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01 RÄUMUNG DER MINATTIHALLE!!!!
From: <mkfuerinnsbruck@catholic.org>
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>RÄUMUNG DER MINATTIHALLE!!!!
>Heute kurz nach 7.00 uhr wurden die anwesenden BesetzerInnen unsanft aus
>dem Schlaf geholt. Ca. dreißig Polizisten in Riotmontur drangen mit Hilfe
>der Feuerwehr und unter Einsatz von schwerem Gerät in die Minattihalle
>ein. Den BesetzerInnen wurde ein Ultimatum von drei Minuten gesetzt, das
>Gebäude zu verlassen, sollten sie sich weigern oder andere Aktionen
>setzen, drohte die sofortige Festnahme (Ein Gefangenentransporter stand
>schon bereit.) Vor diese Wahl gestellt, packten die Leute das notwendigste
>zusammen und wurden von den Einsatzkräften in die Dreiheiligenstraße
>abgedrängt. Ebenfalls bei der Räumungsaktion "live" dabei: H. Zach und
>VizeBM Bielowski.
>Hilde Zach: Notorische Lügnerin - 2 Jahre Gespräche und Verhandlungen über
>Räumlichkeiten, Versprechungen: ALLES LÜGEN!! Gestern Freitag bei
>Anwesenheit der Presse: "Kein Einschreiten der Polizei" (TT Sa./So.
>29./30.11.)
>- SA 7.30: Räumunung durch die Polizei! - Wieder ALLES LÜGEN! - SA 7.45:
>H. Zach bei Anwesenheit der Polizei: "Ihr habt die Vereinbarungen
>gebrochen. Ich lass mich nicht erpressen!"
>- die Wahrheit??? - wer einmal lügt...
>Das war noch lange nicht alles!
>
>
>PRESSEKONFERENZ zum Thema:
>Heute im Treibhaus 15.00 Uhr
>
>http://kulturraumfuerinnsbruck.cjb.net/

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02 Der Stellvertreter / Amen
From: Karl Pfeifer
================================================
Von Karl Pfeifer
Falter Kinokritik "ekelhaft, dumm"
Was haben wir mit der Schoa zu tun? Das fragen heute auch durchaus anständige junge Menschen in unseren Breitengraden. Und das Pamphlet von Norman Finkelstein, der doch ein "Linker" und ein Jude ist, läßt das Unbehagen wachsen, dass mit der Schoa auch ein Geschäft gemacht wird. Ich erinnere daran, wie die Rechtsextremisten unisono und auch mancher Linker den Steven Spielberg Film Schindlers Liste verurteilt hatte, weil doch dieser kitschig und nach einem bewährten Holywood-Rezept gedreht wurde und nicht zuletzt weil er ein finanzieller Erfolg wurde. Und trotzdem hat gerade dieser Film viele Menschen dazu gebracht diese unsere verdrängte Geschichte wahrzunehmen.
Und nun lese ich im Kinoprogramm der Wiener Stadtzeitung "Falter" Nr. 48, auf Seite 49: "Der Stellvertreter/Amen! (D/F 2002) R: Constantin Costa Gavras D: Ulrich Tukur, Mathieu Kassovitz, Monica Bleibtreu, Ulrich Mühe, Hann Zischer.
Das dritte Reich, die Kirche und der Holocaust. Film nach dem gleichnamigen Stück von Rolf Hochhuth. 1963 ein handfester Theaterskandal, heute, im Kino, ein anachronistischer Wiedergänger - auf Hochglanz poliert, ekelhaft, dumm."
Da mir u.a. zwei ausgezeichnete Filme von Costa Gavras in Erinnerung sind, nämlich "Z" über einen linken griechischen Politiker, der von griechischen Faschisten ermordet wurde und "Das Geständnis" über den Slansky-Prozeß und seine Hintergründe, wollte ich doch selbst überprüfen, ob dieser Film tatsächlich "ekelhaft, dumm" sei.
Der Film ist einer der besten, den ich zu diesem Thema in den letzten Jahren gesehen habe. Er handelt das Thema nuanciert ab und zeigt uns die Geschichte zum Teil, wie sie wirklich war und zum Teil wie sie hätte sein können. Der historische Hintergrund wird präzise aufgezeigt. Die Geschichte des deutschen Chemikers Kurt Gerstein, der Mitglied der bekennenden Kirche war und zur Waffen SS kam, beruht auf Tatsachen. Gerstein hatte als Chemiker Einblick in die industrielle Ermordung der Juden erhalten. Und er hörte auf sein Gewissen und versuchte die Kirchen (und nicht nur "die Kirche" wie fälschlich in der Kurzrezension angegeben) und das Ausland, darunter auch den Vatikan zu informieren und zu alarmieren. Er geriet bei Kriegsende in französische Gefangenschaft und ist unter mysteriösen bis heute ungeklärten Umständen gestorben, angeblich hat er sich aufgehängt. Seine Briefe, ja sein ganzer Akt ist verschwunden und er wurde erst 20 Jahre nach dem Krieg rehabilitiert.
Die Stärke des Filmes, dass er uns deutsche Menschen während des dritten Reiches so zeigt, wie sie agiert und reagiert haben. Man kann die Alternativen nachvollziehen. Die allermeisten, die von diesem Verbrechen wußten, unterdrückten ihr Gewissen, viele derjenigen aber, wie der Vater von Gerstein, die Nationalsozialisten waren, glaubten bis zum letzten Augenblick an den "Führer" und die "Wunderwaffen". Und sehr viele, die es hätten wissen können, haben sich geweigert, es zu wissen oder zur Kenntnis zu nehmen. Es gehörte ein entwickeltes Gewissen - laut Hitler eine "jüdische Erfindung" - dazu, sich dieser Maschinerie entgegenzusetzen. Und das taten sehr wenige.
Im Theaterstück, aber auch im Film spielt ein junger italienischer Jesuit die Rolle des Priesters, der eher an das Evangelium glaubt als an die menschliche Institution Kirche und der ein tragisches Ende nimmt.
Es ist ein zutiefst christlicher Film, der die Frage stellt, weshalb die christlichen Kirchen die Rolle spielten, die sie spielten und eher um ihre Privilegien besorgt waren als um das Leben von Millionen Juden. Und Costa-Gavras zeigt auch, welche Rolle dabei der tief verwurzelte Antikommunismus gespielt hat.
Die katholische Kirche will aus Pius XII einen Heiligen machen. Im Film wird auch gezeigt, wie man von diesem Papst klärende Worte erwartete, insbesondere zu Weihnachten 1942 als der Vatikan schon von der Schoa wußte. Mussolini sagte darüber - und wer könnte widersprechen: "Gottes Vikar, das ist der irdische Vertreter des Herrn des Universums. Er sollte niemals reden und sich in den Wolken halten. Diese Rede ist voll Gemeinplätze und könnte genauso vom Priester von Predappio sein," (Predappio ist das Geburtsdorf Mussolinis.)
Am 28. Oktober 1943, ein paar Tage nachdem die SS und die Miliz die Juden Roms, derer man habhaft werden konnte, bei einer "Judenrazzia" buchstäblich unter den Fenstern des Vatikans festnahm, schrieb Herr von Weizsäcker, Hitlers Botschafter beim Heiligen Stuhl, ans Auswärtige Amt:
"Der Papst hat sich, obwohl dem Vernehmen nach von verschiedenen Seiten bestürmt, zu keiner demonstrativen Äußerung gegen den Abtransport der Juden hinreißen lassen. Obgleich er damit rechnen muß, daß ihm diese Haltung von seiten unserer Gegner nachgetragen wird, hat er auch in dieser heiklen Frage alles getan, um das Verhältnis zu der deutschen Regierung nicht zu belasten. Da hier in Rom weitere Aktionen in der Judenfrage nicht mehr durchzuführen sein dürften, kann also damit gerechnet werden, daß diese für das deutsch-vatikanische Verhältnis unangenehme Frage liquidiert ist.
Der Osservatore Romano hat nämlich am 25. Oktober ein offiziöses Kommunqué über die Liebestätigkeit des Papstes veröffentlicht, in welchem es in dem für das vatikanische Blatt bezeichnenden Stil, das heißt reichlich gewunden und unklar, heißt, der Papst lasse seine väterliche Fürsorge allen Menschen ohne Unterschied der Nationalität und Rasse angedeihen. Gegen die Veröffentlichung sind Einwendungen um so weniger zu erheben, als ihr Wortlaut von den wenigsten als spezieller Hinweis auf die Judenfrage verstanden werden wird." Soweit Ernst Weizsäcker.
Es ist ein Film über die Schoa, der keine Greuel zeigt. Wir sehen die Gaskammern von draußen und wir sehen die SS-Leute, die beim Guckloch hinein schauen. Aber wir sehen nicht den Todeskampf. Und wir sehen wie die langen Güterzüge, mal geschlossen, dann aber leer fahren. Wir sehen jedoch nicht die in diesen zusammengedrängten Juden.
Der Film hat gewisse Mängel, manche Dialoge die im Vatikan oder in Rom gesprochen werden, haben etwas schablonenhaftes. Aber die Deutschen werden mit Präzision charakterisiert und man kann ihr Verhalten verstehen. Im Film wird auch die Predigt vom 3. August 1941 des Bischofs von Münster, Clemens August Graf von Galen gezeigt, die mit dazu führte, dass die "Euthanasie"-Aktion abgebrochen wurde. Das hier freigewordene Personal wurde dann im Rahmen der "Endlösung" eingesetzt.
Dieser Film ist gerade jungen Menschen in Deutschland und Österreich zu empfehlen, die oft genug keine Ahnung von der Geschichte ihres Landes haben.
Dieser Film regt an, mitzudenken und mitzufühlen und das fällt manchem Zeitgenossen schwer.
"Ekelhaft, dumm" ist dieser Film mit Sicherheit nicht.

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03 Die Kürzung des Bundespressedienstes
From: Karl Pfeifer
================================================
Von Karl Pfeifer
Der Bundespressedienst (APS 92) publiziert die deutsche Übersetzung "Österreich zieht einen Schlusstrich unter Haider" von Paolo Rumiz in "La Repubblica", Rom, 26.11.02 und erwähnt auch meine Person:
"Abschließend kommt Karl Pfeiffer von der Jerusalem Post zu Wort, der Schüssel als "schlimmer als Haider" einstuft. Während Haider eine klare Sprache spreche, sei Schüssel ein Meister im Herunterspielen des Antisemitismus."
Hier die genaue Übersetzung:
"Schlimmer als das konnte es nicht kommen" beklagt sich Karl Pfeiffer von der Jerusalem Post. "Schüssel kann auch schlimmer sein als Haider. Der wenigstens klar gesprochen hat. Der Kanzler ist ein fantastischer Herunterspieler des österreichischen Antisemitismus. Ein Tartuffe (ein Heuchler) der sich mit der Erwähnung der "christlichen Werte" die Brust schlägt, aber für einen politischen Vorteil sogar seine Großmutter verkaufen würde."
(«Peggio di così non poteva andare» lamenta il corrispondente del Jerusalem Post Karl Pfeiffer. «Schuessel può essere anche peggio di Haider. Quello, almeno, parla chiaro. Il cancelliere è un fantastico minimizzatore dell’antisemitismo austriaco. Un «tartufo» che si batte il petto con i valori cristiani, ma venderebbe anche sua nonna per un vantaggio politico».)
Ich warf Wolfgang Schüssel vor, versucht zu haben eine Partei, in der es nazoide (das Wort faschistoid ist zu schwach) Funktionäre zuhauf gibt, salonfähig zu machen. Das blieb leider weg.
PS Allerdings hat Rumiz zwei kleine Fehler gemacht, ich bin nicht Korrespondent der "Jerusalem Post" sondern des israelischen Radios "Kol Israel" und schreibe meinen Namen mit insgesamt zwei und nicht mit drei f. Aber das ist eine Kleinigkeit

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04 Übermorgen: I r a k - V e r a n s t a l t u n g W i e n
From: "Arbeitsgruppe Marxismus" <agm@agmarxismus.net>
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Veranstaltung der Arbeitsgruppe Marxismus (AGM)
I r a k u n d I m p e r i a l i s m u s
Baath-Regime, Ölinteressen und "Neue Weltordnung"
Referat von Fahim Enquelab und Diskussion
Montag, 2. Dezember 2002, 19 Uhr
im 7stern
Siebensterngasse 31, 1070 Wien
Materialien der AGM siehe:
AGM-website www.agmarxismus.net
Wenn du unsere Aussendungen nicht mehr bekommen willst, genügt ein einfaches
mail mit dem Betreff "unsubscribe".

