Just Foreign Policy News
October 15, 2010
For a DREAMy, Wartime, National Service Draft
How could we share the burden of war more fairly, end current wars more quickly, and deter future wars, while not compelling Americans to directly participate in unjust wars against their will? We could institute a wartime national service draft. A universal time tax would disproportionately inconvenience the super-rich, who would then be likely to use their disproportionate political influence to end current wars and stop new ones. A national service draft could also give undocumented Americans of service age a path to citizenship, and give the government a means to soak up unemployed labor and put it to good use.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/for-a-dreamy-wartime-nati_b_762757.html
Brazil Should Lead on Access to Essential Medicines
By the greater use of compulsory licenses, Brazil could lower drug costs not only in Brazil, but in developing countries overall. At a time when the New York Times is reporting that "the global battle against AIDS is falling apart for lack of money," it is absolutely essential that the price of lifesaving medicines in developing countries be driven down to the absolute minimum possible.
http://www.truth-out.org/brazil-should-lead-access-essential-medicines64129
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Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) Bil’in protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for his involvement in his village’s unarmed struggle against the separation wall, Jewish Voice for Peace reports. The sentencing hearing was attended by diplomats from the UK, the EU, Belgium, and Germany, along with representatives of UNESCO and Human Rights Watch.
2) Israel ended an unofficial construction freeze in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem Friday, announcing plans to build 238 housing units, the New York Times reports. The world views East Jerusalem no differently from the West Bank, the Times notes. Virtually the entire international community opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the Times says. The vast majority of governments accept what the UN and the International Court of Justice have declared – that the settlements violate international law. The US takes no stand on the settlements’ legality, but opposes them on policy grounds.
3) The head of Afghanistan’s peace council says meetings between Taliban representatives and the Afghan government have focused on establishing a site for formal negotiations and guarantees of safe passage for participants, the Washington Post reports. "The international community now are showing more willingness, and they’re more interested, and the countries in the region are more interested. These kinds of things will help the process," Burhanuddin Rabbani said.
4) The UN Security Council extended by a year the presence of nearly 9,000 UN soldiers and around 4,300 police officers in Haiti and called for "credible and legitimate" presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for November 28, Al Jazeera reports. Demonstrators blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, carrying banners saying "Down with the occupation." Demonstrators burned the flag of Brazil, the nation that has contributed the largest contingent to the international force. "Haitians feel that the presence of [UN] security personnel doesn’t offer much in terms of ordinary Haitians living in camps," Al Jazeera’s correspondent said.
5) Georgetown’s decision to give an academic position to former Colombian President Uribe has sparked criticism from scholars and protests from students, Newsweek reports. "We’re quite dismayed that a man that has this level of [human rights] allegations against him has been invited to teach and be affiliated with Georgetown," says Marc Chernick, professor at Georgetown’s Center for Latin American Studies. "Uribe does not stand for any of the values that the United States claims to stand for," said Vanderbilt anthropology chair Lesley Gill. But the U.S. has done more to bolster Uribe’s international standing than a teaching position possibly could, Newsweek notes.
Israel/Palestine
6) Prominent Israelis denounced the Israeli government’s move to introduce a loyalty oath, calling it a step towards fascism, Gush Shalom reports. Protesters contrasted the loyalty oath bill with the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which says Israel will "ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or gender."
Afghanistan
7) U.S. airstrikes on Taliban insurgents have risen sharply over the past four months, the New York Times reports, suggesting they are part of US efforts to push the Taliban towards a deal. In a three-month period ending Oct. 7, Special Operations units killed 300 midlevel Taliban commanders and 800 foot soldiers. But independent analyst Matt Waldman says the attacks may actually make insurgents less inclined to negotiate. It was more likely, he said, that the midlevel commanders now being killed by NATO would be replaced by others even more committed to fighting.
Iran
8) A resumption of talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program was back on the horizon Friday after Iran welcomed an EU proposal for talks in November, AFP reports.
9) Brazil is Iran’s top trading partner in Latin America, the Latin Business Chronicle reports. Combined, Brazil and Argentina account for 94 percent of Latin America’s trade with Iran. Brazil’s exports to Iran increased last year by 4.1 percent to $1.297 billion, while imports from Iran grew 29.1 percent to $19 million.
