WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
                 ISSUE #357, DECEMBER 1, 1996
       NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
     339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
1. Peru: General Arrested for Exposing Death Squad
2. Fleeing Violence, Colombians Cross River into Panama
3. New Evidence Links Colombian Army and Paramilitary Groups...
4. ...As Colombia's "Private Enterprise" Paramilitaries Thrive
5. Mini-Strike Wave in Haiti
6. Mexico: Rebel Gets Transplant, Ex-President Gets Questioned
7. Cuba: New Diplomat Spat With Spain
8. Nicaragua: FSLN Pact, US Ambassador
9. Leftist Youth Protest in Argentina
10. Contras' Turn to Deny CIA-Crack Story
11. Other News: Bolivia Privatization, Brazil AIDS & Panama
Indigenous

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*1. PERU: GENERAL ARRESTED FOR EXPOSING DEATH SQUAD

On Nov. 26, agents of Peru's intelligence service violently
seized Gen. Rodolfo Robles Espinoza in Lima, beating him and
spraying him in the face with tear gas before forcing him into a
vehicle with darkened windows. Robles was then taken to be
interrogated at the Real Felipe military base in the neighboring
port city of El Callao, where he remains in custody. [El Diario-
La Prensa (NY) 11/28/96 from AP, 11/29/96 from AFP; Human Rights
Actions Network - Derechos Human Rights 11/26/96] 
 
Robles' lawyer, Heriberto Benitez, said on Nov. 27 that a
military court had charged Robles with disobedience, offending
the armed forces, offenses against his superiors and lies. [ED-LP
11/28/96 from AP] After Benitez complained of the "abusive attack
and demonstration of force" by the military against his client, a
previous three-month suspension against the lawyer was extended
to five months. The War Chamber of the Supreme Council of
Military Justice also brought criminal charges against Benitez
for contempt, punishable with prison, for having criticized the
Council and for appearing before the body after his three-month
suspension. The Lawyers Guild of Peru has protested Benitez'
suspension. [ED-LP 11/30/96 from Notimex]
 
Robles had charged that the Colina Group death squad made up of
military officers was responsible for the July 1992 abduction and
murder of nine students and a professor from La Cantuta
Univerity. Robles had also charged that the same Colina Group
shot to death 16 people at a family barbeque in Lima on Nov. 3,
1991, an attack police first blamed on the Maoist rebel group
Peruvian Communist Party (PCP, or Sendero Luminoso). Robles was
expelled from the army because of his accusations. The Colina
Group was headed by Vladimiro Montesinos, a close ally of
President Alberto Fujimori and the unofficial head of the
National Intelligence Service. [ED-LP 11/28/96 from AP] The
Colina Group has also been blamed for the death of 15 street
vendors. [ED-LP 11/30/96 from Notimex]
 
According to the National Coordinating Committee on Human Rights
(CNDDHH), Robles is not legally subject to military jurisdiction
because he is no longer in the army. The committee says that
Robles has received threats in the past, and that he spent time
in Argentina as a political exile after his revelations about the
Colina Group [see Update #171]. [CNDDHH statement 11/27/96; Human
Rights Actions Network - Derechos Human Rights 11/26/96] Robles
is reportedly well-respected in human rights circles and is an
active member of the Democratic Forum, a group which opposes
presidential reelection. Fujimori, meanwhile, has maintained
public silence about Robles' arrest. [ED-LP 11/30/96 from
Notimex] 
 
The Peruvian Human Rights Association (APRODEH) has presented a
complaint before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission
charging the Peruvian government with the violation of Robles'
human rights. Opposition congresspeople, led by Javier Diez
Canseco, have brought a petition of habeas corpus before the
courts, demanding that Robles be immediately released. [Diario
Las Americas (Miami) 11/30/96 from EFE] Amnesty International has
declared Robles a prisoner of conscience. [ED-LP 11/29/96 from
AFP] 
 
Messages protesting Robles' violent arrest by intelligence agents
and demanding his immediate release can be sent to President
Fujimori (fax #511-432-6535); Justice Minister Carlos Hermoza
Moya (fax #511-422-3577); Interior Minister Juan Briones Davila
(fax #511-224-2407); Defense Minister Tomas Castillo Meza (fax
#511-433-6906); and Congressional Human Rights Commission
president Daniel Espichan Tumay (fax #511-426-3201). Send copies
to the CNDDHH at fax #511-441-1533 or via email at
<fndo@cnddhh.org.pe>.
 
