WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #378, APRIL 27, 1997 NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 1. Peru Government Assaults Rebel Commando, Frees Hostages 2. Peru Massacre: Photo Ops for Fujimori 3. US: "Virtually" No Role in Peru Raid? 4. "Regrets" for Victims of Peru Raid 5. Peru President Gets a "Breather" 6. Were Peru Rebels Executed After Surrender? 7. Peru Cracks Down on Rebels, Relatives 8. Peru Rebels Threaten Retaliation 9. Brazilian Indigenous Seize Estates After Leader Is Murdered 10. Evictions Suspended in Nicaragua 11. Two Dead in Dominican Protests ISSN#: 1084-922X. The Weekly News Update on the Americas is published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York. A one-year subscription (52 issues) is $25. To subscribe, send a check or money order for US $25 payable to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012. 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Feel free to reproduce these updates, or reprint or re-post any information from them, but please credit us as "Weekly News Update on the Americas," and include our full contact information so that people will know how to find us. Send us a copy of any publication where we are cited or reprinted. We also welcome your comments and ideas: send them to us at the street address above or via e-mail to CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITES: http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/nsnhome.html *1. PERU GOVERNMENT ASSAULTS REBEL COMMANDO, FREES HOSTAGES At 3:17 pm local time on Apr. 22, about 148 elite Peruvian military troops blasted into the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, held since Dec. 17 by the Edgar Sanchez commando of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). Within 45 minutes the operation was over: all 14 rebels were killed, two soldiers and one hostage were dead, and all the other hostages were freed. Two of the hostages were wounded by bullets and 25 suffered other minor injuries. [El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 4/23/97 from combined services, 4/24/97 from AP; Independent (UK) 4/24/97] A third soldier reportedly died from his wounds on Apr. 26. [El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia) 4/27/97] About half of the rebels were playing soccer downstairs when an explosion blew into the room from one of five underground tunnels, killing or stunning several of them immediately. Some of the assault troops had been waiting in the tunnels since Apr. 20; they entered from the tunnels through the hole blasted in the floor, while others came from outside through holes blasted in the walls and roof. Some hostages had been warned about 10 minutes in advance and all had retreated to the second floor, where they were escorted out of the building by troops. [ED-LP 4/23/97 from AFP; Washington Post 4/24/97] President Alberto Fujimori gave the go-ahead for the operation via a communications device from a courtroom where he was testifying in his divorce case against his estranged wife. [ED-LP 4/26/97; New York Times 4/24/97] The president arrived at the residence wearing a bullet-proof vest as the assault was nearing its end; waving his fist he led cheers and congratulated troops in a victory ceremony. [Clarin (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 4/23/97; NYT 4/23/97] Fujimori claimed the decision for the assault was prompted by MRTA commando leader Nestor Cerpa Cartolini's announcement on Apr. 20 that visits to the hostages by International Red Cross doctors would be restricted to once a week. [ED-LP 4/23/97 from AFP] According to a source from the Commission of Guarantors, the Peruvian government learned several days before the attack that Cerpa had decided to reduce from 450 to 20 the number of imprisoned MRTA militants whose release he sought in exchange for freeing the hostages. The government indicated it would consider the request, but apparently, reports Lima daily La Republica, that was just a strategy to get Cerpa to "lower his guard." [LR 4/27/97] Fujimori told Japanese television network NHK on Apr. 25 that "one can't negotiate with terrorists." [El Comercio (Lima) 4/26/97 from AFP] *2. PERU MASSACRE: PHOTO OPS FOR FUJIMORI The next morning, Apr. 23, Joint Armed Forces Command chief Gen. Nicolas de Bari Hermoza Rios joined National Intelligence Service (SIN) adviser Vladimiro Montesinos Torres at the residence to congratulate the elite troops that took part in the assault. It was Montesinos' second public appearance since he met with US anti-drug "czar" Barry McCaffrey in Peru's national palace last October. [Gestion (Lima) 4/24/97] Fujimori arrived several hours later as agents from the Explosives