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Today's
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October
11 / 13, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Kay's
Misleading Report; CIA/MI-6 Syrian Plot; Dershowitz Flaps Broken
Wings
October 10, 2003
John Chuckman
Schwarzenegger
and the Lottery Society
Toni Solo
Trashing
Free Software
Chris
Floyd
Body
Blow: Bush Joins the Worldwide War on Women
October
9, 2003
Jennifer
Loewenstein
Bombing
Syria
Ramzi
Kysia
Seeing
the Iraqi People
Fran Shor
Groping the Body Politic
Mark Hand
President Schwarzenegger?
Alexander
Cockburn
Welcome
to Arnold, King for a Day
Website of the Day
The Awful Truth about Wesley Clark
October
8, 2003
David
Lindorff
Schwarzenegger
and the Failure of the Centrist Dems
Ramzy
Baroud
Israel's
WMDs and the West's Double Standard
John Ross
Mexico
Tilts South
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Repub Guru Compares Taxes to the Holocaust
James
Bovard
The
Reagan Roadmap for Antiterrorism Disaster
Michael
Neumann
One
State or Two?
A False Dilemma
October
7, 2003
Uri Avnery
Slow-Motion
Ethnic Cleansing
Stan Goff
Lost in the Translation at Camp Delta
Ron Jacobs
Yom Kippurs, Past and Present
David
Lindorff
Coronado in Iraq
Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Outing a CIA Operative? Why A Special Prosecutor is Required
Cynthia
McKinney
Who Are "We"?
Elaine Cassel
Shock and Awe in the Moussaoui Case
Walter
Lippman
Thoughts on the Cali Recall
Gary Leupp
Israel's
Attack on Syria: Who's on the Wrong Side of History, Now?
Website
of the Day
Cable News Gets in Touch With It's Inner Bigot
October
6, 2003
Robert
Fisk
US
Gave Israel Green Light for Raid on Syria
Forrest
Hylton
Upheaval
in Bolivia: Crisis and Opportunity
Benjamin Dangl
Divisions Deepen in Third Week of Bolivia's Gas War
Bridget
Gibson
Oh, Pioneers!: Bush's New Deal
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey
Wasserman
The Bush-Rove-Schwarzenegger Nazi Nexus
Nicole
Gamble
Rios Montt's Campaign Threatens Genocide Trials
JoAnn
Wypijewski
The
New Unity Partnership:
A Manifest Destiny for Labor
Website
of the Day
Guerrilla Funk
October
3 / 5, 2003
Tim Wise
The
Other Race Card: Rush and the Politics of White Resentment
Peter
Linebaugh
Rhymsters
and Revolutionaries: Joe Hill and the IWW
Gary Leupp
Occupation
as Rape-Marriage
Bruce
Jackson
Addio
Alle Armi
David Krieger
A Nuclear 9/11?
Ray McGovern
L'Affaire Wilsons: Wives are Now "Fair Game" in Bush's
War on Whistleblowers
Col. Dan Smith
Why Saddam Didn't Come Clean
Mickey
Z.
In Our Own Image: Teaching Iraq How to Deal with Protest
Roger Burbach
Bush Ideologues v. Big Oil in Iraq
John Chuckman
Wesley Clark is Not Cincinnatus
William S. Lind
Versailles on the Potomac
Glen T.
Martin
The Corruptions of Patriotism
Anat Yisraeli
Bereavement as Israeli Ethos
Wayne
Madsen
Can the Republicans Get Much Worse? Sure, They Can
M. Junaid Alam
The Racism Barrier
William
Benzon
Scorsese's Blues
Adam Engel
The Great American Writing Contest
Poets'
Basement
McNeill, Albert, Guthrie
October
2, 2003
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
What's
So Great About Gandhi, Anyway?
Amy Goodman
/ Jeremy Scahill
The
Ashcroft-Rove Connection
Doug Giebel
Kiss and Smear: Novak and the Valerie Plame Affair
Hamid
Dabashi
The Moment of Myth: Edward Said (1935-2003)
Elaine Cassel
Chicago Condemns Patriot Act
Saul Landau
Who
Got Us Into This Mess?
Website of the Day
Last Day to Save Beit Arabiya!
October 1, 2003
Joanne
Mariner
Married
with Children: the Supremes and Gay Families
Robert
Fisk
Oil,
War and Panic
Ron Jacobs
Xenophobia
as State Policy
Elaine
Cassel
The
Lamo Case: Secret Subpoenas and the Patriot Act
Shyam
Oberoi
Shooting
a Tiger
Toni Solo
Plan Condor, the Sequel?
