Daily Press Cuttings

Press Friday 17th November (Summary by Justin Alexander)

Guardian: Dams: The World Commission on Dams reported yesterday that many of the 45,000 big dams built last century cost too much, damaged the poor and failed to provide the irrigation and electricity their planners claimed. The main beneficiaries were often western construction companies, financed by the World Bank, adding to the debt of the worlds poorest countries. Some dams actually produce as much greenhouse gases as fossil fuels, by drowning forests and creating large quantities of gas from decaying vegetation. 40-80m people were displaced, mainly in India and China, and the dams cost on average 50% more than originally estimated. Half of the worlds wetlands have been destroyed by dams. The Illisu dam in Turkey, which the government is minded to support with £200m in export credits, would fail the social and environmental tests recommended by the Commission.

FT: Thailand/Oil Industry: 3,000 employees of Thai Petrochemical Industry, carrying who placards saying "World Bank - No Thanks!", shut down debt restructuring talks which would transfer 75% of the company to its creditors such as World Bank and Chase Manhattan, who are owed $3.7bn. The founder of TPI, Prachai Leophairatana, praised his workers and promised that if the deal goes ahead, he will challenge it in the courts. With Thai elections in January, TPI could well become an election issue. Costa Rica/Bananas: The banana industry is facing crisis because of multinational dominance, EU restrictions, and competition from Equadorian plantations which dont pay a living wage. 58% of Costa Rican bananas are grown on small independent farms with good wages and high environmental standards. Multinational supermarket chains and distributors (such as Dole and Chiquitta) demand ever lower prices. Dams: Commenting on the World Commission on Dams report, the opinion states: "If the best social and environmental assessments are undertaken and if a dams impact falls within national boundaries, democratic governments have a right to build them. [And] International financial institutions [such as the World Bank] have a duty to support these projects". APEC/free trade: Pacific Rim leaders at the APEC conference called for WTO talks early in 2001 with "a balanced and sufficiently broad-based agenda that responds to the interests and concerns of all WTO members." This is against a background of many new bilateral trade agreements between APEC members. However, Malaysias prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, addressed the leaders about the dangers of globalisation and the need for more effective regulation of markets. Zimbabwe/Budget: GDP is expected to fall by 4.2% this year, and real public spending has been cut by 20%. Yet debt service will balloon next year to 47% of the budget (18.6% GDP). The finance minister aims to restructure the debt so that at least 30% is short- and medium-term. Next year too the government will need to finance its deficit by borrowing Z$87bn (25% GDP) from the domestic market. India/Banks: The government will reduce its stake in 19 banks from 51% to 33%. The State Bank of India is not yet included in the sale.

Times: Vietnam/Clinton: President Clinton became the first US President to visit Vietnam since the war. He is seen as a good American in the country, because he draft dodged and has fostered diplomatic and commercial links between the countries. Ilisu Dam: Germany will incorporate the WCD recommendations into its rules for funding dams. This ups the pressure on Britain, Switzerland and Italy to review their promises of £400m in export credits for the Ilisu Dam in Turkey. Friends of the Earth announced that it is prepared to take the British government to court if it continues to support the dam.

HT: Peru: The opposition took control of Congress for the first time in President Fujimoris 10-year rule. The moderate Valentin Paniagua was elected president of Congress. Burma/Sanctions: The International Labour Organisation agreed to go ahead with sanctions on Burma from Nov 30. This will be the first time such action has been taken in the ILOs 80 year history. The EU and US backed the decision.

Press Thursday 16th November (Summary by Justin Alexander)

FT: World Bank: James Wolfenson, speaking at the end of a tour of India, defended the Banks policy of concentrating half of its $1.4bn/yr lending into 3 states where the leaders are considered congenial to WB economic reforms. Opposition parties in Andra Pradesh accused him of dictating policy in their state.

Indy: Climate Change: The EU and US are at loggerheads in the Hague over US insistence on using carbon sinks (such as planting forests) instead of genuine cuts to achieve Kyoto emissions targets. Peru: Torture chambers have been discovered under the offices of former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, who is presently in hiding and denies any human rights abuses. Indonesia: A UN security council mission demanded that Indonesia control the pro-Jakarta militias in West Timor who killed 3 UN humanitarian workers in September and are terrorising the 120,000 East Timorese refuges.

HT: Aids in Africa: Former President Jimmy Carter writes that AIDS now kills more Africans than malaria, and must be combated with strong leadership from heads of state and a focus on preventing further infections.

