Dominican consul for Havana
After 33 years, the government of the Dominican Republic announced December 11 that it is opening a consulate in Havana. An increasing number of governments in the Caribbean are moving to open ties with Cuba, despite the Washington's continuance and extension of the economic embargo on Cuba. The Dominican government severed diplomatic ties with Havana in 1964.

Clinton extends troops in Haiti
U.S. president William Clinton announced December 5 his decision to keep U.S. troops in Haiti. Some 500 GIs would supposedly participate in "public works projects," and Washington will also provide 50 cops as part of a 300-strong force under the aegis of the United Nations. Pentagon officials said "no time limit" was placed on the extension, and held open the possibility of sending in more combat troops in case of "political instability." In 1994 the Clinton administration organized an invasion of Haiti involving more than 20,000 U.S. soldiers. UN "authorization" for a continued military operation by Canadian and other troops is due to expire December 31.

German students: `stop the cuts'
On December 18 some 30,000 students in Bonn protested the German government's moves to end tuition-free education in the latest of a wave of large protests over the last two months. As activists tried to enter government buildings they were repelled by club-wielding cops. Some protesters retaliated by pelting police with eggs, fire crackers, and stones. Students say classrooms are overcrowded, textbooks are ancient, and student stipends are low.

Polish gov't restricts abortions
Warsaw's lower house of parliament reimposed a ban on abortions December 17, except in cases of serious threat to the life or health of a woman, irreparable damage to a fetus, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape. This ban was imposed in 1993, after decades of women having the right to choose in the Polish workers state. The law had been eased in 1996 to also allow abortions for such reasons as "economic hardship." Doctors who violate the abortion law face up to two years in prison.

Russian company dumps U.S. bank loan over Iran threats
Flouting Washington's urgings to cut off business dealings with Tehran, the Russian oil giant Gazprom canceled an agreement with the United States Export-Import Bank before the U.S. government could do so. A senior Gazprom official told reporters the move was made in response to U.S. "pressure on Russian companies implementing projects abroad." Previously the bank had agreed to finance Gazprom's purchasing of equipment and services from U.S. companies with a $750 million loan guarantee. A December 18 New York Times article stated, "The Clinton Administration has also been considering sanctions against Russia" over Gazprom's decision to explore for gas in Iran. But so far, nothing of the sort has taken place. Gazprom "is already working on arranging some other form of financing" independent of the U.S. Import-Export Bank to buy U.S. products, said Stan Pshonik, a senior Compressor Control Systems official.

`No one can veto Palestinians'
As part of supposedly brokering talks over Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank, Washington proposed in mid-December that U.S. authorities be given the power to decide on the release of Palestinian activists jailed by the Palestinian Authority. Under this scheme the CIA would be notified and would consult with the Israeli government whenever someone detained by Palestinian officials is to be released, with Washington having the final say. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the secretary general of the Palestinian Cabinet, responded to this probe against Palestinian sovereignty asserting, "No one has veto power over the Palestinians - not the United States and not Israel."

Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to balk on Tel Aviv's agreement to return Zionist settler-stolen land back to the Palestinian people. The regime says it is unlikely that they will pull out from West Bank territories before talks with Washington, scheduled for early next year, take place. The Israeli government consistently justifies this with claims that the Palestinian Authority doesn't crack down hard enough on so-called terrorists, meaning fighters for self-determination.

Indian peasants slaughtered
A December 2 late night raid of Lakbuanpur Bathe village in Jehanabad, India, ostensibly organized by the landlords' private mercenary group Ranvir Sena, left more than 60 peasants dead. Some 300 heavily armed thugs pulled scores of men, women, children out of their homes and executed them. Dozens more were injured in the attack. Peasants in the region have been resisting the landowners' seizure and occupation of a government plot of land. Local governments in the region used this struggle to justify beefing up their cop forces and upgrading their weaponry to include grenades, and night vision devices. Former chief minister of the state of Bihar Jagannath Mishra took the occasion to call for martial law and for the ouster of current Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

Medicare bosses cut benefits
Medicare HMOs (health maintenance organizations), claiming they are not receiving sufficient subsidies from Washington, are raising their fees to retired workers and cutting the extent of the benefits. Some of these medical care packages, which now cover 5.9 million people - nearly a sixth of all elderly and disabled people - will for the first time begin charging monthly premiums. Others will eliminate free prescriptions, eye glasses, and dental care. Humana Inc., one of the largest HMOs in the country, told Wall Street analysts that it would triple its fees for some name-brand drugs. Many of these planned cutbacks are set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 1998.

U.S. mulls plan to suspend deportation of Haitians
The Clinton administration is considering a move to suspend deportation proceedings for up to 20,000 Haitian immigrants for one year, the December 17 New York Times reported. Thousands of Haitian immigrants demonstrated in Miami and Washington, D.C., in October protesting the government's decision to exempt many Nicaraguan, Cuban, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan immigrants from the new laws, but not Haitians. White House officials said that the deportations could destabilize "an already fragile government." Political instability would upset the plans of U.S. investors, who have since 1994 pushed for the regime to impose austerity measures and sell off the state-owned port authority, the telephone company, and the Port-au-Prince airport.

-Brian Taylor and Maurice Williams  
 
 
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