Deactivation Unit (UDEX) were working to deactivate any remaining explosives inside the residence. [Expreso (Lima) 4/24/97] The president paused for a photo opportunity on a staircase inside the house as he stepped over the dead bodies of Cerpa and an unidentified decapitated rebel. [NYT 4/25/97] The military operation that crushed the MRTA commando was dubbed "Chavin de Huantar" in honor of a pre-Inca fortress and temple famous for its network of tunnels. Lima press reports indicated that the tunnel excavations began at the end of January, carried out by 25 miners from Centromin-Peru. Two of the miners reportedly died when a tunnel collapsed during the excavations. [La Jornada (Mexico) 4/26/97 from Reuter, ANSA, AFP, DPA, EFE, AP] On Apr. 25 Fujimori followed up on his military victory with a publicity trip to Chavin de Huantar, accompanied by Japanese foreign minister Yukihiko Ikeda and Japanese ambassador to Mexico Terosuke Terada, who had served as an observer on the Commission of Guarantors. Foreign journalists flocked to report on the trip. [LR 4/27/97; El Comercio 4/26/97] *3. US: "VIRTUALLY" NO ROLE IN PERU RAID? The US cable television network CNN reported on Apr. 23 that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave the Peruvian government "technical assistance" to carry out the assault on the residence, including advisors and high technology espionage equipment, such as a Schweizer plane with special infra-red equipment to track movements inside the residence. [ED-LP 4/24/97 from Notimex] Interviewed on CNN television on Apr. 23, former US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Bob Taubert said he helped train Peruvian troops for an assault on the residence last December at a site in the US which he would not identify. Taubert called the training "money well spent" and said he was "very proud" of the way the attack was carried out. [Agence France- Presse 4/23/97 via Arm the Spirit MRTA solidarity web site at http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats/MRTA/] Defense Secretary William Cohen told CNN television on Apr. 22: "The US played virtually no role. ...(T)his was principally and solely an operation by the Peruvian government." [NYT 4/23/97] State Department spokesperson Nicholas Burns said on Apr. 23 that the US government "had no role in yesterday's assault," adding: "No government should make concessions to terrorism and we are pleased that President Fujimori did not." Burns said the US was not warned in advance, although "we had indications that something of that nature might occur." US officials admitted that Peruvian troops have been receiving anti-terrorist training from the US for the last 10 years. The US also provides troops with certain "non-offensive" equipment, including bulletproof vests. [AFP 4/23/97] US ambassador to Peru Dennis Jett also denied US involvement; saying that the US offered its support soon after the crisis began but that Peru did not accept. [Gestion 4/24/97] The British daily Independent, however, reports that surveillance of the residence--which was crucial to the success of the military operation--is believed to have been supervised by FBI experts. The Independent also charges that six members of the British SAS force and three experts from Britain's Metropolitan Police flew to Lima shortly after the hostage crisis began. "There are reports that secret monitoring, surveillance and signals equipment--including probably microphones and `pinhead' cameras--was flown to Peru as diplomatic baggage," writes the newspaper. "In addition the RAF [British Royal Air Force] flew weapons, stun grenades and explosives to the US. They were then flown on to Peru by the US Delta Force." The paper suggests that the German GSG9 was also involved. [Independent 4/24/97] *4. "REGRETS" FOR VICTIMS OF PERU RAID Ayacucho archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani, a member of the Commission of Guarantors who mediated negotiations between the MRTA and the Peruvian government, broke into tears on Apr. 23 as he expressed his regrets for all the deaths caused by the assault on the residence. In a communique to the press, Cipriani said the "situation concluded unexpectedly for us, under the exclusive responsibility and authority of the Peruvian government." However, Cipriani followed by offering "my cordial and affectionate greetings to the president" Fujimori. "Really, I have seen his enormous patience and efforts to reach a peaceful solution, which was finally cut short." [ED-LP 4/24/97 from AP] After the raid on the residence, police in Ayacucho discovered graffiti threatening Cipriani, calling him a "traitor" and "murderer" and accusing him of links to the intelligence service. [LJ 