Maurizio Giuliano

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Maurizio Giuliano (born 1975) is an Italian jounalist, writer and traveller. In 2004, he was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest person who has been to all the countries in the world. In 2006/2007, he worked for the UN.

Education[change | change source]

Maurizio Giuliano was born on 24 February 1975[1] in Milan,[source?] Italy, with a lawyer as a father and a housewife as a mother.[2] He lived in Cuba, Chile, and Indonesia, among other countries.[2] As of 2004, he knew eight languages according to one source,[3] while another source specified that he "spoke" five and had a "passion" for two more.[2]

He went to school in Milan and Manchester,[2] and then studied at the University of Oxford in 1996 and the University of Cambridge in 1997. At Oxford, he studied at University College[4] to know about Oxford's inter-disciplinary course in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE),[2] especially Latin America and eastern Europe.[5]

As of 1998, he was a research fellow at the Centre for Social Studies (CESOC) in Santiago, Chile.[6]

Writings[change | change source]

Study on Cuba[change | change source]

He wrote two books and some articles on Cuban politics, especially on the US embargo (which usually stops Americans from doing business with Cubans), which he thinks (in the book "La Transición Cubana y el "Bloqueo" Norteamericano" and other works) is not good.

In an article published in the British academic journal Democratization in 1998, he focused in particular on how the US embargo against Cuba helps create "empathy" by third parties towards Cuba, so that Cubans think it is support for Cuba's government. So he argued that the US Government – in addition to the embargo's direct influence on supporting Cuba's regime – indirectly interferes with the possibility of improving Cuba. That is because third countries, foreign non-governmental organizations and prominent individuals lend support to Cuba's resistance to the US embargo, and this offsets external pressures for democracy, thereby allowing the Cuban regime to convert such "empathy" into a source of legitimacy at home.[6]

His scholarly work on internal Cuban politics, notably on the 1996 purge of Havana's Centre for American Studies (CEA) (contained in the book "El Caso CEA" published in 1998), has been the object of academic reviews, as it exposed the internal conflicts between Cuba's political apparatus and the country's intelligentsia (most intelligent people), previously unknown.[7][8][9] According to some reviews, the book, a work of investigative journalism helped by academic analysis, dealt a strong blow to hard-liners within the regime,[7][10] by exposing for the first time the internal conflicts between Cuba's apparatus and its intelligentsia.[11] In 2001, Cuban exiled scholars Alberto Álvarez and Gerardo González, who were among those purged from the CEA, wrote the book "¿ Intelectuales vs. Revolución ? El caso del Centro de Estudios sobre América", which strongly built upon Giuliano's book[11] to offer further insights on relations between Cuba's political apparatus and the country's intellectuals.

Journalism[change | change source]

Besides work on Cuba, other countries Giuliano covered in his journalistic work include East Timor[12] and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).[13][14][15]

In 2000, he visited North Korea and published an essay about his visit, essentially describing his tour around the country as being like a movie made by the North Korean authorities.[16]

In his journalistic work, he reportedly ran into problems with the authorities of at least two countries. In 1998, he was denied entry to Myanmar after making contact with the National League for Democracy and taking photos of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.[13][14][15] And on 30 October 2002, he was reportedly detained and manhandled by Israeli authorities while crossing the Allenby Bridge.[17]

Giuliano's writings have also included lighter topics. During his time in Kabul, for example, he wrote restaurant reviews for a local English-language magazine. [18]

Political advocacy[change | change source]

In the early 2000s, Giuliano was a consultant for the Italian Senate's Committee on Human Rights.[19] At that time, at least some of his writings were also intended to influence the positions of the Italian Government on certain human rights issues, as was the case with material that he wrote on North Korea.[20]

Development career[change | change source]

In 2004, Giuliano worked for the International Organization for Migration in the elections for Afghan refugees in Pakistan,[21][22][23] and in 2005 worked in Afghanistan for the United Nations Development Programme.[24][25] In both cases, he was working in the field of communications with the media.

