Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 08:18:44 -0800 (PST)
From: Alice McCombs <amccombs@igc.apc.org>

Contents

1. MEXICO: Mexican Miners OCCUPY mine!
2. GREENLines #815 Excerpt: MINE CO. SEEKS COMPENSATION
3. AUSTRALIA: Unionists arrested at Rio Tinto's Gordonstone Coal Mine
4. INDONESIA: Freeport Updates
  a. Freeport agrees to cough up more royalties
  b. Indonesian Fallout Hits Mining

Stop the Siege!
Help the citizens of Nashville, Wisconsin
Tax-deductible contributions may be made to
Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund
c/o Chuck Sleeter / Joanne Tacopina
P.O. Box 106
Pickerel, WI 54465

FAX: 715-478-2527
http://www.nashvillewiundersiege.com/index.html
Help@nashvillewiundersiege.com

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1. MEXICO: Mexican Miners OCCUPY mine!

Topic 225                Mexican Miners OCCUPY mine!
dwalters                         labr.global               7:36 PM  Feb 13, 1999

Two days ago, Thursday, the leadership of the Section 65 for the
National Mineworkers Union of Mexico under intense pressure from the
National Leadership of the union (a leadership tied to the PRI and CTM)
voted to call off the strike that had been going on in Cananea since
late November of last year. The strike was called off without any of
the workers demands being met. At a general assembly meeting yesterday
- Friday - the workers rejected the leadership's call and voted to
overwhelmingly to go back out on stike. This time demanding as well the
re-nationalization of the copper mine (which had been privatized some 8
years ago).

The morning the mineworkers there families and the Women's Front in
Defense of Cananea, voted to OCCUPY the mine and to place barricades
throughout the city in anticipation of an army siege. Gov't troops have
been mobilized and are headed toward Cananea. Supporters of the
mineworkers are calling on the International labor mov't and supporters
of labor and democratic rights to pledge their support for the
mineworkers struggle and to call on the authorities to meet the demands
of the striking miners. See below on where to send letters of
support/protest. Please send correspondence to:

Gemma Lopez-Limon
Chair, Cananea Mineworkers Support Committee for
Baja California and Sonora.
glopez@faro.ens.uabc.mx

Also please send copies to WHC at  theorganizer@labornet.org or to the
WHC address below.

Manuel Ernesto
Romero Reyes, General Secretary, Section 65 of the Mineworkers
Union of the Mexican Republic (Cananea) to (fax) 011-663-66-73-92
your statements to the WHC Continuations Committee, c/o San
Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San
Francisco, CA 94109 or fax (415) 440-9297.

Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
President of Mexico
Fax: 011-525-516-5762

Lic. Armando Lopez Nogales
Governor of the State of Sonora
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Fax: 011-562-17-41-26

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2. GREENLines #815 Excerpt: MINE CO. SEEKS COMPENSATION

Topic 50                    GREENLines Issue #815
RFeather                        list.actgreen              5:26 PM  Feb 11, 1999
(at albq.defenders.org)

GREENLines, Friday, Feb. 12, 1999 from GREEN,
the GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network,
A project of Defenders of Wildlife
(505) 255-5966 or E-mail rfeather@defenders.org
(c) GREEN/Defenders of Wildlife 1999

The 2/9 Billings Gazette reported Canyon Resources Corporation, owners of a
proposed gold mine in Montana, plan to sue the state of Montana for $600
million in lost profits as a result of the recently passed initiative
banning cyanide leach mining. Jim Jensen, of the Montana Environmental
Information Center, questioned the timing of the announcement, which comes
days before the state legislature considers bills to modify the initiative.
He said the announcement "shows that this desperate penny-stock company is
simply trying to politically blackmail the Legislature."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network (GREEN)

Director's office:  PO Box 40046, Albuquerque, NM 87196-0046
  (505) 255-5966  fax: (505) 255-5953  rfeather@defenders.org

DC Office:  1101 14th St., NW, Suite 1400, Washington,  DC  20005
  (202) 682-9400  fax: (202) 682-1331
  ewingerter@defenders.org, gclouser@defenders.org

Visit our web site at:  http://www.defenders.org/grnhome.html

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3. AUSTRALIA: Unionists arrested at Rio Tinto's Gordonstone Coal Mine

labornews                        labr.global               1:42 PM  Feb 12, 1999
(at labornet.org)

Date:        02/12  12:22 PM
From:        mail, mail@cfmeu.com.au

Dear Friends,
The latest on the Rio Tinto company's efforts to de-unionise coal mines in
Australia.
_______

CFMEU calls for support as 20 arrested

protesting against Rio Tintoís attempt to

replace workforce with non-unionists

at the Gordonstone coal mine

Sydney, 12 February 1999. As this appeal goes out, coal miners throughout
Central Queensland are making their way to the Gordonstone Mine to join
hundreds of their colleagues and supporters on the Picket Line protesting
against Rio Tintoís attempt to replace the mineís unionised workforce with
non-union labour.