*2. FLEEING VIOLENCE, COLOMBIANS CROSS RIVER INTO PANAMA

On Nov. 21, Colombian authorities began the process of
repatriating 180 Colombians, mainly children and women, who had
fled across the Tuira River into Panama's Darien region during
the weekend of Nov. 17 in an attempt to escape violence between
paramilitary and guerrilla groups in the Colombian banana-growing
region of Uraba. Panamanian foreign minister Ricardo Alberto
Arias said that the refugees did not want to return to Uraba, but
prefer to be taken to an area where they will be safe. "They are
not fleeing from their country, rather from the current
circumstances in Uraba," explained Arias. The chief of Panama's
National Security Council, Gabriel Castro, said on Nov. 21 that
another thousand Colombian campesinos are seeking to enter Panama
to escape the violence in Uraba; they are reportedly near the
border after having walked for several days, and are waiting to
see what happens to those who managed to enter Panamanian
territory. Castro insisted that the Colombians who entered Panama
will be classified as undocumented immigrants rather than as
refugees, although he admitted that they are only seeking
protection. Castro said he was working with the Colombian
government to help the group that is waiting by the border, but
emphasized that they will not be able to seek refuge in Panama.
[La Prensa (Panama) 11/22/96]
 
Over the weekend of Nov. 24, Panamanian authorities transferred
94 of the Uraba refugees from the Darien to Tocumen airport in
Panama City, where they were placed on a Colombian Air Force
plane to be repatriated. Panamanian bishop Romulo Emiliani said
that the Colombians had come to the indigenous community of
Meteti fleeing a kind of "massacre" in Uraba. The bishop said
that 70% of the refugees were children, and that they arrived
"frightened, nervous and telling of ugly things going on over
there." [Diario Las Americas 11/26/96 from EFE]
 
Despite their wish not to return to Uraba, 88 of the refugees
arrived on Nov. 23 in Apartado--one of the main towns in Uraba,
in Antioquia department--on board a Colombian military plane. The
next day, Nov. 24, five Apartado residents were shot to death
from a moving vehicle while they were playing cards, said police.
Paramilitary violence in northern Colombia has increased in
recent weeks, as the paramilitary groups seek to dismantle
alleged guerrilla "support networks" within the civilian
population. 
 
Over all, paramilitary violence in northern Colombia--including
the incident in Apartado--left at least 29 people dead over the
weekend of Nov. 23. On the night of Nov. 22 near Frontino
municipality in Antioquia department, eight members of two
families were taken from their homes and murdered by alleged
paramilitary members, according to the Antioquia police. Another
seven people, four of them from one family, were murdered in a
similar incident on Nov. 23 near Valledupar, in Cesar department,
according to the Cesar police department. Another nine people
were killed in that same area of Cesar: four who were traveling
in a vehicle near Aguachica municipality, three near Cienaga and
another two in a rural zone of La Gloria municipality. [El
Diario-La Prensa 11/25/96 from AP]
 
In other news, on Nov. 27 Colombian president Ernesto Samper
Pizano announced that more than 5,400 square miles of Caqueta
province would be demilitarized between Dec. 6 and 16 to allow
the handing over of 60 soldiers being held as prisoners of war by
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. The
FARC captured the soldiers on Aug. 30 in an attack on a military
outpost in Las Delicias in southern Putumayo province [see Update
#346]. Military commanders had previously said the FARC's demand
for demilitarization of the area as a condition for release of
the soldiers--outlined in a Sept. 30 rebel communique--was
impossible to meet, perhaps because of fears that the FARC would
use the handover to score political points. But the mothers of
the captured soldiers had become increasingly impatient at the
deadlock between the government and the FARC, and had continued
exerting pressure for the release of their sons; earlier this
month one group of mothers went on a week-long river trip in
Caqueta department in a failed attempt to make direct contact
with the rebels. Pierre Gassmann, head of the International
Committee of the Red Cross in Colombia, told Reuter that the FARC
had not yet responded to the government offer. [Reuter 11/27/96]
 
*3. NEW EVIDENCE LINKS COLOMBIAN ARMY AND PARAMILITARY GROUPS...

