, all parties agreed that once the crisis is over, cooperation between Ger-

many and Central Europe will be crucial for further economic growth, Szijjártó said. He added that the Hungarian government wanted to promote that cooperation through making strategic agreements with large German companies in the country, as well as through eliminating some of the red tape and making the tax system less complicated.

On another subject, Szijjártó said that Hungary supported Germany's efforts to make the EU's cohesion funds more transparent and efficient, but said that those efforts must not involve funding cuts.

D a nube s t r a t e gy s uc c e s s s t or y, s a y s gov e r nm e nt c om m is s ione r (Online 05 Sep) The European Union's Danube Strategy, adopted during Hungary's EU Presidency in the first half of 2011, has turned out to be a success story, government Balázs commissioner Medgyesy told a press conference in Dunaujvaros, central Hungary, on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of a regional Danube conference, the commissioner talked about cooperation projects built on the Danube Strategy, with special regard to ones aimed at improv-

ing the security of gas supplies and making flood protection cheaper.

Medgyesy also spoke about programmes seeking to integrate the Roma minority, under which countries with similar conditions work together to handle migration and employment problems of the Roma.

The Hungarian government and the European Investment Bank have jointly set up a Danube Contact Point in Budapest to coordinate regional investment projects and ensure

financing, Medgyesy added.

The two-day conference will be attended by 120 experts to discuss development plans under the Danube Strategy.

An adviser at the Development Ministry said at the press conference that Hungary's national transport strategy will put a stronger accent on river transport. A development plan of the port in Dunaujvaros has been included in an international project, the executive of the Danube Strategy added.

Fe r e nc K um in a t t e nds D e m oc r a t ic N a t iona l C onv e nt ion Deputy (Online 04 Sep) State Secretary for International Communications Ferenc Kumin is attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which takes place this week in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He will be meeting senior Democratic leadership in the United States House of Representative and the Senate as well as senior level political advisors from the ObamaBiden campaign. In addition,

he will participate in background conversations about the state of the US presidential race with representatives of prominent US media, such as Politico and The Charlotte Observer.

Ferenc Kumin will be present at Democratic National Convention Speeches, including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator John Kerry.

He will also attend panel discussions regarding various

topics such as voting patterns and political leanings, as well as presentations of leading pollsters/analysts who will discuss findings of public opinion research regarding the 2012 presidential election.

At the convention, party delegates nominate their presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the upcoming elections.

spoke, and a (Online 05 video mesThe Sep) from sage Deputy State former PresiS e c r e t a r y, dent Jimmy Senior AdviCarter was sor to the also shown.

Hungarian the Today Prime MinisDeputy State Jenő ter Secretary Megyesy will meet with and Ambasthe political of sador analysts of Hungary to the Obamathe United Biden camS t a t e s and paign György Szathe follow páry spoke speeches of briefly with former PresiVice the dent Bill ClinPresident on and ton the first day Photo: International Communications Office Governor of of the DemoTuesday, Deputy State SecOn Maryland Martin O’Malley, one cratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. In recent years retary Kumin met with other of the possible candidates for the former senator, who has high-ranking members of the the 2016 presidential elections. widespread foreign policy expe- Democratic Party and attended In addition, Deputy State Secrience, has advised President one of the closing events of the retary Kumin has also been inBarack Obama on several inter- day, where the First Lady vited to participate in a panel national issues and is expected Michelle Obama and San Anto- discussion regarding the signifto be re-elected in his position. nio’s mayor Julian Castro icance of opinion polls.

President Áder emphasises the importance of Finno-Ugric relations (Online 05 The Sep) Ministry of Human Resources designated 150 million forints to the Hungarian Office of the FinnoUgric World Congress to organise the three-day event, and appointed Deputy State Secretary for Cultural AfJudit fairs H a m m e r - Photo: Tamás stein as the main coordinator of the preparations.

Speaking at the opening of the 6th World Congress of FinnoUgric People, President of Hungary János Áder said that linguistic kinship means that we all belong to the same language family and are not alone. We share a common past, present and future and we are responsible for each other. At the Conissues such as gress, ethno-politics, law, linguistics, culture and demography will be

Kovács (MTI) on the agenda. 25 nations will represent themselves in Siófok at the three-day event.

The Hungarian President added that sharing a language is an opportunity to preserve national identity and further develop the nation’s own culture, as well as to better understand each other and ourselves. He also acknowledged the work of linguists, archaeologists and ethnographers who have dedicated their lives to enriching our knowledge of the language and

homeland of first the Finno-Ugric He tribes. highlighted these that findings were a result of hundreds of years of conrestant search. "We bow must our heads to the achievements of the scientists of past generations" PresiÁder dent said.

The Estonian and Finnish Heads of State, Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Sauli Niinisto, as well as Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, were among the guests of the international event. The World Congress was established in 1992 by Hungary, Estonia, Finland, and Russia and meets in a different country every four years. In 2008, the event was held in the Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk.

Hungary in the competitiveness ranking of the World Economic Forum (Online 05 Sep) The change of Hungary’s place in the category evaluating macroeconomic environment, in the competitiveness ranking of the World Economic Forum aptly demonstrates that although the financial consolidation process of the past two years was painful but a success nonetheless.

The key objective of Hungarian economic policy of the past two years was to stop and reverse the unsustainable financialmacroeconomic processes causing imbalances, which were inherited in 2010, as well as to consolidate the Hungarian state budget during the turbu-

lences caused by the European debt crisis which has been deepening ever since. The competitiveness ranking of the World Economic Forum (WEF) highlighted that in the category evaluating macroeconomic environment Hungary has advanced 23 places and is now 44th after last year’s 67th place.

An improving fiscal balance, increasing savings rate and decreasing inflation have significantly contributed to this improvement.

In the period of a worsening European economic slump financial consolidation was painful for enterprises. It has been re-

flected in the fact that albeit macroeconomic environment has improved (in the WEF ranking according to calculations based on statistics), the opinion indicators of the list – based on personal responses of company managers – the relative position of Hungary did not improve.

The results of the reforms implemented so far will become evident in coming years and by the time the measures bear fruits growth will also kick in parallel to financial consolidation.

The many faces of Hungary – Budapest hosts Jewish and Catholic festivals (Online 04 BuSep) dapest’s annual Jewish Summer Festival has become one of the most important most and popular cultural events in Hungary.

This year the festival was held for the fifteenth betime, tween 26 August and 4 September, Photo: MTI and it proan vided amazing of range events, such as klezmerinfluenced urban and pop music, classical and perjazz formances, concerts and exhibitions.

In his opening address, Managing Director of the Federation of Jews h i C o m m u n i - Photo: MTI ties in Hungary (MAZSIHISZ) Gusztáv Zoltai described the festival as ‘well-known for its celebrated artists and praised by its audiences, and stressed the need for tolerance of all, regardless of religious, national or ethnic background.’

As part of the festival, Budapest’s Central Library hosted two spectacular exhibitions, on Israel’s finest children’s book illustrations, and on Jewish manand ceremonial uscripts objects. Israeli Ambassador to Hungary Ilan Mor and Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós both spoke at the opening event.

Ambassador Mor hoped that young and old alike would enjoy

a glimpse of Israel’s past – both recent and more distant. Mr. Tarlós said that Jewish culture is an essential part of Hungarian culture, and referred to some of the many outstanding Jewish Hungarians, such as Miklós Radnóti, Antal Szerb, Frigyes Karinthy, István Örkény and Gábor Dénes. The exhibition is open until 13 September.

The festival coincided with the 10th Genfest event, an international youth meeting taking place between 31 August and 2 September in Budapest, organised by the Focolare Movement. The participants at the event were greeted by Hungary’s Foreign Minister János

Martonyi.

Twelve thousand young people from eighty-five countries took part in event, the the slogan of which was ‘Let's bridge’.

Minister Martonyi said that Budapest is a of ‘city bridges’ and that Hungary is a welcoming country.

The coming together of peoples, civilisations and cultures enriches the country's culture, civilisation and life as a whole, added. he Maria Voce, the current leader of the Focolare Movement, said that Budapest was first the choice of potential participants who had filled in a questionnaire about which city they would like the meeting to be held in.

