Le Monde diplomatique on 13 Mar 2001 12:34:57 -0000


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[Nettime-bold] March 2001



   Le Monde diplomatique 
   
                         -----------------------------------------------------
   
   
                                 March 2001
                                      
     
WE ARE THE FORGOTTEN HEART OF THIS COUNTRY, THE DIGNITY OF REBELLION

Marcos marches on Mexico City *

by our special correspondent IGNACIO RAMONET

     For the first time Subcomandante Marcos, head of the Zapatista
     National Liberation Army (EZLN), has come out into the open. On
     Sunday 11 March a crowd of more than 100,000 greeted his triumphal
     arrival in Mexico City. Still wearing his famous black balaclava,
     on 24 February he and his Zapatour had left the Lacandona forest in
     Chiapas for a non-confrontational march and had travelled more than
     3,000 km through 12 of Mexico's poorest states.
     
                                                  Translated by Ed Emery
     
Seven years of Zapatismo

           <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2001/03/02zapatismo>
     
     
SMALL FORGOTTEN CONFLICTS

Places of no importance *

by PIERRE CONESA

     Violent rioting in the Indonesian part of Borneo, civil war in
     Burundi, massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo, continued
     fighting in Afghanistan - all over the world, small forgotten
     conflicts claim innumerable victims, unseen by the media and of no
     concern to the 'civilised' world. With the end of the cold war and
     the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the West has lost interest
     in all the 'grey' areas, and controlling them is no longer an
     economic or strategic priority.
     
                                             Translated by Harry Forster
     
Fin de siècle gloom *

GILBERT ACHCAR

                                             Translated by Harry Forster
     
     
AFRICAN MANIPULATIONS: A BOOK BY PIERRE PÉAN

Tainted evidence of Libyan terrorism *

by PIERRE PÉAN

     On 21 December 1988 a Pan Am Boeing 747 disintegrated over
     Lockerbie (Scotland) killing 259 people. On 19 September 1989 a UTA
     (French airlines) DC-10 exploded in mid-air killing 170. The trial
     in The Hague of two Libyans accused in the Lockerbie incident has
     just ended in a controversial verdict. One of the accused was
     released, the other sentenced to life imprisonment. With respect to
     the UTA incident, the French Supreme Court of Appeal is expected to
     issue a ruling on the request to bring proceedings against
     President Gadafy. However, at the beginning of the investigations
     into the two bombings, evidence initially pointed to various
     Palestinian groups, as well as to Syria and Iran. Scientific
     analysis of the UTA wreckage showed that the bomb technology
     matched that used by a Palestinian terrorist organisation.
     
     In summer 1990, following the outbreak of the Gulf crisis and the
     decision by Syria and Iran to join the anti-Iraq coalition, the
     United States, joined by the French examining magistrate,
     Jean-Louis Bruguière, decided to abandon those leads and
     concentrate on Libyan responsibility instead. In pursuing Libyan
     involvement the investigators had to rely on extremely fragile
     testimony by a Congolese national, Bernard Yanga, in Brazzaville
     who has links with his country's security services. Following are
     excerpts from Pierre Péan's new book.
     
                                             Translated by Luke Sandford
     
     
IVORY COAST IN POLITICAL CRISIS

Stormy weather in west Africa *

by PHILIPPE LEYMARIE

     Colonel Gadafy's grand project for African union, designed to solve
     all the continent's ills, was on the agenda at the Sirte (Libya)
     meeting on 1-2 March. Meanwhile a series of mediators have tried to
     win renewed support for the Lusaka agreement to restore stability
     to the 'ailing heart' of Africa following the assassination of
     Congo president Laurent Kabila. West Africa is haunted by the
     Liberian and Sierra-Leone nightmares. Now a succession of military
     coups has overwhelmed Ivory Coast, France's former showcase colony,
     opening the way for rampant nationalism and the risk of a
     north-south split. This terrifies a number of states in the area.
     
                                             Translated by Harry Forster
     
As it ever was *

Ph. L.

                                             Translated by Harry Forster
     
     
BETWEEN NATIONAL LIBERATION AND STATE-BUILDING

A new intifada, a new strategy *

by NADINE PICADOU

     After various internal convulsions the Labour Party has agreed to
     work with Ariel Sharon. This capitulation reinforces the political
     impasse, made worse by the new US secretary of state's tour of the
     region and the message that Washington's priority is now Iraq and
     not Israeli-Palestinian peace. During all this the repression of
     the West Bank and Gaza has continued, and Palestinian society is
     now organising itself in very different ways from those of the
     previous intifada (1987-93).
     
                                        Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
     
Islamising the language *

N. P.

                                        Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
     
     
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Broken bodies, shattered minds

     To mark International Women's Day on 8 March, Amnesty International
     has published a powerful report on violence against women. These
     extracts from the report show that brutality mainly takes place in
     the home and that governments are doing little to protect the
     victims or punish the guilty.
     
           <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2001/03/10gender>
     
     
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE CAMPUS

For sale: US academic integrity

by IBRAHIM WARDE

     Private enterprise is much taken with education, especially the
     universities. In the United States the race to get hold of academic
     disciplines that bring in the money has already increased conflicts
     of interest between research and business. Under cover of a
     'marketplace of ideas', the logic of the market could turn
     academics into entrepreneurs and endanger the unity of our
     universities.
     
           <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2001/03/11academic>
     
                                                Original text in English
     
     
THE POLITICS OF GOLD-PROSPECTING

Sustainable development in French Guiana *

by our special correspondent MAURICE LEMOINE

     Violent rioting shook Cayenne last November, fuelled by poor social
     conditions. Now a pro-independence party of the left is calling for
     a radical change in Guiana's legal status. Whether or not the
     French government or the local politicians are capable of making
     the right decisions, the country will have to adopt a development
     model.
     
                                              Translated by Julie Stoker
     
     
GLOBAL STRATEGIES FOR PEOPLE'S HEALTH

Fighting medical apartheid

by our special correspondent PHILIPPE DEMENET

     Brazil is having remarkable success in its fight against Aids. The
     free distribution of drugs has halved the annual death rate in four
     years. In early February the United States challenged that policy
     before the WTO in defence of the patents held by its pharmaceutical
     industry. At the same time the Indian company Cipla was offering
     Médecins sans frontières generics at knock-down prices. The
     medicines war has begun, and the countries of the South are
     prepared for battle.
     
           <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2001/03/13health>
     
                                         Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
     
     _________________________________________________________________

     (*) Star-marked articles are available to paid subscribers only.

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          English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
     _________________________________________________________________
   
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