WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #294, SEPTEMBER 17, 1995 NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 1. Teen Killed in Chile Coup Commemorations 2. Police Attack Strikers in El Salvador 3. Guatemalan Electric Company Militarized Against Workers 4. Praise & Complaints for Guatemala's Voter Registration 5. Mexico: "New Phase" in Government-Rebel Talks 6. Maquiladoras Settle Border Lawsuit 7. Haitian Rightist Ordered Deported, Activists Denied Visas 8. Colombian Army Officer Fired for Human Rights Violations 9. Puerto Ricans Protest US Radar 10. Brazil Auto Workers Protest Layoffs 11. Nicaragua: Lacayo Quits to Seek Presidency 12. Nicaraguan Right Prepares for Elections 13. Clinton to Expand CIA Covert Action? 14. In Other News: El Salvador, Trinidad, Cuba, Uruguay 15. Upcoming Events in the NYC Area and Beyond ISSN#: 1068-5332. 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We welcome your comments and ideas: send them via e-mail to nicanet@blythe.org. 1. TEEN KILLED IN CHILE COUP COMMEMORATIONS A Chilean teenager died on Sept. 12 after being shot during protests the previous night marking the 22nd anniversary of the bloody 1973 coup in which democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende was ousted by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Witnesses say 16-year-old Nelson Antonio Riquelme was shot as a police van passed through the La Pinata neighborhood of Santiago during protests there. Police denied the presence of any police patrols in that section of the city at the time, but said they were investigating whether the bullet wounds that killed Riquelme came from a police-issue weapon or from demonstrators. Five other people were wounded--four of them by bullets, including two police officers--and at least 169 people were arrested for vandalism, disorderly conduct and other crimes, police said. No arms or explosives were confiscated from demonstrators. Police used teargas and water cannons to disperse the 5,000 protesters who marched on Sept. 11 to the general cemetery in Santiago where Allende is buried. (Allende died on the day of the coup in what was either a murder or a suicide.) Some demonstrators threw rocks at a police building and the headquarters of the ruling Christian Democrat Party, while others--described as seeming more like rowdy soccer fans than human rights activists--threw molotov bombs, broke windows and looted several stores along the way. Police authorities blamed "infiltrators" for the looting and indiscriminate vandalism that left property damages estimated at $40,000. After a few hours of calm, new protests began that lasted through the night in several neighborhoods; protesters burned tires, blocked roads and pelted police and buses with stones. Street disturbances occur every year on the anniversary of the coup but officials said this year's protests were stronger than usual, partly due to recent tensions between the military and the government over high- profile court cases of army officers accused of human rights abuses. [CHIP News 9/12/95, 9/13/95; Reuter 9/12/95; El Daily News (NY) 9/12/95 from AP, 9/13/95 from Reuter] "This day divides us now and will divide us always," said Hortensia Bussi, Allende's widow, speaking at an official commemorative mass for Allende at the La Moneda presidential palace before leading the march to the cemetery. "Peace and reconciliation can only occur when there is truth and justice." A short distance away, a group of some 500 admirers of Pinochet-- who ruled Chile as a dictator for 17 years and still serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces--gathered outside his residence to cheer the general in a celebration of the coup anniversary. [CHIP News 9/12/95; EDN 9/13/95 from Reuter] September 11 was declared a national holiday under Pinochet's rule to commemorate "the liberation of Chile from the Marxist socialist yoke." The day is still an official holiday in Chile, despite efforts by human rights activists to end the tradition. [EDN 9/11/95 from Reuter; El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 9/12/95 from AFP] 2. POLICE ATTACK STRIKERS IN EL SALVADOR Some 4,000 workers from El Salvador's National Telecommunications Administration (ANTEL) began a three day strike on Sept. 11 to demand the rehiring of 21 unjustly fired workers and the removal of ANTEL president Juan Jose Domenech, and to win consideration of a union proposal for ANTEL that would substitute for the government's privatization plan. The two ANTEL unions--the Association of Telecommunications Workers (ASTTEL) and ASTA--have charged Domenech with corruption. All ANTEL work sites around the country were militarized and police used tear gas to prevent strikers from congregating at ANTEL offices in San Salvador; two people (one union leader and a member of the telephone company's security force) were injured. Domenech accused the strikers of trying to destabilize the country, and said they would not be paid for the days spent on strike. ASTTEL leader Alejandro Martinez reported on the first day that participation in the strike was about 70%; "Some haven't joined us because of the pressures and measures of terror," said Martinez. [El Daily News 9/12/95 from Reuter; El Diario-La Prensa 9/7/95 from AP, 9/12/95 from AFP; Proceso (El Salvador) #675, 8/30/95; Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) Action Alert 9/8/95, 9/12/95; CISPES Action Update 9/11/95] On Sept. 12, the ANTEL workers decided to suspend the strike after Domenech agreed to meet with them to discuss their proposal. But when the strikers tried to return to work that morning, riot police responded with tear gas. Ten people were seriously injured and taken away in ambulances. [CISPES Action Alert 9/12/95; ED-LP 9/14/95 from EFE] Also on Sept. 12, some 9,000 workers employed in the 77 hospitals, health centers and offices of El Salvador's Social Security Institute (ISSS) began a strike to demand a new collective bargaining agreement. [EDN 9/14/95 from Reuter] The ISSS workers union (STISSS) is also rejecting plans to privatize the social security system and is protesting corruption in the institute. (There is currently an arrest warrant out for the former ISSS director who is responsible for millions of dollars in missing funds and medicines.) [International Solidarity Center (CIS) Urgent Action 9/13/95] On the first day of their strike the ISSS workers took over the Atlacatl Medical Unit hospital in north east San Salvador; over 100 riot officers of the National Civilian Police (PNC) force were sent to evict them. After flinging tear gas indiscriminately at strikers and bystanders, the PNC agents smashed a truck through the iron gates of the building and began a two-hour battle as strikers tried to defend themselves by throwing stones and erecting barricades of furniture. The police then used tear gas against emergency medical workers who arrived to treat the injured. Reporters at the scene said a scuffle between emergency workers and police ensued after a police agent fired a tear gas canister into an ambulance carrying victims of the gas fumes. At least 20 unionists were arrested and many were badly beaten; many other strikers and bystanders were also beaten and more than 200 were treated for tear gas inhalation. [Reuter 9/12/95; ED-LP 9/13/95 & 9/14/95 from EFE; EDN 9/13/95 from AP, 9/14/95 from Reuter; CISPES Action Alert 9/12/95; CIS Urgent Action 9/13/95] The ISSS strikers are now demanding the release of 15 imprisoned unionists and say they will stay out on strike until their demands are met. [ED-LP 9/14/95 from EFE] The 15 imprisoned unionists were transferred to a courtroom amid heavy security on Sept. 15 and charged with aggravated damages, taking over a public building and resisting arrest. Some 200 demonstrators held a march in the area of the court to demand their fellow unionists be released. [ED-LP 9/17/95 from AP] France recently donated anti-riot gear to El Salvador to help the police department deal with street disturbances. [Diario Las Americas (Miami) 8/26/95 from AFP] Faxes protesting police brutality and demanding respect for the rights of workers to organize and strike can be sent to President Armando Calderon Sol at (011) 503-271-0950 and Public Security Minister Hugo Barrera at (011) 503-221-2644. Send copies to the International Solidarity Center (CIS) at (011) 503-225-0076 (phone/fax) or e-mail: cis@nicarao.apc.org. In other news, former PNC agent Carlos Romeo Alfaro was arrested on Sept. 13 in Houston, Texas, Public Security Minister Hugo Barrera has confirmed. Barrera said Alfaro was expected to be transferred to El Salvador by Sept. 14. A Salvadoran court issued an arrest order in March 1994 against Alfaro for his presumed participation in the Oct. 25, 1993 murder of Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) leader Francisco Veliz [see Updates #196, 197]. [Diario Las Americas 9/16/95 from EFE] 3. GUATEMALAN ELECTRIC COMPANY MILITARIZED AGAINST WORKERS Union leader Ivo Adino Garcia Rivera was released on