>Radio Havana Cuba News - 4 April 2000 > Wed, 5 Apr 2000 00:49:58 -0400 > >Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 4 April 2000 > > >-NEW HAVANA PLAZA FACING US INTEREST SECTION HONORS MARTI >-U.S. GRANTS VISA, PROMISES CUSTODY TO ELIAN'S FATHER >-CUBANS MARK 38th ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE >-PRE-ELECTORAL PROCESS IN CUBA: MUNICIPAL PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS >-BUSINESS DELEGATION FROM ANDALUSIA VISITS CUBA >-Viewpoint: THE FIRST SOUTH SUMMIT > > >JOSE MARTI ANTI-IMPERIALIST TRIBUNE INAUGURATED IN FRONT OF U.S. >INTERESTS SECTION IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL > >Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- A permanent stage, set on a newly-built plaza in >front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, was the scene Monday evening >of yet another denunciation of the illegal kidnapping of six-year-old Elian >Gonzalez. > >The plaza -- named the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune -- was formally >inaugurated with a special program that not only called for the immediate >return of Elian to his father, but also demanded an end to Washington's >hostile policies toward the island. > >Together with Cuban President Fidel Castro and delegates attending the 12th >Congress of Latin American and Caribbean Students here in Havana, more than >10,000 gathered for the political and cultural program -- with music, poetry >readings and statements by Jose Marti and other anti-imperialist fighters. > >Singer/songwriter Silvio Rodriguez played for the excited crowd, along with >performances by Sara Gonzalez, Amaury Perez and other leaders of Cuba's New >Song Movement. Monday night's special program ended with a fireworks >display, lighting up the sky over the Cuban capital. > >The new plaza is located on Havana's seaside drive, known as the Malecon, >directly in front of the building that houses the U.S. Interests Section. It >marks the site where the first open tribunes were held in early December, >shortly after the kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez. > >Construction of the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune began inmid-January >and workers labored day and night to complete the monumental structure. Four >enormous steel arches, erected on concrete pedestals, were built to support >lighting and audio equipment. One of the pedestals has the names of U.S. >citizens honored in Cuba -- among them, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X >and the Martyrs of Haymarket Square. Another pedestal bears the names of >Latin American patriots -- including Simon Bolivar, Salvador Allende, >Augusto Cesar Sandino, Omar Torrijos and Pedro Albizu Campos. A third >pedestal honors Ernesto Che Guevara, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and >Vladimir Illich Lenin. > >A bronze sculpture of Cuba's National Hero Jose Marti holds a small child in >one arm, while his other hand points an accusing finger directly at the door >of the U.S. Interests Section. > > >U.S. AUTHORITIES SAY CUSTODY OF ELIAN GONZALEZ WILL BE GRANTED TO HIS >FATHER, JUAN MIGUEL GONZALEZ, WHO RECEIVES ENTRY VISA > >Washington, April 4 (RHC)-- The U.S. State Department has announced that >custody of Elian Gonzalez will be granted to his father, Juan Miguel >Gonzalez, who has been issued an entry visa. Juan Miguel, his second wife, >their six-month-old son, one of Elian's 10-year-old cousins, a child >psychiatrist and Elian's kindergarten teacher have been granted visas to >travel to the United States. > >U.S. authorities clarified, however, that Elian will be turned over to his >father by means of a "gradual process" to avoid further emotional damage. >The announcement by the U.S. government changed the course of negotiations >Monday evening between the attorneys of the distant relatives holding the >child in Miami and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. > >The INS once again postponed the suspension of Elian's temporary migratory >status, resuming talks this morning. But, by early Tuesday afternoon, those >talks were suspended once again without an agreement. The attorneys of >Elian's kidnappers are reportedly demanding that a panel of child >psychologists determine whether or not the boy should return to this father >in Cuba. The INS says that any group of child psychologists would only be >used to determine the best way to facilitate Elian's repatriation. U.S. >authorities are now reportedly concentrating on how and where the child >should be turned over to his father. > >If Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, continues refusing to surrender the >child, the Justice Department will ask a federal judge to issue an order >forcing him to do so. If he refuses to obey that order, he could face >arrest. Elian's father will probably have to remain in the United States >until the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta hears the case, expected >to take place in early May. Havana is still awaiting authorization for >another 22 entry visas for some of Elian's classmates and others who can >help the child to readapt. > > >CUBANS MARK 38th ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE > >Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- Cuban young people who have made good grades in >school or excelled on the job received recognition during a ceremony held >on Tuesday in Havana to mark the 38th anniversary of Cuba's Young Communist >League (UJC). > >As