At the closing ceremony, Cardinal Péter Erdő, the head of the Catholic Church in Hungary, delivered a sermon in Hungarian and Italian in front of Saint Stephen's Basilica, Budapest’s largest church. He said that getting to know each other's communities, cultures and people’s individual problems is the bridge towards love of each other. Alberto Bottari de Castello, the Apostolic Nuncio, said he was delighted to see so many people attending the event, and thanked the organisers for their work.

Second information security and cyber defence conference took place in Hungary (Online 04 Sep) The National Security Authority of Hungary, operating as a support institution of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, held the second Information Security and Cyber Defence (ISCD) conference on 3-4 September as a preliminary event of the October Budapest Cyberspace Conference taking place in October. lectures Thought-provoking were delivered at the conference by Gábor Iklódy, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges and Mihály Zala, President of the National Security Authority of Hungary. On behalf of the Government, amongst others, the conference was attended

by Dr Réka Szemerkényi, senior political advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office and Dr Zoltán Kovács, Minister of State for Social Relations at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, who said that the Government recognised the necessity of assessing the defence capabilities of the existing information systems, coordinating the relevant local and EU criteria and protecting the national data asset and the critical national infrastructure. Thanks to the Government’s timely recognition, the statutory environment and the range of assets coming under increased na-

tional protection have been reshaped completely in recent years, and a progressive new National Security Strategy was also approved at the beginning of 2012.

The event serves as a national and international forum for the theoretical and practical development of information security and cyber defence both on a strategic level and as a leading expert forum. The purpose of the two-day conference held in Balatonőszöd is to promote excellence-based cooperation between the State, international integration organisations, industry and critical infrastructure players and scientists by creating a forum for high-level professional and comparative The conference debates. served as a scene for the introduction of the latest cyber defence trends which also have an impact on international agreements, well-known and less well-known latest methods for the detection of vulnerabilities, the relevance of information security awareness, the protection of industry control systems (SCADA), in particular, in respect of critical infrastructure, and the security solutions of leading market players and application developers.

The lecturers and attendees at the conference included important local decision-makers, the

representatives of organisations responsible for security policy issues, leading experts from today’s most relevant information security providers, the security managers of local and foreign critical infrastructure facilities, the senior experts of major information security providers and the representatives of university research institutes.

The Budapest Cyberspace Conference will be held on 4-5 October 2012. Due to the high level of attendees and the political importance of the event, the conference is one of this year’s priority diplomatic and professional events; 600 international government, corporate, scientific and civil attendees and some 100 members of the press are awaited at Budapest’s Millennium Park. Participants of the Budapest Cyberspace Conference will have the opportunity to exchange views on the economic and social opportunities offered by cyberspace, the latest local and international developments in cyber-security and the threats and challenges posed by cyber-crime as part of three plenary sessions, five thematic panel discussions, eight workshop debates, a separate youth forum and an innovation exhibition.

Hungary’s development of public administration is a model to be followed (Online 04 Sep) Even simpler arrangement of affairs; even more transp a r e n t tasks and a public administration organisation tailored to them; public servants who are even more respected and profes- Tibor Navracsics (photo: Gergely Botár) sionally trained: these are the main directions which need to be maintained for further improvement of effectiveness in publ i c administration.

The Ministry of Publ i c Administration and Tibor Navracsics (photo: Gergely Botár) Justice summarised the implemented virtues of the Magyary Promeasures for development of gramme is its self-appraisal public administration included and flexibility, which in conin the Magyary Zoltán Pro- trast to former practice is not gramme for development of aligned with one absolute public administration goal, but with continually (launched in June 2011), and changing circumstances in its the results so far. It also indi- mission to achieve aims such cated the direction of further as public administration being developments, included in an aid to competitiveness the Magyary Programme rather than a hindrance.

12.0, presented on 31 au- The Minister stressed that the gust. The Programme was creators of the Magyary Propresented by Tibor Navrac- gramme had made great efsics, Deputy Prime Minister forts to find its weaknesses and Minister of Public Admin- and the differences between plans and realisation. In this istration and Justice.