the night of Sept. 12 by kidnappers who held him captive for several hours. Garcia is a secretary of the Light and Force (Luz y Fuerza) union, which represents workers of the Guatemalan Electricity Company (EEGSA). President Ramiro de Leon Carpio ordered military and police troops to take control of EEGSA's installations on Sept. 3, claiming that the measure was intended to prevent sabotage. [El Daily News 9/14/95 from AP or Reuter (uncited)] Although unionists, human rights groups and congressional representatives condemned the militarization of EEGSA as unconstitutional, de Leon said the constitution permits intervention when essential public services are threatened. EEGSA workers began a series of protests and work stoppages Aug. 31, but have stopped short of a full scale strike. The workers are demanding the resignation of EEGSA president Oscar Martinez Amaya and an audit of electricity generation contracts they say favor wealthy sectors at the expense of the general population. The union also called for the suspension of two EEGSA executives- -general assistant manager Edwin Rodas and services manager Jazmin de Furlan--who are accused of using company funds to finance their congressional electoral campaigns with the National Advancement Party (PAN). De Leon said the army could remain in control of EEGSA facilities "until January 14, when my term ends" and threatened to arrest workers involved in the labor action. "We understand that demanding an audit of the electricity contracts affects powerful interests," said Light and Force secretary general Jorge Rosales, "but we never dreamed the government, instead of responding to our complaints, would act to defend those interests." [Cerigua Weekly Briefs #34, 9/6/95; Noticias de Guatemala Weekly Bulletin 9/2-8/95] 4. PRAISE & COMPLAINTS FOR GUATEMALA'S VOTER REGISTRATION The deadline for Guatemalans to register to vote in the Nov. 12 general elections passed at midnight on Aug. 12 with hundreds of citizens still lined up outside registration centers. Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) spokesperson Leonel Escobar said the influx of citizens seeking to register was the largest in more than 20 years. The TSE estimates that 200,000 new voters have registered since last August's congressional elections, bringing the total number of registered voters to 3,670,000 or 73% of the adult population. New voter registration was highest in the predominantly Mayan provinces of Quiche, Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz, Totonicapan and Chimaltenango, according to Escobar. He credits Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) with kindling interest in the vote. In mid-July Menchu's foundation launched a multilingual voter- education campaign [see Update #288] and the URNG carried out an armed campaign in which they occupied towns and villages and urged residents to vote. The Peten Resistance Communities (CPR-P) has complained that the TSE made little effort to encourage and help citizens to register in the Peten. And Maya leader Rosario Pu said heavy bureacracy prevented many campesinos, particularly women, from obtaining voter credentials. [Cerigua Weekly Briefs #31, 8/17/95] 5. MEXICO: "NEW PHASE" IN GOVERNMENT-REBEL TALKS After six days of negotiations and the exchange of 20 documents, on Sept. 11 representatives from the Mexican government and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) issued a joint declaration announcing "the start of a new phase in the process of building a just and dignified peace." The two sides agreed that on Oct. 17 they would begin "moving on to the problems that gave rise to the conflict" with a series of discussions on social issues like indigenous rights in the southern state of Chiapas, where the EZLN's rebellion began last year. The talks had been limited to procedure and protocol since the negotiations began on Apr. 9 in the village of San Andres Larrainzar (or Sakamch'en) in Chiapas. [Associated Press 9/11/95; Inter Press Service 9/11/95; New York Times 9/12/95] The Zapatistas and their sympathizers expressed at best guarded optimism. "The strategy of low-intensity warfare...remains the choice of the Mexican government and is a preference for the Pentagon as well," writes US activist Cecilia Rodriguez from San Andres. ["San Andres VI--The Balance Shifts," National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, USA, 9/12/95] An EZLN negotiator, "Commander Tacho," had warned on Sept. 9 that "the government delegation, as you already know