from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: Radio Havana Cuba Feb 22. Mexico's Cuba policy untouchable
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 22 February 2001
.
*PANAMA COURTS AGAIN REJECT DEFENSE PETITIONS OF POSADA CARRILES
*FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN VIETNAM
*RENOWNED CUBAN MUSICIAN CHUCHO VALDES WINS HIS THIRD GRAMMY
*INTERNATIONAL HEMINGWAY MEETING UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
*CUBA WILL SOON EXPORT "PUNCH" MINI-CIGARS
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNORS WIND UP THEIR VISIT TO THE ISLAND
*HAVANA WILL HOST THE UN SPECIAL DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE
*ARGENTINA CALLS FOR SOCIAL DIALOGUE AMID GROWING LABOR UNREST
*HENRY KISSINGER IS A WAR CRIMINAL, SAYS US RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
*Viewpoint: NEITHER BUSH NOR POWELL CAN CHANGE MEXICO'S CUBA POLICY
.
*PANAMA COURTS AGAIN REJECT DEFENSE PETITIONS OF POSADA CARRILES
Havana, February 22 (RHC) -- Judicial authorities in Panama have
continued rejecting defense petitions in favor of Cuban-American
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, arrested in connection with an
assassination plot against Cuban President Fidel Castro. Panama's 5th
Circuit Court has denied bail for Posada Carriles and his three
accomplices.
Circuit Judge Enrique Paniza stated that judicial and Interior
Ministry investigations into the charges have substantiated the
existence of criminal activity. Among the charges against the
terrorists are the possession of explosives and crimes against
collective security -- in reference to plans to blow up a University
of Panama auditorium where the Cuban leader was to speak.
Judge Paniza said that Panama's penal code specifically states that
those accused of crimes against collective security cannot benefit
from bail or any other form of excarceration. Earlier this week, the
Panamenian Supreme Court ruled that Posada Carriles' arrest is legal,
following a defense petition alleging a lack of evidence.
*FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN VIETNAM
Hanoi, February 22 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque
has arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, to begin a
four-day official visit.
Cuba's top diplomat is currently on an Asian tour, which has already
taken him to Malaysia and Singapore. From Vietnam, Perez Roque is
scheduled to travel on to China and Japan.
*RENOWNED CUBAN MUSICIAN CHUCHO VALDES WINS HIS THIRD GRAMMY
Havana, February 22 (RHC)-- Renowned Cuban musician Chucho Valdes
said on Thursday in Havana that his third Grammy award is not only a
personal accomplishment, but also that of the Cuban people.
Chucho Valdes received his third Grammy Wednesday night for his CD
"Live at the Village Vanguard" in the category of Latin Jazz.
After learning of the news, Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, and
the President of the Cuban Music Institute, Alicia Perea, went to
congratulate the musician at his home.
Valdes, who is also the director of the group Irakere, told reporters
that "Live at the Village Vanguard" is his best recording ever. He
added that the CD includes, for the first time, the rhythms of
habanera and Cuban zapateo.
Chucho Valdez was accepted to the Jazz Hall of Fame in Los
Angeles, California in September 1999.
*INTERNATIONAL HEMINGWAY MEETING UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
Havana, February 22 (RHC)-- The International Hemingway Meeting got
underway on Thursday in Havana with the participation of specialists
on the life and work of U.S. writer and Nobel Literature Prize
winner, Ernest Hemingway.
Participants at the meeting will analyze a number of topics,
including Hemingway's war articles, his travels and Cuba's presence
in his writings.
*CUBA WILL SOON EXPORT "PUNCH" MINI-CIGARS
Havana, February 22 (RHC)-- Cuba will soon begin exporting mini-
Habano cigars, known as "Punch." The little cigars will find markets
in France, Britain and other European countries.
"Punch" mini-cigars are hand-rolled in Havana by workers with the
company Cuba-Canary Islands COTAO S.A., using the best tobacco from
western Pinar del Rio province.
The manager of the company, Maria Victoria Chavez, said that the
mini-cigars will also be exported to the Far East.
The mini-cigars have captured the attention of some 500 participants
to the 3rd Habano Cigar Festival, currently underway in Havana.
The cigar festival will wind up with a gala event at the world
famous Tropicana Night Club, where cigars will be auctioned and the
earnings earmarked for the island's health care system.
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNORS WIND UP THEIR VISIT TO THE ISLAND
Havana, February 22 (RHC)-- The governors of the Venezuelan states
of Portuguesa and Lara, Antonia Munoz and Luis Ramon Reyes, have
signed an agreement that will establish cooperation ties between Cuba
and these two states located in Venezuela's Andean region.
The two Venezuelan governors wound up their six-day official visit to
Cuba, which included tours to places of interest in the Cuban capital
and other provinces.
*HAVANA WILL HOST THE UN SPECIAL DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE
Havana, February 22 (RHC)-- Cuba will host the United Nations
Special Decolonization Committee's regional seminar next May,
according to Rafael Dausa, Cuba's representative to that UN
committee.
During the Decolonization Committee meeting in New York, UN
Secretary General Kofi Anan outlined the importance of the regional
seminars to discuss issues related to territories that are still
colonies.
