European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8the stars and stripes Friday april 26,1991 six Aola Costa Rica a about 30,000 people in the Salamanca District a banana growing land along the Border with Panama a face hunger thirst and the threat of epidemics. A major earthquake has Cut them off from the rest of the country. Mondays temblor which registered 7.4 on the Richter scale killed 82 people in Costa Rica and Panama 53 of them in Costa Rica hundreds were injured and thousands lost their quake also knocked Down three Bridges on the 55-mile Road Between this rickety Border town and the provincial capital puerto Lindh. It Tore up roads knocked Down Utility poles and trashed dozens of towns and villages in Costa Rica As Well As Panama a bordering Bocas Del Toro this is one of the most if not the most devastated regions and we done to seem to be receiving priority Atten Ion. Very Little almost nothing has arrived a said or. Ninette Alarcon a physician with the ministry of health As she toured six Aola and its environs wednesday. Quot we re completely Cut off except by air. We need food water tents and fuel for generators a she said. She said the first cases of diarrhoea a resulting from people drinking contaminated water a have already appeared. / \ there is no electricity since High voltage towers were also knocked Down by the earthquake. Six Aolar a one Telephone is likewise out of order. Maj. Gerardo Salazar the regional National guard commander said some 600 houses were destroyed or damaged in and around six Aola. Many of the wooden and Concrete structures were built on 10-foot stilts to keep them dry during periodic floods. Scores of them collapsed killing eight people and most of the rest were left Tilting precariously. Hundreds of residents have built lean tos and tents with sheets of plastic and blankets. Some simply sleep outside on the ground for fear their House will come crashing Down with the next tremor. Salazar said water was Short because All but one of the local Wells were broken and filled with Earth by the quake. The paved portions of the Road to puerto Union Are buckled and scored with fissures up to 8 feet deep and 3 feet across. a. A the rails of the Railroad used to move the banana Harvest Are Bent nearly in a shapes at several Points As if they survivors a National guardsman keeps order outside a store As quake victims in six Aola Costa Rica wait to buy food had been no More substantial than pipe cleaners. The current banana Harvest is Likely to rot according to workers who Cut and Carty 100-Pound Bunches at the pais super Amigo Chiquita and Alban a plantations that dominate the regions Economy. A crowd of about 50 people gathered outside the door of the shuttered Golden dragon dry goods and grocery store on six Aolar a Dusty main Street. Several men shouted curses at the stores chinese immigrant owner and kicked and pounded on the door barricaded from inside. The proprietor had not reopened and a food riot appeared imminent. Three members of the National guard arrived with assault rifles and imposed order but also prevailed upon the owner who was inside with a pistol to distribute his perishable goods. The crowd lined up to receive packets of Chicken and shrimp which had thawed in the stores freezers and were close to spoiling. The handout seemed to appease the a a \ a a a Quot v the nicaraguan helicopter delivered 2,400 pounds of Rice Beans powdered milk Coffee sugar and canned tuna to six Aola and two other stranded towns in the Salamanca District. Anc training defense a hits in townships by the Washington Post Washington a the african National Congress accusing the South african government of not doing enough to protect Blacks from factional violence has begun organizing armed self defense units in some townships to thwart attacks by political foes and the police a senior Anc official said wednesday Chris Hani Leader of the Ancus military Wing us Shonto we size Spear of the nation said Anc fighters would train and help Arm but not participate in the units. Such units already Are operating in Soweto and other townships near Johannesburg Hani said. He said the units Are for defensive purposes Only and would not attack police or members of the inkatha Freedom party the Ancus main political rival. But police have said the paramilitary groups would Only fuel the widespread violence. Fighting Between Anc arid inkatha supporters has left thousands dead since 1986. Each Side has accused the other of being the aggressor. A in principle we done to want to fight inkatha a Hani said. Quot we done to see inkatha As the enemy. We have restrained ourselves and restrained our people from waging a War against inkatha. Its not in the interest of the people of South Hani a member of the South african communist party repeated a warning issued earlier this year by Anc Leader Nelson Mandela that lifting . Sanctions would unleash mass protests and Boycotts by South africans Black majority. The 12-nation european Community lifted some sanctions against South Africa last week despite Strong protests from the Anc. A Hani said . Officials told him that sanctions would Likely be lifted in two or three months. A state department official however said the . Position on sanctions is unchanged and continues to be linked to South africans fulfilment of three remaining conditions. The conditions Are the freeing of All remaining political prisoners As Well As repeal of the population registration act which underpins the country a system of racial separation by classifying each person by race and the group areas act which specifies where each racial group can live. In London apr mothers of twins Are significantly More Likely to suffer from depression than mothers who give birth to Only one child or have children born More than two years apart according to a study published in the British medical journal. Quot the emotional Wei being of mothers of twins was poor relative to that of mothers of singletons a said a coauthor of the study Karen Thorpe a psychologist at the University of Bristol a Institute of child health. Thorpe said fatigue from having to care for two babies is one Factor contributing to the poorer mental Well being of mothers of twins. But she added that such mothers can suffer emotional Strain even during pregnancy because carrying twins is More difficult. Quot discomfort is exacerbated with greater feelings of heaviness occurring at an Early stage in pregnancy a Thorpe said. Also she said twin pregnancies pose a greater medical risk for both the Mother and babies. For instance these women Are prone to hypertension during pregnancy and the fetuses Are at increased risk of growth problems in the uterus. The anxiety surrounding a High risk pregnancy can be traumatic Thorpe added and the finance abstain of caring for twins is usually much greater than the parents realized. Thorpe a study published in the april 13 Issue of the British medical journal was based on data from a Survey on the emotional Well being of 12,712 mothers of whom 139 bore twins. The women completed the questionnaire five years after giving birth. Guatemala begins tasks aimed at Mexico City up the guatemalan government meeting for the first time with rebels announced plans for a series of negotiating sessions intended to Lead to a cease fire in Central americans longest civil War. The first meeting was held at Mexico City a hotel Casa Blanca on wednesday when government negotiators sat Down with rebels of the guatemalan National revolution any see the meeting As a breakthrough in the 30-year armed struggle that has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives. The United nations is sitting in on the talks As an observer. Quot the talks Are being conducted in a cordial atmosphere. I am very positive Quot said the mediator of the negotiations Bishop Rodolpho Quezada Toruno president of the National reconciliation commission. At the hotel the government issued a statement outlining a schedule for three War rounds of talks the last of which woul be held to sign a cease fire agreement. Quot we have Analysed All and each one it the proposals and statements Presente by the rebels a the statement sail a and we see with much Hope the Fai that Between their and our desires thei arc fundamental Points of representatives from the govern Mei of president Jorge Serrano said meeting wednesday and thursday would set the Agenda and ground rules for the follow ing two rounds of talks which will disc a cease fire and social economic and political problems. Discussion of issues will begin during second round of meetings. If reached peace agreement would be signed at third and final round the statement said the statement did not give a time per of for the plan but said the following rounds would be held outside guat enu la. It did not say where
