Copper, Gold, and Independence: Bougainville Pledges To Be World’s Newest Country
NEED TO KNOW
Copper, Gold, and Independence: Bougainville Pledges To Be World’s Newest Country
BOUGAINVILLE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA
In 2019, as part of a peace agreement to end a civil war between Papua New Guinea and the autonomous region of Bougainville, the latter’s government held a nonbinding referendum on independence. Eighty-five percent of voters turned out. Ninety-seven percent opted to split off from Papua New Guinea. Today, however, Bougainville still remains part of that South Pacific nation.
Home to 300,000 people on two islands that are 500 miles away from Papua New Guinea, the country has a long history of colonial oppression and resistance to German, Australian, Japanese, and other foreign powers, explained Who What Why.
Now, as the Diplomat wrote, Bougainville’s citizens, eager to gain their sovereignty, are likely to declare independence if Papua New Guinea’s parliament doesn’t grant it to them. New Zealand has been brokering talks on the subject, but nothing has come of them, yet, wrote the Pacific Media Network.
This question is naturally dominating Bougainville’s upcoming general election on Sept. 4, when voters will choose a president and parliament.
Incumbent President Ishmael Toroama, a former leader of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army rebels, won office in 2020 on a platform to secede. Running for a second term, he’s drafted plans for the move but has repeatedly said he would prefer consensus. In an interview with Radio New Zealand, he claimed he was calm and relaxed but seemed frustrated at how his negotiations with Papua New Guinea’s leader have become bogged down in technicalities.
His rivals, including his former rebel comrade-in-arms, Sam Kauona, are vowing to succeed where he has failed. Others, like veteran politician Joe Lera, are running on anti-corruption platforms, claiming that Toroama is incompetent and has mishandled public funds.
The election in this remote corner of the world has big implications because Bougainville is home to one of the world’s biggest copper veins and rich gold deposits in the now-shuttered Panguna mine. These minerals could finance independence, creating jobs, generating taxes, funding infrastructure, and stitching the country into the global economy. They could also despoil the new country’s environment and empower corrupt politicians.
Bougainville’s copper and gold riches have drawn much interest from Australia, which considers the country part of its so-called “inner security arc,” as well as China and the United States, whose leaders see important resources and a potential ally, wrote Australian journalist Barbara Barkhausen in International Politics and Society.
At the same time, Australia could hold the key to Bougainville’s future, argued Macquarie University anthropologist Anna-Karina Hermkens in the Conversation. Australian mining giant Rio Tinto formerly ran the Panguna mine. Australia supported Papua New Guinea’s fight against the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, and it also helped broker the peace agreement between the two foes in 2001. Now it could broker the birth of a new country while maximizing the benefits of American and Chinese involvement.
Still, there are dissenters. A senior Bougainville government official told the Guardian that independence was “inevitable” but that Bougainville is “nowhere near” ready. “We want a sovereign nation that is healthy, that is viable,” said the official.
But others say that Bougainville has been held back by Papua New Guinea, whose early years after independence it financed with the proceeds earned from the now-closed copper mine.
“We must obtain political independence in order to have some sovereign powers in order to make strategic economic decisions,” said Ezekiel Masatt, the minister for the implementation of the independence referendum, in an interview with Radio New Zealand. “Australia never demanded that Papua New Guinea be economically independent (before its actual independence).”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Landmark Trial of Bolsonaro Enters Verdict Phase Amid US Pressure To Drop Prosecution
BRAZIL
The landmark trial of Brazil’s right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro entered its final phase Tuesday with the Supreme Court hearing closing arguments in a case that alleges that the former army officer plotted a coup to remain in power after his 2022 election loss, Reuters reported.
This phase of the trial will see the panel of five Supreme Court judges deliver a verdict, likely by Sept. 12, the BBC added. The prosecution finished presenting its case in July and the defense wrapped up its arguments mid-August.
Bolsonaro is accused of leading a criminal organization, attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law, attempting a coup, and two counts of destruction of property.
He has denied all charges, calling them politically motivated.
Evidence against Bolsonaro includes a draft of an unpublished presidential decree that would have allowed him to seize emergency powers and take control of Brazil’s top electoral court, overturning election results. Investigators say Bolsonaro edited the document and showed it to the military, but failed to secure unanimous support.
Prosecutors also accuse Bolsonaro of approving a plan to assassinate the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
This is the first time a former Brazilian president has been charged with trying to subvert the country’s democracy. If convicted, Bolsonaro could face up to 40 years in prison.
The trial has also drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, who described the case as a “witch hunt” against his close ally. As a result, Trump imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions on Brazil, including a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, and revoked the visas of de Moraes and other Supreme Court justices.
Moraes opened Tuesday’s session with a statement defending the independence of the proceeding from foreign interference, a swipe at Trump, the Washington Post wrote.
Afterward, he presented an overview of the evidence against Bolsonaro and seven other prominent former officials and military officers, including an admiral, three generals, and a lieutenant colonel who has agreed to a plea deal.
Deliberations are scheduled to start next week. A simple majority, or three out of five votes, is needed to convict. If any of the defendants are convicted, a second round of voting would decide the sentences.
Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest and banned from travelling for violating a ban on using social media that was imposed on him ahead of his trial, and because he is considered at risk of fleeing the country.
The trial has become the dominant topic in Brazil, where millions have tuned in to watch it live. Meanwhile, dozens of people Sunday gathered in front of the former president’s house in the capital, Brasília, to express support, and more protests are expected in the coming days.