4/26/97 from Reuter, ANSA, AFP, DPA, EFE, AP] Canadian ambassador Anthony Vincent, also a member of the Commission of Guarantors, told the Peruvian weekly magazine Caretas that he too felt sad about all those who died in the operation, "But I believe that Monsignor Cipriani, like myself, has understood the reasons for the intervention." "We worked to reach a peaceful solution," explained Vincent, "but what we really wanted was the release of the hostages, and with the exception of one, this occurred." [Caretas #1462, 4/24/97] Similarly, Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto--who in February had reportedly pressured Fujimori against a military solution to the hostage crisis [see Updates #366, 367]--said it was "regrettable" that his government had not been informed in advance of the attack, but thanked Fujimori and Peruvian officials "from the bottom of my heart...for their punctual and great rescue operation." [ED-LP 4/23/97 from AFP] None of the Japanese hostages were wounded during the operation. [LR 4/23/97] The Japanese government says it will continue financial aid to Peru: "Now that all the Japanese hostages have been freed, our aid policy will remain intact," said a high-level official of Japan's finance ministry. [Expreso 4/24/97 from EFE] A Yomiuri Shimbun survey of 11 Japanese companies and one organization whose staff members were among the hostages revealed that most supported the decision to free the hostages by force. Mitsubishi Corp. said there was "no other way" to end the 127-day crisis. [Yomiuri Shimbun 4/24/97 via ATS MRTA solidarity web site] The Cuban government said it regretted "the loss of human lives" but called the incident an "internal affair" of Peru. Colombian attorney general Alfonso Valdivieso was more critical: "I see with alarm that all the captors were killed." He added, "All are human lives and deserve equal respect." Former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez called the killing of the MRTA commando members "a "crime of the Peruvian state." Perez, who was impeached in 1993 on corruption charges and spent 28 months under house arrest [see Update #331, 347], added that "many Latin Americans are happy with the murder of the terrorists, and they aren't going to perceive the serious fact that this was an act of official terrorism, terrorism of the state, the presence of which has only brought and will bring very negative effects in the region." [LR 4/25/97 from AFP] *5. PERU PRESIDENT GETS A "BREATHER" On the morning of Apr. 22, before the military assault on the rebels, the big news in Peru was a dramatic drop in public support for President Fujimori, announced the day before by three different polling firms. According to Analistas y Consultores, Fujimori's popularity had dropped to 35%; Apoyo Opinion y Mercado S.A. showed his approval rating at 38%; and the University of Lima reported it at 41.5%. The three polling firms respectively showed his disapproval rating jumping to 52.8%, 47% and 51.2%. [ED-LP 4/22/97 from Notimex] In a flash survey of 422 people taken by the polling firm Apoyo on Apr. 23, the day after the operation, Fujimori's approval rating had jumped 30 points to 67%, while his disapproval rate dropped to 22%. "In one day he recovered what he had lost in a year," said Apoyo director Alfredo Torres Guzman. However, Torres warned that the increase was a result of the emotional impact of the military operation and should not be interpreted as a carte blanche for the president. The presidential decision to raid the residence had 84% approval and 10% disapproval, and 87% said they believed the MRTA had been destroyed. The same poll showed 89%, 86% and 84% of the public approving of the respective performances of the Armed Forces, the National Intelligence Service (SIN) and Fujimori in the operation. However, 90% of respondents also said they felt that investigations should continue into charges that members of the Army Intelligence Service (SIE) tortured SIE agent Leonor La Rosa Bustamante and tortured and murdered SIE agent Mariella Barreto Riofano [see Update #376]. Torres also noted that while Fujimori's recovery in the polls gives the president a "breather" after 126 days of crisis, this support is unlikely to last long because economic factors will regain prominence in future polls. [LR 4/25/97, some from AFP; El Comercio 4/24/97; El Mercurio (Chile) 4/25/97] This theory was supported in a subsequent poll by the Institute of Development and Investigation of Economic Sciences (IDICE), the results of which were published by La Republica on Apr. 27. The poll reveals that while 61.5% of Peruvians believe that controversial intelligence adviser Montesinos took part in planning