Ibero-American News Digest
Nuevo Leon Campaign Draws Blood over LaRouche Issue
Benjamin Castro, the LaRouche-associated candidate for Governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, has stirred up a hornets' nest of hysteria in response to his aggressive promotion of Lyndon LaRouche's economic policies as the only possible solution to the crisis sweeping Mexico. On the eve of his announced publication of a 24-page pamphlet on his proposed economic development program for the north of Mexico and the southwest of the United Stateswhich features a lengthy interview with LaRouche, as wellCastro found that all party funds for his campaign had been suddenly frozen, "on orders from above."
Castro, a leader of the LaRouche-associated Ibero-American Solidarity Movement (MSIA) in Mexico, is running for Governor on the ticket of the Social Action Party (PAS). When Castro initially agreed to run on their slate, he insisted onand receivedassurances that he would in no way be pressured to suppress the ideas of Lyndon LaRouche, the currently leading Presidential pre-candidate in the Democratic Party in the United States. On June 3, however, Castro was told by PAS party officials in Mexico City that all funds for his campaign had been frozen, on the grounds that "you shouldn't mention LaRouche: he's the leader of a sect, and anyway nobody understands his ideas."
However, these elements understand the power of LaRouche's ideas very well. One of Monterrey's leading newspapers, El Norte, on June 2 began an Internet poll asking the simple question, "Which gubernatorial candidate will you vote for?" Within the first few minutes, Castro was leading the pack of seven candidates, with 29% of the votes. At that point, with very few votes cast, the polling computer mysteriously crashed, and the poll was never completed.
Castro's slate also includes a large number of young Mexicans, who are part of the international LaRouche Youth Movement, who are running as candidates for other state and local posts.
Brazil Bets on South-South Cooperation
"We are going to intensify even more our relations with China, India, and Russia," Brazilian President Lula da Silva told journalists at the conclusion of the Group of Eight meetings in France on June 2. "The contacts I made here, were, in my opinion, of extraordinary relevance. I return to Brazil optimistic."
An explosion of South-South discussion occurred, in fact, at the Evian summit hosted by French President Jacques Chirac, as heads of state and government of developing nations used the opportunity to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings amongst themselves. The potential shift in world relations that has been created, is exemplified by Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim's report that, following bilateral discussions between the Brazilian delegation and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Russia, India, and China, "President Lula became very enthusiastic about the possibility of a meeting of the large developing countries, which would include China and Russia."
Lula's government is enthusiastic now about the idea of forming a kind of "G-4," made up of four "emerging powers": Brazil, China, India, and South Africa, the Brazilian daily O Globo reported June 3. In the view of Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, it "could be a G-4, but it could also be a G-5, or G-6."
All kinds of interesting combinations of meetings occurred in Evian. The Malaysian news agency Bernama reported that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Brazil's Lula held a closed-door meeting. Dr. Mahathir also held bilateral meetings with South African President Thabo Mbeki, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac. Brazilian diplomat Rubens Ricupero, the Secretary General of the UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), who attended the Evian discussions as a special adviser to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, reported to Brazilian newspapers that his first meeting at the summit was to be a dinner with the leaders of China, India, South Africa, and Brazil, hosted by the Swiss government on May 31.
Folha de Sao Paulo asserted that the Brazilian government "is making a strong bet on South-South relations," and asked Amorim if the government viewed the South-South proposals as an alternative, should trade negotiations with the European Union and the United States break down. Amorim demurred, saying the two were not counterposed, as South-South cooperation "is good in itself, and, in addition, it strengthens our bargaining power with the developed countries."
Brazil Hosts Unique Tri-National Foreign Ministers' Meeting
On June 6, the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, India, and South Africa met in Brasilia. Itamaraty (Brazil's Foreign Ministry) announced on June 1 that this first-ever meeting among these countries, was envisioned as an opportunity for the ministers "to discuss their positions and perceptions" on the recent international developments, the role of the United Nations, international economic and trade negotiations, and the possibilities for strengthened cooperation on such social matters as the fight against hungers. The meeting will also "contribute to strengthen the role of the three countries, and of their regions, in the international arena," Itamaraty's statement noted.
Gilberto Saboia, Itamaraty's Under-Secretary General of Bilateral Policy, told Gazeta Mercantil on June 4 that no formal accord is planned to come out of the meeting. The idea, rather, is "to promote a broad discussion between the three Ministers." We are developing countries "with the possibility of taking off ... who want to have a voice on the international stage, and with important regional positions. There is a convergence of views in many areas," he emphasized.
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha's visit to Brazil June 5-6 was the first visit ever by an Indian Foreign Minister since relations were established in 1948, after India's independence, a statement issued on May 31 by Itamaraty noted. High on the agenda for discussion, is the two country's agreement on the need to reform the United Nations, as well as trade matters. Trade between the two countries grew by 250% between 2000-02, making India Brazil's fourth-largest trading partner in Asia (after China, Japan, and South Korea). Itamaraty emphasized that the two countries are already working jointly on such high-technology areas as biotechnology, space technology, pharmaceuticals, and informatics.
See the AFRICA DIGEST this week, for details on joint South Africa-Brazil defense initiatives.
Paraguay Looks to South American Integration for Survival
Paraguay's President-elect Nicanor Duarte Frutos warned at the end of a late-May visit to Uruguay, Brazil, and ArgentinaParaguay's partners in Mercosurthat "if we don't have regional integration, we'll be devoured by international financial agencies." The Argentine daily Clarin reported June 3 that the President-elect, who will take office in August, said that "we have to think of strengthening our region. The solution to many of our economic and social problems can be found by joining forces in the region.... We need a much more political Mercosur," one in which there is more equality among the four partners.
Duarte said that he had been very warmly received, especially by Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Argentina's new President Nestor Kirchner, and was optimistic about the future, because there "is a sense of renewal and much agreement among those of us who are just taking office." Integration for the region is crucial, he said, to avoid being "devoured." "We'll end up turning our countries into the places where surplus exports from the First World are dumped. Here, we have to build industries, incorporate more value-added to our raw materials, and have more technological development." Mercosur must integrate with the Andean Pact, and look toward a "united South America," Duarte added.
State of Emergency Fails To Calm Peruvian Strikes
A general strike drew widespread support from across Peru on June 3, despite the imposition of a 30-day national state of emergency on May 27 by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo (see last week's IBERO-AMERICA NEWS DIGEST).
Toledo is facing a national rebellion against the IMF policy which his government has imposed upon the country. The initial strike by teachers and state health workers, was for a living wage; by the farmers, against an open imports policy which has bankrupted the agricultural sector; and by various regional civic associations and labor federations to protest an unbearable tax burden and a privatization policy that is fast stripping the nation of its most valuable resources. As the strike movement spread across the country, Toledo attempted to blunt it by offering to cancel the declaration of an emergency, in exchange for suspension of the strike declaration, but the protesters refused to back down.
Government attempts to declare the strike illegal were ignored, and on June 3, at least 30,000 Peruvians poured into the streets of Lima in defiance of the ban, while another quarter of a million workers held "pots-and-pans" demonstrations, marches, and vigils, in over 20 cities and towns around the country. The second-largest city, Arequipa, was shut down by a regional "sympathy strike," as were other regions of the country. Common to many of the marches were the chants against Toledoeven the most favorable polls find the President is supported by fewer than 14% of Peruvians at this point. "We put you in office with marches, and we will remove you with marches," shouted thousands in Lima.
FARC Calls for Shadow Government in Colombia
Thwarted by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's refusal to capitulate to pressure for peace negotiations, the narcoterrorist FARC issued a call for the formation of a "shadow government" to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with the FARC behind the back of the elected government.
In a release posted on the Internet and reported by Colombia's dailies on May 28, the FARC charged that the "illegitimacy of the current government" requires the formation of an "alternate government" with which the FARC would initiate "clandestine contact." The FARC statement, signed by Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda and other members of the FARC central committee, proposed that "11 patriots," from the political, economic, social, labor, cultural, and religious life of the country, join forces with a FARC commandant to form this "shadow government," which would allegedly forge new policies for ruling the country, and eventually field a Presidential candidate.
The FARC's invitation is also extended to the Colombian military, whose chief, Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora, responded coolly: "The bandits are frightened.... The Military Forces have a mission, which is to defend Colombia, and we are doing this to the best of our ability." A recent poll of the Colombian people found less than 3% still willing to see the FARC as anything but terrorists.
