from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: Havana Radio Jan 17. LatinAm Poverty.RamseyClark. DU
Radio Havana Cuba-17 January 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 17 January 2001
.
*CUBA PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE ON TERRORISTS BEING HELD IN PANAMA
*INTERNATIONAL CIGAR FESTIVAL TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA
*JAPANESE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION VISITING CUBA
*OSPAAAL's 35th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION EVENTS CONTINUE
*GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE BEGINS JANUARY 29th
*SYRIAN DELEGATION VISITS CUBA
*LAURENT KABILA SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON IN CONGO; HOW HE DIED STILL
UNCERTAIN
*NEW FILM ON PATRICE LUMUMBA OPENS IN CUBA
*US ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE JOHN ASHCROFT FACES CONFIRMATION
HEARINGS
Viewpoint:
*POVERTY ROCKS CENTRAL AMERICA LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE
*RAMSEY CLARK, IN BAGHDAD, SPEAKS OUT AGAINST US SANCTIONS ON IRAQ
*US IGNORES EVIDENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN DEPLETED URANIUM
.
*CUBA PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE ON TERRORISTS BEING HELD IN PANAMA
Panama City, January 17 (RHC)--The Cuban government has provided
additional evidence to Panamanian authorities regarding terrorist
Luis Posada Carriles and three others being held for plotting an
assassination attempt against Cuban President Fidel Castro.
According to Prensa Latina News Agency, Havana's ambassador to
Panama, Carlos Zamora, personally handed over more than ten volumes
of information to authorities on Monday. Cuba has also requested the
separate extradition of the three others -- members of a terrorist
commando led by Posada Carriles and arrested two months ago, on
November 17th. Along with Luis Posada Carriles -- the mastermind of
the plot -- Guillermo Novo, Gaspar Jimenez and Pedro Remon are wanted
in Havana for their terrorist activities.
The Panamanian government is studying the Cuban request for
extradition and is expected to make a decision soon on whether or not
to send them to trial in Havana. Cuban President Fidel Castro has
assured authorities that despite the gravity of their crimes, the
terrorists will not be sentenced to death and will only receive the
maximum of 20 years in prison, if convicted.
The Cuban leader has also offered to have international observers
present during trial proceedings.
Among his many terrorist activities, Luis Posada Carriles has
admitted responsibility in the sabotage bombing of a Cubana airliner
in 1976, which killed all 73 persons on board.
In related news, Panamanian students visiting Havana appeared on
a roundtable discussion Tuesday evening, aired live on Cuban radio
and television. The students condemned the terrorist actions of those
being held in their country and called on the Panamanian government
to extradite them to Cuba.
Participants on the roundtable emphasized that the C-4 plastic
explosives and detailed maps of the University of Panama, found in a
car rented by the terrorists, proves that they were planning to blow
up a university auditorium during a speech by the Cuban president.
They said that if the explosives had been detonated, hundreds of
students would have been killed. The visiting students expressed
their solidarity with Cuba and said they would return to Panama to
continue to work for the extradition of the terrorists.
Tuesday night's roundtable discussion was aired on the
international shortwave frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba.
*INTERNATIONAL CIGAR FESTIVAL TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA
Havana, January 17 (RHC)--The 3rd International "Habano" Cigar
Festival will be held from February 19th to the 23rd. Outstanding
personalities linked to Cuban cigars will attend the gala event.
Delegates will participate in seminars, video and photography
contests and will visit tobacco factories and trade fairs among other
activities.
The International Festival is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of
Cuban Habanos cigars and the 5th anniversary of the exclusive Cuaba
and Vegueros brands.
*JAPANESE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION VISITING CUBA
Habana, January 17 (RHC)--A Japanese legislative delegation headed by
the President of Japan's Chamber of Deputies, Tamisuke Watanuki, is
scheduled to meet with the President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo
Alarcon.
The visiting Japanese parliamentarians will also meet with Vice
President Carlos Lage.
Watanuki told reporters in Havana that the objective of his visit is
to strengthen relations between the two nations and he emphasized
that there is great interest in Japan regarding the island's tourism
sector.
The Japanese lawmakers will also meet with other government leaders
and tour places of economic, political and social interest.
*OSPAAAL's 35th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION EVENTS CONTINUE
Havana, January 17 (RHC)--During its second and final day of meetings
in Havana, the Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa,
Asia and Latin America, OSPAAAL, is organizing an international
meeting of political parties, organizations and progressive movements
in support of a just world.