the military operation and only 24.4% believe he did not--and while public support for the operation continues to be high--55.6% of respondents said they don't want Montesinos to continue as presidential adviser because they are concerned about excesses committed by the intelligence services. The same poll gives Fujimori's approval rating at 57.7% and disapproval at 34.5%, while 61% disapprove of his economic policies and 29.4% approve of them. Asked who they would vote for if elections were held tomorrow, 31.8% of respondents said Fujimori, while 26.6% would choose Lima mayor Alberto Andrade and the rest named other politicians or declined to comment. The poll surveyed 620 people of different social backgrounds across 25 districts in the metropolitan area of Lima and Callao. [LR 4/27/97] *6. WERE PERU REBELS EXECUTED AFTER SURRENDER? On Apr. 24, as two soldiers killed in the operation were being buried, Peruvian military sources who refused to be identified told Reuter that at least two of the MRTA commando members were executed after being captured. The sources said soldiers disarmed the two rebels, both male, then put them against the wall and blasted them with machine guns. According to the sources, the commando operated with the order to take no prisoners; all rebels received the "coup de grace" shot to the head to make sure they were dead. [El Mercurio 4/25/97] A reporter from liberal Japanese daily Asahi revealed on Apr. 24 that one of the freed hostages, whose identity the reporter would not disclose, said he saw members of the Armed Forces execute a male rebel who had surrendered and had his hands in the air. "I saw a slaughter," said the ex-hostage. Another hostage said he saw an MRTA rebel captured alive and taken out by soldiers. "I realized that the arrested rebel was killed when I heard a report that all 14 rebel members died in the raid," he said. [Asahi Evening News 4/24/97 via ATS MRTA solidarity web site; El Mercurio 4/25/97] A military source told Argentine daily Clarin on Apr. 25 that number three MRTA commando leader Eduardo Cruz Sanchez ("Tito") was arrested during the attack. Tito was seen by some 20 hostages as he was taken away by security forces with his hands tied behind his back and pleading for his life. According to Clarin, Tito was handcuffed and taken through one of the tunnels together with a group of hostages, but before the end of the tunnel was reached, security forces decided to return him to the residence. He was not seen alive again. Another rebel, known as Cynthia, was also reportedly captured alive and was heard shouting "Don't kill us!" At least two young female rebels were reportedly killed after they were heard shouting, "We surrender! We surrender!" [Clarin 4/24/97, 4/26/97; LR 4/26/97] An MRTA spokesperson in Lima said shortly after the assault on Apr. 22 that four of the youngest rebels had been murdered by the soldiers after surrendering. "They were the four youngest. They were in their own room. They surrendered out of fear," said the spokesperson, who heard the four surrender while listening over an open shortwave channel by which communications were maintained with the rebels inside the residence. [El Mercurio 4/25/97] On Apr. 24, ex-hostage Agriculture Minister Rodolfo Munante Sanguinetti told CBS-Telenoticias that one of the rebels had put his hands in the air to surrender before being killed. The next day, however, Munante withdrew his story, saying it must be "discounted." "I did not say he lifted his hands," said Munante. "There was no surrender." [LR 4/26/97 from AFP] According to the Argentine daily Clarin, the Peruvian government is pressuring ex-hostages to keep quiet about what happened during the assault. Four ex-hostages--one soldier, one police agent and two congresspeople from the ruling party--told Clarin that they had been ordered not to talk to the press under threat of being charged with "untrustworthiness" [infidencia--the same charge that tortured SIE agent La Rosa is facing]. [Clarin 4/27/97] In an interview with CNN television, Fujimori emphatically denied reports that any of the rebels had been executed. [LR 4/26/97] But contributing to the widespread speculation that rebels were executed and some of their bodies mutilated is the fact that the Peruvian government has refused to allow any of the bodies to be viewed by relatives or by the press, and has rushed to bury the rebels in secrecy and without autopsies. Relatives who came to claim the rebels' bodies at the police morgue in Lima were told that the government would bury the dead for them in unmarked graves at different municipal cemeteries to avoid calling attention to the MRTA. [NYT 4/25/97, 4/26/97; WP 4/26/97] Only Roli