MonitoRadio Daily Program; [1989-11-10]

Don't forget to subscribe too. From Boston, this is Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Marty Haas, coming up with this Friday, November 10th. The Berlin Wall continues to crumble. We'll have a report from Germany and reaction from Moscow and Washington. Peruvians prepare to vote in nationwide municipal elections this Sunday amidst fears of violence from the terrorist -shining path. And in Denver, Sue Teatro mixes theater and politics, Chicano style. Those stories just ahead on Monitor Radio, right after a summary of the day's news with Lisa Watts.

More holes in the Berlin Wall. Today, East German officials opened more passages into West Berlin, just hours after they made yesterday's open border policy permanent. Officials in West Germany have been informed by the East that 18 new border crossings will be opened in the wall dividing Berlin. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of East Germans streamed into the West today in the wake of the announcements, and the changes are still coming. East German leader Egon Crenz fired four more members of the Jess Forum Polar Bureau and started an investigation of leaders under his predecessor, Eric Haniger. Britain, France, and the United States are offering help in dealing with the huge influx of refugees from East Germany. And British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher credits Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev for giving change initial momentum. None of this would have happened without the vision and the courage of Mr. Gorbachev. We started to enlarge liberty in the Soviet Union. The sword was happening in Poland, and then said, look, so long as you stay in the Warsaw Pact group of countries, yes, rebuild your

own democracy. But changes in happening is fast in the Soviet Union. Today, the Kremlin ordered four Soviet republics to drop a series of controversial new laws that the Kremlin said strengthen their economic and political independence. The winds have changed sweeping Eastern Europe blew through Bulgaria today. The longest reigning Eastern European leader is the latest casualty of the reform movement. Bulgaria's Todor Giefkopf has resigned after 35 years in power. A government source says that his replacement, Foreign Minister Peter Mladenov, represents a new generation of communists and is considered more liberal than Giefkopf. Solidarity leader Lekwo Wenzah left Warsaw on a 10 -day visit to Canada and the United States today, saying he hopes to drum up economic support for Poland's new government. Senior Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping spent his first day in official retirement at a meeting with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Jim Tyson reports from Beijing. Less than 24 hours after announcing his retirement, China's senior leader Deng Xiaoping admitted that his political power will remain

great. Mr. Deng stepped aside as chairman of the party's military commission on Thursday so that his heir apparent party general Secretary Zhang Zemin could fill the post. Mr. Deng's retirement is an effort to end the tradition of lifetime tenure among China's leadership. Yet diplomats say Mr. Deng retired primarily to burnish the image of Mr. Zhang, who has little experience in national politics and yet holds the party's most powerful office. For monitor radio, this is Jim Tyson in Beijing. In other news, the Chief Peace Negotiator for the Nicaraguan Contras says he's not going to accept the government's proposal of peace by giving up. And the UK Bermuda's was responding to a Sandinista plan that links contra demobilization to the government's acceptance of contra demands for a truce. Instead, he's vowing to put an end to Daniel Ortega's government. The Contras and Sandinistas are meeting at the United Nations for a second day of peace talks. The Lebanese magazine that broke the Iran Contra story hints that Algeria may be prepared to play a mediating role to secure the release of western hostages held in Lebanon. The

report linked a recent visit to Algeria by the Iranian Foreign Minister to the hostage issue. In Dallas today, President Bush announced a package that would help the poor by houses and the homeless receive shelter. Speaking to the national board of realtors, Bush said the package would include just over $2 billion in grants to help residents of low -income housing buy their units. However, Bush did not suggest ways to pay the federal share of the three -year program, which would begin in the fiscal year starting next October. The abortion rights issue takes center stage in Washington, D .C. and across the country this weekend. Thousands of demonstrators are expected on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in support of a woman's right to choose abortion. Aaron Corn reports from the Capitol. The march to mobilize for women's lives kicks off at daybreak Sunday, with a so -called thousand points of light rally outside the Bush family compound in Kenny Bunkport, Maine, and culminating with a similar event in San Francisco. The main event, however, will be

here. Fay Wattleton of Planned Parenthood. November 12 will be remembered in the history of this country as the day that the entire country mobilized for women's lives. Simultaneous rallies will take place in hundreds of cities. Abortion rights activists expect thousands of demonstrators across the country. For monitor radio, I'm Aaron Cohen in Washington. The business day began an hour late for the New York and American stock exchanges because of a fire. An MX spokeswoman says the fire under the building that houses a key computer system made it impossible to process data. And finally, on Wall Street, the Dow Rose nearly 22 points, closing at 2625 .61, big board volume 222 million shares. And that's a look at the top stories. For monitor radio, I'm Lisa Watts. The dizzying pace

