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Nigeria

Extra! Nigerian Election Still In Doubt Amidst Boko Haram Violence

Nigeria’s rescheduled March 28 presidential elections should be able to take place despite disruption threats made Tuesday by Boko Haram. But the country’s security services, such as the military, the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser, will have to “guarantee the sanctity of the rescheduled polls in view of the security challenges facing the country,” the Nigerian daily Vanguard reports on its front page Thursday.

The newspaper quotes the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, who addressed the Senate Wednesday on the country’s preparedness for the elections: “I kept saying consistently that INEC is not a security organization. We are an election management body. So, we rely a lot on security to be able to ensure that things are done well and that there is no disruption of the electoral process.”

According to Jega, the postponement of the elections offered the commission precious additional preparation and the hope for “significant improvement in the security situation” in the next six weeks.

In a video released Tuesday by Boko Haram, the terrorist group’s leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to disrupt Nigeria’s March 28 presidential election, which had already been postponed for security reasons from its original Feb. 8 date. “We say that these elections that you are planning to do will not happen in peace,” he said.

The video appeared as two suicide bombings killed at least 38 people and injured 20 others in northeastern Nigeria Tuesday.

But Vanguardalso reported Thursday that the Islamist group suffered heavy casualties this week, as Chadian troops launched a series of assaults in northeastern Nigeria. “The offensive deep inside Nigerian territory was a first and suggested a strategy to tackle other rebel-controlled areas in northeastern Borno state, which is the group’s stronghold,” the Nigerian daily wrote.

The INEC is set to hold additional meetings on Feb. 24 and March 4 to finalize arrangements for the March 28 vote, which would be followed by the second round of voting on April 11.

ABOUT THE SOURCE: Vanguard is a leading daily newspapers in Nigeria independent of political control. It was founded in 1983.

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Economy

Forced Labor, Forced Exile: The Cuban Professionals Sent Abroad To Work, Never To Return

Noel, a Cuban engineer who had to emigrate to the faraway island of Saint Lucia, tells about the Cuban government's systematic intimidation techniques and coercion of its professionals abroad. He now knows he can never go back to his native island — lest he should never be allowed to leave Cuba again.

Forced Labor, Forced Exile: The Cuban Professionals Sent Abroad To Work, Never To Return

Next stop, Saint Lucia

Laura Rique Valero

Daniela* was just one year old when she last played with her father. In a video her mother recorded, the two can be seen lying on the floor, making each other laugh.

Three years have passed since then. Daniela's sister, Dunia*, was born — but she has never met her father in person, only connecting through video calls. Indeed, between 2019 and 2023, the family changed more than the two little girls could understand.

"Dad, are you here yet? I'm crazy excited to talk to you."

"Dad, I want you to call today and I'm going to send you a kiss."

"Dad, I want you to come for a long time. I want you to call me; call me, dad."

Three voice messages which Daniela has left her father, one after the other, on WhatsApp this Saturday. His image appears on the phone screen, and the two both light up.

The girls can’t explain what their father looks like in real life: how tall or short or thin he is, how he smells or how his voice sounds — the real one, not what comes out of the speaker. Their version of their dad is limited to a rectangular, digital image. There is nothing else, only distance, and problems that their mother may never share with them.

In 2020, Noel*, the girls' father, was offered a two-to-three-year employment contract on a volcanic island in the Caribbean, some 2,000 kilometers from Cuba. The family needed the money. What came next was never in the plans.

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