NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/6543

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Subject: NY Nica News Update #137, 9/13/92
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/** reg.nicaragua: 164.0 **/
** Topic: Weekly News Update #137, 9/13/92 **
** Written  1:28 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

     NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
   339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 [phone]
       WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE #137, SEPTEMBER 13, 1992

In This Issue: (articles posted as responses to this message)

     1. US Proposes "Advisory Board" for Nicaragua
     2. New Nicaraguan Police Head Named
     3. Chamorro to Resolve Nicaraguan Land Disputes
     4. FACS Helping Nicaraguan Seaquake Victims
     5. Other Nicaragua News: Contras, Turtles, & Literacy
     6. Breakthrough in Haiti Talks Alleged
     7. HIV-Positive Haitian Refugees Rebel
     8. NAACP Sponsors Haiti Protest
     9. Peru: Shining Path Leader's Light Dimmed?
    10. FSLN Leader Tomas Borge Talks About Peru's Rebels
    11. US To Pull a Noriega on Cuba's Castro?
    12. Cuba Cancels Atomic Energy Plant
    13. The Mini-Bombs Are Coming
    14. Brazil: Even Xuxa Wants President Collor Out
    15. Mexico Settles Labor Disputes as NAFTA is Unveiled
    16. Mexico/US Relations Not All TLC: Kidnapping, Murder
    17. Ecuadorans Protest New Economic Policies
    18. US Soldiers Pulling Out of Bolivia
    19. Basque Independence Fighters Freed in Uruguay
    20. Former Guerrillas Occupy Embassy in Colombia
    21. Colombian Investigators Kidnapped
    22. Honduras/El Salvador Border Dispute Resolved
    23. Upcoming Events in the New York City Area

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 available on 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: 164.1 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

1. US PROPOSES "ADVISORY BOARD" FOR NICARAGUA
On Sept. 7, Nicaraguan President Violeta Chamorro categorically
refused to agree to a plan proposed by US Undersecretary of State
John Maisto, that she be advised by an "board of eminent persons"
which would help her run her country. At a press conference
Chamorro stated that the proposal was an attempt to impose "a
condition which no government could realistically accept." One of
those proposed as a member of this council was rumored to be
Cardinal Obando y Bravo [who continues to deny recent reports
from the US Congress that the mainstream Catholic church in
Nicaragua accepted money from the CIA during the contra war].
Chamorro said she did not have to "set up an alien group that is
not sworn in under the national flag." The proposal was deemed
"dangerous" by the Nicaraguan newspaper Barricada, not only for
Nicaragua by for all of Latin America. [El Diario-La Prensa (NY)
9/8/92, 9/9/92 from AP; Inter Press Service 9/7/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.2 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

2. NEW NICARAGUAN POLICE HEAD NAMED
Nicaragua's Sandinista former police chief Rene Vivas, who was
dismissed on Sept. 5, has been replaced by another Sandinista,
Fernando Augusto Caldera. Nicaragua's mainstream Catholic church
leaders have accused Caldera of committing human rights
violations during the 8-year contra war. At the same time she
dismissed Vivas and 10 other high level police officers,
President Chamorro decreed the creation of an "organic national
police law" which demands that the police force be politically
neutral and impartial and that it strictly enforce the law. The
law changes the name of the head of the police from Police Chief
to Director General. Chamorro denies that the dismissals were a
result of US pressure, saying they were part of a "restructuring"
of the police force. Chamorro also appointed Ronald Aviles, a
rancher and former contra collaborator, as Vice Minister of
Citizen Security. [ED-LP 9/7/92 from AP]

Although some UNO leaders see the changes in the police force as
only "cosmetic," Daniel Ortega, Secretary General of the FSLN,
said the Frente was "satisfied" with Chamorro's actions, because
she did not "cede to US pressures" and "maintained the political
equilibrium of the country." [La Jornada (Mexico) 9/6/92] In an
interview in New York's El Diario-La Prensa, FSLN National
Directorate member Tomas Borge expressed a different opinion of
the Chamorro administration: "This government promised to be a
servant of the US and that it is doing in plenitude." [ED-LP
9/10/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.3 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

3. CHAMORRO TO RESOLVE NICARAGUAN LAND DISPUTES
President Violeta Chamorro said she would be willing to give up
"even the Offices of the Presidency and work out of rented
space," in an effort to resolve property claims on lands and
houses confiscated by the Sandinistas. The properties will either
be returned or former owners will receive monetary compensation.
She said that land currently occupied will not be returned, nor
will land confiscated from collaborators or members of the Somoza
family. [New York Times 9/11/92; ED-LP 9/10/92 from Notimex,
9/11/92 from AP]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.4 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

4. FACS HELPING NICARAGUAN SEAQUAKE VICTIMS
According to a report from the FSLN-linked Augusto Cesar Sandino
Foundation (FACS) the latest figures on human casualties
resulting from tidal waves which hit Nicaragua are 104 dead and
175 injured, and some 9,831 people who remain homeless. However,
some estimates say many more may have died, if one takes into
consideration the 153 people missing. Nicaragua was hit on
September 5 by an aftershock of 6.0 on the Richter Scale but no
additonal damage or injuries were reported. FACS is assisting
victims by providing food, clothing, medical care, etc.
Contributions to FACS to assist victims can be sent to Banque
Nationale de Paris, Panama Branch, Villa Espana 200, Panama 1,
Republica de Panama, Account Number 51-041293-001-24. [FACS
Report 9/2/92; La Jornada 9/6/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.5 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

5. OTHER NICARAGUA NEWS
Five former contras were killed by a former cohort in Jinotega,
in northern Nicaragua. Radio Ya in Managua reported that the five
had been tortured and had their throats cut by "Aguilita," a
former contra who had taken up arms to fight against the Chamorro
government. [ED-LP 9/11/92 from AP]... Nearly 1,250,000 sea
turtles, many of them newly hatched, died as a result of the
seaquake driven tidal waves. These turtles are an endangered
species in Nicaragua. [IPS 9/5/92]... According to government
figures, Nicaragua spends the highest percentage of its Gross
Domestic Product on education of any Cental American country,
followed by Costa Rica. Illiteracy rates in the region, according
to government statistics: Guatemala 50%; Honduras 40%; El
Salvador 31%; Nicaragua 30%; Panama 9%; Costa Rica 7.9%. [Latin
America Data Base 9/4/92 from AFP]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.6 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

6. BREAKTHROUGH IN HAITI TALKS ALLEGED
The Haitian embassy has announced a "breakthrough" in talks being
held in Washington between representatives of deposed President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide and those of Marc Bazin, the Prime
Minister installed by the military after last year's coup.
However, according to Aristide representative Father Adrien,
speaking from Brooklyn, the "negotiations" were not about Father
Aristide returning to Haiti, but simply about "stopping the
violence," referring to stepped-up repression by the military
against the people of Haiti. He said Washington appeared to view
the military leader of Haiti, Gen. Raoul Cedras, with the same
tolerance it accorded the former Nicaraguan strongman, Anastasio
Somoza.  "We have been making concession after concession, but
nothing is asked from the people on the other side of the
table... The other side has made no concessions at all." Francois
Benoit, the army-backed foreign minister, did announce that 18
OAS observers would be allowed into Haiti, after which OAS leader
Joao Baena Soares agreed to examine "modifying the terms of the
embargo" once the observers are in place. Soares said the talks
were "useful" but that he was "profoundly concerned about the
growing violence and repression in Haiti." [NY Newsday 9/10/92;
NYT 9/2/92, 9/7/92; La Jornada 9/6/92]

According to a report on Haiti from the New York based Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights, "Extrajudicial executions continue to
plague Haiti...The sheer number of executions since May 1992 has
increased at an alarming rate." The report continued, "The human
rights situation in Haiti is worse than at any time since the
Duvalier era."   The report recommends that the US freeze all US-
held assets and cancel the visas of any Haitians identified with
the coup, the establishment of a "universal embargo" and that
President Bush rescind his order to return all Haitian refugees
to Haiti. [Washington Post 9/4/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.7 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

7. HIV-POSITIVE HAITIAN REFUGEES REBEL
After tearing down a plywood movie screen and using it to escape
over the razor-sharp concertina wire surrounding their compound
where they were kept isolated from other Haitian refugees at the
US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 63 Haitian refugees who
are HIV-positive set fire to 12 plywood sheds used to house them.
No one was injured. Seven of the buildings were destroyed. The
disturbance was settled through negotiations. Refugees' demands
that they be sent back to Haiti could not be confirmed. All of
the 290 refugees who remain at Guantanamo have been accepted for
political asylum but have not been allowed to enter the US
because immigration law excludes immigrants who are HIV positive.
Their case is among those to be decided by the Supreme Court.
[Washington Post 9/31/92] Meanwhile, the US has allowed 16
pregnant Haitian refugee women who are HIV-positive to go to US
mainland hospitals for treatment. However, Justice Department
spokepeople say that this does not indicate any change in US
policy. [New York Times 9/11/92;WP 9/4/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.8 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

8. NAACP SPONSORS HAITI PROTEST
On July 9 the NAACP sponsored a protest in Washington, DC against
US policy toward Haitian refugees. The protest was led by NAACP
Executive Director Benjamin L. Hooks, TransAfrica executive
director Randall Robinson, and tennis champion Arthur Ashe. Some
650 activists participated in the protest. Ashe was arrested,
along with Washington DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and some 70
others. Others who participated in the protest included Rep.
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Hyman Bookbinder, retired president of
the American Jewish Committee, and 82-year old dancer-
choreographer Katherine Dunham, who recently ended a hunger-
strike protesting US policy toward Haitian refugees. [NYT
9/10/92; Washington Post 9/10/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.9 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

9. PERU: SHINING PATH LEADER'S LIGHT DIMMED?
Peruvian police sources say they have captured Abimael Guzman,
known to his followers as "Presidente Gonzalo," founder and
leader of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP, also called Sendero
Luminoso or Shining Path), in a middle-class residential
neighborhood of Lima. A police spokesperson who wished to remain
anonymous declared "It's true, it's true, it's Abimael Guzman,"
although there was no official confirmation of the capture and
Mr. Guzman has not actually been seen in police custody. He was
allegedly captured with seven other presumed Sendero members.
President Fujimori is scheduled to make a speech announcing the
capture. [NYT 9/13/92 from AP; 1010 WINS Radio (NYC) 9/13/92;
National Public Radio "Weekend Edition" 9/13/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.10 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

10. FSLN LEADER TOMAS BORGE TALKS ABOUT PERU'S REBELS
Tomas Borge, Nicaragua's former Interior Minister, gave his
opinion of Peru's rebel groups in an exclusive interview
published by New York's El Diario-La Prensa on Sept. 10. Borge
was interviewed while in Havana presenting his new book "Un grano
de maiz" ("A Kernel of Corn"). "It appears that the actions of
the MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru) are more within
the tradition of respect for human beings," said Borge. "The
actions of Sendero are similar to those of Pol Pot."

When the interviewer, Peruvian journalist Vicky Pelaez, suggested
that his criticism of Sendero coincided with that of the
Pentagon, who call Sendero the world's most dangerous guerrilla
group, Borge responded: "Sendero is not the most dangerous, it's
the most brutal, and there's a difference... I believe the
struggle by other Latin American peoples in other contexts is
more dangerous to the North Americans... I think the equality,
the dignity which the Cuban people, for example, reflect, is more
dangerous for them..." [ED-LP 9/10/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.11 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

11. US TO PULL A NORIEGA ON CUBA'S CASTRO?
Assistant US Attorney Dan Gelber refused to comment on rumors
that Fidel Castro will soon be indicted on drug charges by the US
attorney's office. Officials of the US Department of Justice and
the Drug Enforcement Administration also declined to comment.
Rumors were fueled by reports that the prosecutors in the Noriega
case were interviewing witnesses in that case for evidence
concerning Castro.

A letter reportedly written by Gen. Patricio de la Guardia, now
serving time in a Cuban prison on a drug-trafficking conviction,
and said to have been smuggled out of Cuba, was published in the
French newspaper Le Monde. The letter said the actions for which
he was convicted were directed by the "highest levels of the
Cuban government." Miami television station WPLG quoted three
anonymous sources as saying "serious consideration is being given
to indicting" Castro on drug charges. [Sunday World-Herald
(Nebraska) 8/23/92, from Los Angeles Times]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.12 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

12. CUBA CANCELS ATOMIC ENERGY PLANT
The construction of a 1,600 megawatt nuclear power plant designed
to relieve Cuba's energy shortage has been halted, due to rising
costs. In a speech commemorating the start of the Cuban
revolution, Fidel Castro explained that the suspension of
construction was due to the fact that materials had to be paid
for in hard currency, rather than through a type of barter system
which had previously been used with the former Soviet Union. He
said that Russia's current terms were "totally impossible." The
project, which is 70% complete, has so far cost $1.1 billion.
[NYT 9/7/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.13 **/
** Written  1:29 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

13. THE MINI-BOMBS ARE COMING!
The environmental watchdog organization Greenpeace reported that
the Los Alamos research laboratory is developing a new generation
of "miniaturized" nuclear weapons, specifically for use in the
"Third World." The bombs are categorized as the 10-ton micro-
nuke, the 100-ton mini-nuke and the 1,000-ton tiny-nuke. (The
bomb dropped on Hiroshima was a 17,000-ton bomb.) Each has its
own specific role. The micro-nuke can "preclude sanctuary to
nuclear-armed leadership." The mini-nuke is described as the most
efficient way to destroy incoming nuclear, chemical and
biological missile warheads in flight. The tiny-nuke is designed
"to destroy company-size units in extreme scenarios." The
project, which is still in the research and development phase,
was uncovered by William M. Arkin, military research director for
Greenpeace. Its impetus was the inability to attack Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein in his bunker during the Gulf War. It is
being for paid by US Air Force and Energy Department funds which
come out of US taxpayers pockets. The micro-nukes fit into a plan
outlined in the Reed Report, put together by the Pentagon's joint
strategic target planning staff, which calls for a US posture
aimed at deterring emergent nulcear weapon states which "seek to
deter the US and other powers from interfering with their
regional aggressions." Arkin has expressed concern that the
development of the new weapons will be an obstacle to a US
moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, since they will require
underground tests. [Guardian (UK) 9/10/92; NYT 9/9/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.14 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

14. BRAZIL: EVEN XUXA WANTS COLLOR DE MELLO OUT
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marked Brazil's
Independence Day Sept. 7 with demands for the impeachment of
President Fernando Collor de Mello on charges of corruption. More
than 200,000 marched in Sao Paulo; the protests extended even to
New York City, where members of the Brazilian Workers Party (PT)
gave Collor a mock burial at a local celebration. [Folha do
Brasil weekly supplement in ED-LP 9/8/92] On Sept. 10 the Supreme
Court upheld most of the timetable the Congress set for Collor's
impeachment, giving him only until Sept. 22 to present his
defense, while the Chamber of Deputies announced that voting
would be by roll call; Collor is so unpopular that many
politicians feel they couldn't vote against his impeachment
unless the balloting was secret. [Washington Post 9/11/92]

Even Xuxa Meneghel, the superstar of Brazilian children's
programming, has given her support to the anti-Collor movement.
[ED-LP 9/2/92] At this point the president's only backers seem to
be in the US media: describing Collor as "energetic, innovative,
courageous," a WP editorial called the situation a "political
tragedy" and repeated suggestions from "Mr. Collor's friends"
that the charges against him "are being engineered by the enemies
of his right-wing ideas and his attempts to develop free
markets." [WP 9/11/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.15 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

15. MEXICO SETTLES LABOR DISPUTES AS NAFTA IS UNVEILED
The US government waited until Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day,
to release the full text of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA, or TLC, Tratado de Libre Comercio). [NYT
9/9/92] Appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Labor
Secretary Lynn Martin admitted that the Bush administration
itself used assumptions that the pact would eliminate as many as
150,000 US jobs over the next ten years. The AFL-CIO has put the
figure at 500,000. Other studies show the accord costing low-wage
US workers between $50 and $200 each every year in lost work. The
full text raises more questions. For example, provisions in
Chapter 11 let US corporations appeal directly to a special
bilateral commission if Mexico expropriates or otherwise harms
their investments. In all but nine developing nations, sovereign
governments accept such appeals only from other governments. [NYT
9/11/92]

Meanwhile, the Mexican government was hard at work cleaning up
labor disputes at home. Pemex, the state oil company, settled
with 15,000 laid-off employees on Sept. 7, giving each about
$1,300 in severance pay, plus $350 in compensation for the costs
of their demonstration against Pemex. Thousands of the workers
had camped in the capital's Zocalo, in front of the National
Palace, for 39 days, joined by campesinos and fishing industry
workers protesting ecological effects of Pemex pipelines. [ED-LP
9/8/92 from AP]

And the governing Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) got
management to settle the long-running strike of 22,000 textile
employees. The PRI went into action after its own union group,
the Mexican Confederation of Workers (CTM) threatened a general
strike of its 13 million members. [La Jornada 9/6/92] Meanwhile,
the Mexican stock market continued to slide, plunging more than
3% on Sept. 9. "There is no expectation for recovery in the short
term," according to one unnamed trader. [NYT 9/10/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.16 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

16. MEXICO-US RELATIONS ARE NOT ALL TLC: "ADVERSE PUBLICITY" IN
KIDNAPPING AND MURDER CASES
The OAS (Organization of American States) Judicial Committee has
called on the US to return Mexican doctor Humberto Alvarez
Machain to Mexico. Alvarez Machain was kidnapped in 1990 and
brought to the US to stand trial for his alleged role in the 1986
murder of a US drug agent; the US Supreme Court upheld the action
in a ruling on June 13. According to a member, the OAS committee
considered the kidnapping "a grave violation of international
law." The vote was 9 to 0, with one abstention--from the US
representative. [LJ 8/30/92 from Notimex] Other tensions between
Mexico and the US come from the planned executions of two Mexican
citizens in Texas, Irineo Tristan Montoya on Sept. 17 and Ricardo
Aldape Guerra on Sept. 24. The Mexican foreign ministry has
joined with a lawyers group, Texas Resource Center, to present
evidence they feel casts doubt on the two men's murder
convictions. [ED-LP 9/11/92 from Notimex]

But both Mexico and the US are trying to play down the death of
US citizen and Peace Corps worker William Lewis Yost while
detained by Mexican officials in Mexico City on Aug. 15. Yost had
driven through Mexico to pick up a friend from Guatemala; Mexican
authorities arrested both as they were driving back through
Oaxaca. Yost paid a $1,400 fine (by credit card) and was taken to
Mexico City, where he allegedly shot himself while in an
immigration detention center. This is the second supposed suicide
of a US citizen in Mexican custody this summer. On June 6 Mario
Vicente Amada died in a Baja California jail cell; police
attributed the death to suicide by hanging, despite internal
injuries consistent with death by beating. The Peace Corps asked
Yost's family not to make any statement to the media. "We were
told to direct everything to the Peace Corps press agency,"
Yost's sister says. "They said there was a recent trade agreement
and they didn't want any adverse publicity..." [Washington Post
8/29/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.17 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

17. ECUADORANS PROTEST NEW ECONOMIC POLICIES
Street demonstrations are spreading across Ecuador as students
and workers protest economic austerity measures announced Sept. 3
by new president Sixto Duran-Ballen. Two students were shot and
wounded by an angry motorist whose car was blocked by burning
tires. [ED-LP 9/13/92 from AP] The new economic adjustment plan,
which went into effect Sept. 4, includes a 35% currency
devaluation, floating interest rates, fuel price hikes of 124-
201%, and electricity price hikes of 25-90%. [Inter Press Service
9/4/92; ED-LP 9/9/92 from AFP] The new plan is quite unpopular:
in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest cities, 65% don't
believe the measures will help solve the country's problems, 81%
consider the fuel price hikes "excessive," and 54% believe there
was no reason for the measures, according to the private polling
firm Cedatos. [ED-LP 9/9/92 from AFP]

Duran-Ballen has promised "social compensation"--such as freezing
urban transport fares and setting up community development
programs--to ease the harsh effects of the plan, and has asked
people to be patient, since he says the program will not last
long. According to various studies, some 70% of Ecuador's nearly
10 million residents currently live below poverty level. "How can
they ask us to be patient with these measures when we are not in
a position to support poverty?" asked Fausto Dutan, leader of the
Unified Workers Front (FUT). [Inter Press Service 9/4/92]

Apparently, Duran-Ballen does not actually expect workers to be
patient: on Sept. 7 he issued a presidential decree authorizing
"the intervention of the Armed Forces in the entire national
territory" to protect private property and prevent vandalism.
[ED-LP 9/8/92 from EFE] The armed soldiers are primarily guarding
gas stations and electrical installations. [ED-LP 9/13/92 from
AP]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.18 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

18. US SOLDIERS PULLING OUT OF BOLIVIA
A contingent of 128 US military personnel has begun to pull out
of Bolivia, leaving unfinished the civil missions they were
supposedly carrying out since their arrival last June. Their
presence had caused an uproar among various political forces in
the country, many of whom believed the soldiers were conducting a
secret military operation. The Bolivian government was heavily
criticized for not asking Congress for permission to let the US
troops into the country. After a heated debate, Congress granted
the authorization, just hours before the US soldiers began
leaving Bolivia. Their withdrawal will be completed Sept. 20.
[World Perspectives from Radio Havana Cuba 9/6/92] The Bolivian
Defense Ministry has confirmed that no more US troops will enter
the country without the permission of Congress. [Cubanews from
Radio Havana Cuba 9/4/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.19 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

19. BASQUE INDEPENDENCE FIGHTERS FREED IN URUGUAY
Three members of the Basque independentist group ETA have been
freed by the government of Uruguay. The three were among thirteen
ETA members arrested by Uruguayan authorities May 15; extradition
is being considered for six who are wanted by Spanish authorities
for alleged assassinations and other activities, and Uruguay may
expel others even though their extradition is not being sought. A
spokesperson for the Basque political party Herri Batasuna said
the organization will ask Uruguay to grant the ETA members
political asylum. [IPS 8/25/92]

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

/** reg.nicaragua: 164.20 **/
** Written  1:30 am  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

20. FORMER GUERRILLAS OCCUPY EMBASSY IN COLOMBIA
Twenty former members of the Colombian M-19 guerrilla group
occupied the Costa Rican Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, on Aug. 26
demanding the release of Marcos Chalita and seeking asylum in
Costa Rica. Chalita, an M-19 leader, was arrested earlier this
year on charges of illegally transporting arms; although the
government claims his arrest was not politically motivated, the
occupants of the embassy charged that "peace is being held
prisoner..." and that "here in Colombia our peaceful activities
are considered criminal acts." The Costa Rican ambassador said
that he was "leaning against" granting political asylum to the
protestors. Since disarming in 1990, the M-19 has become one of
the most powerful electoral parties in Colombia. M-19
parliamentary representative Evert Bustamente said Aug. 27 that
the M-19 is prepared to ask for special exception in Chalita's
case in order to "give meaning to the two-year old peace
accords." [IPS 8/27/92]

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21. COLOMBIAN INVESTIGATORS KIDNAPPED
Six Colombian officials from the Attorney General's office were
kidnapped on Sept. 6 as they were on their way back from exhuming
and identifying bodies in Santander department. Their whereabouts
are unknown, and the kidnappers have not been identified. [World
Perspectives from Radio Havana Cuba 9/7/92]

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/** reg.nicaragua: 164.22 **/
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22. HONDURAS/EL SALVADOR BORDER DISPUTE RESOLVED
In a ceremony at the border of El Salvador and Honduras,
presidents Alfredo Cristiani and Rafael Callejas formally
accepted the World Court's decision on a border dispute between
the two countries which began in 1854 and in 1969 erupted into
the 100-hour "soccer war" which left 2,000 dead. The dispute
concerned a few hundred square kilometers of territory and a
number of islands in the Gulf of Fonseca. Nicaraguan President
Violeta Chamorro and Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano Elias
also attended the ceremony. [ED-LP 9/13/92 from AP and AFP]

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

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23. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE NEW YORK CITY 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.

16 WED, 6:30 PM - Anti-War meeting at International Action Center
(Workers World-affiliated). 39 W 14th St Room 206. Call 212-633-
6646.

17 THU, 7 PM - Nicaragua Update: potluck dinner and discussion
with Estelle Schneider of CEPRI. 400 Riverside #4D at 112th St.
Call 212-884-9559.

18 FRI, 7:30 PM - 3 Nicaraguan women will speak about their
project to open the first shelter for battered women in
Nicaragua. $8 (more if/less if). Brooklyn Womens Martial Arts,
421 5th Ave & 8th St, Brooklyn. 718-788-1775.

18 FRI, 7:30 PM - Videoteca Del Sur presents videos from Brazil,
Chile & the US. $5. DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (2 blocks south of
Canal). 212-334-5257.

18 FRI, 8 PM - "Friday with Cuba" video series. "(Por Que Si Los
Creyentes?" Casa de las Americas, 104 W 14th St. Call 212-675-
2584.

19 SAT, 7:30 PM - Videoteca Del Sur presents videos from Bolivia,
Puerto Rico, Argentina & Colombia. $5. DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (2
blocks south of Canal). 212-334-5257.

[22 TUE, 8:30 AM - Demo for Haitian Refugees, somewhere in
Brooklyn.]

23 WED, 7 PM - Commemorate the Grito de Lares, with speakers,
video and cultural performance. Casa de las Americas, 104 W 14th
St. Call 212-538-0988.

[23 WED, 7 PM - Prospects for an anticapitalist thrid party,
sponsored by Radical Women.]

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.

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.
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