of developments in East Germany and the dramatic scenes beamed around the world from Berlin today have marked a new era in history. Within hours after East Germany opened its checkpoints at the Berlin Wall and all along its border with West Germany, thousands of East Germans poured into West Berlin, some to stay, but many just to have a look at the other half of a city divided for the past 28 years. Champagne and tears flowed freely, while East and West Germans climbed to top the Berlin Wall and danced for joy. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who interrupted his visit to Poland to hold a special cabinet meeting, said that Germans are one nation with a common future. From Bonne, Alexa DeVorsen has more. The events of the past 24 hours have astonished everyone here beyond their wildest expectations. November 10th, 1989 will be remembered as the day the wall began to crumble. Former Chancellor Willie Bryant, who is mayor of Berlin when the wall was history built beginning the night

of August 12th, 1961, was flanked by Chancellor Kohl and West Berlin mayor Walter Moppers, as thousands gathered outside West Berlin's town hall this evening. At the same place where John F. Kennedy gave his freedom speech 27 years ago and declared Ischbina in Berliner, Willie Bryant addressed an ecstatic throng with calls for unity. Ischbina is in Strasbourg. Ischbina is in Strasbourg. Ischbina is in Strasbourg. Ischbina is in Strasbourg. Ischbina is in Strasbourg. We've come a long way to reach this fine day, he said, but we still have a long way to go. But no sooner had Willie Bryant called for the wall to be torn down, then eyewitnesses reported border guards starting to dismantle parts of the wall to create more passages to the West. As crowds cheered them on, the East German Communist Party announced the package of reforms, including free elections, parliamentary control of the state security police, and changes to the country's economy. Four leading hardline polypial members were also removed from office. These moves

are seen as a new tactic by East German leader Egon Krenz to stem the flow of East Germans to the West. Many of the latest arrivals speak of the country on the verge of collapse, with security police attempting to fill the many positions left open by those who have fled. Chancellor Kohl is anxiously speaking a meeting with Mr. Krenz to pledge financial support to help rebuild the country if the East German government is willing to support free and fair elections. But for all the staggering implications of the United Europe of the future and the redrawing of this continent's ideological map, the scene of the Berlin Wall made pinning with is the image that marks today's celebration of a new chapter in German history. For monitor radio, this is Alexa Devorson in Bond. East German ambassador to the United States, Gerhard Herder spoke today to reporters in Washington. Ambassador Herder responded to skepticism about the permanence of this week's dramatic changes in his country. If there are still people alleging that all these changes

are simply cosmetic to grant the survival of the party, then let me say that they are wrong. East Germany is faced with the politically embarrassing problem of stemming the flow of refugees to the West. Ambassador Herder believes that this can be accomplished not by rebuilding the wall, but by rebuilding East Germany. Keeping people at home is a question of the society. People should feel well at home. They should be attracted by their society. And that's why the problem is not simply opening the borders. The problem is to build an attractive socialism, a socialism that would be so attractive that no any more would like to leave it. So what's next for the Germany's? Some are hoping and many are speculating that the two nations will become one again. Ambassador Herder is not

among them. The reality is not such to permit the unification. A two -state integrated into military alliances, guaranteeing stable balance of power. So at present there are no conditions for the United Germany. Instead, Ambassador Herder looks forward to a united East Germany, united ironically by the present crisis. What strength and what courage is necessary to come out and tell publicly what that was wrong? This and that we have to correct and then to stand up and come out with a program of action oriented towards the future. And I think that's a good sign. And we will come out much stronger of this out

of this crisis than we were before. East German ambassador to the United States, Gerhard Herder. The ambassador may be making the best of a bad situation, at least from his government's perspective. But his assessment of the future of East Germany, since Seer or not, would find few detractors, either in the government chambers or on the unruly streets of East Berlin. The dramatic events in Berlin have been watched closely in Moscow. Australian broadcasting correspondent John Lombard has been keeping an eye on the official and unofficial Soviet reaction. John, how has the Soviet leadership responded to the opening of the German borders? In general, they've welcomed what's been going on. Soviet Foreign Minister Edward Chevinazzi said the changes underway, there are in the interest of local people and of the Soviet Union. However, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Gerhard Garethimov has warned that Moscow would not tolerate the elimination of the border between the two Germany's in effect in essence, he's saying

the reunification is not on their agenda. Why are they so adamant against that? Well, the Soviets have always been against the reunification. They don't see that as being in their interest. They're somewhat skeptical of a United Germany. Don't forget that the Soviet Union has suffered twice during this century from a German invasion, and in fact the Nazi forces came within 24 kilometers of the Soviet capital. So they have good reason to be wary. I'm not suggesting that there is the same fear of the Germans today, but nevertheless a United Germany does pose some problems in the Soviet scheme of things, particularly if the unification was to come back with the GDR, with the EU Germany being absorbed into West Germany rather than the other way around. I imagine too that they would be opposed to having East Germany remove itself from the Warsaw Pact. Well, yes and no. The Soviet government has now introduced what has become known here as the