Yesterday, 20 miners, including the coal miners General President Tony
Maher, were arrested as 250 miners and supporters blocked a bus carrying
the non-union industrial mercenaries out of the mine. A similar blockade
will be mounted again this afternoon.

Since they were illegally sacked in October 1997, the Gordonstone
mineworkers have maintained a Picket Line at the mine which is now into
its 16th-month, a record in the turbulent history of Australiaís coal
mining industry.

Rio Tinto has used a $2 shelf company, Mine Management, to secretly
recruit a vanguard of 22 non-unionists at Gordonstone. The company plans a
workforce of 180 at the mine who will all be covered by a non-union
agreement already registered if Rio Tinto has its way. The stakes at
Gordonstone are high. Todayís Australian Financial Review claims "Rio
Tintoís legal strategy provides a model for union-busting in the coal
industry".

Show your support for the Gordonstone miners
fighting for the rights of all Australian trade unionists.

Fax your message of support to the CFMEU Emerald Office in Central
Queensland  (+61)(07) 4982 3343

Ring:   The Picket Line (+61) (0)417 742 287
___________
12Feb1999 AUSTRALIA: News - Unionists arrested in Qld.

By Stephen Long.
Police arrested and charged 20 unionists at the Gordonstone colliery in
central Queensland yesterday after a bus load of non-union employees hired
by Rio Tinto clashed with picketing coal miners.
The national secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy
Union's coal division, Mr Tony Maher, was among the 20 people arrested and
charged with obstruction.
The clash followed approval last week for a non-union enterprise agreement
allowing the global resources giant to operate the underground coking-coal
mine on conditions that offered unrivalled flexibility.
But the CFMEU, which is fighting for the reinstatement of more than 300
unionised workers sacked from the Gordonstone mine 16 months ago, has
vowed to appeal against the decision by the Australian Industrial
Relations Commission and to fight attempts by Rio Tinto to re-open the
mine with non-union labour.
"Rio Tinto used a $2 shelf company to secretly recruit 22 scabs and
register a non-union agreement," Mr Maher said yesterday.
"The parallels with last year's waterfront dispute are striking.
"[Patrick's chairman] Chris Corrigan sacked his entire unionised workforce
and replaced them with non-union labour in one day; this time it's been
done more slowly.
"It is not over yet.
"We don't intend to allow the mine to crank up with any other labour than
our members who are there on the picket line."
Rio Tinto's legal strategy provides a model for union-busting in the coal
industry.
Before starting work at Gordonstone, it established a new subsidiary, Mine
Management Pty Ltd, employing 22 people who voted in favour of the
non-union deal approved by the AIRC last week. This allowed it to bypass
negotiations with the militant coal-mining union and avoid conforming to
the coal industry award.
The deal voted on by the 22 employees will subsequently apply to more than
150 workers the company intends to hire before it commences full mining
operations.
Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited 1999. Not available for
re-dissemination.

Source: AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW 12/02/1999 P9

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4. INDONESIA: Freeport Updates

a. Freeport agrees to cough up more royalties

Topic 1570           AFP: Freeport agrees to cough up more royalties
plovers                         reg.westpapua              4:23 AM  Feb 13, 1999
(at gn.apc.org)

Received from Joyo

*Freeport agrees to cough up more royalties to Indonesia for Irian Jaya mine

JAKARTA, Feb 12 (AFP) - US mining giant Freeport McMoRan Gold and Copper Inc.
has agreed to raise royalties it pays the Indonesian government in return for
raising output at its mine in Irian Jaya province, a minister said Friday.

PT Freeport Indonesia, the local subsidiary of the US miner, "agreed to pay
additional royalties for higher metal ouput in excess of 200,000 tonnes per
day," Mines and Energy Minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said,

He said under the agreement effective January 1, 1999, Freeport will double
the royalty for copper produced over the 200,000 tonnes per day level, he told
a news conference.

