16 FINAL^ Sunday 1 September 2019 The Sunday Telegraph
By Justin Huggler in Oranienburg
IN THE small German town of Oranien-
burg, they are fighting over history.
At an election rally in the main
square, banners read: “Wende 2.0.
Peaceful revolution at the ballot box.”
The Wende – meaning turning point
- is what Germans call the popular up-
rising 30 years ago that led to the fall of
the Berlin Wall.
Now, in the former communist east
of the country, the nationalist Alterna-
tive for Germany party (AfD) is brand-
ing itself as the heir to that uprising.
“Let’s finish what we started in 1989,”
Andreas Kalbitz, the party’s lead candi-
date in the regional elections, tells the
rally. “Let’s finish the Wende.”
The answer from the town’s centre-
Left mayor comes in the form of a giant
poster, showing the square hung with
swastikas in the Nazi era, above a slo-
gan that reads: “Never again.”
The reference is not lost on thecrowd. One of the AfD’s best-known
politicians has called for a “180-degree
turn” in Germany’s culture of atone-
ment for Nazi crimes and the party
leader has referred to them as a “speck
of bird---- in 1,000 years of glorious
German history”.
Germany faces regional elections in
the former communist east today that
look set to pile pressure on Angela Mer-
kel’s already strained coalition.
The AfD is riding high in the polls
and could come first in a regional elec-
tion for the first time, inflicting heavy
losses on Mrs Merkel’s Christian Dem-
ocrats (CDU) and her main partners,the centre-Left Social Democrats (SPD).
The AfD has suffered a bruising 12
months, but here it remains a force to
be reckoned with. Its popularity in the
east shows how divided Germany re-
mains two months before the 30th an-
niversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
According to a recent poll, the AfD
enjoys nearly twice as much support in
the east as it does in the west.
“We want a Germany of identity and
homeland,” Mr Kalbitz tells the crowd.
“The German economy should be for
the Germans.”
It is a message that resonates in a re-
gion that saw little immigration undercommunism and which still lags be-
hind the more prosperous west.
Across the street, rival protesters
wave rainbow umbrellas and posters
that read: “No place for Nazis.”
The AfD will not be in a position to
form a regional government after the
elections, but it could force its rivals
into an uncomfortable alliance to keep
it out.
Two east German states go to the
polls today. Mr Kalbitz is lead candidate
in Brandenburg, a state ruled by the
SPD since reunification, but where the
AfD is now neck-and-neck with it.
The AfD is also polling well in Sax-ony, the most populous former com-
munist state and a CDU stronghold.
The two parties were neck-and-neck
until days ago, when the AfD fell back
to 25 per cent behind the CDU’s 29.
A bad result could end up as a big
headache for Mrs Merkel, whose cur-
rent coalition deal with the SPD only
lasts until the end of the year.
With growing pressure in the SPD to
pull out, the party is set to elect a new
leader and a bad result could strengthen
anti-coalition candidates. Thirty years
after the fall of the Wall, the former
communist east could still play a piv-
otal role in Germany’s political future.AfD is polling strongly in
former communist areas
that have not prospered
following reunification
Nationalists pile pressure on Merkel in East
Colombia accuses Maduro of sheltering Farc guerillas
By Mathew Charles in BogotáHARDLINERS from Colombia’s ruling
party have told The Sunday Telegraph
that Venezuelan President Nicolás Ma-
duro must be held accountable for har-
bouring FARC leaders who announced
a return to arms, as the country’s army
killed nine rebels in a raid.
On Thursday, senior commanders
from the leftist guerrilla group said
they were breaking with the peace deal
that saw all but a few dissident factions
disarm in 2017, ending one of the
world’s longest conflicts.
The declaration from Iván Márquez,
the former FARC number two, was al-legedly made in a hideout inside Vene-
zuela – reigniting long-running
tensions over Caracas’s support for the
rebels.
Amid a months-long international
standoff over Mr Maduro’s leadership,
the guerrillas’ reactivation is now be-
ing cited as reason to remove him by
force.
“Maduro offers shelter to those who
want to bring harm to Colombia. A mil-
itary intervention with the support of
other countries from Latin America is
the only solution,” said Senator María
Fernanda Cabal, from the Right-wing
Democratic Centre party of President
Iván Duque.The video of Márquez and other
commanders toting rifles and declar-
ing a “new chapter” in their armed
struggle was, for the Colombian presi-
dent, proof that leftist rebels are plot-
ting attacks from Venezuelan soil.