Sean Donahue
Wesley
Clark and the "No Fly" List
Website of the Day
Downloader Legal Defense Fund
September
30, 2003
After
Dark
Arnold's
1977 Photo Shoot
Dave Lindorff
The
Poll of the Shirt: Bush Isn't Wearing Well
Tom Crumpacker
The
Cuba Fixation: Shaking Down American Travelers
Robert
Fisk
A
Lesson in Obfuscation
Charles
Sullivan
A
Message to Conservatives
Suren Pillay
Edward Said: a South African Perspective
Naeem
Mohaiemen
Said at Oberlin: Hysteria in the Face of Truth
Amy Goodman
/ Jeremy Scahill
Does
a Felon Rove the White House?
Website
of the Day
The Edward Said Page
September 29, 2003
Robert
Fisk
The
Myths of Western Intelligence Agencies
Iain A. Boal
Turn It Up: Pardon Mzwakhe Mbuli!
Lee Sustar
Paul
Krugman: the Last Liberal?
Wayne Madsen
General Envy? Think Shinseki, Not Clark
Benjamin
Dangl
Bolivia's Gas War
Uri Avnery
The
Magnificent 27
Pledge
Drive of the Day
Antiwar.com
September
26 / 28, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Alan
Dershowitz, Plagiarist
David Price
Teaching Suspicions
Saul Landau
Before the Era of Insecurity
Ron Jacobs
The Chicago Conspiracy Trial and
the Patriot Act
Brian
Cloughley
The Strangeloves Win Again
Norman Solomon
Wesley and Me: a Real-Life Docudrama
Robert
Fisk
Bomb Shatters Media Illusions
M. Shahid Alam
A Muslim Sage Visits the USA
John Chuckman
American Psycho: Bush at the UN
Mark Schneider
International Direct Action
The Spanish Revolution to the Palestiniana Intifada
William
S. Lind
How $87 Billion Could Buy Some Real Security
Douglas Valentine
Gold Warriors: the Plundering of Asia
Chris
Floyd
Vanishing Act
Elaine Cassel
Play Cat and Moussaoui
Richard
Manning
A Conservatism that Once Conserved
George Naggiar
The Beautiful Mind of Edward Said
Omar Barghouti
Edward Said: a Corporeal Dream Not Yet Realized
Lenni Brenner
Palestine's Loss is America's Loss
Mickey
Z.
Edward Said: a Well-Reasoned Voice
Tanweer Akram
The Legacy of Edward Said
Adam Engel
War in the Smoking Room
Poets' Basement
Katz, Ford, Albert & Guthrie
Website
of the Weekend
Who the Hell is Stew Albert?
September
25, 2003
Edward
Said
Dignity,
Solidarity and the Penal Colony
Robert
Fisk
Fanning
the Flames of Hatred
Sarah
Ferguson
Wolfowitz at the New School
David
Krieger
The
Second Nuclear Age
Bill Glahn
RIAA Doublespeak
Al Krebs
ADM and the New York Times: Covering Up Corporate Crime
Michael
S. Ladah
The Obvious Solution: Give Iraq Back to the Arabs
Fran Shor
Arnold and Wesley
Mustafa
Barghouthi
Edward Said: a Monument to Justice and Human Rights
Alexander Cockburn
Edward Said: a Mighty and Passionate
Heart
Website
of the Day
Edward Said: a Lecture on the Tragedy of Palestine
The Great Alejandro Escavedo Needs Your Help!
September 24, 2003
Stan Goff
Generational
Casualties: the Toxic Legacy of the Iraq War
William
Blum
Grand Illusions About Wesley Clark
David
Vest
Politics
for Bookies
Jon Brown
Stealing Home: The Real Looting is About to Begin
Robert Fisk
Occupation and Censorship
Latino
Military Families
Bring Our Children Home Now!
Neve Gordon
Sharon's
Preemptive Zeal
Website
of the Day
Bands Against Bush
September
23, 2003
Bernardo
Issel
Dancing
with the Diva: Arianna and Streisand
Gary Leupp
To
Kill a Cat: the Unfortunate Incident at the Baghdad Zoo
Gregory
Wilpert
An
Interview with Hugo Chavez on the CIA in Venezuela
Steven
Higgs
Going to Jail for the Cause--Part 2: Charity Ryerson, Young and
Radical
Stan Cox
The Cheney Tapes: Can You Handle the Truth?
