Fw: Le Monde diplomatique - March 1999

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opinion

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> From: Le Monde diplomatique <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
> To: English edition dispatch <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
> Subject: Le Monde diplomatique - March 1999
> Date: Montag, 15. März 1999 09:27
> 
> 
>                                                     LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>                           Le Monde diplomatique
> 
>                              english edition
> 
>                                March 1999
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>     LEADER
> 
>   Tomorrow, the crash *
> 
>       by Ignacio Ramonet
> 
>      The shockwave of financial crisis which began in Thailand on 2 July
>      1997 appears to hang in suspense. But this is an illusion.
>      Globalisation of the world economy has created an interdependence
>      between national economies, and the knock-on effects of crisis are
>      therefore that much greater. The truth is we do not know where the
>      domino effect will strike next.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/01leader.html
> 
>                                                   Translated by Ed Emery
> 
> 
>     ELECTION SHROUDED IN CONFUSION
> 
>   Army divided over Algeria's future
> 
>         by Lahouari Addi
> 
>   Algeria accepts the unacceptable *
> 
>       by Djamel Benramdane
> 
>      Some 40 candidates are standing in the presidential election on 15
>      April. Several are backed by army factions. General Khaled Nezzar
>      is publicly supporting Abdelaziz Bouteflika, while other officers
>      are banking on an open election to provide the future head of state
>      with legitimacy. On 12 February President Liamine Zeroual
>      threatened to take all necessary measures "if attempts to pervert
>      the course of this election continue." This threat brought an
>      immediate response from General Nezzar. The split in the army is
>      understandable. The generals have won a military victory in the
>      civil war but suffered a political defeat. Public support for the
>      army, weakened by the economic crisis, has been further undermined
>      by the extraordinary violence used to crush the Islamists. It is no
>      coincidence that most of the candidates are advocating dialogue
>      with all parties to the conflict. After more than 60,000 deaths, a
>      political solution may finally be at hand. But if so, the army will
>      have to allow the president to be freely elected and, once elected,
>      allow him to exercise real power.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/03algeria.html
> 
>   Seven terrible years *
> 
>         Algeria's chronology over the last decade
> 
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/04algeria.html
> 
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
> 
> 
>     TROUBLE AHEAD FOR CIVILIAN RULE
> 
>   Nigeria in need of a miracle
> 
>       by Joëlle Stolz
> 
>      At the end of February the former military ruler, General Olusegun
>      Obasanjo, was declared president-elect after winning 63% of the
>      vote in Nigeria's presidential election. He is due to take office
>      on 29 May. But the election was mired by accusations of vote
>      rigging. Former US President Jimmy Carter, head of a 60-member
>      monitoring group, refused to endorse the election and the general's
>      only opponent, Chief Falae, claimed that he had been cheated of
>      victory by massive fraud, although his own conduct has not escaped
>      criticism. This does not bode well for the much-heralded return to
>      civilian rule.
> 
>                                                 Translated by Lorna Dale
> 
> 
>     DIPLOMACY DISCARDED FOR INTERVENTION
> 
>   South Africa carries a big stick
> 
>       by Hein Marais
> 
>      September 1998 is a time that will be remembered in South Africa.
>      It was then that Pretoria broke with the African policy it had
>      followed since the end of apartheid by taking sides with the
>      self-proclaimed president of Congo, Laurent Kabila, and brutally
>      suppressing an uprising in neighbouring Lesotho. South Africa's
>      watchword is now regional stability built around the security of
>      individual states - and first of all its own. It will not hesitate
>      to use its military strength to defend its own interests and
>      support those regimes it considers legitimate. Equally, it will not
>      tolerate "illegitimate" regimes. These are signs that the country
>      is now willing to match its bark with its bite.
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
> 
> 
> 
>     MORAL FORCE VERSUS THE STATE
> 
>   Chiapas, land of hope and sorrow
> 
>       by José Saramago
> 
>      A few weeks before he was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize for
>      Literature, the Portuguese writer José Saramago went to Chiapas
>      with the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, to meet
>      Subcomandante Marcos and report to the world on the sufferings of
>      the Indians of southern Mexico. He met a proud people who have
>      refused to give up hope. The Zapatistas with their National
>      Liberation are insisting on autonomy - but not secession or
>      separatism. Notwithstanding, the 1996 San Andrés accords failed to
>      materialise into the hoped for law to amend the constitution. Two
>      years ago negotiations were broken off and since then the
>      government has tried to bring the Zapatista forces to their knees
>      with a combination of aid programmes and counter-insurgency
>      measures using armed civilian groups. In the violence that has
>      followed over a hundred have died.
