Mud slides hit Venezuela

Economists have estimated the damage to housing and infrastructure as high as $2 billion. As of December 21 some $4.5 million in international aid had been sent to Venezuela. Two hundred volunteer doctors and medical workers were on their way from Cuba almost immediately, and the revolutionary government delivered eight tons of medical supplies and other equipment.  
 

Iraq gov't rejects UN demand for new round of inspections

The Iraqi government rejected a "weapons inspection plan" December 18 that was approved by the United Nations Security Council one day earlier. The plan would supposedly end the U.S.-led sanctions imposed on Iraq next year if a new "disarmament commission" were permitted to operate inside the country. Among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, all of whom have veto power, only Washington and London voted to place these conditions on Baghdad. The governments of France, China, and Russia abstained. The Iraqi government has stated that it will not allow any UN "monitors" to enter the country until the embargo is ended and the "no-flight" zones enforced by Washington over northern and southern Iraq are eliminated.

Washington has used its military might to maintain sanctions against Iraq as an advantage over its imperialist rivals, especially in France, in the battle for the right to plunder the world. Pining for the lucrative contracts Paris had with Baghdad before the 1990-91 Gulf War, French foreign minister Hubert Védrine declared in mid-December, "The embargo is a crude and cruel tool that hurts civilians. We need to ... suspend it." The trade embargo imposed on the Iraqi people that has lasted nearly a decade after the U.S.-led Gulf War, and which Paris participated in, killed some 150,000 Iraqis.  
 

Syrian, Israeli gov'ts agree to talk

Representatives of the Syrian and Israeli governments have begun talks over the status of the Golan Heights, Syrian territory seized by Israeli forces in the 1967 war. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak hopes to hold onto a major part of the area, bordering a lake from which Israel draws water. Widespread opposition to a deal is surfacing within Israeli capitalist politics, including among the 17,000 Israeli settlers in the Golan Heights. The U.S. government has taken a major part in organizing the talks, and is hosting them in Washington, D.C. The Syrian government is a major power in the region, and the U.S. rulers hope to draw it into shoring up "stability"—above all, in helping keep a lid on the Palestinian struggle. Previous talks between the two sides broke down in 1996. 
 

Indonesian MPs reject price hikes

On December 8 the House of Representatives (DPR) in Indonesia rejected a proposal to raise the prices of fuel and electricity. "Since the purchasing power of the people remains low, higher fuel and electricity tariffs will put much burden on them," said House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, adding, "We will hold a series of discussions with the government to find the right time to impose it." Elected in June, the DPR is under close scrutiny from workers, farmers, and students who have mounted many struggles since a massive economic downtown hit the country in 1997.

The price rises were part of an agreement or "Letter of Intent" signed between the government of Abdurrahman Wahid and representatives of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF and many other imperialist banks froze loans to Indonesia earlier this year, as part of their push to restructure Indonesia's banking system. Despite the DPR's decision the IMF has said it will resume parceling out payments of a promised $43 billion loan next year. An attempt to impose higher fuel and electricity prices at the IMF's urging in May 1998 sparked protests that led to the ouster of President Suharto after 32 years in power. 
 

Nearly 2 million in U.S. jails

More working people have been put behind bars during the 1990s than in any other decade in history, according to the Justice Policy Institute. And more than 2 million people will be incarcerated in the United States soon. According to the World Almanac, the number of arrests this country jumped from 10.4 million in 1993 to 15.2 million in 1996. As a result of the U.S. rulers' assault on the rights of immigrants, thousands of workers from other countries who have not been accused of any crime or have completed prison terms for misdemeanors have been locked up pending deportation.

Meanwhile, legislation pushed by the Democratic administration of President William Clinton has included allocating up to $10.5 billion for constructing new prisons while mandating inmates remain locked up for at least 85 percent of their sentence. 
 

Gay soldier beaten to death

On December 10 an army court martial sentenced private Calvin Glover to life imprisonment for the slaying of a gay soldier. Glover confessed to bludgeoning a sleeping Barry Winchell to death with a baseball bat last July. Winchell had endured months of harassment from fellow solders while his company sergeant looked on. The murder has focused attention on the "don't ask don't tell" policy that President William Clinton instituted in 1993. Under this policy gay recruits are in theory not obliged to reveal their homosexuality. If they do reveal it, in word or deed, they are forced to leave the armed forces. Under these guidelines, the number of gays kicked out of the forces actually increased from 682 in 1993 to 1,149 five years later.

After the slaying Clinton said the policy is "out of whack," blaming the military brass for implementing it incorrectly. He did not call for its repeal. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is running for the senate in New York, announced that gays should be allowed to "serve" openly.

—Maurice Williams and Patrick O'Neill 
 

Social crisis deepens in northern Argentina