Alcalá 1986

~ORLD WORLD WORLD WORLD WORLD WO

NO SURVIVORS, HOWEVER

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE The hunt for the most wanted war criminal intensified. Was the 1979 drowning victim really Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor resp0n– sible for sending 400,000 to their deaths at Auschwitz? Among the scientists asked to identify the remains -exhumed from a ceme– tery near ao Paulo, Brazil, were six Ameri– cans. Arriving in Sao Paulo in June with what one scientist calls "a very healthy skepticism," the American team began analysis of the skull, bones and hair and compared the findings with everything chat was known of Mengele's dental and medical history. After a week of study, the scientists reached a unanimous de– cision The skeleton was indeed chat of the infamous '" Angel of Death." The most con– clusive proof came from a German method of uperimposing photographs of the young and old Mengele over a same-scale image of the exhumed skull. The fit of the skull co features was perfect. Finally, after 40 year , case closed. After twenty years of dictatorial rule, President Ferdinand Marco was removed from office. The world and the S watched with ,merest one of the greate t examples of democracy m action as over 26 million Filippinos voted and peacefully demonstrat– ed during the month of Fabruary Tired of the practices of the Marcos Regime, the Filippino people turned out in record numbers to vote for Cora,on Aquino. In spite of w,de spread vote fraud, military intimidation, ballot buying, and disrupted ballot counts the voters cast their ballots for the opposition. A the election day came to a close, the ballot counts of who won the election were varied and conflicting. One would ay Aquino was ahead and another would say Marcos. All in all, the ballot counts were prolonged and afforded Marco w1ch much opportunity to claim victory. This caused much consternac,on amongst all ob rvers and the opposition, In the end, Marcos t0ok a clear tep to consolidate his po itic>n by having the ational Assembly determine the vicmr - an assembly full of his cronies, When he was announced the winner, the begin – ning of his fall from power began. Aquino called the populace around her to bring down hi presi – dency w1ch peaceful demon crations. The S Con - PHILIPPINES: ANEW BEGINNING

silhouette of a hip's boiler flashed across a screen. The viewers cheered; 12,000 feet be– low, they realized, lay the TITA IC. Over the next five days thousands of images of the "floating palace" were recorded. Shortly after the find, the team assembled on the fantail to conduct a memorial service for the 1,503 lost in the di aster. It was the same hour-and the ame place-the TITANIC had gone down 73 years before. o survivors, however.

On Sunday, April 14, 1912, at 11 :40 pm, the world's largest and mo t luxuriou ocean liner was steaming through the orth Atlantic when an iceberg slashed a 300-foot gash in her starboard side. Two hours and 40 minutes later, the ship dubbed unsinkable, disappeared in the sea. On Sunday, September 1, 1985, at one am, seven engineers were studying TV monitors on the US avy research vessel Knorr, 400 miles off the coast of Newfound– land, when a clutter of metal debri and the

orazone Aquino challenged rhe Marco Regime and won unlike so many more before her including her /are husband Benigno Aquino.

gress,onal Task Force that oversaw the election called for Marcos to step down peaceably tO avoid a civil war. President Reagan even cue off his personal assoc,ac,on with Marcos to preserve the special rela - tionship the US has with its former colony. F.ach of these actions made Marcos· hold on the country more tenuous. The one act that would completely destroy h,s hold upon the nation was the defecuon of both Defense Mm, ter Juan Enrile and Chief of taff Lt Gen. Fidel Ramos to che opposit1on. Th,s act proved t0 the world that Marco did not have the leadership of the nat1on. This event coupled with the growing civil disturbances made Marcos leave the pre 1dent1al Malacang Palace. Th,s move of Marcos ended a history of civil troubles that came from the regime. For the la t twenty years, the Philippines have been under the leadership of Marcos. After the end ,n 1972 on his second term, he insmuted matrial law to continue to "lead the nation during a time of crisis." In 1980. he removed the mamal restrictions from the country but kept mo t of the power in the office of the president with a con t1tut1on that was radically altered. H,s hold on the nat1on seemed to be too trong to ever be loosened. But in 1983, with the as a sination of Benigno Aquino, the ri e of a

martyr and his widow became a problem. The trial of the government of the susr.cted conspirators, and the sub quent acquittal o all, sowed seeds of dissaci faction ,n th populace. All of this made the atmosphere ripe for the a cendacy of Aquino. Through all of thi , the nited States watched with great intere t. Concerned with the welfare of a former colony, the spread of communism m the region and, in pamcular, the presence of the cwo largest American military bases outside the US, the Reagan Admim tration med to be cautious m its approach. All leaders in the S did not want the Philippines to become another Iran or icaragua. All were mindful of what effect the fall of the Ph,hppmes would mean to S stature in the Pacific and the world. It would be a disgrace greater than the fall of Vietnam. With th fall of Marcos from power, the Philip– pines i now entering a cage chat will determine how it will face the future. Aquino faces the future with many problem left by Marcos. She, m essense, must lead the Philippines out of the valley of dark– ness. All the world watche her now. Washington hopes the right approach was taken chis time around.

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