Brazil
10) Brazil’s presidential election is very important for the region and the world because of the impact it could have on Brazil’s foreign policy, writes Mark Weisbrot in Folha de Sao Paulo. José Serra has attacked President Lula for the government’s stance on Honduras and has criticized governments such as Bolivia. He has also criticized Lula for his efforts to mediate in Washington’s dispute with Iran, and in the Middle East generally. Dilma Rousseff has indicated that she would continue Lula’s independent foreign policy.
Guatemala
11) A commission has been set up to look into medical experiments carried out by U.S. researchers on hundreds of Guatemalans in the 1940s, and the government is debating ways for the US to make reparations, Inter Press Service reports. The U.S. has acknowledged that between 1946 and 1948, U.S. medical researchers deliberately infected at least 696 Guatemalans with sexually transmitted infections without information or consent, and has formally apologized. Around a third of those who were infected never received adequate treatment, according to Wellesley researcher Susan Reverby, who uncovered the scandal. Carlos Mejía, head of the Guatemalan College of Physicians and a member of the investigating commission, said the experiments were similar to those perpetrated by the Nazis during WWII.
Contents:
U.S./Top News
1) Abdallah Abu Rahmah gets one year in prison despite international outcry
October 11th, 2010, TheOnlyDemocracy, Jewish Voice for Peace
[Reprint from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee] http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/abdallah-abu-rahmah-gets-one-year-in-prison-despite-international-outcry/
http://popularstruggle.org/content/bilins-abdallah-abu-rahmah-sentenced-year-prison
Bil’in protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment today, for his involvement in his village’s unarmed struggle against the wall.
Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced today to 12 months in prison, plus 6 months suspended sentence for 3 years and a fine of 5,000 NIS. In the sentencing, the judge cited the non-implementation of an Israeli High Court ruling which declared the current route of the wall on Bil’in’s land illegal as a mitigating factor.
The military prosecution is likely to appeal this sentencing – as they did in the case of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who was also sentenced for 12 months on similar charges but is still in prison after 15 months, pending the decision about the prosecution’s appeal. The defense attorney, adv. Gaby Lasky, is considering an appeal against Abu Rahma’s conviction.
Today’s sentencing hearing was attended by diplomats from the United Kingdom, the European Union, Belgium, Germany along with representatives of UNESCO and Human Rights Watch.
"The Israeli army, which served as prosecutor, judge and jury in this case, is try to use Abu Rahmah to set an example that will deter people from protesting. They have even said so themselves", said Mohammed Khatib of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. "Their message falls on deaf ears, as we have no choice but to continue struggling for our lands, our freedom and our dignity", he added.
[…] Abu Rahmah’s conviction was subject to harsh international criticism. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, expressed her deep concern "that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahma is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest[…]", after EU diplomats attended all hearings in Abu Rahmah’s case. Ashton’s statement was followed by one from the Spanish Parliament.
Renowned South African human right activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on Israel to overturn Abu Rahmah’s conviction on behalf of the Elders, a group of international public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela. Members of the Elders, including Tutu, have met with Abu Rahmah on their visit to Bil’in prior to his arrest.
International human rights organizations Amnesty International condemned Abu Rahmah’s conviction as an assault on the right to freedom of expression. Human Rights Watch denounced the conviction, pronouncing the whole process "an unfair trial".
[…]
2) Israel Plan to Build Clouds Peace Talks
Ethan Bronner, New York Times, October 15, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/world/middleeast/16mideast.html
Jerusalem – Israel ended an unofficial construction freeze in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem on Friday, announcing plans to build 238 housing units. The move comes as hard-won peace talks are stalled over the question of whether Israel will extend its broader construction moratorium in the West Bank.
The Housing Ministry’s announcement for a new set of construction tenders across the country included units in two Jewish neighborhoods built in areas of East Jerusalem conquered by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the plans for the neighborhoods, Ramot and Pisgat Ze’ev.
While East Jerusalem was not a part of the pivotal, 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank, the Palestinians want it as their future capital, and the world views it no differently from the West Bank – conquered territory that should not be built upon by the victor.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said: "This decision shows that the position of the Israeli prime minister has not changed. Instead, he continues to take every possible step to prevent the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. By tendering in the occupied Palestinian territory, Netanyahu has once again demonstrated why there are no negotiations today."