Delegates from 12 countries and three continents characterized as
"positive" the work of the organization over the last five years and
discussed projects and the main objectives for the future.
Also during the national activity celebrating the 35th anniversary
of OSPAAAL awards are being presented to important solidarity
activists.
*GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE BEGINS JANUARY 29th
Havana, January 17 (RHC)--Some one thousand delegates will attend the
3rd International Economists Meeting on Globalization and Problems
of Development, which begins on January 29th.
The president of the conference's organizing committee, Ester
Aguilera, said that the event will include conferences and round
table discussions on papers presented by prestigious Cuban and
foreign economic experts.
*SYRIAN DELEGATION VISITS CUBA
Havana, January 17 (RHC)-Cuban Communist Party official Jose Ramon
Balaguer met on Tuesday in Havana with a delegation from the Syria's
governing Baas de Syria Party, headed by party secretary Abdalahj al
Armar.
The Syrian politician told the press that he is satisfied with the
exchanges between both countries.
He explained that he was invited to attend the meeting of Arab
Institutions on the American continent, which will be held January
19th at the 20th in Havana's International Convention Center.
*LAURENT KABILA SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON IN CONGO; HOW HE DIED STILL
UNCERTAIN
Harare, January 17 (RHC)-The President of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Laurent Desire Kabila, is dead. According to reports from
Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Kabila was killed by an army colonel
who had just been demoted. Conflicting reports from the capital of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo at first had Kabila wounded but
still alive - but all information points to the fact that the
president died while he was being rushed by plane to Zimbabwe, where
he was to receive medical treatment.
In Angola, the Prensa Latina News Agency bureau reports that Kabila's
son, General Joseph Kabila, is now servicing as the head of state,
but it was noted that there are still confusing reports as to exactly
how his father was killed.
Laurent Kabila came to power in the former Zaire in 1997, after
the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Shortly after the
dictator fled Kinshasa, the country was renamed the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
*NEW FILM ON PATRICE LUMUMBA OPENS IN CUBA
Havana, January 17 (RHC)--A film depicting the life of murdered
African statesman, Patrice Lumumba, opens in Cuba this week. The
Belgian, Haitian and German co-production was directed by Haiti's
Raul Peck. Actor Eriq Ebuan of Cameroon plays the leading role.
Director Peck, was a member of the jury in the recently held
22nd International Festival of New Latin American Film in Havana in
December.
The movie, which was extensively researched, reveals new information
on the life and the murder of the distinguished leader who was killed
on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in l961 in what
was then the Belgian Congo and today is known as the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
*US ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE JOHN ASHCROFT FACES CONFIRMATION
HEARINGS
Washington, January 17 (RHC)--During confirmation hearings this week
U.S. Pesident-elect George Bush's nominee for Attorney General, John
Ashcroft, has attempted to allay the onslaught of criticism against
his ultra-conservative positions during Senate confirmation hearings.
Promising that his religious-right ideas will not prevent him from
enforcing the country's laws, Ashcroft told the Senate Tuesday that
even though he opposes abortion he recognizes that this is the law of
the land.
But Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy stated that Ashcroft's past
indicates that he will not be capable of enforcing the law above and
beyond his personal ideas. Kennedy recalled that as a Senator,
Ashcroft called James Brady -- press secretary of the Ronald Reagan
administration wounded and confined to a wheelchair following an
assassination attempt against Reagan -- the principle enemy of
responsible owners of weapons. Since Brady was wounded he became an
outspoken representative of the movement for strict gun-control
legislation.
Democrat Charles Schummer also asserted that Ashcroft has been
an impassioned defender of his ideas, and that he wasn't sure that
the Bush nominee could find a balance between his ideology and his
duties as an attorney general. Also accused by civil rights
organizations of racism and bigotry for interviews givento a
notoriously white supremacist magazine, Ashcroft is nevertheless
expected to be confirmed by the Senate.
The hearings were expected to continue through the rest of the week,
but the confirmation vote is not expected until after Bush takes
possession of the White House -- which will allow Vice President-
elect Richard Cheney to be present as head of the Senate to break a
possible tie in the upper house.