In his opening speech, Mr. way, self-appraisal is a Navracsics said that the aim strength, and the comparison of the Programme is the cre- of aims and achievements ation of the Good State – and brings us closer to our origiso the attainment of public nal goals. good – and the elimination of The reform process of the party and factional interests, last two years has brought so that the government of the the effectiveness of the cenday may work in the national tral government’s decisionmaking system to the interest.

Mr. Navracsics thinks that forefront in European terms one of the most important and without this it would have been impossible to imple-

m e n t changes such as those in education, healthcare, local government, public administration and the justice system.

The Minister also sees the Magyary Programme as potentially defining a new era, in the sense that this could be the first Hungarian public administration reform, which the O E C D could also ’patent’ and hold up as an example to other Member States.

The Magyary Zoltán Public Administration Development Programme is one of the important pillars of reform in public administration launched by the Government.

The programme is closely linked to reform of the regional public administration and local government system, the reform of the justice system and the programme for elimination of corruption in public administration.

The programme identifies further necessary measures in four areas of intervention: further simplification of the organisational system of public administration; accountability and transparency of public administration tasks (the creation of a register of state tasks); the further simplification of public administration procedures and regulations, and making them more comprehensible (deregulation); and management of human resources in public administration.

Polic y s t r a t e gy t o im pr ov e e ne r gy c ondit ions in buildings in H unga r y (Online 05 Sep) The Ministry of National Development has undertaken to prepare a National Building Energy Strategy, to be completed by the summer of 2013 with assistance from ÉMI Construction Quality Control Innovation Nonprofit Kft. Harmonised with the directives of the European Union, the policy document will record long-term concepts for the energy-efficient renovation of the existing buildings and the construction of new energysaving edifices. The strategy will be a significant guide to planning building energy improvement projects.

Approximately 70% of Hungary’s 4.2 million buildings require renovation; with every tenth building should be completely rebuilt. 40 percent of the energy used relates to buildings in poor condition, and two-thirds of the additional energy is used for heating and cooling. In Hungary the highest amount of carbon dioxide is

emitted by buildings, considerably exceeding both industry and transport. A 30% cut in the heat demand for buildings by 2030 is a government objective asserted on several occasions, as it will reduce Hungary’s prime energy requirement by more than 10%.

The Ministry of National Development and ÉMI Construction Quality Control Innovation Non-profit Kft. will elaborate the National Building Energy Strategy with contribution from renowned university experts well-versed in this field. As a first step, the energy condition of Hungary’s buildings will be mapped on the basis of the available data and specific surveys.

Within the framework of the National Building Energy Strategy, an economic impact analysis and a strategic environmental analysis will also be made in order to size up the funding requirements and financial impacts of subsequent renovation

projects. As one of the most significant results of the strategy, a building energy register will be set up for the purposes of recording and analysing the surveyed inventory of buildings.

The results of the overall survey of building energy conditions and the establishment of a dynamic building energy database will allow the compilation of an efficient support and financing programme for the next few years. Among other things, the strategy will also lay the foundations of the opportunity for the elaboration of a complex rating system for buildings.

In addition to the efforts made at improving building energy, the document in preparation will underpin the objectives related to energy efficiency in Hungary’s main framework programmes: the New Széchenyi Plan and the National Energy Strategy.

G e n . D r. T i b o r B e n k ő R e c e i v e s the Legion of Merit (Online 05 On Sep) Tu e s d a y, September 4 Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Chief of the Defence Staff visited the the US Army Europe Headquar(USters AREUR HQ) in Heidelberg, Germany at the invitation of US Army Europe Com- (photo: Ministry of Defence) m a n d e r gion of Merit is the second Lt.-Gen. Mark P. Hertling.

The occasion for the bilateral highest decoration that has meeting was that the United been awarded to Gen. Benkő States Secretary of Defense for his military service. The first awarded a decoration to Gen. degree (Chief Commander) of the medal is awarded to heads Dr. Tibor Benkő.

