Rapid changes among ministers damage Uribe’s credibility

When he took office 15 months ago, President Alvaro Uribe said his ministers would remain with him throughout his four-year term, a pledge aimed at casting an image of stability and purpose in a country where governments are usually scorned.

Uribe’s reputation has been tarnished with the recent resignations, in quick succession, of three cabinet ministers, the armed forces commander and the chief of the Colombian National Police.

Political analysts see the changes as an essential house cleaning in the wake of Uribe’s first political defeat: the rejection by voters of a referendum that would have handed him new powers over state spending.

Cabinet shake-ups are common here and elsewhere in Latin America after political setbacks.

But the resignations here, announced one day after the other in dour news conferences without explanation, have confused Colombians and raised questions about whether Uribe’s right-leaning administration is running rudderless.

Alvaro Uribe, an Oxford-trained technocrat who won the presidency pledging to battle Marxist rebels and root out corruption, still enjoys widespread popularity.

But now more than ever, he must assure Colombians that he still has the steady hands to guide this troubled country of 40 million through more obstacles. The loss of the referendum now means Mr. Uribe must try to obtain the fiscal controls he seeks by pushing legislation through Congress, which he wants approved within a month.

The Congress, though, has been emboldened by the failure of Uribe’s referendum. Colombia, which had shifted to the right with Mr. Uribe’s election in May of 2002, has also shown itself to be more open to the left.

In national municipal elections on Oct. 26, Bogota, the capital and the country’s largest city, elected a union organizer and former communist as mayor, Luis Eduardo Garzon.

The country’s second- and third-largest cities also elected left-leaning independents. (NY Times)


US Casualties from Iraq War top 9,000

The number of U.S. casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom -- troops killed, wounded or evacuated due to injury or illness -- has passed 9,000, according to new Pentagon data.

In addition to the 397 service members who have died and the 1,967 wounded, 6,861 troops were medically evacuated for non-combat conditions between March 19 and Oct. 30, the Army Surgeon General’s office said.

That brings total casualties among all services to more than 9,200, and represents an increase of nearly 3,000 non-combat medical evacuations reported since the first week of October. The Army offered no immediate explanation for the increase.

Of the non-combat medical evacuations:

• 2,464 were for injuries, such as those sustained in vehicle accidents.

• 4,397 were due to illness; 504 of those were classified as psychiatric, 378 as neurological, and another 150 as neurosurgery.

In early October, the Army Surgeon General’s office said 3,915 soldiers had been evacuated from Operation Iraqi Freedom for non-combat injuries and illnesses, including 478 with psychological problems and 387 for neurological reasons.

The new total of 6,861 reported non-combat evacuations is a rise of 57 percent since then.

The numbers don’t include service members treated in theater or those whose illnesses -- such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder -- were not apparent until after they returned to the United States. (UPI)

Barundi government, rebel group sign final peace pact

The transitional national government of Burundi and the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) rebel group led by Pierre Nkurunziza finalised peace negotiations on Nov. 16 and signed an agreement endorsing political, defence and security power sharing in the war-torn country.

At the same time, the 20th summit of the Great Lakes regional peace initiative on Burundi gave the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) rebel faction led by Agathon Rwasa three months to enter negotiations with the government or face the consequences of regional action, which also appealed to the international community to support the cash-strapped peace initiative.

In a statement issued at the end of the two-day summit, the region’s leaders also requested that the UN consider sending a peacekeeping operation to Burundi given the “qualitative change that has taken place following the signing of the Pretoria Protocols which have created a total condition of peace and stability in over 95 percent of the territory in Burundi”.

The regional initiative on Burundi was established to try to put an end to the decade-long civil war that has claimed at least 300,000 Burundian lives.

The summit finalised the political, defence and security power sharing agreements signed in Pretoria on 8 October and on 2 November between the CNDD-FDD and the government. The region welcomed the commitment by the two parties to permanently cease hostilities, establish the rule of law, form a national army and establish power sharing, the statement issued said. (UN IRIN)

Dozens killed as suicide bombers target Istanbul synagogues

Suicide car bombers attacked two synagogues in Istanbul on Nov. 15, killing at least 23 people and injuring about 100 more.