Sonatra doctrine, this is a phrase coined by Gerhard Garethimov, in which they allow countries to go their own way. So to that extent, they are allowing Poland, East Germany, Hungary, all these countries to do their own thing. On the other hand, there are certain restrictions. They wouldn't want to see the Warsaw Pact as mental, at least not until there is some movement on the side of NATO. They are against military alliances and against military blocks, but that's a long term thing, and they don't see the NATO Warsaw Pact alliance as being dismantled in the short term. So while they remain, they would not want to see any sort of dismantling of the re -unification of Germany. John, do you think this will have any impact on the Soviet citizenry? Will they expect to have their borders open so they can go in and out freely? Well, I think it certainly will, but so far they are being kept in ignorance, there's been very little reference to this opening of the borders in the Soviet media. Today's newspapers didn't carry the story at all. The

official test news agency has just made a bleak reference to some changes in exit and entry rules for East German citizens without going into too much detail. And Moscow radio has mentioned this, but again, only in a sort of throw away line. Obviously, I know just working in my office, we're not aware until sort of mid afternoon when they were talking about someone that heard a story about these Germans being allowed to go. But the general populist is largely in ignorance of this whole thing. If they do know, and when they do know, and they probably won't take very long, it may well make them quite India. John, thanks very much for talking with us. John Lombard is a foreign correspondent based in Moscow. You're listening to Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor on American Public Radio. I'm Marty Haas. We're going to love the quality of Ford.

Whether you're going to love the quality of Ford, more or less in future years, may be affected by some changing name plates on the upper floors of the company offices. Monitor Radio's Bill Bruce has details on that story and other business news of the day. Ford Motor Corporation will soon have a new chairman of the board. The top spot will be filled by Harold Polling on March 1st, 1990. That's the date current chairman Donald Peterson will retire. Philip Benton, now president of Ford Automotive Group, will become president and chief operating officer at the nation's number two automaker. Philippine president Karazone Aquino has been visiting the United States to woo fresh capital. In Manila, the Philippine government has announced its easing foreign stock restrictions in further attempts to lure overseas capital. The first Philippine fund is a closed and single country fund set up by Aquino in New York Wednesday. Like many single country funds, it's expected to grow rapidly, basing its prospects on the growth potential in the Philippines. The economic growth potential in the Germany's also looks bright as a result of East Germany's decision to open its borders with

West Germany. The flood of disgruntled East Germans into West Germany will need everything from houses, deposits and pans. That may prove a double -edged sword if inflation takes off as a result of the increased demand. However, its likely wage demands will be held in check by the surge in the number of new workers. As for East Germany, while it may suffer initially from an exodus of skilled workers, longer -term prospects appear bright. That's because political reform in East Germany will have to be backed by market -oriented economic renewal. For monitor radio, I'm Bill Bruce in Boston. On Sunday, Peruvian voters will cast their ballots in nationwide municipal elections. It's the law in Peru, citizens must vote or pay a fine. But many

Peruvians, particularly in some Andean regions, may opt for the fine. The reason? Intimidation by the Maoist -Cendero Luminoso guerrillas. As monitor correspondent Mike Reed told Clint Jones, the guerrillas have been particularly brutal in recent weeks. They have done several things. They have been killing mayors and mayoral candidates. They have threatened others, forcing them to resign. They have staged what they have called an armed strike in Lima last Friday and have announced another one for three central departments for this weekend. With candidates being killed and sitting mayors being targets as well, what effect is that having on these upcoming elections? Are people willing to still run for office? Yes, I think in most parts of the country there still are because there haven't been many problems in a larger area of the North and South. These problems have been particularly in the central

Andes and the jungle fringes where the guerrilla presence is strong. However, even there in the main cities candidates are still standing despite the threat. How has the government responded our troops out to provide protection? That's right. The government has taken a series of measures which have included placing the armed forces in charge of public order in Lima, extending a state of emergency to four provinces immediately around the capital and in general the armed forces are providing security for the elections. That's my understanding that the guerrillas have managed to win the hearts and minds of peasants in the rural areas and they even cooperate with drug traffickers out in the Andes. What about the people in the cities? Do they support the guerrillas or are they repulsed by this sort of terrorist activity? I think there is some support particularly amongst the youth and that's mainly a consequence of the severe economic crisis that Peru has been

suffering and the consequence disillusionment with the democratic system. It's true as you mentioned that in some rural areas they have one present support but it's not by any means uniform the picture and areas where they have been rejected because of their cruelty and terrorist methods. And it's worth bearing in mind that last Friday when they had called an armed strike in Lima all of Peru's political parties from west to right turned out for peace marched in defiance of the guerrillas. And was there much public support for this peace march? Well there was about 15 to 20 ,000 people there from all the parties and while it could have been bigger I think it represented a symbolic step of great importance considering the traditional disunity between Peru's political parties. What sort of a test are these municipal elections on