The royalty for gold and silver would be trippled from the current rate.

Before the raise, Freeport's local subsidiary paid 1.5-to-3.5 percent of the
value of its copper output as royalty, depending on the metal's spot price in
the world market, inudstry sources have said.

The royalty on gold ran at 1.0-to-3.0 percent depending on gold prices, they
said.

PT Freeport Indonesia has been seeking to increase its copper ore, gold and
silver output from its giant mine in remote Irian Jaya province from the
current 160,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes per day. Indonesian officials sought
more royalties.

Kuntoro said that although the royalty issue was now settled, there were still
several other requirements such as environmental management and metal recovery
rate being negotiated with Freeport before it steps up its output.

Officials have said that the government was demanding that Freeport come up
with a pilot project for the environmental rehabilitation for immediate
implementation.

Freeport has been accused by environmental watchdogs of damaging the
environment in and around its giant open Grassberg mines in Irian Jaya.

PT Freeport Indonesia is 81.28 percent owned by Freeport McMoRan, 9.26 percent
by the Indonesian government and the rest is held by PT Indocopper Investama
Corporation.

Indocopper's largest shareholder, with 50.48 percent, is Nusamba Mineral, a
firm controlled by former Indonesian president Suharto's close associate,
Mohamad "Bob" Hasan.

**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 1420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia,
East Timor, West Papua and Aceh, 1973-1998

25 Years...and still going strong!
**************************************************

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----------------------------------------------------------

b. Indonesian Fallout Hits Mining

Topic 1568           T-P: Indonesian Fallout Hits Mining
fbp                             reg.westpapua              4:22 PM  Feb 12, 1999

 The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Lousiana)

February 7, 1999 Sunday, ORLEANS

INDONESIAN FALLOUT HITS MINING GIANT

By STEWART YERTON Business writer

   On the 23rd floor of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Poydras
Street headquarters is a symbol of the company's relationship with
Indonesia's former President Suharto. There amid the polished marble floors
and dark wood-paneled walls hangs a photograph of Freeport Chairman James
R. "Jim Bob" Moffett, tall and lean and dressed in a silk batik-print
shirt, towering above the stolid dictator Suharto and his trademark black cap.

   Suharto resigned the presidency last May in the face of violent
demonstrations. But just as the photograph of Moffett and Suharto remains
after the leader's departure, so too does the political cargo Freeport
bears from its relationship with the ousted dictator. Suharto's decline has
emboldened his critics to come forward, and it is open season on U.S.
multinational corporations, as journalists in Jakarta have begun to unravel
the business deals that helped enrich friends of Suharto and other
well-connected Indonesians.

   In the midst of this is Freeport-McMoRan, which operates one of the
world's largest copper and gold mines in the remote Indonesian province of
Irian Jaya. In September, The Wall Street Journal published an article
about Freeport headlined: "How Suharto's Circle and a Mining Firm Did So
Well Together." The report dissected a series of deals involving sales of
Freeport stock and other assets to prominent Indonesians who had ties to
Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a friend of Moffett's and a former mining minister
now in charge of revamping Indonesia's economy. Three months later, in
December, the Indonesian Attorney General called Moffett to answer
questions as part of an inquiry about Ginandjar.

   Indonesian nationalists are pressuring government leaders to re-evaluate
deals with foreign companies, and in response Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the
mining and energy minister, has called for Freeport to voluntarily increase
its royalty paid on metals produced from a mining expansion.

   All of this is unfolding against a cataclysmic political upheaval with
widespread rioting in the nation's capital of Jakarta and the island of
Java. The demonstrations haven't been confined to Jakarta. Human Rights
Watch in December issued a report documenting a series of political
demonstrations by people calling for an independent Irian Jaya. Some
demonstrations turned violent, with security forces shooting some
protesters, Human Rights Watch reported. None of the incidents occurred
near Freeport's mine, according to the report.

   Indonesia's transition of power and the ensuing political fallout come
at a hard time for Freeport. The Asian economic crisis and sales of large
gold holdings by European central banks have driven down metals prices,
battering mining companies worldwide. Freeport's stock has declined from
more than $30 a share in February 1997 to as low as $9 in recent weeks. The
company also faces unrelenting criticism from international activist groups
and tribal people living near its mine.

   To battle the declining metals prices, Freeport is increasing production
and cutting costs, but the company reported recently that it expects the
amount of copper and gold it produces to decline this year, as the ore it
mines contains less metal.