part of the activity, 38 Cuban students received the Julio Antonio Mella >Award as well as the Jose Antonio Echevarria and the Abel Santamaria Orders, >granted by Cuba's Council of State. > >Today, April 4th, also marks the 39th anniversary of the Jose Marti Pioneer >Organization, made up of grade school children throughout Cuba. To mark the >date, a group of renowned Cuban personalities and institutions received the >Little Pink Shoes Award, named after a poem dedicated to children by Cuba's >National Hero Jose Marti. > > >PRE-ELECTORAL PROCESS CONTINUES IN CUBA; PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS AT >MUNICIPAL LEVEL SLATED FOR LATER THIS MONTH > >Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- The biographies and photos of candidates to >the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power were posted Tuesday in >public places throughout Cuba -- part of a process island-wide to >elect deputies to the Parliament next April 23rd. > >In Cuba, campaign spending is not an issue. Candidates do not spend >tens of millions on campaign publicity; in fact, they spend absolutely >nothing. The only campaigning allowed is a photo along with a short >biography listing one's achievements. Those running for office are >known by their neighbors and co-workers, who nominate their own >representatives. > >Thus far, 31,000 candidates have been nominated at neighborhood >meetings across the island. Once elected, delegates to the Cuban >Parliament serve without a salary. In Cuba's participatory democracy, >serving the people is considered a duty and a privilege, not a career. > > >BUSINESS DELEGATION FROM ANDALUSIA VISITS CUBA > >Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce, >industry and shipping of Malaga, in the Spanish autonomous region of >Andalusia, is currently in Cuba to explore possibilities for >strengthened bilateral cooperation with the Caribbean island. > >The delegation, made up of some 20 business executives, brought with >them samples of products manufactured in that Spanish autonomous >region, which cover sectors such as real estate, tourism and the >textile industry. > >This is the second visit to Cuba of a delegation from Malaga's Chamber >of Commerce. Their agenda on the island also includes contacts with >Cuban business representatives in the western provinces of Pinar del >Rio and Matanzas, as well as a tour of the world famous Varadero Beach >Resort. > > >RHC Viewpoint: > >THE FIRST SOUTH SUMMIT: UNITY OF ACTION AND MUTUAL COOPERATION > >At the beginning of next week, over 50 heads of state and government >of the Group of 77 will meet in Havana to celebrate the first South >Summit. The gathering is named after the underdeveloped countries that >occupy most of the Southern hemisphere. These nations, affected by >unequal economic exchange with the industrialized North, have realized >that the solution to their problems depends on unity of action and >mutual cooperation. These nations have suffered poverty, desperate >health conditions and ignorance without hope for a viable solution >since the end of European Colonialism. > >The policy traditionally followed by the world powers regarding these >nations, which are a majority, has been to foment disunity and >isolation and to exploit the South's natural resources to feed the >powerful, developed North. > >The Third World has begun to realize that its primary political and >strategic need is unity. Only if Third World countries unite will they >have the strength to negotiate something they have historically >lacked. The foreign debt of the Southern hemisphere has mounted to >billions of dollars, an amount that can never be repaid under current >international economic conditions. Every year, these countries are >forced to earmark a considerable part of their national income to pay >the interest on the debt if they wish continued access to new credits. >But with every new credit, debt grows and the possibilities of >investing in social and economic development vanish. > >If Third World countries do not politically unite, medieval >philosopher Machiaveli's sinister formula "Divide and Conquer" will >continue serving the Northern powers. The underdeveloped countries >must not allow the New Millennium to begin under those premises; they >must unite to defend their common positions and problems. The upcoming >South Summit in Havana will be an opportunity for the nations of the >South to take a step in that direction. > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba. All rights reserved. > >================================================================= > NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems > Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us > 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 > http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >================================================================= > >nytcari-04.05.00-00:49:49-10245 > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Save up to 54% on Quest & Kelty tents, backpacks, sleeping bags and >outdoor gear. FREE Shipping and a 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee at >screaminghotdeals.com >http://click.egroups.com/1/2716/0/_/30563/_/954910213/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ > >Imperialism NO! Venceremos! > >Information and discussion about Cuba. > >Discussion of the path of Ernesto Che Guevara. > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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