Healthcare Unions Win Amnesty in El Salvador!

Friday, April 11, 2003

AMNESTY! After Seven-Month Long Strike, Healthcare Unions Win Amnesty Decree. Decree allows doctors, workers to return to work with back pay, no reprisals.               

In a decisive victory for the Salvadoran social movement together with the FMLN against ARENA's neoliberal economic model of privatization, the striking healthcare unions finally achieved their aim: a blanket amnesty. The decree, written by the unions and introduced by the FMLN, guarantees that all striking doctors and healthcare workers, including dozens of fired workers, can return to their original positions without fear of administrative reprisal. Scab doctors contracted during the strike will be reassigned to two new hospitals being opened in the outskirts of San Salvador. Every worker will receive a bonus check equivalent to the seven months' back salary owed them. In exchange, they will have to work overtime to accommodate the seven-month patient backlog for outpatient and non-emergency procedures suspended during the strike. The amnesty decree also recognizes workers' right to organize and condemns union-busting attacks, and requires the government to renegotiate the unions' contract in good faith. The unions were not able to achieve full amnesty against criminal charges; however, of the 60 strikers arrested over the course of the strike at different protests, not one has been found guilty.    

When the decree was finally passed at midnight on Thursday April 10th, FMLN legislators had been negotiating with other parties nonstop since 7:00am. The news of the decree broke like a wave over the strikers assembled at the Medical Surgical hospital, who spilled out into the streets in celebration of one of the most important labor victories in the last ten years. Another cheer broke out when Guillermo Mata, president of the Salvadoran medical college and one of seven doctors on hunger strike against privatization, announced the hunger strike was also over. FMLN legislative leader Schafik Hándal, who first introduced the amnesty decree last December, arrived at the hospital at 1:00am and was given a hero's welcome.   

But even while the strikers celebrated, they prepared themselves for the work yet to come. Workers will maintain the strike until the amnesty decree is signed into law and published in the Official Diary. Flores has already announced that he will not sign the decree, but rather send it back to the Legislative Assembly, in which case the Assembly must ratify it again, a process which could take weeks. But even if he vetoes the decree, the opposition in the incoming Assembly has enough votes to overturn the veto. Moreover, the unions expect a constant struggle to ensure that the Salvadoran government abides by the agreement. Striking workers also recalled that 18 youth arrested on Wednesday morning at a solidarity protest were still in jail under charges of public disturbances. They expressed their commitment to continue the struggle until every last protester was released without charges. Finally, whereas Flores's "pay or die" privatization scheme has been stopped for now, he will continue to seek privatization of health care by selling off services one by one. The strong popular movement against privatization must maintain a high level of organization against privatization of all public services, including health care. Yesterday's victory was an important one, but the struggle continues and there is much work to be done, and the role of international solidarity continues to be critical. 

While Nation is Distracted by Iraq, Colombia Military Aid Package Passed Behind Closed Doors

February 19, 2003

On Feb. 13, the House and Senate approved the federal budget for 2003.  Usually, the budget is broken up into 13 different bills (the foreign aid bill, defense bill, treasury/postal bill, etc).  However, because of delays last year, Congress wasn't able to pass the bills individually before they had to adjourn for the winter.  To pass the bills quickly this year, the new Congress lumped them all together into what is called an 'omnibus' bill, and passed them all at once.  This bill-- which totals more than $397 billion-- was so massive that they had to limit the debate and amendments that could be offered to it.  In fact, much of the bill was determined by Republican leadership behind closed doors.  No amendments on the Colombia aid included in the bill were allowed, and there was no debate on the Colombia issue. 

The omnibus bill that was just passed contains $700 million in aid for the Andean region for 2003.  The portion of the aid designated for Colombia-- which is overwhelmingly military-- can be used for both fumigation and Colombia's war.  The Bush Administration has signaled that it plans to increase the amount of land fumigated this year to 300,000 acres, and will start large-scale spraying of opium poppy this year in addition to coca.  The poppy spraying may have a drastic impact on the environment and legal food crops, since poppy is grown on steep valley hillsides, often near rivers (increasing the risk of water contamination by the herbicides) and is often inter-cropped with food staples such as corn and yuca.   