Times: Nigeria/Shell: Owens Wiwa, brother of executed Ogoni campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa, is pursuing a case against Shell in the US courts accusing it of polluting Ogoniland, arming Nigerian troops and fabricating the murder charges against Ken. The courts have rejected bids by Shell to quash the case, which is based on the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act allowing non-US citizens to bring cases in the US courts.

Wednesday 15th November 2000 (Summary by Justin Alexander)

FT: Former-USSR: A report by the EBRD predicts that the former Soviet economies will grow GDP by an average of 5% this year, the largest growth since the fall of the Berlin Wall. However economic output has only just returned to its 1989 level in the west, and in the east is only 68% that level. Dams: The report of the World Dams Commission will be launched in London tomorrow by Nelson Mandela. In light of this, 100 environmental and human rights groups are appealing to the government to withdraw $315m in export credit support to Balfour Beatty for the Ilisu dam in Turkey, which fails all seven principles set out in the report.

HT: Philippines: Thousands of protesters in Manila demanded President Estradas immediate resignation, a day after the Senate ruled to impeach him the trial is expected to run from 1 Dec to 8 Feb. Columbia: The Marxist rebel group FARC broke off peace talks with the government, accusing it of failing to halt rightist terrorism and favouring US military intervention. Money Laundering: At least $500m in Russian money was transferred to Swiss bank accounts between 1996-99 via the Bank of New York (whose vice president Lucy Edwards pleaded guilty to laundering in February). Suspected sources are IMF loans, the Russian Mafia and tax evasion.

Times: Liberia: President Taylor of Liberia accused Britain of fomenting civil war in Sierra Leone to steal the countrys diamonds. Russia/Nukes: President Putin is expected to offer to cut Russian nukes to 1500 (and perhaps further) by 2008 when he meets with Clinton today in Brunei. This goes beyond the Start III proposal of 2500 weapon and comes after an announcement last week to cut the armed forces by a fifth, reflecting deep cuts in the military budget and a shift to conventional weapons.

Guardian: East Timor: During a visit to Timor, a team of UN security council representatives (including Britains permanent representative Stewart Eldon) said that no action would be taken against Indonesia for its failure to comply with a UN resolution ordering the return of 120,000 starving East Timorese refuges held in West Timor and under threat from army-backed militias. The UN is concerned not to destabilise President Wahid and risk a military take-over.

Tuesday 14^th November 2000 (Summary by David Chapkin)

FT/World Bank: A report to be launched this week by the World Commission on Dams is sharply critical of large dams in developing countries such as the highly controversial Narmada dam in western India (which the World Bank withdrew support for in 1993) and the Three Gorges river project in China, saying they generally fail to provide the promised irrigation benefits and frequently involve mass resettlement of poor people, with inadequate compensation. Argentina: Argentina's government suffered a setback last night when opposition governors made their support for the IMF/WB economic package conditional on extra funds, to include for instance insurance for the unemployed, to help alleviate social suffering in their provinces. Meanwhile, Argentina's FRB bond, the most widely traded of its Brady issues, gained a point to 87.375. Philippines: As anticipated, the lower house of the Philippine Congress yesterday impeached President Joseph Estrada over allegations of corruption (he'd been caught with his hand in the slot machine) and constitutional violations. He now faces trial in the upper house. Environment: International agreement will be sought in The Hague this week to ratify the 1997 Kyoto protocols. In this connection, Michael Meacher, the environment minister, yesterday criticised US intransigence with regards the cutting of greenhouse gas emissions. The US which has 4% of the world's population accounts for 25% of global gas emissions and 36% of emissions from the industrialised world. Vietnam: Washington remains adamant that “there is no conclusive evidence that exposure to dioxins [from Agent Orange, the defoliant used by the US during the war] directly causes birth defects or other health problems.” Although US Vietnam veterans are entitled to compensation for several cancers and other diseases that have been linked to Agent Orange, the US has refused in this connection to help Vietnam's victims.

Guardian: Environment: Leaders agreed in Kyoto in 1997 to a 5% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels. Scientists argued then that the cut needed to be of the order of 60-80% to make a real impact, but even Kyoto's target has not been met- emissions have continued to rise by 1.3% a year while the US and other governments have been involved in bureaucratic wrangling, delays and desperate attempts to find loopholes so as to avoid taking action. Oil: OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna decided not to raise their production quotas arguing that crude prices will soon fall back to their target range of $22-28 a barrel. India: Despite last month's Supreme Court majority decision which instructed the government to complete the Sardar Sarovar dam, the governments of the two states involved have said there is no land available for resettlement of tens of thousands of families who will be displaced by the dam. Dams built in India since its independence have caused the involuntary displacement of 56m people.