At a briefing with reporters in Washington, the State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, called the Israeli announcement "a disappointment" and said it was "contrary to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties." He said the Israelis had forewarned the United States of the announcement.
American-brokered talks between Mr. Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, have been stuck since late last month, when Israel’s construction freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank expired. The Palestinians, backed by the Arab League, have given the United States the month of October to find ways to get Israel to keep the construction stopped. They are threatening otherwise to end the talks.
[…] Virtually the entire international community opposes the settlements. The vast majority of governments accept what the United Nations and the International Court of Justice in The Hague have declared – that the settlements violate international law. Israel says they are lawful because the Palestinians were not sovereign in the West Bank when it was conquered from Jordan in 1967. The United States and Japan take no stand on the settlements’ legality, according to spokesmen of their embassies in Israel, although they oppose them on policy grounds.
[…]
3) Afghan-Taliban talks focusing on site, safe passage for negotiations
Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, Friday, October 15, 2010; 4:34 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101504874.html
Kabul – Recent meetings between Taliban representatives and the Afghan government have focused on establishing a site for more formal negotiations on the war, as well as guarantees of safe passage for participants, according to the head of Afghanistan’s new peace council.
In an interview Friday evening, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president chosen to chair the committee to foster peace talks, said the Taliban members who have met with Afghan officials wanted to discuss the logistics of where to convene further and how they could do so without being captured. Rabbani said a government official had told him the Taliban representatives offered to provide security if the talks were to be on their turf – presumably Pakistan – and asked for security if meetings were in Kabul or a third country. "I think this is one of the best opportunities we have had for talks," Rabbani said.
[…] Rabbani, who would not identify which insurgents are taking part in those meetings, described the discussions as in their earliest stages, as have other U.S. and Afghan officials. But he said some insurgents appear willing to try to find a political settlement to the war and that greater international support for negotiations has hastened the process.
"The international community now are showing more willingness, and they’re more interested, and the countries in the region are more interested. These kinds of things will help the process," he said. "What I think is most important is building trust among each other."
[…]
4) Anti-UN protesters block Haiti base
A crowd of roughly 100 protesters carrying banners saying "down with the occupation" forced back by UN soldiers.
Al Jazeera, 15 Oct 2010 19:47 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/2010101516941370819.html
Demonstrators have blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-UN slogans on vehicles trying to enter.
A crowd of roughly 100 protesters carrying banners saying "Down with the occupation" were forced back by UN soldiers, Sebastian Walker, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Port-au-Prince, said on Friday. "Security personnel traded blows with demonstrators, and troops started firing in the air, with helicopters hovering above."
Demonstrators also burned the flag of Brazil, the nation that has contributed the largest contingent to the international peacekeeping force. "Haitians feel that the presence of [UN] security personnel doesn’t offer much in terms of ordinary Haitians living in camps," Walker said.
Although opposition demonstrators remained quiet for several months following the massive January 12 earthquake, a chorus of opposition to Rene Preval, Haiti’s president, and to UN forces has become more vocal in recent weeks.
The political violence comes on the heels of Thursday’s announcement by the UN that its peacekeeping force will remain in Haiti at least another year. The unanimously approved Security Council resolution extended by one year the presence of nearly 9,000 soldiers and around 4,300 police officers – and called for "credible and legitimate" presidential and legislative elections, which are scheduled for November 28.
[…]
5) Appointment of Colombian Ex-President Sparks Controversy at Georgetown.
Critics say Uribe’s human-rights record makes him unworthy of the post.
Mike Giglio, Newsweek, October 13, 2010
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/13/appointment-of-colombian-ex-president-sparks-controversy-at-georgetown.html
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe was the object of protests last month at Georgetown University, where some demonstrators held up a sign saying, in Spanish, "Goodbye Uribe!"
Last month, Álvaro Uribe, newly minted as a visiting scholar at Georgetown, gave a guest lecture in a political-science class that ended with an embarrassing confrontation. From the stage of a small auditorium, the former Colombian president discussed free markets and security, two hallmarks of the strategy that by the time his eight-year tenure ended in August had transformed Colombia from borderline failed state to international success story and the U.S. government’s staunchest South American ally. Then he fielded questions from students. Nicholas Udu-gama rose from his seat in back, began to clap and, as he made his way down an aisle and onto the stage, accused Uribe of a wide range of human- and civil-rights crimes.
