M r* Frances Sehoen-i.’ewapaper Boon
U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
t u g e r .e , Crugoa W74U3
NOTICE
Rejecting international pleas for clemency, the
South African government Tuesday hanged three
members of the African National Congress who
were charged w ith attacking police stations in
1981.
Tax relief
needs debate
Infant mortality
reflects cuts
Moses Malone
good investment
Page 4
Below
Page 12
PORTLAND OBSERVER
USPS M9 WUVXS5 S r •<* Publnbing Co.
tin
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war against Nicaragua
Reagan esca
The Reagan administration height
ened its war against Nicaragua Tues
day. closing Nicaragua's six ccnsu-
lates in this country and expelling 21
consular officials.
The closures were announced as
retaliation against the Nicaraguan
government's expulsion o f three
U .S. diplomats, but the U .S. State
Department added that the consul
ates in New Y o rk, San Francisco,
M iam i, New Orleans. Houston and
Los Angeles were also used for " in
telligence operations."
The Nicaraguan government de
ported three U .S. diplomats, charg
ing them with subversive activities.
One diplomat was accused o f plot
ting to kill the Nicaraguan Foreign
Minister. In a news conference
M onday, officials detailed charges
against the U .S. diplomats display
ing espionage materials including
two books for translating coded
-- - ♦
M ore Oregon mothers are receiv
ing inadequate prenatal care due to
budget cutbacks, and while the
number of low birth weight babies
has increased moderately, a predict
ed increase in infant mortality has
yet to occur, according to Nancy
C lark, chief research analyst with
the Oregon Health Division.
W hile other areas o f the country
hard hit by the recession have ex
perienced increased infant mortality
rates, Oregon's rate has declined
steadily since 194), according to
C lark, reaching a low of 10.6 in
1982.
The figure could be much higher,
however, for low income and m i
nority women likely to be affected
by reduction in access to prenatal
JUNIOR PRINCESS SHANNON THILL
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
House restores ESAA
Reagan's 1981 budget pul educa
tion funds into a bloc grant, elim i
nating the special programs. Along
with the elimination o f the special
programs, there was a reduction of
funds.
The new legislation, passed 299-
120 by the House, restores ESA A as
an
independent
program
with
funding at $ I (M) million.
Ernst Hortzog, Assistant Superin
tendent o f the Portland Public
Schools, said when ESA A was elim
inated the Portland School District
continued the programs under the
label of the Integration Services
Program. The reduction o f funds
necessitated reducing the program
to serve the high schools and seven
middle schools. Programs at ele
mentary schools were eliminated.
The program involves parent in
volvement, student involvement and
academic assistance for transfer stu
dents and other students in schools
that receive students for drsegrega
tion purposes
radio messages that they said had
been given to a Nicaraguan woman
acting as a double agent
The United States has exerted
political and economic pressure on
the Nicaraguan government since its
overthrow of the U.S.-supported
dictator Anastosio Somoza four
years ago. The Reagan adm inistra
tion has admitted that it is arming,
training and financially supporting
an invasion o f Nicaragua by sup
porters of the former dictator and
mercenaries.
The House Foreign A ffairs Com
mittee voted Tuesday to end
funding of the covert war against
Nicaragua It rejected (20-14) a
compromise submitted to it by the
House Intelligence Committee The
compromise reflected an effort by
both parties to avoid responsibility
for future developments in Central
America and a bipartisan effort that
followed Reagan’s hard-line speech
ol A pril 27th.
The compromise would have
ended covert aid sometime before
September 30th and would have ear
marked $80 million for covert aid to
neighboring nations to block cross-
border shipments of arms to guerrillas
in El Salvador and Guatemala II
would mean the Democrats could
not be blamed if Central American
people select lelt governments and
the Republicans could not be
blamed for further U.S. military
action in Central America The
committee voted to give the $80
million
openly
to
"friendly
nations" to help them stop arms
shipments.
During the debate, which marked
an end to bipartisanship on the
issue. Republicans charged the
Democrats with aiding the Kremlin,
selling out the U.S. and helping the
spread of communism Democrats
charged the Republicans with sup
porting an illegal, inellectisc and
counterproductive policy
The committee rejected an effort
to bring the measure in line with the
legislations approved by the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence.