Lt.-Gen. Mark P. Hertling pre- of states and governments. sented the Chief of the De- The decoration was awarded fence Staff with the and presented to Gen. Dr. commander degree of the Tibor Benkő with the following prestigious US Army Legion of recommendation: Merit medal. This medal is The President of the United awarded for „exceptionally States of America, authorized meritorious conduct in the per- by Act of Congress, July 20, formance of outstanding serv- 1942, has awarded the Legion ices and achievements”. The of Merit (Degree of Comcommander degree of the Le- mander) to General Tibor

Benkő Chief of the Defence, Hung a r i a n Defense for Forses exceptionally m e r i to r i o u s service as the Chief of Defense of the Hungarian Defense Forces from June 2010 to March 2012.

General B e n k ő worked with the United States Army Europe to advance European security cooperation and actively support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. His modernization of the Hungarian Defense Forces’ interoperability and deployment capabilities has set the framework for the twenty-first century security challenges. General Benkő’s contributions to collective security cooperation reflect great credit upon himself, the Hungarian Defense Forces, and Hungary.

The university is one of the Key pillars for building our future (Online 04 “The Sep) mission of the National University of Public Service (NUPS) as a 21stcentury institution of higher education is the continuous renewal of the Hungarstateian – hood” Prime Minister Viktor O r b á n Photo: Gergely Botár stressed at the opening ceremony of the NUPS academic year in the Orczy Park, Budapest on 3 September.

The Hungarian Prime Minister held his speech after Dr. András the Patyi, rector of the N U P S opened the academic year 2012– Photo: Gergely Botár 2013.

In his speech, Prime Minister work, however, is far from Orbán emphasized that we complete. The Government is waited 22 years for the estab- currently laying the foundalishment of a National Univer- tions to ensure free life and desity of Public Service, although cent living to the Hungarian there are similar institutions in people for the long run, and the almost every country belong- establishment of the university ing to the same cultural do- is a perfect example of these state-building efforts, of these main as Hungary.

The Prime Minister pointed out consciously planned, coherent that the Government has been set of changes which result in working at a stepped-up pace a well-running country. since 2010, which produced In his speech, the Prime Minisfar-reaching changes. As a re- ter stated that the renewal of sult of these, Hungary is now the Ludovika Campus is one of handling the crisis well. This the largest city development

in projects Budapest since 1990.

He said that the National University of Public Service (NUPS) will provide the young p e o p l e , choosing the service of the homeland as their vocation, with a strong sense identity, of up-to-date professional knowledge and motivation. Thus the university forms one of the key pillars for building our own future. Thanks to the interconnected careers ensuring mobility, those working in the field of public service will be able to pursue a stable and flexicareer ble path in a merit-based promotion system.

This is a new 21st-century institution of higher education whose missions includes the continuous renewal of the Hungarian statehood, the protection of the strong state and through it, the protection of Hungarian people and their interests.

Prime Minister Orbán thanked the students for having decided to pursue their careers in public service, and called them on to commit themselves to the service of national interests.

Hungarian soldiers leaving for Afghanistan (Online 03 Sep) Some 300 Hungarian soldiers will leave for Afghanistan to serve at airKabul port, in a provincial reconstruction team, an air training command team and an air advisory team from September, Defence M i n i s t e r Photo: MTI - Lajos Nagy C s a b a Afghanistan to take their lives Hende said on Monday.

Minister Hende bid farewell to in their own hands. To serve the soldiers at a ceremony in this aim, we are changing the mission and shifting emphasis Szekesfehervar.

"The mission reached a deci- on advising, mentoring and sive and critical phase. Time preparing. At the same time, has come for the people of NATO will start withdrawing its

troops," the minister said. h e T Afghanistan is mission currently the most difficult and most important undertaking of the Hungarian Army, he said. Hungarian soldiers can acquire experiences there that would not be possible in the training ground, he added. As a result of NATO’s request, the Hungarian Defence Forces will take over the lead nation role in force protection at Kabul International Airport (KAIA) for six months as of October 1, 2012.

Hungarian-Iraqi agreement on environmental and water management cooperation (Online 03 Sep) Following the meeton ing Monday between the ministers of Iraq and Hungary, responsible for environmenissues, tal Hungarian Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas retold porters, "Iss u e s photo: Csaba Pelsőczy regarding clim a t e change, environmental protection water and management were on the at agenda the meeting.

