Subj: Latvian Mailer and AOL Chat Reminder for Sunday, September 17
Date: 2000-September-15
File: D:\+www.latvians.com\JUL95\Picts\Brivdabas-loom-6737-32.jpg (62683 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute

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Sveiki!

Things are even more hectic this week than last! Silvija and I will be out of town for a week, so expect next week's mailer on Saturday or Sunday. This week's mailer won't be put up in the archive on our web site until next week.

This week's link is governmental.

In the news:

• Latvia, China to expand parliamentary cooperation
• Discriminatary language law comes into force in Latvia, as reported by the Russian press service ITAR-TASS. No mention is made of the laws approval by European authorities, rather, implying that rebellion is rising.
• Latvia to drop simplified procedure for border crossing in accordance with EU standards
• "Latvia — Killing Field" — The Nazi horrors of Rumbula are still haunting us
• Russia determined to launch Baltic pipeline system to save transit costs (major income source to Latvia)
• World Bank approves loan for solid waste disposal

and regionally:

• You have to hand it to the Lithuanians and their view of the world. The same ethnic brethren who brought us a memorial to Frank Zappa now bring us "Putin Vodka"

Finally, this week's picture is from July 1955, from the Brivdabas Muzejs.

Remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link: Town Square - Latvian chat. And thanks to you participating on the Latvian message board as well: Click here: LATVIA (both on AOL only).

Ar visu labu,

IN ACCORDANCE WITH AOL'S MAIL POLICY and good manners, please let Silvija (sturgalve@aol.com) know if you wish to be deleted from our mailing list. Past mailers are archived at latvians.com. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

This week's link is to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. Their news releases are available in English and in Latvian.

http://www.mfa.gov.lv/

COMTEX Newswire Saturday, 2000. September 9. 18:22:00 PM

    RIGA Latvia, (Sept. 9) XINHUA — China and Latvia agreed here on Saturday to make continued efforts to expand exchanges and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.
    The agreement came at a meeting between visiting China's top legislator Li Peng and chairman of Parliament of Latvia Janis Straume.
    Straume said it is important for Latvia to keep friendly and cooperative relations with China as the world is in a process of multi-polarization and economic globalization. Li's visit will inject new vigor into bilateral relations, he added.
    He stressed that Latvia is grateful of China because it was among the first to recognize the independence of Latvia, an important historic event of the country.
    Li Peng said China recognized Latvia and established diplomatic relations with Latvia soon after the disband of the Soviet Union, as China observes an independent foreign policy of peace, and insists that all countries, large or small, should be equal.
    People of each country have the right to choose their own social system and ideology, Li said, adding that China supports Latvia's efforts in maintaining the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and understands Latvia's policy of joining the European Union.
    Straume said Latvia will continue to observe the one-China policy.
    Li Peng said the two parliaments should increase contacts, and expand cooperation in the economic, trade and science and technology areas. Li invited Straume to visit China, and Straume accepted with pleasure.
    Li arrived here Saturday afternoon on a three-day official visit.

Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

COMTEX Newswire Wednesday, 2000. September 6. 4:50:00 PM

    RIGA, September 6 (Itar-Tass) — The Latvian government has urged the population of the republic "not to yield to the appeals to start a civil disobedience campaign," made by the opposition and the Russian community, following the coming into force of the discriminatory law on the official language. The cabinet of ministers circulated an official statement on that occasion on Tuesday night. In the opinion of local observers, the statement is evidence of a considerable tension, which emerged in Latvian society after the adoption of the law.
    The law, which came into force on September 1, bans or perceptibly curtails the use of any other languages, but Latvian, in the official and business communication, in the sphere of education and in the mass media. The association called "For human rights in united Latvia," which has 16 seats in the Sejm out of 100, is going to lead the campaign of non-violent resistance to the application of the law.