   With Indonesia going through a seismic political change, it's impossible
to predict how the company will fare under a new regime. But interviews
with Indonesia analysts, including a leading presidential candidate,
suggest that whoever is in charge must work with the company. In an
interview, Moffett asserted that Freeport's fortunes are safe amid
Indonesia's turmoil. He also stressed that the new government of Indonesia
will have to honor the contracts of Freeport and other foreign companies.
Otherwise, Moffett said, Indonesia will become the "Cuba of the Pacific."
  Moffett also addressed the allegations of cronyism, saying Freeport
operated according to what was standard in Indonesia under Suharto.
Indonesia, Moffett said, is not the only place where well-connected people
make money from government contracts.

   "Do you know what FOB is in Washington?" Moffett asked. "It's Friends of
Bill. That's how you get contracts with the U.S. government -- Friends of
Bill. And before that it was Friends of Bush, and before that it was
Friends of Reagan. If you come to Louisiana it was Friends of Edwin,
Friends of Foster. People close to the government have a way of ending up
in these deals.
   "Frankly," Moffett added, "I think it's naive ... to be saying, 'What's
this all about?'"

    *** Profitable relationship ***

   Freeport's political woes involve a series of business deals that began
in 1991, but the company's roots with Suharto run much deeper. Thirty-four
years ago, under the dictator Sukarno, Indonesia was in worse shape than it
is even now. In 1965, the country was torn apart by violence following a
failed Communist coup, and the economy collapsed. In 1966, the military
pressured Sukarno into handing over power to Suharto, who was then an army
general.

   Among changes Suharto brought were policies favorable to foreign
investment. The first foreign company to sign a project agreement was
Freeport Minerals Co., the New York-based predecessor of Freeport-McMoRan,
which wanted to mine a huge copper deposit in Irian Jaya called Ertsberg.
As part of Freeport's 1967 contract, Indonesia received a 9 percent equity
stake in Freeport's Indonesian operating unit, which is called P.T.
Freeport Indonesia.

   Freeport prospered under Suharto and became one of Indonesia's largest
corporate taxpayers. In the mid-1980s, company executives say, Freeport
began floating the idea of extending its contract, which would expire in
2003. At the time, it was clear the mine was a valuable asset, and Moffett,
who had assumed leadership of the company, had come to believe that there
was more gold to be found in the region, executives say.

   But for exploration to make sense, the company's contract would have to
be extended beyond 2003. Otherwise, Freeport could end up spending millions
to find a huge deposit of gold, only to have another company win the
contract to mine it. In 1988, as Ertsberg was beginning to run out of ore,
Freeport began getting encouraging results from what came to be known as
the Grasberg deposit.
   The Indonesian government initially rebuffed Freeport's requests to
extend its contract but eventually agreed to let the company enter a new
one. In exchange for a larger mining area and a 50-year contract, Freeport
would have to increase royalties and build a smelter. Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. would have to decrease its ownership of P.T. Freeport
Indonesia from 90 percent to 80 percent, and make sure Indonesians owned at
least 20 percent of the company. The government agreed to buy 1 percent
more, bringing its total to 10 percent.
   But Freeport executives say that it was easier said than done to find an
Indonesian investor rich enough to buy 10 percent of P.T. Freeport
Indonesia's stock, which was valued at more than $200 million. The
government didn't want it. The Indonesian stock exchange wasn't mature
enough to handle that much stock. The values of all shares on the entire
Indonesian stock market at the time was just $60 million.

   The company eventually ended up with an investor group led by Aburizal
Bakrie, a prominent Indonesian with connections to Ginandjar Kartasasmita,
who was then the mining minister. Bakrie had about $40 million to invest
but needed to borrow the rest of the money, about $173 million, according
to Freeport's 1991 10-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
   Lenders required that Bakrie's loan be guaranteed, and Freeport agreed
to do so with one caveat: Freeport would be able to buy back the stock if
Bakrie tried to sell -- a provision that would prove important later. The
borrowed money in hand, Bakrie bought his stake in P.T. Freeport Indonesia
for $212.5 million.
    *** Complicated deal ***

   Buoyed by Freeport's new contract and an infusion of capital for
exploration, P.T. Freeport shares quickly rose after the Bakrie deal. They
rose more as the company announced larger and larger discoveries. In fact,
1991 proved a milestone year for Freeport. The company announced an
increase of ore reserves of 7.9 billion pounds of copper and 12.9 million
ounces of gold, lifting reserves to 21.8 billion pounds of copper and 32.4
million ounces of gold, the company's 1991 annual report says. A year after
the Bakrie deal, Freeport's stock had doubled in value. Bakrie decided to
sell half his shares and pay off his loans with the proceeds.

