NEWS IN BRIEF

Colombia – The guerrilla advances

The Times

of 13 July 1999 reports that thousands of FARC rebels have advanced on 25 towns in Colombia, including its capital Bogota:

“Using tanks made from tractors wrapped in steel sheets, and missiles made from gas canisters … Yesterday Colombia continued under rebel siege with reports of guerrillas advancing towards Bogota by bombing police stations, banks, bridges and electricity stations and blocking roads in towns outside the capital.”

 

UN report shows poor get poorer and sex inequality continues

The United Nations Development Programme published on 12 July 1999 a Report showing, according to the

Financial Times

of that date

“an ever-widening gap between the world’s richest and poorest. In 1960, 20 per cent of the world’s population living in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20 per cent. By 1997, the richest were 74 times richer. Within countries, the income disparity has also grown.”

Furthermore, the report also shows that women all over the world continue to enjoy a far worse standard of life than men, mainly because of the fact they have to do all the housework as well as work outside the home, at wages which average well below what men earn. The report actually calls for steps to be taken to relieve women of the burden of childcare, but we know that this will not happen so long as capitalism is there. If they can get cheap labour without providing any facilities, why should they care that women’s life is exceptionally hard? They don’t and they never will.

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