NEIL TANGRI
Field director for the Multinationals Resource Center, Tangri has worked in India on development issues. He said today: “The past 10 years have seen dramatic changes in the Indian economy. Frustrated by corruption and a sense of losing the economic race to China and the ‘tiger’ economies, Indian politicians on both the right and left have thrown their support behind economic reform policies of privatization, deregulation, and increased international commerce. These policies have buoyed the fortunes of the wealthy to an unprecedented degree, but also increased poverty. Clinton’s trip to India will attempt to ensure a firm U.S. corporate presence in the expanding Indian economy.”

BILL MESLER
Former investigative reporter for the Nation magazine, Mesler has also been an editor at the Korea Economic Journal. He said today: “The Chinese reaction to the Democratic Progressive Party’s victory has actually been quite prudent and restrained. This is an opportunity for a stable resolution of the differences over the status of Taiwan. Just like it took a Nixon to go to China, maybe it takes a [president-elect] Chen Shui-bian to go to China. He could be the person to put to rest the fears of war. The Nationalists lost the election because they split their vote; there hasn’t been a major shift in Taiwanese opinion…. Also, keep in mind that Chen has moderated his position on independence.”

DAVID KOTZ
Co-author of “Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet System” and a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Kotz said today: “Russia’s presidential election shows how an oligarchy can masquerade as a democracy. Former President Boris Yeltsin, by launching a popular war against Chechnya and stepping down ahead of schedule, has all but assured his handpicked successor, Acting President Vladimir Putin, of victory in the election on March 26. The charade of an election reassures the West that Russia is continuing on the path of ‘democracy and market reform.’ However, the election is really a device to sustain a regime dedicated to protecting the interests of Russia’s corrupt and wealthy new oligarchs. The Kremlin will continue to assist the oligarchs as they loot the country while the economy declines and the majority sinks into ever-deeper poverty.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020