In a 156-page report released at a press conference in Bogota on
Nov. 25, the US-based organization Human Rights Watch (HRW)
presented evidence and eyewitness testimony showing that in 1991
the Colombian military made paramilitary groups a key component
of a new intelligence-gathering apparatus, in violation of
Colombian law. "Working under the direct orders of the military
high command, these paramilitaries have conducted surveillance of
legal opposition political figures, operated with military units,
then executed attacks against targets chosen by military
commanders," according to a HRW press release. While Colombian
military officers publicly deny that they work with paramilitary
groups, HRW believes "that the military high command continues to
organize, encourage, and deploy paramilitaries to fight a covert
war against those it suspects of support for guerrillas." The
report, titled "Colombia's Killer Networks," cites confidential
Colombian and declassified US government documents showing how a
US Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) team
worked with Colombian military officers on the 1991 intelligence
reorganization plan called Order 200-05/91, which resulted in the
creation of these paramilitary intelligence networks. The report
also criticizes the US for continuing to provide military aid
that supports these networks. [HRW Press Release 11/25/96]
 
Although the HRW press release--dated Nov. 25--indicated that the
full report was released that same day, a Weekly News Update on
the Americas editor who visited the group's New York headquarters
was told that the report was "embargoed" and would not be
available to the public until January. The editor was told that
an "uncorrected" copy of the report could be provided if a press
card was shown. 
 
*4. ...AS COLOMBIA'S "PRIVATE ENTERPRISE" PARAMILITARIES THRIVE

While the Colombian government continues to deny that its armed
forces are linked to illegal paramilitary groups, official
government reports show that legally established private rural
guard cooperatives--known as "Convivir"--have increased
exponentially in number in Colombia during 1996. Convivir was set
up by the government's Security and Vigilance Superintendency and
was officially mandated by decree 356 of Feb. 11, 1994, to
provide the military with logistical support and information
about guerrilla activity. Convivir members are authorized to
carry short-range weapons for their defense. [Diario Las Americas
11/19/96 from EFE; Peace Brigades International (PBI) Colombia
Team Biweekly Report #43, 2/12-25/96 from Cambio 16 #139] At the
end of 1995 there were only 36 of these "cooperatives"; now there
are 450 and authorities expect there to be 500 by the end of this
year, according to the daily El Tiempo. [DLA 11/19/96 from EFE]
 
Convivir groups are financed by local ranchers, business owners,
farmers and even drug traffickers. "From the government we only
receive a license," explains the leader of one Convivir group.
"The rest must come from the pocket of the boss, because we are a
private enterprise." [PBI Colombia Report #43, 2/12-25/96 from
Cambio 16 #139]
 
According to the Colombian weekly Semana, the Convivir groups
were originally conceived under the name "Security Cooperatives,"
but because the name carried negative connotations of
paramilitary groups it was changed to Convivir. Each Convivir
unit is made up of a group of citizens, a coordinating committee
and a private communications headquarters, working in close
collaboration with the police, the army, the prosecutor's office
and the attorney general's office. Semana credits a Convivir
group with providing information that led to the killing of
commander "Juan Pablo" and four other rebels from the National
Liberation Army (ELN). 
 
Antioquia governor Alvaro Uribe Velez has proposed the
distribution of long-range weapons to the Convivir groups,
turning them into rapid reaction groups that will support the
Armed Forces. Uribe's proposal has drawn opposition from many,
including ex-governor Ramiro Valencia Cossio, who said that the
idea of arming Convivir revealed the true nature of these groups.
Uribe insists that these criticisms don't bother him. "This year
we have been visited by Amnesty International and Americas Watch,
and neither of the two organizations have found anything
irregular in the functioning of the Convivir groups," Uribe told
Semana. "And more than a few landowners have returned to their
properties thanks to the existence of these associations." 
 
