from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: Radio Havana Feb 13. Miami Mafia's new embassy
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 February 2001
.
*CUBAN CIGAR COMPANY HABANO S.A. COMPETES INTERNATIONALLY WITH 34
BRANDS
*DELEGATION FROM THE MEXICAN STATE OF ZACATECAS WINDS UP OFFICIAL
VISIT
*4th CUBA-ECUADOR JOINT COMMISSION UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
*UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM WILL STUDY FOOD ASSISTANCE TO EASTERN CUBA
*5th INTERNATIONAL CUBADISCO 2001 FAIR TO BE HELD IN MAY
*UNPRECEDENTED CONVICTION OF COLOMBIAN ARMY GENERAL
*ECUADOR IS "OVERWHELMED" BY COLOMBIAN REFUGEES
Viewpoint:
*CUBAN-AMERICAN MIAMI MAFIA OPEN PSEUDO "EMBASSY" IN WASHINGTON
.
*CUBAN CIGAR COMPANY HABANO S.A. COMPETES INTERNATIONALLY WITH 34
BRANDS
Havana, February 13 (RHC)-- The vice president of Cuba's Habano S.A.
cigar company, Manuel Garcia, says that his company's main objective
is to consolidate Cuba's 34 cigar brands and promote them in the
world market.
Garcia told the press Monday in Havana that last year the island
produced close to 118 million cigars valued at some 150 million
dollars.
The Cuban cigar executive explained that at the moment Habano cigars
is not introducing any new lines but rather prioritizing sales of
existing brands. He said the island's bet selling cigars are
Montecristo, Romeo and Juliet, Partagas, Quintero and Cohiba.
The Vice President of Habano S.A. listed as principal buyers Spain,
France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and Britain.
*DELEGATION FROM THE MEXICAN STATE OF ZACATECAS WINDS UP OFFICIAL
VISIT
Havana, February 13 (RHC)-- A Mexican delegation from the state of
Zacatecas winds up an official visit on Tuesday after touring places
of economic, social and historic interest in La Habana and Villa
Clara provinces.
On Sunday members of the Mexican delegation participated in a
solemn ceremony in which they awarded Cuban President Fidel Castro an
Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Autonomous University of
Zacatecas.
The Havana municipality of Old Havana and Zacatecas became sister
cities in a move to increase cooperation between the two countries in
the social, cultural and economic sectors.
Zacatecas Governor, Ricardo Monreal, stated that the delegation's
visit was productive and he said the he was of the opinion that ties
between Mexico and Cuba will become stronger after the visit.
*4th CUBA-ECUADOR JOINT COMMISSION UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
Havana, February 13 (RHC)-- The 4th Cuba-Ecuador Joint Commission
began sessions on Monday in Havana headed by the Executive Director
of Ecuador's International Cooperation Institute, Juan Salazar
Sancisi and Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic
Cooperation, Roberto Rivas Lopez.
During the inauguration of the Joint Commission, the head of the
delegations praised bilateral relations and expressed interest in
increasing those ties.
There are currently 177 Ecuadorian students in Cuba of which 121
are studying at Havana's Latin American School of Medicine with the
others in universities and colleges throughout the island.
At the end of the Cuba-Ecuador Joint Commission meeting the two sides
will sign a final document which will include issues of common
interest in science, technology and the environment and education,
culture and trade.
*UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM WILL STUDY FOOD ASSISTANCE TO EASTERN CUBA
Havana, February 13 (RHC)-- The UN World Food Program announced on
Monday that it will study a food assistance project valued at 22
million dollars for the eastern part of Cuba which has been hard hit
by drought and floods.
The food assistance will be aimed at serving some 631 thousand people
over a four-year period in the health and education sector, including
pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding, children under two
years of age and primary school students.
The World Food Program thus far contributed some 209 million dollars
in development programs and in emergency initiatives in Cuba,
according to UN statistics.
*5th INTERNATIONAL CUBADISCO 2001 FAIR TO BE HELD IN MAY
Havana, February 13 (RHC)-- The 5th International Cubadisco 2001
music Fair will run from May 16th to the 20th in Havana.
This year's fair will be dedicated to the music of Brazil. During the
event, renowned international musicians will be honored for their
prestigious musical career.
The five-day music fair will feature live presentations by
outstanding Cuban musicians and top quality shows and the opportunity
to meet record dealers, editors, collectors, designers, editors of
specialized magazines and musical industry managers in general.
*UNPRECEDENTED CONVICTION OF COLOMBIAN ARMY GENERAL
Bogota, February 13 (RHC)-- For the first time ever, a Colombian
army general has been convicted and sentenced in connection with
right-wing paramilitary activity. General Jaime Humberto Uscategui
has been sentenced to three years and four months for not having
prevented the infamous, 1997 Mapiripan Massacre in which death squads
brutally murdered some 30 people suspected of collaborating with
leftist guerrillas. Many of the victims bodies were incinerated or
decapitated.
