>Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 30 June 2000 23:30 > > >*WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA IS DISINTEGRATING >*CANF LOST POLITICAL GROUND AS A RESULT OF ELIAN GONZALEZ CASE >*INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE OF THE RETURN OF ELIAN GONZALEZ CONTINUES >*RACISM AND INJUSTICE TOWARDS LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES >*MEXICO'S NEW AMBASSADOR SEES INCREASED CUBA-MEXICO RELATIONS >*CUBA'S NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY PERFORMS IN VENEZUELA >*IBERO-AMERICAN MEETING ON FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES WINDS UP >*BOLIVIAN REVOLUTIONARY AND FORMER RHC WORKER DIES AT THE AGE OF 68 >*Viewpoint: ELIAN IS FINALLY BACK HOME... BUT THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! > > >*WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA IS DISINTEGRATING > >Washington, June 30 (RHC)-- In an interview published Friday by The >Washington Post, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon asserted that >the U.S. blockade of Cuba is in a process of disintegration. While >criticizing the recent congressional resolution on the sale of food and >medicine to Cuba -- due to restrictions that were maintained in the text of >the agreement -- Alarcon nevertheless insisted that it reflects how the idea >of the necessity for a change in Washington's Cuba policy is gaining ground >on Capitol Hill. > >The president of Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power stated that the >Elian Gonzalez case has given rise to fundamental changes in American >society's point of view regarding Cuba. He told The Washington Post that >millions of Americans discovered exactly what Cuba means when it uses the >term "mafia" to describe the ultra-right wing Cuban-American community in >Florida. > >Alarcon said U.S. society witnessed how this mafia chose the wrong side and >then handled the matter in "a stupid way." The Cuban Parliament president >emphasized that the persistence of Elian's father, Juan Miguel, in >expressing his desire to return to Cuba with his son did away with the myth >that everyone in Cuba wants to flee the country. > > >*CANF LOST POLITICAL GROUND AS A RESULT OF ELIAN GONZALEZ CASE > >New York, June 30 (RHC)-- The New York Times has asserted that after >dominating the United States policy debate over Cuba for nearly two decades, >Cuban-American advocates of a hard-line stance toward Havana find themselves >on the defensive and increasingly estranged from other Americans due to its >handling of the Elian Gonzalez case. > >New York Times staff writer Christopher Marquis wrote that the ultra-right >wing Cuban-American National Foundation is launching a campaign to enhance >its declining image, which includes singling out the districts of >congressional adversaries for television advertisements and pledging to >spend whatever it takes to protect the unyielding American policy it helped >to create. > >The article quoted congressional Representative Jim McDermott, a Democrat >from the State of Washington, who said the Cuban-American National >Foundation showed what they were really all about when they were ready to >sacrifice one of their own children, demonstrating that they really didn't >care about separating Elian from his father. > >The New York Times article also quoted Max Castro, a sociologist at the >University of Miami's North-South Center, who said that during the >seven-month-long struggle over Elian, people who had paid little attention >to Washington's policy toward Cuba began to ask questions about the >hard-line approach. He said people in the United States have basically said >it's a policy that hasn't worked and is inconsistent with the rest of U.S. >foreign policy. > > >*INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE OF THE RETURN OF ELIAN GONZALEZ CONTINUES > >Havana, June 30 (RHC)-- International coverage of Elian's return home >continues. Major news dailies throughout the world focussed on Wednesday's >return to the island of the six-year-old Cuban boy, following seven months >of captivity in the United States. > >In Beijing, the Chinese press published detailed stories on Friday, looking >at the political repercussions of the event. A photograph of Elian >embracing his grandmother as he got off the plane in Havana appears on the >front-page of China's major daily newspaper. > >In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed its satisfaction with >the return of Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. The influential Russian dailies >Komersant and Izvestia gave the story special treatment, characterizing >Elian's homecoming as a victory for the Cuban people. > >And in Luanda, Angolan doctors who graduated from medical schools in Cuba >said that they were extremely pleased that the six-year-old boy was finally >back home, calling Elian's return an act of justice. > > >*RACISM