Circo Vicioso

by João Lopes Marques* ( Eesti keeles ) When the subject is historical fabrication, there is no better example than Australia. In fact, the surname Cook of the official English discoverer unveils almost everything: the discovery of Australia was cooked by London and its ambitious Admiralty. Those who have the military and economic power tend to have free hand to write and rewrite History their way. Let's face it: truth, whatever it means, is far from being essential in this exploration business. A good founding lie suits best as long as people don't question it too much. Antipodal distance helped and time accommodates the rest: Terra Australis Incognita has been a self-perpetuated fetish since Ptolemy and the ancient astronomists. Yet unlike mysterious Atlantis, there is plenty of evidence the "Lost Continent" was found and lost and found again several times throughout the millennia. By the Aboriginals, some 60,000 years ago. By the Javanese, Timorese and other Malay...

by João Lopes Marques* Didn’t start yesterday. It’s been like this for centuries. Much before the Kremlin gerontocracy, plagued by the rheumatics, fled for a healthy bath in the Summer resort of Jurmala. This exquisite taste of mini-megalomania is part of the Latvian genetic code. Maybe influenced by the fact Riga is the only Baltic metropolis. Or its decisive gateway between two antagonistic worlds: History has proved this was the chosen geography for systematic clashes between West and the Cyrillic civilization. For a tiny territory inhabited by no more than 2,4 millions, reports can be admirably impressive: we see happening here world ice hockey championships, NATO summits, even bids to UN Secretary-General (i.e. Vaira Vike-Freiberga). Moreover, Air Baltic and its Riga International Airport — nicely dubbed “RIX” — have assumed themselves as the golden hub for the Commonwealth of Independent States, the decadent corps of former USSR. In the wake of the financial crisis, after regi...