“We’re not witnessing the birth of a
new guerrilla army, but the criminal
threats of a band of narco-terrorists,
who have the protection and support of
Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship,” said Mr
Duque in a televised address.
After Friday’s military operation, on
a dissident FARC unit in the Colombian
south, he said it was intended to send a
“clear message” to the group to put
down their weapons.Colombia wants Nicolás
Maduro removed from powerBlowing in Hurricane Dorian is pictured from the International
Space Station. The storm is bearing down on the West Palm Beach
area of Florida, home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private club.AFP/GETTY IMAGESWorld news
North Korea
takes anti-US
art down in
tourist hotspots
By Jamie FullertonARTWORK from North Korea typically
shows comrades lovingly working for
the good of their perfect socialist soci-
ety, grinning as they lay bricks or over-
see factory production. For decades,
images have commonly been displayed
alongside pictures showing US soldiers
as murderous wolves. Until now.
With Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s
dictator, keen to show improving ties
with the old enemy, the bellicose im-
ages have recently been removed from
view, at least in areas foreigners visit.
Nicholas Bonner, an art collectorfrom Britain who regularly travels in
North Korea, told The Sunday Tele-
graph meetings between Mr Kim and
Donald Trump have influenced how
Americans are depicted.
Mr Bonner, who this month is set to
release artwork never before seen out-
side of the rogue state, says he noticed
the change last year.
“One minute they were [anti-US],
but this was days after Trump and Kim
met, so suddenly that’s not allowed.
Tourists now can’t buy anti-American
posters at the DMZ.
“In terms of propaganda in the
streets, word comes from above,” hesaid. Much of the work Mr Bonner ex-
ports is from Pyongyang’s Mansudae
Art Studio. Founded in 1959, it is North
Korea’s most prominent studio, em-
ploying around 800 artists.
It raised money for the state by sell-
ing abroad, plus producing art for do-
mestic purposes. In August 2017
Mansudae was sanctioned by the UN
Security Council, after its international
sales branch was suspected of being a
front for military construction deals.
The type of artwork Mr Bonner is ex-
porting has been made since the end of
the Korean War in 1953. They are de-
signed, he says, “to make one feel partof the system. I don’t suppose it works,
but that’s the idea.” In his most recent
trip, Mr Bonner also noticed belt-tight-
ening following the latest international
sanctions.
Mr Bonner says he has no problem
appreciating art via propaganda for the
world’s most oppressive regime, and
doesn’t think artists should be tarred
with brushes condemning their mur-
derous masters. “They’re trying to pro-
duce wonderful art within [the] limits.”Printed in North Korea: The Art of Eve-
ryday Life in the DPRK is published by
Phaidon Press on Sept 18After The War
Reconstruction Site
by Pae Un-song
(1954), left. Top,
Autumn in Anbyon
(1995) by Kim
Kuk-po and, above,
February of Northern
Part (2005) by Kim
Won-chol marks
the annual flower
festival.US sanctions
Iranian tanker
The United States has
placed sanctions on an
Iranian oil tanker released
from Gibraltar despite
Washington’s efforts to keep
it detained.
The US Department of
Treasury said the Adrian
Darya 1 is “blocked
property” under an
antiterrorist order, and
anyone providing support to
it “risks being sanctioned”.WORLD BULLETIN
Taliban launches
assault on key city
Taliban insurgents
yesterday launched a
multi-pronged assault on
Kunduz, a strategically key
city in Afghanistan.
The offensive came as the
US and the Taliban continue
talks. Gunfire could be
heard across Kunduz and
both sides claimed units
from the other’s forces were
surrendering.‘Multiple victims’
of Texas shooters
Police in Texas said around
20 people were shot in the
Midland and Odessa area
last night by at least one and
possibly two assailants.
One suspect was
reportedly arrested after
shooting a police officer and
several other people on the
I-20 interstate highway.
“At this time, there are
multiple gunshot victims,”
police said.Spanish royalty
on the mend
Spain’s King Juan Carlos, 81
and the father of the current
head of state King Felipe VI,
left hospital yesterday, one
week after undergoing heart
surgery, a regional head for
the Hospital Quiron said.
Juan Carlos, who retained
the title of emeritus King
after his abdication in 2014,
joked with journalists as he
was taken away in a car.RELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws