Democracy Now! May 10, 2002

Program Title:
Democracy Now! May 10, 2002
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0450.160
Description: 

Putting war criminals on trial: conversation with Judge Baltasar Garzon, Jennifer Harbury, and Joyce Horman, ; tomorrow is the one month anniversary of the failed coup in Venezuela: a conspiracy to topple Chavez, possibly with U.S. support? Today, well talk to Venezuelan government officials.

9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20 BRINGING WAR CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE The Bush administration this week took the unprecedented step of unsigning the treaty setting up the worlds first permanent war crimes tribunal. But the march for justice for the victims of crimes against humanity continues. It continues in the International Criminal Court that will be established on July 1, in spite of the US. And it goes on in the numerous specific cases that have been brought against murderous dicators and governments. It is these cases that have created the legal space in which to establish an international criminal court. In one of the most landmark cases, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon charged Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet with numerous human rights crimes and ordered him arrested in 1998 in England. Pinochet had for years eluded responsibility for the deaths, disappearance, and torture of thousands of Chileans. Pinochet remained under house arrest for 16 months while the British debated his fate. In the end, English officials decided Pinochet could not be extradited to Spain because of his ill health, and allowed him to return to Chile. But once in Chile, officials stripped Pinochet of his immunity, opening the door for his prosecution at home. There are now more than 100 cases pending in Chile against Pinochet. Well, today Judge Garzon joins us in the studio. GUEST: Judge Baltasar Garzon, Investigating Judge of Spain's National Court. IN STUDIO Lower third: Spanish National Court Investigating Judge TRANSLATOR: Michelle Guanca Contact: www.toremember.org 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 BRINGING WAR CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE GUEST: Judge Baltasar Garzon, Investigating Judge of Spain's National Court. IN STUDIO Lower third: Spanish National Court Investigating Judge Guest: Jennifer Harbury, human rights lawyer and wife of slain Guatemalan rebel leader, Efrain Bamaca Velazquez. She is the author of Searching for Everardo, about her quest to find out the truth about her husbands disappearance.IN STUDIO Contact: www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~pavr/harbury/ Guest: Joyce Horman, widow of journalist-human rights activist Charles Horman. Charles Horman was taken just days after the Chilean coup which ousted the Chilean leader, Salvador Allende. He was killed. Joyce Horman sued Henry Kissinger in 1997 for $4.9 million and information on the murder of her husband. Over time, bits and pieces have come out and the picture emerged of an ugly conspiracy to silence her husband for his knowledge of U.S. involvement in the ambush killing of Constitutionalist General Rene Schneider. As told in the 1980 film "Missing," Horman had only recently completed his research into the U.S. role in Schneider's killing when he was kidnapped off the street in front of neighbors on September 17, 1973. IN STUDIO TRANSLATOR: Michelle Guanca 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 AS DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE TO RACK VENEZUELA, VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE FAILED OUSTER OF PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ Saturday marks the one month anniversary of the failed ouster of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. This weekend the streets of Caracas will be full of Chavez supporters and opponents. A Venezuelan truth commission and congressional panel has begun investigating claims of a vast conspiracy to topple Chavez. The US role in the coup will also be investigated. Washington has denied any role in the coup, but in the past year, the United States channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to American and Venezuelan groups opposed to President Chavez, and senior Bush administration officials were in close contact with anti-Chavez figures in the months before the coup and as it unfolded. Since taking office, Chavez has ratified a new constitution, quadrupled spending on health care and launched a massive public works program. He has brought Venezuela closer to Fidel Castro. He has sharply criticized the policies of savage neoliberalism imposed on Latin America by the United States. Chavez has even withdrawn the Venezuelan military from regional naval exercises in the Caribbean and denied the U.S. military access to Venezuelan airspace, hampering Washingtons war in Colombia. Venezuela is also home to the largest oil reserves in the world outside the Middle East. Guest: Marelis Perez, representative of the Venezuelan legislature, working on issues of women and children. IN STUDIO Guest: Guilburto Buenano, vice minister of regional planning for the Venezuelan government Guest: Carol Delgado, Global Justice Foundation, a Venezuelan NGO. She is in New York at the UN Conference on the Child. IN STUDIO Guest: Paulo Nunes-Ueno, New Yorkers for Lula. The Brazilian Workers' Party candidate for president Luis Inacia Lula da Silva is leading in the polls by wide margins. IN STUDIO TRANSLATOR: Michelle Guanca 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits

Date Recorded on: 
May 10, 2002
Date Broadcast on: 
May 10, 2002
Item duration: 
59 min.
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Distributor: 
WPFW; Amy Goodman, host. May 10, 2002
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