On May 6th, the Senate Intelligence
Committee voted to allow C IA
covert activities in Nicaragua until
September 30th. The president
would have to submit a new plan lor
covert action in the next fiscal year
and the committee would have to
approve.
W hile the war against Nicaiagua
continues on the diplomatic and
military fronts, Reagan's special
envoy will proceed with his planned
visit to Nicaragua I ndav to explore
the possibilities for a negotiated set
tlement
to
Cential
America's
problems.
Infant mortality rate reflects budget cuts
by Robert Lothian
Congressman I es AuCoin (D -
Oregon) announced the House has
passed legislaiion that will restore
the Emergency School Assistance
Act (E S A A ) to public school sys
tems involved in desegregation.
Volume XIII, Number 34
June 8. 1983
25C Per Copy
care, according to Clark She was
not able to furnish statistics for
these subgroups, however.
Clark said it may take years for
the effects of cutbacks to show up in
infant mortality statistics, and she
wouldn't be surprised at an increase
•n the future. Even a levelling o ff in
the rate o f decline would be cause
for concern — "sim ply failure to
show improvement may show a
problem ," she said
Prenatal care is the second most
important indicator o f a healthy
birth next to socioeconomic status,
according to C lark. There is a "sta
tistically significant" relationship
between lack o f prenatal care and
increased risk o f infant mortality
and morbidity (low birth weight,
premature births, etc.), she said.
Statistics compiled by Clark at the
Center for Health Statistics of the
Oregon Health Division show a neo
natal mortality rate o f 37.2 per
thousand live births for mothers and
babies who received no prenatal
care, while for those who received
adequate care the rate dropped
dramatically to four per thousand
A baby born to a mother receiv
ing adequate prenatal care was nine
times less likely to die soon after
birth than one whose mother re
ceived no care, and almost three
times less likely to have a low birth
weight (see box).
According to an October, 1982
report by the Center for Health Sta
tistics, high rates o f unemployment
and decreased fam ily incomes, lack
of insurance, cuts in federal, stale
and county health programs, and re
strictions on eligibility for Adult
and Family Services contributed to
"a recent increase in the proportion
of women who do not receive ade
quate prenatal care." 1 his bud news
came at the end of a period o f stead
ily increased prenatal care through
the '70s, says the report.
According to the report, 0 6 A of
Oregon mothers received no pre
natal care in 1980, but rival figure
jumped to I ’ o in 1982. f urther
more, says the report, " in the 18
month period after 198(1 the total
percent of mothers with inadequate
care increased by one-sixth (com
pared to 1980), to a total o f 7.04» ol
all births," amounting to 2 ,8(H) ( )re-
gon infants in 1982. O f those 400
had no prenatal care. "T h e d iffe r
ence between the 1980 and the 1982
figures are statistically significant,"
[Please turn to page J column I )
Community leaders support MHRC budget
Representatives of several organi
zations called for reinstatement of
the Metropolitan Human Relations
Commission budget, programs and
staff which have been severely cut
by the City Council, at a press
conference M onday.
Fred M ilto n , chairman o f the
Citizens Committee for M H R C
Restoration, said M H R C has been
"effectively gutted" at a time when
the federal government is reneging
on its responsibility and locallv
there is an increase in racist
activity Destroying the only agency
designated to work for civil and
human rights is "destructive to the
liveability o f the C ity and its
citizens.".
Peter
Friedman,
executive
director of the National Council ol
Christians and Jews said that to cut
the professional staff of M H R C by
40 per cent to make it more effective
"does not make a lot ol sense." He
said the stall of M H R C is essential
to investigate and present the tacts
so those organizations working in
the human rights field can act on
lad s and not on emotion.
Freddye Pcitet, president of the
Urban Teague o f Portland, said,
" W e arc lighting a lot of the battles
we fought in the '60s; the adminis
tration is trying to turn back the
clock and the City is doing the same
th in g ." The decision to cut M H R C
was not based on logic, she said
Hank t url, speaking for the Gray
Panthers, said older people need a
decent world to live in and that they
cannot fight back and take care o f
themselves.
Father
Robert
Roullaird,
Ministries, said the human rights
effort comes from
a Biblical
tradition: God specifically aided the
poor, the widowed, the persecuted
and the disabled; He came to
proclaim liberty. The M H R ( is a
citizens committee, he explained,
with fifteen volunteer commission
ers representing a broad spectrum of
the population. They need an
integrated, professional staff
When
governments
seek
to
decentralize, it is the power of the
poor and the oppressed they always
decentralize, not the power of the
rich and the influential
Additional speakers were Marian
Scott, N A A C P ; Reverend John
Garlington,
Albina
Ministerial
Alliance; Bob Nelson, Northeast
Coalition ol Neighborhoods, Bob
Shimbukura,
Japanese
American
Citizens League.
M ilton asked the public to send
letters or call the M ayor and
Commissioners
to
request
lull
program,
budget
and
staff
restoration. If one of the three City
Commissioners who voted to cut
M H R C 's budget — M ayor Ivancie,
Mildred
Schwab
or
Margaret
Strachan—does not ask lor recon
sideration the committee will, as cit
izens, request that the item be
placed on the formal City Council
agenda prior to July 1st.
The committee can be reached at
284 1816
Health, emotional problems product of war
Grassroots News, N . H'. — Dr.
Rafael Barrera, a Salvadoran physi
cian, visited Oregon last week to
discuss the medical consequences of
the war and distributed a book, " E l
Salvador: War and H ealth." Through
an interpreter D r. Barrera talked
about the health situation in El
Salvador, which is aggravated by
the civil war. "T raditio n ally, the
prolile of health in El Salvador has
included the infectious diseases as
the primary cause o f death. The
high level ol contamination in the
water supply, along with an inade
quate sewage system, has created
ideal conditions for parasites. And
this situation causes us to occupy
the highest infant mortality rate in
I atin Am erica.”
According to
“ War and H e a lth ," the main cause
ol sickness and death among chil
dren ' is malnutrition. The main
cause is the low protein calories in
gested It aftects not only children •
but adults o f the working class. Due
to their income it is impossible to
buy food o f the quality and quantity
they need for their daily intake re
quirements." Dr. Barrera says,
" T h e rural areas have been totally
unprovided for in terms o f health
care. And the peasants have never
had the opportunity for medical
visits.”
El Salvador is a country with a
chronically
deteriorating
health
system that is trying to survive in a
war situation. “ The war situation
has deepened the health problems.
Another new pathology has appeared.
Il is homicide, which currently oc
cupies the highest place in causes of
death."
In " W a r and H e alth " it states
that the Salvadoran
Army
is
implementing the advice o f its so-
called "Am erican advisors" with
the scorched earth policy. This strat
egy creates an empty zone around
the guerrillas and it calls for (he eli
mination of all human, plant and
animal life. It also implies an in
crease in the number o f refugees and
orphans.
“ There is a constant stress which
creates mental disorders observed
by Dr. Franz Fanon in "The
Wretched o f the E a rth ." The prob
lem has had the most impact on the
children, because they have been
witness to the tortures and murders
o f their parents. We observe in the
children behavioral disorders of d if
ferent types. In the adult population
we find different states of paranoia,
a product o f the psychological re
pression — because they have been
witnesses to the most incredible
mass m urders." At the present mo
ment the cordoning o ff o f residen
tial zones, systematic searches and
kidnappings followed by immediate
or eventual murder, are common
events.
"T h e origin o f the violence is
found in the economic situation of
the country where two percent of
the population owns sixty percent of
the land. This carries with it the
problem of the majority of the peo
ple who do not have a base in which
to feed themselves. This minority, in
order to maintain its privileges, has
had to maintain an army (hat will
faithfully guard their interests. The
violence directed by this m inority,
has been intensified by the help
provided by the United States," D r.
Barrera states
The underlying theory used by the
United States for supporting this
minority is to snuff out the comm u
nist presence in Central America.
However, Dr Barrera doesn't see it
that way. " W e are clear the only in
tervention that exists is the interven
tion o f the government of the
United States. The causes of the
conflict are intrinsically structural
and social, an attempt not to let
change take place through the
democratic electoral process. In the
last years the people have elected
leaders
that
the
military
has
rejected. In many cases the popular
vote was not respected. The military
party was imposed on the people
through fra u d .”
W hat
does
the
grassroots
population of El Salvador want?
" A more just society. Equal, and
where everyone has the rights to
health care, eduication and where
the peasants have land and places to
work. W e want a place where popu
lar democracy and elementary rights
are respected."
Is there a correlation between the
[Please turn Io page 4 column 6)
OR RAFAEL BARRERA