MonitoRadio Early Program; [1991-08-19]

From Boston, this is Monitor Radio, a world -wide broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor on American public radio. I'm Dale Wilman coming up, Mikhail Gorbachev has been thrown out as leader of the Soviet Union. We'll have a report and analysis of what it could mean. Also, Democrats in the U .S. aren't too optimistic about next year's presidential race. What Operation Desert Storm did to Iraq militarily, it is also done to the Democrats politically. And we'll have an early report on Mexico's midterm elections. We'll have those stories and more coming up. First, this news summary. This is Monitor Radio News. I'm Jim Kane. Power is changing hands in the Soviet Union. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has been ousted

by hardliners in the government. His vice president, Ganadi Yanayev, has taken over the powers of the presidency and a state of emergency is in effect. Armored military vehicles are on the streets of Moscow. And President Gorbachev is now reportedly being detained at his vacation home in the Crimea. That word comes from the president of the Russian Republic, Boris Yeltsin, who has lashed out at those who have overthrown President Gorbachev. Carrespondent Justin Burke has just returned from President Yeltsin's news conference and joins us now live from our Moscow bureau. Justin, what do Mr. Yeltsin have to say? Well, Yeltsin and other Russian leaders are calling the new leadership unlawful. And they're also saying that a right -wing coup is in progress. Now, to counter this so -called coup, Yeltsin is calling for a general strike. And for soldiers not to obey orders. He's also remaining remarkably defined, saying that he is elect the elected leader of Russia and no one can remove him. Is there any indication so far, Justin, that the citizens of the Soviet Union or the soldiers are following that recommendation to strike and not follow orders?

No, so far there's no indication that there's a strike in progress. The streets are busy as usual. The problem for Yeltsin is that he has no access to any mass media. The state of emergency committee, which is now the power in the Soviet Union, has seized all access to mass media. So it's going to be very hard for Yeltsin to get the word out. As we mentioned, there are tanks on the streets of Moscow right now. The Soviet citizens have certainly been through tense times before, but how do they feel now is the feeling any different from previous tense moments? Well, Soviets, as you could expect, are very gloomy about this latest development and some are saying that civil war is the next step. Now, what about the claim by Mr. Yeltsin that President Gorbachev is being detained? Is there any way to verify that at this point? Well, Mr. Yeltsin said that he tried many times to get in contact with Mr. Gorbachev this morning, but he was unable to do so. The foreign minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Andrej Kuzorov, said that they suspect that Gorbachev

is being held at his stacha in the Crimea, but they cannot confirm that. Karaspon and Justin Burke, thank you very much. Karaspon and Justin Burke reporting live from our Moscow bureau. The State of Emergency Committee that ousted Soviet President Gorbachev now is threatening to suspend parliaments in the Soviet republics. The official news agency TAS says the committee issued a decree, and that document proclaims that parliaments, elected officials and political parties that fail to obey the committee's orders, will be suspended. The decree also bans all demonstrations and strikes that, in its words, hinder the normalization of the situation. This is Monitor Radio News. U .S. President George Bush was awakened overnight with the news of the overthrow of President Gorbachev, no statement from the president. The Monitor's Bill Echicson has more reaction from European leaders. Most European leaders report off -guard by the announcement. On vacation, they are now rushing back to their capitals. German Chancellor Helmut Cole was relaxing in Austria. French Foreign Minister Rohan Dumas expressed shock from his country home in the

Jordania. He said if confirmed Gorbachev's departure deeply upset him. In Britain, the only reaction came from a spokesman from the British Foreign Office, who said, speaking anonymously, this is totally out of the blue. The Europeans, both East and West, were especially shocked because they had bed on Gorbachev, well before the Americans. It was Britain's Margaret Bacher, who was the first to say, this is a man we can do business with. And only a few weeks ago, it was the French and the Germans, who pushed hardest for Gorbachev to be invited to the group of seven meeting in London. In the short term, Europe is likely to quietly reassess its plans to aid the Soviet Union. In the long term, the continent is left wondering whether it will return to the old days of angry confrontation. For the Christian -Piates monitor, this is Milletizen in Paris. In Tokyo, the stock market plunged in reaction to the news from Moscow, the monitor's Wendy Hanamura reports. Care prices in Tokyo plummeted nearly 6 percent after news of Mikhail Gorbachev's fall from power triggered panic selling. The Nikes stock average dropped more than 1300

points, the fifth largest drop on record. Like most of the world, Japan was utterly surprised by the news. Tokyo stock prices in the yen fell further after reports in the Japanese media that there had been a coup d 'etat in Moscow, and unsubstantiated rumors that Gorbachev might even be dead. Traders predict that fear of the unknown could keep Asian markets reeling in the days to come. For the Christian -Piates monitor, this is Wendy Hanamura in Tokyo. This is Monitor Radio News. In the United States, Hurricane Bob is lashing at the East Coast with high winds and driving rains. The storm has gone just past North Carolina's outer banks, forcing more than 100 ,000 people to flee, but the storm did not go ashore. Despite the fury of the wind and the rain, there were no reports of heavy damage or injuries. The storm continues northward up the coast. Residents of the East Coast are preparing for Hurricane Bob as far north as Massachusetts. There are reports of residents crowding grocery stores and stocking up on emergency supplies. In Northern Ireland, two young