Viewpoint:
*POVERTY ROCKS CENTRAL AMERICA LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE
San Salvador, January 17 (RHC)-- Poverty was primarily responsible
for the tragedy of last weekend's devastating earthquake in El
Salvador. According to Catholic Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the
Salvadoran government must take decisive action to make sure that
such loss of life is not repeated in the future.
The Catholic Church official told reporters in San Salvador that the
country is now forced to seriously deal with the situation of poverty
-- emphasizing that almost all of those who were killed or left
homeless in Saturday's earthquake were poor.
Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez recalled that when an earthquake
nearly destroyed the Salvadoran capital in October 1986, authorities
found that the violation of safe building codes was responsible for
the deaths of thousands of people. He noted that at that time,
measures were taken to strengthen building codes but that serious
violations have been committed. The Catholic Church official placed
the blame squarely on the shoulders of poverty and the irresponsible
administrations that have governed the country over the past 15
years.
*RAMSEY CLARK, IN BAGHDAD, SPEAKS OUT AGAINST US SANCTIONS ON IRAQ
Baghdad, January 17 (RHC)--[On Saturday, January 13th,] a U.S.
delegation headed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in
Iraq, in defiance of U.S. sanctions against that Arab nation. The
group of 50 people delivered medicine to several hospitals in
Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and held a news conference to denounce
Washington's continued war of aggression.
The group was one of the first U.S. delegations to fly into Iraq
since the imposition of sanctions in 1990. They were greeted at the
airport by an enthusiastic crowd and joined Iraqis in chanting: "End
the sanctions now."
At the news conference, held at Baghdad's international airport,
Ramsey Clark told reporters that "the U.S. genocidal sanctions
against Iraq must be lifted completely and immediately." He said that
the delegation brings together people from 15 U.S. states and
includes students, teachers, social workers, attorneys and long-time
peace activists. The former attorney general, who served in the
administration of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson during the
1960s, noted that their visit to Iraq coincides with the tenth
anniversary of the U.S.-led Gulf War against the Arab nation.
The delegation stated that this is the fourth Iraq Sanctions
Challenge to travel to Baghdad and the first to have done so by air.
In the past, delegations have been required to travel overland by bus
from Amman to Baghdad, a 20-hour trip. This was done because of the
U.S. and British imposed "no-fly zone" which prohibits flights over
two-thirds of Iraq. Ramsey Clark explained that the challenge is part
of a growing international opposition to the sanctions, pointing out
that more than 100 flights have entered Iraq over the past five
months.
The Fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge is delivering over one million
dollars worth of medicine and school supplies -- basic necessities
that have been denied due to the U.S.-promoted embargo against Iraq
by the UN Security Council. It was noted that before the embargo,
Iraq was one of the most prosperous nations in the region -- but that
with Washington's sanctions, Baghdad is prevented from meeting the
basic needs of its people.
*US IGNORES EVIDENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN DEPLETED URANIUM
The splitting of the atom released a terrible energy that continues
to threaten the very existence of the human race. There have been
many treaties to attempt to control the development and expansion of
this energy, which should only be used for the benefit of humankind,
but the proliferation of nuclear warheads has already condemned a
large majority of the human race to live under the threat of total
destruction, and, as usual it is the poor and marginalized people of
the world that suffer from the unjust distribution of the risks
involved in nuclear warhead use and testing.
Nowadays humanity has seen how the United States, the most powerful
nation in the world, is looking for excuses to augment its already
destructive conventional and nuclear arms by intervening in the
movement to put a stop to their use for aggressive and warlike
purposes. The most obvious case of the dangers of their use is the
fact that the depleted uranium used in the most recent conflicts in
which they have intervened, like the Gulf War and Yugoslavia has
caused illness and death in the people of the regions and
the soldiers who participated in the wars.
They don't know exactly the number of civil victims in the Balkan
region. This will probably remain a well-guarded secret in the face
of public opinion which has turned against the use of these weapons
that are used to kill and maim people. Despite the on-going
revelations concerning the dangers of depleted uranium, the U.S. has
continued defending the use of the substance, claiming that there is
no scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to illnesses in
soldiers exposed to the radioactive material.
Even though there is evidence linking cancer and other illnesses to
the use of depleted uranium, the U.S. administration seem bent on
down-playing the seriousness of these effects in order to continue
their aggressive war games in countries like Vieques.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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rhc-eng-16907 2001-Jan-18 01:29:23 " JC
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