IHT: Environment: While 180 nations signed the protocol in Kyoto, only 30 have ratified the deal. One major issue to be discussed in the Hague revolves around how much countries could trade off against their commitments to roll back their own pollution by helping other countries reduce theirs. The US advocates unlimited emissions trading i.e. trading in green credits, against the EU and some developing countries which fear it will defeat the effort of the biggest polluters to change their ways. The earth's temperature is now at its highest level in 1,000 years. Indonesia: Despite being convicted 6 weeks ago to 18 months in prison for corruption, Tommy Suharto had remained free through a series of legal manoeuvers and mistakes by the prosecution only to have now disappeared, according to officials. Chile: Newly declassified documents released on Monday have revealed that 3 weeks prior to the Pinochet-led coup that toppled President Allende, US officials approved $1m in covert aid to political parties and private organisations to undermine Allende's Socialist government.

Monday 13th November 2000 (Summary by Justin Alexander, David Chapkin and Colin Ellesmere)

FT: Argentina/IMF: The IMF confirmed that a rescue deal which could total more than $15bn was in the works after expressing its backing for Argentina President Fernando de la Rua's new measures. Some of the measures will include abolishing the state pension system, privatising tax collection, “restructuring” the civil service system, “streamlining” the public health system and freezing federal and provincial spending for the next five years. In recent weeks, international investors, in fear that the country could face problems raising the nearly $20bn it needs to service its foreign loans, have sold Argentine bonds.Philippines: Joseph Estrada is expected today to become the first Philippines president to be impeached. Oil: OPEC last night signalled that they would not consider additional production increases until mid-January in spite of high petroleum prices. Mozambique: (Saturday's paper) Thirty one people have been killed and 144 injured in clashes between police and supporters of Renamo in Northern Mozambique. Coffee: Coffee futures fell to a 30-year low yesterday, down to $660 a tonne.

The Guardian: World Trade: Comment from Kevin Watkins of Oxfam on the iniquities of the patent system of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Under the new WTO intellectual property regime, patent protection will be extended to 20 years and be widened to include products such as seeds and medicines. The losers will be the world's poorest countries, where the WTO regime will raise the cost of technology and vital drugs and stifle innovation. The new regime will be backed by the threat of trade sanctions against countries that fail to comply. Swaziland: Swaziland's monarchist government has reintroduced detention without trial ahead of a national strike starting today to demand polictical freedoms and an end to the abuse of power in the country. Swaziland's king rules by decree with a hand-picked parliament since political parties were banned after a state of emergency was imposed 27 years ago. Indonesia: One day after tens of thousands of people rallied in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, in support of a referendum on the province's sovereignty, the separatist Free Aceh Movement said it would not attend talks with the Indonesian government in Switzerland until the police and army “stopped murdering civilians”. Human rights activists have confirmed that 34 people have been killed and more than 120 injured in the demonstrations.

The Independent: Sierra Leone: A 500-strong British military taskforce arrived in Sierra Leone at the weekend “not to conduct operations against the Revolutionary United Front but to facilitate others who may wish to do so.” The 3,000 SLA troops the British have trained and organised so far are in many cases no less brutal or criminal than the RUF rebels they are supposed to police it is reported.

The Voice: Haiti: Luigi Einaudi, the Organisation of American States mediator for Haiti, announced he is prepared to return to the country (which he left on Oct 21). Opposition parties claim that the local election in May, which gave ruling Lavalas Family party 80% of offices, was fraudulent, and are boycotting the presidential elections (scheduled for Nov 26) in protest.

Daily Telegraph: Peru: President Fujimori, who faces new polls after a corruption scandal, has been accused of having his first election campaign financed by drug cartels. Zimbabwe: Black settlers seized at least 50 white farms bringing the total to more than 300 after the Zimbabwe government pressed ahead with its fast track resettlement programme in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling.

The Times: Sierra Leone: Royal Marines will land on Beaches at Freetown in a display of power to deter the rebel RUF from starting a winter campaign. On Saturday the RUF and Sierra Leonean Army began a 30-day cease-fire.