[PEN-L:6162] Re: (Fwd) Letter from Belgrade

["J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>]

Paul,
      Hmmm.   This woman has a name that
is very similar to that of His Excellency's wife.
But, more seriously I would ask you if you could
really clarify the nature of the current political
system in Yugoslavia.  This is triggered by this
letter writer's lament that she (and her friends)
did not elect this government.  But there clearly
are quite a few elections in Yugoslavia, even if
His Excellency tried to resist the results of some
local ones a few years ago.  Clearly the repeated
labeling by NATO of His Excellency as a "dictator"
is seriously inaccurate.  Some specific questions:
     1)  Is there a Yugoslavia-wide parliament?  I
know that Serbia and Montenegro have their own
parliaments.  I know that the Albanians in Kosmet
have largely boycotted those elections.  I know that
the breakdown in the Serbian parliament is that 115
are either in His Excellency's party or his wife's party,
that about 80 are in the right-wing chauvinist party of
Seselj and about 40 or so are in Draskovic's party.
I don't think Djindic's party (His Excellency's most
severe "liberal" critic") has any.
     2)  How is the Yugoslav president selected?  Is
there a nationwide election or is he appointed by some
body?  If the latter, who is that body?
     3)  If there is no nationwide parliament, what is
the national level governing body.  I am aware that there
is both a Serbian bureaucracy and a parallel Yugoslav
bureaucracy in Belgrade.
     4)  How are the republican presidents selected?
By the republican parliaments?
      Hope that you or somebody can clear this up.
Barkley Rosser
-----Original Message-----
From: phillp2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <phillp2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 1999 5:09 PM
>Subject: [PEN-L:6125] (Fwd) Letter from Belgrade



------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:      Tue, 27 Apr 1999 16:36:52 -0700
To:             ccpa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From:           Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>
Subject:        Letter from Belgrade

Subject: Letter from Belgrade
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999
From: Marija Marjanovic <marija@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: My side of the story

Hello everyone! I am student from Architectural Faculty,
University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I spent great time in Porto
Alegre by the end of the year 1997.
Some terrible things are happening to me and my people (Serbs)
and I wanted to tell you my side of the story.
My people is in a very bad position: on one side, there is our
government that absolutely does not care about anything except
about how to save their own positions. We don't support this
government. Belgrade (the capital) did not vote for them. Not to
mention that we are under media blockade for very, very long time,
and that our elections were never fair. In one word - this
government WAS NOT OUR CHOICE.
On the other side there is USA (NATO forces), which is
determined to ruin everything that stands on its way. Do you really
believe that they are concerned about human rights and things like
that ? The real reason for their actions are: strategic positions
(spreading to the eastern part of Europe, and making "conflict
areas" in the middle of Europe in order to retain stronger than
European Community) as well as economy reasons (spreading the
market and selling the old weapons).
Did you know that they are bombing us with radioactive
materials which are secondary products of their nuclear industry?
Did you know, that during the war in Bosnia (country next to
Yugoslavia), USA bombarded this territory and that women from
this areas have defected babies born today? Do you still believe that
they are fighting for human rights?
We are in terrible position. If they are fighting only against our
government why are they attacking civilians? Do we really need this
aggression? Don't they have any other way to persuade our
president to negotiate? Do we, civilians, have to suffer because of
wrong government on one side and aggressive ways of USA to
realize their strategic and economic goals on the other?
We only want to live our lives normally. To work, have fun,
have families, have healthy children. We are normal people that is
very tired of everything that is going on here in the last ten years.
Please, help us, by spreading our side of the story all over the
world. Tell this to your friends in Brazil and in the other countries.
Anything that you do can be helpful.
Help us only by thinking. Remember, this can happen to any
poor nation. World should not be a jungle.
Thank You for Your time.

Truly,

Marija Marjanovic