2020
November
16
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

November 16, 2020
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Amelia Newcomb
Senior editor

In the perennial contest between trees and the built environment, trees often lose out. But in Nairobi, Kenya, last week, a century-old fig tree held its ground in a face-off with a massive new highway project. After a vocal campaign by environmentalists, President Uhuru Kenyatta decreed that the tree’s graceful canopy, some four stories tall, will continue to offer local balm while the highway is redirected toward a new route.

The outcome recognizes the practical impact of trees, particularly mature ones. Those include cooling overheated neighborhoods and mitigating pollution. Beyond that, as the Monitor noted in a report on urban forestry last year, crime can decline and property values rise in areas where tree cover expands, as happened in Baltimore, Maryland. Or residents turn far less frequently to prescription antidepressants, as happened in London. 

That speaks to the building blocks of community, to “the sense of rest” that one Boston leader referenced after progress this summer in rethinking a road that threatened 121 venerable trees in an underserved area. Indeed, pop culture and literature, secular and religious, are replete with reminders of what trees teach humans about resilience and stewardship. In Nairobi, President Kenyatta called the fig tree a “beacon of Kenya’s cultural and ecological heritage.” Kenyan environmentalist Elizabeth Wathuti told Reuters it was a symbol of the city’s aspirations – a beacon of hope.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

How does a democracy investigate concerns about election fraud and irregularities without fanning the flames of misinformation? That’s the test America faces right now.

Turkish Presidency/AP
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrives to address the lawmakers of his ruling party at the parliament, in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 11, 2020, following Turkey's decisive support for Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia.

President Erdoğan is asserting Turkey’s military hard power to bolster himself politically. But he also sees restoring Turkey’s regional standing as his calling.

Borja Suarez/Reuters
More than 100 migrants are rescued by a Spanish coast guard vessel off the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, Nov. 2, 2020. Migrants arriving in the Canary Islands are being put up in hotels that have been left empty by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A surge of migrants is posing a new question: How do nations handle care for refugees when residents’ worries about COVID-19 and unemployment are already high?

A deeper look

Ana Ionova
Marta de Jesus Arcanjo Peixoto surveys the ruins of her home, which was swept away in the Samarco mining disaster on Nov. 5, 2020, in the Mariana district of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

We often hear “never again” after disasters. Following a devastating dam break in Brazil, new safety measures were created and a mining company pledged reparations. Is that enough to make “never” a reality?

Books

“There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away,” Emily Dickinson’s poem begins. This is especially true this month, when our 10 picks include a Japanese crime novel, a book of cartoons by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, and a true story of intrigue involving fossil hunters in Africa.


The Monitor's View

AP
A woman in Lima walks past the Constitutional Court which is deciding whether former President Martin Vizcarra had been legally removed from office by Congress.

In the past decade countries around the globe have been shaken by youth-led protests for democracy and economic justice. Now it is Peru’s turn, and what happens there has the potential to be pivotal for a region struggling to replace entrenched corruption with rule of law.

A week ago Peru’s Congress ousted President Martín Vizcarra over corruption allegations. The speaker of the one-chamber legislature, Manuel Merino, led the ouster and was then appointed interim president. He lasted five days. Protesters clashed with security forces in Lima, the capital, and by Sunday Mr. Merino had to step down.

Hundreds of Peruvian and international legal scholars have signed a statement calling the move against Mr. Vizcarra a “parliamentary coup.” Protesters carried signs reading, “You messed with the wrong generation.” Abigail Calluque, a student protester, told Al-Jazeera, “[Politicians] do whatever they want and we’ve always stayed quiet. No more.”

At the heart of Peru’s political crisis is the constitution itself. It gives Congress the power to dismiss a president and the president the power to dissolve Congress. Since the adoption of the constitution in 1993, those powers have been applied under questionable legal pretexts, sowing instability and, most of all, exacerbating corruption.

Peru ranks as the third most corrupt country in Latin America. Yet, according to a Transparency International poll last year, 78% of Peruvians believe ordinary citizens can make a difference in the fight against corruption. Mr. Vizcarra came to power in 2018 vowing to uproot corruption. After his reform agenda met stiff headwinds in Congress, he dissolved the legislature. Lawmakers responded by suspending the president on the grounds of “permanent moral incapacity” and swore in the vice president. Mr. Vizcarra refused to back down, and a day later his newly elevated vice president resigned. Mr. Vizcarra called for new congressional elections.

That ballot, last January, resulted in a significant defeat for Mr. Vizcarra’s party, leaving him exposed politically. In October he was accused of taking bribes during his tenure as a regional governor. He denied the allegations. An El Comercio-Ipsos poll last month found that 78% said Mr. Vizcarra should remain in office and the corruption allegations pursued only after his term ended. Few failed to note that more than half of the legislators who voted to oust Mr. Vizcarra are themselves under criminal investigation for corruption.

For Peruvians already battered by the health and economic consequences of the pandemic – the country has one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in the world – the political crisis may signal more hardship. In six months, however, voters will have an opportunity to take their grievances to the polls and elect a new president and Congress. In the meantime, Peru’s leaders may want to draw a lesson from neighboring Chile, which has had sustained protests over economic inequality. Last month the people won out. They approved a referendum to draft a new constitution.

Peruvians are tired of living under poor governance. Their desire for equality under rule of law has been awakened. It cannot be deferred too long.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

While it might sometimes seem that right and wrong are in perpetual warfare, in reality there is only one power – the power of good.


A message of love

Mark Lennihan/AP
Captain Chaka Watch with the Salvation Army lip-syncs in front of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 16, 2020, in New York.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for starting your week with us. I hope you’ll join us again tomorrow when Washington bureau chief Linda Feldmann will look at how both the Biden and Trump teams can step up their leadership as COVID-19 numbers spike to a new high.

More issues

2020
November
16
Monday

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