From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: NY Nica News Update #135, 8/30/92
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 23:41:12 GMT

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.0 **/
** Topic: Weekly News Update #135, 8/30/92 **
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
     NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
   339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
         WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE #135 AUGUST 30, 1992
 
In This Issue:
 
     1. Nicaraguan University Students Win 6% of National Budget
     2. Viva Vivas?
     3. Police Chief Rene Vivas Gets Bum Rap (Again!)
     4. Nicaraguan Assembly to Investigate Military Intelligence
     5. Other Nicaragua News
     6. The Other Free Trade Agreement
     7. Huge Demonstrations Demand Brazilian President's
        Impeachment
     8. Brazilian Protests Target Collor's Economic Policies
     9. Mexico and Argentina: The Next Neoliberal Basket Cases?
    10. El Salvador: Disarmament and Continued Disappearances
    11. Guatemala Finally to Join Non-Aligned Movement
    12. International Outcry As More Gay Men Murdered in Mexico
    13. Chile's AIDS Prevention Campaign Banned Again
    14. Central America Cholera Scoreboard
    15. In Other News: Venezuela, Quebec, Contragate, Costa Rica
    16. Upcoming Tours and Delegations
    17. Upcoming Events in the NYC Area 8/31/92 - 9/7/92
 
These updates are published weekly. A one-year subscription is
$25. Back issues and source materials are available on request.
(Many of our source materials are accessed through Peacenet.)
Feel free to reproduce these updates or reprint any information
from them, but please credit us. We welcome your comments and
ideas: send them via Peacenet to <nicanetny>.

** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.1 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
1. NICARAGUAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WIN 6% OF NATIONAL BUDGET
In a 53 to 35 secret vote, the Nicaraguan National Assembly
accepted the FSLN's proposal to interpret the application of the
university autonomy law in favor of the students' demands.  That
is, the government must allocate 6% of all income, both ordinary
and "extraordinary" (e.g. foreign aid) to the university budget. 
The question remains as to whether this applies to this or next
year's university budget.  In any case, the government, which
says there is no money, must find the funds to comply with the
National Assembly vote.  Alfredo Cesar, no great ally of the
students, is siding with them on this issue, taking advantage of
yet another chance to irritate the executive branch, which
opposes the more favorable interpretation of the law. [Central
America Historical Institute #240 8/6-19/92; Latin America Data
Base 8/21/92 from AFP, ACAN-EFE]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

