RHC Weekend-17/18 March 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 17/18 March 2001
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*EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS HELMS-BURTON SANCTIONS AGAINST MELIA HOTEL GROUP
*FIVE FORMER PANAMANIAN PRESIDENTS DEMANDING POSADA GANG BE EXTRADITED
*LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN STUDENT GROUP DEFENDS INDEPENDENCE AND EDUCATION
*SYRIA CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA
*CUBA'S CATTLE FREE FROM DEADLY DISEASES
*CUBA, MOZAMBIQUE BOOST BILATERAL COOPERATION
*CUBA PROMOTING REGIONAL ECO-TOURISM
*FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS ABOUT THE ROLE OF NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
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*EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS HELMS-BURTON SANCTIONS AGAINST MELIA HOTEL GROUP
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--The European Commission will not allow the United
States to sanction the Spanish Sol Melia hotel group for its investments in
Cuba. The Spanish newspaper "El Pais" reported on Saturday that Foreign
Affairs Commissioner Pascal Lamy assured Sol Melia representative, Sabastian
Escarrer that the E.U.will oppose any attempts by Washington to apply the
Helms-Burton Law against the Spanish company.
The article reported that in a meeting held in Brussels, Lamy discounted the
possibility that Europe would agree to impose sanctions if the Bush
administration decides to enforce Title Four of the controversial U.S.
legislation.
That section of the law provides for reprisals against business executives
of third countries who violate provisions of the Helms-Burton law, which has
been internationally criticized for its extra-territorial implications.
According to "El Pais," the EU has never denounced the law to the World
Trade Organization because the United States promised not to use the law
against European business executives.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton suspended the offending article each six
months during his administration. In June, Bush must decide whether he will
do the same.
*FIVE FORMER PANAMANIAN PRESIDENTS DEMANDING POSADA GANG BE EXTRADITED
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Five former presidents of Panama and 50 labor,
student and non-governmental organizations have called on president Mireya
Moscoso to extradite to Cuba four international terrorists who have been
detained in Panama as being part of a plan to assassinate Cuban president
Fidel Castro.
Cuban-born Luis Posada Carriles, and three other known terrorists, are
charged with possession of explosives and falsifying documents in relation
with a plot to kill the Cuban president in Panama last year during the Tenth
Ibero American Summit.
In a declaration presented to Cuba's ambassador in Panama, the signatories
of the petition also demanded that the Panamanian government not give in to
internal or external pressures to extend the men impunity or to allow them
to escape.
Cuban's ambassador in Panama, Carlos Zamora, recalled that Cuba has pledged
not to apply either the death penalty or life imprisonment if the four
right-wing terrorists are extradited to the island as Cuba has requested.
"We recognize Panama's right to try these terrorists for crimes committed in
Panama," said the Cuban diplomat upon receiving the petition, "but we also
claim the right to try them for crimes against Cuba."
Former Panamanian presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Guillermo Endara,
Manuel Solis Palma, Francisco Rodriquez and Arístides Royo are among the
scores of names on the petition.
Cuban ambassador Zamora stressed that the right of Panama to try the men in
Panama and Cuba's right to try them in Cuba, for actions committed outside
of Panama, are not contradictory, if extradition is permitted and the four
are not given impunity.
Panamanian police arrested Posada Carriles and the other three men after
Cuban president Fidel Castro himself denounced the assassination plan.
Later authorities found 40 pounds of C-4 explosives, which were presumably
to have been set off by remote control while the Cuban president was meeting
with thousands of supporters in Panama University.
Posada Carriles is also wanted in Venezuela where he was jailed in the l976
sabotage of a Cubana Airlines passenger plane, which killed all 73 people on
board.
*LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN STUDENT GROUP DEFENDS INDEPENDENCE AND EDUCATION
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Yosvani diaz, the president of the Latin American
and Caribbean Students Organization (OCLAE), has announced in Havana that
the organization will launch a new campaign in favor of public education and
people's sovereignty.
Diaz said the drive, to begin April 7th, will be announced during an
upcoming gathering of Latin American Economy Ministers in Argentina. Diaz
said that the continental students organization will join in street
demonstrations during the ministers' gathering.
The OCLAE president added that the organization is planning a hemispheric
drive for April 20th, coinciding with the Summit of the Americas set for
Quebec, Canada, to reivindicate the voice of those excluded and to demand
the inclusion of the student movement into the decision-making process in
each country. Students will be holding gatherings and seminars to discuss
education in the region, the Free Trade Agreement, the Colombia plan and
their true impact on the region.