Catholic men have taken refuge in a cathedral after threats from the Irish Republican Army. The incident comes in a week which has seen an upsurge in terrorist activity in the province. From bell past, we get this report from correspondent Ian Himes. In an attack on the public and sympathizers, I visited the men in that cathedral hideaway. They told me that unless the IRA was drew the threat, there would be frightened to return home. The church has its sympathetic to the men's plight, but they cannot stay in the cathedral indefinitely. Three other men on the IRA list of left Northern Ireland, a fourth has had the IRA threat lifted. The incident comes in a week which has seen eight civilians at a British soldier die in the continuing trouble here, making this a particularly intensive period of violence from both the Catholic and Protestant sections of the community. For the Christian times monitor, this is Ian

Himes in bell fast. A Wall Street trading scandal has led to the resignations of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Salomon Incorporated. That trading firm accepted those resignations Sunday and fired its government bond trading chief after it was learned that the firm had bought more than its share of government securities. The newly appointed interim chairman Warren Buffett says those steps led to the reversal of the U .S. Treasury Department action against the firm. The Treasury saw the Salomon Inc. Board of Directors today take some major steps to install new management. New practices, we have a four page single space, the new set of rules in terms of how that government bond bid auction will be handled. The Treasury Department had suspended some of Salomon's trading activities, it has since lifted that ban. As we reported earlier, share prices plunged in Tokyo, following the news that President Gorbachev had been removed from power, the NK average

dropped more than 1 ,300 points or nearly 6%. In London, in the opening moments of trading, the stock exchange average dropped more than 90 points, the U .S. dollar sword in Japan closing at 138 .40 yen up one and a half yen. Updating our top story, armored personnel carriers have now reportedly arrived at the Russian Parliament building in Moscow. The Parliament is the headquarters of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The vehicles appeared at the Russian Republic's Parliament shortly after Yeltsin held a news conference and called for a general strike to fight the ouster of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who has been removed from power and the developments continue. This is news from the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Jim Cain. This is Monitor

Radio, I'm Dale Wilman. Communist Party hardliners have removed Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev from power. The first official announcement of that action came on Monday in the Soviet Union and said the 60 -year -old Gorbachev, who has led the country for six years, could no longer rule because of unspecified health reasons. Later, the group involved in the action said they took the drastic measures because they were trying to prevent a national catastrophe. Gorbachev has been replaced by Vice President Gennady Yenev. Correspondent Justin Burke is in Moscow. Justin, you just came from a press conference held by the new president. What message did he have for the Soviet people? Yenev, who is a member of the state of emergency committee. That's the committee that's now running here. He and the committee are clearly trying to win popular support by taking measures to improve problems that have plagued the people of the Soviet Union for the last few years. That is through housing conditions and the situation with the food supply here. They say that now they are going

to concentrate all their efforts on bringing in the harbours, which is now progress, and giving good to the people. That is a measure to sort of calm the population here. Whether they'll be successful or not, of course, from April 15th. What kind of word did President Yenev have for the people about what's going on in the streets right now? Yenev, today issued a stern warning against the building of barricades or the general blocking of streets with trucks or buttons. He warned Yeltsin that this action is impermissible, and of course, Yeltsin earlier in the day ordered a general strike for all of the Soviet Union. That, they also condemned the ill -advised theft, and Yenev actually said at one point, this kind of action is fraught with danger of armed provocation. So that implies that troops may be used to reverse any

such situation. And that warning, I would presume, would also go out to the Baltics, and not just to the Russian Republic. Yes, it would apply everywhere. The situation in the Baltics, at this point, I understand that the military has told Baltic leaders that they are in control of those areas now. Yes, earlier today, President B. Tautitz -Landberg of Lithuania got a call from the military commanders in the region saying that Lithuania should immediately suspend its so -called home defense units. And troops have been maneuvering in the Republic. There are reports that the port city of Klypada has been shut down, and that the TV center in the city of town has been taken over. Now, I understand that one of the commanders in Moscow in talking about the personality of

Yeltsin said that he would not order his troops to shoot Yeltsin, and yet you're saying that there's an implication that the military could perhaps be used here. It seems to be going two different directions here. What do you think the resolution could be? Well, it's a very volatile situation. That's for sure. People are out in the streets now trying to talk to soldiers and tank columns that are now positioned outside the Russian Parliament building, and there's a sort of adaptation going on right now by the people trying to get the troops to think twice about what they're doing. People are circulating pieces of paper with Yeltsin's appeal for soldiers not to obey the orders of officers, and who knows what will happen. It's just a very tense situation out there, especially by the Russian Parliament building. Justin, thank you. Thank you. Correspondent Justin Burke, speaking with this, from Moscow.

