>from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Cuba advanced education. Dissident freed. Ball > [MORE THAN A WEEKLY] > [BIENVENIDOS A GRANMA INTERNACIONAL] May 12, 2000 > > UNESCO highlights Cuba's educational achievements > > LATIN America will face serious difficulties in the new information > >society if it does not resolve the "deficiencies" in the education >of more than 74 million children attending primary schools, a UNESCO > >study warns, according to AFP. > > The report analyzes the performance of 3rd- and 4th-grade students > >in 13 countries. A relevant finding is represented in the high marks > >of Cuban students, highlighted by UNESCO experts who focused their >study on the subjects of language and mathematics in order to >determine children's ability to communicate, assimilate knowledge >and "interpret the real world." > > Progress in Cuba, which is in a leading position in educational >development, is seen as relatively uniform throughout all schools in > >the country, where differences are minimal, the document states. > > With an ideal level of 90% performance in managing language, Cuba > >scored 99%, while in the Dominican Republic the result was only 76%. > > In Argentina and Chile, "relatively high scores" of over 92% were > >recorded, in accordance with the measurements of multiple levels and > >variables involved in the research. However, the majority of >students, at a regional level, did not manage to exceed the levels >of comprehension. > > The report indicates it could be said that in the region children >are being taught to read, but they do not manage to fully understand > >the meaning of the text or to interpret what they are reading, which > >is the cause of what is known as functional illiteracy. > > This new form of illiteracy, portrayed as a virus in society, >affects 100 million Latin Americans, representing half the >population over 15 years old, according to previous reports drawn up > >by UNESCO, which has its regional education headquarters for Latin >America in Santiago de Chile. > > The goal of eradicating functional illiteracy is still outstanding, > >according to the conclusions of the new report, which will be given > >to education ministers throughout the continent and whose seventh >meeting is scheduled for Bolivia next October. Recommendations >approved by the ministers will be passed directly on to their >respective presidents who, the following month, will attend the 10th > >Ibero-American Summit in Panama. > > The experts' work is based on national test scores and other data > >collected in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, > >Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and > >Venezuela. > > ABOUT GRANMA INTERNATIONAL ONLINE >Spanish | French | Portuguese | German | Italian | Javier Sotomayor | >Magazines � Copyright. 1996-1999. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. GRANMA >INTERNATIONAL/ ONLINE EDITION > > ************ > >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Cuba frees dissident Roque >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "IRL32-ACTION list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [Cuba SI] Cuba Releases Roque > >Cuba frees another dissident By Reuters - 16 May 2000 07:16GMT > >HAVANA, May 15 (Reuters) - Cuba on Monday released another of the >communist-run island's best-known imprisoned dissidents, economist > Marta Beatriz Roque, whose case had drawn freedom appeals from >around the world. > >"I could hardly believe it. It's very difficult, something I wasn't >expecting," Roque, who turns 55 on Tuesday, told Reuters, clutching > her "conditional liberty" papers at her modest home in the Santo >Suarez district of Havana. > >Looking happy but nervous and somewhat shell-shocked, the dissident >described in her first interview since being released, how Cuban > state security officers had informed her in jail of her freedom >soon after 6 p.m. (2200 GMT). > >"Look what I have for you," an official told her before handing over >the papers, Roque recalled. > >Barely able to read the documents because she was nervous and >because she did not have her glasses with her, Roque was then > driven home by Interior Ministry officials. > >Roque, in jail since mid-1997, was serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for >"inciting sedition." Her release follows Friday's freeing of > dissident academic Felix Bonne, 60, convicted of the same charge >and serving a four-year sentence. > >Both dissidents are members of the so- called Group of Four, whose >opposition activities irked Cuba's ruling Communist Party and whose >jailing in July 1997, and conviction in March 1998, brought a >torrent of foreign criticism on Havana. > >Roque's family and supporters were rushing to her house in Havana to >greet her after her release. > >"I am so happy, so happy that this is over," the dissident's cousin, >Joel Roque, told Reuters. "Now we just want to see how we can make >up for the time lost while she was in jail, away from the family." > >Both Roque and Bonne have said in inter- views they will continue >their opposition work, and will not leave Cuba, as they claim state >security have been pressuring them to do. > >The pair both had health problems, according to relatives. They were > apparently freed under laws allowing conditional freedom for >inmates who have served more than half their sentence and are >judged to have behaved well. > >President Fidel Castro's government rejects the Group of Four's >claim to represent peaceful opposition to his one-party system, >saying they, like all dissidents on the island, were U.S.