The Semana article praises Uribe's crackdown against the rebel
groups operating in Antioquia, and says that the governor has
remained popular because of his tough stance. According to
Semana, Uribe even refused a request by the International
Committee of the Red Cross to suspend military actions briefly in
September to allow an evacuation of indigenous communities in an
area of Antioquia being bombed by the army [see Update #348]. The
army's September bombing offensive against rebels in Antioquia
ended on Sept. 26 with the army retaking the region, and with a
large number of rebels dead. According to Semana, no members of
the indigenous communities were hurt. Semana points out that
while Uribe has stepped up military actions against the rebels,
he is also promoting a "Program for Peace and Citizen
Coexistence," under consultancy from Harvard University and based
on a so-called "pedagogy of tolerance," to teach violence
prevention and conflict resolution in Antioquia. So far these
peace workshops have reportedly trained 21,000 people in the
department, 5,000 of them in Uraba. [Semana 10/15/96]
 
However, as Uribe emphasized in an interview with the Bogota
daily Espectador in September, this spirit of tolerance does not
extend to Colombia's guerrilla movements. "There can be no
tolerance for those who break the law," said Uribe. Responding to
the interviewer's questions, Uribe denied that the Convivir
groups are only defending large landowners, or that Convivir
works with illegal paramilitary groups to fight guerrillas. Uribe
insisted that his crackdown on guerrillas has popular support,
though he admitted that some Antioquia mayors, including Apartado
mayor Gloria Cuartas Montoya [who has long struggled for peaceful
solutions to the region's conflicts], don't agree with his policy
of militarization and the establishment of "special zones of
public order." [El Espectador 9/29/96]
 
*5. MINI-STRIKE WAVE IN HAITI

Following the Nov. 11-12 partial blackout of Port-au-Prince by
electrical workers [see Update #356], Haiti has faced a series of
less dramatic work stoppages, mostly by public-sector employees
forbidden to strike under a 1982 law. On Nov. 11 medical
residents at the Haitian State University Hospital (HUEH), the
largest in the country, walked out to demand three months' back
pay and better working conditions, including a restructuring of
the hospital and a cleanup of the operating room and emergency
unit. The residents are also demanding a public apology from
Health Minister Rodolphe Malebranche for his Nov. 12 charge that
the doctors only care about their salaries. The strike was still
in progress as of Nov. 25.
 
On Nov. 19 public prosecutors (commissaires) went on strike in
the southern city of Petit-Goave and the central cities of
Mirebalais and Saint-Marc to demand a pay raise, vehicles and
daily stipends for expenses. The strikers went back to work on
Nov. 25, following a meeting with Justice Minister Pierre Max
Antoine, who said the demands were just, and a "patriotic appeal
to understand the situation we are living in" from Prime Minister
Rosny Smarth. The prosecutors say they will go back out on Dec.
15 if there is no progress in meeting their demands. The next to
strike were the public transport drivers. Six public transport
unions called a one-day general strike for Nov. 26 to protest a
price increase in gasoline. The walkout was 90% effective,
according to the New York-based leftist weekly Haiti Progres. The
drivers said they would raise their fares within 72 hours if the
government didn't reverse the gasoline price hike. [HP 11/27-
12/3/96; Agence Haiti Presse (AHP) Resume 360, 11/23/96]
 
Meanwhile, clandestine efforts are under way to organize workers
in Haiti's maquiladora sector. A group of workers met with Haiti
Info, an English-language biweekly based in Port-au-Prince, in
mid-November to say they were determined to "continue to
struggle." Four workers had been fired recently for union-related
activities at BVF Manufacturing, which produces for the US-owned
Walt Disney company. "When they see two people talking, they
think you are talking about the new union," one woman said.
Supervisors even follow workers into the bathroom to see if they
are organizing. A worker was fired on Nov. 4 because he brought
organizing leaflets inside the factory. [Haiti Info Vol. 4, #26,
11/16/96]
 
