Shortly after the Sept.-Oct.
Report went to press, action in
Congress invalidated part of the
Update story on recent human
rights legislation. The article stat-
ed that the Carter administration
had won the “free and unrestric-
ted hand” it wanted regarding
the granting of loans to repres-
sive regimes by multilateral lend-
ing institutions such as the World
Bank. But in fact, Congress has
passed legislation requiring tne
U.S. to vote against loans to coun-
tries which consistently violate
human rights. The legislation, known as the Harkin-Badillo A-
mendment, was reluctantly
signed into law by Carter in mid-
October as part of the foreign-aid
bill. The passage of this legisla-
tion represents the hard work of
lobbyists in the progressive,
Washington-based Human Rights
Working Group.
The amendment calls for the
application of specific criteria to
evaluate the human rights viola-
tions in any country applying for
loans. As such, it presents an op-
portunity for progressive forces
to document violations of repres-
sive regimes in order to demand
a U.S. “no” vote. Nevertheless, several loopholes within the leg-
islation have become apparent.
Nov. I Dec. 1977
As past experience has demon-
strated, a mobilization of public
pressure will be necessary to win
its effective implementation.
by Bob Barber, who has worked
with the Human Rights Working
Group in Washington.
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49update * update * update . update
PROJECT NEWS
NACLA-East is currently work-
ing on the March-April, 1978 is-
sue of the Report. In it, we will
discuss health-hazardous pro-
duction by looking specifically at
the asbestos industry. By exami-
ning an industry which requires
working with a well-known killer,
we will do a comparative study of
dangerous work conditions in the
U.S. and Latin America. We will
attempt to answer the following
questions:
*Have conditions in the shops
changed significantly since the
enactment of OSHA in 1970?
*Have OSHA and EPA pressures
encouraged industries to run
away to “non-regulated” coun-
tries in order to avoid compli-
ance?
*In general, has the knowledge
of dangerous substances tra-
velled along with increased in-
dustrial production to Latin
America?
*Do lower standards abroad act
to depress effective enforce-
ment of standards in the U.S.?
In general, we hope to add an in-
ternational perspective to the
fight for safe work places and to
point to the necessity of inter-
national awareness and coordi-
nation.
We would very much appreci-
ate any help people can provide
in the following areas: experi-
ence with OSHA’s effectiveness,
knowledge of the asbestos indus-
try, and any information on as-
bestos production, factory sites,
and health and safety conditions
in Latin America. Send any sug-
gestions to Asbestos Project,
NACLA-East, Box 57, Cathedral
Station, New York, N.Y. 10025.
NACLA-East is also in need of
volunteers to help us in our office
and library. Anyone interested in
bi-monthly mailouts, clipping, or-
ganizing our files, or rationalizing
our library system would be
more than welcome. Please call
us at 212-749-6513.
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