Subscribe They range from free meals at the base cafeteria to public hairdressing
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They range from free meals at the base cafeteria to public hairdressing. One general's wife plaits the hair of Tzotzil girls in full view of the highway. Untangling the many strands of the Chiapas rebellion while the world looks on will require dexterity of another sort.. Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, who was sacked after being condemned by his own parliament as "morally unfit" to hold office, yesterday spent his first day in his new identity - as Kenya Fujimori, a fully accredited Japanese citizen. Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, who was sacked after being condemned by his own parliament as "morally unfit" to hold office, yesterday spent his first day in his new identity - as Kenya Fujimori, a fully accredited Japanese citizen. In an extraordinary development which eliminates a diplomatic embarrassment for the Japanese government, Tokyo has decreed that the former president cannot be extradited for suspected complicity in money laundering and drug trafficking allegedly perpetrated by his former intelligence chief."There is no legal problem for him to stay in Japan," the Japanese foreign minister, Yohei Kono, said yesterday. "If there is a request from the Peruvian government to hand him over, we will deal with the matter based on Japan's domestic laws." But, as Mr Kono knows very well, Japan does not surrender its own citizens for extradition.Mr Fujimori's unexpected Japanese citizenship arises from a far-sighted decision made by his emigrant parents to register him at the Japanese Embassy in Lima after his birth in 1938. Young Alberto's name was also added to the Fujimori's family register in the southern Japanese village that was the family's ancestral home.
Until 1985, children born abroad to Japanese parents were entitled to dual nationality if their births were registered. Although Peruvian law requires its presidents to have been born in Peru - which Mr Fujimori has always insisted he was - it does not have anything to say about dual nationality. Mr Fujimori never explicitly renounced his rights to Japanese citizenship.The transformation of Senor Fujimori to Fujimori-san solves a diplomatic problem for Japan, which has been troubling its authorities ever since his arrival in Japan three-and-a-half weeks ago. Allegations of human rights abuses have never troubled the Japanese government much, and in Tokyo he is regarded with pride and indulgence as one of the country's most successful exports.In 1997 he won even more admiration for his uncompromising handling of the seizure of hostages in the Japanese Embassy in Lima by Tupac Amaru, the left-wing guerrillas. Mr Fujimori's son, Hiro, lives in Tokyo as does his sister and her husband, the recently sacked ambassador, Victor Aritomi. His status in Japan was reflected in the generous development loans that the Peruvian government received annually.But if a legitimate government, like the one that has taken over in Peru, was to demand that a Peruvian Mr Fujimori be handed over then it would have been almost impossible for Tokyo to refuse. Now it has an unimpeachable excuse - that he was one of theirs all along..
Amid fierce controversy, the Florida legislature, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by about two to one, was set yesterday to take the first step towards picking its own electors to designate the state's 25 Electoral College votes. Amid fierce controversy, the Florida legislature, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by about two to one, was set yesterday to take the first step towards picking its own electors to designate the state's 25 Electoral College votes. Meeting in full session, the Florida House was expected to approve a resolution naming the electors late last night. The electors would all be Republican loyalists and would therefore be bound to name George W Bush the winner in Florida.Passage of the resolution would only become complete, however, upon approval from the Senate. The Senate, which has been more cautious, could pass it today, although much depended on the ruling from the US Supreme Court.It will be the first time in modern American history that a state legislature will havestepped into a presidential contest and essentially shortcircuited the voters by choosing its own slate of electors to represent the state."The 2000 election is spiraling out of control and we must stop it now," Representative Paula Dockery said in yesterday's debate "We have nervously watched the clock ticking away. Now it is time for us, the members of the Florida Legislature, to perform our solemn duty."Republicans continued to insist that they were acting only to ensure that Florida is represented in the Electoral College, which is meant to name the winner of the election on Monday. Only if all the legal machinations triggered by the state's close-to-call vote were resolved would the legislature change course, they said.Democrats charged, however, that the body was embarked on a purely partisan path designed to guarantee final victory for Mr Bush."I don't think most people like it when a bunch of politicians go into a room and come out with the next president," Democrat State Representative Ken Gottlieb said.The rhetoric from both sides sharpened as yesterday's House vote neared. The Republican Speaker of the House, Tom Feeney, conceded that the resolution had become a "radioactive hot potato".
Democrats, meanwhile, said the measure would create a "constitutional train wreck".Both sides recruited constitutional scholars to support their cases in hearings before yesterday's session. Bruce Ackerman, a professor at Yale Law School, testified for the Democrat side, arguing that the Florida body was setting a "devastating precedent" by circumventing the state's 6 million voters.He underscored his warning yesterday. Writing in the New York Times, he claimed to be looking forward to the next time a presidential vote is extremely close. "What is to prevent party leaders in a swing state from deciding the election once the Florida strategy has been legitimised?" he asked.As debate got under way yesterday, Philip Brutus, a Haitian-American, was preparing to highlight those among his constituents who feel their right to vote is being taken away.
Haitian-Americans who fled their homeland in search of democracy, he said, now face having their votes taken in a "legislative coup d'état".All the while, both parties were keeping more than half an eye on events in Washington. Neither side could say, however, exactly what would happen if the US Supreme Court were to rule in Mr Bush's favour. Some said that only a concession from Al Gore would lead them to shelve the resolution."If the Supreme Court came out and found the Florida Supreme Court erred and we were told Vice President Gore were going to say, 'I've capitulated,' we'd probably hold back," said Jim King, the Republican leader of the House.. Al Gore is under pressure to concede in the presidential race following the late-night ruling from the US Supreme Court. Al Gore is under pressure to concede in the presidential race following the late-night ruling from the US Supreme Court. Even senior Democrats are saying he should stand down. Ed Rendell, chairman of the Democratic National Committee said the vice-president "should act now and concede".Even as Mr Gore's legal team sift through for the final chance of legal loopholes, one of them said the ruling represented a clear defeat. Professor Laurence Tribe also said the "gracious thing" would be for Mr Gore to concede.After an excruciating daylong wait, Vice President Al Gore, his family and aides scrambled Tuesday night to sort through the U.S.