2024, a dark year? Yes, and yet… – The column of Francis Wurtz – December 28, 2024

What traces will 2024 leave in our memories and in history? Abominable wars in the Middle East and Ukraine; high tensions around Taiwan; the proliferation, like contagious epidemics, of nationalist, racist and xenophobic outbreaks; unpredictable political leaders; in short, a world that is increasingly fragmented and deprived of a compass…

A dark year, then? Yes, undoubtedly, seeing the accumulated disasters and the heavy uncertainties for the future. And, yet, this same year was marked, simultaneously, by a number of positive events, sometimes of great significance, which the surrounding misfortunes tend to relegate to the background, or even to plunge into oblivion. At the time of taking stock, it is only fair to recall a few of them.

In Latin America, whose future could previously have seemed lastingly blocked by the triumphant reactionary offensive it had suffered, now after, in particular, the emblematic return of Lula to Brazil and the historic election of Gustavo Petro in Colombia, in 2022, this year 2024 has just been marked by two new exemplary successes.

“A dark year, undoubtedly, to see the accumulated disasters and the heavy uncertainties for the future. And, yet, this same year was marked, simultaneously, by a number of positive events, sometimes of great significance. »

First, the overwhelming victory of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president – ​​a position in which she succeeds another progressive figure, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AML); then the return of the united left to power in Uruguay, described by Lula as “a victory for all of Latin America and the Caribbean”!

In Africa, also badly damaged by wars, as dramatic as they are little-known, the year 2024 was, at the same time, marked by promising democratic advances. The best example of this is undoubtedly the unexpected election of the new president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, last spring.

Breaking with the old system of Françafrique, carrying the demands of sovereignty, equality and justice, a new symbol of left-wing pan-Africanism, it benefits at this stage from the confidence of young people, who hope for real changes. We can only rejoice about it.

In Asia, 2024 has many heartwarming surprises in store. This summer, the popular uprising in Bangladesh ousted the hyper-autocratic prime minister and chose Muhammad Yunus, the highly respected “banker to the poor”, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, to lead the interim government! This fall, it was in Sri Lanka that a political earthquake occurred with the election of a president representing the left-wing People’s National Power coalition, Anura Dissanayake!

In recent weeks, finally, it is from South Korea that we have received good news: the victorious mobilization of democratic forces against the attempted coup d’état by the ultra-conservative president and pillar of the alliance with Washington, Yoon Seok-youl. The result is a further strengthening of the democratic opposition, which, as of last April, once again became the majority in Parliament.

If we add to all these facts several particularly welcome diplomatic initiatives between China and Australia (in June), between China and India (in October), between China and Japan (in November), because they are likely to easing tensions in this strategic region, we are beginning to refine our perception of the year’s results.