from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: Radio Havana Mar 13. US still aggressive
Radio Havana Cuba-13 March 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 March 2001
.
*VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ ENDS WORKING VISIT TO CUBA
*CUBA-MOZAMBIQUE JOINT COMMISSION BEGINS IN HAVANA
*CUBANS COMMEMORATE 1957 ATTACK ON PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
*CUBA, CHILE AND JAPAN SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNOR IN HAVANA
*CUBAN SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR NEARLY-EXTINCT ROYAL WOODPECKER
*ARGENTINA IS TARGET OF MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION
*OAS OBSERVERS HEAD FOR NICARAGUA-HONDURAS BORDER
*CENTRAL AMERICAN OFFICIALS ALARMED BY INCREASING CRIME RATE
Viewpoint:
*US APPEARS SET ON CONTINUING ITS AGGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL POLICY
.
*VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ ENDS WORKING VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, March 13 (RHC)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ended a
brief, working visit to Cuba early Tuesday morning and returned to
home to Caracas. He was seen off at Jose Marti International Airport
by his Cuban counterpart, Fidel Castro.
Speaking with reporters at the airport shortly before boarding
his presidential plane, the Venezuelan leader said that his two-day
visit was very productive. During his stay, Chavez visited Venezuelan
patients being treated in Havana hospitals and told journalists that
he was extremely impressed with the medical care provided to the
patients free-of-charge.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez noted that one of the purposes of
his brief, working visit was to review bilateral accords between the
two countries, particularly the Integral Cooperation Accord -- which
provides oil to Cuba as well as other Caribbean and Central American
countries at preferential prices.
The Venezuelan leader arrived in Havana on Sunday, following a three-
day official visit to the Dominican Republic.
*CUBA-MOZAMBIQUE JOINT COMMISSION BEGINS IN HAVANA
Havana, March 13 (RHC)-A Cuba-Mozambique Joint Commission began on
Tuesday in Havana aimed at increasing bilateral relations in various
sectors.
Heading the delegations are Mozambique's Secretary of State for
Foreign Business and Cooperation, Hipolito Pereira Zozimo, and Cuban
Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation,
Noemi Benitez.
Friendship between the two nations and cooperation in the areas of
health, education, culture, fishing, agriculture, sports and trade
have increased since Cuba and Mozambique established diplomatic
relations in 1975.
*CUBANS COMMEMORATE 1957 ATTACK ON PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
Havana, March 13 (RHC)-The Cuban population, especially students,
paid homage on Tuesday to the young people who are known as the
heroes of March 13, 1957. On that date a group of young men belonging
to the Revolutionary Directorate, an anti-Batista youth group,
attacked the Presidential Palace and occupied the national news radio
station, Radio Reloj, in an attempt to oust dictator Fulgencio
Batista.
Activities marking the historic date were held at Radio Reloj in
downtown Havana, as well as at a mausoleum in the capital's Colon
Cemetery, dedicated to those who died in that attack. Students also
laid a floral wreath on the spot across from Havana University where
student leader Jose Antonio Echeverria was shot down by Batista
henchmen after the attack.
Each year on March 13 residents of Jose Antonio Echeverria's hometown
of Cardenas march to the youth leader's tomb.
*CUBA, CHILE AND JAPAN SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Havana, March 13 (RHC)-Representatives from Cuba, Chile, and Japan
Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a
three-part program to develop marine cultivation.
Japan's International Cooperation Center, Chile's North Catholic
University and Cuba's Ministries of Fishing and Foreign Investment
and Economic Cooperation signed the development program.
After signing the document in Havana, Cuba was presented with a
donation of technical equipment to facilitate the project.
The three-party program supports another agreement signed by Cuba,
Japan and Chile in 1999, which transfers technological experiences in
marine cultivation to third countries.
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNOR IN HAVANA
Havana, March 13 (RHC)-The Governor of the Venezuelan state of
Barinas, Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, Tuesday toured Old Havana, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Governor of Barinas arrived in Havana on Monday to discuss
cooperation in the sectors of education, culture, sports, tourism,
agriculture and health.
The Venezuelan official will also meet with Cuban ministers to
coordinate cooperation agreements signed between the two countries
last year.
The Governors of the Venezuelan states of Falcon, Lara and
Portuguesa, recently visited the island, as did the Mayor of the city
of Caracas.
*CUBAN SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR NEARLY-EXTINCT ROYAL WOODPECKER
Havana, March 13 (RHC)-A group of Cuban scientists will soon begin
searching for the elusive royal woodpecker, where it once flourished
in the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains. The endangered species has
not been spotted for several years.
The expedition's objective is to find some kind of evidence that the
species still exists, according to Gabriel Brull, of the National
Institution for the Conservation of Flora and Fauna.
She explained that although most ornithologists have accepted the
extinction of the Cuban Royal Woodpecker, many scientists refuse to
believe that such an important part of the island's fauna has been
lost.
The royal woodpecker is one of three similar birds, two of which
have already disappeared in the United States and Mexico.
*ARGENTINA IS TARGET OF MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION
Buenos Aires, March 13 (RHC)--Money laundering and other cases of
financial corruption are under investigation in Argentina. In Buenos
Aires, it was announced that the president of the country's Central
Bank, Pedro Pou, may face questioning by a congressional commission
later this week. The commission is looking into the illegal diversion
of four million dollars -- but observers say that this money is just
the tip of the iceberg.
