-Caveat Lector- [radtimes] # 172 An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities. "We're living in rad times!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send $$ to RadTimes!! --> (See ** at end.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --City bans scarves during summit, fearing protests --Mexico Zapatistas Take Indian Rights on Tour --Struggle for Indigenous Rights is Gaining Ground in the World --There are bigger threats than guided missiles --Weapon of Choice: How Terrorists Use the Web --Zapatistas Reach Out to Other Rebels --Activists bare all in Mexican resort to protest globalization =================================================================== City bans scarves during summit, fearing protests Anne Marie Owens and Heather Sokoloff National Post Ian Lindsay, The Vancouver Sun February 26, 2001 Protesters at talks of the World Trade Organization in Seattle covered their faces. Quebec City and the suburb of Saint-Foy have passed an anti-scarf by-law as a security measure for the Summit of the Americas in April. People in the Quebec City suburb of Saint-Foy could soon risk being arrested for wearing scarves or covering up their faces. A new by-law, which was adopted as part of security preparations for the upcoming Summit of the Americas conference in Quebec City, is one example of precautions being taken to squelch the activities of anti-globalization activists and protesters who typically target these types of international gatherings. In addition to the scarf by-law, authorities plan to install a three-metre high metal fence around several square kilometres of Quebec City and allow only those with passes inside the perimeter. The area will be enforced by 3,000 to 5,000 police, RCMP and riot squads from across the country, and police are freeing up 500 spots in the Quebec City prison to make room for arrested protesters. The by-law adopted by Saint-Foy councillors, which will be enforced during the weeks leading up to and including the April summit, permits police to immediately arrest someone in a crowd if even part of their face is covered. A similar by-law is already in place in Quebec City. If arrested, the burden of proof rests with the accused for providing a valid excuse for covering up their faces, according to the by-law. "I think the Quebec authorities responsible for this owe the public a pretty full example as to why they think an extraordinary measure like that is needed," said Alan Borovoy, general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. "I can imagine all sorts of perfectly logical reasons why someone would have part of their face covered." Mr. Borovoy says his organization grew concerned after seeing how various cities have fought the inevitable protests and hearing how Quebec authorities were ramping up for this particular session. He says authorities "should not arrest, detain, search, seize or use force beyond what is necessary to uphold the law." The association has criticized the focus of the security tactics and urged the federal Solicitor-General and Quebec's Public Security Minister against using a heavy-handed and one-sided approach. "Just as it is important to ensure the security of the summit, it is no less important to protect the viability of the protests," said Mr. Borovoy. "It is beginning to appear that the protesters will be quarantined miles from the centre of conference activity ... The further away the protesters are, the less viable their protest will be." The April 20-22 meeting will bring together the leaders of 34 countries, including Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, and George W. Bush, the U.S. President, to discuss creating a free-trade zone covering all of North and South America. These gatherings have become a touchstone for anti-globalization activists, particularly in the wake of the violence that erupted at the 1999 World Trade Organization talks in Seattle. =================================================================== Friday February 23 Mexico Zapatistas Take Indian Rights on Tour By Lorraine Orlandi SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (Reuters) - Rebel leader Subcommander Marcos sets out from his Chiapas stronghold on Sunday on a journey through Mexico to the capital, where he will try to persuade Mexican leaders to deliver rights for millions of disenfranchised Indians. On a two-week tour through the countryside to the doors of parliament in Mexico City, the masked rebel and two dozen fellow Zapatista commanders will seek to rally grass-roots support and pile pressure on the government to accept their conditions for peace in the strife-torn southern state. The march across 12 states is seen as a challenge to new President Vicente Fox (news - web sites), who has made concessions but not yet gone far enough to draw the rebels back to peace talks. In a televised address on Friday, Fox welcomed the march as ''a bridge for peace'' and said only dialogue and negotiation would allow an honorable and fair outcome for all involved. ``If we all want peace, it will come soon. If the real fight is for the restoration of indigenous rights, we're fighting the same battle,'' he said. The rebels will travel unarmed. Chiapas Gov. Pablo Salazar announced on