Ibero-American News Digest
Rebuffed by Washington, Mexico Looks South
In a radio interview on the 5th of Mayone of Mexico's most patriotic holidays, marking the 1862 defeat of Napoleon III's invasion forces at PueblaPresident Vicente Fox said that no meeting was foreseen this year between himself and President Bush, but he is looking forward with great interest to the summit meeting of the Rio Group (in which most of the Ibero-American nations are represented), which meets in Peru at the end of May, because Mexico is very interested in integrating more with South America.
This is a time to discuss and share ideas with the Ibero-American nations, he said, adding that he was especially interested in improving relations with leaders such as Brazil's Lula da Silva.
Not that Fox has altogether given up on striking some deal with Bush. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez arrived in Washington on May 7 for two days of meetings with Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Robert Zoellick, and several members of Congress. Fox is reportedly trying to line up a private meeting with President Bush during the June meeting of the Group of Eight in France, but so far, the meeting has not been confirmed, as Bush continues to make Fox "pay" for not going along with his Iraq war. Even worse, from Bush's standpoint, is the fact that Fox was invited to attend by France's Jacques Chirac. (The Group of Eight does not include Mexico; it consists of the U.S., Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, Germany, France, and Russia.)
Washington Denies Colombia Military Aid in Anti-Drug Fight
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez sought aid for a real war on terrorism from President Bush during his recent Washington visit, and came away nearly empty-handed. Uribe was in Washington April 29-May 3 for a round of meetings which included meetings with President Bush and Chickenhawks Vice President Dick Cheney and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. He also spoke with 25 U.S. Congressmen in the course of a day's meetings on Capitol Hill. Uribe had three main requests: that the United States provide Colombia with some of the military equipment used in the Iraq war which he assumes is no longer needed there (he reportedly specified aerial intelligence equipment, in particular); that the U.S.-Colombian aerial interdiction program be reopened; and that the two countries strike a bilateral free-trade accord.
The aerial interdiction program will be re-established, it was announced; in the past, when the U.S. provided real-time radar intelligence for the Colombian and Peruvian Air Forces to act upon under this program, it was very successful in driving narco-planes out of Andean skies. The program had been shut down two years ago.
But that's all Uribe got. He was turned down, rather vehemently, on any bilateral trade deal, and told instead to "take leadership" in the negotiations for the Free Trade Accord of the Americas (FTAA). (State Department Andean Affairs desk chief Phil Chicola, a real FARC-lover, derided the Colombian request on the grounds that the Colombian economy is still far too "closed," and must end protection on its agriculture, etc.) As for the request for the badly needed military equipment, Wolfowitz said that President Bush had directed the Pentagon to look into it, and so it will be "studied." No assistance for Colombia's collapsing physical economythe most urgent assistance required for Colombia to defeat the narcoterroristswas discussed by either side.
FARC Atrocity Aims To Convince Colombians 'You Can't Win'
Colombia's narcoterrorist FARC made the cold-blooded decision to execute 13 hostages and dump their bodies in a shallow grave on May 5, after being alerted that soldiers were moving into the area where their jungle camp was located. While three of the victims managed to survive, among those who did not were Guillermo Gaviria, the Governor of Antioquia Province, and his adviser, former Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri. Gaviria and Echeverri were kidnapped in April 2002, but some of the other hostagesall of them soldiershad been held captive under near-starvation conditions for more than five years.
The FARC's actions since President Uribe took office, have been aimed at breaking his government's commitment to crush the narcoterrorists. In the aftermath of this most recent atrocity, a heated debate has surfaced inside Colombia over whether or not the government should abandon its military war against terrorism in favor of renewed peace talks with the FARC, beginning with a negotiated "prisoner exchange," which would release hundreds of imprisoned FARC killers back onto the streets, and into the jungles. So far, Uribe has stood fast against the pressure, insisting that his government has the "constitutional and legal obligation" to rescue kidnap victims where possible, and that he will not yield to FARC blackmail.
Conflicts Possible Over Cross-Border Narcoterrorism
Colombian President Uribe charged Venezuela with providing refuge to narcoterrorists, when he met with his counterpart Hugo Chavez in Caracas April 24. He presented the Venezuelan head of state with a dossierprepared by Colombian military and intelligence servicesproving that there are at least 16 permanent encampments maintained by the FARC/ELN/EPL narcoterrorists inside Venezuelan territory along 410 kilometers of the countries' shared border. The encampments, maintained by six FARC fronts of up to 1,700 terrorists, reportedly serve the same purpose that the so-called "demilitarized zone" inside Colombia did during the years of the earlier Pastrana Administration: as a refuge for terrorists fleeing Colombian military pursuit, and as a staging area for terrorist actions into Colombia.
In public statements that same week, Colombian Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio insisted that Venezuela has become a refuge for "Colombian criminals" seeking to topple Uribe's government. The dossier was first presented privately to Chavez, who reportedly insisted that only economic matters between the two countries be treated publicly. The dossier immediately thereafter was leaked to the Caracas daily El Universal, which published it at the end of April.
The dossier's release occurred at a moment of heightened tension between the two countries, over recent Colombian military charges that Venezuela's Air Force has deployed in bombing runs into Colombian territory to support FARC terrorists battling paramilitary forces! President Uribe has been scrupulous in not permitting Colombia's Army to pursue terrorists across the border into Venezuela, but combat has occurred between the Colombian paramilitary forces and the FARC in these cross-border "no-man's-lands."
U.S. State Department: No al-Qaeda Presence in Latin America
"At year's end, there was no confirmed, credible information of an established al-Qaeda presence in Latin America." This is the conclusion drawn by the State Department, in its "Overview of Terrorism in the Western Hemisphere," included in its "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002" report, released April 30. Such statements must be distressing to Donald Rumsfeld, who is demanding the creation of a supranational military force to raid what he calls the "ungoverned areas" of Ibero-America, one of which is the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The overview does say that nations of the region are concerned about "terrorist fundraising," and suspect the presence of Hamas and Hezbollah in the tri-border region, and that the three nations plus the U.S. have set up a "Three Plus One" counterterrorism consultative and cooperation mechanism "to analyze and combat any terrorist-related threats in the Triborder [region]."
Brazil's Foreign Minister in Africa To Promote Trade
Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim is in Africa as part of the Lula da Silva government's initiative to increase trade and diplomatic relations with several African nations. The plan is to open up the Brazilian market to products from the six countries Amorim is visiting, as well as to look into the possibility of increasing Brazilian investments in the region. President Lula da Silva has said he wants to make "South-South cooperation" a priority of his government. Amorim began his trip in Mozambique on May 1, and plans to visit Zimbabwe, Sao Tome & Principe, Angola, South Africa, and Namibia, meeting at the level of Foreign Minister or President in each location. In August, Lula plans to visit the region himself.
Multilateral issues will be on the agenda during Amorim's tour, including reforming the UN Security Council, cooperating in educational and social programs, and in the campaign against AIDSBrazil is particularly well equipped to assist in this latter area, because of its production of generic anti-AIDS drugs. In Mozambique and South Africa, Amorim wants to discuss coal exploration, and the construction of a railroad and a new port, issues of particular interest to Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. In Angola, Brazil is prepared to assist in expanding the country's educational system, ranging from constructing the physical plant to training teachers. In Sao Tome & Principe, Amorim will take up that government's request to aid in creating a regulatory framework for the oil industry.
Brazil wants to talk to the South Africans about using their logistical infrastructure to sell Brazilian products in neighboring countries, and in the Persian Gulf region. In Namibia, naval cooperation, and the elaboration of a security program for the South Atlantic region, are the main topics of discussion.
The Fly in Lula's Ointment: Sticking to the IMF Game
Brazilian President Lula da Silva personally went to the Congress on April 30, to present the bills implementing the IMF-dictated pension and tax "reforms," and insist they be passed, reported Folha de Sao Paulo May 1. He brought along 22 of his 34 Cabinet ministers, all the 27 governors, 10 mayors of state capitals, and 38 of the 83 members of the Economic and Social Development Council.
The idea was to maximize pressure on a reluctant Congress to accept the Lula government's argument that Brazil has no choice but to keep playing by the rules of the Wall Street/IMF game. Things didn't quite go as planned, however. Lula received praise from the Senate President Jose Sarney for his government's handling of the reforms, but the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Joao Paulo Cunha, of Lula's Workers Party (PT), promised nothing. Cunha reiterated that Congress is divided over the reforms, and their passage could face difficulties. When state governors discovered that the tax reform they were supposed to be cheering on, contains a provision which they hadn't seen before, and which they opposed, a number of them began to protest. The leading opposition party, the PLF, announced that it will present its own version of the pension/social-security reform next week.
Brazil To Build Angra 3 Nuclear Plant
Brazil's government has decided to go ahead with the construction of Angra 3, the last of the nuclear plants planned since the 1960s, according to Folha de Sao Paulo May 5. Angra 3 is partially constructed, but has been stalled for years by the environmental mafia and the IMF's budget cuts.
Brazil's Science and Technology Minister, Roberto Amaral, is certainly championing the completion of the plant. "I defend Angra 3. Not only for the importance of the plant as a [power] generator, but for the multiplying effect of the nuclear program. It is not only physics research. To have a nuclear project, you develop engineering, biology, chemistry, and the whole gamut of sciences, which has a multiplier effect on society," he argues.
The president of Electrobras, the state electricity company under which the nuclear plants function, Luiz Pinguelli Rosa, argues the Wall Street line, however. The Angra 3 project is live, he says, but it is necessary to straighten out the nuclear division's finances, because it is operating in the red.
Severe Flooding in Argentina's Santa Fe Province Leaves Many Dead; 100,000 Evacuated
Devastating floods in Argentina's Santa Fe province have caused an unknown number of deaths, and led to the evacuation of close to 100,000 people. One official from the provincial government of Entre Rios estimated the death toll at close to 1,000, although the governor of the province would not confirm that figure. The flood was caused by the unexpected overflow of the Salado River, a situation which could have been remedied by investment in infrastructurebut IMF policy doesn't permit this.
Half of the city of Santa Fe is flooded, and at least 50 towns in the north-central part of the province are also affected. One-third of the province's territory133,007 square kilometersis under water, and damage to farming and livestock activities in this key agricultural province is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Half the city is without electricity, and schools and universities are closed. Fear of looting is widespread. Even though, the water level has begun to drop, the situation remains dangerous. The bridge over the Salado River, to the city's north, is in danger of collapsingit collapsed once before in 1973, during a far less severe flood. EIR's bureau in Buenos Aires describes the situation as "catastrophic."
|