According to Argentinean law, the head of the Central Bank is not
obligated to appear before the congressional investing commission --
however administration officials are encouraging the Bank's president
to cooperate, given that members of the special commission have the
power to recommend to Argentina's president -- Fernando de la Rua --
that the bank official be dismissed and possibly placed on trial for
criminal activities.
Last week, the congressional investigating commission heard testimony
from past and present directors of the Central Bank regarding money
laundering. The Argentinean commission is responding to a cue from
Washington, which has expressed concern over accusations that drug
money is being "washed" in Argentinean banks.
Observers say that one part of the investigation is looking at a
reported 249 million-dollar contract signed between two major banks
in Argentina -- which have since gone into bankruptcy. At least 21
million dollars mysteriously ended up in Uruguayan, U.S. and Swiss
banks, apparently to be used as bribe money.
The banking scandal is rocking Argentinean society and many
political analysts say that this investigation is the beginning of
the end of a number of high-ranking officials of the de la Rua
administration.
*OAS OBSERVERS HEAD FOR NICARAGUA-HONDURAS BORDER
Managua, March 13 (RHC)--International observers from the
Organization of American States will soon travel to the northern
border of Nicaragua to investigate reports of Honduran troop
movements on the common border between both countries.
The presence of observers on the Nicaraguan-Honduran border was
agreed upon by Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman and Honduran
President Carlos Flores during a recent meeting in Madrid. According
to Managua's Foreign Minister Francisco Aguirre, the OAS will send an
observer team to the border within the next two weeks. Aguirre
recalled that Nicaragua had requested OAS mediation last month, when
Managua complained of a Honduran military build-up on its border.
Nicaragua's top diplomat said that Honduras has recently violated
an agreement signed between both countries one year ago --
prohibiting troop movements and additional military outposts. Managua
claims that Tegucigalpa has authorized new observation outposts on
its southern border.
The agreement -- drawn up with the help of the Organization of
American States last year -- calls for a 23 kilometer limit on
military units and artillery installations, unless already
established in permanent bases. In addition, tanks and other armored
vehicles are not allowed to approach within 50 kilometers of the
Nicaraguan-Honduran border.
Last year's agreement -- signed by then Nicaraguan Foreign Minister
Eduardo Montealegre and his Honduran counterpart, Roberto Flores --
came in response to a possible armed conflict in the border zone.
Managua and Tegucigalpa have been at odds since November 1999, when
the Honduran Congress ratified a treaty with Colombia -- granting
Tegucigalpa territorial sovereignty over nearly 130,000 square
kilometers in the Caribbean. Nicaragua also claims the same Caribbean
Continental Shelf and requested a judicial resolution from the
International Court of Justice at The Hague. Military troops from
both countries have been on alert from time to time over the past
year.
*CENTRAL AMERICAN OFFICIALS ALARMED BY INCREASING CRIME RATE
Guatemala City, March 13 (RHC)--Crime is on the rise in Central
America and authorities are deeply concerned that a network to
coordinate criminal activity is being established in the region.
Police chiefs and security officers from Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua and El Salvador recently met in Guatemala City to discuss
the latest crime wave.
Nicaragua's chief of police, Franco Montealegre, stated that
extremely violent crime is becoming a serious problem in his country
-- affirming that for the first time ever, violent assaults are
taking place in which people are shot and killed indiscriminately.
Montealegre told his regional counterparts that Nicaraguan
authorities have found links to Salvadoran criminal bands --
especially with similar patterns in bank robberies.
Mauricio Sandoval, director of police in El Salvador, noted that
authorities have recently arrested members of gangs made up of
Hondurans and Guatemalans. He said that illegal activities are on the
rise, pointing to one particularly lucrative business: the transfer
of stolen cars from one country to another. He said that more and
more automobiles are having their registration numbers changed and
taken across common regional borders.
It was announced that the Salvadoran chief of police will serve as
the new head of the Central American Police Association. Mauricio
Sandoval told reporters in Guatemala City that he will work with his
regional counterparts to fight criminal groups that know no borders.
He also announced that a local meeting of Interpol -- the
International Criminal Police Organization -- will be held in San
Salvador next month, with special attention given to the new crime
wave throughout the region.
Viewpoint:
*US APPEARS SET ON CONTINUING ITS AGGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL POLICY
The United States government is planning a tax reduction that will
first benefit the nation's most wealthy. This effort characterizes
the general trend of the new U.S. administration, and it will
eventually define its true political and economic agenda. For the
past several months a rapid de-acceleration of the economy has been
taking place, which could certainly lead to a sudden crisis.
In the foreign policy arena, there is talk that new State
Department appointments will continue to take a hard line approach to
Cuba. This is bad news for those who wish to open up more to the
island, like some ten US senators who have announced their intention
to introduce legislation aimed at changing Washington's rigid Cuba
policy.
Among the new appointments being considered by the Bush
administration is that of ultra-reactionary Cuban-born Otto Reich,
for the position of Undersecretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs.
That office handles all dealings with Cuba, and is directly
subordinated to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Other well-known
enemies of Cuba are also on the State Department's list of possible
appointments, making it appear, at least at first glance, that there
is little chance for a change for the better in Cuba-U.S. relations.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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rhc-eng-19593 2001-Mar-13 21:22:02 " JC
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