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MELDUNGEN UND KOMMENTARE
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05 AW: Homepage der NPÖ - Nationaldemokratische Partei Österreichs
From: "Bernhard Kraut" <kraut@web.de>
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Sehr geehrter Herr Mag. Poßegger,
für Ihre Information möchte ich Ihnen herzlich danken und die Frage
anhängen: wie ist es um die Homepage der Burschenschaft Leder bestellt.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Bernhard Kraut
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Hildegard.Zoechling@bmi.gv.at
[mailto:Hildegard.Zoechling@bmi.gv.at]
Gesendet: Freitag, 29. November 2002 13:32
An: kraut@web.de
Betreff: Homepage der NPÖ - Nationaldemokratische Partei Österreichs
Sehr geehrter Herr Kraut!
Zu Ihrer von der Telekom anher übermittelten Eingabe betreffend die
Homepage der „NPÖ ­ Nationaldemokratischen Partei Österreichs“ teilt das
Bundesministerium für Inneres mit, dass die Aktivitäten der genannten Partei
seit längerer Zeit im Blickpunkt behördlicher Maßnahmen stehen. Seitens des
ho. Ressorts wurde bereits vor längerer Zeit eine Prüfung der
gegenständlichen Homepage durchgeführt und der Betreiber der Website wegen
Verdachts der Verletzung des Verbotsgesetzes bei der Staatsanwaltschaft zur
Anzeige gebracht. Das Verfahren ist noch nicht abgeschlossen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Mag. Poßegger

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06 KEINE KOALITION MIT DER VOLKSPARTEI!
From: "SJ Wien" <office@sj-wien.at>
================================================
#################################
MIT DER BITTE UM WEITERLEITUNG
#################################
Wir bitten alle Unterstützerinnen und Unterstützer dieses Briefes um
Unterzeichnung auf
http://www.sj-wien.at/opposition

Offener Brief an den Bundesvorstand der SPÖ
Opposition ohne Wenn und Aber!
Die Sozialdemokratie steht seit dem Verlust der relativen Mehrheit an die
ÖVP und das bürgerliche Lager nun vor der Herausforderung die richtigen
Antworten auf dieses Wahlergebnis zu finden. Die Notwendigkeit der
Fortsetzung der inhaltlichen Erneuerung muss dabei außer Streit stehen.
Bis zur Wahlniederlage 1999 war unsere Antwort immer „nur“ ein
Spitzenkandidat der mit seiner Programmatik und Persönlichkeit auch im
bürgerlichen Lager punkten konnte. Diese Öffnung nach rechts hat, wie die
Entwicklung zeigt, die SPÖ in ihrer Programmatik und organisatorischen
Substanz ausgehöhlt und geschwächt, und letztlich zum historischen Triumph
der ÖVP bei den Nationalratswahlen 2002 beigetragen.
Um die Mehrheit des bürgerlichen Lagers zu brechen, wird es notwendig
sein, dass sich die SPÖ auf die nichtwählenden ArbeiterInnen und
Angestellten, atypisch Beschäftigten sowie Frauen und Jugendliche
konzentriert. Eine weitere Öffnung nach rechts oder gar eine Koalition mit
Wolfgang Schüssel und der ÖVP würde eine weitere Schwächung unserer
Bewegung bedeuten. Was wir jetzt brauchen ist eine politische Erneuerung
mit dem Ziel aus der vielerorts erstarrten SPÖ wieder eine politische
Bewegung mit Schlagkraft zu machen.
Wir fordern daher den Verbleib der SPÖ in der Opposition und lehnen
jegliche Regierungsbeteilung vor dem Hintergrund der politischen
Mehrheitsverhältnisse ab. Selbst für den Fall, dass die ÖVP auf einige
zentrale Wahlversprechen der SPÖ (Abfangjäger, Ambulanzgebühr,
Unfallrentenbesteuerung, Rücknahme der Studiengebühren, etc.) eingehen
sollte, würde eine Regierungsbeteiligung der SPÖ nichts am
neokonservativen und antisozialen Kurs der künftigen Bundesregierung
ändern können! Nein zu Schwarz-Rot ­ Ja zu einer kämpferischen SPÖ in
Opposition!
Wir bitten alle Unterstützerinnen und Unterstützer dieses Briefes um
Unterzeichnung auf
http://www.sj-wien.at/opposition

_______________________________
Sozialistische Jugend Wien
Landstraßer Hauptstraße 96/2
1031 Wien
Mail: office@sj-wien.at
Tel.: 01/ 713-8-713
Fax.: 01/ 713-8-713-9
http://www.sj-wien.at

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07 Narzissmus und Macht
From: Hans-Jürgen Wirth <hans-juergen.wirth@psychosozial-verlag.de>
================================================

Sehr geehrte Kolleginnen und Kollegen,
Wir möchten Sie gerne auf das Buch "Narzissmus und Macht. Zur Psychoanalyse
seelischer Störungen in der Politik" des Psychoanalytikers Hans-Jürgen Wirth
aufmerksam machen. Die psychologisch tiefgründige Analyse des Autors über
die seelischen Konflikte und die narzisstischen Größenphantasien unserer
Politiker ist gerade momentan von höchster Aktualität, da Jörg Haider einen
Absturz von seinem narzisstischen Höhenflug erlebt.
Bitte bestellen Sie ein Rezensions-Exemplar. Gerne vermitteln wir auch ein
Interview mit dem Autor. Zu Ihrer Information haben wir eine Rezension
angehängt, die gerade in der katholischen Monatsschrift "Public Forum"
erschienen ist. Sie darf frei verwendet werden.
Mit freundlichen Grüssen
Ihre
Diane Dittrich
(Vertrieb des Psychosozial-Verlages)
Hans-Jürgen Wirth
(Autor)
_________________________________
Diane Dittrich
E-Mail: Diane.Dittrich@psychosozial-verlag.de
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Wirth
hans-juergen.wirth@psychosozial-verlag.de
Psychosozial-Verlag
Goethestr. 29
D-35390 Giessen
Tel: 0641/77819
Fax: 0641/77742
www.psychosozial-verlag.de
Meisterwerk politischer Psychoanalyse
Von der Zeitschrift »Publik Forum« zum Buch des Monats erklärt
Besprechung des Buches von Hans-Jürgen Wirth: Narzissmus und Macht. Zur
Psychoanalyse seelischer Störungen in der Politik. Giessen 2002
(Psychosozial-Verlag), 439 Seiten, 24.90 EUR.
Vor 25 Jahren erschütterten ein politischer Skandal und ein Selbstmord die
westdeutsche Gesellschaft. Der Ministerpräsident von Schleswig-Holstein, Uwe
Barschel, war wegen Vorwürfen, mit infamen Methoden seinen Konkurrenten bei
der Landtagswahl, Björn Engholm, attackiert zu haben, von seinem Amt
zurückgetreten. Später hatte er sich bei dem vorgeblichen Versuch, sich zu
rehabilitieren, in Genf in der Badewanne das Leben genommen. Selbst der
Suizid wurde noch als Tat Dritter getarnt, um die Nachwelt über die eigene
Person zu blenden.