Friday that some 1,600 security troops would be assigned to protect them through the state. He urged other states to provide similar protection. The so-called Zapatour departs from the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas in the Indian heartland on Sunday and culminates in Mexico City on March 11. The journey is being compared to peasant revolutionary Emiliano Zapata's triumphant arrival in the Mexican capital in 1914 for its political impact and popular appeal. ``I expect Marcos will enter Mexico City in a triumphal march, with at least a million people lined up in the streets wearing masks,'' said political commentator Sergio Sarmiento. Drawing international attention, the march reflects the public relations savvy that has been the hallmark of the Zapatista movement since it rose up on New Year's Day in 1994. City officials were expecting as many as 25,000 people from around the world to descend on San Cristobal to meet the rebel caravan's arrival on Saturday afternoon, said mayoral spokesman Rene Genaro Mandujano. The massive public demonstration will raise Marcos' profile, further legitimize the Zapatista cause and increase pressure on the government to act on rebel demands, analysts said. Asked what concrete results could come from the march, Harry Cleaver, a Chiapas expert at the University of Texas in Austin, said: ``Peace. Peace, if we're lucky.'' Chiapas residents echoed that hope on Friday. ``I don't believe there is any person of good will in Mexico who does not want peace accords signed,'' said Luis Arellano, a 23-year-old law student from San Cristobal. Peace Weeks Away Fox said this month a peace accord for Chiapas was ``a few weeks away.'' His optimism was based on a series of unprecedented gestures by his government and the rebel leadership aimed at reviving the talks, which stalled in 1996. But Marcos and Fox have engaged in political shadowboxing in recent days. On Thursday, Marcos accused Fox of bad faith in his calls for a dialogue, while Fox defended his commitment to bringing about lasting peace in Chiapas. Marcos has also said he will not meet with the new president personally. ``If the accusatory tone by both sides continues this way during the march the most likely outcome is that they won't get anywhere,'' said Noel Pineda of the Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center in San Cristobal. The Zapatistas are demanding indigenous rights legislation as a prerequisite for renewing peace negotiations. Fox sent a rights measure to Congress in December in one of his first acts as president. It would grant autonomy to Indian communities, allow them communal ownership of land and permit them the use of traditional customs to choose leaders and dispense justice, writing those measures into the Constitution. Legislators across the political spectrum balk at the proposal, and Fox might have to do some arm-twisting, even within his National Action Party, to pass it. George Grayson, a Mexico scholar at William and Mary College in Virginia, called Marcos a ``brilliant tactician'' for maneuvering Fox into a political hard place before the two sides sit down to negotiate. While previous President Ernesto Zedillo alienated and largely isolated the Zapatistas, Fox has played into their hands, whether by accident or design, analysts said. ``Fox said he would solve the Chiapas war in 15 minutes. He didn't do that, but he managed in 15 minutes to revive the Zapatista movement,'' Sarmiento said. ``A lot of people will come out to see Marcos, take the children and see the guerrilla leader who managed to defeat the Mexican government.'' =================================================================== La Jornada Friday, February 23, 2001. The Struggle for Indigenous Rights is Gaining Ground in the World by Hermann Bellinghausen, correspondent. La Realidad, Chiapas February 22. The real news, The News, if there is any, is that the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico are so important to the world. They are the touchstone for the new modernity and the democratic transition, which takes in everything. The debate concerning them, being conducted through zapatista ski-masks, is leaving no sector of Mexican society untouched. And those who are the most reactionary in this regard are being disrobed through the most public of ridicules. "Those who have spoken badly are losing now. The indigenous peoples are going to win," said Subcomandante Marcos this morning, before more than one hundred journalists - more than half of them foreigners - sent by major newspapers, television stations and international agencies from the United States and Europe, revving up their engines in order to cover the 3000 kilometer zapatista march, which is about to begin. Without the EZLN comandantes having yet taken one step, already looking bad are the International Red Cross, important members of the federal government, the business associations - and some members of other chambers, the legislative ones - as well as the most conspicuous bishops and the most sententious opinion makers of the right, from the print as well as the electronic media. And this is without having even spoken WITH them, something which seems inevitable. The world is waiting. "We're not going to