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In Echoes of Past Intervention, Bush Administration Opposes
Nicaraguan Frontrunner Daniel Ortega
Veteran Investigative Journalist Bob Parry on the Iran-Contra
Scandal and the Perils of Reporting It
New York Judge Awards $19 Million to Victims of CIA-Backed
Haitian Death Squad Leader Toto Constant
Hip Hop Artist M-1 of Dead Prez: "The Media in This
Country is an Organ of the State... It Controls What We Are
Hearing and Seeing"
In Echoes of Past Intervention, Bush Administration
Opposes Nicaraguan Frontrunner Daniel Ortega
Election monitors from the Organization of American States
have warned the Bush administration not to interfere in the
upcoming presidential election in Nicaragua. The Bush administration
has openly opposed the front-runner Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista
leader is trying to regain power for the first time since
1990. We speak with veteran Nicaraguan human rights defender
Vilma Nunez. [includes rush
transcript]
Election monitors from the Organization of American States
have warned the Bush administration not to interfere in the
upcoming presidential election in Nicaragua. The Bush administration
has openly opposed the front-runner Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista
leader is trying to regain power for the first time since
1990.
The OAS singled out Paul Trivelli, the U.S. ambassador to
Nicaragua, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez for
meddling in the November 5th election. In recent weeks a number
of current and former U.S. officials have warned about the
consequences of an Ortega victory. On Tuesday Oliver North
traveled to Nicaragua and said a victory by Ortega would be
“the worst thing” for the country. North is the
former White House aide who was at the center of the Iran-Contra
scandal in the 1980s when the Reagan administration secretly
helped arm the Contras to fight Ortega and the Sandinistas.
Last week U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said an
Ortega win could scare off foreign investors and jeopardize
Nicaragua’s participation in CAFTA. Three weeks ago
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Nicaragua but denied
he was meddling in the election.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “I don't get involved
in politics in the United States so you can be certain that
I'm not going to get involved in politics in Nicaragua.”
Last month Republican Congressman Dan Burton also visited
the country and warned that foreign aid would be cut off if
Ortega was elected. Criticism of the interference from Washington
is increasing. Over 1,000 U.S. citizens recently signed an
open letter to the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua. It read in part:
‘The United States cannot claim to support free and
fair elections while it attempts to control and manipulate
the voting in Nicaragua.’
The open letter was published as an ad in two of the country’s
largest newspapers. Meanwhile Daniel Ortega has criticized
his opponents of being too close to Washington.
Daniel Ortega: "They are all the same, they are all
financed by the North Americans, they are all backed by the
capitalist media - who accumulate their capital through savage
capitalism. That is who they are backed by. They are all taking
over and delegating themselves and saying they are going to
the best administrators, to those that have forced savage
capitalism onto Nicaragua.”
On Wednesday, Nicaraguan attorney and human rights activist
Vilma Nunez testified on Capitol Hill about the U.S. role
in her country. In the 1970s, she was held as political prisoner
during the Somoza dictatorship. Vilma Nunez became the first
female judge in Nicaragua and now serves as the President
of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. She joins us now
from Washington D.C. together with Katherine Hoyt who will
help with translation -- Katherine is the national Coordinator
of the Nicaragua Network.
- Vilma Nunez. Lawyer and prominent human rights defender
for over 40 years. She was a political prisoner under the
dictatorship of Somoza in Nicaragua - then served as the
Vice President of the Supreme Court of Justice during the
1980s. Dr. Nunez was first woman Judge in the history of
Nicaragua. Currently she is the President of the Nicaraguan
Center for Human Rights and serves as the Vice President
of the International Human Rights Federation.
- Katherine Hoyt. National Coordinator of the Nicaragua
Network.
Veteran Investigative Journalist Bob Parry on the
Iran-Contra Scandal and the Perils of Reporting It
Investigative journalist Robert Parry helped expose the
Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s while working as a reporter
for the Associated Press and Newsweek. He joins us from Washington.
[includes rush
transcript]
As we continue over coverage of Nicaragua, investigative
journalist Robert Parry joins us now from Washington, D.C.
In the 1980s he helped expose the Iran-Contra scandal while
working as a reporter for the Associated Press and Newsweek.
Robert Parry now runs the website Consortium News.
- Robert Parry. Veteran investigative journalist and editor
of the online ezine ConsortiumNews.com. For years he worked
as an investigative reporter for both the Associated Press
and Newsweek magazine. His reporting led to the exposure
of the ‘Iran-Contra’ scandal. His books include
“Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project
Truth’” and “Secrecy & Privilege:
Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.”
New York Judge Awards $19 Million to Victims of CIA-Backed
Haitian Death Squad Leader Toto Constant
A former Haitian death squad leader living in New York City
has been ordered to pay $19 million in damages to three women
who survived rape and other abuses committed by troops under
his command. Emmanuel “Toto” Constant led the
paramilitary group the Front for the Advancement and Progress
of Haiti, or FRAPH, which killed thousands of supporters of
former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the early
1990s. [includes rush
transcript]
A former Haitian death squad leader living in New York City
has been ordered to pay $19 million in damages to three women
who survived rape and other abuses committed by troops under
his command. Emmanuel “Toto” Constant led the
paramilitary group the Front for the Advancement and Progress
of Haiti, or FRAPH, which killed thousands of supporters of
former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the early
1990s.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein found that Constant was
liable for torture, attempted extrajudicial killing and crimes
against humanity. The damages award was entered late Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2004 by the Center for
Justice & Accountability and the Center for Constitutional
Rights on behalf of the three Haitian women who submitted
the claims anonymously due to the fear of reprisals.
Constant fled to the United States in December 1994. He lived
freely in New York until he was arrested this past July in
a separate case -- not for human rights abuses but for committing
mortgage fraud. He remains in jail awaiting a criminal trial
on charges of grand larceny, forgery and falsifying business
records. Jennie Green is a senior attorney at the Center for
Constitutional Rights. She joins us in the firehouse studio.
- Jennie Green. Senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional
Rights.
Hip Hop Artist M-1 of Dead Prez: "The Media
in This Country is an Organ of the State... It Controls What
We Are Hearing and Seeing"
Last week in New York, hundreds of citizens gathered for
a town hall meeting on the future of diversity in the nation’s
media. Speakers included several artists and activists from
the hip hop community. We play a speech from M-1 of the rap
group dead prez. [includes rush
transcript]
The owners of Fox News are calling on the Federal Communications
Commission to throw out all of its media ownership rules.
In a filing with the FCC, the company said “It is beyond
question that regulatory intervention is no longer necessary
to ensure diversity and localism.” Fox joined other
large broadcast companies including CBS and the Tribune Company
in calling on the FCC to allow for large media corporations
to greatly increase its holdings.
Monday was the final day to submit comments to the FCC before
it considers changing its media ownership rules. Meanwhile
dozens of public interest groups filed comments arguing that
media consolidation harms the public. The groups included:
Common Cause, the Prometheus Project, Free Press, the Consumers
Union, Children’s Media Policy Coalition, The National
Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, the Rainbow/Push
Coalition and Media Alliance.
Last week in New York, hundreds of citizens gathered for
a town hall meeting on the future of diversity in the nation’s
media. Speakers included several artists and activists from
the hip hop community. One of them was M-1 of the group dead
prez.
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.
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