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> Wed., Nov. 29, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Supreme Court Case Could Impact Global Warming
Bush Postpones Highly Anticipated Meeting with Iraqi President
Maliki
Rwanda Severs Diplomatic Ties with France
A Victory for the Nation’s Blind and Visually Impaired
Nepal’s Prime Minister Signs Treaty with Maoist Chief
Pacifica Radio Archives Testifies at Los Angeles Hearing
Mumia Abu Jamal Commentary: Worms Turn
FSRN Headlines
BUYOUTS AT FORD
Ford Motor Company announced today that some 38,000 workers
have accepted buyout offers. Among that number, an estimated
30,000 will accept early retirement packages. The deal will
reduce Ford's US workforce by almost half by September of
next year. The automaker reportedly plans to close 16 US factories
by 2009.
BOOT CAMP ARRESTS
Eight people have been arrested almost a year after the controversial
death of a teenager in a Florida boot camp. FSRN's Roxanne
Escobales reports.
In January, 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson died a day after
he was roughed up by guards at a Florida boot camp for troubled
youths. Yesterday, the Florida state attorney charged seven
guards and the nurse who watched the attack with aggravated
manslaughter of a child, a first degree felony punishable
by up to 30 years in prison. A videotape of the boot camp
incident led a state legislator to liken it to the 1991 Rodney
King beating in Los Angeles. Following the uproar, the state
closed all juvenile boot camps and the head of the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement resigned. For the past year,
the black caucus of state legislators, the N-double-A-C-P
and student groups protested the lack of action to charge
anyone in Anderson's death. State senator Frederica Wilson
was one of those demanding swift action: (sound) "It
give me a great sense of relief that finally the wheel of
justice is turning." Outgoing Governor Jeb Bush welcomed
the arrests, not least because he promised results before
his term ends in January. Roxanne Escobales, FSRN, Tampa.
STATE DEPT OFFICIAL VISITS NICARAGUA
Decades of chilly relations between the United States and
Nicaragua's president elect could soon warm up. Nan McCurdy
reports from Washington DC.
Yesterday in Nicaragua, the Assistant Secretary of State
for Western Hemispheric Affairs, Thomas Shannon, and the President-elect
of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, committed to improving relations
between their countries after 26 years of differences. Tuesday's
meeting was the first time a high government functionary from
the United States had met with Ortega since 1990. Ortega was
democratically elected in 1984, but despised as a leftist
by the Reagan Administration. Shannon gave assurances that
the United Status will respect the will of the Nicaraguan
electorate saying, "It doesn't matter if it's a government
of the left or the right as long as there is a commitment
to democracy". Washington has been criticized for financing
a campaign to impede a Sandinista victory prior to the November
5th presidential election. Even journalist Carlos Fernando
Chamorro, son of former president Violeta Chamorro, says that
Ortega should be given the benefit of the doubt. Chamorro
says Nicaragua has taken a new turn toward democracy and stability
and that people haven't begun to take capital out of the country
as had been predicted. For Free Speech Radio News, I'm Nan
McCurdy.
LAND REFORM IN BOLIVIA
Bolivian president Evo Morales has signed into law an agrarian
reform package that will re-distribute arable land to small
farmers. The measure won approval despite strong opposition
from conservative legislators who had refused to attend voting
sessions, thereby preventing the quorum necessary to pass
the bill. Bolivia's Senate approved the legislation late last
night after 3 senators broke ranks with their parties. Thousands
of indigenous farmers arrived in La Paz yesterday after marching
for 3 weeks from Santa Cruz to demand the bill's passage.
The agrarian reform law will only re-distribute land that
is not being used for agricultural purposes or has been proven
to have been acquired through questionable means.
PROTESTERS AND POLICE CLASH NEAR HOME OF ARGENTINE HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATOR
In Argentina, Protesters clashed with police yesterday during
a rally outside of the home of a former police official who
is under house arrest for crimes against humanity committed
during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. FSRN's Marie Trigona
has more from Buenos Aires.
Human rights groups led an exposure protest yesterday in
La Plata outside the home of Rodolfo Gonzales Conti, a former
police chief who ran clandestine detention centers in the
Buenos Aires province. Police fired rubber bullets and tear
gas against protesters attempting to cross a police barricade
surrounding the former police official's residence. Protestors
responded by throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. No serious
injuries were reported. Human rights groups have blamed Conti
and Buenos Aires provincial police with ties to the military
dictatorship for kidnapping Julio Lopez, a key witness whose
gripping testimony of torture helped convict a former police
officer of crimes committed during Argentina's military dictatorship.
Organizations will lead a series of rallies this week to demand
that the government continue with human rights trials and
the safe return of Lopez. Conti was sentenced in 2001 to house
arrest for the kidnapping of activists in Buenos Aires. Groups
report that Conti systematically violates the house arrest
order. Conti administered over 20 clandestine detention centers,
including police precinct Number 5, where missing witness
Lopez was illegally detained and tortured during the military
dictatorship. For Free Speech Radio News I'm Marie Trigona
in Buenos Aires.
[top]
Supreme Court Case Could Impact Global Warming
(3:30)
The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the Environmental
Protection Agency has to regulate green house gas emissions
from cars. The case could have a far reaching impact on global
warming. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
Bush Postpones Highly Anticipated Meeting with Iraqi
President Maliki
In Iraq, six Cabinet ministers and 30 lawmakers loyal to
Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are boycotting their posts in
government and parliament in anticipation of a meeting scheduled
today in Jordan between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
and President Bush. The Shia lawmakers participating in the
boycott issued a statement calling Bush a criminal they don’t
want meddling in Iraq’s affairs, urging the Iraqi government
to negotiate with the U.N. Security Council instead. The boycott
comes as a classified memo authored by Bush senior aides indicates
that there is certain skepticism whether Iraqi President Maliki
is able to handle the increasing sectarian violence in Iraq.
Today’s highly anticipated summit between Maliki and
Bush was suspended until tomorrow, but the White House insists
the postponement is not related to the leaked memo.
[top]
Rwanda Severs Diplomatic Ties with France
(3:40)
The row between the small African nation of Rwanda and France
has heightened. The dispute began when a French judge indicted
senior Rwandan government officials accused of shooting down
a plane that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in
1994 – an incident that sparked off the genocide. Now,
the Rwandan government has closed French schools, and has
taken Radio France International off the air in Kigalo. Joshua
Kyalimpa has more.
[top]
A Victory for the Nation’s Blind and Visually
Impaired (2:30)
A Federal Court judge has ruled that U.S. currency is inaccessible
to blind people, and the government is therefore, discriminating
against them. Yesterday’s ruling comes as the result
of a lawsuit filed four years ago by the American Council
of the Blind. Daveed Mandell has more.
[top]
Nepal’s Prime Minister Signs Treaty with Maoist
Chief (4:18)
After several abortive peace talks during the past six months,
Nepal’s Prime Minister Girja Prasad Koirala and Maoist
chief Prachanda signed the historic Comprehensive Peace Accord
(CPA) last week. The CPA is being trumpeted to end the decade
old civil war that has haunted the country, taken more than
13,000 lives, and destroyed billions of dollars worth of property.
The treaty has stoked a wave of hope for peace and prosperity
among every strata of society in Nepal. PC Dubey reports from
Katmandu.
[top]
Pacifica Radio Archives Testifies at Los Angeles
Hearing (3:40)
The National Sound Preservation Board, charged by Congress
with developing plans for the inventory and preservation of
sound recordings throughout the United States, is convening
a hearing in Los Angeles this afternoon – and Pacifica
Radio Archives Director Brian De Shazor will be testifying.
Tahndi Chimurenga reports.
[top]
Mumia Abu Jamal Commentary: Worms Turn (2:15)
[top]
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