be signing peace during this trip," Marcos warned, forestalling the "bake shop surveys," which are asking for peace, period, and the saccharine Teletones that are selling the word "peace" without being interested in the content. But the Indians, those peoples and cultures which go beyond the Mexico of illusions, are here with their demands. And there is no way now of refusing them. "The mobilization in the Mexico of those from below is very large. It is without precedent," announced the rebel chief, as if he were saying: start getting prepared, open your eyes, know how to see the demonstration which is coming. "Our plan is to reach peace. To achieve a dialogue which is not feigned." The EZLN's spokesperson described the route from this Saturday forward, and he said confidently: "We're going to go, we're going to arrive in those places, we're going to speak with everyone. We're going to convince the Deputies." The zapatistas are counting on "the same people who threw out the PRI" to be accompanying the march and to be supporting the Indian peoples in their demand for justice and free determination. The Invisible Made Visible It seems as if they're not there, that the cameras and microphones deployed in a swarm are not aware of their existence, waiting for the words and the figure of Subcomandante Marcos, live from La Realidad, which today looks like the International Satellite Telephone Fair. Women and men, children and old ones, faces covered and eyes emphasized by scarves and ski-masks, form a fence at both sides of the table where Subcomandante Marcos is speaking with the press, flanked by Tzeltal Major Moise's and Tojolabal Comandante Tacho, who are the ones appearing in the photos, for now. They remain in La Realidad, but they will be revealed, throughout the way, as people, like those men and women, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol, Tojolabal, Zoque, Mame, Chinantec, Mixe, Zapotec, Mazatec, Huichol, Yaqui, Tarahumara, Seri, "among others," Marcos says. In response to a reporter's question, he says: "There is not one single indigenous people who does not support our demand for recognition of their rights." It's up to the National Indigenous Congress, "our organization, to which we, as indigenous, belong," to secure these rights as law. A little girl, Rosaura, carrying her one year old brother in a shawl, expresses concern "because the compa~eros are leaving and something might happen to them." Meanwhile, the Subcomandante, a few steps away from her, says: "We don't think there are going to be any attacks. Everything is going to turn out well. The losers are those who want them to turn out badly. And if things go badly, the business groups, the PAN, the government will have shown their faces. If the march turns out badly, they'll become the public enemy on five continents." According to Marcos, the EZLN delegation, during its 14-day trip to Mexico City, will be meeting with groups and organizations from the country's 57 ethnic groups (in which the zapatistas generally include the mestizo majority). When he was questioned, however, concerning ties with other indigenous movements on the continent, the Subcomandante noted that they maintain informal relations, "an exchange of greetings," with the Mapuches of Chile and indigenous movements in Ecuador, Canada and the United States. For right now the issue is about, with and for Mexico. Global Repercussions The remarkable international media presence is comparable only to that received by the zapatista uprising during the first weeks of 1994. Except now, in addition, solidarity groups and distinguished individuals from the Spanish State, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Greece, the United States and Argentina will also be present, supported by mobilizations in their respective countries. The scandal generated by the refusal of the International Red Cross to accompany the zapatista march has impacted on top governmental levels, especially in the Department of Foreign Relations, which is very involved in the issue. In what sounds like a new version of the old "Iruegas Doctrine," Chancellor Jorge Casta~eda said, according to the rebel chief, that if the zapatistas "want a war of lies, they'll have a peace of lies." There is nothing unusual about this ideological resurrection, which was characterized by Ambassador Gustavo Iruegas when he was leading negotiations for the Zedillo government in 1995, and who is now the Under Secretary of the Department of Foreign Relations. At that time, Iruegas lent the interpretation to the San Andre's negotiations that zapatista demands would have to be negotiable, as there was no real military threat, since they hadn't won, nor would the federal Army win the war. Marcos' statements, and the march of the zapatista and indigenous caravan to the Congress of the Union, are letting so many ghosts out of the closets that the national political scene is resembling a horror film a la George Romero. During the night of the living dead spreading across the country in the wake of the declarations, there has been no lack of death threats proffered by the Governor of Quere'taro, and a new instant classic, Morelos Deputy Salomon Salgado, former PAN member (and former member of the Party