A militant Turkish Islamic group claimed responsibility for the blasts, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

One explosion went off outside the Neve Shalom synagogue, the city’s largest. The other severely damaged the Beth Israel synagogue in the affluent district of Sisli, three miles away, where members of the city’s tiny Jewish, Armenian, Greek communities live.

Twisted metal, shattered windows and debris from partly collapsed synagogues and nearby buildings filled the streets. The scent of smoke and burned bodies filled the air.

Television footage showed medical teams carrying away several people, some with bloodied or charred faces. Private NTV television showed the twisted wreckage of a car and a huge crater in front of the Neve Shalom.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said 23 people were killed, while the semiofficial Anatolia news agency said more than 80 were wounded.

In a telephone call to the Anatolia news agency, a person claiming to be from the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders’ Front said the militant group was responsible for the attacks, and promised more.

The caller said “the attacks would continue in the future and the reason was that to prevent the oppression against Muslims,” Anatolia said. (AP)

Israeli memo suggests failure to honor ‘road map’ commitments

Amid signs of a faint thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations, details are emerging of an Israeli government memo which admits that Israel failed to honour key obligations under the stalled “road map” for peace.

Leaked to Reuters, the memo says that instead of honoring its commitment to evacuate new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Israel had “sought in every way to whitewash their existence and build more”.

The news agency says the memo, leaked by “government sources,” concluded Israel lacked international credibility because of its failure to follow the road map or come up with its own “creative ideas” to end the conflict.

News of the memorandum’s existence follows recent Israeli government decisions to build hundreds of new homes in existing settlements and extend recognition and support to several new “outpost” settlements slated for demolition under the road map.

As well, plans for Israel’s new separation barrier show it dipping deep inside occupied Palestinian territory to encompass more than 50 settlements regarded internationally as illegal.

Human rights groups say that despite the government’s road map commitment to dismantle dozens of new “outpost” settlements set up by far-right religious nationalist Jews, only one inhabited outpost had in fact been removed and this was soon replaced by another nearby. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Peasants in rural Mexico claim army brutality

Indian peasants of Mexico’s rural hinterlands, once a hotbed for guerrilla movements, tell of daily harassment and frequent brutality at the hands of military troops.

More concerned with domestic security than foreign threats, Mexico’s army has increasingly taken on policing duties — with 30,000 troops deployed in the drug war every day — at a cost to human rights, experts say.

In rural enclaves, especially in conflict-ridden Guerrero, Chiapas and Oaxaca states, local leaders say the social fabric unravels in the face of an intimidating military presence.

Children stay home from school, men avoid working the fields, neighbors and even spouses turn against each other.

Rights groups say some women refuse to tell even their own families when they suffer sexual abuse from soldiers for fear they will be abandoned.

Although never associated with the brutality of other Latin American military regimes, Mexico’s army is blamed for a “dirty war” against suspected leftists in the 1960s and 1970s, waged largely in the countryside.

Peasant leaders say their communities are still targeted in a below-the-radar counterinsurgency campaign by the military that intimidates poor, mainly indigenous civilians.

Mexico’s rights ombudsman documented a series of civilian deaths at the hands of soldiers in the past three years. Among them, a 14-year-old Guerrero boy bled to death after being shot in the leg, and a man died in the western state of Colima when soldiers fired on an outdoor meeting of recovering alcoholics. (Reuters)

US Senate backs Syria sanctions

The upper house of the US Congress has overwhelmingly backed a bill on Nov. 11 to slap sanctions on Syria if it fails to address long-standing security issues.

Senators backed the bill after a similar show of support in the House of Representatives in October.

The bill allows President George W Bush to impose sanctions if Syria is found to be backing terror groups or acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The Senate amended the bill, meaning it must now go back to the House.

No senator spoke against the bill, which bans any US trade with Syria in items which could be used in weapons programs.

It also allows the president to choose at least two other sanctions such as barring US businesses from investing in Syria, restricting travel in the US by Syrian diplomats or banning exports of US products other than food and medicine to Syria.