For some analysis of the developments in the Soviet Union, we turn now to Professor Robert Legvolt, who is Director of the Haremann Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union. He says the sudden changes in Moscow could be a serious setback. Well, we don't know for sure, but all the Soviet, those in the current Soviet leadership have either used the occasion of troubles for Gorbachev, health troubles, or more likely the excuse of health troubles in order to in effect carry out a coup. This is a group of people who constitute the committee to implement state emergency that have opposed any substantial or radical economic reform, and in particular, they've been upset and opposed to the union treaty as it's been formed. If it is a coup, as it appears, I would think the precipitating event is the scheduled signing on Tuesday of the new union treaty that would give far more power to the republics than these people were content with. After all the reforms that have taken place there, how can something like this happen? It's a surprise. I think it would be

a pretence if anybody, including so -called experts on the Soviet Union said that it was anything other than a very considerable surprise. Because the situation's been so unpredictable in the Soviet Union, nothing could be ruled out, but this was certainly regarded as one of the lower order probabilities, and it remains to be seen how well they in fact can carry it out. They have gone through the mechanics of constitutional procedure. They push Gorbachev aside so that they could have their man in the presidency because it's the power of the president to declare a state of emergency. And in a technical sense, I think they'll be able to do it. They'll be able to control newspapers. They'll be able to shut down media. They'll be able to do a lot of things from above. But what happens below now, that is how political leaders within the republics and how the public reactions another matter. So I think the question still stands, how they're going to in fact be able to do it. That's a very interesting point that you raised, though. They needed the presidential position to do this because of the reforms that Gorbachev himself got enacted for

the power of the presidency. In their statement, they have referred to both Article 2 of the USSR Constitution, which provides for a state of emergency that can only be called by the president. And Gorbachev had sought those powers a year ago when he was setting all of this up. And then also the formal legislation that was passed for the implementation of a state of emergency. So they're going to follow at least the outlines of procedure. And in general, I think they're going to try to reassure the outside world that they're not outlaws and that they're basically restrained in what they're going to do. They'll try to pacify the population. But I would predict that the first indication of their approach to this will come by daybreak when you see an awful lot of armed force out in the street where they're going to make sure that public is warned against any kind of restlessness or uprising. This must give people with as much experience with the Soviet Union as you have perhaps a bit of chill and some days of who? It is a very ugly feeling. I was saying to a

colleague earlier this evening when we talked about it, I have the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I did in the hours after I heard the Soviets had invaded Czechoslovakia 1968. People knew was something that could happen. They regarded it as an unlikely prospect. They didn't think it would happen and when it did the awfulness of it really hit home. And that's what's going on here. And that's probably a great deal of the point is that we were so comfortable with what had been happening there that I guess so many people just felt this couldn't happen again. That's true, but I go back to the point I made earlier. It's not clear that although these men have attempted to do it, that they're going to be able to get away with it or that they'll be able to get away with it for very long because that country is very different. I don't believe can simply turn the clock back and impose the kind of authoritarianism that they had before 1985. It could well be that the situation at best from their point of view will look like Poland after martial law in

1981. That was not something that worked well and within three years the thing collapsed when you had the change in the Soviet Union. Professor Robert Legvolk, director of the Haramann Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union, speaking to us from Cape Cod. It's 19 minutes past the hour. This is Monitor Radio. I'm Dale Wilman. In business news, the US Treasury Department on Sunday, Bard Wall Street, Solomon, incorporated from participating in government securities auctions, but only a few hours later the government reversed its decision following a shake -up in the firm's top management and the announcement that Solomon would change its bidding and internal control procedures. Solomon has admitted to garnering a substantially larger share of government securities than federal regulations allow. Israel's finance minister is calling his government spending on defense and on housing for Soviet immigrants excessive. The

official is asking the army to make cuts in the proposed defense budget and is advocating a limit on the number of new homes built for immigrants. And that's a quick check of business news. This is Monitor Radio. The major question facing Democrats in the US right now is, can President Bush be beaten in the 1992 election? Many analysts say they don't think so, mainly because of the President's high marks in opinion polls and the lack of a strong challenger from the Democratic Party. The Monitor's David Brown takes a look at just where the Democrats stand when it comes to next year's presidential race. If there was any question in 1988,