of the Poor, or another repentant). A certain panic invaded the upper levels of business as the peaceful march by Mexican indigenous became inevitable. There is nervousness in the positions of the federal Army, demonstrated at the checkpoints (which do not officially exist) and in the coming and going of vehicles and troops in the areas surrounding the zapatista Aguascalientes and in the Autonomous Municipalities. The same thing is seen with the immigration police, who have stepped up their controls in order to detect the foreigners who are arriving, in great numbers, in order to accompany the march by the EZLN delegation. But "it's the hour of the Congress of the Union," Marcos said. It can do nothing less than accept the "Cocopa Law," which is "under the San Andre's Accords." >From the Selva Lacandona to Space At the moment, the spotlights and news stories which are travelling from the Selva Lacandona to the satellites in space, and from there bouncing back to the civilized world, are focused on Subcomandante Marcos. On that individual, whom some see as thinner, others as tired, who speaks calmly and harshly, to the discomfort of the political system and the media effusiveness. His forged image is now selling furniture on television, while his real words are in the headlines. But what is really going on here, and at the stops along the planned trip, is the indigenous will to exist. There is no media circus or trivializing propaganda which can quiet the voices of the Indian peoples, the subject of all of this, the hand which is drawing back the veils of deceit and the war of extermination which has not been ended in these lands. Regarding the campaigns by business persons, the Church and the electronic media to "try to force the EZLN to surrender," according to Subcomandante Marcos, they only "assure the continuation of the war and an outbreak of other armed rebellions in other parts of the country." The EZLN insurgents who are guarding the press conference, armed and masked, are shining a little calm in the corners and access points to the Aguascalientes. For a moment it seems incredible that so little (so little?) is defying the power and putting the nation face to face with its most ancient and poor peoples. They are merely the point of a thread which runs across deep Mexico, and is today coming aboveground, as never before in these godforsaken lands, in order to appear on the front pages. In a few hours the zapatista caravan will be making visible the Mexico which the nation's society has refused to look at for centuries. How much noise is going to be necessary in order to prevent them from being heard? Jose Saramago, one of the individuals who will be accompanying the indigenous march, has said that this mobilization will put Mexico in the center of the world. =================================================================== There are bigger threats than guided missiles By Molly Ivins AZ Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona Sunday, 25 February 2001 Darn it. Last week was National Security Week - Karl Rove said so - and I was so busy pointing out the numerous idiocies of George W. Bush's tax cut that I missed the whole thing. It is painfully clear, however, the new administration folks wouldn't know a threat to national security from the "Waltz of the Flowers." They propose yet another blue-ribbon commission to study what to do about the military. Their only other idea is to spend at least $50 billion on the perfectly useless National Missile Defense system to protect us from the North Koreans, who have a warhead but no heat shield for it, rendering it slightly moot as a weapon. Meanwhile, the hopelessly retro Bush defense team - I've never seen so many retreads in my life, from Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Daddy - are Cold Warriors all. Look, this is really simple. The single greatest threat to the national security of the United States is the rapidly deteriorating global environment. National Missile Defense does not do a thing to protect us from global warming. Nor does it do dog to protect us from drug-resistant strains of TB that are spreading concomitantly with AIDS, or from the consequences of massive poverty in the Third World and what are called "failed states" - the new politically correct way to say "regimes corrupt to the point of disaster." On the TB front, John LeCarré's new novel, "The Constant Gardener," is both a great read and an excellent primer on the role of multinational pharmaceutical companies in the Third World - a splendid tale of corporate evil-doing, but with the exquisite sadness of the heartbroken idealist that distinguishes LeCarré's work. On the global warming front, the fresh evidence is almost too depressing to contemplate in conjunction with the Bushies' blindness. All the news is bad. The journal Science reports that an analysis of ice cores drilled in the Himalayan mountains shows that the past decade has been the warmest for 1,000 years. The fate of Pacific coral reefs suggests an even longer period. The New York Times reports that the snows of Kilimanjaro, which have floated for thousands of years like a cool beacon over Tanzania, are retreating so fast that they will be gone in 15 years. The same is true