Udu-gama, 29, was pulled through a back exit and arrested, but this was no simple case of isolated campus activism. Uribe’s post at Georgetown has sparked a controversy at one of the country’s most esteemed international universities and across academia. On Sept. 29, more than 150 scholars, including 10 Georgetown professors and leading experts on Latin America and Colombia, signed a letter calling for Uribe to be fired. The letter, authored by a Jesuit priest, Father Javier Giraldo Moreno, one of Colombia’s foremost human-rights proponents, argued that Uribe’s appointment "is not only deeply offensive to those Colombians who still maintain moral principles, but also places at high risk the ethical development of the young people who attend our university."
In a phone interview with Newsweek, Udu-gama, part of a student-led coalition opposing Uribe’s appointment, spoke directly to the point: "This was Uribe trying to clean his image, basically, in front of our future leaders. He needs to be put in front of a criminal court."
[…] Human-rights accusations have dogged Uribe since he was governor of Antioquia in the 1990s, when allegations first surfaced about connections to the paramilitary groups that have been responsible for some of Colombia’s bloodiest violence. Uribe has not been formally charged with wrongdoing, but more than 100 of his political allies, including relatives, are under investigation for paramilitary ties. With the so-called false-positives scandal, meanwhile, Uribe’s administration received a considerable black eye after it was discovered that members of the Army had been killing civilians and dressing them as guerillas to inflate body counts. Last week, an investigation into the illegal wiretapping of human-rights workers, court justices, and Uribe’s political opponents implicated his chief of staff.
All this has made members of the faculty such as Marc Chernick, a professor at Georgetown’s Center for Latin American Studies who has worked in Colombia since 1980, unhappy to have Uribe as a colleague. "We’re quite dismayed that a man that has this level of allegations against him has been invited to teach and be affiliated with Georgetown," Chernick says. "We don’t think we should lend the legitimacy of the university to him." Adds Vanderbilt anthropology chair Lesley Gill, a Latin America specialist: "Uribe does not stand for any of the values that the United States claims to stand for."
Yet the U.S. has done more to bolster Uribe’s international standing than a teaching position possibly could. On his watch, Colombia was the top recipient of U.S. aid outside the Middle East, and America trained Colombia’s military and began operating from bases inside the country.
[…]
Israel/Palestine
6) "We will not be citizens of a fascist state purporting to be Israel"
Gush Shalom, 10.10.10
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1286745470
"We are citizens of the Israel which was depicted in the Declaration of Independence, a peace-seeking country based on the principles of equality and civil liberties. We do not intend to be the citizens of a state purporting to be Israel which stops being democratic and enbarks on becoming a fascist state," proclaimed intellectuals, public figures, and Israel Prize laureates who gathered this afternoon for a protest rally against the "Loyalty Oath Bill" approved on the same day by the government. The rally was held on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard, in front of the museum building where David Ben Gurion had read the Declaration of Independence in 1948.
Beneath the statue of Meir Dizengoff, first mayor of Tel Aviv, actress Hanna Meron read out from that Declaration of Independence: "The State of Israel will be based on based on Liberty, Justice and Peace, as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or gender; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations". She noted that, sixty-two years later, the reality of Israel is very different than what the country’s Declaration of Independence envisaged. At the end of the rally, a "Declaration of Independence from Fascism" was signed.
[…]
Afghanistan
7) U.S. Uses Attacks To Nudge Taliban Toward A Deal
Dexter Filkins, New York Times, October 14, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/world/asia/15afghan.html
Kabul, Afghanistan – Airstrikes on Taliban insurgents have risen sharply here over the past four months, the latest piece in what appears to be a coordinated effort by American commanders to bleed the insurgency and pressure its leaders to negotiate an end to the war.
American pilots pounded the Taliban with 2,100 bombs or missiles from June through September, with 700 in September alone, Air Force officers here said Thursday. That is an increase of nearly 50 percent over the same period last year, the records show.