AND INJUSTICE TOWARDS LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES > >Havana, June 30 (RHC)-- A special international roundtable discussion was >broadcast live on Cuban radio and television Friday evening. The panel, >composed of Chicano professors from various states in the U.S., explored >themes of racism and injustice towards Latinos in the United States. > >The panel began by painting a picture of an ethnic hierarchy of political >power in the U.S., in which an over-representation of whites occupy national >and state legislatures, while the only over-representation of minorities -- >in any U.S. institutional framework -- is seen in the prison system and on >death row. Panelists stated that in order to win an election, a politician >must attain financing from supporters beginning with at least 10,000 dollars >at a local level, to over 500,000 dollars on a national level. One >professor from California State University pointed out that both the >Hispanic and Black communities have very few resources with which to compete >in an election at any level. > >Another guest panelist noted that the few who have been able to secure >political seats have been bought by big capital and have done so at the >expense of their own people's interests. The panel emphasized that even >during the 1960's and 70's, when Chicano leaders like Cesar Chavez and Corky >Gonzalez organized on behalf of popular interests, state repression had >successfully destabilized both the leadership and its political base. > >The second theme touched upon during Friday's roundtable was undocumented >immigration along the U.S.- Mexico border. Panelists highlighted the fact >that undocumented Mexicans and Central Americans have filled a menial work >vacuum in the United States that neither whites nor other minorities have >occupied since the early 1980's. It was noted that not only have these >undocumented workers filled a void in the American economy, but that they >are underpaid and receive no employment benefits. Panelists stated that >while the economy supposedly improves -- at the expense of exploited Latinos >in the U.S. -- the government uses them as a constant scapegoat for its >anti-immigrant laws, allegedly directed at controlling the ever-skyrocketing >crime rate. The panel contended that human rights abuses on the part of the >Immigration and Naturalization Service, including constant arbitrary >shakedowns of Hispanic communities and extreme violence on the part of >border patrol agents, comprise another dimension of the repressive state >apparatus. > >The panel concluded that state repression on both the political and >migratory fronts has served to disenfranchise Latinos from any sense of >meaningful political participation and economic integration in American >society. One professor wrapped up by saying that the Latino population -- >with the sole exception of the extreme right wing in Miami -- maintains >strong, historical ties to Cuba and has much to learn from the Cuban >Revolution. > >The roundtable discussion was aired live on Cuban television and the >national radio network, as well as the international shortwave frequencies >of Radio Havana Cuba. > > >*MEXICO'S NEW AMBASSADOR SEES INCREASED CUBA-MEXICO RELATIONS > >Havana, June 30 (RHC)-- Mexico's newly-appointed ambassador to Cuba, >Heriberto Galindo, has affirmed that both countries will work to further >strengthen friendly and cooperative ties. During a ceremony in the Cuban >capital to welcome the new ambassador, Galindo announced that he had brought >personal greetings to Cuban President Fidel Castro from Mexican President >Ernesto Zedillo and Foreign Minister Rosario Green. > >After presenting his credentials as Mexico's new representative in Havana, >Heriberto Galindo stated that he hoped to expand bilateral relations between >the island and Mexico in the educational, cultural and tourism sectors. > > >*CUBA'S NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY PERFORMS IN VENEZUELA > >Caracas, June 30 (RHC)-- Cuba's National Ballet Company will perform >"Giselle" on Friday night in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. According to >local news sources, Cuba's National Ballet Company first performed in >Venezuela in 1948. > >In an interview with the ballet company's artistic director, Josefina >Mendez, it was pointed out that the historical continuity of the version of >"Giselle," directed by Alicia Alonso, has remained intact for the past 60 >years. Very few revisions of the work have been made over the decades and >always with the approval of Alicia Alonso. > > >*IBERO-AMERICAN MEETING ON FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES WINDS UP > >Havana, June 30 (RHC)-- The Ibero-American Summit on Food and Pharmaceutical >Sciences wound up on Friday in Havana. Representatives of educational >institutions throughout the region took part in four days of sessions at the >International Convention Center. > >The primary focus of discussion at the Summit was aimed at the role of >pharmaceutical professionals and food sciences on the threshold of the new >millenium. > >The event was sponsored by the University of Havana, the Carlos J. Finlay >Institute, the Central University of Venezuela, and the Atlantic and Los >Andes Universities, both in Colombia. > >Results of the debates, articles, research and exchanges will soon be >published in Cuban pharmaceutical journals. > > >*BOLIVIAN REVOLUTIONARY AND FORMER RHC WORKER DIES AT THE AGE OF 68 > >Havana, June 30 (RHC)-- Bolivian revolutionary and former worker at Radio >Havana Cuba, Rodolfo Saldana, died in Havana Thursday morning. > >A sociology graduate, Rodolfo Saldana was a long-time friend of the Cuban >Revolution. He participated in an urban network that supported the >guerrilla group headed by Ernesto Che Guevara in Bolivia during the late >1960's. > >Saldana lived in Cuba during the early 70's and worked in the Guarani and >Quechua Language Departments at Radio Havana Cuba. In 1983, Rodolfo >returned to Bolivia where he was a professor at San Andres University in >Political Science and Law. He later returned to Cuba in 1991. > >The remains of Rodolfo Saldana will be repatriated to Bolivia, in compliance >with his last wishes. > > >*Viewpoint: ELIAN IS FINALLY BACK HOME... BUT THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! > >For the past forty years, nine consecutive U.S. administrations have carried >out a multifaceted anti-Cuba policy involving a brutal economic blockade, >subversion and attempts to isolate the island internationally. > >However, on the threshold of the 21st century, the Cuban Revolution is >stronger than ever and remains a guiding light for the rest of the world -- >in which two-thirds of the human race live in abject poverty. > >The historic and recently-concluded case of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez has >brought to light the best values of the American people and has at least >opened a door to the improvement of U.S. international prestige. > >Thus far, almost all U.S. administrations have allied themselves with the >most reactionary forces of the international community. They have also >helped to create and support the most oppressive military regimes in Latin >America and other continents. > >The United States has never been in the business of allowing progressive >governments to flourish in the Western hemisphere, imposing its imperialist >domination in its "own backyard." This hegemonic position has resulted in >the rise of socio-economic structures across the region, responsible for >systems based on inequality and repression that can only lead to inevitable >rebellions and even popular revolutions. > >U.S. anti-Cuba policy over the last four decades is symptomatic of this >position. Instead of trying to understand the Cuban revolutionary process, >Washington has conducted a hostile campaign of anti-Cuba propaganda and >ruthless attacks over the past 40 years -- including a criminal economic and >financial blockade. > >One 'brilliant' idea was to encourage illegal migration from the island to >the United States -- portraying Cuba as a "veritable hell" from which people >'escape,' looking for "freedom and economic prosperity." Thus, the U.S. >Congress passed the so-called Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966 -- a law that >grants special treatment to Cuban immigrants, including the right to receive >automatic permanent residence to those who touch U.S. soil by illegal means. > >This law -- which is still in effect despite the U.S.-Cuba migratory >accords, signed between Havana and Washington in 1994 and 1995 -- has been >the cause of many tragedies, including the one of Elian Gonzalez. The young >boy survived a shipwreck in the Florida Straits last November, in which his >mother and nine other people drowned while attempting to reach the United >States. > >Now that Elian is finally back home, the Cuban people are prepared to >continue the battle against Washington's genocidal economic blockade and the >criminal Cuban Adjustment Act -- which have drastically affected and, in far >too many cases, actually taken the lives of thousands of people. > > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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] >================================================================= > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Law.com is the preeminent online destination for legal professionals. >Visit Law.com for exclusive content from American Lawyer Media, online >CLE Seminars, Practice Centers and Career Listings. >http://click.egroups.com/1/5803/0/_/30563/_/962444365/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Cuba SI - Imperialism NO! >Information and discussion about Cuba. >Socialism or death! Patria o muerte! 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