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Media Hero: Nigeria’s Soyinka Comes Home (12/98)

 

For four years, Nigeria’s Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka roamed Western capitals, seeking support against military rule in Nigeria. His life was in danger several times, as agents of the late dictator, General Sani Abacha, tracked his footsteps in London, Rome, and New York. Thus, Abacha’s death in June lifted a weight off his shoulders. The new military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, appeared to be a man of liberal principles who would not allow the machinery of the state to target such a gifted individual. read more

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South Africa’s Arms Trade (8/98)

In the aftermath of the nuclear tests in South Asia, the US State Department, CIA, and other agencies are scrambling to review South Africa’s multi-billion dollar armament industry, particularly its apartheid-era nuclear weapons program. "We are continually updating assessments," a CIA spokesman confirmed recently on the usual condition of anonymity. "But certain aspects are under increased scrutiny, and one of them is their nuclear capability."

In 1993, then South African Prime Minister F.W. De Klerk confirmed what had been an open secret. South Africa had the bomb – seven of the Hiroshima-style weapons to be precise. Manufactured by South African nuclear physicists at the Palindaba atomic complex near Pretoria despite anti-apartheid sanctions, the "Armageddon" devices were reputedly destroyed later that year. read more

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Human Rights: Ending the Nighmare (5/98)

Electric shocks, partial drowning, sleep depravation, and mental distress – torture comes in many forms. But increased exposure, modern communications, and the linking of development aid to a country’s human rights record are forcing change as the century draws to a close.

In 1982, I experienced torture. Born and raised a Kenyan of European descent, I came face to face with the dark secrets that all Kenyans knew, but were cowed into enduring. The bludgeoning death of President Jomo Kenyatta’s rebellious confidant J.J. Kariuki, the assassination of firebrand opposition leader Tom Mboya on Nairobi’s Government Road, and the free-fall death from an army helicopter of Robert Ouko, President Moi’s about-to-tell-all foreign minister, brought the message home. read more

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The US Steps In (2/98)

As the old colonial powers – Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium – retreat from Africa, the US
is rushing in. Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and even
obscure African countries are appearing on every Clinton official’s itinerary. Does this diplomatic
frenzy support a coordinated US foreign policy agenda? Or, is it driven by less noble, even
colonialist economic objectives? Since the recent flurry of State Department attention was
preceded by the signing of questionable mineral, communications, and financial deals by
highly-leveraged US corporations, it’s a fair question. US newspaper headlines trumpet the trend:
"American Mineral Fields Corporation of Arkansas in billion dollar mineral deal," "New
Millennium Investment, Inc. of Washington signs Congo telecommunications agreement," and "The
Leon Tempelsman & Son Investment Group proposes Angolan diamond operation." Grandiose
financial statements follow with almost frantic regularity. And most of the corporations making
these announcements have heavyweight lobbyists from both sides of the political aisle. read more

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Dellinger: Remembering a Nonviolent Warrior (6/04)

 

Dave Dellinger’s father was a well-connected Massachusetts lawyer and friend of Republican   Governor Calvin Coolidge. One of his grandmothers was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and his father’s ancestors went back to North Carolina — before the Revolution. In fact, Benjamin Franklin was a direct ancestor, by way of a grandnephew and a full-blooded Cherokee Indian.

 

With such a pedigree, it was hard to see why Dave would become an all-American radical, an internationally respected nonviolent activist and a leader of peace and justice movements for more than 60 years. But the young man from the Boston suburb of Wakefield took a less traveled path from the start, living with the poor, attending seminary, and refusing to register for the draft at the brink of World War II. Then and later, he went to jail for his beliefs. By the 1960s, he was a legendary figure, able to forge an alliance between anti-war activists and civil rights leaders. He was America’s Gandhi, advancing the theory of pacifist resistance through his words and deeds. read more

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Saskia Sassan Interview (06/04)

Across Latin America, new social movements are demanding social justice and challenging the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. New governments, most openly progressive or claiming to be, have formed alliances to negotiate collectively with developed countries about economic policy, external debt, foreign investments, and free trade.


Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia are rejecting the 1990s neo-liberal policies, which increased poverty, unemployment, political crisis, corruption, and external debt. The informal economy has invaded the cities: People barter, sell food on the street, offer services without paying taxes, or trade illegally.
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