He also highlighted the current decolonization process on the islands
of Samoa and Pitcairn, located in the Pacific and under U.S. and
British rule, respectively.
The UN organization, also known as the Committee of 24, named Julian
Hunter from St. Lucia as the president of the Special Committee for
Decolonization, while Cuba and the Ivory Coast were ratified as vice
presidents.
*ARGENTINA CALLS FOR SOCIAL DIALOGUE AMID GROWING LABOR UNREST
Buenos Aires, February 22 (RHC) -- Argentinean President Fernando de
la Rua has called for a social dialogue this weekend amid the
country's growing labor unrest. On Wednesday, between some 15,000
unemployed Argentineans marched to the Labor Ministry demanding
unemployment compensation and welfare assistance.
However, following a several hour meeting between representatives of
the protesters and the Labor Ministry, no agreement was reached.
Leaders of the protest, that began in the densely populated outlying
municipality La Matanza -- with one million inhabitants -- called for
the resumption of road blockages in Buenos Aires province and
convened a general strike next April 4th and 5th.
Unemployment in La Matanza reaches 25 percent of the economically
active population, compared to the official nationwide figure of 14.7
percent. Argentina's General Workers Confederation, the country's
largest labor organization, has convened a general strike for next
March 1st and 2nd.
Labor and grassroots activists are charging that following the 40
billion dollar loan that Argentina secured some 2 months ago the
country's unemployment and poverty rates have increased. According to
official statistics, almost 4 million Argentineans are either
unemployed or underemployed.
*HENRY KISSINGER IS A WAR CRIMINAL, SAYS US RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
Washington, February 22 (RHC) -- The U.S. non-governmental
organization National Security Archives has asserted that former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger should be taken before an
international court on charges of war crimes. The affirmation came in
a forum sponsored by the organization to discuss an extensive
investigative piece published in Harper's magazine by British
journalist Christopher Hitchens, entitled "The Henry Kissinger Case",
which charges that the former Secretary of State placed U.S.
foreign policy interests far above respect for human rights.
The two-part article documented tens of thousands of assassinations,
forced disappearances and torture in Chile, Vietnam, Cyprus,
Bangladesh and Cambodia based on the foreign policy designed by
Kissinger in the White House between 1968 and 1970. Hitchens said he
didn't call Kissinger a serial killer because it would be an offense
to those who are.
Journalist, academic and university professor Scott Armstrong said
that in these modern times it's a crime that Kissinger does not have
to pay for what he did. Armstrong said that for the White House it's
an aberration when officials of foreign governments commit human
rights violations or war crimes in the defense of their countries'
political, economic or even social interests, while Kissinger is
considered a hero in the U.S.
Roger Morris, a writer and University of Harvard professor in
political science who worked in the National Security Council under
Kissinger's orders, said the Congressional Library should publish the
transcriptions of Kissinger's conversations when he worked at the
White House. Morris resigned his post in the White House to protest
the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.
The group of academics, historians and journalists who participated
in the forum recognized, nevertheless, that it's hardly likely that
Washington would take action against its former official.
*Viewpoint: NEITHER BUSH NOR POWELL CAN CHANGE MEXICO'S CUBA POLICY
It would seem that the new rulers of the United States -- President
George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell -- have failed in
their attempts to turn around Mexico's foreign policy with regard to
Cuba.
During their recent meeting in Guanajuato with Mexican President
Vicente Fox and Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, Bush and Powell
came up empty-handed. Not that the new occupants of power in
Washington can convince anyone with their old and worn-out rhetoric
against the Cuban Revolution.
Washington's frustrated and arrogant policy continues to be directly
tied to southern Florida. The ideals of the counterrevolutionary
Miami Mafia have never been patriotic, merely judging from the fact
that the majority of them have opted for U.S. citizenship. Their
ambitions include making "a fast buck" and ripping off everyone in
the process.
The new Mexican president -- Vicente Fox -- is demonstrating his
ability to conduct himself in a very intelligent manner when it comes
to his country's foreign policy. And his top diplomat -- Foreign
Minister Jorge Castaneda -- has shown everyone his ability to defend
the dignified position of his president and his country.
Mexico never broke diplomatic relations with Cuba -- even under the
most intense pressure by Washington during the early 60's. When every
other Latin American country bowed to U.S. dictates, Mexico held its
head high and maintained its friendship and solidarity with this
Caribbean island.
According to press reports, Bush and Powell are sticking to their
guns when it comes to U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba. In fact, they
are tightening the screws even more. For some, it is difficult to
imagine that the new leadership of the world's biggest economic and
military power could possess so little intelligence and political
vision. Throughout the long history of anti-Cuba policies, all they
have managed to do is isolate themselves from international public
opinion. Perhaps they just don't have the vision that's needed to run
an intelligent foreign policy.
Even if it's their fear of Cuba's example, their policy of blockade
and isolation just doesn't make sense. The rest of the world is
totally opposed to their measures -- perhaps with the exception of
Israel -- and their policies are full of contradictions.
Washington's foreign policy -- particularly with regard to Cuba, but
also in many other areas of the world -- has only won them enemies.
Mexico's continued solidarity with the Cuban people and their
Revolution is one outstanding example of this.
(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-3401 2001-Feb-22 22:29:07 " 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]
__________________________________________________