In other news, on Nov. 25 US district judge James Cacheris in
Alexandria, Virginia ordered the release of former Haiti drug
policy adviser Patrick Elie without bail pending his Jan. 27
trial on charges of illegal gun possession and of impersonating a
diplomat [see Updates #327, 331, 342, 356]. Cacheris had thrown
out the weapons charges in August, but the trial has been delayed
while the prosecution appeals the decision. Elie has been held in
various Virginia detention facilities since his arrest last
April. The judge ruled that Elie "is likely to be sentenced to no
more than six months," and that "[t]he disparity in detention
time compared with likely sentence if convicted shocks the
conscience," especially since the delay in the trial date to
January was caused by the prosecution's appeal. "It is a victory
thanks to mobilization and solidarity," Elie said on his release
the next day. [HP 11/27-12/396]
 
*6. MEXICO: REBEL GETS TRANSPLANT, EX-PRESIDENT GETS QUESTIONED

On Nov. 24 "Commander Ramona" of Mexico's rebel Zapatista
National Liberation Army (EZLN) received a kidney transplant in a
Mexico City hospital. Javier Elorriaga Berdegue, a former
political prisoner who coordinates the EZLN-sponsored civilian
Zapatista National Liberation Front (FZLN), told reporters on
Nov. 26 that after 48 hours Ramona's body seemed to be accepting
the kidney, which was donated by her brother. If the transplant
is successful, the rebel leader, who was previously thought to be
dying of cancer, is expected to recover in about two months. [La
Jornada (Mexico) 11/27/96, 11/28/96]
 
On Nov. 28 former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari
(1988-1994) spent 12 hours giving sworn testimony to Mexican
prosecutors on the March 1994 assassination of Luis Donaldo
Colosio Murrieta, Salinas' designated successor as president. The
questioning took place at the Mexican embassy in Dublin; the
former president is now living in Ireland. Many Mexicans feel
that Salinas had a part in Colosio's assassination. He is
scheduled to testify again on Dec. 4 about the September 1994
murder of his former brother-in-law, Jose Fransisco Ruiz Massieu.
Salinas' brother Raul Salinas has been held in prison since
February 1995 on charges of masterminding the killing. [New York
Times 11/29/96]
 
Pablo Chapa Benzilla, the special prosecutor on the Ruiz Massieu
case, has been unusually active in the last few weeks. On Nov. 19
a judge ordered the arrest of Raul Salinas' wife, Paulina
Castanon, on charges of giving false testimony in the case; she
has reportedly fled to Europe. Raul Salinas' bodyguard, Lt. Col.
Antonio Chavez Ramirez, is now testifying that he disposed of a
vehicle belonging to federal deputy Manuel Munoz Rocha on Sept.
30, 1994; according to Chapa's office, Munoz Rocha organized the
Ruiz Massieu murder for Raul Salinas, and was then murdered in
turn by the president's brother. All the suspects and the victims
in these murder cases are members of the ruling Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI). [Mexico Update (Equipo Pueblo) #100,
11/27/96 from Reforma (Mexico) 11/20/96 and El Financiero
(Mexico) 11/23/96] Chavez Ramirez's testimony contradicts key
testimony from Augustina Cruz, a domestic worker for Salinas, and
other government witnesses, including clairvoyant Francisca
Zetina Chavez ("La Paca"), and suspected police informer Ramiro
Aguilar Lucero, who claims he saw Raul Salinas right after he
beat Munoz Rocha to death with a baseball bat. [LJ 11/24/96,
10/15/96]
 
*7. CUBA: NEW DIPLOMAT SPAT WITH SPAIN

On Nov. 26 Cuba revoked its approval of Spanish ambassador Jose
Coderch Planas, accusing Spain's new rightwing government of
"flagrant interference" in its political affairs. Coderch was due
to arrive in Havana in December. In a lengthy statement in the
Communist Party newspaper Granma, the Cuban Foreign Ministry
listed a series of statements and actions by the Spanish
government that it considered unacceptable "provocations and
interference," including comments by Coderch to the Spanish daily
newspaper ABC indicating that he would "throw the embassy doors
wide open" to dissidents and help "push Cuba to freedom"; and the
establishment in Spain in November of the Cuban-Hispanic
Foundation by far right Miami-based emigre leader Jorge Mas
Canosa. Mas Canosa, referred to by Granma as a "leader of the
counter-revolutionary mafia," is president of the Miami-based far
rightwing Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF). The media in
Spain has charged that the new foundation is another sign of Mas
Canosa's close ties to rightwing prime minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Early this year Mas Canosa bought Sintel, a Spanish telephone
company subsidiary. [Reuter 11/26/96; Miami Herald 11/27/96]
 