Clashes Erupt at Indonesian Universities Amid Nationwide Protests
INDONESIA
Indonesian police clashed with protesters near two universities Tuesday, the latest outbreak of violence amid ongoing nationwide protests over government spending, inequality, and the death of a motorcycle taxi driver, Al Jazeera reported.
Police used tear gas around campuses of the Islamic University of Bandung (UNISBA) and nearby Pasundan University, about 86 miles west of the capital, Jakarta. Officials said they did not enter the campuses and only sought to disperse non-student demonstrators sheltering inside.
However, UNISBA students countered that security forces “brutally attacked” the campus, while Pasundan students alleged that police used rubber bullets against demonstrators.
The university clashes come as Indonesia is beset by another bout of student-led protests that erupted last week, protests that observers say are testing the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto, who has been in office for less than a year.
The unrest was initially sparked over a series of perks and benefits given to Indonesian lawmakers, including a now-scrapped housing allowance of more than $3,000 – it is nearly 10 times higher than the minimum wage in Jakarta.
But the demonstrations have since broadened into demands for higher wages, anti-corruption measures, and opposition to Subianto’s policies expanding the role of the military in civic society.
Tensions have escalated since late last week following the death of Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver who was run over by a police vehicle during a Jakarta protest.
In recent days, thousands have rallied outside the Indonesian parliament in Jakarta, with demonstrations and clashes reported in other cities and provinces.
Looters and arsonists have also targeted state buildings and political figures’ homes, including that of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
At least eight people have been killed during the nationwide protests, according to government officials. Civil rights groups warned that at least 20 people have gone missing since the unrest began, the Guardian added.
University students have long been regarded as defenders of Indonesia’s democracy, and played a leading role in the rallies that helped oust autocratic President Suharto in 1998.
Subianto – a former military leader during Suharto’s regime – has vowed to launch an investigation into Kurniawan’s death and met with unions to discuss changes in the country’s labor laws, including raising the minimum wage.
While affirming his government’s respect for free expression, the president warned that if the protests “turn anarchic … this becomes a serious violation of law.”
Burkina Faso Outlaws Homosexuality
BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso’s transitional junta parliament passed a law criminalizing homosexuality and instituting prison sentences of up to five years as punishment this week, the latest African country to impose anti-gay legislation, France 24 reported.
The law was unanimously adopted Monday by 71 unelected members of the transitional parliament, in power following two coups in 2022.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala told national broadcaster RTB that homosexual acts are “bizarre behavior” and added that foreign nationals would be deported under the law, Africanews wrote.
Officials presented the law, which is part of a broader family and citizenship legislation reform, as a recognition of “marriage and family values,” adding that it will be “popularized through an awareness campaign.”
Homosexuality is banned in around 30 African countries, but it was not deemed a criminal act in Burkina Faso before the military seized power through coups they said were meant to stabilize the West African country amid a worsening security crisis.
Rights groups, however, have criticized the junta for undermining human rights with widespread arrests and military conscription of critics.
Mali, an ally of Burkina Faso and also led by a military government, passed a law banning homosexuality in November 2024. Ghana and Uganda have also recently imposed stricter anti-homosexuality laws. In Uganda, “aggravated homosexuality” is a capital offence, while consensual same-sex relations can be punished with a life sentence.
Analysts say that while these laws are widely criticized abroad, they are often popular in African countries where the public is often critical of homosexuality, framing it as a behavior imported from abroad.
DISCOVERIES
Cuddly Predators
Spectral bats (Vampyrum spectrumare) are large, carnivorous creatures that snack on rodents, birds, and even other bats. They are not usually described as cute and cuddly.
Yet, researchers observed a family of spectral bats repeatedly wrapping their wings around each other, cuddling, sharing food, and goofing around, indicating this fearsome species might be more social and cooperative than previously thought.
“Bats have a negative image,” study author Marisa Tietge told Science. “These kinds of behaviors can help people to understand them as complex, intelligent animals … rather than just seeing them as these untouchable, scary creatures.”
Despite a three-foot wingspan, these bats are elusive and difficult to study, partly because they roost in small groups high above the ground in the hollow of trees.
Researchers had to get creative to discover more about the mysterious lifestyle of this species: They set up a motion-activated infrared camera inside the hollow trunk of a Manilkara tree in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, where they had previously seen four bats roosting, Smithsonian Magazine explained.
The camera recorded every move by the bats over the course of 60 days, spread across three months, providing scientists with 502 roughly one-minute clips to analyze, including 73 that showed social encounters or other interesting behaviors.
Researchers are not sure of why the bats engaged in these social behaviors, but they believe it is related to the species’ parental style.
The family observed was likely made up of an adult male, an adult female, and two pups of different ages, indicating these bats provide an unusually long period of parental care, which is rare in bat species.
Spectral bats are usually monogamous, with both parents participating in raising the young. A cooperative lifestyle might be crucial in ensuring the survival of their offspring.
Clips also showed adult bats sharing food with the younger ones, maybe to help them transition from their mother’s milk to solid food, according to researchers. Males were also seen bringing dead birds and mice to nursing females.
“These are big apex predators, they can bite through bones … but then at the same time, they’re really gentle,” Tietge told Science.
During meals, there were no fights or displays of aggression, as each bat seemed to intuitively know which parcel of food was for them and which for other family members. An apparent misunderstanding was only recorded once.
Bats were also spotted leaving the roost together, likely to hunt, which surprised researchers as they previously assumed spectral bats went in search of prey alone.
While the sample size was small, researchers say that because they know so little about spectral bats, every new observation is important.
“The cool thing about [this research] is that such a nice roost was found and the complete group was studied for some time … which is rather unique and difficult data to collect,” Gloriana Chaverri, a behavioral ecologist not involved in the study, told Science.