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subject: Radio Havana March 26.Drug use in Cuba insignificant
Radio Havana Cuba-26 March 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 26 March 2001
.
*CUBA CONFIDENT OF WINNING BATTLE AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
*SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN CUBA FOR FOUR-DAY VISIT
*BRAZILIAN GOVERNOR RETURNS HOME AFTER VISIT
*PRESIDENT OF CUBAN WOMEN'S FEDERATION VISITS VENEZUELA
*SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA EVENT HELD IN MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
*MORE TOURISTS VISIT THE ISLAND
*PRESTIGIOUS CUBAN JURIST DIES IN HAVANA
*FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN CUBA CONTINUE TO INCREASE
*CUBA-SENEGAL ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC TECHNICAL SESSION OPENS IN DAKAR
*CARLOS LAGE TOURS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITES IN BAYAMO
*CANADA ATTEMPTS TO STEM INCREASINGLY NEGATIVE COVERAGE OF UPCOMING
SUMMIT
*ARAB LEAGUE TO SEVER TIES WITH NATIONS THAT MOVE EMBASSIES TO
JERUSALEM
Viewpoint:
*DRUG USE IN CUBA IS INSIGNIFICANT, BUT ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS
CONTINUE
.
*CUBA CONFIDENT OF WINNING BATTLE AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque
has affirmed that Cuba is confident in winning this year's battle in
the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In statements to local
and foreign media outlets Sunday before heading to Geneva, Perez
Roque said Cuba believes that the majority of countries present in
the Commission will comprehend the unjust, discriminatory, selective
and politicized nature of Washington's yearly exercise against Cuba.
The Cuban foreign minister said Cuba wants to defeat efforts to
condemn the island not just for Cuba, but also for the United
Nations, the credibility of the UN Human Rights Commission, and for
the Third World. Cuba's chief diplomat also criticized the European
Union's incapacity to adopt up an independent position on the issue
instead of automatically following Washington's lead.
In reference to another issue, Perez Roque termed as unbelievable
U.S. President George Bush's designation of Cuban-American Otto Reich
as Undersecretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs. The Cuban
Foreign Minister said the designation of this old, anti-communist
cold warrior who was involved in illegal activities in the dirty wars
in Central America during the Ronald Reagan administration is not
only bad for Cuba, but for all of Latin America.
Reich was also a well-paid lobbyist for the Bacardi firm, which
helped push through the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law. According to U.S.
news dailies, Reich's designation is going to spark an intense battle
during congressional confirmation hearings.
*SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN CUBA FOR FOUR-DAY VISIT
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--South African President Thabo Mbeki has
arrived in Cuba for a four-day official visit. Accompanied by his
ministers of foreign affairs, education, agriculture, art, culture
and technology and sports, the South African leader will sign several
cooperation agreements.
Among the most important will be those in the fields of biotechnology
and biogenetics. Earlier this month, Cuban President Fidel Castro
offered to help South Africa and Brazil in the elaboration of AIDS
medication currently sold at skyrocketing prices by pharmaceutical
transnationals from industrialized nations.
South Africa is currently involved in a legal battle with
pharmaceutical giants attempting to prevent the country from
elaborating generic AIDS medication, charging that this would be in
violation of intellectual property, or patent rights.
Four hundred Cuban doctors are working in South Africa's public
health system in an effort to alleviate the lack of South African
doctors in the country's rural areas. Some 200 South Africans are
studying medicine in Cuba.
*BRAZILIAN GOVERNOR RETURNS HOME AFTER VISIT
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--The Governor of the Brazilian state of Rio
de Janeiro, Anthony Garotino, concluded an official visit to Cuba on
Sunday, after signing cooperation accords in the fields of education,
health and sports.
During the visit, Cuban President Fidel Castro met with the
Brazilian official with whom he discussed the refusal of U.S.
transnationals to reduce the prices of AIDS medicines to make them
accessible to all who need them.
In brief statements before his departure from Havana's Jose
Marti International Airport, the Governor of the state of Rio de
Janeiro said that his visit to the island has strengthened ties of
friendship and cooperation between Cuba and Brazil.
During his stay in Cuba, Anthony Garotino met with Cuba's Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque and the Minister of Foreign Investment
and Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas, among other government
officials.
The Brazilian delegation also toured the University of Havana and
an installation of the three existing BRASCUBA joint ventures.
*PRESIDENT OF CUBAN WOMEN'S FEDERATION VISITS VENEZUELA
Caracas, March 26 (RHC)--The President of the Federation of Cuban
Women, Vilma Espin, has participated in a wide range of activities in
Venezuela at the invitation of that country's National Institute of
Women.