Between 2006 and 2008, he served with the United Nations, again in the field of media relations, in the Central African Republic,[26][27][28][29] Sudan,[30][31][32][33][34] Chad,[35][36] and Cameroon following the refugee crisis caused by the battle of N'Djamena of February 2008.[37] [38][39][40]

Travel[change | change source]

According to the Guinness Book, through his work, he had travelled to every single sovereign country in the world (which totalled 193 according to the Guinness Book) by 20 February 2004, aged 28 years and 361 days.[1] He claimed that he had visited a total of up to 238 territories (including the 193 sovereign countries recognized by Guinness),[5] and stated that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) had been the hardest country to get into, after numerous attempts and long waits to get a visa.[1]

He started travelling at age 14,[5] and believes that, as of 2004, he had travelled at least two million miles, including on the Trans-Siberian Railway and through 11 round-the-world air journeys.[2] Some of his earliest journeys were to Albania and Sierra Leone in 1991, aged 16, and to Mongolia in 1992 for their national festivities Naadam.[2] Most of his later travels were related to his journalistic work.[41]

On 20 February 2004 he visited Suriname, thereby completing his visit to all sovereign nations of the world. He held a press conference there on 24 February, where he stated that he had chosen Suriname to complete his record, as the country had always fascinated him due to its richness and variety in cultures and ethnicities.[3][5][42] He then travelled from Suriname to London, with 42 passports (of which 30 were Italian and 12 British) filled with immigration stamps, in order to prove his record to Guinness World Records.[5]

He claimed that most of his travels were unrelated to the record, and that only since 2001, on the suggestion of friends, did he have the Guinness Record in mind when planning his travels.[2] In explaining his record, however, he stated that he might have an "addiction to crossing borders".[1]

Bibliography[change | change source]