rom/fil (c) 2000 ITAR-TASS

COMTEX Newswire Monday, 2000. September 11. 8:27:00 PM

    PSKOV, September 11 (Itar-Tass) — Following Estonia which introduced as of this Monday visas for the travel of citizens residing in borderline areas, Latvia is going to put a stop to the simplified procedure for the crossing of the border with Russia. Five districts of Russia's Pskov region are bordering on Latvia.
    Pskov governor Yevgeny Mikhailov was notified of this decision by Latvia's ambassador to Russia Imants Daudis, who visited Pskov recently. There is yet no mechanism for visa issuing and it will be necessary to install checkpoints on both sides of the border, which will require considerable outlays.
    Estonia, just as all Baltic countries, aspires to membership in the European Union, one of conditions for which is the establishment of a strict visa regime, which will make across- the-border travel more difficult and almost impossible for poor old people.

saf/gor (c) 2000 ITAR-TASS

AP US & WorldThursday, 2000. September 14. 14:21:00 PM
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
By MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Writer

    RUMBULA, Latvia (AP) — The old pine forest is now circled by car dealerships and littered with abandoned tires and scrap metal, so most passers-by would hardly recognize it as site of one of the worst atrocities of the Nazi era.
    In just two days in 1941, some 25,000 Jews were put to death here on the outskirts of Latvia's capital Riga, just off a busy four-lane highway to Moscow.
    A meeting Thursday of prosecutors from seven countries, invited by Latvia to compare evidence of nearly 60-year-old war crimes, has focused attention on this killing field.
    The main targets of the conference are Konrads Kalejs, 86, and Karlis Ozols, 87. Both reportedly were officers in the Arajs Kommando, a Nazi death squad staffed mostly by Latvians and involved in various massacres, including those at Rumbula. Kalejs and Ozols now live in Australia and have denied involvement.
    During the 1941-1944 Nazi occupation, 90 percent of Latvia's 90,000 Jews perished. The Rumbula massacres stood out in their gruesome assembly line efficiency.
    German SS officers bragged they'd used 25,000 bullets at Rumbula, a bullet per murder, Latvian-American historian Andrew Ezergailis, the leading expert on Nazi atrocities in Latvia, wrote in his book, "The Holocaust in Latvia."
    Margers Vestermanis, one of few survivors of the Riga ghetto where Jews were interned, worked as a slave laborer alongside Soviet war prisoners in mid-November 1941 when they warned him about pits they'd dug in the sandy soil at Rumbula.
    The Soviets said the pits were mass graves intended for Jews. Verstermanis, then a teen-ager and now age 75, didn't believe them. "No. They're not for us. They're for you!" he recalled telling them in response.
    That the Soviets were right became clear on Nov. 30, 1941, when Nazis, including Germans and Latvians, swept into the Jewish ghetto, roused men, women and children, and forced them onto the cobblestone streets.
    To lull people into cooperating in their own death march, they were told they were being sent to a new camp and to pack a 44-pound suitcase, said Vestermanis, the director of Riga's Jewish museum.
    Victims, many aware they were doomed, walked through the ghetto's barbed wire gates to Rumbula, 6 miles away. Stripped naked, they were beaten and kicked through a gauntlet, one by one, to the pits. Then each was shot in the back of the head.
    The next day, Vestermanis heard people talking about the massacres, but he didn't believe them. "Who could believe you could kill 12,000 people in one day?" he said.
    A week later, on Dec. 8, 1941, his father, mother and sister were marched to Rumbula and slain, while Vestermanis was again forced to work for the Nazis.
    Latvia recovered independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Ever since, its leaders have grappled — not too convincingly, human rights and Jewish groups claim — with how to prosecute alleged war criminals.
    Latvian prosecutors have been preparing war crimes charges against Kalejs based on evidence he served as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp at Salaspils, a few miles from Rumbula.
    A purpose of the conference was to scrutinize the strength of Latvia's evidence against Kalejs and determine if it met international legal standards. Investigators from the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany and Israel attended.
    If Kalejs or Ozols were indicted, extradited and put on trial, it would be the first time an alleged Nazi would face a Latvian court on genocide charges since the Baltic state regained independence.
    Some Latvians too young to witness or remember what happened nevertheless are haunted by the accounts they've heard.
    Sergejs Bojars, a watchman at a truck depot near the killing field, says he walks through the site, which is marked by a small monument, on his way to work every day. His mother described seeing Jews going by her house near Rumbula, and learning later that they had been slaughtered.
    "Especially at night, I can't help thinking about what happened there," said the 51-year-old Latvian, clutching a guard dog by the collar. "I can feel the spirits of the dead."