Sechzehn Jahre demonstrierte Helmut Kohl selbstgefällige Machtfülle, die bis
zur Selbstidentifikation mit dem Staat reichte und in korrupter Praxis
endete. Wenig später stand die 68er Generation zur Debatte mit ihren
angeblich bis heute unklaren Grenzziehungen gegenüber der Gewalt als Mittel
in der Politik. Der Krieg im Kosovo lehrte nicht wenige 68er und ihre
Gegner, wie schnell konkrete Umstände prinzipielle Positionen das Fürchten
lehren können.
Vier Mal hält der Psychotherapeut Hans-Jürgen Wirth sein psychoanalytisches
Brennglas über politische Szenarien der Zeitgeschichte, in denen
»Narzissmuss und Macht« wie siamesische Zwillinge der modernen Gesellschaft
sichtbar werden. Mikroskopisch genau und mit solider politischer Psychologie
untersucht er die Innenausstattung der Macht bis in die Zurichtung ihrer
Agenten und die Affekte der von ihr Betroffenen hinein.
Heraus kommt ein Meisterwerk politischer Psychoanalyse, in dem das Zeitalter
des krankhaften Narzissmus (die Psychologie kennt auch einen gesunden
Narzissmus) durch seine politischen Protagonisten verkörpert und
verständlich wird. Barschel, Kohl, die 68er und Milosevic sind machtvolle
Gestalter ihres Einflussbereiches, aber sie offenbaren zugleich die
Unterwerfungs- und Schutzbedürfnisse der Beherrschten. Denn diese erst
machen aus den Machtgierigen Mächtige. Wirth: »Dazu gehört auch die
Verzahnung der individuellen Psychopathologie des einzelnen Politikers mit
den politischen Strukturen, die er vorfindet.« Und weiter kann Wirth zeigen,
dass »gesellschaftliche Macht gesucht wird, um innere Gefühle von Ohnmacht,
Hilflosigkeit und Minderwertigkeit zu kompensieren. Macht übt deshalb gerade
auf solche Personen eine unwiderstehliche Anziehungskraft aus, die an einer
narzisstischen Persönlichkeitsstörung leiden. Ungezügelte Selbstbezogenheit,
Sieger-Mentalität, Karriere-Besessenheit und Größenfantasien sind
Eigenschaften, die der narzisstisch gestörten Persönlichkeit den Weg in die
Schaltzentralen der Macht ebnen.« Die Analyse führt aber in die Irre, wenn
eine kausale Kette korrumpierter und korrumpierender Macht einfach an den
Mächtigen befestigt wird. Denn es ist das »weit verbreitete Pauschalurteil,
alle Politiker seien entweder korrupt oder wahnsinnig, Ausdruck einer
zynischen und zugleich selbstgerechten Haltung, die Fehler nur bei anderen
wahrzunehmen bereit ist«. Insofern erkennen wir uns in den von Wirth
vorgestellten Analysen selbst wie in einem Spiegel. Denn zu jedem
narzisstisch Erkrankten gehören Komplementär-Narzissten, die ihm die
Steigbügel halten: Reiner Pfeiffer und Freya Barschel, Hannelore Kohl und
Wolfgang Schäuble, Mira Milosevic und die Serben. Das kann auch ein ganzes
Volk sein.
Hier leistet politische Psychoanalyse nicht nur Aufklärung bis hin zur
Selbstwahrnehmung, sondern fördert auch eine realitätsgerechtere, erwachsene
Haltung gegenüber Politik und ein angemessenes aktives Verhalten.
Ehe Wirth ans konkrete Werk geht, vermittelt er sein analytisches
Handwerkszeug, so dass die Leser in die Lage versetzt werden, ihm zu folgen
und ihre eigenen Schlüsse zu ziehen. Schließlich entpuppt sich sein Werk als
Lehrbuch der politischen Psychologie, im besten Sinne kombiniert aus gut
verständlichem Theorieteil und seiner praktischen Anwendung. Nach der
Lektüre ist nicht nur der Nutzen der Psychoanalyse für die Politik
offensichtlich, sondern für jeden, der von Politik betroffen ist, sich
politikverdrossen gibt oder dafür hält.
NORBERT COPRAY, NR. 20 - 2002 - Publik-Forum

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SOLIDARITÄT WELTWEIT
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08 RAWNEWS on Latin America - 30/11/02
From: "RAWNEWS" <rawnews@btopenworld.com>
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I will continue with occasional RN emails, especially on Latin America, but also where real issues blow up and where real resistance is mounted - PD
RAWNEWS on Latin America - 30/11/02
1) Elections in Ecuador - Nelson P Valdes
2) Venezuelan opposition calls general strike. - AFP
3) Colonel Ahead as Ecuador Campaigning Winds Up. - Reuters
4) Chiapas Today Bulletin No. 323
5) Powell: U.S.-Mexico Agreement Not Likely - Associated Press
6) Reich Named Latin America Envoy - Associated Press
7) COLOMBIA: Uribe in Talks with Paramilitaries - CSC (UK)

Elections in Ecuador
Nelson P Valdes
Lucio Gutierrez won elections in Ecuador (got 54.3% of the votes). He
represents the indigenous people and a faction of the military. His
government will work closely with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Lula in
Brazil. He ran against neo-liberal policies.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Venezuelan opposition calls general strike.
AFP (with additional material by Reuters). 21 November 2002.
CARACAS -- Opposition leaders Thursday -- ignoring talks aimed at
national reconciliation -- called a general strike for December 2
against the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"It's all part of our strategy," Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's
main CTV union federation.
Ortega called the strike minutes after Organization of American
States chief Cesar Gaviria asked the opposition to give the talks a
chance, prompting government officials to accuse opponents of
thwarting attemps to calm political tension.
OAS Chief Gaviria said, "It will be very difficult to maintain the
dialogue, if they go ahead with a decision like this."
"The proposed strike ... is criminal. It is a deliberate act of
terrorism against the people," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel
said in a statement.
"This is a strike with coup intentions," pro-Chavez National Assembly
President Willian Lara said.
Chavez enjoys firm support from among Venezuela's poorest citizens
but faces stiff opposition from business interests, mainstream media,
the middle and upper classes, and local Roman Catholic church
officials.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Colonel Ahead as Ecuador Campaigning Winds Up.