Rojas Fernandez--second-in-command of the MRTA's Edgar Sanchez commando--was allowed a burial attended by relatives and friends in a cemetery in San Juan Lurigancho, a poor neighborhood of Lima. Some of those at the burial shouted "vengeance, vengeance," and "long live the MRTA." [LJ 4/25/97 & 4/26/97 from Reuter, ANSA, AP, DPA, AFP, EFE] The bodies of the remaining rebels were reportedly buried in strict secrecy on Apr. 24. Police reportedly handed over commando leader Cerpa's body to his aunt in a sealed coffin on the condition that he be buried immediately without a funeral. [Diario Las Americas (Miami) 4/26/97 from EFE] Questions also remain about the one hostage killed, Supreme Court justice Carlos Ernesto Giusti Acuna. In an interview with Reuter, Fujimori said that a bullet had pierced a vein in Giusti's leg during the military operation and that he had died of a heart attack in the hospital. [El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia) 4/27/97 from Reuter] Some newspaper reports later suggested that Giusti may have died as a result of inadequate medical attention. According to Human Rights Action Network, Giusti earned the respect of Peruvian human rights advocates by asserting his independence and voting to try soldiers accused of human rights abuses in a civilian court. The accused soldiers were later granted amnesty by the Fujimori government. [Human Rights Action Network - Derechos Human Rights 4/25/97] In his column in La Republica, Gustavo Mohme Llona urged a full investigation into the exact cause of Giusti's death, pointing out that the Supreme Court justice opposed Fujimori's dismantling in 1992 of the judicial and legislative branches of government in a military- backed "self-coup" and that he continued to maintain considerable distance from the Fujimori administration. [LR 4/27/97] The Human Rights Actions Network - Derechos Human Rights (see web site at http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/actions/) is urging letters to Fujimori (fax #51-14-4266770) and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (address: 6-1, Nagata-cho 1 chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, Japan), demanding a full and independent investigation into the deaths of the 14 MRTA rebels and of Supreme Court Justice Carlos Giusti to determine how each died; and that the bodies of the dead MRTA members be returned to their families. [Derechos 4/25/97] Letters should also demand the government end its gag orders against ex-hostages and press. *7. PERU CRACKS DOWN ON REBELS, RELATIVES A police source told AFP that Hugo Avellaneda Valdez, one of the MRTA's founders, is the rebel organization's new top leader, replacing Cerpa. According to the source, Avellaneda is currently training a new group of young militants in Peru's central jungle. [Diario Los Andes (Mendoza, Argentina) 4/26/97 from AFP] "We are going to eradicate all vestiges of these groups," Fujimori told Reuter, referring to the MRTA and the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP, better known as Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path). "We have to prevent them from returning to regroup." [El Tiempo 4/27/97 from Reuter] On Apr. 25 in the San Martin de Porres neighborhood of Lima, intelligence forces arrested Rosa Cardenas de Gilvonio, a sister- in-law of Cerpa, and psychologist Susana Roque Castro, whose brother Bernardo is serving a life sentence at Yanamayo prison in Puno. Cardenas and Roque were arrested minutes after leaving the home of Genaro Rojas and Maria Fernandez--the parents of Roli Rojas--where they had gone to offer their condolences. The two women were forced into a vehicle with darkened windows by undercover agents and were taken to the local offices of the National Directorate Against Terrorism (DINCOTE) where La Republica reported they were being held incommunicado as of press time. The Pro-Human Rights Association (APRODEH) issued a statement calling the arrest arbitrary and insisting that the two detainees do not belong to any subversive organization. A DINCOTE official told APRODEH subdirector Juan Miguel Jugo that the two women are suspected terrorists. Cardenas is married to Americo Gilvonio Conde, the brother of MRTA leader Nancy Gilvonio Conde, who was Cerpa's companion. Both Americo and Nancy Gilvonio are imprisoned at Yanamayo. [LR 4/27/97; Clarin 4/27/97] Interviewed by Clarin by phone from her home in Nantes, France, Cerpa's mother Felicitas Cartolini said she will bring a lawsuit against the Japanese government for the death of her son. "They killed my son in Japanese territory and I am making a legal claim to the Japanese government," said Cartolini. Cartolini, who lives with the two children