Julie Webb - Zapatista Health Project

Popout

Original audio source

Colombo conference - Asia Pacific, Cuba has a high profile - why?

Julie Webb talks about the Asia Pacific Conference. And Cuba is getting lots of respect! Why? Cuba's influence in the Pacific is outside the parameters of the industrial military complex, and the gaining of economic autonomy from US based multinational corporations. Medical and literacy assistance and education, social programs, seem to be winning more respect than the World Bank and the IMF when it comes to the real issues that need to be dealt with by the Asia Pacific Forum.
9.313.3 Mb 64kbps. mono 9 mins 51 secs

Popout

Original audio source

Jim Dunn - Timor Leste and Human Rights Shenanigans

Jim Dunn and security services fun and games.

The release of former militia members who devastated Timor Leste in 1999 has been controversial. Jim Dunn, a former Consul, an investigator for the United Nations into the war crimes committed by high ranking Indonesian officials in Timor Leste, is critical of the way the Timorese government was forced into a position whereby the 'Indonesian' diplomacy boat, should not be rocked too hard. Human rights issues simply go overboard.
17.3Mb. 64kbps mono 19 minutes

Popout

Original audio source

Tim Anderson - Cuban Medical Brigade

Tim Anderson. Cuban medical education.
Tim Anderson, academic in Sydney University speaks about a video documentary he has produced as a result of his visits to Timor Leste, and more recently, Cuba, where he interviewed students who are beneficiaries of the one thousand scholarships Cuba granted to the Timorese. The Australian government, thus far has proved reluctant to match this generosity, although over 300 Cuban doctors in Timor Leste, over the last five years, have shouldered the burden of community health services.
Tim will be doing further research expeditions in Timor Leste, in the near future, but meanwhile his video documentary will be released with multilingual translations in Australian. Watch this space.

23.Mb 64kbps 25 mins

Popout

Original audio source

Timor Leste - Janelle Saffin, human rights

Janelle Saffin, Federal member for Page spent over three years working in Timor Leste, before taking on her political career. She was present during the mayhem of the 1999 referendum, and worked at times as an adviser to the President Jose Ramos Horta, during the period when he was the Foreign Minister for the East Timorese government. She talks to community radio 2NimFM about the controversial Truth and Friendship Commission, which was supposed to expose human rights abuses by the Indonesian militia. She clears up some of the confusion about the Commission, which has been criticised in the past for being ineffective and powerless to prosecute offenders. Particularly relevant at this time, with recent (and not so recent) press revelations about Australian intelligence services selectively gathering, and also holding back, information under political pressures, on the grounds of maintaining diplomatic relations. Diplomatic relations seem to still be supervening human rights issues, despite the lessons of history.
15Mb. 64kbps mono 16mins 18seconds.

Popout

Original audio source

Caracas on the Line - Fred Fuentes; Chavez on the FARC, hostage release, and PSUV elections

6.3 Mb. 64kbps mono 13mins 41 secs.

Fred Fuentes, latest report from Caracas. Fred gives us the insider's view of the most recent Chavez call on the Colombian FARC guerrillas to consider putting the armed struggle aside and release their hostages unconditionally (he made a similar statement in January that went unnoticed). This has been exploited by the opposition within Venezuela as a sign of a 'weakening' of Chavez' authority, but the recent PSUV (Venezuelan Socialist Party) preselection results bode well for the developing grass roots foundational support for Chavez in the upcoming November elections.

Popout

Original audio source

Chavez wrongfoots Washington - Lisa MacDonald

Lisa MacDonald from Green Left Weekly talks about Chavez recent address to the Colombian FARC guerillas to release their remaining hostages and to think about setting aside the armed struggle. The FARC did try this in the 1980s, but resumed their armed struggle when Death Squads and Paramilitaries selectively assassinated or kidnapped the key figures in their movement. Nevertheless, Washington, which has been accusing the Venezuelan government of supporting the FARC, during the recent hostage release negotiations, is suddenly at a loss for words.

4.9Mb 64kbps mono 10mins. 38secs.

Popout

Original audio source

Australians to go to El Salvador - Linda Seaborn, and the Australian Delegations

Linda Seaborn of the Tasmanian Committee in Support of the FMLN (El Salvador's main opposition party) talks about why a delegation of Australians should go to El Salvador as observers, before and during next year's elections. The current government has a long record of turning a blind eye to, if not actively promoting, human rights violations, and this year the political opposition is particularly targeted. Already the ARENA government of El Salvador has been challenged for its corrupt political practices in previous elections, and is demonstrating a distinct reluctance to subject itself to scrutiny for the coming elections, discouraging international observers. But some Australians are determined to see honesty and fair practice prevail.

10.5Mb. 128kbps mono 11mins 34 seconds

Popout

Original audio source

Venezuelan Brigade is back! - Coral Winter reports

Coral Winter is back after coordinating the distinctive presence of the Australian 'Mayday' brigade to Venezuela, that included appropriately, a large contingent of Australian Unionists. The Howard government's ambassador had the Australian embassy in Venezuela closed down when a Washington inspired coup against President Hugo Chavez failed, but hopefully that will change, if Australian Green Senator Bob Brown (with the Australian 'brigadistas'), returns after his own visit, with the news that President Hugo Chavez is not a 'dictator', but a popularly elected leader who increases his electoral popularity regularly with each electoral contest.