Reuters. 22 November 2002.
GUAYAQUIL -- Ecuadorean former coup leader Lucio Gutierrez wrapped up
his presidential campaign on Thursday vowing to end corruption and
give the poor health care and cheap housing, confident he would
trounce his rival, banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, in Sunday's election.
The 45-year old retired colonel, a leftist who won fame by aiding a
2000 Indian revolt that ousted then-president Jamil Mahuad during the
country's worst economic crisis in decades, has a big poll lead over
Noboa, who is Ecuador's richest man.
Riding into the balmy port city of Guayaquil on a truck, flanked by
supporters and wearing an olive-green uniform monogrammed with his
name, Gutierrez vowed to crush the corruption he said had sapped the
nation's wealth and left 60 percent of the population in poverty.
"We are going to fight against corruption, which has caused so much
damage and has mired the Ecuadorean people in poverty," a hoarse
Gutierrez said in a 90-minute speech.
The Thursday night end to his official campaigning came in a run-down
neighborhood in Ecuador's biggest city, which has two million
inhabitants.
Gutierrez is backed by indigenous groups, unions and a Maoist party.
Gutierrez's promises to crack down on corruption and improve social
services have resonated among voters in this nation of 12 million at
a time when leftists with a common touch have swept traditional
parties from power in two major Latin American nations -- Hugo Chavez
in Venezuela and president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil.
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Chiapas Today Bulletin No. 323
CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MÉXICO
22 de November de 2002
WARNING: GLOBALIZATION CAN BE
DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH
Recent studies in several countries confirm that corporate globalization can cause damage to our health. This idea comes from comparisons made by Dr. Stephen Bezruchka, School of Medicine of the University of Washington, of levels of inequality (the gap between the rich and the poor) in certain countries, and overall health, as measured by life expectancy.
Dr. Bezruchka and other researchers have come to the surprising conclusion that what s important in determining a country s state of heath is its degree of equality. The greater the inequality between rich and poor, the worse the population s health is. In countries with a more equal distribution of national wealth, the population enjoys better health.
Dr. Bezruchka recalls that since beginning to study medicine he wondered about the relatively poor state of health in the United States. He was shaken by the fact that Americans, with 5% of the world s population, spend 42% of worldwide expenditures on health, and yet suffered poor health as compared to other industrialized nations. Another disquieting fact is that over time Americans health continues deteriorating in relation to other countries with a similar level of development. (1)
Dr. Bezruchka drew up a list, which he called the Health Olympics , that ranks countries life expectancy, from best to worse. The winner of these Olympics is Japan, with a life expectancy of 81 years. Runners up are Sweden (79.6 years), Hong Kong (79.5), Iceland (79.2), Australia (78.9), Switzerland (78.9) and Canada (78.8). The United States, with a life expectancy of 77 years, is in 25th place, behind other countries with an inferior level of development such as Italy and Spain (78.5), Greece (78.2), Cyprus and Malta (78.0). The US is barely ahead of countries such as Costa Rica (76.5) and Kuwait (76.2). In fact, life expectancy of Costa Rican males is greater than that of US males. (2)
Even more surprising is the fact that the Japanese smoke on average four times as much as Americans. What s more, the Japanese, together with the Chinese, smoke more than any other nationality. How, then, to explain this apparent contradiction of a country whose inhabitants also win the smoking olympics and yet live longer than anyone? How do we explain a further contradiction of a country, the United States, that spends far more than any other on health, and yet has a comparatively low life expectancy?
These contradictions led Dr. Bezruchka to investigate further. And he found that the general health of a population has not so much to do with the degree of sophistication in heath care (medical attention in the US is among the most advanced and expensive). What appears to explain these contradictions is the prevailing degree of equality (or inequality).
Looking again at the Health Olympics , we see that countries that enjoy the longest life expectancy are also the most equal, either for cultural reasons (such as Japan), or due to public policy and tax rates that tend to level everyone s income (Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Island), and which in addition have state-run health services with universal coverage (Canada).
Dr. Bezruchka concludes then that if the United States is the richest and most powerful country on earth, but has the worse life expectancy among the industrialized nations, the reason lies with the growing inequality in the country, in addition to a health-care system controlled by large corporations and thus subject to the profit motive.
Since the present phase of capitalism began, which some call neoliberalism, and others corporate globalization, it has become commonplace to say that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. And the United States is no exception but, in addition, the widening gap between the middle class and the very rich has now reached scandalous proportions. And that s not even counting the poor, who are worse off.
Paul Krugman, economist at the University of Princeton, found that between 1979 and 1997, the income of the US s super rich, the 1% richest people, grew 157%, while the income of the middle class in the same period grew only 10%. Krugman adds that the gap has not closed since 1997, but rather continues to widen, concentrating the country s wealth, not only among the 1% richest, but principally among the 0.1% richest. In other words the 13,000 Americans that make up the 0.1% richest sector, with an average annual income of US$17 million, are becoming even wealthier, and quicker, than the other 99.9%. (3)
Krugman points out another tendency, that surely will jolt most Americans: their government is making decisions that favor wealthier folks, at the expense of the middle class and the poor. Of course Krugman says that it wasn t always so. There was a long period in which the government seemed to be working for the common good , particularly during and after Franklin D. Roosevelt s New Deal, and up to the arrival of Ronald Reagan s neoliberal presidency, when the tendency began to shift in the other direction.
Compare these tendencies to Japan. After World War II, the Japanese restructured their society to make it more horizontal than vertical, i.e., they made it more equitable. This can be seen, on the one hand, in the small difference between the highest and lowest salaries. For example, the Prime Minister of Japan earns hardly four times that of an average worker. In Japanese corporations, the CEO commonly makes 10 times an entry-level worker. On the other hand, in the US, CEOs make 475 times what a blue-collar worker makes. (4)
Japanese culture also demands greater equity. It is not uncommon to read that in Japan high-level executives at firms in financial difficulties take salary cuts rather than lay off their workers. We have seen in recent months the shabby behavior of CEOs in financially-strapped companies in the US: executives continue to channel through sleight-of hand schemes millions of dollars to their accounts, while employees are left unemployed and their retirement funds collapse due to bankruptcy. The cultural ambience is just different.
Furthermore, in Japan the gap between the rich and poor is the narrowest of any country. And Japanese society has also been characterized by its cohesiveness (unity), with a place, and respect for all (well, at least among Japanese. Non-Japanese minorities are discriminated).