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** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
2. VIVA VIVAS?
Apparently Nicaraguan National Police Chief Rene Vivas, who was
reported removed on Aug. 5, is still in his post. [See Update
#134] The official announcement about the changes in the police
force will be made on September 5, the 13th anniversary of the
formation of the Sandinista Police (renamed the National Police
after the UNO victory in 1990). Since the three top commanders of
the National Police under Vivas are all Sandinistas, many are
speculating that the change may be more dramatic: Sen. Jesse
Helms (R-NC), who is leading the US Congressional holdup of $116
million in aid to Nicaragua, would be unimpressed with the choice
of another Sandinista to head the police. According to rightwing
daily La Prensa, unofficial government sources have said that the
new chief will be a civilian. [CAHI Memo 8/6-19/92]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.3 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
3. POLICE CHIEF RENE VIVAS GETS BUM RAP (AGAIN!)
Norwin Meneses and his associates, accused of drug trafficking
last year after police confiscated over 700 kilograms of cocaine,
worth US$3.5 milllion, went on trial on August 14.  Despite his
protestations that it was Police Chief Rene Vivas and certain
army officers who were really the drug traffickers, Meneses was
found guilty. He was fined 40,000 cordobas ($8,000) and sentenced
to 25 years in jail. The other four accused were sentenced to
five to 17 years. [CAHI #0240, 8/6-19/92; El Diario La Prensa NY
8/27/92 from EFE] (For twelve years under the Sandinista
government there was little cocaine trafficking in Nicaragua.)
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.4 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
4. NICARAGUAN ASSEMBLY TO INVESTIGATE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
The National Assembly's Defense and Governance Committee will
launch an investigation into activities conducted by the Defense
Information Directorate (DID), a division of the army. DID chief
Col. Lenin Cerna will be called upon to testify. Based on his
testimony, there may be a recommendation to eliminate the DID
during the National Assembly debate on the new Organic Military
Law. Rightwingers accuse the DID of being a "Sandinista secret
police" because Cerna was head of state security under the
Sandinista government. Cerna denied the charges, adding that the
body was reduced from 2,015 to 400 members and is under the
authority of President Chamorro and Gen. Humberto Ortega. He
pointed out that the intelligence bodies of neighboring Costa
Rica and Honduras are at least twice as large as that of
Nicaragua. At a joint news conference with Cerna, army
spokesperson Col. Ricardo Wheelock stated that, with 17,000
members, Nicaragua's military is the smallest in the Central
American region. Guatemala has 60,000 and wants to increase that
number by 25%; the Salvadoran army, as part of the peace process,
will be reduced to 32,000 members; Honduras has 28,000 members in
its military; and Costa Rica's combined security forces number
26,000. [LADB 8/28/92 from ACAN-EFE, AFP]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.5 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
5. OTHER NICARAGUA NEWS
The latest statistics by INEC (Nicaraguan Statistics and Census
Office) on poverty in Nicaragua show that, out of a population of
3.7 million people, over 800,000 are unemployed; 2.8 million live
below the poverty line; 600,000, are living in extreme or
absolute poverty; at least 100,000 live in structures made of
cardboard and plastic in urban squatter settlements.  At the same
time, Deputy Finance Minister Leonel Rodriguez said there will be
another reduction in public spending, but would not give details.
[LADB 8/21/92 from AFP]... On August 20, in protest against the
high cost of permits to pass through various municipalities
throughout the country, transport truck and inter-city bus
drivers set up roadblocks.  Although passenger vehicles may pass
on the road, for the time being, all land borders have been
blocked, interrupting trade. [CAHI #0240 8/6-19/92] 
 
CORDOBA CORNER: After more than a year of stability, the black
market rate has risen to 5.5 cordobas to the US dollar. The
official exchange rate remains 5 to the dollar. [CAHI Memo 8/6-
19/92]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.6 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
6. THE OTHER FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
A preliminary free-trade pact was signed in Managua on August 19
between Nicaragua and the rest of Central America and Mexico.
There was some protest in Nicaragua from small-scale
manufacturers who say that domestic small industry will be driven
under by the competition. [CAHI Memo 8/6-19/92] Some Central
American governments are seeking to form an economic bloc with
which Mexico could act as a buyer and go-between to the US and
Canadian markets. The pact will go into full operation in 1996.
Some Central American entrepreneurs, however, are skeptical,
saying that Central American industries are not in a position to
trade in a free market because of deficient industrial production
and the high costs of farm products. [Inter Press Service
8/21/92]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.7 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
7. HUGE DEMONSTRATIONS DEMAND BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT'S IMPEACHMENT
Brazil's President Fernando Collor de Mello is expected to resign
within days following increased public outcry over reports that
he and his family received millions of dollars through an
influence-peddling scheme. According to a report issued Aug. 24
by a special congressional panel, the scheme was masterminded by
businessman Paulo Cesar Farias. The report concluded that there
was sufficient evidence to bring impeachment proceedings against
Collor. [New York Times 8/25/92, 8/28/92]
 
Although the precise procedures for impeachment are in dispute,
it appears that a two-thirds majority of the 502 congressional
deputies must vote for impeachment. So far 324 have declared that
they will vote to impeach Collor--twelve short of two-thirds--and
only 35 say they will support him. [NYT 8/29/92] Many Brazilian
political parties have called on their deputies to vote for
impeachment: Paulo Maluf, head of the Social Democratic Party and
the best man at Collor's 1987 wedding, announced Aug 24 that his
party's forty deputies would vote to impeach; Workers Democratic
Party leader and Rio de Janeiro governor Leonel Brizola, who had
been one of Collor's most vocal supporters, switched to backing
impeachment Aug. 24 after Brizola and his party were booed at
recent rallies. [Washington Post 8/24/92, 8/25/92; NYT 8/25/92]
Even the pro-government Liberal Front Party is discussing a
negotiated resignation. [NYT 8/29/92]
 
