Colombians hit by earthquake
A major earthquake collapsed buildings in western Colombia January 25, leaving at least 200,000 people homeless. As of January 30, authorities reported 940 fatalities and 3,690 people injured. The death toll could reach much higher as rescue teams search the wreckage. Water, food, electricity, and shelter for survivors is grossly insufficient. President Andrés Pastrana promised $12.6 million to rebuild homes and said the government sent 362 tons of relief supplies. But 150 tons of food are needed daily just in Armenia, the city hardest hit by the quake. And the government estimates it will take $100 million just to rebuild collapsed homes.

In the name of combating thieves, President Pastrana by called a 30-day "economic emergency," sending 300 heavily armed cops and thousands of troops "to eliminate them from here and put them in prison." The aid allegedly sent by Bógota has still not reached Armenia. "We've gotten nothing from the government," said resident Adalberto Valencia. Workers and peasants line up for hours at Red Cross and other aid stations only to find there is no food or medicine available. Some have begun to take the things they need from stores. The 4,000 troops deployed there opened fire on these people with live ammunition and tear gas. Soldiers seized food they claim had been looted by residents. More than 150 people have been arrested.

Brazil currency plunges further
The Brazilian currency, the real, has continued to plummet, hitting a new low of 2.06 reals to the dollar January 29, a 41 percent decline in two weeks. Brazilian officials are asking the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to speed up a $9 billion loan, in hopes of bolstering the currency. To do this they are floating the idea of even sharper austerity measures - cuts in social services and increases in taxes - than had already been proposed. Government officials are also considering issuing billions of dollars in bonds that would be backed by the country's oil reserves, which would accelerate the sell-off of the national patrimony.

The crisis in Brazil impacts neighboring Argentina because Brazilian exports have become cheaper, and Argentine products more expensive. Auto production in Argentina is predicted to drop between 20 and 50 percent as a result. Nevertheless, the government of Argentine president Carlos Menem is insisting it will keep the Argentine peso pegged at a one-to-one exchange with the U.S. dollar. Menem even suggested eliminating the peso and using the U.S. dollar as the sole currency in Argentina.

S. Korean youth: `U.S. out now!'
"Let's kick the U.S. out and unify our fatherland!" chanted 600 students at Hanyang University in Seoul, the south Korean capital, January 28. Students were demanding the expulsion of 37,000 U.S. troops they say block the unification of Korea. Protesters carried banners and posters denouncing Washington, and reportedly torched a U.S. flag and effigy of U.S. president William Clinton. Students responded with stones when police were sent to quell the protest. The same day in Pusan, south Korea's second-largest city, more than 300 students rallied with similar demands. And in the southern city of Kwangju, 300 students who held an anti-imperialist rally at Chosun University were blocked from marching in the street. A smaller action took place in Taegu, reportedly organized by Hanchongryon, a student group banned for its pro- unification stance.

Japan-U.S. trade war sharpens
Tokyo is preparing to take Washington to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in retaliation for a lawsuit filed by the U.S. steel company Wheeling-Pittsburgh against three Japanese companies exporting steel to the United States. Wheeling-Pitt bosses contend large imports of hot-rolled steel from Japan were "dumped" onto the U.S. market, causing them fiscal injury. Trade officials from Japan say the suits against Itochu, Marubeni, and Mitsui - filed under the U.S. Antidumping Act of 1916 - are in violation of established WTO import-export rules. U.S. officials threaten that unless steel imports from Japan decrease they may employ domestic anti-import laws. In December Tokyo steel exports onto the United States dropped 47 percent - the first monthly decline in more than a year.

Meanwhile, the Japanese economy continues to worsen. Industrial production for 1998 sank 6.9 percent, the sharpest drop in 23 years. Retail sales declined 4.7 percent and domestic vehicle production fell 8 percent. Shipments of industrial goods dropped 6.5 percent - the first fall in five years and the largest since 1975. Japan's hobbling banking industry also took blows in late January as Moody's Investors Service Inc. downgraded the senior debt ratings of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Sumitomo Bank, and Sanwa Bank, saying loans were defaulting faster than these banks could write them off.

Students strike in Togo
Students at the University of Benin began an indefinite strike in mid-January to protest conditions at the school. Student stipends, which are paid out sporadically, "have been the same for 21 years," said student council president Alphonse Late Lawson-Helu. "It's really a pittance. The cost of living has gone up tremendously, not to mention educational documents and other services, which have become more expensive." Other demands include provision of 20 buses, improved meals at the university restaurant, cleaning up campus grounds, and rehabilitation of the theater and library.

Students say the school, now holding 16,000 students, was built for 6,000. Delphine Lare, a student there said government officials' children "do not go to the same schools we do.... We are determined to make our demands heard, whatever the price we have to pay."

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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