In other words, when citizens feel a sense of unity amongst each other, when they do not observe great differences, the health of the population is better. And there are now many studies that confirm this psychosocial relationship. When people experience economic insecurity, when they have no control over their lives and their jobs, chronic stress and anxiety weaken their immune system, as Richard G. Wilkinson, researcher at the University of Sussex, England, has shown. (5)
Canada offers more evidence in this regard. Although the income gap has widened in Canada since the mid-80s, income distribution undertaken by the federal government through taxation has helped to level differences. Redistribution takes the form of unemployment insurance, social assistance, universal access to education and health, and this gives Canadians security, stability, confidence in the future and a greater sense of control over their lives. Which in turn in reflected in Canada by one of the highest life expectancies in the world. (6)
Doctor Bezruchka asks, What kind of a country will have a smaller gap between the rich and the poor? One in which people see one another as equals. The norms of behavior are those of friendship, support, cooperation, trust, sociability, and community. Those are healthy-sounding words. In societies where there is a big gap between the rich and poor, the way to get things done is through power, coercion and domination. People with no power feel resignation, submission and resentment. These aren t healthy feelings. The quality of the psychosocial environment determines a population s health. (7)
Doctor Dennis Raphael, of the University of York in Toronto confirms this, but specifically for heart-related illnesses. He states that both conceptual and empirical studies identify conditions such as poverty, social exclusion, and the growing economic gap as fundamental factors in determining the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in individuals and communities. (8).
Although the majority of these studies have been done in industrialized countries, the same relationship between economic equality and health holds in poor countries. For example, a study undertaken by Dr. Simon Hales of the Dept. of Public Health of Wellington, New Zealand, using national income data from 23 poor countries (GNP per head < US$1,000/year) and 15 richer countries (GNP per head > US$1,000), found that the average health of the population in these countries has to do with the distribution of income within the society. His investigations suggest that in poor countries (GNP per head < US$1,000) a substantial reduction in [the] infant mortality rate may be possible by decreasing income inequality or increasing GNP per head. In [richer] countries, reduction of income inequality is likely to be more effective in lowering infant mortality rates than further increases in GNP per head would be. (9)
For countries such as Mexico, conclusions from these studies have obvious implications for public policy. The most apparent is that it doesn t make much sense to dismantle or privatize the state institutions that, for better or worse, have given millions of Mexicans access to health, education, housing and food. It is undeniable that these structures need profound changes. But the weakening, privatization or disappearance of institutions such as the IMSS, ISSSTE, etc., and their subsequent transfer to the private sector, would in no way improve the general health of the population,. On the contrary, evidence in this and other countries indicates that the general health of Mexicans would plummet. And not just because the poor could not afford it, but also due to the psychosocial factors mentioned above, with the onset of chronic stress, when no health alternative would be available for the general population in times of need.
The need for greater equality in income distribution also becomes apparent. If we compare rich to poor, Mexico is one of the most unequitable countries in the world, and a profound revamping of the tax code, with greater taxes on high incomes, and not on consumption, as in now the case with the VAT (value added tax), would help to redistribute the nation s wealth. In taking similar steps to lessen structural injustice, we could also assure a future of more and better health for all Mexicans.
In conclusion, present tendencies dictated by corporate globalization, that increase the gap between rich and poor, must be reversed and defeated.
Notes in the text:
(1) Stephen Bezruchka, Societal hierarchy and the health Olympics , Canadian Medical Association Journal, June 12, 2001, p.1701.
(2) Data compiled for 2000 by S. Bezruchka, using the Human Development Report, UNDP (United Nations Development Program), New York, 2002, Oxford University Press.
(3) Paul Krugman, For Richer , Sunday magazine of the New York Times, October, 20, 2002.
(4) Stephen Bezruchka, Sick of it all: Economic Equality: Good for What Ails You , 2001, available on the internet at http://projects.is.asu.edu/pipermail/hpn/2001-January/002363.html
(5) Quoted in: Crawford Kilian, Nation s Health Depends on Equality, Not Wealth , Georgia Straight, Vancouver, Canada, June 8, 2000.
(6) Kilian, ibid.
(7) Bezruchka, Sick of it all , ibid.
(8) Dennis Raphael, Social Justice is Good for Our Hearts: Why societal factorsnot lifestylesare major causes of heart disease in Canada and elsewhere , Centre for Social JusticeFoundation for Research and Education, Toronto, 2002.
(9) Simon Hales, et. al., National infant mortality rates in relation to gross national product and distribution of income , The Lancet, Vol. 354, December 11, 1999, p. 2047.
Miguel Pickard
The Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C. CIEPAC,
CIEPAC is a member of the Movement for Democracy and Life (MDV) of Chiapas, the Mexican Network of Action Against Free Trade (RMALC) www.rmalc.org.mx, Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas (COMPA ) www.sitiocompa.org, Network for Peace in Chiapas, Week for Biological and Cultural Diversity www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad, the International Forum "The People Before Globalization", Alternatives to the PPP http://usuarios.tripod.es/xelaju/xela.htm, and of the Mexican Alliance for Self-Determination (AMAP) that is the Mexican network against the Puebla Panama Plan. CIEPAC is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Economic Justice http://www.econjustice.net and the Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean (EPICA) http://www.epica.org.
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CIEPAC, A.C.
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Powell: U.S.-Mexico Agreement Not Likely
Associated Press
By GEORGE GEDDA
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell, heading into talks with Mexican officials, said Monday a U.S.-Mexican migration agreement is highly unlikely soon because of the need to ensure the safety of the American people.
Flying here for a 24-hour visit, Powell said that although migration issues will be discussed, he is not prepared to offer specific proposals to the Mexican government.
A migration reform agreement that would give legal status to Mexicans working illegally in the United States has been a top priority of Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Powell told reporters that while President Bush ``has not lost his desire to move forward on this front,'' post-Sept.11 security concerns make an agreement impossible for the time being.
He also suggested that the strong Republican showing in the Nov. 5 congressional elections set back prospects for an agreement even further.
``Progress has not been as rapid as we would like because of intervening circumstances,'' Powell said, alluding to the Sept. 2001 terrorist attacks.
Later, Powell sounded a more optimistic note during an appearance before the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City.
Alluding to the migration issue, he said, ``I hope that in the year ahead we will see some progress. It is a priority and we will push forward.''
Some House Democrats, led by outgoing Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., are pushing hard for a migration reform agreement. Gephardt has proposed granting legal status to undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States for five years, worked for two years and have played by the rules.
Joining Powell here are a number of other Cabinet officers and other top officials, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, Education Secretary Rod Paige, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, Interior Secretary Gail Norton, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman.