there is certainly no question now. Many of the Democratic Party feel the happy days have come and gone. Washington Post political correspondent Lloyd Grove. What will Rodgers said about the Democratic Party? Something about, I don't belong to an organized party. I'm a Democrat. I think it's even more true today. With less than a year before the next Democratic convention, the front runner among the announced candidates for the Democratic ticket is a lone runner and a virtual unknown in the nation's heartland. Former Massachusetts Senator Paul Sankas. Earlier this month, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller said he wouldn't try for the presidency in 1992. And last month, House Majority Leader Richard Gephart said he too would not be tossing his hat into the ring. William Reitley is a political analyst at the Brookings Institution. I think the Democrats naturally are impressed by President Bush's standing in the public opinion polls. And I think as time goes on and they keep losing these presidential elections, it begins to depress them some. And I think that it, that people who might have plunged into the race for president four

or eight years ago are now taking a much longer look at that. What Operation Desert Storm did to Iraq militarily, it is also done to the Democrats politically. Several months after the first waves of post -war euphoria, polls show the president's overall job rating still sky high, about 70%. Although many Democrats don't think Bush can be beat in 1992, there are others still undecided, waiting in the wings. Among them, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, and New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Democratic Party consultant Kurt Brown believes that if Cuomo does enter the race, he could win. I think nobody would say when Mario Cuomo and George Bush were on a stage, Mario Cuomo couldn't be president. They're both the type of people who could go head to head with Gorbachev or any other world leader. But is it the messenger that's missing or the message itself? Reitley says that the Democrats have plenty of attractive

personalities, but little to say that appeals to mainstream America. It can be argued that what they really should do is to try to get more close to a prevailing conservatism in the country. Reitley is surprised the Democrats haven't jumped on the United States economic woes. It's a remarkable thing, you know, that we have been through and perhaps now are coming out of a fairly serious economic recession. The Democrats have made almost nothing of it. It's been the least politicized recession that we have had in this country in the last 40 years. Normally, the opposition party would be raising a great deal of criticism against the incumbent party. I would may not be entirely the incumbent parties fault, but I think it is the role of the opposition party to say, look, things are not going well, and this is what we should be doing. The Democrats, I think, unfortunately, are not sure what we should be doing. Party stalwarts are worried that if the Democrats lose a fourth consecutive election, it could cause permanent damage to the party and establish the GOP in the hearts of voters as the party of the presidency.

In the words of one pollster, the Democrats need someone with something to say. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm David Brown in Washington. In his groundbreaking book, The Organization Man, published in the 1950s, William H. White profiled the man who returned from World War II and started working in new large corporations. They were company men loyal to their employer above all. Paul Lienberger, the son of one of the original organization men, tracked the adult sons and daughters of white subjects, the generation, ready to inherit their father's leadership roles. Lienberger says he

found this new generation hard working and dedicated to their professions, but not bound by loyalty to one company. The organization man was noted for if nothing else unswerving loyalty and what you're saying those that these children don't necessarily have that, so there seems to be a major change here. I would say that there's a major distinction here to be made. This generation has been very committed to their work. This generation spent almost all of their life at their work, but that commitment to work doesn't translate into loyalty to the organization unlike the organization man. These are people who are committed to what they do. They're committed to their professions. Whereas their parents, 99 % of whom were fathers, they

were committed to the organization they were a part of. They were a really and truly organization men, wherever the organization wanted them to go, they went. That certainly is not the case with this generation. Why do these changes occur then? If you remember, the 1950s was a time of Dr. Spock and it was a time of what was called the priceless child. Most of these kids, then 19 million sons and daughters, the organization man, grew up in suburbia. The focus of the family was on the child as well as domesticity generally. With that kind of a focus, these children developed as they became teenagers and then as adults into individuals who saw themselves as the center, if you will, of the universe, they took that view of themselves into the workplace and when you take that kind of view of yourself into the workplace, you end up with a very different, you make very different kinds of demand on organizations. This seems much more selfish. This does not seem to be motivated out of

some greater good. Well, not necessarily. It certainly looked that way in the 1980s, but as these adult, now adult children developed themselves and what's happening now is that they're having children and they're beginning to focus their life a little differently. Their sense of who they are still focused on the self is dramatically changing. It's moving away from work now and towards and first their own family and then secondarily towards the community. As the son of one of the original organization, men yourself, what's been your personal experience with this? Have you seen yourself retreating from corporate America or how do you address the whole issue of work? I was in corporate America. I worked for Levi Strauss for a number of years. I had a very good experience. It's a superb corporation, but found that the straight jacket of corporate life was just not for me and mostly because for the same reason, as I think other members of

my own generation, you had to give up control to the company. Is it possible that the first shift actually occurred at the corporation rather than with the corporate man? Oh, yes, it's very possible, but I think you have this very strong theme running through the way corporations are going to develop in the 90s because you had these two things coming together. You have this new kind of social character that's evolved, this new individualism in this new generation of American developing at the same time that the economy has gone sour. And the impact of both of those is to reinforce one reinforces the other. Corporate America has yet to understand what the impact is of this new kind of social character. Paul Lienberger is a management consultant in Palo Alto, California and co -author with Bruce Tucker of the book, The New Individualists. It's 29 minutes past the hour.

