By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, September 20 -- Even on the Friday before, UN General Assembly week is heating up. On Thursday Bolivian President Evo Morales, already scheduled to come to New York, suggested that heads of state in the ALBA Group consider canceling their visits to and speeches at the UN.
Morales cited the US blocking Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's plane from flying over Puerto Rico on his way to China.
Since the UN had send out a schedule of the coming week's press conferences including one by Morales on September 24, Inner City Press asked Bolivia's Permanent Representative to the UN Sacha Llorenti if that would now be canceled.
Llorenti replied, "Informaremos oportunamente. Gracias." And so the Free UN Coalition for Access @FUNCA_infowill await and then send out confirmation.
So too with the reported visit of Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, under indictment by the International Criminal Court. Inner City Press has noted that many of those calling for Bashir to be blocked, or even arrested by the US, said nothing when UN official Herve Ladsous met with Bashir in July.
On Thursday night after covering yet another meeting on Syria of the Security Council's Permanent Five members at the US Mission to the UN -- Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkintold Inner City Press it was going not badly -- Inner City Press spotted a Sudanese diplomat on 47th Street, in front of that country's mission to the UN.
Inner City Press asked him, So is Bashir coming?
"September 26," the diplomat said with a smile. As to holding a press conference, as Morales has scheduled, the diplomat said "Not yet." Watch this site.
Footnote: Last time Morales held a press conference at the UN, in February in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium, it turned into a fiasco. Morales pointed at a journalist to ask the first question, but a person saying the represented the UN Correspondents Association repeated blocked the other journalist and demanded to be given the first question as a matter of "tradition."
Inner City Press and now the Free UN Coalition for Access have asked how this can be, when UNCA represents less than ten percent of the journalists covering the General Assembly, and gives "its" first question only to those which pay it money. Questions for sale at the UN?
The scam has gotten more obvious this year, after UNCA under 2013 president Pamela Falk of CBS hosted a faux "UN briefing" by Saudi-sponsored Syria rebel boss Ahmad al Jarba, then gets the first of few question to Ban Ki-moon. Thursday Falk tried to work Assad into a question about the MDGs. Are any of these answers even published? We aim to publish even the questions, where newsworthy. Watch this site.