[…] Even on the battlefield, there are few indications that the large increase in firepower ordered by President Obama is having the intended effect. With the American-led war moving through its bloodiest phase since 2001, more American and NATO soldiers have been killed this year than at any time since the war began. In the past two days alone, at least 14 members of the Western forces here have been killed.
[…] According to the Air Force’s statistics, remotely piloted vehicles have flown more than 21,000 sorties so far this year, already surpassing the roughly 19,000 drone flights for all of last year. The targets for many of the airstrikes have been insurgents who were building or planting homemade bombs, which are the most prolific killers of American and NATO troops.
[…] The more intensive air campaign comes as American and NATO forces have stepped up the fight in other areas as well. The operation to pacify Kandahar, the epicenter of the insurgency, is well under way.
Members of Special Operations units have been unleashed with particular ferocity. In a three-month period ending Oct. 7, the units killed 300 midlevel Taliban commanders and 800 foot soldiers, and captured 2,000 insurgents. "You’ve got to put pressure on the networks to get them to start thinking about alternatives to fighting," said a senior NATO officer in Kabul. "We are not at the tipping point yet."
[…] Some Afghan experts believe that NATO’s two-track strategy is flawed – that bleeding the Taliban may actually make the insurgents less inclined to negotiate. Matt Waldman, an independent analyst who has worked extensively in the region, said that it was unlikely that many Taliban leaders could order their men to stop fighting. "It’s dangerous to assume that you can bring off a senior commander and all his men will follow," Mr. Waldman said.
It was more likely, he said, that the midlevel commanders now being killed by NATO would be replaced by others ever more committed to fighting. After all, one of the principles of the Afghan campaign, enunciated by General Petraeus himself and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal before him, was that NATO would never be able to kill and capture its way to victory. "The idea that killing insurgents will take us to negotiations seems pretty doubtful," Mr. Waldman said. "They have an infinite capacity to regenerate."
Iran
8) Resumption of stalled Iran nuclear talks on horizon
Claire Rosemberg, AFP, October 15, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jaeQiMVWEttM5X4pk1DnpPdL-N_Q
Brussels – A resumption of long-stalled talks between world powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear program was back on the horizon Friday after Iran welcomed an offer to break the stalemate. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki flew into Brussels for a Pakistan aid meeting saying an offer of dialogue delivered the previous day was "good news."
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who represents world powers in the nuclear dialogue with Iran, on Thursday proposed a new round of meetings in Vienna next month. "From our point of view, October or November is a good time to re-establish negotiations between Iran and the 5+1," said Mottaki, referring to Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.
[…]
9) Brazil-Iran Trade Grows
Brazil remains top exporter to Iran, but Venezuela becomes Iran’s top market in Latin America.
Latin Business Chronicle, Wednesday, October 06, 2010
http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=4554
Brazil’s trade with Iran grew last year by 4.3 percent to $1.316 billion thanks to growth in both exports and imports, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Brazil’s exports to Iran increased by 4.1 percent to $1.297 billion, while imports from Iran grew 29.1 percent to $19 million. Brazil is Iran’s top trading partner in Latin America.
Argentina, Iran’s second-largest partner in the region, increased its imports by 8.6 percent last year to $7.8 million, but its exports to Iran fell 20.9 percent to $940.9 million. All in all, two-way trade reached $948.7 million, 20.8 percent decline from 2008.
Combined, Brazil and Argentina account for 94 percent of Latin America’s trade with Iran, which last year fell 14.4 percent to $2.4 billion
Last year Venezuela replaced Ecuador as Iran’s third-largest partner. Although Venezuela’s trade with Iran fell 33.8 percent, Ecuador’s decline was much worse: 91.7 percent.
Venezuela also replaced Ecuador as Iran’s top market in Latin America. Last year, Iran’s export to Venezuela reached $36.6 million, a 33.4 percent decline. Exports to Ecuador fell 92.1 percent to $13.3 million, which ranked it as the third-largest market for Iranian goods in Latin America. Brazil ranks as the second.
Iran’s trade with Mexico reached $20.6 million, a 34.9 percent decline. That still ended up inching Mexico up one spot among Iran’s trade partners in Latin America – to sixth place.
Iran’s top ten trade partners also include Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, according to the Latin Business Chronicle analysis.