Sunday for the upcoming presidential elections in April? I think the scene is a test by all five including Senator Luminoso and the armed forces obviously if the guerrillas do disrupt the elections in a significant part of the country then that is going to around fear as to how viable the presidential elections will be on the other hand if they have a wrong majority of voters are able to vote and do so then I think it will reassure people that the presidential elections can go ahead normally. Correspondent Mike Reed speaking from Lima, Peru with Clint Jones. What a year ago Chicano theater groups were as common in the

American West as mountains and streams but the past two decades have seen a decline in political activism and its corresponding artistic expression. Through it all one Colorado based theater company has been mixing Chicano politics and art in provocative ways. It's called su teatro or your theater Vince Winkle reports from su teatro's new home and old elementary school in Denver. Located in the largely Hispanic neighborhoods of East Denver su teatro is making the most of its new home and although there are still broken windows and need of repair and the plummings of it noisy more and more people are making their way to the school to see the current production seraphine about an hour before showtime in a basement dressing room. Su teatro executive director Debbie Martinez explains that their group is a lot more than a theater. A real good way to be able to mix the political movement that we were all involved with which was the Chicano political movement and bring a

cultural kind of a setting along with them. Angel Mendes Soto plays the lead role of seraphine an old man near the end of his life. The theme in seraphine has to do with his life of a Mexican in his experiences coming to the United States. All the trials and tribulations he goes through all the choices that he must make and at the same time what the play does it gives to his historical account. Also of Chicanos from the early 20s all the way down to the present and their experience here in the US from being drafted and coming back seeing the horrors of war and then seeing the horrors that exist here with signs that say no dogs and Mexicans allowed. Look at my hands. You see the cuts?

You see how flat the fingers are? And when it's cold, when it's cold the fingers have to move. Seraphine is practically a one -man show. Angel Mendes Soto roams the stage both bitter and sad. Voices from his past come in and out as he remembers growing up, his family and his mistakes. As seraphine runs into more and more problems, mostly in the form of racism, he turns to the bottle for relief. The heart and soul of the group is Anthony Garcia. He writes most of the plays including seraphine. Garcia is currently in California on a director's fellowship with Teatro Capocino. I think there's a common identity. We definitely come from a left to center viewpoint, myself in particular. But there's not an official philosophy for the Teatro in terms of that. However, we definitely believe that Chicanos

are a pressed nationality, both economically and racially and culturally and historically. And all that other good stuff in our common, you know, we're in the process of writing our own history. So the common theme is that we also created positive things for this country, that we were also participants on the same time. At the same time, we've been rewarded for our efforts, you know, with second -class citizenship. And that's a real need for our people to band together, to create things for themselves and to understand the source of their freshness and to understand that that there's action that needs to take place based on that understanding. The theater has a capacity of only 90, not much by theater standards today. But the group is pressing on executive director Debbie Martinez. What we face is a group of people that aren't usually theater goers. You know, what we have to do is we have to attract the regular theater goers, and we've shown that we can do that. Our audiences are across

section of our city. So it's not strictly Chicanos that are coming to see the show? Absolutely not. We find that it's about half and half. But then our next challenge is to increase the number of Chicanos, Mexicanos, Latinos that will come to theater because they're not used to it. Those attending Seraphine will find it entertaining, not simply a political statement. Members of the group are just as dedicated to promoting the culture, the music, and the emotion. But although the production of Seraphine, which will run through the end of this month, he's getting excellent reviews by area theater critics, Anthony Garcia is quick to point out that it's the message that keeps them all going. If we were not doing this, we would be political activists, community activists, in another area. This is our forum. We are best. You know, I will never sit on a city council seat. I will never take an elected office. You know, I don't have a lot of respect for that type of process because I don't think it's best representative. However, I don't function best as a

person who sits to do and makes a comp. I don't have to make compromises to satisfy voters or to satisfy whatever. You know, on stage, you know, I don't necessarily have to make a compromise. But the actual members are community activists who are artists. Consequently, we don't have to make the same comp, you know, the same compromises. From Auditor Radio, I'm Vince Winkel in Denver. And that's it for Auditor Radio for this Friday, November 10th. Kate Dearborn is our executive producer, producer's Vic Roberts and Ken Bader. Our engineers are Dar, Rayne Maxwell, and Eric Norris, and our studio director is Kristen Broman. We had assistants from Eric Arowell, James Bramble, and Robert Fraser. We'll talk with you again from Boston. Thanks for listening.

I'm Madi Haas, and this is the American Public Radio Network. Thank you.