Colombian military justice found that Uscategui did not intervene in
the massacre despite denunciations of death squad presence in the
region, in the country's southern Meta Department. Colonel Hernan
Orozco was sentence to three years and two months in the same case.
Although the Colombian military systematically denies any ties
with right-wing death squads, last week the Attorney General's office
announced the arrest of a police captain and several military
officers in connection with last December's failed assassination
attempt against a prominent labor leader. The administration of
Colombian President Andres Pastrana has dismissed at least four army
generals suspected of providing support to the death squads.
*ECUADOR IS "OVERWHELMED" BY COLOMBIAN REFUGEES
Quito, February 13 (RHC)-- The government of Ecuador today announced
that authorities have been overwhelmed by the unexpected magnitude of
Colombian refugees arriving in the country fleeing violence and the
fumigation of illicit crops near the border between the two
countries.
Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alfonso Lopez said his country
did not expect such a high number of displaced persons, while the
country's Civil Defense authorities stated that they do not have the
resources to confront the situation. Though there are no official
figures, human rights organizations estimate in several thousand the
number of Colombians crossing the border and being taken to camps set
up by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Red Cross.
Last week several hundred Ecuadorian indigenous residents joined
the refugees after receiving death threats from presumed Colombian
right-wing paramilitaries. Local Ecuadorian media outlets are
publishing testimony from residents in the border area who are
asserting that the wind is carrying residue from the aerial
fumigations of drug crops to their communities, causing nausea,
vomiting and skin problems -- particularly among children.
In other Colombia news, another prominent human rights activist has
been assassinated. Former governmental Human Rights Commissioner Ivan
Villamizar Luciani was riddled with bullets Monday evening by 10
gunmen traveling in two automobiles and two motorcycles in Cucuta,
capital of the northeastern Norte de Santander Department.
The attorney and university professor worked as governmental Human
Rights Commissioner until late last year. In 1999, he was threatened
by right-wing paramilitaries due to his investigations of massacres
committed in the region. Two of his body guards and his chauffer were
wounded.
Since 1997 more than 25 governmental human rights officials have
been murdered, while more than 40 have fled the country under
threats. .
Viewpoint:
*CUBAN-AMERICAN MIAMI MAFIA OPEN PSEUDO "EMBASSY" IN WASHINGTON
The ultra-right wing Cuban American National Foundation has brazenly
named its new headquarters in Washington D.C., the "Embassy of a Free
Cuba, " illustrating once again, how out of touch the Miami mafia is
with reality. Sources say that no U.S. officials attended the
inauguration of the new office, confirming that even they understand
the line between evil and ridiculous. There is an old proverb that
says "Rome pays traitors, but despises them."
These extreme right-wing elements, until now based in Miami, are
thrilled over the appointment of Republican George W. Bush as
president -- an event in which they played an important role. Now,
right wing extremists from South Florida expect their payback for
making it possible for the Republicans to steal the presidency. That
is how mafias operate. Their so-called "embassy" is nothing more than
a den of criminals aimed at more effectively pressuring those who
have always hired them according to the unwritten law of honor among
thieves under which organized crime operates.
The new "embassy" is also an agency to bribe rather than convince
those who are corrupt or willing to be corrupted by money. There is
no doubt that money is powerful, but perhaps not as powerful as the
Miami mafias thinks. If it were, the Cuban people would have given up
long ago and would not have sacrificed so much for their independence
and sovereignty.
Cubans have resisted incessant attacks from the most powerful nation
in the world for more than four decades. The establishment of an
"Embassy of a Free Cuba" is as offensive to Cubans as naming the
U.S.'s anti-Cuba radio and television transmissions after Cuban
national hero, Jose Marti.
But the Cuban-American mafia is not content with their pseudo
diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., they are demanding official
recognition, even though it is unnecessary, just as it was
unnecessary for the mercenaries who invaded Cuba in l961 and who
suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Cuban people. Right
wing extremists are dreaming of appropriating the island;, of
marching in behind the U.S. Marines and taking control of everything
Cubans have made in 42 years of Revolution. Perhaps the Miami mafia
doesn't remember the name of Cuban independence hero Antonio
Maceo, who said that anyone who attempts to seize Cuba will take the
land drenched in blood, if they don't perish in battle.
It is time that the Cuban American National Foundation and its
supporters take those words to heart.
(c) 2001 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]
===================================================
rhc-eng-24024 2001-Feb-14 03:20:57 " JC
_________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki
Phone +358-40-7177941
Fax +358-9-7591081
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
General class struggle news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Geopolitical news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