Brazil
10) Brazil’s Elections Will Matter for the Rest of the World
Mark Weisbrot, Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), October 8, 2010
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/brazil-elections-will-matter-for-world
In Brazil, as in the United States, most people do not vote for a president on the basis of foreign policy issues. Yet sometimes the result matters for the rest of the world – as when President George W. Bush was declared the winner of the 2000 election, and subsequently started two destructive, costly and unnecessary wars.
There is no doubt that Lula has changed Brazil’s foreign policy and has joined with other left-of-center Latin American leaders in bringing about historic changes in the region. South America especially has become more independent than it has ever been. These changes have been so profound that even a right-wing government such as Colombia finds itself increasingly drawn to join the rest of South America on regional issues – despite its dependence on hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. aid. When the Honduran government was overthrown by the military last year, South America was unanimous in demanding the immediate and unconditional re-instatement of the elected President Mel Zelaya.
[…] José Serra has attacked Lula for the government’s stance on Honduras and has criticized other left governments such as Bolivia on dubious charges such as "complicity" in the drug trade. He has also criticized Lula for his efforts to mediate in Washington’s dispute with Iran, and in the Middle East generally. Dilma Rousseff, by contrast, has indicated that she would continue Lula’s independent foreign policy.
This election is therefore very important for the region and the world. Lula incurred the wrath of the Washington foreign policy establishment when, together with Turkey, his government helped negotiate a nuclear fuel swap agreement with Iran last May. New York Times pundit Tom Friedman called these efforts "shameful" and "as ugly as it gets." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it "a transparent ploy to avoid Security Council action." There is no doubt whom all of these people are rooting for in the Brazilian presidential race, even if they are mostly smart enough to keep quiet.
But Lula’s government was trying to avoid yet another unnecessary war in Iran, something that the world desperately needs to do. The Workers’ Party policy of promoting regional economic integration is also a big plus for regional stability and peace. The reconciliation efforts currently under way between Colombia and its neighbors are partly driven by the billions of dollars of commerce between these countries, especially Colombia and Venezuela.
The world eagerly awaits the choice of Brazil’s voters, which will resonate far beyond its borders.
Guatemala
11) Guatemala to Investigate Human Experimentation by U.S. Doctors.
Danilo Valladares, Inter Press Service, Oct 11
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53131
Guatemala City, – A high-level commission has been set up to look into appalling medical experiments carried out by U.S. researchers on hundreds of Guatemalans in the 1940s, and the government of this Central American country is debating alternative ways for the United States to make reparations.
"These acts should be condemned and the case brought to trial," Amílcar Pop, an indigenous Guatemalan lawyer, told IPS. "We need to repudiate what happened and condemn the attitudes that made it possible. Humanity has evolved and these actions cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. What the United States did was a crime against humanity."
In an Oct. 1 statement, the U.S. government acknowledged that between 1946 and 1948, U.S. medical researchers deliberately infected at least 696 Guatemalans with sexually transmitted infections (STI) without information or consent, and formally apologised. U.S. President Barack Obama also personally apologised to Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom in a telephone conversation, and promised an "exhaustive investigation" into the matter.
The news triggered a public outcry, with indignant Guatemalans rejecting the U.S. government’s apologies as insufficient, and demanding justice.
[…] Researcher Susan Reverby of Wellesley College in the state of Massachusetts revealed that U.S. medical doctor John Cutler carried out human experiments in Guatemala, mainly among soldiers, prison inmates and mental patients, whom he infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea and other STIs, purportedly to test the effectiveness of penicillin.
[…] The aim of Cutler’s research, which had the approval of the U.S. Public Health Service during the administration of President Harry Truman (1945-1953), was to develop preventive treatments and improve diagnostic tests for STIs. But according to Reverby, it never produced any useful information. Around one third of those who were infected never received adequate treatment.
[…] For the investigation, President Colom has asked the United States for all the documents related to the case. "We have officially requested all the information, but it is still being held by the university where the records were discovered," Colom said Oct. 6, calling the experiments "a crime against humanity."
Carlos Mejía, head of the Guatemalan College of Physicians and a member of the investigating commission, said the experiments were similar to those perpetrated by the Nazis during WWII.
[…] –
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
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