Vilma Espin received the Libertador Order, which is Venezuela's
highest distinction. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was present in
the Caracas ceremony when the award was presented.
Chavez said that it was an honor to welcome the President of the
Federation of Cuban Women and underscored the important role she
played in Cuba's revolutionary process.
On Sunday, Vilma Espin visited the Tovar community, which was founded
153 years ago by German immigrants on the outskirts of the Venezuelan
capital.
The Cuban leader also placed a floral wreath at the base of a statue
of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar.
The leader of the Federation of Cuban Women will wind up her visit
with a workshop entitled "the Training of Women in Leadership
Positions." Espin will also meet Venezuelan parliamentarians and
visit the state of Lara where Cuban doctors are volunteering their
medical services.
*SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA EVENT HELD IN MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
Medellin, March 26 (RHC)--A cultural activity in solidarity with Cuba
was held on Sunday in Medellin, Colombia with the participation of
artists and musical groups from the country's northern region.
The event was held in the Association of Antioquia Institutions,
which hosted solidarity with Cuba week in which 350 people
participated.
A representative of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the Peoples,
Roberto Hamilton, was on hand and told participants about the
island's current economic and political situation and its relations
abroad.
*MORE TOURISTS VISIT THE ISLAND
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--The President of Cuba's Cubanacan Hotel
Group, Juan Jose Vega, says that judging from the high numbers of
tourists that have visited the island so far this year, a sharp rise
in tourism can be predicted for 2001.
Vega said that the largest numbers of vacationers are from Germany,
France, Spain and Britain. The Cubanacan Hotel group promotes multi-
destination tourism with other Caribbean islands.
Cubanacan currently runs 54 hotels, eight of them joint ventures and
the rest managed by Cuba. By the end of the year, hotel capacity will
surpass 13,000.
*PRESTIGIOUS CUBAN JURIST DIES IN HAVANA
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--One of Cuba's most prestigious jurists, Dr.
Santiago Cuba Fernandez, died Sunday night in Havana.
During his early years, Dr. Santiago Cuba Fernandez participated in
student struggles against the island's puppet governments and the
Batista dictatorship.
Among his many responsibilities after the triumph of the Cuban
Revolution in 1959, Santiago Cuba headed the Cuban Army's District
Attorney's office, he held the post of Attorney General and at the
time of his death was the Vice President of the Society of Legal
Informatics.
He was also a Supreme Court Justice during the trials of the Playa
Giron or Bay of Pigs invaders and a frequent contributor to Granma
newspaper and Radio Havana Cuba.
*FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN CUBA CONTINUE TO INCREASE
Havana, March 26 (RHC)--Cuba's Minister for Foreign Investment and
Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas, has announced that foreign
investments on the island continue to increase.
She said on Monday in Havana that there are currently 392
economic associations in Cuba, 333 of which operate on the island and
59 abroad.
Fifty-three Reciprocal Promotion Investment Accords had been signed
as of last December with Belarus, Austria, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Peru,
Paraguay, Denmark and Croatia.
The Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation
highlighted the positive activity of sales in goods and services, and
exports and earnings of the associations in the year 2000 and the
first months of this year and she stressed the importance of such
investments for the country's economic development.
*CUBA-SENEGAL ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC TECHNICAL SESSION OPENS IN DAKAR
Dakar, March 26 (RHC)--The first session of the Cuba-Senegal Joint
Economic and Scientific Technical Commission began on Monday in
Dakar, Senegal.
The Cuban delegation is headed by Government Minister, Ricardo
Cabrisas and representing Senegal is that country's Foreign Minister,
Cheikh Tidianne Gadio.
In Monday's sessions, the two sides analyzed the possibility
of strengthening mutual cooperation in sectors like trade, health,
agriculture, sports and education. According to press reports, Cuba
will offer scholarships to Senegalese students in education and
sports.
Cooperation between the two nations began in 1994 with the signing of
a bilateral accord in Economic and Scientific Technical Cooperation,
which has led to continued contacts between foreign ministries and
exchanges of high-level delegations.
*CARLOS LAGE TOURS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITES IN BAYAMO
Bayamo, March 26 (RHC)--Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage on Monday
toured important socio-economic sites in the eastern city of Bayamo.
He inspected newly constructed homes, a maternity and children's
hospital, a sewage system and a water filtering system.
