[Marxism] Prensa Latina - Good news from Beijing to Bolivia, etc.

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Beijing Opens New Subway Lines

Beijing, Jul 19 (Prensa Latina) Three new subway lines, one to take
people to the Beijing Olympic Park, opened today in the Chinese
capital, in one of the biggest modernizations of that city's public
transportation.

This makes eight underground railroad lines in the capital, with a
total extension of 124 miles, although the project will finish with
348 miles in 2015.

The new lines, with modern trains of the last technology, took an
investment of 3.2 billion dollars.

In October Line number 5 was inaugurated, at a cost of 1.6 billion
dollars, to join the north and the south of the city with modern,
clean, efficient transportation.

A brief ceremony took place Saturday morning at a station that will
give service to the Olympic facilities.

The immaculate and brilliant corridors, excellent air conditioning,
comfortable lighting, digital equipment in stations and on trains
made it like a game for children the whole afternoon.

Some services will still be pending, as the one which will allow
dispatching the baggage in the station of Dongzhimen, near the center
of Beijing, to take the subway up to the airport and pick up
suitcases later.

The Olympic line will be limited during the Olympics for the use of
sportsmen, trainers and journalists credited for the competitions, as
well as for fans.

Each subway train can transport 1,424 passengers, and on the
important line No. 10, the trains will come every 3.5 minutes.

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Bolivia Headlines Lula-Chavez Visits

La Paz, Jul 19 (Prensa Latina) The visits by Brazilian and Venezuelan
Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez to meet their
Bolivian peer Evo Morales were the most remarkable events this week
in this South American nation.

The meeting among the three presidents in the northern city of
Riberalta, allowed signing important collaboration agreements that
will improve Bolivia's road infrastructure.

By virtue of those agreements, Brazil granted a $230 million loan to
build a road that would link three Bolivian departments, and would be
part of a project to connect the pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The Venezuelan Executive also granted a $300 million loan to build
roads in other areas of this Andean country.

The three governments promised to undertake joint actions for
technical aid to preserve Amazonia, a region with a huge
biodiversity.

The Congress postponed elections of numerous judicial authorities,
which have been leaderless for months, until after the referendum
about people's mandate.

Parliament President Alvaro Garcia announced that the Constitutional
Joint Commission will have that date as a deadline to end its job and
designate who will occupy those posts, which are essential for the
national legal reorganization.

Appointment of those posts has been subject to several postponements
and generated serious arguments among opposition congresspeople and
those of the governing Movement Towards Socialism.

International organizations began checking the list of electors and
have not detected any irregularity so far, contrary to what the
government adversaries have said.

The Bolivian President's promulgation of a law that makes official
contracts for oil prospecting and exploitation in his country was the
most remarkable event in the economic aspect.

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Find Sparks Hope in Chile Families

Santiago de Chile, Jul 19 (Prensa Latina) The Family Group of
Executed Political Prisoners (AFEP) appreciated the help offered by
the Government after the finding of human remains in the north of the
country, but demanded equal concern for "identifying and condemning
all those involved in these crimes."

Marta Godoy, AFEP president said that "there are sectors of the right
and some in government who want to turn the page over and forget the
genocide committed and let the guilty go unpunished."

After expressing her solidarity with the families of the
detained-disappeared of Atacama, north of Santiago that was the route
of the "Caravan of Death" of the military regime, she said that this
is another moment of suffering and hope.

"We hope with all our heart that this time the comrades will be found
and we will be able to bury them and honor them as they deserve,"
Godoy added.

Repeating her satisfaction at finding the remains of the
detained-disappeared and political prisoners executed she added,
however, à that 35 years had to go by for this to happen à and the
action of the governments to achieve it has been minimal. Ã

The AFEP president criticized declarations by the Minister of the
Interior, Edmundo Perez Yoma, attributing the finding to à Dialogue
Table à in which he participated and that the AFEP describes as à an
attempt to bring back Pinochet. Ã

While the country still has a debt with the victims of the
dictatorship regarding truth, justice, and redress, Godoy assured
adding that her group would continue actively fighting for the human
rights of yesterday and today.

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New Ecuador Constitution Emerges

Quito, Jul 19 (Prensa Latina) The Ecuadorian national political scene
is buzzing Saturday about the country's new Constitution, elaborated
by the Constituent Assembly, with five days left for its official
presentation.

After 494 articles of that legislation were approved on Thursday, the
assembly members concluded on Saturday early morning their more
extensive plenary session, which began on Friday, reviewing
reconsideration of over 100 sections.

The constitutional texts will be ratified on July 24, but it has been
anticipated that the final document will be presented on Saturday to
the assembly members for a final reading.

The Constituent Assembly plenary will meet on Thursday to ratify
article by article of this Constitution and that legislation will be
presented to the Supreme Electoral Court a day later, for it to
submit it to a referendum, which was scheduled for September 28.

In this last session, they approved reconsiderations of articles
about issues related to bank function, retirement, ordinary justice,
official language, access to education, and others.

The assembly members rejected a recommendation by indigenous people,
who proposed Quechua as official language, together with Spanish,
generating a feeling of unease among the indigenous Pachakutik
movement representatives.

A proposal of temporary regime, which will be included in the
Constitution and establishes the steps to follow in case that either
the "yes" or the "no" wins in the September referendum, is yet to be
approved.

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=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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