The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, May 06, 1987, Image 9

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Wednesday, May 6, 1987/The Battalion/Page 9
World and Nation
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ecord accounts for $3.5 million
In profits from Iranian arm sales
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B WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Air Force
Haj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, leading off the
congressional Iran-Contra hearings on Tuesday,
traced profits from secret Iranian arms sales to
Hicaraguan rebels and declared Reagan adminis
tration officials supported his efforts to help the
Hontrus.
■ Breaking months of silence, Secord told the
nationally broadcast, joint House-Senate hearing
Hat about $3.5 million in profits from the arms
Hies was diverted to the Contras through a Swiss
Hink account controlled by him and an associate.
I He said he discussed his activities on three oc-
Hsions widi then-CIA Director William Casey
and frequently was in contact with Ft. Col. Oliver
Horth, the fired White House national security
aide, and with other administration officials — all
at a time Congress had banned military aid to the
Hlicaraguan rebels.
Secord, during the first public sworn testi
mony linking the Iran arms sales with money for
the Contras, said he “understood that this admin
istration knew of my conduct and approved it.”
President Reagan, meanwhile, said, “I’m wait
ing to hear as much as anyone else.”
He denied anew that he had known of any ille
gal fund raising or diversion of money.
Secord, expected to be giving testimony for
the rest of the week, W'as the first of as many as 50
witnesses who will appear during the hearings,
which are scheduled to stretch into July.
Secord, testifying without the grant of limited
immunity given to some other witnesses, had re
fused to appear before earlier congressional in
vestigations, citing his Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination.
Committee leaders have said they expect to
use the hearings to lay out in great detail the se
cret network that they believe North helped set
up for the Contras.
They also expect to reveal the deepening sense
of frustration that led the Reagan administration
to sell arms to Iran in hopes of winning the re
lease of American hostages held in Lebanon.
Secord said North recruited him, noting a
Nov. 19, 1985, memorandum on White House
stationery saying, “Your discreet assistance is
again required in support of our national inter
ests.” Secord said North had signed the mem
orandum on behalf of then-White House Na
tional Security Adviser Robert McFarlane.
These actions took place after a congressio-
nally imposed ban on U.S. military aid to the
Contras had taken effect and at a time the presi
dent was asking U.S. allies to refrain from deal
ing with Iran and other nations the administra
tion had said were fostering terrorist activities.
Stamp price
to increase
by next year
I WASHINGTON (AP) — The
cost of mailing a letter will jump
to a quarter sometime next year,
and most other postage rates also
will rise under a new rate struc
ture proposed l uesday by the
mplo' u .S. Postal Service,
n Hear; l.| The Postal Service Board of
goods governors voted 5-1 for the new
t its bg! Sites, an increase that will aver-
irricadt age 16 percent over all classes of
duces niail.
S’the Tall Deputy Postmaster General
and Po: Michael Coughlin said it probably
would be about a year before new
.hand r; 'tes cotdd take effect. He said
■pendes the rate increases, which have
■■•■■Been under discussion for several
Hionths, are being proposed now
SlJJJfa Ij,,, ausc of the lengthy legal proc-
it’sBses required to raise postage
Hrices.
m oi,m
South African blacks demonstrate
against Botha’s white elections
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) — On the eve of white parlia
mentary elections, half a million
blacks stayed home from work Tues
day in protest, grenades and land
mines exploded, and police fought
black crowds with birdshot and tear
gas.
“ The time has come to consult the
white electorate about its views on
how we should proceed with peace
ful reform,” President P.W. Botha
told the nation’s 24 million blacks,
who have no vote on national affairs.
The government’s Bureau for In
formation said Botha’s message
would be distributed in black com
munities, where labor unions and
anti-apartheid groups called for two
days of protest against the election.
Of South Africa’s 5 million whites,
3,031,414 were registered to vote for
166 seats in the dominant white
House of Assembly when polls open
at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Botha called the white election
two years early, saying he and his
National Party needed a mandate to
pursue gradual reform of some dis-
criminatory laws and to give blacks a
limited role in national policy-mak
ing. He has vowed to resist majority
rule and maintain segregated
schools and neighborhoods.
The National Party, with 127 seats
in the outgoing Parliament, is ex
pected to keep a large majority.
Far-right parties, trying to in
crease their 18-seat share in Parlia
ment, oppose any modification of
apartheid.
The moderate Progressive Fed
eral Party and its allies, with 27 seats
in the last Parliament, favor aboli
tion of all racially discriminatory
laws and support negotiations that
could lead to majority rule.