since I'd said it to you since the first days of this meeting, is forcing things" to make the talks look more productive than they really are. He complained that the media too were exaggerating the rate of progress. [La Jornada (Mexico) 9/10/95] The new optimism about the talks comes as the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) faces local elections in two southern states with a strong left. On Oct. 15 voters in Chiapas will elect all 111 municipal councils and the 24 seats in the state legislature. The PRI has in effect already lost the small town of Nicolas Ruiz in the highlands to the main opposition party in the state, the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). None of the town's 1,200 residents would agree to run as a PRI candidate. [LJ 9/3/95] On Nov. 12 the PRI and PRD will be the main contenders for the governor's office in the southwestern state of Michoacan, the home state of PRD co-founder Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano. But a poll by the Western Studies Center shows PRI gubernatorial candidate Victor Manuel Tinoco Rubi leading 2-1 over the PRD's Cristobal Arias Solis. The state PRD is badly split, and followers of Roberto Robles Garnica, who lost a July primary to Arias, are boycotting the Arias campaign [see Update #289]. [LJ 9/10/95] In Chiapas some EZLN sympathizers fear that the PRI will use its control of government funding to win most of the indigenous towns in the highlands on Oct. 15. The government would then dismiss the EZLN as a minority group within the state's indigenous population, providing an excuse for resuming the military offensive the government started and abruptly suspended last February. [Personal communication 9/6/95] In other news, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 or 7.3 hit south-central Mexico at 8:04 AM on Sept. 14. The epicenter was near the town of Ometepec in the eastern part of Guerrero state, about 190 miles south of Mexico City. At least four people were killed in the sparsely populated area around the epicenter, and there was extensive damage in the town of Igualapa. [Los Angeles Times 9/15/95; Washington Post 9/15/95] Mexico City reported no major injuries, but the Red Cross treated about 650 people for shock. To general surprise, a three-year old high-tech early warning system worked, broadcasting an alarm about 50 seconds before the ground began shaking. The new quake came just days before the tenth anniversary of a 8.1 quake which shattered the capital's central neighborhoods on Sept. 19, 1985 and killed 6,000-10,000 people. Activists feel that the failure of the Mexican government to provide services during that crisis was a major impetus for the dramatic growth of grassroots organizations in Mexico City over the last ten years. [LAT 9/15/95] 6. MAQUILADORAS SETTLE BORDER LAWSUIT Three corporations--including General Motors Corporation (GM)-- agreed in last-minute negotiations to pay an undisclosed amount to settle a Texas lawsuit that was to go to trial on Aug. 28. The three were the only defendants remaining in a March 1993 suit originally brought against 88 companies, including Fisher-Price, Zenith Electronics and Sunbeam. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 28 families from the Brownsville area, who charged that pollution from the companies' maquiladoras (assembly plants) across the border in Matamoros, Mexico, caused such birth defects as anencephaly and spina bifida. Most of the other companies settled quietly over the past two years, and the three that settled last month vehemently continue to deny any responsibility for the birth defects. Border activists are disappointed that now there will be no court trials, which might have forced the companies to reveal what chemicals are used in Matamoros or what methods are employed to dispose of industrial wastes. [Washington Post 9/17/95] 7. HAITIAN RIGHTIST ORDERED DEPORTED, ACTIVISTS DENIED VISAS In an order signed on Sept. 1, a federal immigration judge in Baltimore ordered Haitian rightist Emmanuel ("Toto") Constant deported to Haiti, where he faces charges of murder, torture and rape. The order can be appealed. [NYT 9/6/95] A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) informer, Constant headed the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH), a paramilitary group active during 1993 and 1994. He was allowed to enter the US illegally on an expired visa last December and was arrested in Queens, New York, on May 10 [see Update #276]. In contrast to