Radio Havana Cuba-12 April 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 12 April 2001
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*CHINESE PRESIDENT BEGINS 3-DAY VISIT TO CUBA
*GROWING OPPOSITION TO ANTI-CUBA RESOLUTION IN GENEVA
*MEXICO WILL ABSTAIN IN UPCOMING VOTE AT GENEVA
*ARGENTINA'S VOTE AGAINST CUBA IS UNJUSTIFIABLE, SAYS ANBASSADOR
*CUBA AND GRENADA SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
*CITY OF CINCINNATI DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
*INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS IN ECUADOR BACK ON THE WARPATH
*U.S. MEDIA WATCHDOG BLASTS USA TODAY REPORT THAT BUSH WOULD HAVE WON
*KEVIN COSTNER ON HIS MEETING WITH FIDEL
Viewpoint:
*MEXICAN CONGRESS URGES PRESIDENT FOX TO VOTE WITH CUBA AT GENEVA
.
*CHINESE PRESIDENT BEGINS 3-DAY VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, April 12 (RHC) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has begun a 3-day
official visit to Cuba as part of a Latin America tour that has taken him to
Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and will wind up in Venezuela. In his
second visit to Cuba -- the first in 1993 -- Zemin and Cuban President Fidel
Castro are expected to sign more bilateral agreements that will further
boost trade and cooperation between the two countries.
Since 1993, China-Cuba trade has almost doubled, from 270 million dollars
annually to 500 million. China provides Cuba with approximately 40 percent
of the raw materials the island needs for its pharmaceutical industry, which
produces more than 80 percent of the medicines consumed in Cuba.
There are several mixed Cuban-Chinese enterprises in the sectors of
biotechnology, agriculture and telecommunications, among others. As the
Chinese president was heading to Cuba from Brazil, Cuban authorities
announced the signing of an important accord with a Chinese firm in the
electronics, informatics and telecommunications sector.
Cuba and the Chinese company Panda will produce televisions, VCRs, air
conditioners, mobile telephones and short wave radios for both Cuban
consumption and exportation.
*GROWING OPPOSITION TO ANTI-CUBA RESOLUTION IN GENEVA
Mexico City, April 12 (RHC)-- A movement is growing around the world in
opposition to the anti-Cuba resolution at the United Nations Human Rights
Commission in Geneva.
An editorial entitled "Solidarity with the Cuban People" appeared in
Wednesday morning's edition of the Mexican daily La Jornada. The editorial
points out that the Mexican Senate and House of Deputies have called on
President Vicente Fox to not fall into the trap set by Washington at the
Geneva-based Commission.
The Mexican lawmakers urged their country to vote against the resolution at
the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Commission, condemning Cuba for
alleged human rights violations. The resolution should be introduced for
debate next Wednesday, the 18th.
The editorial in La Jornada emphasizes that legislators from all political
parties joined in the strong gesture of solidarity with Cuba.
In related news, the Student Federation at the University of Costa Rica in
San Jose issued a news release, condemning the proposed anti-Cuba resolution
in Geneva which is being spearheaded by the Czech Republic -- with the full
backing of its authors in Washington.
The Costa Rican students said that it is the United States that should be
condemned before the international community for violations of human rights.
According to the statement from the Student Federation at the University of
Costa Rica, Washington is guilty of violating the national sovereignty of
the region, as well as the rights of 400 million people who live in Latin
America.
*MEXICO WILL ABSTAIN IN UPCOMING VOTE AT GENEVA
Mexico City, April 12 (RHC)-- Mexico will abstain in the upcoming vote on an
anti-Cuba resolution, which will be presented in Geneva next week.
According to Liliana Ferrer, the spokesperson for the Mexican Foreign
Ministry, "if the resolution is presented as it has been drafted, Mexico
will neither vote in favor nor against."
The Mexican Foreign Ministry states it will take note of the opinion of the
country's lawmakers, who earlier this week called on the administration of
President Vicente Fox to not vote against Cuba.
*ARGENTINA'S VOTE AGAINST CUBA IS UNJUSTIFIABLE, SAYS ANBASSADOR
Buenos Aires, April 12 (RHC)-- Cuba's Ambassador to Argentina, Alejandro
Gonzalez, told reporters in Buenos Aires that there is no justification for
Argentina's vote against Cuba at the UN Human Rights Commission.
Appearing on the Argentinean TV news program called "A Dos Voces," the Cuban
diplomat referred to statements made by Argentina's Foreign Minister
Adalberto Rodriguez Giavarini -- indicating that Buenos Aires would vote in
favor of condemning Havana for alleged human rights violations.