Many Brazilians aren't willing to wait for impeachment procedures
and are calling for Collor's immediate resignation, including the
country's largest newspaper, Folha de Sao Paulo, which declared
in an editorial Aug. 26, "the only worthy alternative he has left
is resignation." Meanwhile, 200,000 protestors hit the streets of
Sao Paulo, the nation's largest city, Aug. 25; 100,000
demonstrated in Brasilia, tens of thousands in Rio and in dozens
of smaller cities. [NYT 8/28/92]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.8 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
8. BRAZILIAN PROTESTS TARGET COLLOR'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
Largely overlooked in press coverage of the scandal is the misery
that Collor's US-inspired free market reforms have caused most
Brazilians. Prices are rising 20% a month, while by official
figures 1.2 million in Sao Paulo are unemployed [NYT 8/28/92];
Brazil is now the only country in Latin America with triple-digit
inflation. [NYT 8/25/92] The New York Times reports that slogans
criticizing free market economics are "filtering" into pro-
impeachment rallies. [8/26/92] For many people it was especially
galling that Farias and Collor's secretary allegedly evaded the
results of Collor's inauguration day freeze of $50 billion in
bank deposits [NYT 8/23/92]; the bank freeze briefly stopped
inflation by bringing most commerce to a sudden halt, the most
extreme example in Latin America of International Monetary Fund-
dictated neoliberal economic policies which mandate curbing
inflation, firing civil servants and privatizing state-owned
industry. According to a flier distributed to Congress Aug. 25 by
the Democratic Movement against Impunity, "Collor and his gang
sold themselves out to international bankers to rip off the
people and the nation." [NYT 8/26/92]
 
Collor won the presidency on Dec. 17, 1989, in the nation's first
direct presidential election. Heavily favored to win as the
campaign began, Collor campaigned on neoliberal policies; by the
time of the vote, his lead over Luiz Inacio da Silva ("Lula") of
the Workers Party (PT), Brazil's largest leftist party, had
fallen to a little over 5%. [ED-LP 12/19/89] US coverage of the
impeachment drive has avoided mentioning either Lula or the PT.
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.9 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
9. MEXICO AND ARGENTINA: THE NEXT NEOLIBERAL BASKET CASES?
Mexico City is experiencing a "hot August" of multiple
demonstrations. Students from the University of Sonoro traveled
1500 kilometers to the capital to dramatize their demand for free
education. Upon arriving in Mexico City, they joined laid-off
workers from Pemex (the state oil company), who have an
encampment in front of the National Palace. Some 35,000 textile
workers are on strike and are sending contingents into the
streets. On Aug. 19 a confrontation between the police and the
militant Independent Proletarian Movement (MPI) left 31 people
wounded. The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), headed by
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, continues to protest the recent state
elections in Michoacan, claiming that the ruling Revolutionary
Institutional Party (PRI) won fraudulently. The rising tensions
coincide with Mexico's signing of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and the US. [ED-LP 8/24/92 from
AFP]
 