Cuban president Fidel Castro blasted Aznar in a Nov. 24 speech,
dismissing him as "a little gentleman" who has "less dignity than
[former Spanish dictator Francisco] Franco," and charging that
Aznar won the elections in March with the help of donations from
"the Miami terrorist Mafia." [Reuter 11/26/96; MH 11/27/96;
Financial Times (UK) 11/27/96]
 
The Spanish government blamed Cuba for the diplomatic crisis,
calling the withdrawal of its ambassador "a big mistake" and
accusing Havana of trying to avoid democratic reforms while
seeking to distract attention from domestic troubles. Cuban
deputy foreign minister Isabel Allende said Cuba had been as
patient as possible, but objected to the public nature of Spanish
policy. "Diplomacy is not conducted publicly, diplomacy has its
rules," she said. [Reuter 11/26/96, 11/27/96; MH 11/27/96]
 
Dozens of police were posted around the Spanish embassy in Havana
on the evening of Nov. 26 to keep order after several hundred
curious Cubans congregated following news of the diplomatic
incident. Early in the evening several dozen people tried to
break through the police barrier, and several were apparently
detained. By early evening the police had been reinforced and
were also accompanied by dozens of members of plainclothes civil
order groups. [Reuter 11/26/96] A spokesman for the Spanish
Foreign Ministry who asked to remain anonymous said the police
cordon was set up by request of Spain's Foreign Ministry. [MH
11/28/96]
 
On Nov. 27, about 2,000 students rallied near the Spanish Embassy
to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Nov. 27, 1871
execution by firing squad of eight Cuban medical students who
conspired against Spanish colonial authorities. The rally is an
annual event, but it took on added significance this year, with
the vice president, foreign minister and ministers of health and
education in attendance. Many of the participants stayed on to
join a crowd of pro-Castro demonstrators that had gathered to
block the entrance to the Spanish embassy. [Associated Press
11/27/96]
 
The diplomatic crisis erupted after Spanish prime minister Aznar
began pushing Spain's partners in the European Union (EU) to
follow the US hardline stance against Cuba's government. Aznar
had already halted all Spain's nonhumanitarian aid to Cuba and
cut its 1996 development aid in half to $2.5 million. During the
week of Nov. 18, Aznar proposed that the 15-member EU adopt a
common policy statement aggressively linking future EU relations
with Cuba to political reforms. The statement demands the release
of Cuba's political prisoners and the abolition of political
crimes, and would commit European embassies in Havana to
maintaining contacts with dissidents and "independent" groups in
Cuba. 
 
The EU announced on Nov. 28 that it would adopt the new policy on
Dec. 2, but insisted that the EU's policy against the Helms-
Burton law--which extends US embargo sanctions to nations trading
with Cuba--remains unchanged. By approving the statement against
Cuba, the EU is hoping that US president Bill Clinton will
reciprocate by again postponing a section of Helms-Burton that
would allow lawsuits against some foreigners who invest in
contested properties in Cuba. [MH 11/27/96; Reuter 11/28/96]
 
Meanwhile, US and Cuban diplomats will sit down for immigration
talks in Havana on Dec. 4 and 5, in the first such meeting since
the Helms-Burton bill was passed, US administration officials
announced on Nov. 27. John Hamilton, deputy assistant secretary
of state for Central America and the Caribbean, will lead the US
delegation in two days of talks that are limited exclusively to
matters of immigration, the officials said. [MH 11/28/96]
 
