The Panama News V5:14 Americas Briefs Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - pmanews@panama.c-com.net (Panama News) The Panama News 5-14, International page AMERICAS BRIEFING Abductions condemned While the Colombian government's attempts to reach a peace accord with the FARC rebels continues, spectacular kidnappings by the country's second-largest leftist guerrilla group, the ELN, have prompted worldwide condemnation and diminished the chances of a truce with the latter force. The ELN's May 30 kidnapping of more than 100 worshippers at a Catholic church, "so that they could feel the fury of war," according to a rebel commander, incited a June 6 protest march in which some 300,000 people converged on downtown Cali to demand an end to kidnappings. Joining the chuch in condemning the abductions, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and even FARC denounced the ELN. "We cannot agree with these types of actions against churches because people's religious beliefs must be respected," said FARC spokesman Razl Reyes. FARC itself has been known to kidnap and murder missionaries. Antigua witchcraft case A court in Antigua and Barbuda has fined Patrick Joseph, a citizen of Dominica, $1,850 for Obeah. Two alleged accomplices await trial. Obeah is a Caribbean religion with West African roots and practices similar to Santeria and Voodoo, and it's a crime under an Antiguan law that's a vestige of the old English witchcraft statute. The case arose from a police raid on the home of a couple suspected of insurance fraud. The cops found police inspector and insurance executive dolls and arrested the couple and their Obeah priest, Mr. Joseph. In court Joseph proclaimed "Of course I'm an Obeah man," which was accepted as a guilty plea. The judge imposed a fine in lieu of burning at the stake. Trinidad executions On June 4, 5 and 7 Trinidad and Tobago authorities hanged nine men who in 1994 killed a family of four because one of its members wanted to quit their drug gang. The executions were carried out at the Royal Jail in Port of Spain. Though press and other public witnesses were not allowed at the execution, copious amounts of blood on some of the gang members' coffins indicated that a hangman's imprecise calculations resulted in at least one of the condemned men's decapitation. Outside the jail a handful of Catholic nuns and anti-death penalty activist Ishmael Samad held a lonely protest vigil, and a number of international human rights groups, Nobel laureates and religious figures condemned the hangings. However, the great majority of Trinidadians supported the executions and Prime Minister Basdeo Panday's office issued a press statement saying that the resumption of hangings after a five-year hiatus was meant to be "a strong message to the criminal element." Socialist wins primary The incumbent parties in Chile recently chose their nominee for upcoming presidential elections, turning away from the dominant faction. On May 31 Chile's ruling center-left coalition held a presidential primary in which Socialist Ricardo Lagos trounced Andris Zaldivar, who's a member of President Eduardo Frei's Christian Democratic Party. Chile's general election will take place in December. Lagos, whose candidacy Frei embraced after the primary vote, is way ahead of the divided right-wing and far left opposition hopefuls in early opinion polls. Police chief busted, politicians routed On June 3 former Port-au-Prince police chief Jean-Colls Rameau was arrested in the Dominican Republic as he tried to board a plane bound for the United States, and was extradited to Haiti two days later. Rameau is accused of ordering a May 28 police raid on the Carrefour Feuilles shantytown in which 11 people were shot to death. Prosecutors claim that Rameau personally shot at least one of the victims. The 11 victims' funeral was held on June 12, and when Premier Jacques-Edourd Alexis and Justice Minister Camille Leblanc arrived at St. Gerard Catholic Church in the capital to pay their respects mourners began shouting at them and throwing stones, forcing the officials to flee. The crowd then poured out of the church and into the streets, where they fought police for several hours. The government blamed the disturbances on followers of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who is running for his old job in next year's election. The Aristide camp disavowed the disturbances, but blamed Alexis for inciting them. OAS evolving At the recent OAS summit in Guatemala City the hemisphere's foreign ministers put Latin American concerns at the top of their agenda and paid little attention to US suggestions. Guatemalan Foreign Minister Eduardo Stein said that the OAS, which originated 51 years ago to promote US Cold War policies, is turning into "an organism of dialogue and political consensus that the hemisphere needs for the next century." An American proposal for a multinational force to combat drug traffickers and "narco-guerrillas" prompted much criticism but did not get a place on the meeting's agenda. The summit produced agreements to share information about international arms transactions and to draft an inter-American treaty banning discrimination against the handicapped. The foreign ministers also re-elected former Colombian President Cisar Gaviria to another five-year term as OAS Secretary-General. WORLD BUSINESS Teletubby invasion Much to the chagrin of religious conservatives in the United States, the Teletubbies are invading Latin American airwaves. The British television show, which is designed for toddlers, is already available on most Latin American cable systems via the Discovery Kids network. Now the show's producer, Ragdoll Produc-tions Ltd, has contracts to televise the Teletubbies on one of Panama's Medcom networks (Telemetro or RPC) and 12 other Latin American broadcasting chains. The show already airs on national TV in Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela. Reverend Jerry Falwell's National Liberty Journal claims that, because one of the characters is lavender, wears a triangle and carries a purse, the Teletubbies promote homosexuality. Philippines challenge WTO mandates Filipino President Joseph Estrada wants to modify a World Trade Organization deadline for his country to eliminate local manufacturing content laws and change its system of import valuations. The Philippines require that all products manufactured there must include some materials from national sources, up to 40 percent in the auto industry. They also base their valuation of imports on the price of the same goods in the country of origin, while the WTO wants Filipino Customs to assess on the basis of importers' invoices. The global trading panel takes its position at the behest of multinational manufacturers, who stand to pay lower taxes and raw material prices if the Philippines changes its rules as required by the WTO's Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) Agreement. Continental and COPA begin codesharing On June 10 Houston-based Continental Airlines and Panama's COPA began to phase in a joint flight reservation system. Last year Continental bought a minority share in COPA, and the codesharing agreement will allow better coordination of the two carriers' flights and one-stop ticketing, baggage check-in and seat selection when connecting from one airline to the other. MDs want Cubans out The Colegio Medico de Honduras, which represents 6,000 doctors, the great majority of whom practice in Tegucigalpa, wants to expel a Cuban medical brigade that has provided free health care to more than 400,000 rural Hondurans since Hurricane Mitch ravaged that country seven months ago. The doctors argue that since the Cuban doctors don't have degrees certified by a Honduran university, they're not qualified to practice medicine. Barrier-free cruise line Royal Caribbean International, a cruise ship line, has announced its "Accessible Seas" program to accomodate passengers with disabilities. The company's ships have been modified to allow people in wheelchairs to move about on their own and to provide for the needs of blind people who use leader dogs. Swiss return bribes On June 7 the Swiss government handed some $4.5 million to a Buenos Aires court. The money was seized from the Geneva bank accounts of former Argentine government officials, who had received it from IBM in exchange for a contract under which the state-owned banks bought the company's machines and software. IBM denies all wrongdoing, but no longer bids for public sector contracts in Argentina. Aeroperu rescued US-based Continental Airlines has purchased a 49 percent share in Aeroperu for about $30 million. The airline stopped flying in March, due to a $174 million debt and the withdrawal of backing from Delta and Aeromexico airlines. The airline will take to the skies again on June 22. n ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-06.19.99-17:14:44-18583