You're listening to Monitor Radio on APR American Public Radio. Monitor Radio is produced by the Christian Science Monitor, a global source of news in radio, prints and television. Coming up, officials in Washington reacted the news that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has been removed from power. Also, development in Brazil is having a major impact on the people who have lived there for centuries. We'll have those stories and more still to come on Monitor Radio. From Boston, this is Monitor Radio, a worldwide broadcast service of the

Christian Science Monitor on American Public Radio. I'm Dale Wilman ahead in this half hour, the latest word on the situation in the Soviet Union. Also, preserving rainforests takes a toll on the people who live in them. One man's efforts to stop deforestation and what you can do to help and slow progress on making sure oil spills such as the one from the Exxon Valdez do not happen again. Those stories and more, but first this new summary. This is Monitor Radio News. I'm Rod Fritz. Major changes are underway in the Soviet Union today. Mikhail Gorbachev has been ousted as president. His vice president has taken control of the government and a state of emergency has been declared there. The tanks and armored personnel carriers have taken to the streets of Moscow. Correspondent Justin Burke has more for Moscow. The announcement Mr. Gorbachev was resigning because of health reasons came early this morning. Gennady Yenayev, who served as vice president under Mr. Gorbachev, has been named the acting president. The center of authority, however, is the so -called state of emergency

committee, which is comprised of mainly hardliners. Mr. Yenayev, KGB Chief Vladimir Kuchkov, Interior Minister Boris Pugo, Defense Minister Dmitriyazov, and Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, are all members of the committee. It appears the hardliners decided to stage a palace coup out of fear that a new treaty reshaping the Soviet Union would forever diminish their influence. That treaty was scheduled to be signed Tuesday by several republics, including the massive Russian Federation. The state of emergency that has been imposed in the country will last for six months. Mr. Gorbachev's were about to this time are unknown. He was to have attended the Union Treaty signing ceremony on Tuesday. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Justin Burke in Moscow. And word from the Soviet Union now is that Mikhail Gorbachev is under arrest. Things in the Soviet Union are changing very, very quickly. Boris Yeltsin, leader of the Russian Republic, is calling on a general strike by the people of the Soviet Union. He wants Gorbachev restored to power. The White House has offered no reaction to the news of the changes in the U .S .S

.R. spokesman for President George Bush at his vacation home in Kenny Bunkport, Maine, says the president is aware of the situation and he called it unexpected. He's readjusting his schedule for today to keep on top of all the news out of Moscow. In Europe, one British lawmaker called the developments the gravest news. In Paris, the monitors Bill Echickson was asked how the European community was reacting to the news of Gorbachev's outster. No one had expected it to everyone was pretty much on vacation. The European community itself, the Brussels organization basically takes all of August off. And people here in Europe were more concentrating on peacekeeping efforts in Yugoslavia than in the worrying signs of a change of leadership from the Soviet Union. The monitors Bill Echickson in Paris. Shivers of fear are reported spreading through East European countries that slipped free of the Kremlin's control less than two years ago. Post communist governments are reacting cautiously to the news out of Moscow.

A Hungarian source says the Budapest government is in an extraordinary session and an emergency session is being considered in Poland. This is monitor radio news. Residents of New England are bracing for Hurricane Bob, the west wall of the Hurricane's eye, swept over Cape Hatteris North Carolina late Sunday night, downing power lines and flooding roads. 100 ,000 people evacuated the coast of North Carolina. Red rain is said to be coming down in sheets along the Carolina coast. Hurricane Bob packing winds of 115 miles an hour or 185 kilometers an hour. Bob Sheets is director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida. He says the middle Atlantic states will see damage from the storm, especially coastal areas. It's a very low line land. It's a little narrow spits of sand and so there'll be a major erosion. There'll be buildings undermined and destroyed and that kind of condition can actually exist right

on up into the middle Atlantic states even though they're not going to get the full force of this hurricane. Hurricane warnings are now up from the North Carolina coast all the way to Massachusetts. Forecasters say Hurricane Bob could hit New England sometime tonight. A Palestinian group is urging followers to replace the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization with leaders who more widely represent the Israeli -occupied territories. The call for Yasser Arafat's ouster is believed to be the first from inside his own Al -Fatah movement. A leaflet from the group called the 14th of January Corrective Movement, blames Arafat for what it calls the wreckage defeat and failure of the PLO. Iran's foreign minister says he sees positive signs after meeting with the leader of a group lined to the hostage holders in Lebanon. The Iranian says he sees a positive trend in efforts to free the captives in the Middle East. Israel's top negotiator meanwhile says he is not expecting a quick breakthrough in the hostage situation and the U .S. government