   The deal essentially would have left Bakrie with a 5 percent stake in
P.T. Freeport Indonesia for free. But it would also potentially create a
problem for Freeport. If Bakrie sold to a non-Indonesian, the company would
have to sell another 5 percent of its stock in P.T. Freeport Indonesia to
another Indonesian in order to maintain the 20 percent Indonesian ownership
required in the contract. If on the other hand Freeport exercised its right
to buy the stock from Bakrie, the company would still have to find another
buyer for it.

    The solution: Bakrie agreed to set up a shell company that would be the
vehicle through which to sell the stock to Freeport. Bakrie agreed to put
his whole 10 percent stake in a new company called P.T. Indocopper
Investama Corp., and list Indocopper on the Indonesian stock exchange.
Under Indonesian law, a company still could be technically an
Indonesian-owned company as long as foreign investors owned no more than 49
percent of the company, executives said. So Freeport bought 49 percent of
Indocopper's shares from Bakrie. The deal effectively meant that Freeport
was able to buy back the shares of P.T. Freeport Indonesia but maintain the
technical, legal position that 20 percent of P.T. Freeport Indonesia's
stock was owned by Indonesians.

   Freeport's 1992 annual report says the company "purchased approximately
49 percent of the capital stock of a publicly traded entity which owns the
10 percent interest." The report does not explain what the deal meant for
Bakrie.
   In 1995, Bakrie sold out altogether, unloading the rest of his stake in
Indocopper for $315 million to Muhammad "Bob" Hasan, who is closely
connected to the Suharto family. Hasan put up $61 million in equity;
Freeport guaranteed loans for the rest, executives say.

   Freeport's critics point to the Bakrie deal and accuse the company of
giving a friend the mining minister a sweetheart deal in order to secure a
new contract. Freeport denies any wrongdoing. Supporting their assertion
that all of its deals were conducted in the open, company officials point
to news articles from the time of the negotiations that chronicle the
contract talks and Freeport's attempts to sell the stock to other
investors. Officials also point out that the deal is disclosed in
Freeport's 1991 annual report, which also includes information that
Freeport guaranteed the loan.

   Also bolstering Freeport's arguments is the outcome of the Hasan deal.
The shares Hasan bought for $315 million are now worth about a third of
that, making Hasan appear more like a stooge than a well-connected player.
   As for the Bakrie deal, Moffett describes it as Freeport's best
alternative, given the requirements of its contract and the realities of
the investor climate.

   "Finding a partner in Indonesia to participate in a project this big was
a difficult thing and would be impossible today," Moffett said. "I found
the Bakrie people who were willing to put up the $50 million and borrow the
rest of the money, and as I've explained, we had to help these people
borrow the money because it was the only way we could keep the stock where
we could make sure it didn't get into non-Indonesian hands."

    *** Different styles of business ***

   Moffett said Indonesia's policy of promoting participation by local
people, even if the locals need financial help, is similar to social
policies in the United States that are designed to help women, ethnic
minorities or other traditionally disenfranchised groups.

   "If you take a minority partner in the United States today, how many
times do you have to finance them? Whether it's a woman or a black person
or an Asian person, where you're required by the City Hall to take a
minority partner," Moffett said. "That's the whole theory of forcing people
to use minority partners in the United States -- is to give them a chance
to participate even though they aren't financially sound."

   Moffett questioned how doing business in Indonesia is any different than
doing business in New Orleans. When he was on the New Orleans Business
Council, for example, Moffett said businesses frequently complained about
being required to include minority partners, some of whom could not pay
their way.
   "And do you think any of those (minorty partners) know Morial? Or do you
think any of them know the councilmen? So to me it's rather foolish for a
Louisiana newspaper to wonder about cronyism, after we've had an era of
Huey Long and all of the people that ran the state of Louisiana," Moffett
added. "And you've got to be educated by Indonesia about cronyism? I think
it's naive."
   The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits U.S. companies from
giving anything of value to foreign government officials in order to obtain
contracts. Freeport maintains that its lawyers carefully vetted all deals
to make sure the company complied with the law. Moreover, company officials
point to news reports of deals by other companies in Indonesia as evidence
that Freeport was simply operating under standard policy.

