The workers have occupied the oil wells there for more than 10 days, reducing daily output by 15 percent. Amazonians are demanding among other things that the government repair and build roads and bridges there, and that it give wage increases to government-employed workers. Meanwhile, the teachers union workers are also on strike demanding a pay hike.

Dominicans protest deteriorating living conditions
Demonstrations continue to spread in the Dominican Republic, as working people demand that the government provide potable water, electricity, and repair the roads. Government-deployed cops and troops attacked protesters October 14 in Villa Mella, a neighborhood in the capital Santo Domingo. Several people were injured and dozens of demonstrators were detained. In another battle, 21-year-old Adolfo Jiménez was killed - shot eight times - by the cops, reported local residents in the eastern town of Monte Plata, who were on the scene during the shooting.

Israeli warplanes bomb Lebanon
Two Israeli warplanes flew into Lebanon October 17, and in two passes fired four air-to-surface missiles, hitting the base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, some 10 miles from Beirut. Tel Aviv said the attacks were aimed at a weapons storage facility allegedly in the area. Palestinian guerrillas have been fighting to push the 1,500 Israeli troops out of Lebanon, who occupy 10 percent of their land.

Saudi gov't attacks immigrants
After final warnings were issued by the Saudi Arabian interior ministry October 15, thousands of foreign-born workers in that country - Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, and Egyptian - are lining embassy offices to avoid arrest, fines of up to $27,000, and possible jailing. Saudi bosses who hire or accommodate "illegal" immigrants also face stiff penalties. More than 700,000 undocumented workers have immigrated to Saudi Arabia seeking jobs. Several of the embassies asked for an extension before the crackdown began, but government officials rejected the request.

U.S. sanctions on Iran boomerang
The Clinton administration faces a dilemma as the Russian oil company Gazprom, the French energy company Total SA, and the Malaysian company Petronas have refused to back away from a $2 billion oil deal with Tehran. This move violates the U.S. Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which calls on Washington to impose sanctions on any country doing business with energy industries in either of the two countries that exceeds $20 million dollars. Gazprom has defied Washington's threats saying that the profit to be made outweighs "those incurred by sanctions against us."

If Washington severs any business deals with Gazprom, this would pave the way for more investments in the Russian firm by its imperialist rivals in Europe. The Clinton administration's efforts to isolate Tehran could cripple a $1 billion investment in Gazprom by the Wall Street giant Goldman, Sachs & Co. for a major pipeline project already under construction in Russia.

Rome makes deal for stability
On October 15 Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, who had resigned a week earlier, struck a deal with Fausto Bertinotti, the leader of the Communism Refoundation Party (RC). Prodi is seeking stability for his government, which collapsed when the RC backed away from supporting the package of austerity measures that he says are needed to get Rome in shape to enter the European Monetary Union.

The agreement allows the government to raise the "early retirement" age from 52 to 57 over the next several years while exempting "blue collar" workers from this "reform." Rome also scrapped the idea it floated of paying pensions based on the average wage of a worker over the duration of work life, instead of at final wage levels. Some union officials were poised to accept the so-called pension reforms, but Bertinotti is posturing for a confrontation with the regime against the pension cuts, as well as pressing for legislation to introduce a 35-hour work week.

Hungary: no foreign ownership
The Constitutional Court of Hungary on October 14 ruled against opening up the country to foreign ownership of agricultural land, sending Budapest into urgent negotiations to attempt to reverse the decision, which was taken just before a scheduled vote on Hungary's membership in NATO. An October 15 Financial Times article described the court ruling as "an embarrassing setback for the ruling coalition." The Hungarian parliament failed to reach a compromise that would avert a delay of the NATO referendum.

Meanwhile, the land question "is being taken as an important test" of whether Budapest is ready to enter the European Union, according to the Financial Times. Earlier this year the government introduced a law that allowed foreign-or domestic-owned Hungarian businesses to own up to 740 acres of agricultural land. In August, main opposition parties organized a petition against foreign land ownership to force a referendum.

Siberian energy workers strike
Some 1,500 machine operators struck the Chitaenergo company power plant October 16 demanding payment on the $2.5 million owed to them in back wages. Most of the maintenance and repair workers had gone out three days earlier. The workers at Chitaenergo provide electricity for close to half of the 2 million people in the Chita region in Russia.

U.S. environmental laws lifted
The California government has dumped laws protecting endangered species from capitalist expansion September 26, and adopted a plan that merely seeks "compensation" for the damages the companies cause to wildlife. This course, summed up in two bills signed into law by Republican governor Pete Wilson got bipartisan support. Wilson said the laws struck a "sensible balance" between industrial development and the protections of threatened species. The new laws only address compensation - that will usually mean providing "environmentally valuable" land somewhere else - for the actual loss of a species. There are no provisions for habitat destruction, which can cause long-term damage or extinction to rare plant and animal species.

Dairy farmers face crisis
In New York State, the crisis of overproduction, and government's moves to cut subsidies threatens to put 1,000 of the state's 9,000 diary farmers out of business. Connecticut commissioner of agriculture Shirley Ferris said, "Dairy farmers are getting the same amount for their milk as they did 10 years ago, but the cost of everything they have to buy has quadrupled." Dairy farmers are disappearing. Since 1987 the number of diary farmers in New York has dropped from 14,500. The flooding of milk in the market also meant a 14 cent loss per gallon in sales for dairy farmers.

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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