$93 million in additional 2003 aid will be used to train the Colombian military to guard an oil pipeline owned in part by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum.  

This amount adds to the over $500 million already approved for 2003. Analysts say that the increase could be a reward for the Colombian government’s support for the US war on Iraq.

Venezuela has proof Washington was behind failed coup 

CARACAS (AP) - A senior Venezuelan army general said the government of the South American country has proof the United States was involved in a short-lived coup against President Hugo Chavez last year. 

Army Gen. Melvin Lopez, secretary of Venezuela's National Defence Council, said Tuesday "proof exists" the U.S. administration was involved in the mid-April putsch. He declined to give further details. "We have the evidence," Lopez said during an interview broadcast by Venezuela's state-run television channel.  Lopez said three U.S. military helicopters were on Venezuelan territory during the coup. 

A spokesmen from the Pentagon declined comment on the allegation Tuesday night. 

Dissident generals rose up against Chavez on April 11, 2002, several hours after 19 Venezuelans died and over 100 were wounded by gunfire as opposition marchers clashed with government supporters in downtown Caracas. 

Loyalists in the military returned Chavez to power two days later. 

Following his return, Chavez said "worrying details" had emerged suggesting a foreign country might have been involved in his temporary overthrow.

Chavez said a coastal radar installation had tracked a foreign military ship and helicopter operating over Venezuelan waters a day after his ouster. Chavez did not say which country had sent the ship and helicopter but governing party legislators have accused the United States of helping execute the coup.

The U.S. administration has repeatedly denied it was involved in the coup but acknowledged having held conversations with Venezuelan opposition leaders and military officers prior to the rebellion against Chavez.

A month after Chavez returned, the U.S. Embassy denied allegations U.S. military vessels were in Venezuelan territory.

The embassy also rejected allegations by governing party legislators that two U.S. military officials who visited the Fuerte Tiuna military base in Caracas the day before Chavez's ouster were helping coup leaders.

Chavez, who has irritated Washington by forging ties with Cuban President Fidel Castro, has criticized the United States for being too slow in condemning the coup when it occurred.

In contrast to most Latin American governments, the United States was sluggish to condemn the coup, initially blaming Chavez for his own overthrow. It later joined members of the Organization of American States in condemning the coup as unconstitutional.

Last week, Chavez commemorated the one-year anniversary of his dramatic return to power by inviting anti-globalization activists to a series of forums in Caracas.

Opposition leaders condemned the celebration, saying it was an insult to relatives of the victims who died in the violence that occurred prior to the military uprising.

Excerpt from The Canadian Press, April 17, 2003

Increased Violence in the Montes Azules Biosphere, Chiapas, MX

Recent events in the Montes Azules Biosphere mark a rise in hostilities with a new attempt to forcibly relocate independent indigenous communities located within the Biosphere.

The latest move, led by a joint group of Mexican government agencies, including the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Federal Attorney for Protection of the Environment (Profepa) and the National Coordinator for Natural Protected Areas

(CONANP), transporting over 40 armed Lacandon and Chol Indigenous people to the community Nuevo San Rafael on April 12th, a Zapatista community, threatening to violently displace them if they do not relocate by Saturday, April 19th.

Nuevo San Rafael, also known as Ignacio Allende, is composed of 20 Zapatista families, displaced from both the Chiapas highlands and northern zone by paramilitary groups. Despite the openly violent threats by the Lacandones and Choles, Mexican government officials did not intervene, nor do they propose a peaceful solution via dialogue or negotiation.