Meanwhile, Argentina's stock market is in what some people are
calling "free fall." Stock prices have plummeted by 50% since
June, with a 5.4% fall on Aug. 24. Economy Minister Domingo
Cavallo attributes the problems to overpricing of $1.8 billion in
shares for two newly privatized companies, Telefonica and
Telecom. [NYT 8/26/92] Like Brazil, Argentina has been hailed as
a model for neoliberal economic policies; President Carlos Menem
and his in-laws have been the subjects of corruption allegations
for more than a year.
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.10 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
10. EL SALVADOR UPDATE: DISARMAMENT AND CONTINUED DISAPPEARANCES
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) combatants will
resume demobilization after the Aug. 13 to 17 visit of UN special
envoy Marrack Goulding. Under the terms of the new agreement, the
government will comply with 43 points of the January peace
accords that have not yet been complied with, such as the
creation of a new national police force incorporating civilians
and ex-combatants from both sides of the 12-year war. The FMLN
agreed to turn over 20% of their arms to the UN mission by Sep.
15 [IPS 8/21/92] and will demobilize 20% of their combatants on
Sep. 21. [World Perspectives News from Spanish Radio 8/21/92]...
On Aug. 24 UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali denounced
the Salvadoran military's continued illegal detentions and
inhumane treatment of prisoners, and called on the government to
respect human rights. [Cubanews from Radio Havana Cuba 8/25/92]
This followed an Aug. 12 FMLN press release reporting a "spiral
of attacks against life and human rights" including the murders
of trade unionists and attacks on FMLN members and human rights
investigators. [Proceso 8/19/92]... Meanwhile, official aid
missions from Japan and Germany brought aid to help reconstruct
the country. [Central America Report 8/21/92]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.11 **/
** Written  5:26 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
11. TOO LITTLE TOO LATE: GUATEMALA TO JOIN NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
President Jorge Serrano announced on August 17 that Guatemala
will become a member of the Non-Aligned Movement at a summit
meeting of the 100 member-nation body in early September in
Indonesia. Although Guatemala has sought entrance into the Non-
Aligned Movement since its inception, its territorial dispute
with neighboring Belize remained an obstacle. That obstacle was
removed with President Serrano's recognition of Belize as a
soverign state. There have been increasing calls by member-
nations for tne Non-Aligned Movement to soften its
confrontational attitude towards the north and lessen its
"leftist" ideological leanings. According to some, Argentina's
withdrawal from the movement in 1991 was indicative of this
trend. [LABD 8/21/92 from IPS] 
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.12 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
12. INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY AS MORE GAY MEN MURDERED IN MEXICO
Mexican police arrested two gay men in connection with a string
of murders of AIDS workers in Chiapas [see Update # 131]; while
the men were in custody, another gay activist, Martin Balesca
Dominguez, was attacked and left for dead Aug. 10. Mexican gay
groups have asked Amnesty International to take up the case of
the two men held without evidence, and have demanded that the
National Commission on Human Rights investigate the "systematic
and often silent genocide suffered by the gay and lesbian
population of the country." Thirteen gay men and nine prostitutes
have been assassinated in Chiapas over the past year; gays and
transvestites have also been murdered recently in Oaxaca, Mexico
City and Guadalajara. Enrique Asis, Latin America Coordinator of
the International Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC), said, "It's time for the Mexican government to take
seriously the epidemic of anti-gay violence throughout the
country and to force the police to fully investigate the murders
of gay men." For more information call the IGLHRC: 415-244-8680.
[New York Transfer News posted by Diane Bailey 8/23/92]
 
