Friday, January 22. 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Section A • Page 9
Mexican faithful prepare for Pope
The Associated Press
HUEYTLALPAN, Mexico — Hundreds of Roman Catholic bishops
from throughout the Americas joined thousands of faithfuls yesterday in converging on Mexico City to welcome Pope John Paul II on his visit to this devout nation.
Among those preparing for the pilgrimage were several
Pope John Paul II: Is very popular with Mexican citizens.
rough six-hour pilgrimage over treacherous roads for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the pope, who arrives today.
Tickets to the pope's appearances this weekend are scarce, with each parish receiving between a handful and 100, so the Totonacos who were chosen to go considered themselves blessed already.
"May the pope help me to support my family," said Susana Tirzo Tirzo, 21, selected along with 800,000 others across the continent to see John Paul celebrate a Sunday Mass at a Mexico City racteak.
Bus drivers refuse to take the crumbling, cliff-hanging dirt road to the mile-high village in Mexico's towering Sierra Norte, so the pilgrims planned to pile into trucks to reach the nearest highway, four miles away.
me to see (the pope) in person," said Tirzo Tirzo, one of 120 young Totonacos from Hueytalpan and surrounding highland villages who will make the trip to the capital tomorrow.
"I want to thank God for allowing
Mexicans feel a special closeness to the pope because of his devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose image adorns everything from construction sites and government offices to the adobe and concrete homes that line the streets of Hueytalpan in central Puebla state.
The pope visits the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Saturday to announce a new church strategy for the Americas. He will pray in front of the image of the Virgin Mary, whose storied appearance to an Aztec peasant in 1531 turned millions of polytheist Indians into Roman Catholics.
On Sunday, the pope will hold the largest gathering of his trip, celebrating Mass at the racetrack. He will lead a multi-generational meeting at Azteca Stadium on Monday before departing Tuesday for St. Louis, where he will meet with President Clinton.
Mexico City, Mexico
Jason Williams/KANSAN
Brazilian real continues to fall against U.S. dollar
The Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's currency tumbled in value yesterday, severely testing the government's week-old decision to let the real float against the dollar.
Jitters dominated the market despite good news from congress, where the lower house passed a key bill on Wednesday that aimed to reduce the government's budget deficit and instill new investor confidence in Brazil's willingness to make painful economic reforms.
The turmoil in Latin America's largest economy raised fears that other countries in the region would be affected, as well as the United States.
The real opened Thursday at 1.59 to the dollar and plummeted to 1.73 by mid-afternoon, before recouping slightly to 1.70 — a devaluation of about 29 percent since Jan. 12, when Brazil began to take a series of steps to devalue it.
The Central Bank denied that it planned to intervene in financial markets to try to prop up the currency. The bank already had spent some $45 billion in foreign reserves in a failed
six-month effort to support the real.
The government had expected that a cheaper real would lure back foreign investors. But foreigners apparently remain skeptical about Brazil's ability to strengthen its shaky economy.
"If this price isn't enough to attract inflows and kick-start exports, things will only get worse," a currency dealer in Rio de Janeiro said when the dollar hit 1.73. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
The real's plunge was partly blamed for a decline in share prices on the Sa Paulo Stock Exchange.
Brokers said many investors were selling stocks to take profits after the Bovespa gained about 50 percent in the four previous sessions since the government let the real float.
Brazil's biggest worry is an outflow of dollars. Despite the currency devaluation, some $1.3 billion has left the country since Friday. Markets estimate that reserves have dipped below $30 billion.
On Wednesday night, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill reducing pensions for retired federal employees, which could save the government $2.5 billion a year.
Miners take police hostage as strike and riots continue
The Associated Press
COSTESTI, Romania — Mobs of striking coal miners stormed through police lines Thursday, attacking riot troops with clubs and homemade explosives and taking dozens of policemen hostage in a determined push to continue their march upon the capital.
At least 40 people were injured and up to 50 police kidnapped in the fierce assault as 7,000 miners overran government roadblocks on a central highway leading to Bucharest.
For two hours, 3,400 police defended their positions with smoke bombs and tear gas before retreating.
The violence erupted after the miners, including leader Miron Cozma, rejected the government's offer for more negotiations aimed at ending the 17-day-old strike, the most serious challenge to the government since it was elected in 1996.
It was unclear whether the government would again try to stop the miners, who are seeking higher wages and higher job security—demands the government says it cannot afford.
"Miners are attacking in an organized way, like an army," government representative Rasan Van Ponescu said.
Interior Minister Gavril Deleju, who has been widely criticized for failing to stop the miners' advance, was fired. He was replaced by Constantin Dudu Ionescu, a 42-year-old former deputy defense minister.
Private television station Antenna 1 reported that 50 police were taken hostage. Hospitals treated 20 miners and 20 police officers, broadcast reports said.
Authorities are eager to prevent the miners from descending on Bucharest, fearing violent protests. Following an emergency government meeting, President Emil Constantinescu later convened the Supreme Defense Council — a crisis body consisting of himself, the prime minister, the ministers of defense and interior, top military and police officers and the heads of Romania's intelligence services.
It was the second time this week that a showdown caused injuries. Twenty-four miners and police were injured Monday.
Republicans to OK Social Security plan
House to debate spending remainder of budget surplus
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — House Republicans will accept President Clinton's suggestion to avoid spending most of the budget surplus while lawmakers work out an agreement on saving Social Security, a key committee chairman said Thursday.
"I believe I can speak for the Republican majority in saying that we will accept the president's offer and commit to reserving 62 percent of the surplus until we save Social Security." Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, said at a hearing.
The move, however, signaled the start of what is sure to be a difficult fight about how exactly to use the money to fix Social Security — not to mention how the other 38 percent of the surplus should be used.
"If we put this money aside, it would give us a great opportunity to cut taxes," said John Feehery, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert. R-III
Clinton, on the other hand, has proposed spending about 26 percent of the surplus on the military and other domestic programs. Among those is Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled that, like Social Security, is in danger of being financially overwhelmed by aging baby boomers.
However, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the senior Democrat on Ways and Means, said the limited agreement with Republicans on allotting the surplus was one heck of a great beginning. In turn, Rangel said he was willing to discuss the tax cuts Republicans want.
The committee has jurisdiction in the House over both taxes and Social Security.
Clinton, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, suggested using 62 percent of government budget surpluses expected during the next 15 years to bolster Social Security's cash reserves. Of that money, he said about a quarter should be invested by the government in the stock market in hopes of increasing its value, which would be a first for Social Security.
The rest would be kept just as the retirement program has always held its extra cash: in Treasury bonds. But in a departure from the past, Clinton proposed barring lawmakers from using the proceeds of those bonds — essentially money borrowed from Social Security by the rest of the government — for any purpose other than paying the national debt.
Most Republican lawmakers favor using some of the surplus to bolster Social Security and to reduce the national debt.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders strongly oppose having the government invest money in the stock market, fearing political interference. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan this week added his influential voice to that opposition.
Clinton administration officials say they believe the Social Security investments could be insulated from politics — perhaps by an independent board that would oversee the work of private investment managers.
However, even some Democrats are skeptical the idea can get through Congress.
"That's a serious dispute. I do not think it's going to be resolved," Rangel said.
Instead, many Republicans propose having individual Americans do the investing by diverting some of the taxes now deducted from their paychecks into new personal retirement accounts.
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