Prensa Latina News-Chile/Mex Warn of Soc. Collapse, DR Nationalizes Oil Company, Bush Protested

[magbana]

http://www.plenglish.com/

From PRENSA LATINA 11/21/08
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Sandinistas Celebrate Triumph

Managua, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) Supporters of governing Sandinista
National Liberation Front (FSLN) will celebrate on Friday at the
Revolution Square the official confirmation of its triumph in Managua
and other 104 Nicaraguan municipalities.

The call to celebrate victory was made yesterday night before
thousands of Sandinistas who were outside the Supreme Electoral Court
(CSE) headquarters, waiting for final results of the polls, held in
146 councils on November 9.

The festivities, expected to be attended by President Daniel Ortega,
will start at 16:00 local time (22:00 UTC).

According to final results, the country's main opposition force, the
Liberal Constitutionalist Party, won in 37 municipalities, while
minority Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance will rule in four.

Of the 105 councils won by the Sandinistas, 13 belong to
administrative centers, with PLC winning only three.

In seven municipalities of the Autonomous North Atlantic Region,
elections were postponed for January due to damages caused by
Hurricane Felix in September 2007.

Final CSE results, however, are not recognized by the PLC, which
claims a mass fraud and demands a revision of every single vote-count
minute of the country's 11,808 polling stations.

Though the procedure is not provided for in the electoral law, the
magistrates agreed to recount votes in Managua, but the Liberals
refused to send their attorneys.

The revision, made in the presence of representatives of the four
remaining political parties, confirmed the victory of Sandinista
Alexis Arguello over PLC candidate Eduardo Montealegre.

The Liberals' refusal to accept the results has led to clashes with
the Sandinistas in Managua and other cities, which resulted in over
twenty people wounded and heavy damages.

PLC also announced that it will seek the elections' annulment through
the National Assembly, but CSE Chair Roberto Rivas said the
unicameral Parliament has no jurisdiction to legislate on the
electoral power.

ef rma nm

Chile, Mexico Call to Avoid Social Collapse

Santiago de Chile, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) The Presidents of Chile and
Mexico, Michelle Bachelet and Felipe Calderon respectively, coincided
here on the idea that the economic crisis might mean a setback in the
achievements obtained in the struggle against poverty.

Bachelet signed several agreements with Calderon Friday, and stated
they had coincided on the fact that the international community
should give the crisis a response.

?We can?t add a social collapse or a stock-market collapse. We
believe that Latin America should make a special integration effort?,
she said.

She commented that the Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean in
Brazil in December is going to be a valuable chance to coordinate
positions and regional initiatives.

Both Presidents were presiding the signing of an agreement on
cooperation about prevention and investigation of crime and combat to
organized criminals.

The same way, Chilean and Mexican institutions of cooperation in
trade, culture, science and technology signed other agreements.

Later Bachelet opened, accompanied by Calderon, an exhibit with works
by Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, at the Palacio de la
Moneda Cultural Center.

President Calderon, accompanied by a wide enterprise delegation, will
travel, just as Bachelet will, to Lima, Peru, to attend the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Calderon started his visit to Chile by attending a meeting between
Chilean and Mexican businessmen.

ef tac jl

Communist Parties Meet Begins in Brazil

Sao Paulo, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) The 10th Meeting of Communist and
Worker Parties began here with a message by Brazilian president Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva.

In his greeting to the encounter attended by delegations from 66
parties of all the continents, Lula recognized the struggle engaged
by those parties in defense of workers and the poor, the humanist
sentiment which guides its members for the eradication of misery,
hunger and inequality, as well as their attempt to construct a new
world economic order.

The message recalled ?we are facing the crisis of a neoliberal model
that prevailed in the power and production structures of society over
the last three decades.?

?Deregulated, the economy assumed the irresponsible logic of casinos,
while public policies, in particular social policies, lost space in
the agenda of the people and underdevelopment became a giant
mechanism,? said the president.

The presidential message, read to participants by the International
Relations Secretary of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Jose
Reinaldo Carvalho, says it is fundamental for this moment?s debate.

Lula affirmed this is the time to redeem workers who till the land
and run the factories up to the most sophisticated digital labs.

The time is now to redeem work as the great source of wealth creation
and prosperity in the struggle for development, he added and stressed
?it is required to give incentives to production and greater priority
to public infrastructure development and education for the common
good.?

Later in the message to the communist and workers party meeting, Lula
highlighted ?there will only be real solidarity if it is
internationalist and comprehends human kind.?

He considered human kind produces enough already to easily satisfy
its needs, but there will only be a sustainable future when the lives
of 855 million inhabitants are no longer threatened by hunger.

?Moments of crisis bring also a series of opportunities and we must
learn to profit from them to rescue the values of solidarity,
equality and justice?, he recalled.

In the inaugural session, president of the PCdoB, Renato Rabelo,
extolled the importance of this meeting when the capitalist system
faces a serious structural and global crisis.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of
Argentina, Patricio Etchegaray, summoned all communists and
revolutionaries over the world to pay homage to the Cuban Revolution
in its 50th anniversary.

He highlighted the symbol of resistance and independence upheld by
Cuba in continuing construction of the first socialist society in the
continent, despite the blockade and aggressions inflicted by the US
government.

The Secretary General of the Chilean Communist Party, Lautaro
Carmona, condemned the unjust imprisonment in the US of the five
Cubans for fighting against terrorism and ratified the solidarity of
Chilean communists with the Cuban people and government.

The Cuban delegation spoke in the afternoon with a speech by Fernando
Remirez de Estenoz, member of the Secretariat of the Central
Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.

The meeting will continue over the weekend, including a massive
solidarity meeting with the peoples of Latin America, summoned for
tomorrow in the ?Cuadra de los Bancarios? of this city.

ef rr

Dominican Oil Refinery Becomes State Property

Santo Domingo, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) The Dominican State became the
owner of the National Refinery after buying 50 percent of the stocks
in the hands of the transnational Shell, after refusing to refine
crude supplied by the Petrocaribe accord.

The other 50 percent is property of the Dominican State.

Vicente Bengoa, secretary of Finance, announced today the conclusion
of the accord and the payment to Royal Dutch Shell, without affecting
the national budget.

The acquisition of the bonds at a cost of 110 million dollars was
announced last year by president Leonel Fernandez as part of an
energy saving plan which has rendered very little dividends, if any.

The obstacles posed by Shell prevented from processing the total of
the 50 thousand barrels per day quota delivered to Dominicana by the
program initiative of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to assist
nations without energy sources of their own.

ef msl

Bush Arrives Amid Protests in Peru

Lima, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) Outgoing US President George W. Bush
arrived in Lima on Friday under tight security, as demonstrators
demanded his trial for crimes against humanity.

Bush arrived at Air Force Group Eight, a base near Jose Chavez
international airport and was welcomed by a very limited group of
Army and police officers, photographers and officials, including
Defense Minister Antero Flores-Araoz and protocol personnel.

He came to attend the 16th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation Forum (APEC), on the sidelines of which he is expected to
meet with Presidents Alan Garcia (Peru), Hu Jintao (China), Lee
Myung-bak (South Korea) and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Bush had no contact at all with the population, not even through his
journey to the luxurious hotel that will accommodate him until
Saturday.

A combative demonstration was staged a few miles away from the hotel
and the airport to repudiate his presence at the main Dos de Mayo
Plaza, where people demanded his trial by the International Court of
Justice for crimes against humanity once his term at the helm of his
country is over.

About the activity program, it has been reported only that besides
participating in the Summit, he will hold bilateral meetings with
host President Alan Garcia and the Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Meanwhile, several miles from the fortified venue of the meeting, the
Army´s General Command Headquarters, dozens of political and social
organizations will demonstrate to repudiate Bush´s presence in Peru.

Manuel Castillo, one of the organizers, said the repudiation is due
to Bush´s interventionist policy and responsibility for the crisis
caused by the US uncontrolled financial system, which is affecting
the world, especially workers.

The repudiation rallies will consist of three courts that will try
the US president for his imperialist policy and its impact on youth
and women.

There will also be a cultural expression, including concerts of folk
and rock music, with participation of popular Peruvian artists, and
there will be a rejection demonstration at the central Dos de Mayo
Plaza.

The organizers asserted that the rallies scheduled are not against
the APEC summit or the rest of the participating presidents, but only
against Bush.

Presidents of Indonesia and South Korea, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
Lee Myung-bak, respectively, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib
Tun Bin Haji Abdul Razak arrived in Lima on Thursday to participate
in the summit.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has been in Lima since Wednesday, and
Chile´s President Michele Bachelet, Vietnam´s Nguyen Minh Triet and
other leaders are expected to arrive in this capital in the coming
hours.