Bed of thorns for Morocco and Chavezuela..(?)

What about?

It’s about Moroccan international relations with Venezuela and neighbor Algeria.

The relation between Morocco and Venezuela is now far then bed of roses,  about a week or so ago, the administrative capital Rabat officially announced that the kingdom is closing its embassy in Caracas for supporting the independence and foundation of the West Sahara country.

After its independence from Spain, the West Sahara has been administered by Morocco since the 1975,   The kingdom grants an autonomy status to the area.

According to an AP article, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hint “growing hostility” of Venezuelan authorities toward Morocco’s territorial integrity, a reference to the Western Sahara, as the main reason of the kingdom’s embassy closure.

Interestingly, an AFP article appeared on Au Fait Maroc said that Rabat’s official source claimed that the closing of embassy is NOT a sign of deteriorating relationship between the two nations.

However, Caracas second that opinion, stating that Morocco’s move was based on “wrong” and “baseless” reasons.

Jillian York who writes for Global Voices Online, compiled the reactions from the blogosphere.

And? What’s Algeria got to do with anything? Well.. The Western Saharawi rebels are backed by the Algeria.

Since 1994, Morocco closed its border with Algeria. About end of 2008, there were some talks about the plan to re-open the borders, but after the thorny situation with Chavezuela, it seems that King Mohamed VI has a change of heart, as reported by the Magreb Arabe Presse.

What’s next for Morocco, Algeria, and Venezuela? It’s a “stand by” and “listen” for the concerned.

The “O” Moment

A couple of hours ago, Barrack Obama was sworn in as USA’s 44th President. Born from Kenyan father and white American mother from Kansas, Barack Obama himself is a concoction of American dream.

In his inaugural speech, he almost didn’t mention the word “race”. Looking back the US history, about 60 years ago the country was a home to caucasians and those who are not. At that era, the “coloured” people were declined to vote.

Today, millions of Americans and non-Americans witnessed how Democracy in USA has evolved beyond skin color.

President Obama knows how to capture the public’s attention throught his speech, hopefully he would be able to capture the attention of both US citizens and international with his actions.

On the lighter side, today my eyes were fixed on a quirky article of today’s edition of Au Fait.

The article was talking about a Javanese dude called Ilham Anas, Obama’s look-a-like.

It’s curious to find a local publication interested by Anas.

The full article is in French but the check it out anyway, besides a picture speaks a-one-hundred-fifty words.

Oh, one more thing..  A Dutch pub in Kuta, Bali introduced a new cocktail called Arak Obama today while showing live on big screen the inaugural ceremony. For those who don’t know what Arak is, click here.