The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Venezuela's Maduro vows to battle corruption
- North Koreans don't show for work at Kaesong factory park
- Colombia's president says enemies poisoning peace process
| Venezuela's Maduro vows to battle corruption Posted: 08 Apr 2013 08:08 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Acting President Nicolas Maduro vowed on Monday to stamp out corruption following days of accusations by his election rival Henrique Capriles that ruling party officials were plundering Venezuela's oil wealth.
Corruption has been a perennial problem in the country and was a primary campaign issue for the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez when he was first elected in 1998. His death from cancer last month triggered the April 14 election. Polls show Maduro comfortably winning the election thanks to the goodwill generated by Chavez's social spending measures, although opposition critics had for years accused Chavez of allowing graft among allies to go unchecked. "I'm going to pursue corruption where ever it is. I'll give my own life to combat corruption if it's necessary," Maduro, who Chavez endorsed as his successor, said at a campaign rally in the eastern city of Maturin. "We've got great challenges to overcome bureaucracy, corruption and indolence of some officials who turn a blind eye to the problems of the people." Opinion polls, which are controversial and divergent in Venezuela, give Maduro a double-digit lead over Capriles. The latest private survey by local pollster Datanalisis, cited by the Eurasia Group think tank, gave him 50.2 percent, compared with 32.4 percent for his opponent. That was a wider gap than in a Datanalisis poll last month that gave Maduro 49.2 percent and Capriles 34.8 percent. Capriles has in recent days promised to end special favours for those who are "plugged-in" - a reference to friends of party leaders who gain quick access to social benefits such as newly built homes while others remain stuck on waiting lists. Chavez's first election in 1998 drew heavily on popular outrage over widespread corruption in the 1990s, when poverty rose dramatically as oil prices remained low. But the issue became less important during his 14-year rule as rising oil prices spurred economic growth and Chavez used windfall revenue to build free health clinics and subsidized grocery stores and provide pensions to the elderly. Corruption accusations during Chavez's presidency have focused almost entirely on opposition leaders or elected officials who defected from the Socialist Party ranks. Critics say he avoided pursuing charges against allies. CEMENT TO COFFEE Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who lost a presidential election to Chavez last year, says Venezuela needs a fresh start after 14 years of Chavez's hardline socialism. He says the frequent nationalizations under Chavez's government allowed corrupt officials to control the sale of products ranging from cement to coffee and require desperate buyers to pay bribes to access them. Capriles wants to install a Brazilian-style administration of free market economics with strong social policies, although former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has publicly endorsed Maduro as his friend Chavez's heir. Underlining the deep polarization that is one of the late leader's many legacies, police fired in the air as "Chavista" youths fought with opposition student protesters who had set up camp in a Caracas square to demand a fair election. The government said seven of the students were injured in the clash, which took place in the capital's wealthy La Castellana district, in a plaza overlooked by three European embassies and a five-star hotel. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol promised to investigate. "We reject and condemn these developments," he told state television. "Wherever it comes from. We are going to investigate ... We call for peace and sanity." Tensions have risen in recent days, fuelled by duelling allegations of dirty tricks, and claims by hardliners on both sides that the others are planning violence. Maduro has accused a Capriles campaign official of conspiring with mercenaries from El Salvador, who the acting president said had entered Venezuela with the aim of killing him and sabotaging the power grid to sow chaos. The opposition, meanwhile, warned of a government plot to plant illegal arms and explosives on senior opposition officials in order to arrest them before Sunday's vote. Maduro has also accused the U.S. government of plotting to kill Capriles and then blame it on his administration to trigger civil unrest. Washington denied it. Capriles has ridiculed Maduro's claims and likened them to Chavez's many denunciations of assassination plots, which critics saw as attempts to distract voters from daily problems such as violent crime, high prices and creaking public services. On Monday, a right-wing Salvadoran congressman dismissed accusations by Maduro that he was involved in a plot to kill him, saying that Venezuela's acting leader wanted to direct attention away "from what is really happening in that country." (Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Eyanir Chinea and Mario Naranjo; Writing by Brian Ellsworth and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Bill Trott and Doina Chiacu)
Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| North Koreans don't show for work at Kaesong factory park Posted: 08 Apr 2013 07:05 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean labourers did not show up for work on Tuesday at a factory complex operated with South Korea, companies with operations there said, effectively shutting down the zone for the first time since it began shipments in 2004.