has moved to end stiff restrictions placed on the Wall Street firm Solomon and cooperated. This is news from the Christian Science Monitor. This is Monitor Radio, I'm Dale Wilman. President Bush has called the removal of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev from power a disturbing development and said it could affect that country's relationship with the United States. Mr. Bush held a news conference this morning following the news that Communist Party hardliners had seized power and declared a state of emergency for the next six months. President Bush said no one knows for sure why the removal occurred, but there are a number of possibilities. Clearly some of the hardliners have been concerned about the rapidity of reform. They've been concerned about the demise of the Communist Party per se and I think they've also been concerned about the Soviet economy. But I want a coup of this matter you never know it's going to happen. I think Gorbachev is surprised is anybody obviously and let's just remain

open on this as to whether it's going to succeed or not. We were seeing first the first returns you might say coming in, but the people's commitment to reform and democracy and openness is very profound. And I think it's awfully or awfully early to say that those changes are reversible. Gorbachev's ouster set off demonstrations and confrontations with armored vehicles in Moscow. Thousands of people who had gathered in front of the Moscow City Council marched to a square there next to the Kremlin, which was the site of previous pro -reformed demonstrations. President Bush said that Mikhail Gorbachev has been a strong force for change in the Soviet union and until things are clear in that country, U .S. help will be put in the back burner. I think things will be on hold if we're going to set back a democracy, set back reform. Obviously not only the United States, but Europe will put things

on hold as well. There's a lot of stake in all of this and certainly I wouldn't go forward with aid or assistance when you have this kind of extra constitutional action taken by handful of people backed up by the military there. There have been reports of military movements in the Soviet capital. Tanks and armored personnel carriers are on the streets there. The group now in control of the country has announced that Soviet Vice President Genady Yanayev is now the country's president. President Bush told reporters that for right now the U .S. has few options. Very little we can do except to reiterate in total cooperation with the European allies our commitment to these principles of reform and openness and democratic change and that's what we are going to continue to do. I have indicated that so business will not be business as usual because we will not support economic aid programs for example if this adherence to extra constitutional means it

goes forward. President Bush, speaking to reporters at his summer home in Kenobunk Port Main, meanwhile Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin is called on Soviet citizens to strike in response to the action. He called what has happened there in a necessary coup. This is Monitor Radio, I'm Dale Wilman.

The ouster of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has taken most world leaders by surprise. In Europe many top officials were on their vacation when they heard first word of the situation. The monitor's Bill Etrickson is in Paris. August 15th weekend the

French foreign minister was at his country home in Dordonia and said if confirmed he almost like he didn't want to believe this could be true yet it would be very very serious. He of course though is rushing back to Paris and I think the government will meet later today. In the rest of Europe I think it's pretty much the same. Chancellor don't know what to say they didn't expect this and I think the best sign of it is the only reaction we're hearing coming out of Britain is an anonymous statement by a spokesman for the British foreign office who says you know this came totally out of the blue. Should we expect a unified European response from when there is a response or will it probably be peace meal? Well I think that the general European position will be similar that this is weak supported Gorbachev and we're upset to see him go. We worry about the resurgence of authoritarianism in the Soviet Union. Beyond that though there may be some distinct

differences in how to react. I think the Germans and the French will be more eager to keep the lines open to Gorbachev's successors than the British. They were they were more interested in the economic or more pushing more for the economic investment. Exactly and they're more willing to overlook the political shortcomings of the regime because Germany still has 300 ,000 or so troops and their central interest is that these troops leave under the agreement or the next that they've signed with Moscow over the next two years. So they're going to do everything possible. I think to keep the lines of communication open with Moscow. Now the Britain for example doesn't have that same interest in pleasing the new leaders in Moscow and I think that's a fundamental difference of interest. The French are somewhat in between they don't have Soviet troops here of course but traditionally they've been more eager to strike up good relations with the Soviet Union no matter of what political regime

is there. Europe has been much more quick to respond to Gorbachev anyway haven't they? Yes I mean it was back even before Gorbachev took over and he made his first public visit and he went to London and Margaret Thatcher of all people said you know this is a man we can do business with. The Europeans were willing to take Gorbachev at his word where I would say the Americans are under one only wanted to see Teed's first. The Europeans had more to gain from this I think than anyone else. I mean after all Germany was reunited largely thanks to Gorbachev the old iron curtain dividing east and west Europe has fallen at least because Gorbachev was willing to to not stop the process of democratization in eastern Europe. So for Europe Gorbachev is a seminal figure in a way that he isn't for the United States he affected how people really lives here on the continent. And there's really no indication of the feeling toward the people who have taken