Our relations with the near eastern region, cooperation with Arab counand tries therefore also with the Republic of Sargun Lazar Sulaywah, Sándor Fazekas Iraqi are of great importance for Hungary." ronment and water manageIraqi Minister for the Environ- ment that will form the framement Sargun Lazar Sulaywah work for future cooperation." arrived in Budapest for a two- He also referred to the fact that day visit at the invitation of Hungarian-Iraqi economic relations had already been intenSándor Fazekas.

The Minister for Rural Devel- sive and high level. opment stated, "It is up to the In the words of the Iraqi Ministwo country's experts to work ter for the Environment, "This out the bilateral agreement on meeting has brought us much the broadening of cooperation closer to signing an inter-minwithin the issues of the envi- isterial agreement, which would provide the framework

for cooperation". He also signalled that the relationship between Hungary and Iraq has a long history, Iraq which wishes to renew.

The Minister for Rural Development stated, "It is up to the two country's experts to work out the bilateral agreement on the broadening of cooperation within the issues of the environment and water management that will form framethe work for fut u r e cooperation."

He also referred to the fact that Hungarian-Iraqi economic relations had already been intensive and high level.

In the words of the Iraqi Minister for the Environment, "This meeting has brought us much closer to signing an inter-ministerial agreement, which would provide the framework for cooperation". He also signalled that the relationship between Hungary and Iraq has a long history, which Iraq wishes to renew.

Hungary reactions to the sudden and unexpected release of Ramil by Azeri authorities (Online 03 Sep) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasised on Monday that Hungary complied with international regulations regarding Ramil Sahib Safarov’s transfer to Azerbaijan. He added that the rules of international law are shaped openly and not on the basis of secret agreements.

Regarding the sudden and unexpected release of Safarov by Azeri authorities on Friday, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Administration and Justice released a joint statement emphasising that Safarov’s transfer was prepared and carried out by Hungary transparently and in accordance with international law. Hungary expects the same approach from its international partners the

statement added, also underlining the country’s profound respect for Armenia.

Following the international outcry of Armenians, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh asked Vilayat Guliyev, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Hungary to his office to inform him about the position of the Hungarian Government and handed over a diplomatic note to the Ambassador. The diplomatic note stated that Azerbaijan’s actions were in sharp contrast with the assurance received earlier from the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan in his letter of 15 August 2012, addressed to the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary. In this letter the Republic

of Azerbaijan, quoting the relevant international Convention, undertook that the sentenced person will serve the remaining part of his prison sentence in the Republic of Azerbaijan and may be released on conditional parole only after he has served at least 25 years of his sentence.

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó in several television and radio interviews informed the public that every aspect of the transfer was in accordance with the 1983 Strasbourg Convention and was a transparent procedure. He denied every allegation indicating that the case was influenced by energy relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan.

To p o f f i c i a l s a d d r e s s s c h o o l year opening (Online 03 principles.

Sep) ParliaIn his admentary dress in the Speaker Cistercian L a s z l o Lajos Nagy K o v e r , Secondary Human ReSchool in the sources Minsouth Hunister Zoltan garian city of Balog and Pecs, Zoltan Education Balog called State Secreeducation a tary Rozsa common naHoffmann tional issue. addressed He also said school-year that restoring opening respect toevents in wards teachHungary on was ers Sunday. important.

Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy Speaking in At the Pecs the Reevent, Hoffformed Primann noted mary School the overall rein Liter in form brought western about in pubH u n g a r y, lic education K o v e r by a new law. stressed the Earlier in the importance day, Hoffmorals of atmann and the abiltended the ity of making school-year a decision opening at between the Budapest and good Semmelweis bad and true U n i v e r s i t y, and false as where 3,400 basic guiding students start principles in their studies today's soci- Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy this year, 700 ety in Hunof whom great task in teaching those gary. He said teachers had a come from abroad.

Government securities market stabilizing (Online 07 Sep) Secondary market yields of Hungarian government securities dropped significantly in the past six months and they declined on average to pre-crisis levels of autumn 2008 or regarding certain tenors even below that. The yield curve comprised of averages of yields from Q2 2012 has been rising after the pre-crisis declining pattern which may also signal the onset of economic growth recovery. In addition, auction results observed recently similarly indicate that yields on the government securities market have stabilized at a pre-crisis level.