*8. NICARAGUA: FSLN PACT, US AMBASSADOR

On Nov. 26, Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) secretary
general Daniel Ortega presented Nicaraguan president-elect
Arnoldo Aleman with a proposed 14-point "governability pact"
covering electoral, land and legal issues. "It is necessary to
reach this agreement before the agricultural [spring planting]
season starts, to promote production and employment," said
Ortega. The plan calls for reforms in the country's electoral
laws and the replacement of electoral authorities; respect for
land-reform laws passed under the FSLN's 1979-1990
administration, especially for land titles issued during that
period; and respect for compensation agreements signed with large
landholders whose properties were divided or confiscated. The
plan would also prohibit reprisals against former FSLN combatants
or military officials. The proposals follow Aleman's own call the
previous week for a dialogue with Ortega [see Update #356]. [UPI
11/26/96] In a Nov. 24 TV interview, Ortega stressed that the
FSLN will not formally recognize the Aleman government and will
not seek to "co-govern" as it did during the early years of the
Chamorro government. [Nicaragua Network (DC) Hotline 11/25/96]
 
The FSLN held a luxury dinner on Nov. 13 in Managua to honor US
ambassador John Maisto, who ended his term in Nicaragua on Nov.
15. "We are satisfied that the ambassador has done a good job of
bringing together all the political, economic and social sectors
of Nicaragua," said Daniel Ortega. Maisto arrived a half hour
late to the restaurant; Ortega joked that "the ambassador is
learning the bad habits of the Nicaraguans." [Diario Las Americas
11/16/96 from AFP]
 
Nicaragua's rightwing archbishop Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo
visited New York City on Nov. 29 and 30, meeting with New York
mayor Rudolph Giuliani and saying a mass at St. Patrick's
Cathedral on Nov. 30. In his homily, Obando avoided all mention
of politics or the recent Nicaraguan elections. [El Diario-La
Prensa 12/1/96]
 
*9. LEFTIST YOUTH PROTEST IN ARGENTINA

Some 1,500 people marched on Oct. 29 in the provincial capital of
Tucuman to protest the first anniversary of the installation of
the legally elected provincial government of rightwing former
military leader Antonio Bussi. Eight young demonstrators from the
group HIJOS were detained by police for writing grafitti against
Governor Bussi; all were released five hours later. Police also
detained Carlos "Perro" Santillan, a union leader from
neighboring Jujuy province who was on his way to the march; he
was stopped by police 20 km outside San Miguel de Tucuman because
of alleged "irregularities" with the vehicle in which he was
traveling. (Tucuman police used this same excuse last July to
stop a group of municipal workers from reaching a demonstration.)
Participating in the Oct. 29 march were teacher organizations,
human rights groups, leftist political parties, municipal truck
drivers unions, and leaders of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and
Frepaso opposition parties. [Diario Los Andes (Mendoza,
Argentina) 10/30/96 from DYN]
 
Another march against Bussi was held the same day in the national
capital, Buenos Aires. About 500 people from various leftist
groups participated in the march, which was called by HIJOS, a
group made up of children of political activists who were
disappeared during the military regime of the 1970s. When they
reached the Plaza de Mayo, the marchers were literally surrounded
by police agents in a disproportionate display of government
security. [Diario Las Americas 10/31/96 from AFP] Also on the
same day, the ultra-left group Quebracho called a protest in
front of the court building to demand the release of three of its
members who were arrested during a police riot at a concert on
Oct. 27 and were being held by order of Judge Carlos Liporaci.
[Diario Las Americas 10/30/96 from AFP]
 
In other news, Argentine high school teacher Nestor Beroch has
been suspended after being accused of involvement in the Sept.
16, 1976 "Night of the Pencils," when 11 high school students
were kidnapped from their homes in La Plata after taking part in
a protest to demand cheap public transportation for students.
Nine of the 11 students were never seen again. Allegations
against Beroch by human rights groups were based on evidence
given by a non-commissioned officer to the 1984 commission on the
disappeared. [Reuter 11/14/96 via Derechos: the Week in Human
Rights 11/11-17/96]
 
