Tuesday, December 2, 2003

The Brazilian Committee for the Implementation of Free Software will release code under the Free Software Foundation's General Public License, with Creative Commons providing new human- and machine-readable packaging

Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, and Tokyo, JAPAN - The government of Brazil today announced its adoption of the CC-GPL, an innovation on the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) General Public License, for the release of publicly funded software. Brazil is the first adopter of the new CC-GPL, which combines the proven utility and popularity of the GPL with Creative Commons' innovative user interface.

"Brazil's adoption of the CC-GPL is extremely significant," said Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons' chairman and professor of law at Stanford University, from Tokyo, where Creative Commons is presenting its projects in Japan this week. "Brazil has recognized that code produced and funded by the people should be made available to the people, and it has pioneered a tool that provides the best of both the Free Software Foundation and Creative Commons."

"Brazilian government adoption of the GPL is an enormous step forward in the cause of software freedom," said Professor Eben Moglen of Columbia Law School and General Counsel of the Free Software Foundation. "We welcome the chance to work together with Creative Commons to make the GNU GPL even more attractive to governments, which are recognizing that the principle of 'share and share alike' is the most efficient, most equitable, and most pro-development licensing strategy for software the public pays to create or to acquire."

http://creativecommons.org/press-releases/entry/3919

It seems Mesa's finally realized he'll never befriend the populist left, no matter how hard he tries. So he's back to being a constitutional democrat, giving the middle class a huge collective sigh of relief.

In the past few weeks, Mesa & his ministers did everything in their power to appease the demands of syndicalist dirigentes like Felipe Quispe, Evo Morales, Angel Duran, Jaime Solares, Roberto de la Cruz, and others. When he offered to negotiate their myriad demands, they scoffed, insulted cabinet members, walked out of meetings, or called on the use of mobilized violence to achive their goals. Last week, Mesa found his spine.

In the end, it seems the government's decided to negotiate w/ other dirigentes who, not only are more willing to negotiate, but it seems are actually more legitimate. Bolivian papers never reported this (investigative journalism isn't a strong suit here). But. It seems Quispe's not actually head of the Confederaci├│n Syndical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB), de la Cruz doesn't lead the Central Obrera Regional de El Alto (COR), and Duran isn't chief of the Movimiento Sin Tierra (MST). While they are of course major players in these organizations (and have their own clientelistic networks w/in them), they seem to forget that these organizations have organizational structures & elections.

Is this merely a divide and conquer strategy on the part of the government? Probably. But I don't see why Mesa & his ministers, who've shown tremendous good faith in trying to negotiate can't also decide which leaders they'll negotiate w/. And if Someone from MST wants to negotiate, rather than call on campesinos to forcefully seize lands (as Duran does), I see no reason why Mesa can't negotiate w/ the actual executive secreaty of the MST. The same goes for all the other groups.

Meanwhile, the formal investigation of Goni & his ministers is going forward. But it might not make Evo & co. happy. While the courts found enough reason to try Goni & his ministers for excessive use of force in October, it also found enough reason to investigate Evo, Quispe, Solares, and five other dirigentes for crimes against the state (such as for callign on armed insurrection). Meanwhile, two sets of lawyers have also filed individual criminal suits against the populist dirigentes for their actions in October. It's gonna be an interesting legal process.

US Department of State

Press Statement
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
November 17, 2003


The United States Government has completed the 2003 annual estimates of coca
cultivation in Peru and Bolivia. The estimates -- produced with survey-sampling
techniques and satellite imagery -- indicate that overall coca cultivation
levels continue to be lower for Peru and Bolivia than in the past - between
50,000 and 60,000 hectares (or 123,500 and 148,200 acres), compared to 163,900
hectares (406,470 acres) in 1995. Even with sustained eradication efforts in
Colombia there has not been an increase in cultivation in the other two major
coca cultivation countries.

In Peru, survey figures show a net 15% decrease in coca cultivation in 2003.
Overall, net coca cultivation dropped from 36,000 hectares in 2002 to 31,150
hectares in 2003. Nevertheless, cultivation in the Apurimac-Ene and Monzon
valleys -- traditional growing areas where plantation-style plots can be found
-- remained steady. These areas represent 67% of the illicit coca produced in
Peru.

In Bolivia, there was an overall increase of over 4,000 hectares (10,900 acres)
to 28,450 hectares (70,300 acres) of coca cultivation, or 17% above 2002 s
estimate. While cultivation in the Chapare region, the historic illicit coca
cultivation zone, fell by 15%, cultivation in the Yungas, grew by 26%. This is
the challenge that faces Bolivia, as coca in excess of what is needed for the
legal, traditional market ends up feeding the illegal cocaine market.

It is important to note that eradication is only part of our bilateral
counter-drug strategy in Peru and Bolivia. Together we are making major
progress in both the interdiction of drugs and providing effective alternative
development. We will continue to work with the governments of Bolivia and Peru
on the continued challenges faced to fight the production and flow of drugs.