Constant, two activists from the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP), Haiti's largest peasant organization, are unable to obtain US visas. On Sept. 14 Charles Stephen, the US consul general in Port-au-Prince, denied the visa applications of Yvette Michaud and Filfrant Saint-Nare, who are scheduled for an extensive speaking tour in October with the US group Witness for Peace. Witness for Peace asks US activists to demand that visas be issued immediately to Michaud and Saint-Nare. Call or fax: State Department visa desk 202-663-1166, Haiti desk 202-736-4708; Charles Stephen 011-509-23-70-11, fax 011-509-23-96-65. For more information, call Witness for Peace at 202-544-0781. [Witness for Peace Action Alert 9/15/95] 8. COLOMBIAN ARMY OFFICER FIRED FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS For the first time in Colombia's history, the government has removed a high-level army officer from active service because of accusations of human rights violations. On Sept. 11, Brig. Gen. Alvaro Velandia Hurtado was fired after having been found responsible for the August 1987 disappearance and subsequent torture and murder of Erika Bautista de Arellano, a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement. At the time, Velandia was a colonel heading a military intelligence battalion in Bogota. Human Rights Prosector Hernando Valencia Villa had been demanding Velandia's dismissal since July 5, but Velandia made several legal appeals that delayed the process. In August, the government was harshly criticized for awarding Velandia an order of military merit. While Velandia may still appeal his dismissal, he has lost all rights to take part in military battalions or ceremonies, and cannot receive honors or invitations from the armed forces as a retired officer would. [El Daily News 9/13/95 from Reuter, 9/4/95 from Reuter] Velandia's dismissal came just 10 days after Human Rights Prosecutor Valencia unexpectedly resigned his post on Sept. 1, saying he felt pressured to resign as a result of his charges against Velandia. Valencia obtained a special academic visa from the Spanish embassy in Colombia and traveled to Spain two days later with his 12-year old son Felipe; he did not seek asylum or diplomatic protection, according to a Spanish embassy spokesperson. Before leaving for Spain, Valencia said he would ask Amnesty International to investigate the threats he had been receiving for the past three months. [La Jornada 9/3/95 from DPA, AFP, Reuter, AP; EDN 9/4/95 from Reuter; EFE article from unspecified Colombian newspaper 9/2/95, posted by Colombia Support Network] 9. PUERTO RICANS PROTEST US RADAR On July 29, some 200 residents of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques gathered to protest the US navy's plans to install a 200 kilowatt transmitter there, part of a huge radar system supposedly designed to track and fight drug trafficking. The vigil was organized by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques. Another organization--the United Front in Defense of the Valley of Lajas--is fighting the US radar plan in the southeastern municipality of Lajas, where the US plans to install the radar's antennae. On Aug. 12 the two organizations signed an agreement of mutual support; their struggle against the radar is backed by numerous other political, community, and environmental groups. Scientific studies have shown links between electromagnetic radiation and various health problems like cancer, neurological problems, brain damage, cataracts and others. [The Vieques Times, August 1995; El Daily News 8/11/95] Robert Rabin, spokesperson of the Vieques residents who oppose the radar, said that the community's opposition "is based principally on the negative impact the project will have on efforts to recover the lands occupied by the [US] navy." [El Diario-la Prensa 8/25/95] Navy public relations officer Ed Baker told a Puerto Rican newspaper that the radar system--of a type known as Relocatable Over The Horizon Radar (ROTHR)--"is a priority" for a Navy. The radar complex would take over 1,000 acres in Lajas Valley, some of Puerto Rico's most fertile and productive land. Hearings will continue in Lajas and Vieques through the month of September. The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) is planning a demonstration against the radar on Oct. 22. [El Daily News 8/18/95] Ponce mayor Rafael "Churumba" Cordero announced on Aug. 24 that he is prepared to face arrest and imprisonment for civil disobedience actions against the