i De ti tution I nd g nt of for un pul r vi Zundel..' • pu Ii h d P mphl t yi ng the Holo u t w n over- bl n myth perpetrated by worldwid Jewi h con­ pi y. Trl I for King b Ing del yed L G L - Ac- quitted on crimin I charge from th Rodn y King , the four offi ers ' federal trial ha been moved to September 29 to give defen e attorney more time to prepare. An attorney for on of the officers told U.S. Di - trict Court Judge John Davies that he would file a motion asking him to rule that his client could not get a fair trial anywhere in the United Stat . Asked by th judge if he would be pre enting evidence to back hi claim, Harland Braun, attorney for Theodore Bri eno, aid he might conduct a survey to prove his point. The four officers' ac­ quittal on the criminal char­ ges in April spawned chaotic community reac­ tions that left 51 people dead and cau ed an e - 1 n in �-Il=--·-re in- dicted by rand 1 ry this civil violations in the beating of King. , . t , w mon ix pe e nomin ted Dr. Fulani. Five hundr d people from 5 t t th red t th mid-M nh ttan Omni P r Council Hot 1 for th convention, hich fe tured pan 1 on ind pend nt politi that in luded John At . nson, a Perot campaign wor er from Oklahoma, Dr. John H gelin, th pre idential candidate of atural Law Party, orm Segal, the Libertarian P rty' candidate for the U.S. nat ,fromNewYor .and Ro lyn Allen, the orthern tate' chair of th California Peace and Freedom Party. Dr. Fred Newm n, campaign manager for the Fulani campaign, introduced th paneli ts to th New Alliance Party. "W PROUDLY left of center. We are equally proud that we are not orne dogmatic party charac­ teristic and typical of the American left. We will work with all people of good pirit, with all people of intel­ ligence and decency, to build om - thing which will make a difference to all the people of this country." Q: Where is this drought tllking place? TM ten nations of Southern Africa, Angola, BotswafUl, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, SwaziUlnd, ZambiD, and Zimbabwe, are in the midst of the worst drought to hit the region in this century. The United Nations estimates that 1S-million people are directly at risk of starvation or severe malnutrition. Furthermore. over 100-million people will be affected by the loss of crop, livestock, and employment. International relief efforts, including transport upport have prevented a di aster. so far. However. the region' estimated food need have not been met. The Shortage of water supplies are literally forcing the evacuation of entire cities. Moreover. the effects of the drought 'will continue at least until April, 1993, assuming the rains come in November. Q: What are the circumstances surrounding this drought? Ina region where cyclical droughts are a fact of life (they occur in varying degrees about every ten years), this one is quite unusual. The growing season in this part of the world is from October to April/May. Rains typically fall from mid-October through March. This year, unlike the pattern of most droughts, the rains fell abundantly in November and December. This prompted people to plant extensively and a bumper crop was predicted for the region. Suddenly, however, the rains stopped in January, well before the crops could reach maturity. Very liltle has turned out to be salvageable, with crop failure approaching 70% in countries liIu ZambiD and Zimbabwe. Even South Africa, which has always been a food exporter, experienced an over­ aU 60% crop failure and will have to import massive amounts of food for its own consumption. Q: What has been the effect of South African destabili:l.Jllion? For over a decade, South Africa has violently resisted the attempts at peacefu! change by people in outhern Africa. Direct military at­ tacks on Zambia, Zimbabwe, An­ gola, Botswana, Lesotho, MOVlmbique, and Swa1.iland were combined with South Africa's mililllry support to antigovernment rebels in several countrie . In • WORLD/NATION " D WH T A fringe party looks like - that' us. Because the rest of America com to know us better, millions of Americans will see something they can identify with very strongly - that's being at the fringe. At the fringe of political power. At the fringe of economic prosperity. In fact, the majority of the American people are at the fringe. That is why I believe that one day soon the New Alliance Party, America's fringe party, will be a majority party in the United States of America." Later, the Reverend Al Sharpton, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Dr. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, a leader of the democracy movement in Zaire (soon to be renamed the Congo) delivered keynote add res es. The convention reelected Dr. Fulani a the party' chair, and elected a new national committee. Independent Presidential candidate Dr. Lenora Fulani and her running mate Elizabeth Munoz received the nomination of the New Alliance Party at the New Alliance Party National Nominating Convention recently. (photo: Bob Geor< ) • Also during the convention, par­ ticipants marched to the New York campaign headquarters of Bill Clin­ ton and George Bush to prote t the bipartisan failure to "End AIDS Now!" and I M ozambique and A ngola, those rebel forces were most devastating, but South A/rica made simiUlr at­ tempts to create anti-government rebel groups in Zimbabwe and ZambiD. The regional grouping of inde­ pendent southern African countries (Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference - SADCC) e timates the cos ts of des­ tabilization at S60 billion since the mid-I97Os. The e losses exceed by at least 20 time all U.S. foreign aid to the region over the past decade. These monetary estimates represent actual los es to infrastructure and transportaion, to social service faci li ties and other direct war damage. They also include the higher costs of transportation. in­ surance and security. They include the expenses of building up and maintaining security forces by each government. The 10 S or diversion of resources from industry, manufac­ turing, agriculture are included. However, the human co ts - over 1.5 million killed, millions of others wounded or forced to flee their homes and livelihoods, the p ychologicat impact to children or­ phaned by the war and all children caught up in South Africa's wars­ are not as readily calculated. Q: How does this drought differ from those Africa has faced in tile eighties? Imagine if no rain fell west of the Mississippi all year. A drought of uch a magnitude is rare for the world, let alone Africa. The UN estimates that IS-miUion p.eople are at direct risk of dying because of the drought. Additionally, over 100· million, virtuaUy the population of the entire region, willfeel the effects .� ,�,II "11'1'1 1'111 .... '1- '11',1 �, "t ,,' Jill ". '.oJ ' • I. ., ,. of the drought in 0;'00;;" 0;" cks c;;;1bk� equ'�bl�d;;t,.u,',;t.·· s��(d··��ti�·r;o���ber �r later. � .. anothtr. ing food aid. Moreover, all tb« one-time SBO-million appropriation In the mid-eighties, the Hom of countries of the region, except for OFDA will help insure the Africa was afflicted by drought in South Africa, are linktd economi- transportation network will hold Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Sudan. cally by the Southern African togetller and the warehouses will be Overall, about 10-million people Development Coordinating Con- built to store the food. ' suffered du�ng that period. This ference or.SA�C. SADCC, which Q. What can be dOM to reduc« southern �can drought will hurt has been III exist�nce for over ten the impact of futru« drough/s? over ten times as many people. years, was esf!lbltshed as a trade Some of the money for droughl and .dev�lopment bloc to lessen the relief is being used to dig wells aNI regl.on s dependence o,! South build dams. However, as m'lI. Afr&c� and to. help budd each tiontd above, the region wiD alwa,s other s economies. . be prontd to droughts. However, �s,a result of SADCC, the certain policies of the U.s. govem- region s governments are used to ment the World Bank, and the III- worki�g t?gethe� a�d �i11 be able to ter�tiofUll Monetllry Fund (IMP) coord.m�te the distribution of nearly have made this drought worst aNI ll-nulhon tons of food. The S50- will continue to do so unless �il1ion apPfOOP.riation request will changed. aid SADCC I� Its work. At a recent Most of the countries in the Senate he�r.Ing. on. the drought, region are under IMF Sturctural Ad- USAID offIclal� indicated th.at �hey justment Programs (SAP) which �ere pleased With how t�e distribu- force the elimination of price sup- tton prog�m was pr�ceedm� and ex - ports for food products and make pected It to continue With few commercially grown food almost problems. unaffordable for the average family. Q: What are the transportation These SAP's force the raising of ex­ requirements of the region? Tradi- portable crops such as com (maize) tionally, most of the region 's which are not very drought-resistant. agriculture is subsistence farming. People �hus planted a crop which This means that people raise was very weather-sensitive in the ,nough food for their own needs name of the SAP. Furthermore, and consume it on the spot. Little countries are discouraged from transponation is required. How- maintaining stockpiles in the case of ever, with no foOd available to sub. I drought. A bitter irony of the current slstence farmers, it must all be' situation is that Zimbabwe, the 'brought in from outside. Accord. country hardest-hit by the drought, ingly, the region's transportation was forced by the IMF to sell off its network wiU be required to handle surplus just a few weeks before the four times the volume of trains and drought was declared. trucksthan u normatly does.Asius, For a year now, Zimbabwe's the region is heavily dependant on policies have been under the direc- raillines emanating in South Africa tion of an IMF Structural Adjust- which connect with the port cities of ment Program. Subsidies on basic Capt Town, Port Elizabeth, and foods have been reduced substanuat. Durban. While there are port ly, so that food price stripled. Sub- facilities in tM MOVlmbique cities sidles on public transportation also of Maputo and Beira, they are VlrY were cut and price of gas ro e. RUral limited �nd the rail network to people frequently buy some food which· they art linlud is unrelilible from towns with savings set aside for du« to the continuedfighting in that periodic crop failures. However, the country. Thus th« region will rely price of food and transport has effec- primarily on South Africa's tively doubled the co t of food to transportaion infrastructure to un- rural consumers. The e price rises load food and move it northward. come on the top of increases in UnfortufUltely, South Africa will be school and health ervice fee -al 0 d�voting two of its three ports to it linked to the tructual adjustment own needs, putting an enormous program-whichfurtherdepletethe strain on the region's transpoeta- ability of people to meet their needs. lion systems. In effect, the structual adjustment Moreover, as the food arriv , it programs have weakened household is being warehoused. Bear in mind and community economies, in- that even if there are good rains in ere ed the vulnerability of low in- 1992-93, people will not be able to come group to the food hortages harve t that food until April, 1993. as ociated with the drought, and Thus to balance the transportation rai ed the likelihood of widespread load in the region, food m t be hunger and deprivation aero the tored now which might not be con- region. Q: How is the us. Congress responding? The U.S. has tllken a , leading role in providing drought relief. The ouse has provided funding in the 1993 Appropriations bill for aiding drought victims which the Senate Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee is expected to consider in Septem­ ber. Specifically, the legislation would: ' 1) Retain the SBO-million one­ time appropriation earmarked for drought relief, as established by the House for the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to direct these funds toward the Southern Africa Development Coor­ dinating Conference (SADCC), church organizations, and other NqnGovernmental Organizations for miscellaneous costs associated with the transportation and storage of food supplies. 2) Maintain funding for the OFDA at S69-million and keep the borrowing authority of the OFDA at S50-million in order to allow some of the infrastructure-rebuilding needs to be met. 3) Maintain the funding level for SADCC at S50-million. 4) Maintain funding for Title II PL 480 at S810-million which enables the U.S. to respond to food­ Shortage emergencies around the world, either natural or manmade. The first three measures have been approved by the House. The Ti tie II appropriation is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Appropria­ tions Agriculture, Rural Develop­ ment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee which has recom­ meded a funding level of S810-mil­ lion. Q: What assurances do �·t have that aid will be distributed fairly? Actually, plenty. For the fir t time in years, the region is relatively at peace. Only in Mozambique is there a large cale civil conflict betwten the government and RENAMO rebels. In most countrit ther« M' functioning, democratic stat,s which have the governIMntGl agen· , .. , ,I t:,. it