Global Voices Online

Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian fishers are robbing Mauritania of its fish - all because “the EU has methodically depleted fish stocks in its own waters, and now, it is buying fish quotas from poor countries in the third world,” Jonathan Newton reports.

In Africa, rising food prices [Fr] have led to protests in Morocco, Mauritania, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC and Senegal, writes the ADP blog.

Mauritania has made slavery a criminal offense, but Vive la Francophonie wonders if slavery can be abolished by laws alone (Fr). “Slavery is a mental attitude as old as humanity…The problem of slavery is in large part psychological,” Francophonie writes. “Mauritania, like the rest of the world, should fight against slavery on the psychological level by affirming the value of the human spirit.”

African journalists working in France are calling on the two remaining French presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, to begin a new chapter in Franco-African relations (Fr), according to the blog of the Alliance for Democratic Progress. “We have to reconsider everything, make a fresh start, a sort of “big bang,” so that France stops treating us like children. Africa must be a partner.” (Fr)

The CRIDEM blog points to a press release by Ould Maouloud stating [Fr}: “The March 25, 2007 election happened in good conditions marked by transparency, civic duty, responsibility and serenity. The Mauritanian people and its democracy are only better for it… In this occasion, I want to pay homage to the 48% if Mauritanians who have … voted for really change.”

The blog of Convergence Républicaine pour l'Instauration de la Démocratie en Mauritanie (CRIDEM) points to a La Tribune d'Algérie article stating [Fr]: “Long considered a back-country, Mauritania just proved to its neighbors and to the world that when it comes to democracy, the country can now be an example. Never has an Arab country held a second round in a presidential election. Among the 19 candidates running, the two ahead are Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah and Ahmed Ould Daddah. With respectively 26 and 25% of the vote, they will run again on March 25.”

Algerian blogger Lameen Souag has kind words for Mauritania. “On the rare occasions when it makes Western headlines, it's generally for slavery or famine, but this week it's distinguishing itself in a rather nobler fashion: holding its first free presidential elections,” he writes, while giving special attention to languages there.

“For decades, African cinema has been poised for the kind of international breakthrough that Asian and Middle Eastern films have enjoyed. There are lots of stories to be told and there have been directors willing and able to tell them, but the financial resources available to filmmakers on other continents aren’t within easy reach of their African counterparts,” writes Sociolingo.