Robert
Fisk
Another Bloody Day in the Death of Iraq
William S. Lind
Learning from Uncle Abe: Sacking the Incompetent
Elaine
Cassel
First They Come for the Lawyers, Then the Ministers
Yigal
Bronner
The
Truth About the Wall
Website
of the Day
The
Baghdad Death Count
September
20 / 22, 2003
Uri Avnery
The
Silliest Show in Town
Alexander
Cockburn
Lighten
Up, America!
Peter Linebaugh
On the Bicentennial of the Execution of Robert Emmet
Anne Brodsky
Return
to Afghanistan
Saul Landau
Guillermo and Me
Phan Nguyen
Mother Jones Smears Rachel Corrie
Gila Svirsky
Sharon, With Eyes Wide Open
Gary Leupp
On Apache Terrorism
Kurt Nimmo
Colin
Powell: Exploiting the Dead of Halabja
Brian
Cloughley
Colin Powell's Shame
Carol Norris
The Moral Development of George W. Bush
Bill Glahn
The Real Story Behind RIAA Propaganda
Adam Engel
An Interview with Danny Scechter, the News Dissector
Dave Lindorff
Good Morning, Vietnam!
Mark Scaramella
Contracts and Politics in Iraq
John Ross
WTO
Collapses in Cancun: Autopsy of a Fiasco Foretold
Justin Podur
Uribe's Desperate Squeals
Toni Solo
The Colombia Three: an Interview with Caitriona Ruane
Steven Sherman
Workers and Globalization
David
Vest
Masked and Anonymous: Dylan's Elegy for a Lost America
Ron Jacobs
Politics of the Hip-Hop Pimps
Poets
Basement
Krieger, Guthrie and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Ted Honderich:
Terrorism for Humanity?
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Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
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Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
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Wire
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Corrie
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Impeach
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Weekend
Edition
October 11 / 13, 2003
The
Guatemalan Elections
Fraud, Intimidation
and Indifference
By LISA VISCIDI
On Nov 9, 2003, Guatemalans will cast their votes
for President, congressmen and local municipal leaders. A second
round involving the two strongest presidential contenders will
follow on Dec 28 if no candidate wins an absolute majority. The
electoral environment is marked by an ambiguous definition of
presidential candidates and party platforms, allegations of fraud
and electoral violence being committed by the government party,
and a high percentage of apathetic voters.
The Candidates
According to a May 27 opinion poll published
in El Periodico, the presidential candidates apt to win the elections
are those of the traditional right, backed by Guatemala's powerful
oligarchy. These include Oscar Rafael Berger of the Gran Alianza
Nacional (GANA), Leonel Lopez Rodas of the Partido Avanzando
Nacional (PAN), and former leftist candidate Alvaro Colom of
Uni! dad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), who represents slightly
more centrist politics.
These right-wing candidates have presented
almost identical platforms. Focusing mainly on security, they
pledge to eliminate corruption and take strong measures against
delinquents and organized crime. In the economic sector, the
candidates plan to build up infrastructure in order to attract
foreign investment and tourism. Also on the agenda, are health
and education, services the right wing candidates adamantly promise
to improve. Little detail has been offered, however, on how these
goals will be accomplished.
The 2003 elections will offer only one
truly leftist option- Rodrigo Asturias Amado of Unidad Revolucionaria
Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). Asturias, the son of Guatemala's
most famous novelist, joined the leftist rebel movement in 1962
and was one of Latin America's longest-serving guerilla commanders.
In 1982, his group joined 3 othersto form the URNG with Asturias
as its leader. In 1999, 3 years after the signing of the peace
accords, the URNG was registered as a political party. In this
year's elections, Asturias has been the only candidate to even
mention the country's peace accords. Central to the URNG platform,
are the accords' focus on reducing the role of the army and protecting
human and indigenous rights. The URNG boasts the only indigenous
candidate, Pablo Ceto, who is running for vice-president, as
well as a 50% indigenous staff. Asturias has also promised to
increase public services and regulate the economy in order to
ensure a more just distribution of wealth. The URNG, however,
has little chance of winning on November 9 due to a lack of funds
and weak party structure.