of icecaps from Peru to Tibet. The most chilling report is by the IPCC - the United Nations' International Panel on Climate Change. (I'm afraid that's an abgreviation with which you will become familiar.) The panel consists of more than 400 of the world's leading climatologists. They predict that global warming may raise the average temperature of Earth as much as 10 degrees over the average temperature of 1990. That is a dramatic escalation from 1995, when they predicted a maximum hemispheric rise of 6 degrees. We're in big trouble. If we were being invaded by aliens from space, we would react more intelligently than this. At least we'd recognize it as a national security threat. I know that many of you who are well-informed about global warming sometimes despair of breaking through the denial, partially paid for by the energy companies - not to mention the depressing sight of Texas oilmen running the country's energy policy. Despair is not only a grave sin but, I think, unwarranted. If you can remember when President Nixon went to China, this country essentially turned on a dime. From decades of denouncing Beijing (which we then spelled "Peking") as the heart of absolute darkness, we suddenly noticed it also happened to be the largest market in the world. That took about 10 minutes. As for the terrible epidemic, I would like to salute Time magazine for the challenge on its recent cover story: "This is about AIDS in Africa. Look at the pictures. Read the words. And then try not to care." If compassion is beyond you, despite its newly Bushian status in politics, try this: There's not a chance that victims of "failed states" and climate change are going to stay where they are. The most massive migrations in history will follow if nothing is done. In your children's lifetimes. Perhaps it is only the fleeting effect of public relations, but I gather that Secretary of State Colin Powell is not entirely blind to these consequences. If so, may he prosper in the much-predicted political warfare within the Bush defense team. Even in the Texas Legislature, they know it is from time to time necessary to rethink their "pry-roarities." =================================================================== Monday February 26, 2001 Weapon of Choice: How Terrorists Use the Web http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010226/tc/7731_1.html By Jay Lyman, www.NewsFactor.com The same advantages the Internet and advanced technology bring to the general public and to business -- speed, security and global linkage -- are helping international terrorist groups organize their deadly and disruptive activities. "The Internet and e-mail provide the perfect vehicles for these groups to communicate with each other, to spread their message, to raise money and to launch cyberattacks," iDefense director of intelligence for special projects Ben Venzke told NewsFactor Network. A recent report from U.S. officials indicates that terrorists' use of the Web for communication and coordination through the use of encrypted messages is widespread, with numerous sites -- many of which are unaware of the use to which they are being put -- serving as conduits for terrorist conspiracies. Government and private Internet security firms are doing their best to keep up with the terrorists, but the task is made more difficult by advancing technologies available to groups bent on targeting the U.S. and its citizens, allies and businesses. Terror Tool Security officials in government and private industry agree that the Web is heavily used by terrorists such as Osama bin Laden and other extremist groups, including Middle East terror organizations Hezbollah and Hamas. "Terrorists use the Web mostly for propaganda and for information exchange," said Matthew Devost, founding director of the Terrorism Research Center. "If you move beyond the Web, terrorist organizations do use information technology as a very viable and secure communication mechanism." Devost told NewsFactor that despite the Internet's viability as an economic medium, it has proven somewhat insecure for commercial transactions. He said the Web could help facilitate attacks by terrorist groups on not only the Internet economy, but on power, transportation and other systems that rely on information that is linked to the Web. 'No Limit' Terrorists are beginning to use the Web in interesting ways, Vigilinx director of intelligence Jerry Freese told NewsFactor. "There's really no limit to it," Freese said. "Anywhere you can send an e-mail with an audio or graphics file is fair game." Freese, whose security company provides secure servers, intruder detection and security audits, said terrorist cells around the world use the Internet for scheduling, meeting and organizing. "We see the Web as a terrorism-assistance tool that allows them to do things in secrecy," he said, referring to encrypted messages. "The thing is, it can originate from anywhere. The Web, of course, is ubiquitous." Freese said steganography -- putting encrypted messages in electronic files -- is widely used by terrorist groups. A recent government report indicated that terrorists have been hiding pictures and maps of targets in sports chat rooms, on pornographic bulletin boards and on Web sites. Reliance on