  • (in Spanish) with foreword by José Antonio Viera-Gallo Quesney, La Transición Cubana y el 'Bloqueo' Norteamericano, Ediciones CESOC; 1st edition (May 1997), ISBN 9562110621.
  • (in Spanish) El Caso CEA: Intelectuales e Inquisidores en Cuba, Ediciones Universal; 2nd edition (November 1998), ISBN 0897298705.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Guinness Book of World Records 2006, Guinness World Records, 2006, page 126 on the UK edition (NB: it can be noted that while the Guinness Book refers to 193 countries, Giuliano has elsewhere spoken about 192)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 (in Italian) Simona Ravizza, A 29 anni come Marco Polo: ho visitato i 192 paesi del mondo, Corriere della Sera, 14 March 2004 (NB: The photos and captions referred to in the text are available on the paper version but not the online version)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 (in Dutch) Nancy de Randamie, Brits-Italiaan behaalt reisrecord in Suriname, De Ware Tijd, 25 February 2004
  4. ↑ University College Newsletter Archived 2016-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, Trinity 2004
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Author unknown, European sets world travel record, ABC Online, February 27 2004 (NB: The article mistakenly states that Giuliano was 23 at the time, while he was 28 as reflected in the Guinness Book)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Maurizio Giuliano, The United States' embargo and Cuba's foreign relations: missed opportunities for democratization (abstract), Democratization, Vol. 5, Issue 3, Autumn 1998
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 (in Spanish) Pablo Alfonso, Cuba hizo purga contra académicos Archived 2009-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, El Nuevo Herald, May 8, 1998
  8. ↑ (in Spanish) Alejandro Lorenzo, Presentan obra de purga académica[permanent dead link], El Nuevo Herald, 27 May 1998
  9. ↑ Joel Edelstein (University of Colorado), The Centro de Estudios sobre América: An Account of a Regrettable Loss (review of El Caso CEA), Latin American Perspectives, Issue 125, Vol. 29, No. 4, July 2002, page 80
  10. ↑ (in Spanish) Carlos Ruíz, Cabellero reincide Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Venezuela Analítica, 06 August 2001
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Peter Johnson (Princeton University), Review of ¿ Intelectuales vs. Revolución ? El caso del Centro de Estudios sobre América, Johns Hopkins University, 2001
  12. ↑ (in Italian) Maurizio Giuliano, Timor Est, dove nessuno ride Archived 2007-09-10 at the Wayback Machine, Popoli, May 1999
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Journalist detained in Burma, photographs of Aung san Suu Kyi confiscated Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, IFEX, August 2000
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Myanmar deports French and Italian journalists, Asian Political News, 24 August 1998
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Burma expels Italian reporter for "illegal reporting", TV Myanmar, 18 August 1998
  16. ↑ North Korea Under the Shroud Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, Life and Human Rights in North Korea, Autumn 2000, Vol. 17, page 3
  17. ↑ Six journalists arrested Archived 2003-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, Annual Report 2002, Reporters sans Frontières, 2002
  18. ↑ Introduction Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, Afghan Scene (magazine), Issue 11, May 2005, page 3
  19. ↑ University College Record 2003, University College, Oxford, 2003
  20. ↑ Activity Report Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, Life and Human Rights in North Korea, Spring 2000, Vol. 15, page 46
  21. ↑ Pakistan: IOM busy with Afghan voter education campaign, IRIN, 29 September 2004
  22. ↑ Afghanistan - Pakistan: Insecurity hampered voter registration in North and South Waziristan, IRIN, 7 October 2004
  23. ↑ Registration of Afghan voters completed, Dawn, 5 October 2004
  24. ↑ Attorney-General's Office one step closer to delivering justice for narcotics-related crime Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine (press release), UNDP, 14 May 2005
  25. ↑ Afghan Law Students Score High in Washington DC Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine (press release), UNDP, 4 April 2005
  26. ↑ Central African Republic: Humanitarian Crisis Continues, Funding Remains Low (press release), United Nations, 10 February 2006
  27. ↑ CAR: Donor conference begins in Cameroon, IRIN, 20 February 2006
  28. ↑ Plea for Humanitarian Aid in Northern CAR[permanent dead link], Angola Press, 22 February 2006
  29. ↑ (in French) Modeste J. Poubalandji, Diner d'exchange en prélude de la fête de Noël Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, Le Confident, 19 December 2005
  30. ↑ Jeffrey Gettleman, Chaos in Darfur Rises as Arabs Fight With Arabs, New York Times, 3 September 2007
  31. ↑ Opheera McDoom, Sudan surrounds, attacks volatile Darfur camp - witness, Reuters, 22 August 2007
  32. ↑ Opheera McDoom, Armed men attack police in Darfur refugee camp, Reuters, 20 August 2007
  33. ↑ Alistair Thomson, Deadly floods, disease afflict Africa's arid Sahel, Reuters, 15 August 2007
  34. ↑ Opheera McDoom, Former Darfur rebels say Khartoum arming militia Archived 2013-01-04 at Archive.today, Reuters, 16 August 2007
  35. ↑ Craig Timberg, Chadian Rebels Urge Cease-Fire As Push Falters, The Washington Post, 6 February 2008
  36. ↑ (in Spanish) Massimo Alberizzi, Yamena, la capital fantasma de un Chad arrasado por el terror, El Mundo (Spain), 11 February 2008
  37. ↑ Craig Timberg, "Aid Groups Work to Avert Disaster Among Chadians in Cameroon", The Washington Post, 8 February 2008
  38. ↑ Sarah Simpson, Chadian refugees head home after failed rebel coup, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 February 2008
  39. ↑ (in French) R.M., Maurizio Giuliano: "Une trés bonne réponse de la communauté internationale", Cameroon Tribune, 18 February 2008
  40. ↑ (in French) Les refugiés de N'djaména craignent toujours de rentrer chez eux Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, Cameroon-One, 15 February 2008
  41. ↑ Maurizio Giuliano, The Stamp Collector, Journalist (British magazine), April 2004
  42. ↑ (in Dutch) Jongste Wereldreiziger Vestigde Record in Suriname Archived 2005-03-15 at the Wayback Machine, Dagblad Suriname, 24 February 2004
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