Bolivian Narcoterrorist Calls for 'Refounding the Country'
At the conclusion of the first national meeting of the so-called Popular General Staff (EMP), organized by Bolivia's most radicalized peasant and trade-union groups, narcoterrorist Evo Morales, the coca producers' Congressman who came close to taking the Presidency in the August 2002 elections, announced that the gathering had resolved to build "a multinational, pluricultural, and socialist" state, which would oppose neoliberalism.
Bolivia is in desperate economic straits because of IMF policy, and there is widespread social unrest over horrendous living conditions. But what Morales offers as an alternative echoes Venezuela's madman Hugo Chaveza Jacobin model, based on drug legalization and "Andean values"which will bring about the country's disintegration, all in the name of "defending the people."
Morales recommends eliminating municipal governments, confiscating "unproductive" latifundios, and creating a "new territorial order, with autonomy for indigenous communities." He would also reform the Constitution to eliminate the Congress, and create a Constituent Assembly in its place. In a press conference following the conclusion of the EMP assembly, Morales even suggested that the EMP might itself replace the Armed Forces, to better "serve the people, not the oligarchy." He has also suggested that trade unions create armed "self-defense" committees, to better oppose neoliberalism.
Senator Enrique Urquidi of the ruling MNR Party charged that Morales's proposals seemed to lend credibility to rumors that the cocalero leader is linked to Colombia's FARC. In recent months, reports have circulated that members of the FARC have been in Bolivia and had ties to the coca-producers' movement led by Morales. The Bolivian government, however, finds itself in a weakened position, because it refuses to offer the population anything except more of the same IMF-dictated austerity.
Free Traders' Chile: No Model of Anti-Corruption
A very close ally of Chilean President Ricardo Lagos was indicted and jailed May 26 on charges of bribe-taking. Socialist Juan Pablo Letelier, a prominent human rights activist whose father Orlando was killed in a 1976 Washington, D.C. car-bombing by the Chilean secret police, is one more of several Lagos friends and political allies who have been charged with corruption over the past few months. Hurting Chile's reputation as "corruption free," this series of scandals involving kickbacks and bribe-taking has weakened Lagos's ruling Concertacion coalition. Letelier has been denied bail in the case, in which he is charged with receiving $25,000 in bribes.
Soros Agent Organizes for Parliamentary System in Mexico
Mexico's former Foreign Relations Secretary Jorge Castaneda told a trade-union event on June 3 that the "group of 10 or 15 men and women" who are considering running for President in the next elections, in 2006, had better be prepared to push through the "institutional changes" the country requires, such as separating the functions of head of state and head of government (that is, replace Mexico's strong Presidency, which is styled after that of the United States, with a parliamentary system), introducing referenda as a way of making policy, putting through an election system requiring a second round of voting, and changing relations between the legislative and executive branches. Otherwise, future Presidents are not going to get any further in putting through "structural reforms" than former President Ernesto Zedillo and current President Vicente Fox have been able to do, he said.
Since leaving office in January 2003, Castaneda has made clear that he is actively preparing the way for his own Presidential bid in 2006, on behalf of the globalist interests which created him. Among the sponsors of Castaneda's current efforts is international megaspeculator and drug-legalizer George Soros. Castaneda, an advocate of drug legalization, was reported likely to be named head of the new Soros Foundation which Soros is said to be creating in Mexico.
Flooding in Argentina's Santa Fe Province Threatens Severe Health Crisis
A dangerous health crisis has erupted in Argentina's Santa Fe province as a result of renewed flooding, causing outbreaks of hepatitis and leptospirosis. In addition to severe cases of diarrhea, there are 112 cases of hepatitis and 84 of leptospirosis. in the capital city of Santa Fe. This important agricultural province was hit with more rains and flooding over the weekend of May 17-18, following flooding 10 days earlier caused by the overflow of the Salado River. Sanitation and sewage infrastructure has been destroyed50% of the province's territory was affected by the flooding, and many people who were evacuated from their homes have been forced to live in tents in soccer stadiums which, in the continuing rains, are breeding grounds for disease. Governor Carlos Reutemann reports the situation has become "increasingly disastrous." Losses in agricultural production and infrastructure are estimated to be at least in the $800-million range. These losses, Reutemann said, "are not recoverable."
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