the Net Despite their ongoing efforts to cripple parts of the Web, disrupt infrastructure systems such as electrical power or steal money and information from government and businesses, terrorists have a vested interest in keeping the Internet working. "It's a very good tool for them," Freese told NewsFactor, "so they don't want to disrupt the flow of the Web; rather, they'll target specific companies that are working with or are sympathetic to their enemies." Rogue Rights While law enforcement officials are aware of terrorists' use of the Internet, they cannot monitor Web sites for both logistical and legal reasons, according to spokesperson Steve Berry of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations' National Infrastructure Protection Center. "However repugnant to our perception and to the general public and law enforcement their Web site or use of it might be, that does not give us the authority to block them," Berry told NewsFactor. "That's free speech. That's the country we live in." Venzke, whose company tracks Web-based threats for Fortune 500 companies and government, said law enforcement is also limited by national culture and geography. The Web offers entry into any country from anywhere, and with so many points linked together, terrorist activity is often impossible to track. "How do you force an [Internet service provider] halfway around the world, which may not be friendly to you to begin with, to shut down a Web site?" Venzke asked. Predicting Protection The rapid advancement of technology makes it hard to fight terrorists, who, experts agree, are adept at using the Internet and other advanced technology. Bin Laden's al Qaida and other terrorist groups have reportedly used encryption programs available free on the Web, as well more powerful anti-spy software purchased on the open market. The Terrorism Research Center's Devost said that despite a number of valid efforts to combat terrorists, targeted countries and businesses are not prepared. "Most nations, and most companies, are not being diligent with regard to addressing information security concerns and fortifying their security posture," said Devost. Counter Strike Security experts claim they are getting better at detecting and decoding terrorist communiques, but more awareness and information sharing is needed. "Right now, it's very hard to detect where these messages are coming from and what their intent is," said Freese. "Information exchange is a key issue here. We have a lot of repositories of information, but it isn't shared. The government is trying to collate information from private and government sources to coordinate defenses." Devost agrees, adding that despite increased efforts to keep tabs on terrorists, vulnerabilities are on the rise. "Governments are making great progress in understanding the way these groups are utilizing technology," Devost said, "[but] while we are making progress, it is not enough." =================================================================== Zapatistas Reach Out to Other Rebels By Wendy Patterson Associated Press Writer Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 JUCHITAN, Mexico - Announcing they had received a second death threat on their march for peace, Zapatista rebels asked for support from Mexico's other revolutionary groups as they passed through Oaxaca state Monday. The two-week trip, called the "Zapatour" by local newspapers, is the first time the ski-masked rebel leader, Subcomandante Marcos, has emerged publicly from the southern state of Chiapas since the Zapatistas launched its revolt for Indian rights on Jan. 1, 1994. He is traveling with 23 rebel commanders. The caravan, on its third day Monday, is expected to pass through 12 states on the way to Mexico City, where the rebels will lobby for passage of an Indian rights bill in Congress. In a communique released late Sunday, the Zapatista National Liberation Army asked for Mexico's "militant-political revolutionary organizations" to participate in the motorized march, which is scheduled to end up in Mexico City on March 11. The rebels did not say which groups that might be, but said they ask "they take measures they consider pertinent so that this peaceful march reaches its high and just end," the communique stated. Rebels also asked the armed groups for permission to pass through Oaxaca, where splinter factions of the former People's Revolutionary Army, a radical leftist guerrilla organization also is fighting for Indian rights. Unlike the Zapatista rebels, the factions say they will not negotiate with the government and have launched persistent armed attacks on police and military posts. At least one of the factions, the Insurgent People's Revolutionary Army, said they would support the march but did not say how, local media reported. Meanwhile, the Zapatistas announced Monday that they had received a second death threat. Zapatistas left their home state of Chiapas on Sunday amid heavy police guard after rebels said they had received a death threat from a man in neighboring Oaxaca state. But 65-year-old Rogelio Zarate Valtierra, who admitted sending the telegram to the Roman Catholic bishop in Chiapas, said it was never intended to be a threat but rather a warning for the rebels' safety. Police, who