*SYRIA CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Syria's new ambassador to Havana, Clovis Khoury, has
denounced Washington's economic blockade of the island. Speaking at a
ceremony marking the 38th anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, Khoury said
that Cuba's voice and presence is growing in the United Nations and other
international forums. He noted that Cuba is always is on the side of the
Arab people and their rights. The diplomat also came out in favor of
strengthening bilateral ties.
Cuban Arab Union official Juan Douflat emphasized that the Syrian
Revolution, since its beginning, has been working toward greater social
peace, more jobs, and social progress for the nation.
*CUBA'S CATTLE FREE FROM DEADLY DISEASES
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Cuba's Veterinary Medicine Institute has dismissed
the possibility that either hoof-and-mouth or mad cow disease exist on the
island.
International Veterinary expert Paulino Santos Montero pointed out that Cuba
has reinforced sanitary and control measures at all air and maritime ports.
The specialist explained that Cuba has placed a permanent ban on importing
frozen meats and biological by-products from countries in which those
diseases are present. Regarding mad cow disease, Santos Montero said that
the island is well protected and has prohibited imports of live animals,
meat and animal feeds made from animal protein.
*CUBA, MOZAMBIQUE BOOST BILATERAL COOPERATION
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Cuba and Mozambique on Friday signed a cooperation
protocol as part of the 13th Technical, Scientific and Economic Cooperation
Joint Session, held this week in Havana. The two sides agreed on the need to
continue strengthening bilateral ties and reiterated their willingness to
work in that respect.
During the joint session, the two countries also signed a cooperation
protocol for the 2001-2003 period in health, education, culture, tourism,
science and technology, as well as in the fishing industry, agriculture,
sports and trade.
Bilateral cooperation ties began in 1977; to date, some seven thousand Cuban
experts from various sectors have worked in the African nation, while more
than 1,300 Mozambican youngsters have studied on the island.
*CUBA PROMOTING REGIONAL ECO-TOURISM
Havana, March 17 (RHC)--The Cuban Tourism Ministry has announced the Second
International Gathering on Eco-Tourism, set for central Cienfuegos province
from November 5 through November 9.
Norman Medina, head of the Tourism Ministry's development program, made the
announcement in Varadero Beach on Friday. Local and foreign tour operators
attended the meeting.
The international meetings will include a Cuba and Caribbean eco-tourism
trade fair, as well as a seminar on sustainable development and regional
eco-tourism.
Participants will visit sites of ecological interest, including Topes de
Collantes in the Escambray Mountains, the Zapata Peninsula, the island's
most extensive wetlands, and the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, which was
inaugurated October 25th, 1901 under the auspices of Harvard University.
The garden, which celebrates its centennial this year, boasts one of the
largest palm collections of the world, with 280 species on 231 acres.
Seventy percent of its 2000 plants are considered exotic.
*FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS ABOUT THE ROLE OF NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
>From the very beginning, the leaders of the Cuban revolution have recognized
the value of education. One of the first projects undertaken after the
triumph of the revolution was the literacy campaign, involving thousands of
young students and teachers who went to the most remote parts of the island
in order to teach people how to read and write.
Cuba now has one of the highest literacy rates in the Americas, if not in
the world. Education is seen as an integral part of the full development of
the human being.
Last Thursday, Cuban president Fidel Castro, at the graduation ceremony of
new primary school teachers, spoke about the new cultural and education
movement, which is occurring in Cuba right now. The "University for All"
television classes head up this new campaign, along with televised
informative round tables that discuss and analyze the important issues of
the day.
During his speech, Fidel stressed the importance of having a vocational
attitude to one's work when one is responsible for forming the ethical and
spiritual values of young children. He also underlined the necessity to
educate, rather than merely instruct. In the same vein, the Cuban leader
went on to state that to be on top of teaching, it is necessary for the
educator to have a thorough knowledge of science, art and ethics.
The young teachers who graduated will soon be in the classrooms of Havana
and Matanzas. They are the first to graduate under the umbrella of the new
cultural project. They now have the opportunity to benefit from new
methodology that has been developed to give a deeper understanding of young
children's educational needs. Links formed between schools and families will
contribute to the overall development of the child. The new graduates are
the first in a whole new movement, which will result in thousands of new
primary school teachers deployed around the island. The number of new
teachers will enable smaller numbers of pupils per class with the eventual
ratio projected at 20 pupils per teacher, or even lower in some areas.
This work will bring about a renewal of the Cuban nation's cultural
identity, which has always been strong, but will now go on to reach further
heights. This will lead, in turn, to the development of a stronger community
and national spirit among the Cuban people -- a crucial element in Cuba's
struggle against globalization.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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