COMTEX Newswire Tuesday, 2000. September 12. 10:02:00 PM

    ST. PETERSBURG, September 12 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian government is determined to launch a project of the Baltic pipeline system in 2001, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said at a conference in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The conference focused on the construction of the pipeline and ports in Primorsk and Ust-Lug.
    The project has to be implemented within a set period, and the government "will monthly control the works," Kasyanov remarked.
    A reason for the project is that Russia loses up to 1.5 billion dollars in the shipment of cargo through the Ventspils and Odessa ports, which became foreign territories after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Proceeds from the transit of Russian raw materials makes 25 percent of budgets of Latvia and Estonia.
    The Baltic pipeline system will enable Russia to export oil to the West through domestic pipes and ports. The transportation spending will make only 4 percent of the oil costs abroad, while the Ukrainian tariffs are twice higher and tariffs of the Baltic republics are four times higher.
    The project is also important from the point of view of the economic security. If Russia has an oil port, none will be able to impose unprofitable export terms on it.

yer/dro (c) 2000 ITAR-TASS

COMTEX Newswire Friday, 2000. September 5. 7:32:00 PM

    SEP 15, 2000, M2 Communications - WASHINGTON — The World Bank today approved US$2.22 million for the Solid Waste Management Project for Latvia which will demonstrate self-sustaining, modern management of municipal solid waste through maximum collection and utilization of landfill gas in the Liepaja Region.
    The project will address serious environmental and public health concerns, through improved solid waste management and the development of a waste treatment facility based on enhanced waste decomposition. The project will include a twinning arrangement with an experienced foreign operator, as well as general capacity building for the municipal authorities.
    The project includes the following components:
    Investment Component. This component is comprised of the following sub-components: remediation; technical and operational improvements, installation of energy cells and landfill gas collection system; installation of a power generator; vehicles and waste collection points; managerial support through twinning arrangements; detailed design; and implementation support.
    Technical Assistance Component. This component involves training and capacity building at the local and regional level for solid waste management utilities, municipal authorities and private sector companies involved in the implementation of the National Solid Waste Management Strategy.
    The total cost of the project is US$16.97 million, including funding from the Latvian Government, the European Commission, local Latvian governments (provincial, city and district), the Nordic Investment Bank, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and other unidentified sources. This is a fixed-spread loan with a maturity of 17 years, including a 5-year grace period.
    Since Latvia joined the World Bank in 1992, commitments to the country total approximately US$357 million for 18 projects.

(C)1994-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTDCONTACT: Gina Ciagne
Tel: +1 202 458 4166
e-mail: Gciagneworldbank.org

AP Financial Friday, 2000. September 15. 13:42:00 PM
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
By LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press Writer

    VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Putin Vodka hit liquor stores Friday in what some are calling a clever marketing ploy that capitalizes on the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    The vodka, produced by the ex-Soviet republic's Alita distillery, features a label in white, blue and red — the colors of Russia's flag. "Putin" is emblazoned in large white letters.
    A bottle of Putin costs $7 — a little less than most top-end vodkas in Lithuania.
Alita spokesman Vilmantas Peciura maintained the brand wasn't meant to refer to the Russian president. He said it derived from "putinas," a tree with red berries found in Lithuania, although the vodka reportedly is clear and not flavored.
    Many people scoffed at the denial.
    "What a brilliant idea," said Tautvydas Musteikis of Gray Advertising. "They've received tremendous publicity and are getting more attention with every denial of the Russian link."
    Since Lithuania broke with the Soviet Union in 1991, relations with Russia have sometimes been strained. Many Lithuanians have expressed suspicion about Putin's past work for the Soviet secret police, saying he can't be trusted.
    The new vodka now is sold only in Lithuania, though the distillery said it may decide to export it later, perhaps to Russia.
    Russian Embassy spokesman Boris Kirilov said he knew about the vodka and said he didn't think Russians would be offended by it.
    Putin, a judo champion in his youth, is said to drink little.

This week's picture is of a working loom at the Brivdabas Muzejs (Open-Air Ehtnographic Museum) in Riga. It's sort of the Sturbridge, Massachusetts of Latvia, with buildings gathered from all over Latvia to retell the story of living in earlier times.