by Olivier Knox
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (AFP)
President Bill Clinton ignored the grim reality of his Senate impeachment trial, urging Congress and the public to focus instead on his dream of a better United States.
The embattled but popular leader used his annual televised State of the Union address late Tuesday to promote a string of policy ideas � including improving education and saving retirement benefits � that enjoy vast public support.
�America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless,� Clinton intoned early in his speech to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber where he was impeached only last month.
�My fellow Americans, this is our moment. Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century, look ahead to the next one � asking God�s blessing on our endeavors and our beloved country,� he concluded.
As lawmakers and the nation looked on, Clinton became the star witness for his defense, hoping to rally a scandal-weary US public behind his efforts to bring a quick end to his Senate impeachment trial, the second in US history.
Clinton the accused stayed home as Clinton the leader portrayed himself as undeterred from pursuing the nation�s work, while avoiding any mention of Monica Lewinsky.
And not surprisingly, he earned high marks from Democrats, while Republicans faulted the speech as, in Representative Asa Hutchinson�s words, �long on themes and short on details.�
�Ten minutes into that speech, I think nobody except the press corps was thinking about Monica Lewinsky,� Democratic Representative Barney Frank told reporters after the speech.
Clinton faces perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his efforts to hide an affair with the young former White House intern.
Clinton �absolutely� cast himself above the political fray as a leader pursuing the nations agenda despite being the first elected US president to face a Senate impeachment trial, said Frank.
The speech �shows the president, while others have been concentrating on scandal and impeachment, the president has been thinking long and hard on how to solve the problems of the American people,� said Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler.
Both Frank and Nadler sat on the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, which crafted the articles of impeachment � formal charges � the House passed last month against Clinton.
Clinton�s speech came just hours after his defense team kicked off its opening arguments, with lead lawyer Charles Ruff blasting the House�s charges as a �witches� brew.�
�Not a court anywhere, from highest to lowest, would hesitate if they were confronted with an indictment written like these articles, to throw it out,� Charles Ruff said in opening arguments.
�William Jefferson Clinton is not guilty of the charges that have been preferred against him. ... He must not be removed from office,� the wheelchair-bound lawyer intoned in the ornate Senate chamber.
Ruff�s case, which challenged the three-day presentation made by 13 House appointed Republican prosecutors last week, has �made it easier for us to have witnesses,� said Republican Bob Barr, one of the trial �managers.�
Barr said he watched Clinton�s �lengthy laundry list� on television, but shunned the actual event because he �thought it was awkward� given the circumstances.
Events have overshadowed Clinton�s speech before: In 1995, the Republicans had just seized control of Congress, in 1997 it coincided with the sensational O.J. Simpson verdict and last year the story of his Monica Lewinsky affair had just broken.
But while the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to oust Clinton is considered unlikely to materialize, the president could still be sharply politically weakened.
There was a hint of possible trouble to come in the chamber late Tuesday, as applause � which almost ritually interrupts US presidents making the speech � split along party lines.
After standing and applauding politely when Clinton entered the chamber, Republicans largely abstained from joining in subsequent ovations which Democrats led after many of his proposals.
Democrats, meanwhile, showed their enthusiasm early, giving First Lady Hillary Clinton a rousing welcome just before her husband arrived, prompting them to cheer wildly.
by Henry Meyer
LONDON, Jan 19 (AFP)
Supporters of Augusto Pinochet Tuesday began an orchestrated counter-offensive against charges that his rule was built on massive human rights abuse as hearings on a Spanish extradition request entered a second day.
Thousands of pamphlets attempting to justify Pinochet�s 17-year dictatorship, produced by ex-premier Margaret Thatcher�s publicity adviser, were distributed by the 83-year-old�s conservative admirers in Britain.
The campaign by �Chilean Supporters Abroad� came as the House of Lords for the second day heard arguments against the ex-dictator�s claim of immunity from extradition on charges of crimes against humanity.
It also coincided with a reinvigorated public relations offensive by Pinochet�s Chilean supporters.
The Chilean Supporters Abroad pamphlet claimed Pinochet was the victim of �a politically inspired kidnap�.
Up to 25,000 copies will be sent out in Britain, the United States, Chile and Spain, targeting government and judicial officials.
At a press conference, Thatcher�s ex-adviser Robin Harris said Pinochet was �the closest thing Britain has to a political prisoner.�
The pamphlet praised Pinochet for overthrowing the socialist government of Salvador Allende, restoring stability and championing free market economics.
It admitted some �abuses� in the early years of Pinochet�s 1973-1990 regime but denied any personal involvment.
Most of the 3,000 deaths and disappearances occurred during the civil war between Pinochet and Allende, whom the pamphlet called a �cynical Marxist� who had his opponents �intimidated, beaten up and shot� and eventually committed suicide using a gun given him by Cuban Fidel Castro.
Thatcher, who has publicly lobbied for Pinochet�s release since his arrest on the extradition warrant on October 16, has given the campaign her blessing.
Two hundred and fifty pro-Pinochet Chileans who held a noisy protest outside the House of Lords on Monday attended its launch at a London hotel.
A number of prominent supporters received loud applause, including Thatcher�s ex-cabinet minister Norman Lamont who told the gathering Pinochet was in �excellent spirits, as you would expect of the good and brave and honourable soldier that he is.�
Organisers denied reports of employing a rent-a-crowd of protesters on 15 dollars per day, although they admitted some demonstrators� expenses were paid by wealthier supporters.
Meanwhile in the House of Lords, lawyers for Madrid continued to press the case for throwing out Pinochet�s claim of immunity as a former head of state.
British state prosecution lawyer Alun Jones argued some alleged crimes dated from before the 1973 coup � and so would not be covered by state immunity � but in any case his rule was so brutal that immunity was inferior to duties under international human rights laws.
�No matter who you are, you have individual responsibility in cases of crimes like genocide, torture and hostage-taking,� he said.
�A line has to be drawn between actions which are the functions of a head of state, and those which are not.�
Charges filed by Madrid, whose extradition request came from an inquiry into deaths of Spaniards in South America, allege systematic torture, including sodomy, cannibalism, electrocution and rape using dogs.
by Jim Mannion
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (AFP)
The Pentagon announced plans Wednesday to step up development of a national missile defense system because of a growing threat that rogue nations will soon be able to strike the United States with long-range missiles.
US Defense Secretary William Cohen said Washington would decide in June of next year whether to deploy a system to protect all 50 US states against a limited ballistic missile strike by 2005.
�We are affirming that there is a threat � the threat is growing � and that we expect it will soon pose a danger not only to our troops overseas, but also to Americans here at home,� Cohen said.
The administration plans to increase funding for national missile defense by 6.6 billion dollars, raising the total over six years to 10.5 billion dollars in the defense budget it is presenting next month, he said.
For the first time the budget will include funds for deployment of the system, he said at a press conference.
Deployment of such a system is banned under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, but Cohen said Washington would seek amendments to the treaty with Moscow.
The United States did not intend to develop a system that could defend against a massive ballistic missile attack by Russia, he said, only against a limited attack by a rogue nation or an accidental launch.
Cohen said it was in the US interest to maintain the ABM treaty, but he left open the possibility that Washington could back out altogether.
�We have amended the treaty before, and we see no reason why it cannot be amended again,� he said. �The ABM Treaty also provides, of course, for right of withdrawal with six months notice if a party concludes that it�s in its supreme national interest.�
Cohen�s presentation amounted to an admission not only that the ballistic missile threat is more imminent than previously supposed but also that the Pentagon is behind schedule on devising a defensive system to counter that threat.
Lieutenant General Lester Lyles, director of the Pentagon�s ballistic missile defense program, said that despite the greater urgency the target date for deploying a nationwide system was being moved back two years to 2005 to avoid a �rush to failure.�
The Clinton administration had promised to develop a national missile defense system that could be deployed by 2003 if the threat warranted it.
Cohen, citing North Korea�s launch of a three-stage Taepo-don missile in August, said the threat criterion for deploying a national missile defense �will soon be met and technological readiness will be the primary remaining criterion.�
The administration had relied previously upon a 1996 US intelligence estimate that no country other than the declared nuclear powers would develop a ballistic missile capable of hitting the continental United States before 2010.
The Pentagon said it also plans to fully fund development of a sea-based theater missile defense system called Navy Theater Wide to compete with a problem-plagued land based anti-missile system called Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).
The THAAD system is further advanced in the development process, but it has failed in five attempts to intercept a target missile.
Late next year, the two systems will be compared to decide which one should be made the lead system for deployment in 20007.
by Sergio Berrocal
BRASILIA, Jan 19
(AFP)
Brazil�s Senate approved a bill Tuesday to raise taxes on financial transactions, a key element of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso�s austerity plan, as the country�s currency slipped once again.
The bill, approved by a vote of 64 to 12 on its second reading, extends for three years a tax first introduced in 1997 and originally designed to last one year. It will now go to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The vote was a sign of support for an austerity plan imposed by Cardoso, who let Brazil�s currency float against the US dollar last week.
The bill hikes the financial transaction tax to 0.38 percent from 0.20 percent for the first 12 months. After that the tax will settle at 0.30 percent.
The government hopes to garner an extra 10 million dollars in revenue in the first year of the increase.
Brazilian lawmakers still have to approve portions of Cardoso�s austerity package that would cut 23 billion dollars from the budget in exchange for a 41.5 billion dollar package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Social Security Minister Waldeck Ornellas and others were engaged in intense lobbying in the lower house Tuesday in support of the measures.
In Sao Paulo, share closed higher after the Senate approval. The Bovespa index gained 267 points, or 3.75 percent, to 7,380 points.
The real slipped to 1.6 to the dollar from 1.55 in the morning, after losing some 31 percent over the past week.
Earlier Cardoso sought to reassure Brazilians, saying most people would not be affected by the financial crisis.
�It will not directly impact in any way the pocket of the Brazilian people,� Cardoso said in his weekly radio address. �Whoever works, and whoever doesn�t need to travel or buy imported cars � the immense majority � will not suffer because of the dollar�s increase.�
Mauricio Costin, director of the powerful Sao Paulo Federation of Industries, said the lower real was good for Brazil. But he added: �Without lower interest rates, the situation will remain very difficult.�
On Monday the Central Bank widened the interest rate band to 25-41 percent from 29-36 percent, shifting its focus from defending the real to preventing a return to the runaway inflation that plagued the South American nation before the Real Plan was implemented in 1994.
One market analyst said the rate hike could have multiple effects: put a brake on the real�s devaluation, control inflation and pressure Congress to pass Cardoso�s austerity package.
�A sudden increase in interest rates was not what the market expected, and this will pressure Congress to move quickly,� he said.
Lloyd�s Bank analyst Reinaldo le Grazie said the move also would allow the government to lower rates once capital began to flow back into the country.
Cardoso acknowledged the economy remained fragile. �We are facing difficult times,� he said.
The president said his government would make sure people did not take advantage of the situation to raise the prices of Brazilian-made products.
�Brazil will once again be able to increase employment and I will be able to fulfill my promises to the country,� he insisted, referring to his election pledges to end hunger and develop education and public health.
The latest crisis was sparked when the governor of one of Brazil�s richest states, Minas Gerais, declared a 90-day moratorium on his state�s 15.4 billion dollar debt, including debt owed to the central government.
In Washington, Brazilian Finance Minister Pedro Malan said Brazil would meet the IMF�s economic targets and would speed up privatizations, especially in electricity and water, despite the devaluations.
Investors remained cautiously upbeat, some predicting the new Central Bank policies would make Brazilian exports more attractive.
�We are talking about an equation without precedents,� Costin said.
�But for now, we can say this policy will boost agricultural exports, where Brazil is already very competitive, which will help the balance of trade,� he said.