LETELIER ASSASSIN STILL NOT BEHIND BARS SANTIAGO DE CHILE, AUGUST 2, 1995 Chilean President Eduardo Frei and current army chief and former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet met for an hour on August 1 to discuss civilian-mili- tary relations. Tensions were aroused by the May 30 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the 1993 conviction of two military gener- als for plotting the 1976 assassi- nation of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier and his U.S. aide Ronni Moffit in Washington, D.C. Retired Gen. Manuel Contreras, the head of the DINA, Chile's secret police, during the early years of the dictatorship, and his second-in-command Brig. Gen. Pedro Espinoza were sentenced to seven and six years, respectively. Chilean police arrested Espinoza on June 20, after he eluded capture for three weeks with the tacit support of the mili- tary. Contreras, however, contin- ues to resist going to prison. On June 11, he took refuge at a mili- tary base near his private ranch for 11 hours. Two days later, with the support of the army and navy, he was spirited by air to a naval hospital in Talcahuano, where he remains. His lawyers claim that he is suffering from such ail- ments as high-blood pressure, diabetes, and a hernia. The meeting between Frei and Pinochet came after a 300-car motorcade carrying many senior active-duty military officers descended upon Punta de Peuco prison in a July 22 demonstration of solidarity with Espinoza. The prison, where Espinoza is being held, was specially built for mili- tary officers convicted of human rights abuses. Some believe that Frei called the meeting with Pinochet to urge him to remind his subordinates of their constitutional duty. Others speculate that Pinochet encour- aged the officers' participation in the demonstration to put pressure on Frei not to imprison Contreras, and to pass a punto final law that would close all human rights cases pending against members of the armed forces. Pro-democracy politicians and human rights groups said that the democratic process in Chile had been compromised by the mili- tary's initial defiance of civilian authority and that while they were encouraged by Espinoza's arrest, the constitutional crisis would not end until Contreras goes to jail. -- InterPress Service NEW AMNESTY LAW IN PERU LIMA, JULY 8, 1995 Shen President Alberto Fujimori signed a contro- versial amnesty bill on June 14, the simmering battle that has marked his relationship with human rights groups during his first term in office erupted again. The bill, passed by a 47-11 vote in the Fujimori-controlled legisla- ture, absolves military, police and civilians for any human rights abuses or other criminal acts committed from May, 1982 through June 14, 1995 if they were related to the counterinsur- gency war. The amnesty law, quickly signed by Fujimori the day after it was passed, promptly resulted in the release of those convicted in the 1992 kidnapping and mur- der of a professor and nine stu- dents from the Enrique Guzmin y Valle University outside Lima. According to the National Human Rights Coordinating Committee (CONADEH), the law will also absolve those guilty of eight other massacres in which hundreds of people were killed. While backers of the amnesty law justified the measure as nec- essary for "national reconcilia- tion," opposition political groups, human rights organizations, fam- ilies of victims, and church lead- ers were all quick to denounce the legislation. -NotiSur CAMPAIGN TO RELEASE PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE LONDON, JULY 21, 1995 undreds of Peruvian politi- cal prisoners, accused of crimes of "terrorism," have been anxiously waiting to hear whether they will be released shortly. There have been persis- tent rumors that President Fujimori might try to improve his government's poor international reputation by releasing at least some prisoners of conscience as a way to "balance" the amnesty law passed in June. According to Amnesty Inter- national, there are several hundred prisoners of conscience (POCs) in Peru, in addition to thousands of imprisoned members of guerrilla organizations. Virtually all these people were sentenced by Peru's "faceless" judges-anonymous individuals, often military officers without legal training, who sit in judgment of detainees accused of crimes of terrorism. POCs are people who have not advocated or engaged in acts of political vio- lence, yet who in many cases have been accused of crimes of terror- ism, the definition of which was considerably broadened by the government two years ago. The case of the environmental- ists Maria Elena Foronda Farro and Oscar Dfaz Barboza has become the subject of an interna- tional campaign by Amnesty and environmental groups such as Greenpeace. Arrested in Sep- tember, 1994, the two activists Vol XXIX, No 2 SEPT/OCT 19951 1 Vol XXIX, No 2 SEPT/OCT 1995NEWSBRIEFS received prison sentences of 20 years for alleged crimes of terror- ism. Critics contend that their real crime was organizing grass- roots protests against the pollu- tion caused by fish-processing factories in the town of Chimbote. The head of the Peruvian armed forces is a director of one of these factories. Maria Elena Foronda and many other prisoners were convicted under the so-called Repentance Law, which was in force from May, 1992 to October, 1994. Under that law, captured mem- bers of Shining Path and the Ttipac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) were able to secure their own release by accus- ing other people of membership in guerrilla organizations. This led to many false accusations against environmental and com- munity activists who oppose the use of violence-people whom the guerrillas often perceive as enemies. Foronda was impris- oned on the basis of accusations made by an imprisoned member of the MRTA, even though she is a known reformist. -Richard Gillespie THE PRI BUYS AN ELECTION IN TABASCO MEXICO CITY, AUGUST 3, 1995 Sixteen boxes of documents surreptitiously delivered to the opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) have revealed that Mexico's rul- ing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) spent $237 million new pesos-$68 million dollars, about 60 times the legal limit- on a gubernatorial election in the southeastern state of Tabasco last November. This comes to about $800 pesos ($235 dollars) for every vote garnered by the PRI. The documents, which corrobo- rate long-standing accusations of illicit campaign spending by the PRI, were delivered to the oppo- sition in a clearly calculated man- ner, sparking angry discussions about "traitors" within the ranks of the world's oldest continually ruling party. On November 20, 1994, PRI gubernatorial candidate Roberto Madrazo defeated his PRD oppo- nent, Andr6s Manuel L6pez Obrador, in an election tainted by accusations of fraud. The watch- dog organization Civic Alliance dismissed the process as a "per- fect farce," and a subsequent report by two senior officials at