of her son and Nancy Gilvonio, was upset to learn from the Clarin reporter that Rosa Cardenas had been arrested. "Rosa was the only one who could have contact with the prisoners, with the mother of my grandchildren," said Cartolini. "Now they will be isolated..." [Clarin 4/27/97] Government crackdowns had intensified even before the military assault on the residence. In a press conference on Apr. 23, Fujimori explained the reasons for his government's sudden expulsion from Peru on Apr. 16 of Juan Pedro Schaerer, second in command of the International Committee of the Red Cross (CICR). "The presence of Mr. Schaerer was negative for the conversations seeking a peaceful solution, because he was not acting with the neutrality that characterizes the International Red Cross," said Fujimori. According to Fujimori, Schaerer "was having long conversations with the MRTA militants, despite warnings from the government" to cease these contacts. "Because of that, we declared him persona non grata and expelled him from the country." [Expreso 4/24/97] Peruvian National Police (PNP) colonel Alvaro Hurtado Esquerre, chief of the PNP's Justice Support Division, announced in the city of Trujillo that in the first hours of Apr. 22, electricity had been cut off to the maximum security cellblocks which hold 136 rebels at El Milagro prison, in order to avoid "immediate reactions by the terrorists" to the military's assault on the residence. Security was stepped up and the maximum security cellblocks were cordoned off from the rest of the prison to make sure "that no prisoner could approach to inform them of what was happening." [El Comercio 4/24/97] On Apr. 23, Fujimori said that beginning about four weeks earlier a process had begun to improve prison conditions for those sentenced for terrorism. Fujimori said the flexibilization of the prison routine had already begun to be applied to jailed members of Sendero Luminoso, whose time in the exercise yard has been increased from a half hour to a full hour. Now that the hostage crisis is over, said Fujimori, these measures will be extended to MRTA prisoners. In addition, the president said that the Peruvian and Japanese governments are currently studying and coordinating other measures to improve prison conditions, "particularly in changing conditions to allow prisoners to train themselves in workshops." [Gestion (Lima) 4/24/97] *8. PERU REBELS THREATEN RETALIATION Speaking by telephone from Hamburg, Germany, MRTA international spokesperson Isaac Velazco insisted that the MRTA is not defeated, and warned that retaliatory actions may be taken. Velazco blasted the complicity of the US and Japanese governments in the military assault on the residence, saying it "will not remain unpunished." [ED-LP 4/23/97 from AFP] Velazco referred to the SIE torture scandal as a motivating factor for the assault on the residence, telling CNN television on Apr. 22 that the Peruvian government's "need to hide the crimes of its death squad...led to a military raid to solve the crisis." [AFP 4/22/97 via ATS MRTA solidarity web site] In Communique #16, issued on Apr. 22, the MRTA National Directorate praises the murdered commando members as heroes: "During the one-sided battle, the members of Edgar Sanchez Commando displayed the morale of Tupac Amaristas, the decision for victory or death, to stand for the liberation of our people and against neoliberalism, which has only brought our people sorrow and oppression." [Communique #16 from MRTA web site] Swiss police have denied authorization to Velazco to enter Switzerland, where he was invited by a coalition of left groups to take part in May 1 celebrations in Zurich. Sources in the Peruvian foreign ministry indicated that the Swiss government's decision was a result of efforts by the Peruvian ambassador in Berne, Cesar Castillo. The Peruvian government is also pressuring Germany to revoke Isaac Velazco's political asylum status for having committed the crime of "apology for terrorism." Velazco was granted political asylum in Germany in 1994. [Expreso 4/26/97; LJ 4/26/97 from from Reuter, ANSA, AFP, DPA, EFE, AP] In an Apr. 24 interview, MRTA European representative Norma Velazco admitted: "Sure, this is a serious defeat for the MRTA; neither the movement nor the Peruvian people have gained anything from this. But it is not over yet. We lost the battle, but the struggle continues." Later in the interview she added: "Fujimori can celebrate his victory for the moment. But the problems of the Peruvian people have by no means been solved by his action: A vast segment of the population still suffer from poverty, hunger, and a lack of proper medical care, and these problems are increasing. The end of the crisis at