Okinawans still reject U.S. base
The Japanese government threatened to scuttle economic
development plans for Okinawa, after the island's governor,
Masahide Ota, reiterated his opposition to a projected U.S.
military heliport off the Okinawan coast on February 5. In a
December referendum, 54 percent of Okinawans rejected the
heliport plans. The floating platform was part of the military
reduction agreement that Washington was forced into with Tokyo
in 1996. Long-standing opposition to the U.S. military presence
there exploded in mass demonstrations two years ago after a 12-
year-old girl was raped by U.S. soldiers. The island of
Okinawa, which is the poorest region in the country, accounts
for only 1 percent of Japan's total land area. Two-thirds of
the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan are stationed there.
Palestinians protest Zionist expansion in West Bank
On February 5 about 40 Palestinians protested the
confiscation of Arab-owned vineyards near the West Bank
settlement of Efrat. The excuse Tel Aviv is using for the most
recent land grab is the need to construct a new road. "There is
already a bypass road," explained Ibrahim Abadeh, a Palestinian
who lives in the area. "They just want to take our land for any
reason." Meanwhile, Tel Aviv recently approved plans to build a
new settlement in Ras al-Amud in east Jerusalem. The
government also approved another expansion plan called E-1. If
built, it would be the first time Ma'ale Adumin - the largest
and most populous Zionist settlement in the West Bank - would
be directly linked to the city of Jerusalem.
S. African gov't tells mine bosses to use or lose mineral rights
The African National Congress-led government in South Africa
has opened a discussion on a new mining policy that would
require an annual minimum of work and investment by private
companies that hold mineral rights, if they want to maintain
them. This would discourage "the unproductive holding of
prospecting and mineral rights," read a government consultation
paper. The big companies that dominate mining in South Africa
complain that they should be guaranteed "absolute" security of
tenure in their rights to gold and other mineral wealth.
According to Penuell Maduna, minister of minerals and energy, the government's long-term aim is for all mineral rights - long dominated by white capitalists under the racist apartheid system that was overturned in 1994 - to be vested in the state. South African officials point out that the governments of the United States and South Africa are unusual in allowing any private ownership of mineral rights.
Polish gov't okays austerity
Claiming fears of reverberations from the Asian economic
crisis, the Polish government pushed through an austerity
budget January 23 that has the stated aim of holding the
deficit to 1.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The move is
part of Warsaw's preparations for upcoming talks about Polish
integration into the European Union in March. But would-be
capitalists in Poland still face problems in selling to workers
the restructuring and sell-off of the state-owned mining,
steel, and defense industries, as well as cutting the pension
system.
Panamanians protest nukes
Several environmental groups protested the shipment of
nuclear waste through the Panama Canal February 5. The shipment
aboard the Pacific Swan included nearly 40 tons of highly
radioactive waste. Greenpeace spokesman Carlos Bravo said there
was a fire in the engine room of the Pacific Swan in 1990,
adding to concerns about a possible accident in the canal.
Supposedly answering Bravo, Panama Canal official Alberto
Aleman Zubieta said 71 ships carrying radioactive waste passed
through the canal last year without problems. Several Caribbean
governments also voiced opposition to the transshipment, but
British Nuclear Fuels and Cogema of France - the companies
shipping the nuclear waste - dismissed the possibility of an
accident.
Workers in Mexico demand aid
A group of protesters threw rocks at government officials and
cops as they left a Constitution Day ceremony in Queretaro,
Mexico, February 5. The demonstrators were protesting the
failure of the government to provide aid to poor communities in
the central Mexican city. Some 200 riot police were brought in
and attacked the protest.
Meanwhile, negotiations in Chiapas sparked calls for the Mexican army to withdraw from the area. For four years Zapatista rebels in that southern region have been fighting government forces. Two government commissions also called for the disarmament of at least 12 paramilitary groups that have killed dozens of people in Chiapas. One such paramilitary group, which was linked to the government, was responsible for the December 22 massacre of 45 peasants in Acteal, Chiapas.
Black joblessness near 10 percent
While the official jobless rate in the United States fell to
a "seasonally adjusted" average of 4.7 percent for the last
three months of 1997, the unemployment rate for workers who are
Black remained near 10 percent, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor. The unemployment rate for Latinos was also
higher than average, 7.4 percent in the October - December
period, and the jobless rate for teenagers averaged 15 percent.
Prisoners win settlement
Fourteen prisoners who were beaten by guards in Georgia's
Hays State prison reached a tentative Federal District Court
settlement of $283,000 February 3. The inmates testified that
they were punched, kicked, and stomped on by guards in a 1996
"drug and weapon sweep." They also said that a special
tactical squad handcuffed and abused prisoners to intimidate
them. One prison guard told the court in a deposition that the
Georgia State Corrections Commissioner, Wayne Garner, looked on
while beatings took place. Garner denies this.
INS limits ID for immigrants
Under a proposal issued January 30 by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), immigrants would not be able to
use 12 currently valid forms of identification for employment.
They include U.S. citizen ID cards, school IDs, birth
certificates, voter registration cards, and certain military
identification and draft cards. Currently, 25 forms of
identification are valid for employment. Another INS proposal
would raise the application fees for 27 visa and citizenship
services. The fee for naturalization would go from $95 to $225;
applying for legal permanent residency would rise from $130 to
$220; and the replacement price for a green card would go from
$74 to $110.
- MEGAN ARNEY
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