Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Going for the gold

WHATEVER one's feelings about Cuban stalwart Fidel Castro's political ideologies, one cannot help but admire the sheer tenacity of his reign. He has said that if surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic sport, he would be the world champion and this week he was again asked to defend his title. During a visit to Panama for an Ibero-American summit on children in the region, Castro claimed that operatives of the Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation were plotting to kill him. The foundation scoffed at Castro's claim, dismissing the fuss as a cry for attention by a man who is always happy to hog the limelight. But if there is anything to trust about Castro, it is his instinct for survival. He has seen nine US presidents through their terms, eluded ignominious death by an exploding cigar and when the Soviet Union unravelled, he still managed to hold on. In the end, the show-stopping antics of El Commandante may or may not have saved his life, but they certainly saved him from having to explain why so many Cuban children are poor and hungry.

The end of the line

THE PANAMA summit must have had some significant karmic resonance, because it was here that Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was headed when he unexpectedly diverted his course to Tokyo on Friday, initially for a layover. The scandal-ridden Fujimori, who was leaving the APEC conference in Brunei, holed himself up in a hotel in Tokyo and issued a statement on Sunday saying that he would resign within 48 hours. The move sparked rumours that Fujimori -- whose parents were Japanese immigrants -- was seeking asylum amidst breaking corruption charges against his former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. But in his terse statement, Fujimori gave no explanation for his stepping down early instead of waiting for the elections he called in the aftermath of the Montesinos escapade.

Fujimori, who came to power in 1990, initially indicated that he would leave the country in the hands of his second vice president, Ricardo Marquez, but popular opposition leader Alejandro Toledo has said that it should be the newly-elected speaker of Congress, Valentin Paniagua. Fujimori, Toledo noted, is in no position to determine his successor.

An unhappy pair

TOKYO almost had the dubious honour of bringing together two disgraced world leaders this week, when the Japanese parliament met on Monday to take a no-confidence vote against Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. Harbouring Peruvian President Fujimori was the least of Mori's many worries, although the two could have had a lot to talk about. As late as the night before the vote, "rebel" factions in Mori's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by senior LDP figure Koichi Kato, were still claiming that they intended to vote with opposition parties against Mori. But directly before the vote, Kato jumped ship, taking his allies with him, and 53 members abstained from the vote.

The motion was defeated 237-190 and Mori -- who is suffering phenomenally-low approval ratings of 20 per cent -- managed to hold onto his post. In a culture where political showdowns take place behind closed doors, the party in-fighting has caused political chaos for both the awkward Mori and the jittery LDP.

Dead drunk

FOR THE desperately poor inhabitants of Nairobi's slums, there isn't much to keep one going through the day. Illegal drinking holes selling a home-brewed and highly-alcoholic drink known as chang'aa vie for customers desperate to forget their troubles, and it is hard to blame them. But this week's disaster of a poisonous batch of chang'aa making its way around the capital has reinvigourated authorities' drive to stamp out the dangerous drink. More than 400 patients are being treated in hospitals for ingesting the deadly brew and almost 140 people have died. Kenyan police went into the streets with a vengeance, locking up some 60 people in connection with the mishap.

The batch, said to contain a potent level of methanol, seeped into the public early last week, but despite the highly-publicised deaths and the clampdown, it is believed that the brew is still available and being bought. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming week.

Death can wait

IT'S THE kind of story that haunts pro-death penalty politicians and just the kind of example bleeding-heart activists need to bolster their cause. Convicted felon and death-row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams -- co-founder and leader of the California street gang, the Crips -- was dumbfounded to learn from his editor, Barbara Becnel, that he had been nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to educate children and de-mythologise gangster life. Williams was incarcerated in 1981 for the killing of four people, but since then he has written numerous no-nonsense children's books that try to steer kids away from the road he went down. He also runs the Internet Project for Street Peace, which brings together young people from California and South Africa.

Can a man marked for death take home the ultimate prize for saving the living? Mario Fehr, the Swiss parliamentarian who nominated him, certainly thinks so. No one can know what Williams' chances are -- a record 150 nominees are in contention for the prize, which will be awarded on 10 December of next year.

Indian giver

HOLDING a post at the United Nations is supposed to indicate a superior sense of diplomacy, but officials are now grappling with a particularly delicate issue: the word of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali against that of his angry portraitist. Norwegian artist Even Richardson has complained that he was never paid for his trip to Cairo to paint the Egyptian diplomat in 1997 and the dispute over the estimated $4,000 has put the UN, which never pays for artwork, in an embarrassing situation. Richardson wants his painting back, and Boutros Ghali claims that it was understood that Richardson had offered to do the portrait in exchange for the "international recognition" it would bring him. But Richardson denies any such understanding, alleging that Boutros Ghali had called him personally and requested the painting. The mess could end up with Richardson regaining the portrait, which he has indicated he would consider selling -- a golden opportunity for the eccentric collector.

Compiled by Nyier Abdou

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