Besides migration, several other troublesome issues are on the agenda, including Mexican complaints about U.S. agricultural subsidies and Mexico's water debt to the United States.
Powell expressed hope that in the next several weeks, Mexico will allocate Rio Grande water to Texas farmers so parched farmland in the state can produce.
``It's a serious problem in Texas,'' Powell said. ``They need the water. Agriculture in that part of Texas is in trouble without additional water.''
He said he had heard nothing from Mexican officials to suggest they will pay their water debt over the short term. The debt is tabulated on the basis of a 1944 treaty between the two countries.
The Bush administration's inability to move ahead on migration reform has stripped U.S.-Mexican relations of some of the warmth it had in the pre-Sept. 11 era. Fox believes the relationship has been dominated to an excessive degree by U.S. border security concerns.
George Grayson, a professor of government at the College of William and Mary, said Fox is hoping that a coalition of pro-immigration groups -- including union, business and Mexican-American lobbying organizations -- can help override resistance to immigration reform.
Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center of Migration Studies, said Fox has had no luck getting his domestic initiatives approved by the Mexican Congress and sees an immigration agreement with his northern neighbor as his best hope for a political breakthrough.
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Reich Named Latin America Envoy
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Otto Reich is being replaced as head of the Latin America bureau at the State Department but will provide expert advice as a special envoy for the region, a spokesman said Monday.
Richard Boucher said Reich, ``like other special envoys before him, will continue to have substantial responsibility in developing U.S. policies in the region.''
Reich was appointed assistant secretary by President Bush last January while Congress was not in session. A so-called recess appointment, it expired last Friday at the end of the congressional session.
He is an outspoken hawk on Cuba policy and has been at odds with increasing numbers of lawmakers who want to strengthen economic ties with Cuba and ease restrictions on travel to the island by Americans.
Curt Struble, a career foreign service officer and Reich's top deputy, was named to replace Reich as acting assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs. Boucher said Struble would be the bureau's most senior ``point man'' for the hemisphere.
Boucher said Reich would advise Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as represent the United States in the region.
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COLOMBIA: Uribe in Talks with Paramilitaries
CONTENTS
1. Colombian president confirms government is talking to right-wing paramilitaries.
2. Colombia Officials, Militia in Talks.
3. Colombia's Paramilitaries Agree to Cease-Fire.
Colombian president confirms government is talking to right-wing paramilitaries
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov. 25 - President Alvaro Uribe confirmed Monday that his government has sent officials to meet with right-wing paramilitary leaders to explore eventual peace negotiations.
Uribe has said his government won't negotiate with any of Colombia's armed groups before a unilateral cease fire is declared, a condition he repeated Monday.
''The government, through the high commissioner (for peace) has already had contact with spokesmen from the illegal self-defense
group for an eventual peace process, that would have as a prerequisite a commitment not to kill one more Colombian,'' he said.
He said no agreement had been reached, but the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, the nation's primary paramilitary organization, seemed to be willing.
Local media have reported the right-wing militia is preparing to declare a two-month cease-fire beginning in December. Roman
Catholic Church leaders have acknowledged their involvement in the preliminary talks as facilitators.
Bogota's archbishop and president of the Colombian bishop's conference told RCN radio the church was hoping to ''create a
space of confidence to see if it is possible to speak not with shots and death but rather, let's say in a rational manner, like
the men that we are.''
Despite press reports that the government was also trying to arrange talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or
FARC, in neighboring Venezuela, Uribe insisted Monday that any contact with the rebels would have to be through the United Nations.
Local media have reported the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government are considering talks in Venezuela, with France acting as a guarantee of the rebels' safety, to discuss an exchange of rebel hostages for jailed guerrillas.
French Ambassador Daniel Parfait said Monday he was unaware of any attempt to involve his country in negotiations.
Any eventual peace agreement would most likely involve amnesty deals for leaders of the armed groups. However, the United States has asked for the extradition of half a dozen Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia leaders, as well as the two commanders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.
The government of former president Andres Pastrana negotiated for three years with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, after ceding a piece of Colombia the size of Switzerland to the rebel group. The talks yielded nothing substantive and ended in February after the rebel group hijacked a domestic airliner and kidnapped a senator.
Colombia's 38-year civil war claims the lives of an estimated 3,500 people every year.

Colombia Officials, Militia in Talks
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Nov 24, 2002
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The Colombian government has been meeting secretly with an outlawed paramilitary group to explore possible peace negotiations, a government official said Sunday.
Government peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo and leaders of the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, have met several times, a source in Restrepo's office told The Associated Press. Catholic bishops have facilitated the talks, the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.
The AUC, which has been accused of committing the most human-rights violations in Colombia's civil war, even is prepared to declare a cease-fire, Colombian media reported Sunday. President Alvaro Uribe has demanded a cessation of hostilities as a precondition for any formal peace talks.
Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, president of the Colombian bishops conference, confirmed the AUC asked bishops in areas where the
militia group is most active to set up the meetings.
"They could not turn down facilitating" the talks, Rubiano told Caracol TV.
Some observers, however, say a future peace process will only work if both Colombian rebels and the paramilitary groups agree to a simultaneous cease-fire.
"If the paramilitaries take this step and the others don't, we will see a massacre of Colombians," warned Rubiano, implying that the
rebels could take advantage of the vulnerability of paramilitary members who lay down their arms.
Former President Andres Pastrana launched peace talks with rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, after giving them control of a Switzerland-sized zone of southern jungle and cattle ranches in late 1998.
But the talks conducted inside the zone went nowhere, so Pastrana called them off Feb. 20 and sent troops back into the safe haven.
Colombia's 38-year civil war pits the rebels against the government and paramilitary groups. About 3,500 people, mostly civilians, die each year in the fighting.

Colombia's Paramilitaries Agree to Cease-Fire
By Luis Jaime Acosta, Sun Nov 24
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia's largest far-right paramilitary force has agreed to a two-month cease-fire beginning
Dec. 1, following secret meetings with the government's top peace envoy, sources close to the negotiations said on Sunday.
The cease-fire by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia -- known in Spanish as AUC -- is seen as a first step in an eventual
peace process between President Alvaro Uribe and the outlawed anti-rebel army that could lead to demobilization of its 10,000
fighters and amnesty for militia leaders.
Signing a peace accord with the vigilante army could dramatically change the balance of forces in Colombia's 38-year guerrilla war,
which kills thousands of people every year.