Pyongyang's decision to halt work at the Kaesong industrial park coincided with speculation it would carry out a missile launch, or even another nuclear test, in what has become one of the worst periods of tension on the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953. About 475 South Korean workers and factory managers remain in Kaesong, a few kilometres inside the border with North Korea. The South Korean government said 77 would return on Tuesday. Many South Koreans have been reluctant to leave, worried about the impact on their companies and jobs. "North Korean workers didn't come to work today, and production has halted in our Kaesong facilities," said a spokeswoman for Shinwon, a women's clothing maker. A spokesman for textile company Taekwang Industrial and at least two other firms also said North Koreans workers did not show up on Tuesday and that production had stopped. More than 100 representatives from businesses operating at Kaesong were holding an emergency meeting at the complex that started at about 0100 GMT, Reuters witnesses said. An executive at another South Korean apparel firm running a factory in Kaesong said late on Monday his employees had told him they would stay. "I don't know what to do, honestly. I can't simply tell my workers to leave or stay," said the executive, who requested anonymity. Tension has been rising since the United Nations imposed new sanctions on the North for carrying out its third nuclear test in February. Pyongyang has been further angered by weeks of military exercises by South Korean and U.S. forces and threatened both countries with nuclear attack. "SHOCK THERAPY" Few experts had expected Pyongyang to jeopardise Kaesong, which accounts for $2 billion in annual trade and employs 50,000 North Koreans making household goods for 123 South Korean firms. North Korea said on Monday it would suspend operations at the park, its sole remaining major project with the South. No decision had been made on closing Kaesong permanently, it said. "They're using this as shock therapy because, regardless of what they say, if they close Kaesong the damage they will sustain will not be small," said Moon Seong-mook, a retired South Korean brigadier general who took part in previous military talks with the North. "This is just another negotiating card they can use with South Korea." The North's official KCNA news agency said Seoul was trying to "turn the zone into a hotbed of war" against the North. It did not elaborate. North Korea has also bridled at suggestions from Seoul that it would keep the park open because it needed the cash. The zone generates more than $80 million a year in cash in wages - paid to the state rather than to the workers. South Korean firms pay between $8 million and $9 million in wages a month for about 53,000 North Korean workers in Kaesong. Any delay in payment of those wages could become another flashpoint because the North could demand payment of interest on the delayed wages, Yonhap reported. The turmoil has hit South Korean financial markets, which have usually shrugged off the North's rhetoric. Seoul stocks have fallen nearly 3 percent since Wednesday, when the North first blocked access to the zone amid steep foreign selling. Shares in some firms known to have operations in Kaesong fell sharply on Tuesday. The won currency has fallen by more than 2 percent against the dollar since access to the park was first barred. "SUNSHINE POLICY" CLOUDS OVER The zone is practically the last vestige of the "Sunshine Policy" of rapprochement between the two Koreas and a powerful symbol that the divided country could one day reunify. South Korean companies are estimated to have invested around $500 million in the park since 2004. But corporate giants such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, the sort of companies that could sustain losses from the park's closure, do not have operations in Kaesong. South Koreans had been leaving the park gradually in the past week as raw materials and food run out. North Korean authorities told embassies in Pyongyang they could not guarantee their safety from Wednesday, after saying conflict was inevitable amid the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises due to last until the end of the month. No diplomats appear to have left the North Korean capital. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week and the North holds celebrations, and possibly military demonstrations, next Monday to mark the birth date of its founder, Kim Il-Sung - grandfather of the current leader, 30-year-old Kim Jong-un. Pyongyang has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong army for war, indicating the threats are partly intended for domestic purposes to bolster Kim, the third in his family dynasty to rule North Korea. But it has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, according to media reports last week. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter urged China - the North's sole financial and diplomatic backer - to use its influence with the North, something he said Moscow wanted Beijing to do as well. "I think Russia, like others beholding this situation in North Korea, would like to see China exercise more of the influence that it evidently has with North Korea," Carter told a forum in Washington. China's leaders rebuked North Korea at the weekend but most experts believe Beijing will not push too hard to punish Pyongyang because of concerns its troublesome neighbour could collapse. Some experts also say China's influence over North Korea has waned over the years. (Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Paul Tait)
Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Colombia's president says enemies poisoning peace process Posted: 08 Apr 2013 06:52 PM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's attempt to bring an end to five decades of war with Marxist FARC rebels faces "enemies," President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday, calling for unity to support the process and assure its success in the next several months.
In a televised address on the eve of an organized march against violence, Santos expressed optimism that the nation is close to achieving a historic agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, and an end to bloodshed, but he slammed those who are poisoning the effort and spreading lies. "While some remain trapped in the past, clinging to a vision of Colombia condemned to violence, of a Colombia frozen with fear and polarization, we, the immense majority of Colombians believe in our future," said Santos of the peace negotiations taking place in Havana, Cuba. Without naming his former boss, Santos alluded to ex-President Alvaro Uribe, who has been against the negotiations since their announcement in September. Uribe has used his Twitter account to drum up support for his efforts against Santos, once his defence minister. "To the enemies of peace I say: in place of poisoning the process, in place of spreading lies - like saying there would be peace with impunity when we haven't even discussed the issue - be prudent." Thousands are expected to march in Bogota on Tuesday to demand an end to violence and in solidarity with victims of the conflict. The gathering is being held 65 years after the assassination of presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, whose murder unleashed a wave of violence that continues today. Latin America's longest-running insurgency has left tens of thousands dead, seeded vast rural and mountainous areas with landmines and left scores of villages and towns economically isolated. While a 10-year military offensive against the FARC has pushed the rebels deep into inhospitable territory and helped rejuvenate the economy, the FARC is still a formidable presence and able to sow fear and cause damage to the nation's economic infrastructure. The FARC is considered a terrorist group by the United States and Europe. The president also expressed hope there would "sooner rather than later" be a similar peace process with the second-biggest rebel group, the National Liberation Army. Santos, who has faced a barrage of criticism in recent months for failing to provide sufficient details on what is being discussed in Havana, said he understood the nation's scepticism and asked for patience while the two sides agreed on terms. Any accord would need to go to a referendum, he said. "It's normal that Colombians would be sceptical after so many deceptions. But the truth is the process is going well." "It's a difficult and complex process," he said, adding that peace could come in months if the current pace of talks is maintained. Numerous peace efforts in Colombia since the 1980s have brought mixed success, with some smaller armed groups demobilizing. But the FARC, Latin America's biggest rebel group, has pressed on, funded in large part by drug trafficking. At the last peace talks in 1999-2002, former President Andres Pastrana ceded the FARC a safe haven the size of Switzerland to promote talks. But the rebels took advantage of the breathing space to train fighters, build more than 25 airstrips to fly drug shipments and set up prison camps to hold its hostages. Copyright © 2013 Reuters |
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