radar's installation in Lajas. Cordero, Cabo Rojo mayor Santos Ortiz and the mayor of Lajas announced they are prepared to sit down in the road to prevent the passage of trucks carrying equipment to build the radar. Cordero said he is prepared to follow the examples of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi by risking arrest with nonviolent protest actions. [EDN 8/25/95] 10. BRAZIL AUTO WORKERS PROTEST LAYOFFS Thousands of auto workers marched in Sao Paulo during the week of Aug. 28 to protest the increase in unemployment in the industrial areas surrounding the city. [El Daily News 8/31/95 from AP] The Federation of Sao Paulo Industries said that from January to the first two weeks of August, Brazil's largest industrial firms have laid off 33,000 workers. On Aug. 22, General Motors Corporation (GM) announced it had laid off 1,050 workers from two plants in Sao Paulo state, leaving its total Brazilian workforce at 22,500. GM's sales in Brazil fell 36.2% from June to July after the Brazilian government raised interest rates. Ford Motor Company's Brazilian subsidiary in Sao Paulo announced on Aug. 23 that it would lay off 800 of its 3,000 workers--even though Ford's sales slipped only 1.7% from June to July. Neither Volkswagen nor Fiat said they planned layoffs even though their sales fell 23% and 45%, respectively, during the same period. [Wall Street Journal 8/23/95; El Daily News 8/23/95 from AP; New York Times 8/23/95 & 8/24/95 from AP] Volkswagen did, however, delay its plan to invest $250 million in its Brazilian bus factory. Ford, meanwhile, has announced it is negotiating with the union over the imminent layoffs of another 1,000 workers. [Diario Las Americas 9/9/95 from EFE] Mercedes-Benz has meanwhile announced plans to build a $405 million auto plant in Brazil. The plant will produce as many as 80,000 units annually of a new compact car scheduled to be introduced in 1997 and distributed throughout Latin America. The company already has two plants in Brazil that produce 40,000 trucks and buses annually, and a small factory in Mexico that produces cars. [WSJ 9/14/95] 11. NICARAGUA: LACAYO QUITS TO SEEK PRESIDENCY Nicaraguan presidency minister Antonio Lacayo left his post officially on Sept. 7 in order to dedicate himself to seeking the presidential seat in the 1996 elections. President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro has named chemical engineer Julio Cardenas to replace Lacayo as presidency minister. Cardenas is not a militant in any political party. [El Diario-La Prensa 9/8/95 from EFE; Diario Las Americas 9/9/95 from EFE] Lacayo's last official function was his attendance at the Rio Group leaders summit in Quito, Ecuador. [El Daily News 9/8/95 from Reuter] Together with other officials of the Chamorro administration, Lacayo recently founded the National Project (PRONAL) party; the party will spend from now until next February developing its slate of candidates for president, vice president, deputies and mayors. Lacayo is expected to be chosen as the party's presidential candidate, despite a constitutional clause that prevents relatives of the current president from seeking the presidency (he is married to Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of President Chamorro). Lacayo says he will use all "the judicial and political mechanisms which are established by democracy" to defend his right to run for president. President Chamorro told the press she has total support for the National Project party. According to Lacayo, his party's victory is assured because "it represents the alternative" to the two "political extremes" that exist in Nicaragua: the leftwing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the extreme rightwing Liberal Party. [ED-LP 9/8/95 from EFE] Recent opinion polls show scant popular support for Lacayo, considered the author of neoliberal economic measures which have nearly halted Nicaragua's inflation while increasing poverty and unemployment. [DLA 9/9/95 from AFP] 12. NICARAGUAN RIGHT PREPARES FOR ELECTIONS On Sept. 12 Arnoldo Aleman officially quit his post as mayor of Managua to dedicate himself to his presidential campaign [ED-LP 9/13/95 from AP]--even though he was not required to resign, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling issued during the week of Aug. 14. The ruling excuses mayors and town council members who were elected indirectly by their town councils after the 1990 elections from having to resign one year before the 1996 elections in order to run again for