In an encounter with journalists, the Cuban official explained
that tremendous efforts are being made to solve the population's most
pressing problems, which will also generate jobs in that eastern
region.
Lage pointed out that the development plan in eastern Granma
province includes urban agriculture, sugar cane and fishing.
*CANADA ATTEMPTS TO STEM INCREASINGLY NEGATIVE COVERAGE OF UPCOMING
SUMMIT
Quebec, March 26 (RHC)--The government of Canada is attempting to
stem the increasingly negative image of its sponsorship next month of
the Third Summit of the Americas in Quebec. Ottawa is reportedly
planning to send full-color, 16-page pamphlets to Quebec residents
justifying the extreme and unprecedented security measures adopted
for the summit and trying to convince the city's residents of the
economic benefits the event will bring them.
A four-kilometer-long, three-meter-high cement, metal and barbed wire
fence that will keep protesters far away from the event has sparked
outrage among organizers of a parallel, anti-free market
globalization encounter. Only delegates with highly sophisticated
credentials almost impossible to falsify will be allowed within that
perimeter.
U.S. and Canadian authorities are also involved in a joint operation
to virtually shut down several border crossing points between the two
countries to prevent activists from arriving in Quebec via the United
States. Over the weekend, Quebec's Confederation of National Trade
Unions charged that Canadian police are demanding that owners of
buses refuse to rent them out to possible protesters.
The Canadian government has also reserved all hotel rooms in Quebec
in a further effort to keep protesters out. Quebec Mayor Jean Paul
L'Allier has questioned Ottawa's motive for holding the summit in
that city instead of in the Canadian capital.
And in response to Ottawa's refusal to allow Quebec Prime Minister
Bernard Landry to deliver a brief speech to the 34 heads of state
participating in the summit, L'Allier said it was like someone asking
you to throw their party in your home while not inviting you and at
the same time leaving you the bill. It's estimated that the summit
will cost Quebec alone some 33 million dollars.
*ARAB LEAGUE TO SEVER TIES WITH NATIONS THAT MOVE EMBASSIES TO
JERUSALEM
Amman, March 26 (RHC)--The Arab League will reportedly reiterate
its intention to break relations with countries that move their
embassies to Jerusalem or recognize that city as the capital of
Israel, during its ordinary gathering Tuesday and Wednesday in Amman,
Jordan. According to a draft copy of the resolutions to be adopted by
the Arab League, leaders participating in the gathering will also
call for international protection for the Palestinian civilian
population and the setting up of a special tribunal to accuse Israel
of war crimes.
Palestinians, meanwhile, are calling on Arab leaders for substantial
aid and not just vague declarations of support. Palestinian
Communications Minister Imad Al Faluji, stated that if Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon doesn't hear a strong and united voice at the
Arab League summit, the entire region will be in danger.
The Intifada in occupied Palestinian territories has intensified
leading up to the summit, with dozens of Palestinians wounded on
Sunday, on Jewish settler wounded and four Israelis kidnapped by
armed Palestinian militia but later freed by Palestinian police. This
will be the first ordinary Arab League Summit since the gathering in
1990, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
.
Viewpoint:
*DRUG USE IN CUBA IS INSIGNIFICANT, BUT ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS
CONTINUE
The United States, which accounts for five percent of the
world's population, is the largest consumer of cocaine and other
illicit drugs worldwide. It has become the center of the world drug
market, a sordid business that seriously threatens international
stability. A number of prestigious surveys conducted recently reveal
that more than 70 percent of the U.S. people themselves doubt that
the illegal drug trade will ever be controlled.
Cuba, one of the United States' closest neighbors has few drug
problems because since the triumph of the Revolution in l959, the
government has imposed tough sentences on those convicted of drug
trafficking. Today, though the rapid rise in tourism has brought with
it an increase in the sale of mind-altering drugs, Cuban authorities
are closely watching the situation insuring that drug consumption and
sale will never again be a serious problem on the island.
What's more, the Cuban Coast Guard carefully monitors the surrounding
waters for drug smuggling activities as a result of which more than
12,000 tons of illegal drugs have been confiscated and destroyed. The
drug shipments had been headed for the United States by attempting to
pass through Cuban waters.
Havana considers ending international drug trafficking to be of
great importance to humanity. Though Washington proclaims itself
worthy to judge other nations on their efforts to end the
international trade, and U.S authorities have always accepted Cuba's
help in intercepting drug traffickers, they have refused to sign a
formal agreement making that important cooperation both official and
more efficient.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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rhc-eng-26958 2001-Mar-26 23:06:24 " JC
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