The most controversial of this year's
candidates is without question Efrain Rios Montt of the Frente
Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG), who earned the nickname "The
General" after takin! g power in a 1982 coup d'etat. Rios
Montt's 16 month rule is considered one of Guatemala's bloodiest
periods since the Spanish conquest. Under his command, entire
villages were massacred in order to wipe out rebel havens, and
some 100,000 mostly indigenous Guatemalans were killed. The massacres
were committed by both the army and by Guatemala's paramilitary
group, Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil (PAC). Created by Rios
Montt himself, the PACs consisted mainly of indigenous villagers
who were often forced to commit atrocities against their own
and neighboring villages. Guatemalan human rights groups have
since made complaints to national and international courts, accusing
the former dictator of genocide, though he has not been successfully
charged. In 1989, Rios Montt founded the FRG, but was blocked
from running for president in the last two elections due to an
article in the Guatemalan constitution prohibiting those who
have par! ticipated in a coup from becoming presidential candidates.
In the 1999 elections, however, the FRG made tremendous gains
as party-member Alfonso Portillo won the presidency and Rios
Montt became head of congress.
Rios Montt's Controversial
Registration
In June 2003, The General once again
sought registration as a presidential candidate. Following a
rejection to his pleas by three lower courts, Rios Montt's case
reached the Constitutional Court. After a highly secretive selection
process, 7 magistrates were chosen to hear his case, 4 of whom
were known FRG sympathizers. The court's initial decision to
approve his candidacy provoked outcries from human rights workers
and civil society as a whole, prompting the Supreme Court to
suspend Rios Montt's registration. The former dictator responded
with a warning that the FRG could not control the anger and frustration
of its supporters and would not be held responsible should there
be acts of violence. Three days later, on July 24, thousands
of Guatemalan peasants descended onto the capital from all over
the country in what was ostensibly a spontaneous show of support
for Rios Montt. However, eyewitness reports indicate that the
demonstration had every appearance of being orchestrated by members
of his party. The protesters were reportedly brought into Guatemala
City in FRG vehicles, and were given orders by party members,
including Congressional deputies and other high-ranking officials.
The mob was then supplied with weapons including guns, machetes,
clubs, gasoline, and tires to burn. Participants were given 3
meals and many recieved 150 Quetzales in cash to wreak havoc
on the city. Hooded men torched buildings, smashed store windows
and burnt cars, waving machetes and chanting threatening slogans.
Journalists were a particular target, as were human rights workers.
One 65-year old reporter, Hector Martinez, died of a heart attack
while running from demonstrators, and photo-journalist Juan Carlos
Torres just managed to escape armed protestors who destroyed
his photographic equipment and drenched him in gasoline, apparently
intending to set him alight. The police and the army made little
effort to maintain order, and not a single person was arrested.
It was only after a command from Rios Montt that the rioters
finally dispersed the next morning, an indication to many that
the ex-dictator was behind the riots. The FRG has denied any
involvement. On July 30, less than a week after the riots of
Jueves Negro, or Black Thursday, the Constitutional Court, overturned
the Supreme Court's decision, voting 4-3 in favor of allowing
Rios Mont tot run for President.
Fraud and Intimidation
Many in Guatemala and the International
Community fear that Jueves Negro was only a small part of an
FRG scheme to commit fraud in the upcomi! ng elections. Due to
the high number of national and international observers that
will be present on election day, it is unlikely that the FRG
will be able to actually alter the ballots. The party has therefore
already begun taking alternative measures to ensure its success.
In one indication of fraud, several opposition parties have denounced
the issuance of thousands of falsified cedulas (voter ID cards)
to people linked to the FRG. 700,000 blank cedulas were reportedly
stolen from government warehouses and issued to foreigners and
people ineligible to vote in Guatemala, who used the names of
deceased citizens or those living outside of the country on their
new cards. Local FRG leaders have been accused of failing to
report their dead in order to facilitate this type of fraud.
The FRG has also manipulated the election process by using state
resources to finance offers of fertilizer, building materials,
and other gifts as wel! l as free transport on election day,
in exchange for an FRG vote. Fertilizers, so important to Guatemala's
8 million campesinos (peasants) are unaffordable for most of
the population- 85% of which lives below the poverty line- and
readily accepted for a promised vote.
The government party relies on sticks
as well as carrots to ensure the support of its citizens. According
to human rights groups, the government is linked to drug-trafficking
and organized crime groups that use violence to intimidate voters,
a tactic employed by the Guatemalan dictators of the 1970's and
1980's. Many in the country's interior still fear the government
after decades of civil war. According to human rights worker
Carmen Carmey, "Guatemala suffered so much during the conflict.
