There are 11 other candidates among whom is the first woman to run for

There are 11 other candidates, among whom is the first woman to run for the Russian presidency, the liberal reformer and former social affairs minister Ella Pamfilova. If she won the Kremlin, she would be the first woman to rule Russia since the Empress Catherine the Great.Last Tuesday, on the eve of International Women’s Day, Ms Pamfilova held a press conference to launch her campaign. Elegant in black velvet, avoiding any suggestion of strident feminism, she called for “capitalism with a human face”, as in 1968, the doomed Czechoslovak leader, Alexander Dubcek, advocated “socialism with a human face”.Ms Pamfilova said: “We should not be thinking of reversing privatisation, but in the process of market reform, we have not cared enough about human beings. This has led to national degradation and a sense of hopelessness.”We must invest in job creation, education and science. If our social decline continues, no amount of military might will save us.

Russia is a rich country and we simply do not have the right to live as poorly as we do now.” All of which would be music to the ears of the middle classes, reduced to poverty under Mr Yeltsin. Ms Pamfilova, 46, an electronics engineer, entered politics in 1989 when the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, allowed some independent MPs.After Mr Yeltsin defeated the coup in August 1991, Ms Pamfilova joined his first government as minister for social affairs. But while the nowretired Russian leader allowed power to corrupt him, Ms Pamfilova remained loyal to her ideals. Today she lives in a two-room flat with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. It was the first war in Chechnya from 1994-1996 that prompted Ms Pamfilova to go into opposition. At the State Duma elections last December, she lost her seat as the “bears” of the new Unity party packed parliament to support Mr Putin.Ms Pamfilova admitted she has virtually no chance of winning but said she had reason to hope for third or fourth place, which might inspire younger Russian women. Pavel said he would be voting for Ms Pamfilova, at least in the first round.

But the women of Russia were all going weak at the knees about Mr Putin, described by one Russian actress last week as a “real man”. On Women’s Day, the acting president adopted his softest “father of the nation” tone of voice when he said that Russian women were held back in many ways but had one advantage, “their absolute right to be protected by men”.. Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group says it could reach an agreement with the Colombian government within days on whether the army will withdraw from a northern enclave to allow peace talks to be held there. Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group says it could reach an agreement with the Colombian government within days on whether the army will withdraw from a northern enclave to allow peace talks to be held there.
But Pablo Beltran of the Cuban-inspired National Liberation Army, or ELN, said his organization was losing patience and faith in discussions with envoys of President Andres Pastrana that have dragged on for more than year. “We’ve reached the point at which the government has to either take it or leave it,” Beltran, a member of the group’s five-man command council, said on Tuesday of the proposed troop pullout from a northern ELN stronghold.More meetings with government delegates are expected this weekend in the Venezuelan capital, where left-leaning President Hugo Chavez has given the rebels safe haven and presidential bodyguards.But Beltran said he saw only a “50-50 chance” that Pastrana would agree to grant the ELN a demilitarized zone similar to the one he established to allow peace talks with a larger rebel faction, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.The troop pullout in place since November 1998 of the southern region has been widely criticized by conservatives and military officials who say the FARC has abused its sanctuary to plan military attacks.The ELN and many Colombian civic leaders have criticized Pastrana for focusing his peace strategy almost exclusively on talks with the more powerful FARC. Trying to maintain pressure for a demilitarized zone of its own, the ELN has stepped up bombings of electrical energy towers – causing electricity rationing for millions of people – and staged disruptive highway blockades.Last year, it hijacked an Avianca airliner, abducting its passengers and crew and kidnapping hundreds of worshippers from a Catholic Mass – raising money and grabbing attention at the same time.The action badly damaged the ELN’s image.

Beltran contended, however, that kidnapping, extortion and sabotage are legitimate rebel tactics given what he termed the government’s determination to escalate the conflict with U.S military assistance. He hinted that hostage releases or other humanitarian concessions could be part of a deal to create a troop- and police-free zone in three rural towns in the northern state of Bolivar.The ELN wants to use the region to hold parallel talks – one set with the government and another with labor, peasant and human rights groups aimed at generating an agenda for social change.. The simmering animosity between America’s Democratic Party and the gun lobby has erupted into open conflict, with the White House putting gun control on the agenda for this year’s elections. The simmering animosity between America’s Democratic Party and the gun lobby has erupted into open conflict, with the White House putting gun control on the agenda for this year’s elections.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has paid for a series of television advertisements in which Charlton Heston, the right-wing actor and NRA president, calls Bill Clinton a liar. And the organisation’s vice-president, Wayne LaPierre, has accused Mr Clinton of accepting violence for his own political ends. “I’ve come to believe that he needs a certain level of violence in this country,” said Mr LaPierre. “He’s willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda, and his Vice-President, too.”Mr Clinton has responded harshly.