> 
>                         Translated from the Portuguese by Barbara Wilson
> 
> 
>     ASYLUM SEEKERS NOT WELCOME
> 
>   Fortress Europe raises the barricades
> 
>       by Jelle Van Buuren
> 
>   Setting out the rules
> 
>       by Anne-Cécile Robert
> 
>      The continuing furore over the capture of Kurdish leader Abdullah
>      Öcalan in February and the wave of Kurdish unrest across Europe has
>      served to heighten the EU's existing fears of uncontrolled waves of
>      immigrants arriving at its doors. The Fifteen are in the process of
>      creating a cordon sanitaire around their common borders, with the
>      aim of turning Turkey and the countries of Central and Eastern
>      Europe into buffer states who can receive refugees and process
>      their demands for protection. Europe already has a security-based
>      approach to immigration. Now it is seeking to offload its
>      responsibilities onto third-party countries - with poor track
>      records in human rights.
> 
>                                                   Translated by Ed Emery
> 
> 
>     GERMANY'S UNLIKELY COALITION
> 
>   Can this love affair last?
> 
>       by Michel Verrier
> 
>      In Germany the social democrats and communists have been sparring
>      for 80 years. Yet last October they came together in a historic
>      alliance to govern the German land of Mecklenburg-Pomerania. This
>      region has a history of political commitment which dates from the
>      Reformation. A more recent activist was Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919)
>      whose killing 80 years ago was commemorated by thousands this
>      January as the memory of her unstinting support for democracy and
>      revolution continues to inspire activists today among all Germany's
>      parties of the left.
> 
>                                               Translated by Karen Wilkin
> 
> 
>     AFTER PATRIARCHY, DEMOCRACY?
> 
>   Perilous transition in Jordan
> 
>       by Lamis Andoni
> 
>   Jordan: facts and figures *
> 
>   Dangerous game
> 
>      The presence of numerous heads of state accompanying King Hussein
>      to his final resting place had less to do with homage to a
>      respected ruler than to international anxiety. For Jordan is at the
>      very heart of all the contradictions that rock the Middle East. And
>      the circumstances in which Prince Hassan was dismissed and replaced
>      by Hussein's son Abdallah give cause for concern. The new king has
>      inherited a particularly complex situation. The majority of the
>      population is of Palestinian origin, which means that the failures
>      of the peace process would cause justifiable concern in Jordan. At
>      the same time, the new king must move in a changing regional
>      environment, and pay attention to a public opinion which seeks to
>      affirm its Arab identity.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/14jordan.html
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
> 
> 
>     ORGANIC FOOD: LIES AND PROFITS
> 
>   Bio business is big business *
> 
>       by Chantal Le Noallec
> 
>      What is the future for suppliers of organic produce now that the
>      big marketing and distribution companies are moving in? Will they
>      survive the shock? As a result of the "mad cow disease" panic,
>      organic farming is enjoying an unprecedented boom. Consumer demand
>      has never been so strong. The major retail stores are filling more
>      and more of their shelves with organic produce. Organic shops and
>      supermarkets - or at least claiming to be organic - are shooting up
>      everywhere. However, now that organic farming is coming into its
>      own and is also receiving subsidies, it has become a juicy market
>      niche ripe for exploitation. Faced with the encroachment of big
>      business, the organic lobby seems uncertain which way to turn.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/16bio.html
> 
>                                                   Translated by Ed Emery
> 
> 
>     GLOBAL CRISIS HITS LATIN AMERICA
> 
>   Brazil hostage to IMF's designs
> 
>       by Michel Chossudovsky
> 
>      The assault on the real in January 1999 was the result of a careful
>      sharing out of roles between the IMF and the "investors", whom it
>      allowed to put the finishing touches to the looting of Brazil's
>      currency reserves. With public assets to sell off cut-price,
>      foreign capital can now come and shop around. But there is fierce
>      resistance by all sectors of society - which could upset these
>      well-laid plans.
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
> 
> 
>     BACK PAGE
> 
>   No justice for the Kurds *
> 
>       by Kendal Nezan
> 
>      After the capture of Abdullah Öcalan (Apo), handed over to the
>      Turks in Kenya on 15 February 1999 and transferred to Turkey's
>      Imrali jail, the Kurds feel scorned and complain "the Kurds have no
>      friends". For most of them, the PKK leader has been the victim not
>      just of a veritable manhunt, but also a Turkish/American/Israeli
>      "plot" to which the Greek and Kenyan governments have been party.
>      That is the reason for their anger and the wave of often violent
>      demonstrations against these countries' embassies and consulates in
>      Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus - which could well
>      continue and grow yet more radical. Kendal Nezan looks at the roles
>      played by the various powers in the dramatic capture of Öcalan and
>      warns that the Kurds' collective despair may well push them to
>      blind violence.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/18kurds.html
> 
>                                         Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
> 
> 
>            English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
> 
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>              ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 1999 Le Monde diplomatique.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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