*10. CONTRAS' TURN TO DENY CIA-CRACK STORY

On Nov. 25 the US Senate Intelligence Committee began hearings on
charges stemming from an Aug. 18-20 series in the San Jose
Mercury News of San Jose, California that the Nicaraguan contra
rebels had helped start the crack cocaine epidemic in US inner
cities during the early 1980s. First the committee, headed by
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), held a closed session to hear
testimony from Nicaraguan contra supporter and convicted drug
trafficker Danilo Blandon Reyes, now an informant for the US Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to Specter's summary
of the testimony, Blandon denied any involvement by the US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and said the contras didn't
know about his drug activities. Blandon testified that he had
channeled a total of only about $60,000 in drug profits to the
contras, contradicting his sworn statement to a federal grand
jury in 1994 that he sent the contras all the proceeds of the
sales of 200-300 kilos of cocaine in Los Angeles. He testified at
a San Diego criminal trial this year that he sold the cocaine at
$60,000 a kilo--giving the contras a total of $12 million.
 
The next day, on Nov. 26, the committee took public testimony
from two former contra leaders, Adolfo Calero of the Honduras-
based contra army and renegade Sandinista Eden Pastora, who
headed the ARDE contra group in Costa Rica. "I would say that all
of this story--rather than about crack, is about crap," Calero
testified, while spectators shouted: "It's a coverup!"
 
Pastora said that Blandon has been "a good friend" who supplied
him with pickup trucks and a place to live. Pastora denied
knowing about any of Blandon's drug connections. However, Pastora
admitted that Colombian cocaine trafficker George Morales gave
him at least $50,000 in cash and several airplanes. "When this
whole business of drug trafficking came out in the open in the
contras," Pastora told the committee, "the CIA gave a document to
Cesar, Popo Chamorro and Marcos Aguado, too." [Adolfo "Popo"
Chamorro, Marcos Aguado and Octaviano Cesar were ARDE officials
linked to Morales; see Update #354.] "They said this is a
document holding them harmless, without any responsibility, for
having worked in US security." Pastora noted that the three men
are able to cross US borders freely but are barred from entry
into Costa Rica. [San Jose Mercury News 11/27/96]
 
*11. IN OTHER NEWS...

Bolivia became the first Latin American nation to fully privatize
its airports on Nov. 21, when the US-based International Airports
Group picked up a 25-year concession for the country's three main
airports. Under the deal, the US company will invest $100 million
to upgrade the country's three main airports to international
standards. The Bolivian government will get 20.8% of airport
revenues, which will be used to upgrade and improve the country's
34 regional airports. [Latin American Index Daily Internal
Bulletin 11/26/96] The La Paz Civic Committee called a 24-hour
strike for Nov. 29 to protest the privatization of the El Alto
airport in La Paz. [Bolivian Social Communications Ministry
summary of evening media 11/22/96]... On Dec. 1, in conjunction
with World AIDS Day, Brazil's government is to begin distribution
of free medications against AIDS, Health Minister Jose Carlos
Seixas has announced. The program, planned to begin months ago,
was delayed because laboratories producing the drugs cut off
supplies over the Health Ministry's unpaid debts. But on Nov. 28,
the Ministry reached an agreement with the Brazilian Association
of Official Laboratories (ALFOB) that will allow the drugs to be
distributed to the country's network of public hospitals. [Diario
Las Americas 11/30/96 from AFP]... Some 1,000 members of the
Ngobe-Bugle (Guaymi) indigenous nation of Panama marched through
the streets of the capital to demand that the government present
a bill to the legislature to grant them legal land rights and
autonomous control of their land [see Update #353]. Accompanied
by legislators, Bocas del Toro bishop Jose Agustin Ganuza, and
members of labor and human rights groups, the Ngobe-Bugle marched
to the presidency building, where they held a rally and burned
President Ernesto Perez Balladares in effigy. The march was
headed by three Ngobe-Bugle leaders who began a hunger strike on
Nov. 26 to pressure for the withdrawal of mining concessions on
their land and for the demarcation of their territories. The
presidency building was surrounded by more than 50 anti-riot
police agents, but there were no incidents. [Diario Las Americas
11/30/96 from EFE] 
 
END

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