Le Monde diplomatique on 13 Mar 2001 12:34:57 -0000 |
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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. Yearly subscription fee: 24 US $ (Institutions 48 US $). ______________________________________________________________ For more information on our English edition, please visit http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/ To subscribe to our free "dispatch" mailing-list, send an (empty) e-mail to: dispatch-on@monde-diplomatique.fr To unsubscribe from this list, send an (empty) e-mail to: dispatch-off@monde-diplomatique.fr English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen _________________________________________________________________ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 1997-2001 Le Monde diplomatique <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2001/03/> _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold