brad brace contemporary culture scrapbook

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — At a secret location somewhere in Nicaragua, shoulder-fired missiles capable of taking down a jetliner lie behind heavy fencing and locked double doors.

The missiles are dangerous artifacts of another era, a time before the end of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union fed arms to Marxist Sandinistas then in power, and the United States surreptitiously countered by organizing and arming an anti-Sandinista force known as the contras. The bloody conflict between the Sandinistas and contras during the 1980s is long gone, but the Soviet weapons remain, locked in a kind of limbo between Nicaragua and the United States, which fears the missiles could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Sandinista rebel, has proposed exchanging the missiles for medical supplies, an offer that a U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called “unprecedented.” Paul A. Trivelli, the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, immediately pronounced the offer “very good.”

But the deal hasn’t happened, and since Trivelli’s initial remark, U.S. officials have been reluctant to speak publicly on the matter. The reasons, some Nicaraguan and American observers say, are that the proposal has not been put on paper and that suspicions remain in both countries that Ortega — who frequently taunts the United States — might be luring the Bush administration into an embarrassing diplomatic trap by making a complex offer that might never come to fruition.

“Ortega’s going to go around six months to a year from now and be able to say, ‘We made this generous offer and the U.S. ambassador came out the next day and said ‘great idea,’ and what have we gotten for it?’ ” said Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. “Yes, he’s playing them.”

Manuel Coronel Kautz, Nicaragua’s vice minister of foreign relations, said in an interview that “Daniel Ortega has never made a proposal that wasn’t serious.”

American officials have been pressing Nicaragua for several years to get rid of its stockpile of more than 1,000 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft missiles — one of the largest caches in the Western Hemisphere outside the United States. Ortega is offering to destroy 651 of his nation’s missiles, while keeping 400 that his military advisers say are necessary to maintain a balance of power with other Central American nations. Still, the destruction of more than 600 missiles would be a major coup for U.S. diplomats, and more than 22 times the number of missiles the United States helped destroy in Bolivia in 2005.

The diplomatic push to destroy Nicaraguan missiles is part of a worldwide effort that has led to the destruction of 17,000 shoulder-fired missiles in the past five years, according to State Department figures. More than 1 million of the weapons have been manufactured in countries around the world, including the United States, and while many of those have been destroyed, no one knows how many are still in circulation.

The campaign to eradicate missiles gained momentum after a 2002 attack in which two SA-7 missiles nearly struck an Israeli airliner in Mombasa, Kenya, and again after a 2003 strike on a cargo plane in Iraq that caused damage but no fatalities.

The following year the United States, concerned that the Nicaraguan missiles were vulnerable to theft, began paying to build a facility to store them. The missiles that American officials want to destroy are now kept in state-of-the-art bunkers that cost the United States $130,000 for construction and staff training, according to a State Department source. The United States also has funded weapons storage facilities in Cambodia and Bosnia, the source said.

Ortega offered to exchange missiles for medical supplies on July 31, saying “this won’t be a gift, but simply a barter with them.” Ambassador Trivelli, who declined multiple requests through a spokeswoman to be interviewed, told Nicaragua’s La Prensa newspaper that he would pass the offer along to U.S. authorities “with great pleasure.”

The offer has puzzled some in Nicaragua, particularly because Ortega has spent the ensuing weeks bashing the United States and trading broadsides with Trivelli in the Nicaraguan press. On Aug. 13, Ortega called the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “insignificant” compared with the U.S. nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Trivelli said Ortega’s remark was “disappointing.”

Ortega lost the Nicaraguan presidency in 1990 after 11 years in office, then staged a comeback in last year’s presidential election, winning the top job in the Western Hemisphere’s second-poorest nation. Some U.S. officials believe that Ortega’s antagonistic rhetoric is an attempt to appeal to his left-leaning base and that his actions behind the scenes are much less hostile.

“This offer is an encouraging sign,” Avil Ramarez Valdivia, a former Nicaraguan defense minister who now heads an American chamber of commerce in Managua, said in an interview. “Ortega needs a justification for turning over the missiles, and the medicine deal could be it.”

