Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Mon., Aug 16, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 8-16-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Venezuela's
President Chavez Survives Recall Vote Rejected by Opponents
Global Warming and Extreme Weather: Hurricane Charley Leaves
16 Dead, Thousands Homeless
Najaf Fighting Throws National Conference Into Chaos
Palestinian & U.S. Prisoners Stage Hunger Strikes
Venezuela's President Chavez Survives Recall Vote
Rejected by Opponents
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez survived a referendum to
recall him Sunday as voters turned out in record numbers.
Opposition leaders have rejected the result as a fraud. We
go to Caracas to get a report from the streets and we speak
with Pacifica journalist Mario Murillo in Columbia about the
wider impact of the vote on the region.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has survived a referendum
to recall him, according to preliminary results released by
the country's top electoral officer.
The President of the National Electoral Council announced
in the early hours Monday, that with 94% of the ballots counted,
Chavez had won just over 58% of the vote, while the vote to
recall him obtained nearly 42%. He said the results meant
Chavez should remain in office until the end of his six-year
term in January 2007.
Following the news, a triumphant Chavez appeared on the balcony
of the presidential palace and sang to thousands of flag cheering
supporters.
But opposition members on the electoral body rejected the
partial result as a fraud, claiming their side had won.
Opposition leader Henry Ramos Allup told a news conference
"We're going to collect the evidence to prove to Venezuela
and the world the gigantic fraud which has been committed
against the will of the people." He said they were waiting
to hear the verdict of international observers, including
former US President Jimmy Carter and the Organization of American
States who monitored the referendum and so far have appeared
satisfied.
Millions of voters turned out in record numbers for Sunday's
recall referendum prompting voting hours to be extended twice.
International interest in the outcome was high given Venezuela's
importance as one of the world's biggest oil exporters.
This is the eighth time Chavez's mandate as leader has been
approved since 1998, after two presidential elections and
six referendums. Chavez supporters criticize the U.S. for
supporting a failed coup attempt against the president in
April 2002. Chavez was removed from power by a coalition of
military officials and business leaders but returned to office
two days later.
- Martin Sanchez, editor of Aporrea.org,
main grassroots website for Chavez supporters and co-editor
of the news site Venezuelanalysis.com.
He joins us on the phone from Caracas.
- Mario Murillo, Pacifica journalist and author of the
new book Colombia and the United States: War, Terrorism
and Destabilization. He teaches media and communications
and is co-host of Wake-Up Call on the Pacifica radio station
WBAI in New York.
Global Warming and Extreme Weather: Hurricane Charley
Leaves 16 Dead, Thousands Homeless
Hurricane Charley rips through Florida leaving 16 dead many
thousands homeless without water or electricity. We speak
with David Helvarg and George Monbiot about extreme weather
and the effects of global warming.
The death toll from Hurricane Charley climbed to 16 on Sunday
with many thousands left homeless in Florida. The Category
4 storm churned diagonally across the state from the southwest
coast to the northeast corner after smashing ashore on Friday.
The fiercest hurricane to strike Florida in 12 years, Charley's
145 mph winds destroyed mobile homes, ripped roofs off houses
and damaged tens of thousands of other buildings.
While 16 people have been confirmed killed, authorities would
not give estimates of the number of injured and displaced.
More than a million are without electricity, half that without
water. Utility officials said it could be up to three weeks
before service to some could be restored. A preliminary estimate
puts the damage at $11 billion just for insured homes.
Federal and state officials are working to hasten the arrival
of aid. The Florida National Guard activated 4,000 troops
for the recovery effort and aid agencies are providing meals
and shelter.
President Bush toured Florida, a key swing state in the presidential
election against Democratic candidate John Kerry.
Charley was the most devastating storm to hit Florida since
Hurricane Andrew ripped up parts of Miami in 1992 and caused
$25 billion in damage. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, was
president and faced criticism for reacting too slowly.
- David Helvarg, President of the Blue
Frontier Campaign and author of the books The War Against
the Greens and Blue Frontier: Saving Americas Living Seas.
He is also a contributor to Feeling the Heat - Reports from
the Frontlines of Climate Change.
- George Monbiot, author and columnist for the London Guardian.
His latest book is "Manifesto for a New World Order."
His articles are posted on his website www.monbiot.com.
Najaf Fighting Throws National Conference Into Chaos
Fighting in the holy Shiite city of Najaf resumed on Sunday
after failed efforts to reach a cease-fire. The outbreak in
fighting came as a national conference opened in Baghdad that
was meant to be a landmark in the country's movement toward
democracy. We go to Iraq to get a report.
U.S. tanks and troops rolled back into the center of Najaf
and battled with Shiite militants Sunday, reigniting violence
in the holy city just as delegates in Baghdad opened a conference
meant to be a landmark in the country's movement toward democracy.
Knight Ridder is reporting that more than 100 Iraqi national
guardsman and a battalion of Iraqi soldiers have resigned
their posts from the U.S- backed forces because they refused
to carry out attacks against fellow Iraqis.
The outbreak in fighting comes as over 1,000 Iraqis met in
Baghdad for a national conference assembled to form a 100-person
commission that is to organize elections in January and hold
veto powers over decrees passed by the interim government.
The weekend conference was largely thrown into chaos by the
continued fighting in Najaf. Al Jazeera reports 100 Shiite
delegates resigned to protest the US military actions in Najaf.
In addition representatives from two of the most high profile
Iraqi groups were not present: backers of Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr nor the influential Sunni Muslim Clerics Association.
- Hannah Allam, Baghdad bureau chief for Knight Ridder.
- Luke Harding, journalist covering Najaf for the London
Guardian.
Palestinian & U.S. Prisoners Stage Hunger Strikes
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have entered the second
day of a hunger strike to protest conditions in Israeli jails.
Meanwhile in New York 200 immigrant detainees are staging
a one-day hunger strike at the Wackenhut Detention Center
in Queens. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have entered
the second day of a hunger strike to protest conditions in
Israeli jails.
The Palestinian Prisoner's Society published a
series of demands issued by the hunger-strikers. They
include:
- Ending the policy of stripping prisoners naked while
conducting physical searches.
- Ending the policy of aggression and beatings.
- Ending the policy of raiding the prisoners cells in inciting
manners and destroying and confiscating the belongings of
the prisoners
- Allowing family visitation
- Improving medical care
- Ending the policy of individual and group solitary confinement
- Improving the quality and the quantity of the food presented
to prisoners and allowing them to receive clothes
- Allowing books, stationary, sport equipment and letters
into the prisons.
Meanwhile in New York 200 immigrant detainees are staging
a one-day hunger strike at the Wackenhut Detention Center
in Queens. The detainees are demanding the government review
their case and for the immediate release of non-criminal detainees.
According to a press release issued by Khan: "None of
the prisoners currently being held at Wackenhut Detention
Center have any terrorism related or other criminal charges
against them. Yet, they are locked for 23 hours per day and
several have been there for close to a year or more. These
detainees were picked up in the aftermath of 9.11 and have
been held without criminal charge or due process, and in some
cases, without access to a lawyer or access to appropriate
food and medical healthcare. Several of the detainees are
married to US citizens. "
- Bobby Khan, of the Coney Island Avenue Project
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