-paid > "counterrevolutionary" law-breakers and traitors. > >Diplomats in Havana welcomed both releases, and urged the Cuban >govern- ment to follow it up by freeing the other two members of the >Group of Four. > >The diplomats speculated that next out would be lawyer Rene Gomez >Manzano, 56, who, like Bonne, received a four-year sentence. But >they were less hopeful about Vladimiro Roca, 57, a former Cuban >fighter pilot and the son of deceased communist hero Blas Roca, who >received the stiffest sentence of the group -- five years -- after >being singled out as its ringleader. > >Unlike the other three, Roca had not been allowed out for temporary >home visits in recent months. > >The case of the four has in recent years become a focus for foreign >criticism of Castro's human rights record and has brought appeals >from rights groups and leaders around the world, including Pope John >Paul II. The four were all listed by Amnesty International as >prisoners of conscience. > >Dissidents in Cuba say the government is holding nearly 400 political >prisoners. The Havana government denies it holds political prisoners >or represses of expression. > >Cuba says the Group of Four was guilty of receiving material backing >from the United States, urging a boycott of elections, intimidating >foreign investors and making illicit contacts with anti-Castro Cuban >exile groups. > >They were all jailed in July 1997 after issuing documents, including >one titled "The Fatherland Belongs to All," and holding news >conferences at which they criticized the ruling Communist Party and >urged reforms. > >Leading local dissident Elizardo Sanchez said the release of Roque >and Bonne should not be interpreted abroad as a sign of political >opening in Cuba, but rather as a belated response to international > pressure. He noted that both were only given "conditional liberty" >and could be sent back to jail at any time if they annoy the Cuban >authorities. > >Sanchez also said their release should not hide a continuing wave of >low-level repression against Cuba's small dissident movement in >general. "I can't hide my skepticism," he said. > > > ****** >sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-From_: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat May 13 2000 >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "Karen Lee Wald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "mike weaver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Fw: Baseball Diplomacy Cuba >Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Fredy and Sherry Champagne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Baseball Diplomacy Cuba > > PRESS RELEASE YOUTH BASEBALL TEAM TOURS CUBA FOR SERIES OF GAMES > Press Release - Baseball Diplomacy - 5/11/2000 > >A youth baseball team from Humboldt County, California has been >invited to play ball in Cuba. The Lost Coast Pirates, at team of >ten-to-twelve-year-old boys, will caravan through Cuba from July >22 through 29 playing games with three Cuban teams at their hometowns >along the tour. > >The invitation was extended to the Pirates through the internat'l >organization Pastors For Peace, ( http://www.ifconews.org/) based in >New York City. The local Veterans for Peace >http://www.humboldt.net/~veterans/Chapter22/) of Garberville, >California, will sponsor the team as part of their annual >humanitarian mission to Cuba. > >The Lost Coast Pirates' interest in the mission dates back to 1998, >when the team collected good used baseball equipment and sent it to >Cuba with the Pastors for Peace mission that year. The Pirates >included a team photo and a letter describing the small communities >in which they live, in the remote mountains of the "Lost Coast" of >California. They signed off with the wish that, one day, they might >share a game with their counterparts in Cuba. > >The invitation to accompany Pastors for Peace to play baseball in >Cuba was a joyous surprise to the team, and was met with enthusiastic >and unanimous support by their parents. While the grown-ups work out >the logistics, the boys of the Lost Coast Pirates have only one thing >to say: "�Juguemos a b�isbol con nuestros amigos cubanos!" > > "Let's play baseball with our Cuban friends!" > > The team has already met part of the expense for the trip, but >additional support is needed. If you would like to help, send your >tax-deductible donation to: Baseball Diplomacy, p.o. box 84, >Whitethorn, CA 95589, or deposit directly into the Baseball >Diplomacy account at the Community Credit Union of Southern Humboldt, >account #9346. > > For more information, visit www.baseballdiplomacy.org. Or you may >call Rob Then at (707) 986-7831. > > Friends and Comrades: This baseball team will be sponsored by >Veterans for Peace, Chapter 022. The team will be accompanied by >several members of our chapter. > > Please distribute this press release far and wide, to all corners >of the planet. Forward to all e-mail serve lists. Forward in the >Fight Against Multinational Corporate control of the media. We are >the People's Media. Fredy Champagne, President, Chapter 022, Ph/Fax >707.943.1872 > >> VFP Chapter 022, 483 Conger St. Garberville, CA 95542 >> www.humboldt.net/~veterans/. " JC > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