A former Nicaraguan official who has been involved in past missile negotiations said the only way he could see the deal working would be if the Bush administration slipped additional money into an aid program, such as the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corp., without openly admitting a quid pro quo.

Political posturing aside, the Nicaraguan leader might have the biggest incentive to make the missile deal happen, said Roger F. Noriega, the former top Western Hemisphere official at the State Department.

“If they get into the wrong hands,” Noriega said, “he’s going to be the one held accountable.”

MONKEY POINT, Nicaragua — The second military helicopter in as many days hovered over the jungle and then landed to a most unwelcome reception from several dozen angry Rama Indian and Creole villagers.

Rupert Allen Clear Duncan, a leader of some 400 Creole who live along the shoreline, confronted the foreigners dressed in suits and military uniforms that day in March and demanded to know the purpose of their aerial trespasses.

“This is our land; we have always lived here, and you don’t have our permission to be here,” Duncan spat, when refused the courtesy of an explanation.

Not until Duncan threatened to have his machete-waving followers damage the aircraft did they learn that some of the men were from the Islamic Republic of Iran and had come promising to establish a Central American foothold in the middle of their territory.

As part of a new partnership with Nicaragua’s Sandinista President Daniel Ortega, Iran and its Venezuelan allies plan to help finance a $350 million deep-water port at Monkey Point on the wild Caribbean shore, and then plow a connecting “dry canal” corridor of pipelines, rails and highways across the country to the populous Pacific Ocean. Iran recently established an embassy in Nicaragua’s capital.

In feeling threatened by Iran’s ambitions, the people of Monkey Point have powerful company. The Iranians’ arrival in Nicaragua comes as the Bush administration and some European allies hold the threat of war over Iran to force an end to its uranium enrichment program and alleged help to anti-U.S. insurgents in Iraq.

What worries state department officials, former national security officials and counterterrorism researchers is that, if attacked, Iran could stage strikes on American or allied interests from Nicaragua, deploying the Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard operatives already in Latin America. Bellicose threats by Iran’s clerical leadership to hit American interests worldwide if attacked, by design or not, heighten the anxiety.

“The bottom line is if there is a confrontation with Iran, and Iran gets bombed, I have absolutely no doubt that Iran is going to lash out globally,” said John R. Schindler, a veteran former counterintelligence officer and analyst for the National Security Agency.

“The Iranians have that ability, particularly from South America. Hezbollah has fronts all over Latin America. That is not new. But it’s certainly something we’re starting to care about now.”

American policymakers already had been fretting in recent years over Tehran’s successful forging of diplomatic relations, direct air routes and embassy swaps with populist South American governments that abhor the U.S., such as President Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. But Iran’s latest move places it just a few porous borders from Texas, where illegal Nicaraguan laborers routinely travel…

Fiji has a dedicated and thriving Sikh community. From 1900- 1930 Sikhs from Punjab came to the Fiji Islands and became involved in farming, especially the sugarcane industry. The Punjabis have established themselves irreversibly, firmly and successfully in Fiji. The colorful and distinctive culture of the Punjabis have indeed contributed to the variety and attractiveness of Fiji.

There are five Gurdwaras in different parts of Fiji. They also have one Kindergarten, three Primary schools and one Khalsa College. There are about 800 members in the Sikh community in Lakoutta and about 1,500 in Fiji.

People of Indian descent have settled in Fiji for over 130 years and now constitute over 350,000 people. Most Punjabis arrived in Fiji during early 1900’s.

In Fiji however, the earliest Indians were brought over to the Fiji islands in by the British. They were brought to the Fiji Islands by the British Raj in India under 5 year term, but when they arrived in Fiji they were forced to work do menial labour for the Europeans.

The European Union is facing a dramatic influx of “eco-immigrants”—those who leave nations that are suffering drought, food shortages and other effects of climate change, to illegally find work in Europe—says a report by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

To prepare for increased immigration, the document suggests boosting the EU’s military in response to the “serious security risks” thought to soon arise due to climate change. The report estimates “there will be millions of environmental migrants by 2020.”