8.4Mb 64kbps mono 18mins 19secs

Popout

Original audio source

Timor Leste - Darwin - Environmental impact of Timorese Oil - Rob Wesley-Smith

Rob Wesley Smith, experienced campaigner for East Timor independence since 1974, points out the flawed motivation of the Northern Territory government, and the perverse logic of the Australian government, to encourage the development of a refinery in Darwin, to exploit the gas and oil reserves of the Timor Gap. Apart from the absurd reasoning processes ( - Timor Leste needs employment, therefore biofuel agriculture is good, but a gas refining plant should come to Australia to create jobs here, but Timorese can come as guest workers ... ) - the environmental issues and the impact on Darwin and the lifestyle of the people of Darwin and the local ambience is virtually ignored. Collective glaucoma, anyone?

7.4Mb. 64Kbps mono 16 minutes

Popout

Original audio source

Sydney Free the Cuban Five demonstration

Made with Slideshow Embed Tool

Over 30 people joined this international action to free the Cuban Five in response to the June 4 court ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in the US. (See:article here )

Photos:Alex Bainbridge
See also: freethefive.org

Read More...

Collapse...

Timor Leste - Jim Dunn reports on his recent visit

Jim Dunn has just returned from a five week visit to Timor Leste where he has had conversations with the President Jose Ramos Horta and other top political leaders. He had time to observe the situation in the streets of Dili, the halls of Parliament, the countryside and the refugee camps. Jim has some 'filthy' questions about why, Human Rights violations against the Timorese people over the last 75 years are still not recognized. Even Indonesian visitors are surprised that the Generals and Colonels who devasted Timor Leste have not been called to account. Most have actually been promoted. Is it always the role of the suffering Timorese people to be an instrument of the power games of others?

12Mb. 64kbps mono 25mins 47secs

Popout

Original audio source

Film on Timor Leste-Cuba medical cooperation program

The Doctors of Tomorrow with Tim Anderson

"A documentary on the Timor Leste-Cuba health cooperation"
See interviews with some of the 850 East Timorese students studying medicine with the Cubans, in the biggest medical college on earth. From 2010 onwards these young people will begin to take control of their country’s health system.

38 minutes
Filmed in Timor Leste and Cuba
Produced by Tim Anderson, 2008

FILM LAUNCHES IN AUSTRALIA:
Sydney: Thursday 12 June 2008, 3pm (to 5pm)
NSW Parliament, Macquarie St, Sydney
Hosted by: John Kaye, MLC (Greens)

Wollongong: Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm
Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Wollongong
Hosted by Tim Anderson & Friends of Green Left Weekly

For Melbourne launch details ph: 0407 023 672

Latin Radical - the New York Times 'fluffed it" -- Lisa McDonald

Lisa McDonald from the Venezuela Solidarity network has some rather acerbic comments on a New York Times article, following an effort by the Chavez government to clean up the Venezuelan Intelligence apparatus ... the NYT would do well to delve a little bit deeper into the history of US/Venezuelan "Intelligence" efforts.

3.71MB. 64Kbps, mono 8:06 minutes

Popout

Original audio source

Shine on for Fred Hallows

Frederick Cossom (Fred) Hollows, AC (April 9, 1929–February 10, 1993) was an ophthalmologist who became known for his work in restoring eyesight for countless thousands of people in Australia and many other countries. It has been estimated that more than one million people in the world can see today because of initiatives instigated by Hollows, the most notable example being The Fred Hollows Foundation.

El Salvador - who watches the 'watchers'? Lara Pullin on electoral shenanigans

Lara Pullin with the latest update on the situation in El Salvador where the governing ARENA coalition has scrapped the agreements on electoral reform with the Organisation of American States. With even the most conservative polls giving the FMLN opposition party a commanding 20 point lead, the right wing ARENA party is resorting to increasingly desperate tactics in a bid to steal next year's elections - even threatening to expel independent observers who will be arriving there to observe the elections, including a number of Australians.

6.3 Mb 128kbps mono 6:52minutes

Popout

Original audio source

Caracas on the Line - Fred Fuentes on rumbles in the Party

Fred Fuentes in Caracas reports on important struggles being played out within Venezuela's governing PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela). While President Chavez' power base is with the grass roots organisations, some of the entrenched bureaucrats and more conservative politicians are fighting off challenges from delegates representing these grass roots organisations, tooth and nail. PSUV is currently going through a kind of 'pre-selection' process, and the more conservative elements are using all kinds of dirty tricks to hang on to their influence within the party.

19.3Mb 128kbps mono 21:08 minutes

Popout

Original audio source

Land Rights Challenge - Jose Texeira on Timor Leste political situation

Jose Texeira, a Fretilin Parliamentarian and the party's media spokesman was in Australia this week and granted 2NimFM an interview where he clarifies some of the issues at stake in the weakening of the AMP governing coalition. One of the older parties, the ASDT, and several smaller parties, are concerned at the lack of transparency of at least one of the appointed AMP Ministers with an apparently covert agreement with an Indonesian Biofuel company to turn a quarter of East Timor's arable land to sugar cane production for biofuels. It took over three months to force the AMP government to make the details of the deal available for public discussion. Jose says that this need not necessarily lead to an early election, this will depend very much on the government's response to questioning. The ASDT has already signed an agreement to run as a coalition party with Fretilin, should elections be called.

12.5MB mono 128Kbps 13:11 minutes.

Popout

Original audio source