the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) confirmed that irregularities were widespread. In response, the PRD launched a civil-disobedi- ence campaign to force Madrazo's resignation, in the process shutting down one-third of the extensive government- owned oil facilities in the state. In January, President Ernesto Zedillo reportedly agreed to hold new elections in Tabasco as part of his national political accord. When the news reached the state, however, thousands of militant priistas responded by shutting down the state capital, Villa- hermosa, and assaulting PRD activists. Zedillo buckled under the pressure, and in May publicly affirmed his support for Madrazo during a visit to Tabasco: "We will work together until the year 2000," he said. On June 5, while L6pez Obrador and his supporters were camped out in Mexico City's main square after a 41-day protest march from Tabasco to the capi- tal, unidentified men unloaded the boxes from a truck and quick- ly disappeared. Fifteen PRD staffers spent four days examining thousands of check stubs, ledgers, invoices and receipts-the financial archive of the PRI in Tabasco-- before announcing their find. The documents reveal a labyrinthine network of patronage and corruption. Among those who received money were religious leaders, businesspeople, members of opposition parties-including the PRD-and PRI stalwarts at every level. A significant portion of the total was spent on thousands of vehicles to take voters to the polls, as well as outrageously high fees for Madrazo's political advisors. But many Mexicans have yet to learn the full details of "Tabasco- gate" because the national media, and particularly the pro-govern- ment Televisa network, have been reluctant to cover the story. Newspapers in Tabasco, mean- Weekly News Update on the Americas Concise news items compiled from a wide variety of sources, including English-, Spanish- and French- language press and electronic and popular media. Covers Central and South America and the Caribbean. One-year subscription: $25 Electronic and pnnt editions Free one-month trial subscription 339 Lafayette St New York, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 e-mail: nicanet%transfroblythe.org oaf6 Oro de Ometepe Socially Responsible Premium Arabica Coffee from Nicaragua This medium-bodied low-acid coffee is grown organically on Lake Nicaragua's Ometepe Island. Purchased from cooperatives for a fair price, the beans are roasted to perfection on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound. The Bainbridge-Ometepe Sister Islands Association is a volunteer, tax-exempt organization. All income from purchases is returned to Ometepe for critically needed public health, education and water projects. 1-lb vacuum bag $9.75 (Postpaid USA) Wholesale & volume discounts available Order from BOSIA, P.O. Box 4484 Rollingbay, Washington 98061-0484 or call 800-400-2233 NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS while, have consistently misrepre- sented or ignored the PRD's charges against Madrazo. The documents are currently in the possession of the federal attor- ney general's office, though PRI officials in Tabasco insist that the case should be handled by state judicial authorities, many of whom have direct ties to Madrazo. The PRD, as well as the conservative PAN, is demanding Madrazo's res- ignation. L6pez Obrador-a top candidate to succeed Porfirio Mufioz Ledo as the PRD's presi- dent-said on July 19 that if the attorney general fails to act deci- sively, his party will mount a renewed civil-disobedience cam- paign and take the case to the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States in Washington. "We will call attention," said L6pez Obrador, "to the fact that a candi- date for governor of a Mexican state spent more money in his cam- paign than President Clinton spent in his." -Scott Sherman PRO-ARISTIDE FORCES WIN HAITI ELECTIONS PORT-AU-PRINCE, AUGUST 1 Preliminary results from Haiti's June 25 legislative and local elections showed that the three- party coalition, Lavalas Political Organization (OPL), backed by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will control both houses of the leg- islature as well as the governments of most major cities. Although most opposition parties protested the elections, international observers, including U.S. and UN officials, called them legitimate. They claimed that irregularities in the process were due largely to inadequate infrastructure and technical capaci- ty, not deliberate fraud. In the important race for mayor of Port-au-Prince, popular leftist folk singer Emmanuel Charle- magne defeated the incumbent, Evans Paul, once a close ally of Aristide. Charlemagne took 45% of the vote to Paul's 18%. Paul, who spent most of the years following the 1991 military coup in hiding, is seen by many as the U.S. choice to replace Aristide. During the cam- paign, Charlemagne criticized the U.S. invasion that made possible Aristide's return to power, and he also questioned the channelling of U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S.AID) money through the mayor's office rather than through the office of the presi- dent. Despite his criticisms, Charlemagne said he would support Aristide's economic policies. Twenty-three of the 27 participat- ing political parties condemned the widespread electoral problems, and insisted that elections be reheld and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) be replaced. Opponents charge that the electoral council favored Aristide-backed candidates and allowed widespread fraud. On July 26, two members of the CEP announced their resignations, in a move to mollify the opposition. The electoral commission also announced that makeup elections will be held in communities in eight of Haiti's nine provinces. In all, more than 100,000 people were unable to vote because ballots arrived late at polling places or not at all. In some cases, arsonists burned the ballots. Many voters could not locate their polling places or found their names missing on registration rosters. Candidates' names or symbols were sometimes missing from ballots. -- NotiSur and Haiti Info Sources InterPress Service is an international news service based in Italy. Its dispatches can be read on-line in the Peacenet con- ferences: ips.espanol and ips.english. NotiSur is available as a closed Peacenet conference: carnet.ladb. For subscription information: Latin American Data Base, Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131; (800) 472-0888 Richard Gillespie is professor of Iberian and Latin American Studies at the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain. Scott Sherman's report on media cover- age of the 1994 Mexican elections was published by the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University. Haiti Info is a bi-weekly news bulletin published in Port-au-Prince. For subscrip- tion information: HIB, do Lynx Air, Box 407139, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33340; (e- mail: hib@igc.apc.org).
