Dictators Update

Thomas Kruse tkruse at albatros.cnb.net
Tue Oct 27 11:09:41 PST 1998


These are special times. Only yesterday consigned to a distant, irrelevant past, today the crimes of the dictators are front page news. I am in perpetual amazement. A couple of details to give you the flavor.

Augusto Pinochet was finally notified of his arrest yesterday. Apprently, he's taking it kinda hard. Chilean tv reports -- quite worried for the old man -- report that he's refusing medicine and eaing very little.

Meanwhile, the head of the Chilean communist party has called for a plebiscite (sp?) to repeal the amnyesty granted members of the armed forces, and revision of the constitution of 1980 written by Pinochet, and behind which he and the armed forces are hiding.

In London the decision on the writ of heabus corpus presented by the Chielans will be decided on tomorrow, and in Madrid a decision will be made on Thursday on whether Garzon, the Spanish judge, is legally able to try Pinochet & Co.

Though I don't have a complete list, Pinochet now has 6 (international) cases pending aginst him, and 5 demands for his extradition.

And here in Bolivia, today Mauro Botero, spokesman for President and former dictator (1971-78) Gen. Hugo Banzer, was literally pleading to let bygones be bygones. At the same time military police assigned to the airport Banzer was departing from vicioulsy cracked the heads and destroyed the cameras of two journalists seeking to apporach Banzer with questions. The jounalists union is protesting vociferously; the owners of the media are silent. (A class thing?) The irony was not lost on "people on the street" interviewed about the attack on the jounralists. One woman commented succinctly "he's always been repressive ... I don't understand how people could have voted for him [Banzer]."

Anti-Banzer activities are in the works for Friday; already the press is all over it, hungry for news, statements, anything.

These are special times.

How goes the impeachment proceedings? No, really, I DON'T want to know.

Tom

Tom Kruse / Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242 Email: tkruse at albatros.cnb.net



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