Cuba's ambassador to Argentina said that it is totally incomprehensible and
unjustifiable that Buenos Aires joins the campaign against Cuba, especially
when everyone knows that the resolution is designed by the United States to
try and justify its economic blockade against the island. Alejandro Gonzalez
emphasized that Washington is not really concerned about human rights in
Cuba; what concerns the United States and its cohorts is the fact that Cuba
is a sovereign country with a political, economic and social system that
they don't like.
The Cuban diplomat said that everyone has the right to have their own
opinion -- and either like or not like the kind of government on the island
-- but it is another thing entirely to join in a political vendetta against
Cuba. Alejandro Gonzalez said that for the past 42 years of the Cuban
Revolution, there has not been one case of torture or even one person
forcibly disappeared.
Havana's ambassador to Buenos Aires thanked the Argentinean people for their
expressions of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. And Alejandro Gonzalez
affirmed that the Cuban people will never bow down to the dictates of
Washington.
Whatever happens at the upcoming vote in Geneva, the Cuban ambassador to
Argentina said that the people of Cuba are well aware that it is the
government, and not the Argentinean people, casting the vote at the UN Human
Rights Commission.
*CUBA AND GRENADA SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- The governments of Cuba and Grenada have signed
bilateral agreements in 11 areas of cooperation, including health,
education, construction, sports, fishing and agriculture.
Following the gathering of the Fourth Session of the Mixed Cuba-Grenada
Commission, Grenadian Foreign Minister Elvin Nimrod signed the agreements
with Cuba's Minister of Foreign and Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas.
Speaking with reporters in Havana, Grenada's foreign minister stated that
the people of his country will never forget the solidarity offered to them
by the Cuban people.
He pointed out that nearly 100 Grenadian students are being trained in Cuba
in different skills. And he added that 27 Grenadian medical students are
studying at Havana's Latin American School of Medicine.
*CITY OF CINCINNATI DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
Cincinnati, April 12 (RHC) -- In the U.S. city of Cincinnati authorities
have declared a state of emergency, imposed a curfew and are threatening to
bring in the National Guard as the African-American community continues
protesting in the streets following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed,
19 year old black youth. Following last week's shooting of Timothy Thomas,
who reportedly ran when he was about to be arrested for minor traffic
violations, African-Americans have engaged in pitched battles with the
police amid looting and the destruction of business establishments.
Wednesday evening one police officer was hit by gunfire, but was not
seriously wounded due to his bullet-proof vest. At least 70 people have been
arrested. Earlier this week police fired tear gas and bean-bag ammunition
into a large crowd that took over City Hall, demanding explanations not only
for the Thomas shooting, but also for the 14 other African-Americans who
have been gunned down by police since 1995.
Taking to the streets afterwards, the protesters began shouting "No justice,
no peace". Black community leaders and activists also stormed in on City
Council members. When committee Chairman John Cranley pounded a gavel and
called for order, the crowd shouted back: "Put the police in order".
*INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS IN ECUADOR BACK ON THE WARPATH
Quito, April 12 (RHC) -- Indigenous activists in Ecuador are back on the
warpath following a bread-down in negotiations with the government.
Ecuador's powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, the CONAIE,
had given President Gustavo Noboa until Wednesday to hold a face-to-face
meeting concerning its differences with authorities on several issues.
Among them are the government's insistence on raising the value-added sales
tax, its talks with the International Monetary Fund in efforts to
renegotiate Ecuador's foreign debt, Ecuador's position with regards to the
U.S.-financed military anti-drug plan in Colombia, and the country's leasing
of a military base to Washington for anti-drug operations.
Ecuadoran Vice President Pedro Pinto accused the indigenous activists of
wanting to co-govern the country. Noboa has promised to receive indigenous
leaders on the 24th of this month, but the activists say that's not good
enough. The CONAIE today announced plans to begin another protest movement
next week.
The indigenous-government negotiation table was agreed on last February 7th
in exchange for the lifting of a protest movement that had semi-paralyzed
the country, and in which authorities had declared a national state of
emergency. The indigenous organization has spearheaded protest movements
that have toppled two Ecuadoran presidents in the past 4 years. Many
observers believed that Noboa was going to become the third.
*U.S. MEDIA WATCHDOG BLASTS USA TODAY REPORT THAT BUSH WOULD HAVE WON
Washington, April 12 (RHC) -- A U.S. media watchdog has termed as untrue a
recent report in mainstream media outlets asserting that George Bush would
have beaten Al Gore in vote recount in Florida. Last April 4th, the news
dailiesUSA Today and Miami Herald headlined what they said would have been a
Bush victory had the U.S. Supreme Court not blocked the hand recount of 60
Florida counties that had been ordered by the state Supreme Court.
But the organization Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting, known by its
acronym FAIR, issued a press release on Wednesday saying that USA Today's
investigation found something else -- something it chose not to tell its
readers. FAIR pointed out that the official hand counts in Florida's
remaining seven counties, completed before the Supreme Court stepped in, had
missed hundreds, even thousands of potential Gore voters.
If those votes had been properly counted, insisted FAIR, Gore would have won
the entire state by 300 to 400 votes. The paper, continued Fairness And
Accuracy In Reporting, examined ballots from all 67 counties in Florida, but
only reported the so-called results from 60 counties where hand counts were
unfinished.
USA Today included only the official results from the seven counties, even
thought its own investigation found that the official results had
potentially missed enough Gore votes to change the outcome of the election,
though none of this was revealed to its readers, charged FAIR. The media
watchdog organization stated that the Miami Herald also played down this
fact, but that at least it provided its readers with some valuable
information about the limitations of the official recounts from the seven
counties, noting that canvassing boards in those counties discarded hundreds
of ballots that bore marks no different from those on scores of ballots that
were accepted as valid presidential votes.
Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting stated that by not revealing vital
information, USA Today has violated journalistic principles and further
confused the public about a subject that surely needed no more confusion.
*KEVIN COSTNER ON HIS MEETING WITH FIDEL
Havana, April 12 (RHC) -- In Havana, U.S. movie star Kevin Costner has
termed as a "lifetime experience" his gathering with Cuban President Fidel
Castro. Costner and a group of American movie producers, directors and
actors were invited to Havana by the Cuban Art and Film Institute for a
premier of the film "13 Days", which deals with the October Missile Crisis.
Costner, who plays the role of a close advisor to then-U.S. President John
F. Kennedy, stated that it was important to point out that the film is from
the point of view of the United States, and does not contain a great deal of
information about Cuba and the former Soviet Union. He said they hadn't
intended to film a documentary.
The visiting movie star said the intention of the film was not to cast the
U.S. in a role of the good guys and Cuba and the Soviet Union in the role of
bad guys, but rather, to demonstrate that in the Kennedy administration
there were those who did not favor a military solution. Cuban President
Fidel Castro termed as courageous the making of the film, despite its vision
based on the perspective of discussions held in the White House during the
crisis.
According to the producer of the film, Armiyan Bernsteing, President Castro
jokingly said that he would play the role of the Cuban leader in another
film on the October Missile Crisis from Cuba's perspective. Though Costner
avoided making any statements on the political situation in Cuba, he said
that he's traveled to many countries and that he will always be on the side
of those who suffer.
.
Viewpoint:
*MEXICAN CONGRESS URGES PRESIDENT FOX TO VOTE WITH CUBA AT GENEVA
The Mexican Congress has passed a declaration calling on President Vicente
Fox to refrain for associating the country in any way with the conspiracy
that the U.S. is mounting against the Cuba in the United Nations Human
Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. Washington, as it does every year,
is exerting pressures on member nations to pass another anti-Cuba
resolution.
Both chambers of the Mexican Parliament unanimously passed the resolution to
stand by Cuba against Washington's false accusations. In the early l960's,
Mexico was the only country that refused to vote against Cuba in the
infamous Inter-American agreement that obliged the island to leave the
Organization of American States under the false claim that the island had a
government which was incompatible with the "democratic" principals dictated
by the United States.
Mexico's position at the time was an example of the dignity and respect felt
for Cuba by the international community. More than 40 years have passed and
relations between Mexico and Cuba, stronger than ever, continue to be based
on mutual respect.
But Washington has refused to let up even for a single minute, its campaign
to condemn Cuba once again, for supposed violations of the human rights of
its citizens. This time the Czech Republic has drafted the anti-Cuba
document. The United States has moved heaven and earth and is exerting
political and economic pressures to obtain passage of the resolution, in
order to justify not only its current aggressive policy but also stepped up
measures against the island.
It is well-known that U.S. president George W. Bush and the extreme
right-wing plan to launch a new anti-Cuba effort. These movements are being
carefully watched by Cuba. Cubans have had to learn over the past 42 years
how to live under pressures and aggressions from the United States and
unfortunately, it seems they will have to continue in the same manner for
even more years to come.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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