Nexus - 0604 - New Times Magazine-pages

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No. 12: MILLIONS GIVEN CONTAMINATED POLIO VACCINE BETWEEN 1955 AND 1963 ment rights in Mexico. "In Chiapas, US tax money pays for weapons and military...to destroy a movement for social justice..." The United States transfers aid to the Mexican military in cash, weapons and couterinsurgency training. The 1998 Clinton Administration budget earmarked more than $21 million for the Mexican Drug War, including $12 million for Pentagon training in "procedures for fighting drug traffic". Anti-drug effort seems to continue to focus on the Chiapas region where 80 per cent of the communities are in conflict zones. According to the "Zapatismo Papers" (Darrin Wood), acts of inhumanity by GAFE were led by Lt Col Julian Guerrero Barrios, a 1981 graduate of the US-sponsored School of Americas (SOA). Although it remains unknown how many of the 15 soldiers charged in the Acteal incident were trained at US bases, the Pentagon has admitted that some of the soldiers arrested were US- trained. lhe once hailed "miracle" vaccine against polio was contami- nated by a virus called simian virus 40 (SV40) between the years of 1955 and 1963. The virus hid in the renal cells of the monkeys which were used to make the vaccine. SV40 has been linked to rare, incurable cancers such as ependymomas (brain tumours), mesotheliomas (pleural tumours, usually of the lung), and osteosarcomas (bone malignancies). (See "Vaccine Contamination" in NEXUS 5/04, June-July 1998; Global News 4/01, Dec-Jan 1996-97.) No. 13: CHINA VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET Ihroughout most of history, Tibetan women have enjoyed greater equality with men than have their Asian neighbours. Since China's invasion of Tibet in 1959, they have been at the forefront of the nonviolent struggle for independence, and nearly half of the protests staged over the last decade have been led by nuns. During that time, however, thousands of Tibetan women have been arrested, incarcerated, sexually abused, tortured and publicly executed. oo No. 10: NIGERIAN ECO-ACTIVISTS GUNNED DOWN half of the protests staged over the last decade have been led by ON CHEVRON OIL FACILITY nuns. During that time, however, thousands of Tibetan women ‘or three days in May 1998, 121 youths from 42 different com- have been arrested, incarcerated, sexually abused, tortured and munities had gathered to oppose the environmental destruction publicly executed. brought on by Chevron's oil extraction practices. For decades, the people of the No. 14: POLITICAL CONTRIBU- Niger Delta have been protesting the ' Went " TIONS COMPROMISE AMERICAN destruction of their wetlands. Discharges The once hailed "miracle JUDICIAL SYSTEM into the creeks an waterways have eit vaccine against polio was meric s justice system is being com: e region a dead land, resulting in the 4 F promised by campaign contributions Niger Delta becoming one of the most contaminated by a Virus to judges from special interest groups and eavily polluted regions in the world. called simian virus 40 corporate political action committees The students claim they had voiced (PACs). their concerns many times and had sched- (SV40) between the years uled a number of meetings with the com- No. 15: SWAT TEAMS REPLACE any, but the meetings had been repeat- of 1955 and 1963. CIVILIAN POLICE AND TARGET edly cancelled by Chevron. As a next MINORITY COMMUNITIES step, the students organised the protest n the 25 years since the creation of the around a Chevron barge in order to draw Chevron's attention to first Special Weapons and Tactics the goal of environmental justice. Student demonstrators had (SWAT) teams in Los Angeles, police forces across the United eacefully occupied an anchored barge in a protest since 25 May. States have become increasingly militarised. Paramilitary police According to student leader Bola Oyinbo, approximately 20 of teams originally only operated in urban areas, but in recent years the 121 students surrounding the barge in small boats went on the number of special task forces throughout the country, includ- oard to meet with a Nigerian naval officer who was working for _ ing with rural police departments, has dramatically increased. Chevron. Oyinbo stated that the students wanted to speak to Mr Kirkland, Chevron's managing director. Although the director | No. 16: MERCENARY ARMIES IN SERVICE TO never came, other Chevron officials did arrive the next day and GLOBAL CORPORATIONS promised to set up a meeting with the students at the end of May. n many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly The students agreed to leave the barge on 28 May in order to for private policing services from the local army, or have hired attend the proposed meeting. On 28 May 1998, Nigerian National outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against soldiers were helicoptered by Chevron employees to the Chevron- the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved owned oil facility off the coast of Nigeria, where, after an represent a growing number of new corporate security operations onslaught of attacks, two students were killed and several others around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing wounded. armies and local death squads. vaccine against polio was contaminated by a virus called simian virus 40 (SV40) between the years of 1955 and 1963. No. 16: MERCENARY ARMIES IN SERVICE TO GLOBAL CORPORATIONS n many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for private policing services from the local army, or have hired outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent a growing number of new corporate security operations around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies and local death squads. No. 11: PRIVATE PRISONS BECOME BIG BUSINESS Pu: prisons are one of the fastest growing sectors of the prison industrial complex. Under contract by the government to run prisons, and paid a fixed sum per prisoner, corporate firms operate as cheaply and efficiently as possible to ensure a profit. This means lower wages for staff, no unions and fewer services for prisoners. Substandard diets, extreme overcrowding and abus- es by poorly trained personnel have all been documented as prac- tices of this private business approach to incarceration. (See "The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy", this issue, NEXUS 6/04.) No. 17: US MEDIA PROMOTES BIASED COVERAGE ON BOSNIA AS to the camps of Omarska and Trnopolje by a British team from Independent Television (ITN) on 5 August 1992 gave rise to the image of the Serbs as the new Nazis of the Balkans. A widely published photo taken by ITN pictured an emaciated Muslim behind barbed wire with comrades imprisoned behind him. However, ITN's photo was not as accurate as it seemed. The men in the photo were not standing behind barbed wire. In fact, the Hague Tribunal confirmed that there was no barbed wire surrounding the Belesn 92 at Trnopolje. The emaci- 16 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 1999 The once hailed "miracle"