the ambassador's residence showed that Fujimori exclusively relies on military means; he always has and he always will." [Interview by Peter Nowak, Junge Welt, 4/24/97, translated by Arm The Spirit, from ATS MRTA solidarity web site] Isaac Velazco took part in a demonstration in front of the Peruvian consulate in Hamburg, Germany, on Apr. 23 to protest the massacre. [ED-LP 4/24/97 from AP] About 60 people gathered in front of the Peruvian consulate in New York in a similar Apr. 23 protest condemning the massacre and the US government's alleged involvement in particular. [ED-LP 4/24/97] Students in Mexico City held a protest in front of the Peruvian embassy. [ED-LP 4/27/97 from AP] Some 300 people took part in a protest a protest on Apr. 23 in Denmark. In Rome, 7,000 people marched on Apr. 25 in a protest against the Fujimori regime and the massacre of the MRTA members. [info via ATS MRTA solidarity web site] In a poetic communique to the MRTA on Apr. 23, Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels offered their "solidarity in these moments of pain and rage for all Latin American revolutionary movements." The ELN pledged to "forge an ironlike unity among all Latin American revolutionaries who continue to struggle and dream for a society more just and dignified for all." [ELN Communique 4/23/97 from ATS MRTA solidarity web site] In Communique #15, issued sometime in April before the military assault on the occupied residence, the MRTA had warned: "Militants from other Latin American revolutionary movements will join the MRTA if Fujimori does not free the political prisoners. Several revolutionary groups, which we will not specify for security reasons, have expressed their intention of joining the political-military struggle of the MRTA in the Peruvian jungle if Fujimori's government does not agree to free the political prisoners imprisoned in Peru's jail-tombs." The communique points to "the formation of a movement called the `International Combat Bloc' which includes members of several nationalities and which will coordinate revolutionary strategies from `the Rio Grande to Patagonia.'" [Communique #15 from MRTA web site] *9. BRAZILIAN INDIGENOUS SEIZE ESTATES AFTER LEADER IS MURDERED On Apr. 23 members of Brazil's Pataxo indigenous group invaded five estates in the northeastern state of Bahia to protest the government's delay in settling disputes over the boundaries of the Pataxo lands. The Pataxos seized about 780 hectares in Pau- Brasil, in the southern part of the state, saying they were "tired of waiting" for the government, which has promised them 36,000 hectares. The action came three days after five youths from wealthy families fatally assaulted Geraldino Jose dos Santos, the third highest ranking Pataxo leader, in Brasilia. Dos Santos had come to the capital to participate in demonstrations by the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) [see Update #377] and to discuss the land demarcation issue with officials, including President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Dos Santos was reportedly not allowed to enter his hotel and decided to sleep on a bench at a bus stop. Five youths between 17 and 20 years old doused the sleeping man with gasoline and set him on fire in the morning of Apr. 20 while they were on their way home from a party. Dos Santos died from the burns the next day. One of the youths is the son of federal judge Novely Vilanova Reistuvo; they were turned in by another judge's son. The youths confessed but tried to play down the crime; they said they'd thought Dos Santos was a beggar and set him on fire as a joke. Authorities are holding the suspects in a prison but away from the other inmates, who have reportedly threatened them. [Clarin 4/24/97 from Reuter, EFE; 4/25/97 from DPA, EFE] On Apr. 24 some 300 angry campesinos from the MST took hostage 20-25 officials of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) in Recife in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. They were protesting the appointment of an interim INCRA director, Constantino Ponzo, who was one of the hostages, to replace former director Roosevelt Goncalves, who had been removed from office in March. The MST members released the officials on Apr. 25 after the national government promised to appoint a new permanent director and to send specialists to hasten the distribution of land. [Clarin 4/25/97, some from DPA, EFE; 4/26/97 some from EFE, AFP] Some estate owners want a strong response from the government to the MST's militant actions. "If we had a president like [Peruvian president Alberto] Fujimori, there wouldn't be anarchy in the Brazilian countryside," rightwing estate owner Roosevelt Roque dos Santos