Today (November, 11) the human rights comission of the state assembly of Rio Grande do Sul is petitioning the federal Attorney General to request to the courts the detention of Pinochet. This is the third petition on the same subject. The others are subscribed by a federal representative of the Workers Party and by the "Torture Never More" ("Tortura Nunca Mais"), an human rights NGO sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church, as I already informed.
This new petition is also being jointly subscribed by 11 state representatives and 10 organizations, including a comission of relatives of people of several nationalities which are still "missing" in the Southern Cone countries (i.e., were killed without the return of their corpses).
Yesterday in the capital city of the state, Porto Alegre, there was a popular demonstration to receive Joan, the English widow of the singer Victor Jara, who was one of the first persons to be murdered by Pinochet. She came from London to autograph her book "Unfinished Song" (a biography of Victor) in the 44th annual book fair of that city, an important literary event in Brazil.
The most complete victory of the Workers Party in the October elections was winned in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (the souternmost of Brazil). This state has a long-standing revolutionary tradition and a mystique of getting ahead of the political evolution of the rest of the country (in a progressive sense). The flag of the state is the same under which Giuseppe Garibaldi fought in Brazil. Yes, Garibaldi, "the hero of the two worlds": America (Brazil) and Europe (Italy).
The capital city of Porto Alegre has been administrated by the Workers Party for ten consecutive years with a great and permanent popular involvement. These administrations were considered by the latest World Habitat Conference as model ones among the biggest cities of the world.
In solidarity, Roberto
1848 / 1998: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch !
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans (....) Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes Le grand PARTI DES TRAVAILLEURS. (L' Internationale)