Headlines Package - October 26, 2007 - Long Version

• Water Crisis in the Southeast
• Nationwide Anti-War Protests Saturday
• Tension Over South Korean Steel Plant in Orissa
• Embezzlement Charges Dropped Against Pinochet
• Local Elections in Colombia This Weekend
  

WATER CRISIS IN THE SOUTHEAST
Federal officials have been sent to the Southeastern US to meet with the governors of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida about a three-way dispute over scarce water resources. Sunyata Altenor reports from Atlanta.

A severe drought has so depleted the city of Atlanta's primary source of drinking water that Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency for half the state last weekend and asked President Bush to declare 85 Georgia counties a "major disaster" area. Alabama Governor Bob Riley has asked the White House to deny the request as it would allow Georgia to reduce the flow of water from Metro Atlanta's Lake Lanier to all points downstream - including Alabama and Florida. 39,000-acre Lake Lanier is Atlanta's main source of drinking water. The US Army Corps of Engineers built and controls the 50-year-old reservoir. Despite the lack of rain in Georgia in the past few months the Corps has continued to open the Lake Lanier dam enough to release millions of gallons of water a day to points downstream. This daily release of water has become the focus of a tri-state legal battle between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. All three governors will reportedly meet with federal officials in Washington DC on Thursday. For FSRN, I'm Sunyata Altenor in Atlanta.

NATIONWIDE ANTI-WAR PROTESTS SATURDAY
Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out tomorrow for anti-war protests in 11 cities across the country. Melinda Tuhus has the story.

Organizers hope the decentralized demonstrations will bring out more people in total than one big gathering in Washington, D.C. Nancy Lessin is co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, a member of United for Peace and Justice, the coalition organizing the rallies. Lessin says her group has grown to 3,700 military families, and some of them will be at the forefront of the marches, along with a number of veterans' groups. She adds that marches are only one form of pressure to end the war. (audio) "This is a piece of the nation rising up and saying we need this war to end. We think there are going to be people coming back in to vocally opposing the war. There was a period when people got very discouraged but we're seeing more and more wanting to step out." Protests are scheduled in Boston, NYC, Philly, Jonesboro, TN, Orlando, NOLA, Chicago, Salt Lake City, LA, San Fran and Seattle. For FSRN, I'm Melinda Tuhus reporting.

Tension Over South Korean Steel Plant in Orissa
Police in the Indian state of Orissa are preventing representatives of a foreign-owned steel company from accessing land slated for the site of a proposed $12 billion steel plant. Bismillah Geelani reports:

The police say tension in the area is too high to allow officials from Posco-India, a subsidiary of South Korea's Pohang Iron and Steel Company, into the site of the proposed plant. Over 20,000 people from more than a dozen nearby villages strongly deal signed between the state government and the world's fourth largest steel maker in June 2005. The agreement would allow the state government to forcibly evict around 4000 families from their farmland to make way for manufacturing complexes for foreign companies. Villagers opposed to the displacement briefly detained 4 company officials, including its South Korean senior general manager, earlier this month when they had gone to the area for a land survey. The protestors released them only after the district administration assured the villagers that the company officials would not enter the site again. For FSRN, this is Bismillah Geelani from New Delhi.

Embezzlement Charges Dropped Against Pinochet
Santiago's Appeals Court this morning dismissed charges of embezzlement of public funds pending against members of the Pinochet family. From Santiago, FSRN's Jorge Garreton has more.

The Court ruled that members of the Pinochet clan cannot be charged of embezzlement of public funds, because they never held a job in the public sector and that the prosecuting judge never directly questioned them. The Court also dismissed charges against several aides of the former dictator, including his financial consultant. The family and former aides were facing charges of embezzling some 27 million dollars after a 2004 US Senate investigation discovered the money in secret accounts in the Washington based Riggs Bank. Prosecuting judge Carlos Cerda has two options: either appeal the decision to the Supreme Court or re-indict the Pinochet clan and former Pinochet advisers on charges of embezzlement of public funds and illicit enrichment. For FSRN, this Jorge Garretón in Santiago.

Local Elections in Colombia This Weekend
Colombians go to the polls this Sunday to elect local mayors, governors, regional congressional representatives, town councilors and other local authorities. The national government claims that security is guaranteed for voters and candidates. But the last few weeks have seen an increase in violence, corruption and impunity. Laura Del Castillo reports.

Twenty-nine candidates have been murdered so far this election season. The government blames leftist FARC guerrillas for most of the murders, but many cases remain unsolved. Laura Bonilla is the director of the Armed Conflict Observatory research group: (audio) “The places where these candidates have been assassinated do not exactly match where the FARC has presence. So, while it’s true the FARC can assassinate a candidate just for being from a pro-Uribe party, it’s also true that these assassinations of pro-Uribe candidates are happening where the paramilitaries had control. So one could draw the conclusion that these are more internal disputes between these groups and paramilitary bosses than influence of the FARC.” Another nongovernmental observation group concluded a few days ago that around 60 percent of the country's municipalities are at risk of electoral manipulation from both from guerrillas groups and the now supposedly demobilized right-wing paramilitaries. Many observers have raised concerns about the presence of ex paramilitaries on ballots across the country, as well as candidates supported by national politicians now under investigation for links to the right wing death squads. Nearly all such candidates represent parties loyal to President Alvaro Uribe. For Free Speech Radio News, I'm Laura del Castillo in Bogota.