The Urgent Action update prepared by the Social Justice Committee in Montreal, Canada is now on our website: www.rso.cornell.edu/cuslar and please take the time to send the letters to the addresses of Mexican President Vincente Fox and other Mexican officials. Alternatively you can send a fax to President Fox at: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/biodiversity/foxfax.html

Brazil Receives US$505 Million World Band Loan (AP) March 29, 2003

The World Bank on Saturday agreed to give Brazil US$505 million in loans aimed at boosting the country's funding of social programs to reduce hunger and poverty in this Latin American nation of 175 million people. World Bank President James Wolfensohn and Brazil's Finance Minister Antonio Palocci signed the loan agreement during a meeting in Brasilia, where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva explained the government's new social programs, including its flagship Zero Hunger plan. Wolfensohn said he was impressed with Brazil's efforts to bring about social justice and reduce poverty, and that the government's new programs were of an importance far beyond the country's borders. "If this experiment does not work here, we won't have chances anywhere else in the world," he said at a news conference. Silva, Brazil's first leftist president in 40 years, said at his inauguration on Jan. 1 that his top priority was to eradicate hunger among the estimated 46 million Brazilians who survive on less than US$1 (3.50 reals) a day. Brazil has to pay back the World Bank loan within 10 years, with a grace period of another 7 1/2 years, the World Bank said. The interest rate on the loan was about 9.5 percentage points below market average, Wolfensohn said. The bank currently supports 50 projects in Brazil, with a total portfolio of US$4.5 billion.

Worker-Controlled Bruckman Factory evicted, Buenos Aires (April 18)

The Brukman Garment Factory, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was evicted this morning (Friday, April 18th). Brukman was occupied by its workers during the economic crisis that erupted in December of 2001, when the owners claimed it was facing bankruptcy. Having no other option in an economically eroded country (with a 20-30 percent unemployment rate), the workers occupied the factory to retain their jobs. After a few months of occupation, the workers restarted production, managing the factory themselves. Brukman, under worker control, was managed by democratically-run assemblies and commissions of the workers. For almost a year and a half they have been producing and selling high quality suits. The workers have been fighting for the state to take ownership of the factory while maintaining it under worker control.

In the darkness of the early morning on Friday, April 18th, hundreds of  police came to evict the factory, ejecting the four workers on guard duty and taking pieces of the machinery. Hundreds, if not thousands of supporters have been rallying around the factory, saying they will stay until it is returned to the real owners: the workers.

This is a tragic event because the workers of Brukman have struggled and succeeded in providing solutions to the current Argentine economic crisis: working to maintain production and sources of work. Furthermore, the workers have shown that factories can be run without owners (who merely take the profits) and without managers controlling the workers. They've shown that workers can manage a factory and make work a source of dignity and community, rather than exploitation.

Factories should have more than an economic function, they should have a social function, providing dignified work and community to our societies. Join in this fight, and take steps to show your solidarity with the compañer@s of Brukman!

Brazil’s Attorney General Wants Drugs Decriminalized (from narconews.com)

April 17, 2003

The battle is on in the Lula administration to form a new drug policy, and the biggest gun yet has entered the battlefield on the side of Civil Society: Attorney General Márcio Thomaz Bastos.

Bastos, 67, longtime personal defense attorney for Brazilian President Lula da Silva dating from when Lula was a union leader at the helm of a "shadow government" in 1989, made his position crystal clear at an April 2nd congressional hearing in the capital city of Brasilia.

"I favor the decriminalization of drug use," Bastos told members of the Permanent Committee on the Constitution and Justice, according to a transcript obtained by The Narco News Bulletin.

Bastos, testifying before the Congressional Committee on various matters relating to the Ministry of Justice (akin to the U.S. Justice Department in Brazil), answered a question posed by Congressman Vicente Arruda, who asked:

"I would like to know… what you think about the decriminalization of drug use. I would also like to know if Your Honor will try to assemble a group to examine the problem with the goal of filing legislation that represents the consensus of this House."

Congressman Arruda said that drug decriminalization is "a point that I consider fundamental."
Bastos answered:

"Deputy Vicente Arruda spoke of the anti-drug law and its amendments, currently under review. There is also the legislation of Deputy Gabeira that seeks to reduce the penalties. I find that the legal norms are deformed and mutilated and effectively need to be reformed in order to be effective. I favor the decriminalization of drug use, and the addition of substitute measures, in order to achieve more effectiveness in the application of the law and to avoid a situation in which users fall into the hands of the police."

Thus, the Attorney General of the nation of Brazil went beyond endorsing merely the concept of drug decriminalization. He also spoke favorably about a specific drug legalization bill: one filed by Congressman Fernando Gabeira of Rio de Janeiro, a longtime proponent of legalization.