“Europe must expect substantially increased migratory pressure,” the report states. “Populations that already suffer from poor health conditions, unemployment or social exclusion are rendered vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which could amplify or trigger migration within and between nations.”

The document also raises concern that more frequent drought, low crop yields, and flooding could lead to increased unrest in the Middle East and Africa.

Individual nations have already been battling the problem of illegal immigration—especially Spain.

Using canoes, small boats and inflatable mattresses, migrants from North Africa attempt a treacherous 12-day journey to reach the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands. Others try to reach Spain’s enclave on the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta, or navigate the Strait to reach the Spanish coast.

In 2006, over 31,000 Africans reached the Canary Islands and an estimated 6,000 disappeared or died, according to a UN report (NY Times). However, it is nearly impossible to determine total deaths, because the number who attempt the voyage is unknown.

Waters along the northwest African coast have been dramatically overfished, leaving families that have fished for generations unable to support themselves. Many sell all their belongings and board canoes to Spain—hoping to find work and new lives.
A Spanish human rights group reported that in 2007 there were 921 confirmed deaths among those attempting to illegally enter Spain. Since the beginning of 2008, nearly 2,100 have arrived on the Spanish coastline, mainly from North Africa (El Mundo).

MANAGUA — Nicaragua’s March 17-23 Easter holiday saw 29 fatal drowning cases, 27 murders and nine people killed in road accidents, Horacio Rocha, director of the National Police, said Sunday.

This is an improvement compared with 2007’s figure of 35 killings and 14 road deaths, Rocha said in a press conference.

Police arrested 400 people during the holiday season, seizing 136 weapons including 49 handguns, 61 knives and six home made weapons. They also seized 951 fireworks.

At the same press conference, Nicaragua’s Health Minister Guillermo Gonzalez, said that the 26 of the 29 drowned (89 percent) were women and that 17 of the drowned (60 percent) was linked to drinking.

This is a special problem for small islands that have served as
military bases for the major powers. . . . When such bases are
abandoned or returned by the United States military services there is
a unique problem — the terms and conditions under which the local
country is assisted or endemnified for environmental or toxic
problems being left behind are NOT set by US Government law or
general regulation, but by negotiated agreements reached by the
military commander AT THE BASE at the time of closure. This form of
plausible deniability allows the US Government to say that they fully
comply with the law (there isn’t any!), and that the local host
government is in full agreement with the arrangements made.

Dumped chemical weapons missing at sea

THE last thing you might expect to encounter exploring the ocean
floor is a chemical weapon. But it seems hundreds of thousands of
tonnes of them have been dumped into the sea, and no one knows
exactly where the weapons are. Now, scientists are calling for
weapons sites to be mapped for safety’s sake.

Between 1946 and 1972, the US and other countries pitched 300,000
tonnes of chemical weapons over the sides of ships or scuttled them
along with useless vessels, according to public reports by the Medea
Committee, a group of scientists given access to intelligence data
so they can advise the US government on environmental issues.

But the military have lost track of most of the weapons because of
haphazard record keeping combined with imprecise navigation. Even
the exact chemicals were not always noted, though there are records
of shells, rockets and barrels containing sulphur mustard and nerve
agents such as sarin.

The Chemical Weapons Convention does not cover the destruction of
the sea-dumped weapons, which are considered abandoned. “There’s no
piece of legislation or treaty that deals with this stuff,” says
Peter Brewer, an ocean chemist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute in Moss Landing, California. “It’s in limbo.”

If the chemicals leak from their containers, they will break down
slowly in the cold seawater. But it is unclear what will happen if
the chemicals bind to sediment or sink into anoxic zones, says
Brewer (Environmental Science and Technology, vol 42, p 1394).

A team led by Roy Wilkens at the University of Hawaii in Manoa is
planning to look for munitions dumped off the island of Oahu.
Records only note that the weapons were dumped about “five miles
south of Pearl Harbour”. Finding them will involve a search of 60
square kilometres, says Wilkens.