said the man appears to be mentally unstable, are investigating. Zapatistas announced another threat Monday, which they believe to be from a gang called "Porta Mortajas" or "Coffin Carriers." Angel Fonseco, a spokesman for the rebels' citizen support group, said the note read: "To receive a coffin carrier tomorrow in Jalapa de Marquez." Rebels were to pass through the Oaxacan town Monday. The Interior Ministry said it assigned 3,500 federal police officers to the route and noted that as many as 300 foreign observers and 200 Mexican and foreign journalists had joined the march. Despite the acknowledged risks, Marcos, backed by thousands of jubilant supporters, pledged to keep going. The Indian Rights bill is one of three conditions the rebels say must be met before they will renew long-stalled peace talks with the government. President Vicente Fox, whose election last year ended seven decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, submitted the bill to Congress shortly after taking office in December. He has also closed some military bases in Chiapas, the Zapatistas want them all closed, and has released some rebels from prison. =================================================================== Tuesday, February 27 2001 Activists bare all in Mexican resort to protest globalization CANCUN, Mexico Feb 26 (AFP) - Mexican activists dropped their drawers Monday in a naked attempt to protest globalization, as bankers, industrialists and government officials discussed economic and social issues at the seaside resort of Cancun. Chanting "death to capitalism" and other slogans supporting Palestinian activists and opposing the US-backed anti-drug Plan Colombia, about 200 protesters marched several kilometers along the main avenue under tropical heat. Several of the anti-globalization activists dropped their pants as a handful of bemused tourists and a few hundred police watched on. Later in the day, a dozen militants defied heavy security and staged an anti-globalization protest in front of the luxury hotel that hosted a two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum. Police in full riot gear and armed with shields and batons were deployed around the demonstration, at times blocking traffic and causing consternation among busloads of foreign tourists. The protesters placed human skull on the ground to symbolize what one of them said were "the victims of globalization." "We are symbolically closing this event, because it is an illegal association of rich people who get richer as the rest get poorer," said protester Eugenio Navarro. As participants in the World Economic Forum held a first day of talks on poverty and economic development in Latin America, globalization foes held an alternative gathering to discuss similar issues from a radically different angle. Some of the participants toured impoverished neighborhoods making up what they call "the other Cancun." Organizers said they planned to hold a large protest on Tuesday, but gave no details because of what they called "security reasons" -- 1,600 anti-riot police deployed across the city. They said they hoped to avoid the type of violence that marked similar events in Davos, Prague and Seattle, but they could not vouch for ultra-leftist students who traveled to Cancun from Mexico City. They also said they had responded positively to an invitation to discuss their views with participants in the World Economic Forum. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday morning. =================================================================== "Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control." -Jim Dodge ====================================================== "Communications without intelligence is noise; intelligence without communications is irrelevant." -Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ====================================================== "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." -J. Krishnamurti ====================================================== "The world is my country, all mankind my brethren, and to do good is my religion." -Thomas Paine ====================================================== " . . . it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds . . . " -Samuel Adams ====================================================== "You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." -Gandhi ______________________________________________________________ To subscribe/unsubscribe or for a sample copy or a list of back issues, send appropriate email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. ______________________________________________________________ **How to assist RadTimes: An account is available at <www.paypal.com> which enables direct donations. If you are a current PayPal user, use this email address: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, to contribute. If you are not a current user, use this link: <https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=resist%40best.com> to sign up and contribute. The only information passed on to me via this process is your email address and the amount you transfer. Thanks! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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