public office. [Nicaragua Network Hotline 8/22/95] During the week of July 10 Aleman was named presidential candidate of the Liberal Alliance for the November 1996 elections. The Alliance includes all of Nicaragua's Liberal Party factions except the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) of Virgilio Godoy, who was elected vice president of Nicaragua in 1990 but was never given official functions. [Nicanet Hotline 7/17/95] PLI leader Wilfredo Navarro recently held a press conference to announce the formation of a new center-right political grouping which he says could end up as an electoral alliance. The group includes National Assembly president Luis Humberto Guzman of the Social Democrat Union, former Assembly president Alfredo Cesar, editor and investor Haroldo Montealegre and legislator Luis Sanchez. It does not include any Sandinistas, Liberal Alliance members, or PRONAL supporters. The group's 5-page platform proposes the elimination of all income taxes. [El Daily News 9/14/95 from Reuter] Results of a CID-Gallup poll released on Sept. 12 showed that if presidential elections had been held this past August, Aleman would have obtained 29% of the votes; FSLN secretary general Daniel Ortega would have received 21%, and PRONAL would have gotten 6%. [ED-LP 9/15/95 from Notimex] According to Associated Press, a CID-Gallup poll published by Nicaraguan daily La Tribuna on Sept. 11 showed Aleman with 29%, compared with 24% for Ortega, 7% for the ruling National Opposition Union (UNO), and 3% each for PRONAL and the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), led by former vice president Sergio Ramirez, who split from the FSLN early this year. The poll showed 34% of Nicaraguans preferring "something different" to any of the above choices. [ED-LP 9/12/95 from AP] In other news, four officials of Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) have been kidnapped from Boca del Parpar, 25 km north of Wiwili in Jinotega province near the Honduran border, by a group of armed men led by former contra leader "Lobo." CSE president Mariano Fiallos said the election officials were in the area working to replace missing birth certificates in preparation for voter registration when they were kidnapped. Representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS) International Support and Verification Commission (CIAV) and of the Catholic Church traveled to the area on Sept. 12 to negotiate with the contra group concerning the release of the kidnapped officials. [El Daily News 9/13/95 from AP] 13. CLINTON TO EXPAND CIA COVERT ACTION? According to political columnist Christopher Hitchens, Arkansas state trooper L. Douglass Brown has provided new evidence for 1992 reports that US president Bill Clinton allowed an airstrip in Mena, Arkansas, to be used in resupply operations for the Nicaraguan contras while he was state governor in the middle 1980s [see Update #130]. Brown says that in 1984 he was assigned to help with contra resupply flights out of Mena. After two runs, he reported back to Clinton that Barry Seal, one of the pilots, was using the flights to bring cocaine from Honduras into the US. According to Brown, Clinton told him that the cocaine running was "Lasater's deal." Dan Lasater is an Arkansas business person who was sentenced to prison for cocaine distribution and was pardoned by Clinton. Brown says Clinton also told him either "And your hero [then-vice president George] Bush knows about it" or "And your buddy Bush knows about it." Hitchens says that the special prosecutor in the Whitewater corruption scandal knows about Brown's story but that members of Congress are keeping quiet about evidence that would implicate a Democratic president and a Republican ex-president. [Nation 9/25/95] A former agent of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has accused the US of fighting a "phoney war" on drugs in Central America. Ex-DEA agent Celerino Castillo says he has evidence of extensive involvement by US government agents in drug-trafficking in several Central American countries, including Guatemala. "I'm ready to testify and so are three other agents," Castillo told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Castillo says the four could present evidence at the US congressional hearings called for by Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) to investigate involvement of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in human rights abuses and other illegal activities in Guatemala. Castillo says he left the DEA