From the beginning of 2008 the Hungarian course of the global economic slump can be divided basically into five periods which spectacularly influenced government securities yields on the secondary market. To the first phase belong the three consecutive quarters prior to the onset of the crisis (from the beginning of 2008), in which period -except for a level around 7 percent at the start – yields fluctuated between 8-10 percent.

After the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, however, due primarily to the consequent confidence crisis on international financial markets, yields increased significantly hitting even 13 percent for bonds of certain maturities.

The third phase begins with the third quarter of 2009 when yields fell sharply and yields

of short-dated bonds dipped even below the averages prevalent in 2008, prior to the Lehman fiasco. In the fourth quarter of 2011, however, as fiscal issues were gaining attention and international investor confidence declined substantially again, it also resulted in significantly higher yields. In this period quick changes in market expectations regarding the EU/IMF negotiations had a negative impact on benchmark yields as well. At the beginning of 2012, on the other hand, as the Széll Kálmán Plan 2.0 was announced and EU/IMF talks were commenced yields decreased sharply and fell to around 7 percent.

Analyzing the yield curve made up from average yields of certain periods of the crisis it can be concluded that compared to the period right before the global recession short-end yields (for maturities of less than one year) in the latest yield curve period were on average 1.3 percent lower. As far as bonds of longer maturities are concerned, the gap has been narrowing and regarding bonds with maturity of 10 years average secondary market yields are practically identical in both cases.

Regarding the yield curve shape it can be observed that while it was rather downwardsloping (inverted) before the crisis which forecast declining inflation in the medium and long term and as a probable

consequence of that an economic slowdown -- which has proven to be right afterwards.

From the second quarter 2012 the yield curve of median yields albeit slightly but has been on the rise which may be an indicator of improving growth prospects.

Analyzing auction results it can be concluded that in comparison to the circumstances prevalent during the global economic crisis and periods of poor growth and unfavourable fiscal outlook the situation has stabilized. Comparing average yields at auctions prior to the crisis on the one hand and those after Q2 2012 on the other it is apparent that out of benchmark tenors only the average auction yields of 10-year bonds are marginally higher than pre-crisis figures. However, the largest yield decline has been registered at 12-month treasuries as median auction yields were 1.4 percent lower in the latest observed period than before the crisis. Average auction yields regarding other observed periods were on average 0.9 percent lower compared to the period preceding the global slowdown.

As far as bid-to-cover ratios are concerned, demand by primary investors at auctions was lower only for 3-month bills, while it was practically identical for 12-month treasuries and significantly higher for 5- and 10-year bonds compared to the pre-crisis period.

This is a special year for the Embassy of Brazil in Islamabad, since we celebrate the 190th anniversary of the Independence of Brazil, which happened on 7th September 1822, and the 60th anniversary of the opening of the first Embassy of Brazil in Pakistan, which took place in Karachi, on 17th September 1952.

We also celebrate the 64th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Pakistan, in 1948. Brazil was the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan and the first Latin American country to open an Embassy in this country. On the other hand, Pakistan chose Brazil to open its first Embassy in Latin America: in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil, 61 years ago, in 1951.

To commemorate these joyful events, a book on Brazil has been published in Urdu and in English. This book is a manual on Brazilian history, geography, politics, economics, cultural and social matters, aimed at the youth of Pakistan. It was written for the future professionals, teachers, doctors and politicians of this country - the future leaders of Pakistan. With this book, which will be launched in September, exactly 60 years after the arrival of the first Brazilian Ambassador to Pakistan,the young Pakistanis will learn about Brazil and the enormous potential that strengthened Brazil-Pakistan relations have.

Besides the book, many other interesting activities are scheduled for the month of September on the occasion of the Brazilian National Day. Three successful Brazilians of the world of art will come to Pakistan to take part in these activities. One of them is the acclaimed photographer Almir Reis, who will be in Islamabad for the opening of a joint photo exhibition with the distinguished Pakistani photographer Zulfikar Ali: "BrazilPakistan. The View of the Other". Almir and Zulfikar will show the refined photos they took in Pakistan and in Brazil and reveal the images which captured their attention during their visits to the "country of the other".