over or taken over power at this point. No there's really no reaction I mean people here are still asking is this really for true I mean in the French foreign ministry statement there is this feeling we're not sure that we can confirm this even that the change of power has taken place so people here know pretty much the same as in the United States that the successor is the storage communist hardliner probably supported by the KGB and army but there's very little feeling for what the new regime will do. Bill thanks so much for your insight. Thank you. The motto is Bill Etchickson reporting from Paris. . . Final results from Sunday's midterm elections in Mexico will

not be announced until Wednesday but allegations of fraud have already begun to surface. Early reports indicate that there were at least some confrontations between ruling party and opposition party supporters. At stake are all 500 seats in Mexico's congress or chamber of deputies as well as half of the 64 seats in the senate and governorships of six of Mexico's more than 30 states. Monitor correspondence and dean Robbins reports from Mexico City. Irregularities is the buzz word here as opposition parties quite fall play. The midterm elections were the most watched in Mexico's history. Human rights groups intellectuals and community activists were armed with high tech gadgets such as cellular phones and computer modems to monitor the electoral process. Yet despite all the modern technology observers like their counterparts at the federal electoral institute are still unable to give preliminary results. Sergio Aguayo is president of the Mexican Academy of Human Rights a group with spearheaded one of the civic observation teams. Well it takes about a week to get the official results and that is

precisely one of the issues of contention in the Mexican political system because many citizens want more efficient a more modern if you want electoral system and we haven't been able to get that. Short of solid results, Mexicans have plenty of irregularities to address. The right wing national action party or PAN claims that four people were injured trying to prevent a ballot box from being stolen in Laon Guanajuato where there's a close race for governor. The PAN candidate Vicente Fox is the former head of Coca -Cola in Mexico. If elected he would be only the second opposition governor in Mexico's history. Yet still pro -business like the ruling party candidate. In the state of San Luis Potosi the ruling institutional revolutionary party or pre has its candidate south of Sabata. He's facing a tough competition in the form of a coalition candidate Salvador Nava who was supported by three parties on the right and left both sides of claimed victory. Nava like

Fox has a good chance of becoming an opposition governor but unlike Fox Navata does not support a free trade agreement between Mexico the U .S. and Canada. Analysts say that President Salinas wants full support for his economic program aimed at Mexico's rapid integration with its northern neighbors. That's why they say the ruling party went all out to ensure major victories for their candidates. Critics charge that the government used its recently inaugurated public works program called Solidarity to buy votes. Solidarity has brought electricity, running water and other basic services to poor communities all across Mexico. Solidarity's much publicized logo and colors are remarkably similar to that of the freeze. Just beyond Mexico city limits where urban sprawl meets what was vast farmland factory workers have illegally built cement brick homes amidst cornfields. Jorge Garcia is a poll watcher for the pre in colonial Carmen. Garcia represents

a new breed of pre supporters. One's that the ruling party worked hard to win over while official results won't be available for several days. It seems likely that the pre is still on top. For the Christian Science Monitor in Mexico City, I'm Sandina Robin. You're listening to Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor. It's 11 minutes before the hour. In environmental news, the river Nile, the main source of water for homes, agriculture and industry in Egypt, is threatened by untreated wastewater released by factories in Cairo. The head of the Water Pollution Department of Egypt's National Research Center says that while sewage problems are being tackled, wastewater treatment projects are slow in being developed. Experts say the water quality is still

comparatively good, but could worsen rapidly. In the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Bahrain, a disease whose causes are still unknown is killing large amounts of fish. Bahrain's fishing director says he does not have direct evidence that the disease is linked to contamination from oil spills during the Gulf War, but would not rule out that possibility. The disease was first reported two weeks ago, and that's our environmental updates. This is Monitor Radio. When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil 500 years ago, the country's Atlantic coast was forest, 4 ,000 square miles of forest. Today, development is left only about 5 % of that forest standing, but scientists say it still contains 200 ,000 types of plants at animals, many of which are found nowhere else

in the world. To conserve what's left, Brazilian authorities have been turning many of the forests into preservation zones. While the effort is helping save the forests, it is also having a devastating impact on some of Brazil's indigenous people. The Monitor's Martin Gillam reports. Brazil's 200 ,000 -acre Jurea Reserve, south of Sao Paulo, was given protected status five years ago, and that's caused complications because for centuries, the reserve has been home to a native people called the Qaisaras, whose ancestry is a mixture of Indian, Portuguese and African. The Qaisaras always made their living by harvesting the forest. That meant cutting down the palm trees that grow wild here. Buyers from the city would come and pay good money for the hearts of palm, used in expensive salads, but now the cutting is illegal, banned by the government. Together, the trees provided nearly all the Qaisaras income. 86 -year -old