   "The style of business that was done during the Suharto era was the
acceptable style," Moffett said.

   Freeport's defense notwithstanding, the company is paying a price for
its past deals as critics in the United States and abroad attack the
company for its business practices under Suharto. The question now is how
high a price that will turn out to be. In the long run, the company could
wind up with little more than a stint of bad public relations. Or the
company could face unexpected financial and legal liabilities in
the anti-Suharto backlash.

   Much will depend on the upcoming elections in Indonesia and the new
government's attitude toward Freeport and other foreign companies.
   Moffett believes Indonesia, under any ruler, has no alternative but to
honor its contract with Freeport. Disrupting the deal could cause financial
problems for a country sorely in need of the taxes and foreign trade that
Freeport's mine provides. And other foreign corporations might look askance
at investing in the country if the Freeport contract sours.

   While Moffett may never shake the yoke created by his dealings with
Suharto, he said the company will continue to be an economic force in
Indonesia.
   In December alone the company produced a company record 275,000 ounces
of gold and 210 million pounds of copper, Moffett said. This year, the
company will produce 2.7 million ounces of gold and 1.7 billion pounds of
copper, he predicted.

   "That's as much copper and gold as the bigger gold and copper companies
produce" from all of their operations, Moffett said. "People like Barrick
and Newmont produce about 3 million ounces of gold. We produce almost as
much from this mine as people produce from a series of mines that are owned
around the world."
GRAPHIC: Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold has been buried in a mountain of
Indonesian troubles since political ally President Suharto resigned in May.
Fighting accusations of corruption in a nation on the brink of chaos, the
New Orleans mining company is defending the past -- and future -- of its
investment.

---

FREEPORT'S GRASBERG MINE IN IRAIAN JAYA IS AT THE CENTER OF INDONESIA'S
POLITICAL STORM

1.  Freeport Chairman James R. Moffett and Indonesia's President Suharto
were all smiles in 1991 at a cermony making official the revision of
Freeport's orignal 1967 mining contract.

2.  Suharto' s government faltered in 1998 in the wake of the country's
economic collapse.  Demonstrators took to the streets.

3.  Suharto was eventually forced to resign.  Waiting in the wings was his
appointee, B. J. Habibie, the current president.

4.  Habibie gave in to pressure and announced elections for later this
year.  SP 4.  Habibie gave in to pressure and announced elections for later
this year.  SP 4.  Habibie gave in to pressure and announced elections for
later this year.  SP 4.  Habibie gave in to pressure and announced
elections for later this year.

5.  Meanwhile, ethnic and political groups agitate for reforms and more say
in the political process, such as these protesters in Dili at a rally for
the East Timor secessionist movement.

6.  Numerous candidates for the Presidency have appeared to challenge
Habibie, including Megawati Sukarnoputri, a daughter of Suharto's
predecesssor.

7.  Presidential candidate Amien Rais has emerged as a favorite in the
race. Orginally seen as highly critical of Freeport-McMoRan, he has lately
moderate his stance in an apparent effort to bolster his standing among
Indonesia's elite.

A DECADE OF RISK AND REWARD
1988:  Free discovers Grasberg, world's largest known gold deposit.
1991:  Freeport signs mining contract with Indonesia, revising a 1967
contract.  To fulfill contract, company sells 10 percent stake to
Indonesian investor group led by Aburizal Bakrie for $212.5 million.

1992:  Company stock rises and Bakrie sells half his interest to Freeport
for about twice the price he paid.  Freeport eventually finds new
Indonesian investor.

1997-1998:  Plunging metal prices batter Freeport stock, from $30 per share
in January 1997 to $14 a year later.

May 1998:  Suharto resigns presidency, ending 32 years of rule.
Anti-Suharto backlash begins.

Nov. 1998:  Freeport Chairman Jim Bob Moffett meets with Indonesian
attorney general to answer questions.

July 1999:  Indonesian parliamentary elections to be held.
Nov. 1999: Presidential election to be held.

Apr. '91:  11 11/16
Dec. '92:  21 3/8

Jan. '99   $9 3/4

END

etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan

John M. Miller         Internet: etan-outreach@igc.apc.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
PO Box 150753, Brooklyn, NY 11215-0014 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to timor-info@igc.apc.org to find out how to learn
more about East Timor on the Internet

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