Le Pen spoke to an audience of 10,000 on May 1, as he sought to gain a broader hearing in the midst of a social crisis in France where unemployment is 12.8 percent. In recent elections, the fascist party has won mayoral contests in four cities.

Austrian fascist to form `union'
Jorg Haider, fascist leader of Austria's Freedom party told 3,000 people at a May Day rally in Linz he planned to form a "Trade Union New" for "skilled workers, the diligent, and women." Haider is seeking to become Austrian chancellor in the next elections, which could take place in 1998. "Now that we have more support from working people it is important that we have better representation in the trade union movement," Haider told the rally. Two years ago Haider was filmed addressing a secret meeting of veterans of Hitler's Waffen SS.

In elections for the European parliament last October, the Freedom party won almost 28 percent of the vote, nearly as much as the two parties in the ruling coalition government. The Social Democrats won 29.2 percent and the conservative People's party won 29.6 percent in that ballot.

U.S., EU avert food trade war
Washington backed off a threat to block $300 million worth of meat from countries in the European Union (EU) after forcing a last minute deal on the EU to accept each other's testing and inspection methods. Since April 1, the EU has blocked exports from the United States for red meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products and fish, worth some $125 million a year. The U.S. government and trade officials in the EU will continue to ban poultry exports from each side, London's Financial Times reported.

U.S. poultry bosses issued a joint statement declaring, "European chicken and turkey producers have been protected from American competition since the early 1960s."

Military cracks whip in Turkey
Cops in Turkey closed down seven buildings April 27 housing Islamic education classes after the military demanded a crackdown on Muslim organizations by Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. An April 26 meeting the National Security Council (NSC) demanded Erbakan implement anti- Islamic measures or resign. Two True Path party members resigned from the coalition government in late April and pressure is mounting on Tansu Ciller, deputy prime minister and True Path leader, to pull out. Turkey's military leaders sent a column of tanks through an Ankara suburb in February after its mayor, a member of Erbakan's Refah party, invited the Iranian ambassador to give a speech in favor of an Islamic state.

Corruption scandal wracks India
Political turmoil continues to stalk India as the Central Bureau of Investigation announced April 28 it will prosecute 56 top politicians on corruption charges. The Central Bureau of Investigation said the corruption scandal involved the misuse of state funds worth up to $280 million over several years from a Bihar state scheme to provide subsidized animal feed.

The accused include Laloo Prasad Yadav, chief minister of Bihar, who is also president of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's Janata Dal party. Gujral was sworn in as prime minister April 21 after H.D. Gowda was forced out of that position on April 11 after 10 months in office. An unnamed business executive of a major U.S. company told the Wall Street Journal Gujral's appointment was a "setback for business and economic reform" in India.

Class struggle rocks oil production in Nigeria
Assassins armed with cutlasses and automatic weapons raided two villages in Nigeria April 28, where activists have organized protests to demand compensation for environmental damage caused by oil companies, including Shell and Chevron. The Nigerian military regime has also sent troops to quell a struggle for land rights in the southern port of Warri, the second-largest oil producing center in Nigeria. Strikes and other labor actions disrupted production of more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day in Port Harcourt in late April.

The Nigerian economy depends on producing some 2 million barrels of oil per day for more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings. Protesters in Warri say their village has seen very little development despite the extraction of enormous wealth from there over the last 30 years.

Manila, Beijing dispute islands
The Philippines government put its military forces on alert April 30 after supposedly identifying three Chinese warships near the Spratly islands. The Spratlys are a chain of atolls and reefs in the South China Sea estimated to be rich in oil and mineral deposits. The islands are claimed in whole or part by regimes in the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan. According to the Associated Press, Philippines Gen. Renaldo Reyes said a Filipino surveillance plane reported May 2 that Beijing removed its armed vessels from the waters near the disputed islands, easing the tensions.

1,000 protest Brazil mine sell-off
Thousands of trade unionists and others in Brazil demonstrated April 28-29 against government moves to sell the state-owned mining company, Vale do Río Doce. Brazilian cops attacked the two-day mobilization with tear gas and a water cannon. The protesters called for a referendum, while former presidents Jose Sarney and Itamar Franco accused the regime of President Fernando Cardoso of selling off Brazil's mineral wealth cheaply. The government planned to sell a 40- 45 percent share in the iron-ore mine - the world's largest - in an auction in Rio de Janeiro.

Ohio school voucher plan nixed
The Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled 3 to 0 on May 1 that the state's $5.5 million voucher program to subsidize private schools was unconstitutional. The Cleveland teachers union challenged the program, which the court declared advances religion in violation of the separation of church and state because it provided government aid to religious schools.

FBI wants more eavesdropping
Executives from the telecommunications industry and civil libertarians issued a statement asserting that the FBI is pressing phone companies across the United States to install equipment in their new digital communications systems that would enhance their wiretapping capabilities. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 requires companies to accommodate FBI surveillance operations.

Phone companies are installing new switches that do "not include all the functionality required to satisfy evidentiary needs dictated by law and the courts," the spy agency claimed. Industry officials have balked at the FBI's recommendations because of the non-negotiable attitude of the secret police and because many of the switches will have to be upgraded or replaced once an agreement on surveillance standards is reached, raising the financial costs for the phone companies.

- MAURICE WILLIAMS  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home