Five explosions at four sites were
reported Monday night and early
Tuesday, including a land mine blast
that killed a black truck driver and
injured 10 blacks near the Zimbabwe
border.
The government’s Bureau for In
formation said three blacks were in
jured and six arrested in Durban
area during 10 confrontations. It
said police fired tear gas and
birdshot at blacks who were stoning
vehicles, trying to set cars afire or
holding “illegal gatherings.”
Bus company officials said mili
tant youths there blocked streets
with flaming barricades and stoned
or burned more than a dozen buses.
In most townships, however, the
first national black protest since
1958 against a white election was
peaceful. Many black and mixed-
race high schools were closed, and
thousands of college students and
professors skipped lectures.
Alien applicants
trickle into offices
on opening day
(AP) — The first wave of hopeful
aliens picked up amnesty applica
tion forms Tuesday, but it was far
from a stampede on the opening
day of a year-long federal pro
gram offering citizenship for ille
gal immigrants.
Although as many as 100 appli
cants were in line at midnight in
Harlingen, the few who appeared
at the Immigration and Naturali
zation Service center in Arling
ton, Va., were nearly outnum
bered by reporters and
photographers.
“How do I apply?” was the
most frequent question, said
Doug Brown, officer in charge of
the INS office in Albuquerque,
N.M.
Richard Casillas, INS district
director in San Antonio, said,
“People will get courage when
they see we are treating them hu
manely, with compassion, as they
come in. The word is going to get
out that we are not going to use
this procedure to deport people.”
Those eligible for amnesty
must have arrived in the United
States before Jan. 1, 1982, and
maintained their residence here
continuously since then. The ap
plication fee is $185 per adult and
$50 per child, with a maximum of
$420 per family.
Fhe INS estimates that 3 mil
lion people are eligible.
In El Monte, Calif., the INS of
fice had received only about 400
applications and ran out within
50 minutes. A computer break
down delayed the first interviews
at the office by half an hour.
Ruben Martinez of West Cov
ina, one of the first applicants,
said, “It’s ridiculous. Fhe first
day, and they don’t have the
forms.”
Rigoberto Beltran, 25, a Salva
doran who has lived in the United
States since 1980, arrived at the
Tucson center at 6 a.m., expect
ing at least a few people. There
was no waiting line.
Gloria Marte, a native of the
Dominican Republic who handed
in the first completed application
at the INS center in Hialeah, Fla.,
said, “Thank God that we have
been given this opportunity and
that we will be able to know that
we can stay here.”
She said she has worked as a
domestic since overstaying her
visa nine years ago. INS supervi
sor Eric McLeod said the woman
and her 16-year-old son might re
ceive their work permits as early
as Tuesday.
Director Richard Smith of the
Seattle INS office said he ex
pected only 100 to 150 people to
come in Tuesday.
John Rebsamen, of Decatur.
Ga., said, “In the beginning it will
be a slow takeoff. They have been
dodging us for years.”
Rebsamen said his INS office
handled about 50 applications by
late Tuesday morning.
Jose Zeferino, 34, a native of
Brazil, waited through the night
for the INS office in Arlington to
open. He had contacted a lawyer,
who wanted $2,000 for his advice,
so Zeferino decided to try the
process on his own.
“I have all the papers they ask
for,” he said. But the four-page
application form caught him by
surprise; he said he hadn’t real
ized he would have to complete it
before proceeding.
In El Paso, about 50 people
protested with placards and red
flags, saying the amnesty pro
gram is unfair to many illegal im
migrants.
itJUfl
dim]
s*
Fantastic
Fashion
Show
Featuring
ALPHA KAPPA PSI
National Professional Business Fraternity
Announces The
BUSINESS HONORS PLAQUE
Award Ceremony
Honoring The 1986
Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude & Cum Laude
College Of Business Graduates
Other Presentations To Be Made:
AKA^ Spring ’87 Outstanding Professor; Dr.
Larry Gresham, Top Spring ’87 College of Business
Graduate: Laurie J. Oedewalt, Top AfOE
Spring ’87 Graduate: Maria Jung
Thurs., May 7 at 4:30
Blocker Building, 1st Floor
(Across from Rooom 156)
Wednesday 9:30
FREE HURRICANES T-IO
846-1023
Call Battalion Classified 845-2611
Breeze into Summer
The best deals for summer
are at Shellenberger’s!
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