Independence fighters make gains in Basque elections
The October 25 elections to the regional elections in the
Basque Country, or Euskal Herria, in the Spanish state
registered gains for the revolutionary nationalist organization
Herri Batasuna (HB). Euskal Herritarok (EH), an election
coalition headed up by HB, increased its share of the vote from
16 to 18 percent. HB maintained its position as the third-
largest party in the Basque Country. The combined vote of all
parties that stand in the name of Basque independence
constituted 55 percent, with the bourgeois nationalist Basque
Nationalist Party (PNV) and Basque Unity scoring 28 percent and
9 percent, respectively. The Basque people "have said yes to
liberty, to peace, to self-determination, and to the Lizarra
agreement," said EH leader Arnaldo Otegi. The Lizarra agreement
was the political precursor to the early September cease-fire
announcement by the armed Basque nationalist organization, ETA.
The PNV continues to head up the local government coalition.
Among the forces openly opposed to Basque independence Partido Popular, the governing party in Madrid scored 20 percent of the vote, up from 14 percent in 1994, and the vote for Left Unity, the Communist Party-led electoral coalition fell to 5.6 percent. The Socialist Party held 17 percent.
Palestinians resist crackdown under latest `peacé accord
Hundreds of Palestinian youth marched through Ramallah, West
Bank, October 26, protesting the killing of a teenager by
Palestinian police and stepped-up harassment following the
recent U.S. government-brokered Wye River "peace" accords
between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority (PA),
led by Yasir Arafat. The killing occurred the day before when
cops fired on demonstrators protesting a weapons search at the
headquarters of Al Fatah, one of the main wings of the
Palestine Liberation Organization. The Wye River agreement
calls for the PA to confiscate "illegal" weapons and bust up
groups allegedly planning attacks on Tel Aviv. They will be
monitored by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The Zionist
regime still has not approved the accord. Palestinian Authority
cops arrested 100 alleged members of Hamas October 30, under
pressure from Tel Aviv to crack down on the Palestinian
organization. Hamas opposes the accords. The previous day,
Palestinian security forces placed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the
religious leader of Hamas, under house arrest. The arrests
followed a suicide car bombing in Gaza Strip, for which Hamas
reportedly claimed responsibility. "People are arrested without
any warrants and without any rules," Professor Adam Awarta, who
was at the October 26 protest, told reporters.
Hitachi of Japan: record losses
The Japanese electronics conglomerate Hitachi, one of the
strongest companies in the Fuyo group, reported its first half-
year loss since 1949. The electronics giant lost $1.4 billion
the first half of 1998, compared to about $3 million in profit
the previous year. Hitachi warns that losses could double by
the end of the fiscal year. The capitalist economic crisis,
which shattered currencies throughout underdeveloped nations in
Asia and affected imperialist nations, has impacted Hitachi.
Exports to Southeast Asia fell 18 percent, while the region's
U.S. exports fell 26 percent. Depression conditions in Japan
have also lowered electronics demand there. Citing this loss,
Hitachi refused to pump money into Fuji Bank - a major force in
the Fuyo group. Fuji is looking for about $2 billion in capital
to stay afloat. "We don't have that sort of money. If we did,
we would want it for ourselves," said Yoshiki Yagi, Hitachi
senior executive officer.
Indonesians reject racist remark
Thousands of people in Bali, Indonesia, poured into the
streets October 30 to call for Food Minister A.M. Saefuddin's
resignation after he was quoted in the local media as saying
opposition politician Megawati Sukarnoputri should not be
president because she is Hindu. Two days prior, at least
100,000 demonstrated, according to the Associated Press. The
protests included Muslims and Christians in addition to Hindus.
Saefuddin was pressured to issue an apology, claiming he had no
intention on insulting any religion.
HIV hits epidemic level in Africa
According to a World Health Organization report, up to a
quarter of the population in the underdeveloped nations of sub-
Sahara Africa are infected with the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. In Botswana, the hardest-hit
sub-Saharan country, life expectancy dropped from 61 years old
to 47 in the last five years. It is expected to sink to 41
within six years. Of the 30 million people affected with HIV
worldwide, 26 million - or 86 percent -live in sub-Sahara
Africa. HIV, which outside the body is very frail and
therefore hard to transmit, is able to spread so rapidly
because of the overall lack of health care available to most
workers and peasants in the region. A New York Times article
from October 28 stated, "Despite the enormity of the problems
affecting Africa, attention seems to have shifted from the
disease, largely because it seems to have been contained in the
advanced industrialized nations."
Colombia: strikers win raise
After waging the longest strike in Colombian history, some
700,000 public sector workers won a 15 percent wage increase
October 28, according to the Financial Times. That raise is in
parity with projected inflation levels for 1999. Earlier, the
government proposed a 14 percent increase; and workers were
demanding 18 percent. Officials also promised not to take
action against strikers who blocked entrances to public
buildings during the strike after the labor stoppage was
declared illegal October 9.
Women's health clinics get chemical weapons threats
Four women's health clinics that perform abortions in
Indianapolis, New Albany, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; and
Knoxville, Tennessee, received envelopes in the mail containing
brown powder and a note claiming it was anthrax. Though in two
of the cases the powder was tested and came up anthrax
negative, personnel who came in contact with the substance were
taken to the hospital and treated with antibiotics for
precautionary measures. These incidents occur just one week
after the assassination of Barnett Slepian, a doctor in
Buffalo, New York, who provided abortions. That killing sparked
protests of outrage in cities around the United States and
Canada. Also, on October 30 a fake bomb was delivered to the
same abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, that was bombed
January 30, injuring a nurse and killing a cop.
BRIAN TAYLOR