Ignacio Alves says his village of Aguapeu used to be a land of plenty, but no longer. You can't cut it down. If we do, they'll rest us, and they'll whip us, and they'll beat us. This land is a gift from God. It's just not right. The Qaisaras have been restricted to cultivating more conventional crops, like manioc or rice or vegetables. The manioc root has become the staple of the Qaisaras diet in Aguapeu village. They can no longer afford to buy meat, nor can they hunt for it. Hunting has been banned too. Whatever manioc is left over is turned into flour for sale, but the Qaisaras say it brings in less than one -tenth of their previous income. Village resident Nevaldo Costa says many Qaisaras have abandoned the forest. Whatever job people can get in the city, they take, because everything has stopped here. There's no way to survive here. Working with palms and caschetta was a way of life here. Then the law came. An

estimated one -third of the Jurea reserves 3 ,000 Qaisaras have moved to towns and cities in the past five years. One of them is Agustinho de Silva, who came from Aguapeu three years ago with his wife, five children, and his wife's parents. Now, instead of living in a forest, his family lives in a shack beside an open sewer. He'd come to town looking for work, but can find it only two or three days a week for six dollars a day. Once I had everything, always enough food in the house to feed everyone for two or three days, because I could take everything out of my own plot. Today, I have nothing. I can't even offer you a cup of coffee, because I have no money. It's not only the Qaisaras who are suffering from the migration. Their problems are becoming the city's problems, according to the mayor of Aguape, Ariavaldo Teixeira. Malnutrition, many

are going hungry, so we have kids living on the streets, prostitution and violence increasing in Aguape. Health problems are on the rise, meaning higher city costs for doctors and hospitals. State government officials say the dislocation of the Qaisaras' traditional lifestyle is unfortunate and could have been better planned. But Sao Paulo's Secretary for Environment, Fausto Perez de Campos, says the forest must be protected. The Qaisara is what we call a woodsman view of life. He looks around him and sees very lush vegetation and animals from which to make his living, and assumes that the state is simply interfering unnecessarily in his life. But our job as managers is to look at the big picture, as though from a satellite, and to see that natural resources are preserved for all society. According to some anthropologists, however, indigenous people throughout Brazil are being treated by officials as inconsequential. Reinaldo Arruda is an anthropologist in Sao Paulo.

To the government, these people are archaic, almost archaeological specimens from the past, so their point of view about these people is quite negative. All of the knowledge they have of the Atlantic forest, just like the knowledge of Amazon people have of the Amazon, is being treated with disdain. Agustinus, says many environmental lobbyists regard plants as more important than people. Qaisaras, like Agustinus, say they're trapped, that their traditional skills are insufficient for the city and illegal in the forest. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Martin Gillum in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Deforestation of tropical rainforest is threatening entire species of animals with extinction in many parts of the world. Professor Kamal Bava of the University of Massachusetts in Boston is trying to stop that trend. Recently, Bava was awarded a $150 ,000 grant to do research on how people's lifestyles and habits lead to deforestation and

what can be done to prevent it. As a result of very rapid deforestation, we are losing a lot of species in tropical rainforest, and furthermore, within species, we are losing a lot of genetic diversity. I will be examining the problem of deforestation in a very broad context. In other words, not looking at the biological consequences of deforestation, but also examining the social political economic dimensions of deforestation in a very local area in South India. You talk about the diversity of species and the reduction of this way, specifically. Give me an example of what you mean by that. Well, it is estimated that as a result of tropical deforestation, we are losing anywhere between two to 50 species per day, and then we are losing habitats. What are we losing if these species disappear? Many of these plant species are

very, very economically useful. They provide us with food plants, they provide us plants for medicinal uses, so the consequences can be very severe. I'm assuming the major loss is through human encroachment? Yes, the major loss, one would say, is due to human encroachment. For economic reasons, for need for firewood, for need for housing materials, for more space. For developmental projects like hydroelectric dams, for mining, for industrial uses in the sense, the forests are cleared and monocultures of species like eucalyptus and other species are planted, so they provide variety of causes for deforestation. With your grant, what do you hope to do with the rainforests? What I want to do is examine this problem of deforestation at a very local level. The problem so far has been that we have these global estimates of losses in tropical forests, but the global estimates

may not be very accurate because they are based on worldwide figures, which are provided by the governments, and there might be some inaccuracy in these figures. But more important, by studying the problem of deforestation at local level, you can identify causes of deforestation in a more precise manner, and that is one aspect which I want to pursue very vigorously. What are the needs of the industry in that particular region? What are the needs of the local people and how these needs can be fulfilled by practicing some alternative methods of natural resource use? Well, Professor, thank you. Good luck with your work. Congratulations on your award. Thank you. Professor Kamala Bava is head of the Biology Department at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts. You're

listening to Monitor Radio. I'm Dale Wilman. This is APR, American Public Radio.