This climate of fear has not been overcome, especially in the
rural areas." Although the presidential vote is secret,
the FRG has been accused of warning voters about hidden cameras!
in voting stations. In addition, the vote by municipality is
publicly known, provoking fear that village members will suffer
collective punishment if their municipality does not vote in
favor of the FRG. Aidee Lopez of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission
has received reports that members of the FRG threatened to kill
everyone in a particular village should the party's candidate
lose the municipal vote. Those tied to the FRG have also employed
tactics of intimidation against institutions that threaten their
immunity.
According to Mirador Electoral, a Guatemalan
election observation group, electoral violence has increased
dramatically since last November with a total of 17 reported
killings. These attacks have primarily targeted human rights
defenders, journalists, and political candidates. Clandestine
groups linked to state security agencies were apparently to blame
for the violence. In one attack, the headquarters of Guatemala's
national Human Rights Prosecutor (PDH) Sergio Morales, who recently
initiated a probe of clandestine security forces, were searched
and robbed. Morales considers the attack part of a "psychological
battle," in order to deter people from probing into government
activities. "They broke in with the objective of introducing
terror and confronting our institution," he insists. "They
want to say to all those working in human rights, 'be careful,
our power structure remains in tact.'"
Thus far, the FRG has enjoyed total immunity
for its illegal acts. As with the case of Jueves Negro, no action
has been taken against the perpetrators of the PDH break-in.
As the party continues to commit acts of violence without any
sort of penalization or investigation, the climate of immunity
is perpetuated. According to Jared Cotler, political advisor
of Minugua, "Lack of investigation of violence allows it
to continue."
Electoral Indifference
The government's campaign of intimidation
coupled with rumors of fraud may be contributing to a high level
of apathy among Guatemalan voters. In addition, most Guatemalans
have little access to information about political parties or
candidates. Communication is hindered by limited media access,
a high illiteracy rate, and a large non Spanish-speaking indigenous
population. Pablo Ceto of the URNG notes that "there is
little information in (Guatemala's) interior. The parties don't
have enough of a network, with the exception of the FRG."
Even if many Guatemalans could access information on their political
candidates, they would find little substance in what is being
said. The electoral process has been marked by a lack of political
debate and ambiguous party platforms. Prensa Libre Columnist
Carolina Escobar Sarti laments, "the candidates don't have
defined platforms or plans for government. They are more focuse!
d on promises than reality." In Sarti's view, politicians
are concerned with maintaining power rather than serving the
long-term needs of the population: "They don't think at
all about the long haul," she says. "They think more
about politics than a structural plan." The notion that
no president will be concerned with the needs of a people stricken
by poverty has caused indifference to the outcome of the elections.
Past candidates have made promises that were never fulfilled,
and the Guatemalan people are disillusioned with the electoral
process as a whole. Ileana Alamilla, Director of the media center
Cerigua, holds that "apathy is caused by a lack of holding
promises. Most people are not thinking about politics, but about
surviving." In the 2003 elections, human rights workers
and the international community are endorsing any candidate who
is not Rios Montt. The hope is that, if nothing else, Guatemala's
human rights situation will not deteriorate over the next presidential
term. However, many recognize that it is not sufficient to merely
hope that the worst of the worst does not become this country's
next leader. A better alternative must be sought, and most are
hoping that over time, a party that truly works in the interests
of the Guatemalan people will emerge victorious.
Lisa Viscidi
can be reached at: lviscidi@yahoo.com
Weekend
Edition Features for Sept. 26 / 28, 2003
Tim Wise
The
Other Race Card: Rush and the Politics of White Resentment
Peter
Linebaugh
Rhymsters
and Revolutionaries: Joe Hill and the IWW
Gary Leupp
Occupation
as Rape-Marriage
Bruce
Jackson
Addio
Alle Armi
David Krieger
A Nuclear 9/11?
Ray McGovern
L'Affaire Wilsons: Wives are Now "Fair Game" in Bush's
War on Whistleblowers
Col. Dan Smith
Why Saddam Didn't Come Clean
Mickey
Z.
In Our Own Image: Teaching Iraq How to Deal with Protest
Roger Burbach
Bush Ideologues v. Big Oil in Iraq
John Chuckman
Wesley Clark is Not Cincinnatus
William S. Lind
Versailles on the Potomac
Glen T.
Martin
The Corruptions of Patriotism
Anat Yisraeli
Bereavement as Israeli Ethos
Wayne
Madsen
Can the Republicans Get Much Worse? Sure, They Can
M. Junaid Alam
The Racism Barrier
William
Benzon
Scorsese's Blues
Adam Engel
The Great American Writing Contest
Poets'
Basement
McNeill, Albert, Guthrie
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