Nes A Pe eRe -REAGAN MUST ANSWER Washington is watching with trepidation growing public opinion against Reagan’s policy in Central America. According to a recent poll two in three U.S. citizens do not support their government’s action in the area. The Mining of Nicaraguan ports, support for death squads in El Salvador and training of right wing armies to Overthrow Managua’s government are infringements of both international and U.S. law. _ Families fear for safety — of UNITA kidnap victims © _ South African UNITA forces-have been respon- sible for over 100,000 deaths and disappearances Since the liberation of Angola in 1975. During an attack on the Southern resort town of Sumbe, on March 25, 84 foreign specialists work- Ing in Angola were kidnapped, including three ulgarians and nationals of Great Britain, Portug- al, the Philippines and Zaire. ’ For the relatives of the missing, lack of word and the growing uncertainty have become a nightmare. Sofia News recently interviewed the families. of Pediatrician Ekaterina Stoyanova 43, physics teacher Lazarina Dimitrova, 30, and her husband Emil Konstantinov 28, also a teacher who were kidnapped during the raid. ok * * The village of Troud, the home of Dr. Ekaterina Stoyanova. The face of her 74-year old mother Petkanais like the earth — strong, noble and wrink- led. “I did not want Katya to travel so far away. ere is a war there. But she said: Don’t worry, mother. Nobody can harm me. I’m neither a sol- dier, nor a politician, I will just cure people — that’s all.”’ , j : And that’s exactly what she was doing. Already before her departure in 1982, she thoroughly ac- quainted herself with tropical diseases and con- tinued to read specialized literature on Sumbe. It Seems as if a miracle had happened: medicines Were lacking in the pharmacies, yet after Ekaterine’’ arrived in town, infant mortality dropped sharply. Husband Georgi: “‘She is simply dedicated. She was born to cure children. She would constantly be at the hospital and even at home people would look for her night and day.’’ Son. Darin wonders: _ ‘Moms living right next to the beach, yet she had hardly any tan.” _ When parting in Luanda, Dr. Stoyanova prom- 1sed her husband and son: “‘I’ll be aback home on October 8”’ (that’s when her contract expired). I was unable to meet daughter Vanya. She had gone to Sofia to the Bulgarian Red Cross. The husband: ‘‘I hope the Red Cross will be able to help soon. In Sumbe the locals told terrible things of the cruelties of UNITA. * * * The village of Ognyanovo, the native home of Lazarina Dimitrova. Her mother Grozdena and Dimiter, one of her three brothers, try to be brave and hide their worry behind clenched teeth. The mother: *‘ What will they do to Lazarina and Emil? They are no criminals! They are teachers. And they’ve never said a bad word about their pupils. They wanted to learn. Some times they would not even have any breakfast, but still they would study their physics. They’ve been there for five years now, never complaining of anything. And now look what’s happened ...”’ “I only hope the kidnappers won’t harm them says Dimitrova. Many village people come to see us, pitying them, even crying, but we try to keep up our spirit at home. We want to believe that nothing bad will happen to people with such a humane profession who have nothing in common with war.” The mother: *‘When I first heard the news I did not feel brave at all, I must say. My heart seemed to be stuck in my thoat. Then I told myslef, get your- self together, all you need now is to die of worry and never see my girl again.”’ Although quite a lot younger, Emil’s brother and his wife in Varna are unable to contain their worry. Emil’s brother: ‘‘We are very scared, that they could be tortured physically and mentally. Emil has told us a lot about attacks of this kind and has mentioned that the UNITA people are particularly ° cruel towards teachers. If we only knew where they are and if they are alive. I’m scared that our mother won’t be able to stand this uncertainty for very long.” PHOTO — TASS U.S. diplomat ousted from Kabul KABUL — The Afghanistan government has announced the expulsion of Richard C. Vandiver, Third Secretary of the U.S. embassy here on charges of espionage. An official note delivered to the embassy Charge d'affaires gave Vandiver 48 hours to leave the country. - Flotilla full of criminals CRANFORD, USA — About a third of the Cubans who ar- rived in the U.S. on the 1980 ‘‘freedom flotilla’’ have been in- volved in a wide range of crime that will be hard to stop, said detective Richard Alvarez, a specialist in Cuban refugees, at a police seminar here. More than 40,000 of the 125,000 Cubans who arrived on the flotilla have committed crimes ranging from robbery to homicide. Drug traffic is their strong point, Alvarez explained, since it provides more money and allows them to be less noticeable. In Los Angeles, Roberto Lopez, who arrived via Mariel, has been indicted for two drug murders and is linked to an additional 50 gang slayings in the area. At the time of the flotilla, Cuban President Fidel Castro had warned then president James Carter that the U.S. was taking “scum and criminals’’. Struggle for development in Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA — Efforts to promote economic development and strengthen national defence are Ethiopia’s top priorities as the country celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Revolution in Sept. In a recent statement, President Mengistu Haile Mariam called on the people to make great efforts to help overcome backwardness. According to the Ethiopian leader, the creation of the people’s democratic republic will be preceded by the forma- tion of the workers party and these two elements cannot be viewed in isolation from the struggle to develop the economy and strengthen the country’s defence potential. U.S. threats anger Mexico Newsweek’s story aroused immediate indignation in Mexico. The U.S. magazine announced that President Reagan was plan- ning to tell his Mexican counterpart, Miguel de la Madrid, that if Mexico .wanted to continue receiving U.S. economic aid, it } would have to support Washinton’s policies in Central America. Reagan’s message was delivered to De la Madrid over the protests of the State Department and U.S. ambassador in Mexico John Gavin. According to Newsweek, the CIA is also pressuring heads of - Central American states, friendly to the U.S. to lean on Mexican officials, to fall in line behind Washington. Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party warned that the U.S. is planning to unleash a “‘propaganda war”’ in coming months to interfere in all‘nations of the western hemisphere. Opposition parties called for their government to revitalize its participation in the Contadora Group, an alliance demanding a political solution to strife in the area. No uranium in Afghanistan The U.S. Wall Street Journal recently published an article accusing the Soviet Union of robbing Afghanistan of its natural resources, including gas and uranium. Kabul has repeatedly stated that there are none and has never been any uranium deposits on its territory. Concerning gas sales, its worth noting that Soviet-Afghan co- operation in this field began long before the 1978 revolution. As far back as the late 1950s, joint Soviet-Afghan teams began geological prospecting for gas and oil in the northern regions. Since, 1967, the Soviet Union has been the main customer for Afghan natural gas. Afghanistan has benefited from the arrangement. Sales of gas to the USSR supplies the state budget with close to 50 per cent of its income. The gas is also raw material in the production of nitrogen fertilizer. Nicaragua faces air, naval blockade MANAGUA — More than 400 freighters dock at the Nic- araguan port of Corinto, in the Pacific, every year. This repre- sents about $23-million annually in demurrage and service charges to the Nicaraguan economy. The port of Corinto also handles 75 per cent of the country’s imports and exports. The mining of the port by CIA backed contra groups is serious- ly affecting the nation’s fledgling resources. Three fishing boats and three merchant ships have been lost in the last month by a combination of mining, and attacks by speedboats, helicopters or airplanes. ava On this background an international meeting, initiated under the signature of Edith Ballyntine, head of the Women’s Inter- national League for Peace and Freedom, is meeting May 3-6 in Lisbon, Portugal to rally international support in defence of | Nicaragua and stave off an imminent invasion of the newly liber- ated Central American nation. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 9, 1984 e 9 —