said on Apr. 26, referring to the Peruvian military's Apr. 22 raid on rebels in Lima. Dos Santos, a former president of the rightwing Democratic Ruralist Union (UDR), charged that Cardoso was becoming "a hostage of the MST people." "If our president doesn't have the authority [to act like Fujimori], let the army give it to him." [Clarin 4/27/97 from EFE, AFP] *10. EVICTIONS SUSPENDED IN NICARAGUA Nicaragua's National Assembly voted 66-14 on Apr. 24 to pass a law suspending evictions from disputed property for three months. The law was proposed by President Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, a rightwinger who had earlier opposed a similar measure introduced by the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). But the president agreed to the suspension during negotiations with the FSLN and other groups on Apr. 18 and 19 to end a five-day highway blockade by agricultural producers [see Update #377]. According to Enrique Picado, head of the FSLN-linked Communal Movement, some 200,000 urban families and 66,000 rural families are affected by the law, which assumes that further negotiations will settle the long-running battle over property titles awarded by previous governments. [Report by Toby Mailman (Managua) 4/25/97] Apr. 20 ended the first 100 days of Aleman's government, prompting some grumbling from rightwing allies over how quickly the militantly anti-FSLN president had given in to a protest led for the most part by FSLN-connected groups. Catholic cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, who is close to the president, expressed skepticism about the accord in his weekly homily. "[I]t is possible that there may be more blockades of highways or similar things in the months ahead," he warned. [Ultimas Noticias Desde Nicaragua list 4/21/97 from AFP and other services; Mailman 4/21/97] Correction: Update #377 implied incorrectly that Revista Confidencial is a rightwing publication. It is a bulletin put out by Carlos Fernando Chamorro, former editor of the FSLN daily, Barricada. *11. TWO DEAD IN DOMINICAN PROTESTS A 17-year old student, William Carrasco, died on Apr. 21 or 22 after being shot in the head by police in the southern Dominican community of Paraiso. He was participating in a demonstration to demand the reopening of a government clinic shut down as an austerity measure. [Diario Las Americas 4/24/97 from EFE] On Apr. 23 a 23-year old woman, Dolores Frias, died from tear gas asphyxiation during a demonstration in the community of Haina, near Santo Domingo. The demonstrators were demanding the restoration of a highway. Since President Leonel Fernandez took office in August, at least seven Dominicans have died in demonstrations demanding public services. [El Diario-La Prensa 4/25/97 from EFE] On Apr. 24, eight students from the Santo Domingo Autonomous University (UASD) were wounded by police gunfire when they tried to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic by the US. About 35 students were burning a US flag when people the students identified as members of the Navy fired on the protesters. Nearly 300 students gathered to confront the attackers, some by throwing stones. Some 100 anti-riot police then arrived on the scene, and a three-hour siege followed at the university's entrances, with police gassing the students and firing on them when the tear gas ran out. The students responded with rocks. A United Nations report has just been released characterizing the Dominican police as constant violators of human rights. [ED-LP 4/26/97] END For New York area events, check out the CREED NYC calendar at http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/creed.html (if you don't have web access, write for info). 1996 INDEX OUT NOW!!! ANNUAL UPDATE INDEX available for each year from 1991 through 1996. Ascii text versions free to subscribers via electronic mail. Send your request to (specify which year or years you want--each is over 100kb). Each index will be sent as a separate text message (not an attached file) unless you request otherwise. STILL AVAILABLE: "Immigration in the USA One Year After Proposition 187," a Weekly News Update on the Americas special report, accompanied by a resource list and organizing leaflet. Ascii text version free to subscribers via email. Send your request to 1996 SOURCE LIST STILL AVAILABLE: A list of sources commonly-used in the Weekly News Update on the Americas, along with abbreviations and contact information. Free to subscribers. Send your request to ======================================================================= Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html * wnu@igc.apc.org =======================================================================