The conflict pits Marxist rebels against paramilitaries and the U.S.-backed military. The AUC -- a well-financed militia blamed
for some of the worst atrocities in the war -- has doubled in size in the last few years, driving back leftist guerrillas from
traditional rebel strongholds.
Negotiations between the government's peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo and senior paramilitary commanders took place in absolute secrecy over recent weeks in paramilitary hide-outs in jungles in northern Colombia, Reuters learned. Five Catholic
bishops acted as mediators.
The apparent peace move by the AUC comes after the United States in September indicted paramilitary leader Carlos Castano on charges of smuggling 17 tones of cocaine. Washington is seeking Castano's extradition.
"In the last weeks, thanks to the mediation of the Catholic Church, several secret meetings were held between peace commissioner Restrepo and paramilitary leaders in which the possibility of starting a peace process was discussed," a person involved in the negotiations told Reuters.
Castano is set to announce the unilateral cease-fire in the next few days, sources said.
Uribe, who took office in August on a law and order platform and has launched an offensive against illegal armed groups, has been
under pressure to crack down on paramilitaries, whom rights groups say have links to hard-line sectors of the military.
Holding peace talks with the AUC would break a long-held political taboo in Colombia.
In the past, Colombian governments have held peace talks with theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- Latin America's oldest and most powerful guerrilla force known as "FARC" -- but never with the AUC.
AMNESTY FOR PARAMILITARY COMMANDERS?
Uribe, propelled to power by widespread frustration at failed peace talks between the 17,000-strong FARC and former president
Andres Pastrana, has said he is open to talks with any illegal armed group but has said a cease-fire is a precondition for
negotiations.
Sources close to the negotiations told Reuters government officials had discussed in the secret meetings the possibility
of granting amnesties or pardons to paramilitary commanders, including to Castano, if a peace accord were signed.
"The legal mechanism that would be applied (for amnesties of pardons) is being analyzed," one source told Reuters on
condition of anonymity.
Sources also told Reuters the government would seek financing to pay for the concentration and demobilization of militia
fighters if a peace settlement were reached.
An amnesty or a pardon would culminate Castano's efforts to gain political respectability and play a role in eventual peace
talks with leftist rebels, analysts said. A former army scout whose father was killed by rebels, Castano created the AUC in
1997 as a loose confederation of regional anti-rebel fighters.
But AUC massacres of peasants -- in some cases using chainsaws and hammers -- and its drug-trafficking links have caused Bogota and Washington to turn up the heat on Castano and sparked infighting inside the group's regional blocks.
A dissident paramilitary leader who did not participate in the negotiations told Reuters Washington's decision to indict and
seek Castano's extradition had pressured the warlord into seeking a peace agreement and an amnesty with the government.
In an interview with Reuters last September, the gruff-voiced, wild-eyed Castano said he had purged his army of drug-trafficking,
vowed to stop abuses and announced plans to surrender to the U.S. to prove he had nothing to do with drugs. He later said had faced a "dilemma" about turning himself in.
A peace accord with the AUC could pave the way for future peace talks with the FARC and the smaller Cuban-inspired National
Liberation Army, or ELN, analysts said.
Peace efforts in the past between the government and rebel groups have been hampered by rebel demands that the government crack down on paramilitaries. Uribe, who has been accused by opponents of harboring paramilitary sympathies, has invited the United Nations to bring rebels to the negotiating table.
The FARC and the ELN, which are largely peasant armies, say they are fighting for socialist ideals. Washington brands Colombia's illegal groups on the right and left "terrorists."
[Thanks to Paul Wolf]
Andy Higginbottom
Co-ordinator Colombia Solidarity Campaign
(Please send replies to colombia_sc@hotmail.com)

================================================
09 The War against Reason
From: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/
================================================
by Harold Pinter
There's an old story about Oliver Cromwell. After he had taken the Irish town of Drogheda the citizens were brought to the main square. Cromwell announced to his lieutenants: "Right! Kill all the women and rape all the men." One of his aides said: "Excuse me, general. Isn't it the other way around?" A voice from the crowd called out: "Mr Cromwell knows what he's doing."
That voice is the voice of Tony Blair -- "Mr Bush knows what he's doing."
The fact is that Mr Bush and his gang do know what they're doing and Blair, unless he really is the deluded idiot he often appears to be, also knows what they're doing. Bush and company are determined, quite simply, to control the world and the world's resources. And they don't give a damn how many people they murder on the way. And Blair goes along with it.
He hasn't the support of the Labour Party, he hasn't the support of the country or of the celebrated "international community". How can he justify taking this country into a war nobody wants? He can't. He can only resort to rhetoric, cliche and propaganda. Little did we think when we voted Blair into power that we would come to despise him. The idea that he has influence over Bush is laughable. His supine acceptance of US bullying is pathetic.
Bullying is, of course, a time-honoured US tradition. Addressing the Greek ambassador to the US in 1965, Lyndon Johnson said: "Fuck your parliament and your constitution. The US is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching, the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephant's trunk, whacked good."
He meant what he said. Shortly afterwards the colonels, supported by the US, took over in Greece and the Greek people spent seven years in hell.
As for the US elephant, it has grown to be a monster of grotesque and obscene proportions.
The terrible atrocity in Bali does not alter the facts of the case.
The "special relationship" between the US and the UK has, in the last 12 years, brought about the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Serbia. All this in pursuit of the US and UK "moral crusade" to bring "peace and stability" to the world.
The use of depleted uranium in the Gulf War has been particularly effective. Radiation levels in Iraq are appallingly high. Babies are born with no brain, no eyes, no genitals. Where they do have ears, mouths or rectums, all that issues from these orifices is blood.
Blair and Bush are of course totally indifferent to such facts, not forgetting the charming, grinning, beguiling Bill Clinton, who was apparently given a standing ovation at the Labour Party conference. For what? Killing Iraqi children? Or Serbian children?
Bush has said: "We will not allow the world's worst weapons to remain in the hands of the world's worst leaders." Quite right. Look in the mirror chum. That's you.
The US is at this moment developing advanced systems of "weapons of mass destruction", and is prepared to use them where it sees fit. It has walked away from international agreements on biological and chemical weapons, refusing to allow any inspection of its own factories.
It is holding hundreds of Afghans prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, allowing them no legal redress despite their being charged with nothing, holding them captive virtually for ever.
It is insisting on immunity from the international criminal court, a stance that beggars belief but which is now supported by the UK. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
Tony Blair's contemptible subservience to this criminal US regime demeans and dishonours this country.
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This text was first delivered as a speech to an anti-war meeting at the House of Commons.
Harold Pinter is a playwright, director, actor, poet and political activist.