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/** reg.nicaragua: 110.13 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
13. CHILE'S AIDS PREVENTION CAMPAIGN BANNED AGAIN
Megavision, one of Chile's biggest television channels, will not
air the third stage of the government's AIDS prevention campaign
because it does not adhere to the doctrine of the Catholic
church. The second stage of the campaign earlier this year was
banned by both Megavision and the Catholic University channel.
The Catholic University has not yet decided about the new spots,
but the Archbishop of San Bernardo earlier this week stated that
"all contraceptives are evil, sinful and against the word of
God... You cannot attack one immorality with one more immoral
still...." The new spots are more explicit than the previous
ones, and actually show a condom. [Chile Information Project News
8/22/92, 8/27/922 from La Epoca, La Nacion]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.14 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
14. CENTRAL AMERICA CHOLERA SCOREBOARD
Country    Confirmed Cases Confirmed Deaths
Costa Rica               8              0
El Salvador          7,017             69
Guatemala           15,910            247
Honduras               261             12
Nicaragua              982              7
[LADB 8/28/92 from Notimex, IPS, AP, ACAN-EFE]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.15 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
15. IN OTHER NEWS...
The Venezuelan Workers's Confederation charged the national guard
and police with attacking oil workers, who ended a strike Aug.
20. The 3,000 strikers were demanding better working conditions
and the reinstatement of two workers fired last June. Authorities
called in troops to break up the strike and the management fired
about 100 workers. [Cubanews from Radio Havana Cuba 8/24/92]...
Quebecois independentists have condemned proposed changes in
Canada's constitution that would keep Quebec under Queen
Elizabeth's control but would grant special priviliges to the
province such as control over immigration and employee training.
The Parti Quebecois and the youth movement of the governing
Liberal Party say the proposed changes fall short of what is
needed; a referendum will be held in Quebec Oct. 26. [NYT
8/28/92]... The Contragate trial of a former CIA clandestine
operations head ended in a mistrial on Aug. 26 when the majority
of the jurors refused to convict Clair George of lying to
Congress. In the prosecutor's view, the jury was swayed by its
foreperson, a self-described "liberal Democrat." [WP 8/28/92]
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor's office disclosed on Aug. 25
that it had evidence (from notes on a phone conversation between
ex-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and ex-Secretary of State
George Shultz) that George Bush supported the illegal sale of
arms to Iran in 1985. [NYT 8/26/92]... Salvadoran Defense
Minister Gen. Emilio Ponce asserted on August 17 that the Costa
Rican police forces constitute "an army in disguise."  He told
reporters that the Costa Rica public security forces currently
have 27,000 members, who are armed and uniformed "just like
soldiers anywhere else." Citing the US and Costa Rica, he
asserted that there is no contradiction between democracy and the
existence of a strong military. Costa Rican President Rafael
Calderon rejected Ponce's charges. [LABD 8/21/92 from AFP,
Notimex]... About 1,000 banana workers in Costa Rica affected by
the pesticide DBCP during the 1970's will receive compensation
from the North American companies for whom they had worked, in
exchange for promising not to bring any further claims against
the companies.  The first two hundred workers received their
payments of $7,500 each on Sunday, August 30. [ED-LP 8/27/92 from
AFP]
 
These updates are published weekly. A one-year subscription is
$25. Back issues and source materials are available on request.
Feel free to reproduce these updates or reprint any information
from them. We welcome your comments and ideas.

** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.16 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
16. UPCOMING TOURS AND DELEGATIONS
Nicaragua:
10/5 to 10/18 -     Celebrate 500 years of indigenous, black and
                    popular resistance with the Nicaragua Network
                    Education Fund; tour includes attendance at
                    Continental Congress of the 500 Years of
                    Resistance Campaign and trip to the Atlantic
                    Coast. $950 plus airfare. Call 202-544-9355.
11/6 to 11/12 -     Attend the Sandinista Youth's 5th Assembly.
                    Delegation organized by FSLN representative
                    to the US Magda Enriquez; for more info call
                    NSN at 212-674-9499.
Cuba:
10/2 to 10/11 -     "Dateline Havana" delegation to break the
                    information blockade of Cuba. For application
                    form or more info write the Cuban Information
                    Project, 121 W 27th St Rm. 1202A or call 212-
                    366-6703. $1075 includes airfare from Miami.
                    Other delegations 11/11 to 11/20 & 1/4 to
                    1/13.
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 110.17 **/
** Written  5:27 pm  Aug 30, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
17. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE NYC AREA
[For more information, call NSN at 212-674-9499. Events listed
and flyers enclosed are not necessarily endorsed by the Nicaragua
Solidarity Network.]
 
EVERY THU, 6-8 PM - Vigil for Freedom for Puerto Rican Political
Prisoners and POWs. In front of the UN, 1st Ave. bet. 42 & 43rd.
Call 212-538-0988.
 
9/2 WED, 7 PM - Matthew Jardine will speak on the human rights
situation in East Timor. Asia Watch, 485 Fifth Ave betw. 41 & 42.
 
9/4 FRI, 8 PM - "Friday with Cuba" video series. "La Crisis de
Octubre Reunion Tripartita". Casa de las Americas, 104 W 14th St.
Call 212-675-2584.
 
SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT NICARAGUA! The NSN Speakers Bureau is
available to speak at any event--in English or Spanish--about the
current situation in Nicaragua and what activists in this country
can do to help. For details call 212-674-9499.
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive