Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Minister of the economy in Argentina is arrested

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Thursday, April 4, 2002
Minister of the economy in Argentina is arrested

From Caller-Times wire services
   RIO DE JANEIRO, Argentina - After being hauled before a judge and questioned for more than an hour, Domingo Cavallo, Argentina's all-powerful minister of the economy in the 1990s, was arrested in Buenos Aires early Wednesday.
   Cavallo, who was credited with the country's rapid growth in the '90s and then blamed for the economy's collapse last year, was detained on suspicion of involvement in "aggravated contraband."
   The accusations stem from Cavallo's supposed role in illegal arms deals attributed to the Argentine government in the early 1990s.
   But supporters and independent political analysts were quick to argue that he was being made a scapegoat for the crisis, which forced his resignation in December and plunged Argentina into economic and political turmoil.
   FRANCE
   Catholic Church seeks end_to anti-Semitic attacks
   The Catholic Church on Wednesday urged those responsible for a wave of anti-Semitic attacks not to use France as a battleground for rising tensions in the Middle East.
   "Even if the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has taken a dramatic turn recently, it does not authorize this rise of intolerance in France," Jean-Pierre Ricard, president of the Conference of French Bishops said in a statement Wednesday. "A true social peace is at stake."
   Hours later, a bus at a Jewish school in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers was burned, along with two nearby cars, local officials said.
   Ricard's comments came after two assailants brazenly hurled gasoline bombs at the Merlan Synagogue in Marseille late Tuesday even as it was under police guard.
   ZAMBIA
   African leaders call _for cease-fire in Congo
   Regional African leaders involved in the war in Congo said Wednesday the warring parties needed to respect cease-fire agreements and implement plans to disengage and demobilize their troops.
   In a joint statement issued after a one-day summit in Lusaka, Zambia, the leaders also called for the continued withdrawal of foreign troops from the central African nation.
   The summit was called to discuss continuing problems with the peace process to end the 31/2-year war that threatens to destabilize much of central Africa.
   The leaders also discussed the work of the U.N. observer force in Congo, expressed the need for international peacekeepers, and talked about progress in talks on Congo's future being held in South Africa.
   INDIA
   Mob violence continues _in state of Gujarat
   Rampaging mobs continued the Hindu-Muslim violence that has left 815 dead in the past five weeks. The latest casualties were five members of a Muslim family in a village in the western state of Gujarat.
   On Thursday, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is expected to visit Ahmadabad, the city in Gujarat where much of the violence has occurred.
   Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party controls the state, and opposition parties assert that the bloodshed is a politically motivated attempt to unite Hindus behind the party.
   BRAZIL
   President swears in nine_new cabinet ministers
   With national elections scheduled for early October, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced a major overhaul of his cabinet, swearing in nine new ministers. Their predecessors stepped down to comply with a law requiring all candidates for elected office to leave government posts at least six months before balloting.

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND