World and Nation

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About a third of the red lights in Amsterdam are set to be turned off by the end of 2007 due to tighter restrictions imposed by the city's mayor, Job Cohen.

The reason, according to Cohen, is that organized crime and human trafficking have become major social problems in the Netherlands, where the Associated Press reports approximately 3,500 women are trafficked every year.

This is not the first time action has been taken to place greater restrictions on prostitution. In 2000 Amsterdam legalized prostitution and forced all brothels to register their businesses with the city. However, not all brothels were granted permits and part of the industry went, or remained, underground.

"There has been systematic organization ... and since 2000 about 50 percent of the different forms of visible prostitution [in brothels and windows] have closed," said Lucia Brussa, director of the European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion Among Migrant Sex Workers, a European Union-funded non-profit based in Amsterdam.

However, Brussa does not believe Cohen is entirely unjustified in his actions.

"The other side of this is that they also want to bring in the cheating," she said, referring to the illegal activities that the city government alleges many prostitution houses are engaged in.

Amsterdam's court is currently debating an appeal of the decision, and a verdict is expected on Dec. 29 of this year.

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In a historic decision last week, the Bolivian senate passed a bill to redistribute unproductive and underutilized land to the nation's peasants. The land, which amounts to about 48 million acres, is about half the size of Japan and is mainly located in the conservative eastern region, which overwhelmingly opposed the election of current President Evo Morales last fall.

Professor Adam Warren of the Latin American studies department at the University of Washington said the land reform bill is an important step for Bolivia's social revolution, which Morales promised to carry out as part of his election campaign platform.

"It's not going to solve poverty but it's probably an important part of a larger process," he said.

But even as Morales claims to be acting in order to rid Bolivia of poverty, the country remains divided over central issues like land reform and the nationalization (government purchase) of Bolivia's natural resources.

The senate vote illustrates just how divided the country is: 13 of the senate's 27 members boycotted the land reform vote, leaving a majority of just 15 members to pass the bill.

Land reform could be the issue that will make or break Morales' political career, Warren said.

"In many ways, Evo Morales' future rests in his ability to carry out the land reforms," he said. "So if he does carry them out, and if they're successful, it will increase his political authority, and he will be able to then engage in future reforms such as [the nationalization of] mining."

[HTML_REMOVED]United Press International[HTML_REMOVED] reported that a recent survey showed 50,000 families owned 90 percent of all land in Bolivia.

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A military coup took place in Fiji on Tuesday after Fijian military troops took over the capital city of Suva's only police armory and placed President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase under house arrest.

Of course, like all coup leaders, Commodore Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama promised to return the country to civilian rule, but the act was still taken very seriously by regional powers Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand's prime minister, Helen Clark, said the coup was "simply an extraordinary show of arrogance," according to [HTML_REMOVED]The Age[HTML_REMOVED], an Australian daily.

The coup comes following the introduction of a bill by Qarase's party aiming to grant amnesty to leaders of an earlier coup in 2000. Bainimarama opposes the bill and has stated his hope that the coup leaders be more severely punished, despite the fact that they are currently serving life sentences on one of Fiji's remote island atolls. International response to the coup was swift. The U.S., Australian and New Zealand governments all suspended aid to Fiji following news of the coup, while the U.N. said it requested "the immediate reinstatement of the legitimate authority in Fiji and its return to constitutional rule through peaceful means and inclusive dialogue," according to [HTML_REMOVED]The Sydney Morning Herald[HTML_REMOVED].

About half of Fiji's population is of Indian descent, and the other half is of Pacific Islander origin. India's response to the coup was one of mourning.

"We are saddened to learn about the turn of events in Fiji and hope that the rule of law will prevail," reported the online Indian newspaper Hindu.

Reporter Jake Sommer: jakesommer@thedaily.washington.edu