because the agency ignored CIA links with the drug trade, death squads and disappearances. The narcotics trade has long helped to pay for US intelligence operations, says Castillo. He estimates that 75% of the drugs that enter the United States do so with the acquiescence or direct participation of US and foreign agents of the CIA. [Cerigua Weekly Briefs #32, 8/24/95] On Sept. 12 Central Intelligence Director John Deutch said in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington that "we have greatly reduced our capacity to engage in covert action" following the Iran-contra scandal and other scandals involving illegal CIA activities in Central America. Defining covert actions as "those activities [the] CIA undertakes to influence events overseas that are not intended to be attributable to the country," Deutch said: "I believe...the US needs to maintain, and perhaps even expand, covert action as a policy tool." Unnamed officials say the Clinton administration may soon follow Deutch's advice. [Washington Post 9/13/95] 14. IN OTHER NEWS... On July 31 the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) notified Salvadoran refugees that the deadline to submit applications for extended asylum will be Jan. 31, 1996. [El Diario-La Prensa 7/22/95] On Aug. 24 the INS announced that it will also extend work permits for Salvadoran refugees to Jan. 31. These permits were going to become invalid on Sept. 30; the extension is effective immediately and no applications or consultation with the INS are required. [ED-LP 8/25/95 from EFE]... Authorities in Trinidad lifted a state of emergency on Aug. 7 and freed the speaker of the House of Representatives after three days of house arrest prompted by what Prime Minister Patrick Manning called a plot to overthrow his government. At a press conference after her release, speaker Occah Seapaul denied the charges and accused Manning of trying to deceive the nation. The government has been trying to force Seapaul's resignation, saying she tarnished the office by giving inconsistent testimony under oath in a civil lawsuit that was later thrown out. [NYT 8/8/95 from Reuter]... Hilda Guevara Gadea, the oldest daughter of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto ("Che") Guevara, died of cancer in Cuba on Aug. 21 at age 39. She was buried the next day in the armed forces cemetery in Havana. Hilda Guevara worked for the state-run publishing house "Casa de las Americas" and represented Cuba at many international youth conventions. [El Daily News 8/23/95 from Reuter; El Diario-La Prensa 8/23/95 from AFP]... Uruguay's main union federation, the Inter-Union Workers Plenary-National Workers Convention (PIT-CNT), held a four-hour general strike on Sept. 12 to protest rising unemployment. The federation blamed the 10.9% official unemployment rate on the structural adjustment policies of President Julio Sanguinetti, which it said had provoked a recession. The government said the PIT-CNT--which it called the "union arm" of the left-leaning Frente Amplio coalition--was "spreading alarm." Government officials denied there was danger of a "social explosion" and said unemployment had only risen 0.2% since Sanguinetti took office on Mar. 1. [EDN 9/13/95 from Reuter, 9/14/95 from Reuter, 9/15/95 from AP] 15. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE NYC AREA AND BEYOND For more information, call NSN at 212-674-9499. Events listed are not necessarily endorsed by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network. 9/21 THU - CREED monthly mtg. At CISPES, 19 W 21st St, Rm 502. 212-645-5230. 9/22 FRI, 12 NOON - Demo to demand freedom for Mexican political prisoners. Mexican Consulate, 41st & 5th Ave. NY Cmt for Democracy in Mexico, 212-592-9074. 9/24 SUN, 2 PM - Memorial Mtg for Ernest Mandel. Jakob Moneta (Germany), Rosario Ibarra (Mexico), Anwar Shaikh.... New School/Swayduck Aud. 65 5th Ave (14th St). 212-242-4201. 9/24 SUN, 4 PM - Reception/Discussion w/Port-au-Prince mayor Emmanuel ("Manno") Charlemagne & others. $10. At Brecht Forum, 122 W 27th St, 10th fl. 9/27 WED, 7:30 PM - "Eyewitness Reports on Beijing World Women's Conf," w/Clytie Causing (GABRIELA), Yamira Cuetro (Cuban Mission) & others. Dinner at 7 PM. 208 W 13th St. $2, $6 w/dinner. Radical Women, 212-677-7002. -- + NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems + + Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us + + voice: 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 modem: + + 212-979-0471 e-mail: nyt@blythe.org 212-979-0464 + >