Trade between the two countries is paltry -- around $150 million a year - and Syria receives no US foreign aid.

The biggest losers could be American companies who have been recently been contracted by Damascus to explore for oil.

The Bush administration was at one stage reluctant to pursue sanctions against Syria despite Congressional support but changed its stance after accusing Damascus of failing to curb Palestinian and Lebanese guerrilla groups.

US officials have also voiced concern that foreign militants fighting the US-led coalition in Iraq enter the country from Syrian territory. (BBC)

Powell visits Nicaragua, students protest

US Secretary of State Colin Powell paid an official visit to Nicaragua on Nov. 3 and 4, following a brief stopover in Panama the morning of Nov. 3 to attend celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Panama’s independence from Colombia. Powell’s visit to Nicaragua was the first by a US secretary of state since 1992.

The focus of Powell’s talks with the Nicaraguan government was reportedly a US demand that the army “completely eliminate” its stock of some 2,000 Soviet-made surface to air SAM-7 missiles. Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños was non-committal.

As he flew from Nicaragua to Honduras on the afternoon of Nov. 4, Powell reminisced with reporters on the plane about the time he spent lobbying the US Congress in 1987 for aid for the US-sponsored contra rebels, who were seeking to overthrow the elected government of Nicaragua, then headed by the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). He expressed satisfaction that “the dictatorial Sandinista regime at least isn’t in power.... And we hope to keep them out of power and to help the Nicaraguan people have power.” Several hours after Powell left on Nov. 4, some 5,000 university students marched in Managua to protest the visit and to demand that National Assembly deputies not approve a cut in the budget for state-run universities. The Nicaraguan Constitution, passed under the FSLN government, calls for 6 percent of the national budget to be allocated to state universities. With the current budget estimated at $1 billion, the universities should receive some $60 million, but the Finance Ministry has announced a $8 million cut as part of an overall budget cut the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is demanding as a condition for loans. The students carried a giant banner reading: “Colin Powell, you are the terrorists. Out of Iraq!” (Weekly Update On the Americas)

Nigerian AG: Let the people decide on death penalty

Nigerian Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi has called for widespread consultations and opinion forum on the issue of the death penalty in the country; claiming the citizens must be given the opportunity to participate fully in discussions on the issue.

Olujinmi made the call in Lagos while delivering a keynote address at a forum on national dialogue on death penalty in Nigeria.

“The dividends of democracy should include a practical shift from the unaccountable, non-consulting regimes to an open and transparent system of governance with greater space for civil society to contribute to legislation that affects their lives. This National Dialogue on Death Penalty is in furtherance of this process,” he said.

He claimed the federal government had no position on the issue of whether or not to retain the death penalty in the laws of Nigeria.

He also claimed government welcomes multiplicity of discourse on the death penalty grounded in different cultures and religions, believing that different visions contribute to peoples’ understanding of the many issues involved. (This Day (Lagos))

Zapatista rebels mark 10th anniversary of uprising

Mexico’s Zapatista rebels on Monday began commemorations of the 10th anniversary of their Jan. 1, 1994, armed uprising by looking into their past and revealing new details about how the movement was founded 20 years ago. In a taped message to supporters, rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos said the Zapatistas were founded by a group of six inexperienced leftist activists on Nov. 17, 1983 -- nine months before he himself joined.

By Dec. 1993 the movement had grown to 4,500 combatants and 2,000 reserves, according to Marcos, who also confirmed that the guerrillas were behind a May, 1993 clash between previously unidentified assailants and Mexican army troops.

The original uprising coincided with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The 1994 uprising also marked an upsurge in indigenous movements from Ecuador to Bolivia, and changed attitudes among Mexican policy makers on Indian issues.

After 12 days of fighting, a cease-fire was declared, but the rebels say a peace agreement will only come when constitutional amendments are passed to grant autonomy to the 10 percent of Mexicans who are Indians. Since the cease-fire, the movement has been largely confined to its original areas of influence in Chiapas. (AP)