Headlines for Friday, October 30, 2009

US/Colombia military base agreement signed
Colombia and the US have signed a military cooperation agreement that will allow the US to use seven Colombian military bases.  The country’s South and Central American neighbors have opposed the deal saying it increases US military presence in the region.  Manuel Rueda has more from Bogotá.

US Ambassador William Brownfield and Colombia’s Foreign Minister, Jaime Bermudez signed the controversial military agreement this morning in a discrete ceremony at the Presidential palace.  Bermudez said Colombian law currently allows for a maximum of 800 US troops and 600 contractors to be stationed in the country.  He said the agreement, which is aimed at conducting anti-narcotic operations, does not change this number.

"There are around 210 US military personnel in Colombia right now who are here on a temporary or a permanent basis.  There is also an average of almost 400 military contractors per month, but this number will not necessarily increase with this agreement.  Our objective is not to ask the US for troops or for more people.  The Colombian soldiers know how to combat drug traffickers.  What we need are people who can give us technical assistance."

Bermudez added that the agreement will not allow combat troops to be stationed in Colombia, only military advisers.  Despite these reassurances, the governments of neighboring countries like Venezuela and Ecuador fear that US military access to the bases will pose a threat to their countries´ sovereignty.  The details of the agreement are still unknown; the Colombian government said the full text will be disclosed next week.  Manuel Rueda, FSRN Bogotá.

Thousands flee from massive oil fire in India
A massive industrial fire raged throughout the morning in the Northern Indian city of Jaipur.  An oil depot went up in flames after a minor earthquake shook the area.   FSRN’s Jasvinder Sehgal has more.

This ambulance is transporting yet another 90% burn victim from the oil depot fire, which struck the Sitapura Industrial Area of Jaipur.   The fire has claimed as many as 12 lives, while more than 200 others are being treated in various hospitals for burn and splinter injuries.

Parts of the power grid and a nearby food warehouse have been destroyed as well.  The warehouse held grains that were used to provide free lunches for school children.  Eleven of the 12 huge tanks of petrol, diesel and kerosene are on fire.  Almost a half million residents from nearby villages have fled their homes for safer areas.  Among them is Leela Devi.

“Who wants to be unsafe? I am worried about my children because the fire is out of control.  I’m leaving with my family to go to my mother’s place.  I haven’t seen such devastation in my entire life.”

The government says it will compensate the families of those killed and injured in the fire.  Jasvinder Sehgal, FSRN, Jaipur.

Haiti’s PM gets the ouster
Early this morning, Haiti’s Senate voted to dismiss the country’s Prime Minister after a contentious 10-hour session.  FSRN’s Ansel Herz reports from Port-au-Prince.

Senators voting for the ouster accused Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis of mismanaging $197 million in storm recovery funds.  Large swaths of Gonaives, the Haitian city hit hardest by hurricanes last year, still have not been re-built.  Pierre-Louis has denied the charges and did not attend the debate.

A minority of senators supporting Pierre-Louis argued that she was not given enough time to lead the recovery effort.  Senator Youri Latortue, who represents Gonaives, said he wants new leadership in the government, but through elections, not the dismissal of the Prime Minister.

“We have a regime that’s not able to change the poverty.  We must have a new regime.  With a new leadership.  With a new vision.  This is what we want, and we must have elections now to change the regime and have a new leadership.”

Although Pierre-Louis has little support among Haitians, she is a well liked by most foreign diplomats and investors – including those in the US.  A month ago, she declared, “Haiti is open for business” and her government has fought a proposed increase to the minimum wage.  Ansel Herz, FSRN, Port-Au-Prince.

US lifts travel ban for people with HIV/AIDS
President Obama said today the government will lift a travel ban on people with HIV/AIDS.

“If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.”

The rule was put in place more than 20 years ago and banned people with the disease from entering the US.  The US is only one of a handful of countries that still has a travel ban in place.  Obama said the original policy was “rooted in fear, rather than fact.”  The ban will be lifted just after the New Year.

Judge defends protest rights for logging activists in Oregon
The Oregon Court of Appeals HAS ruled in favor of logging protestors.  The court struck down a state law against “Interfering with Agricultural Operations,” ruling it unconstitutional.   From Eugene, FSRN’s Rachael McDonald reports.

The statute passed in 1999 to discourage demonstrations against controversial timber sales in Oregon.  But it contains an exception allowing protests if they deal with labor disputes.  The court ruled the law should be struck down because it treats environmental disputes differently.

The case grew out of arrests in March of 2005 in the Siskiyou National Forest.  Protestors claimed old growth trees were being illegally logged as part of the timber sale from the massive Biscuit fire in southern Oregon three years earlier.  County Sheriff’s deputies arrested people who refused to leave the logging site when workers arrived.  The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled the state law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.  Rachael McDonald, FSRN, Eugene.