Radio Havana Cuba-02 May 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Habana Cuba - Principales Noticias - 02 de mayo 2001
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(c) 2001 Radio Havana Cuba, NY Transfer News. Todos dos derechos reservados.
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 May 2001
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*CUBA WARNS PANAMA OF RESPONSIBILITY IF LUIS POSADA EVADES JUSTICE
*WORKING CLASS MUST GAIN AND MAINTAIN POWER: RAUL CASTRO
*INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ENCOUNTER AGAINST NEO-LIBERAL GLOBALIZATION
*SYLVIA BARALDINI RELEASED FROM JAIL AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS
*HUNDREDS IN BOGOTA EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
*US NAVY CONTINUES BOMBING VIEQUES DESPITE WIDESPREAD PROTESTS
*RADIO HAVANA CUBA GIVEN AWARD BY FIDEL CASTRO
Viewpoint:
*FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS - A DISASTER FOR LATIN AMERICANS
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*CUBA WARNS PANAMA OF RESPONSIBILITY IF LUIS POSADA EVADES JUSTICE
Havana, May 2 (RHC)--Cuba has warned the government of Panama of its
complete responsibility in any eventual escape or impunity in the case of
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, detained in Panama in connection with an
assassination plot against Cuban President Fidel Castro.
In an official statement responding to Panama's refusal to extradite Posada
Carriles to Cuba, the Cuban Foreign Ministry warned that if the terrorist
and his accomplices, who organized the mass murder of Panamanian students in
their effort to eliminate Fidel Castro, escape from Panama's insecure
prisons or are favored by arbitrary legal decisions due to pressure from
ultra-rightwing circles in Miami, Panama's dignity, honor and sovereignty
will be stained before present and future generations in Cuba and around the
world.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry rejected Panama's claim that Cuban authorities
had not presented sufficient evidence in its extradition request, recalling
that Posada Carriles' extradition was not requested in connection with the
assassination plot, but rather for numerous other crimes committed by the
against Cuba and Cuban citizens over the years. The official note states
that Cuban authorities fail to understand how 2,492 pages of evidence --
along with film footage and tape recordings of the terrorists confessing
their crimes -- is not sufficient evidence.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry also rejected Panama's claim of non-
recipricocity in the cases of several Panamanians in Cuba whose extradition
Panama requested. The official note clarified that Cuba has received only
one extradition request in a case that was clearly political and did not
involve terrorist acts. That individual, it went on, eventually returned to
Panama, was never arrested, and currently lives and works in his country of
origin.
In another two cases mentioned, the Cuban Foreign Ministry clarified that
Panama simply requested information about the whereabouts of certain
persons. The Cuban Foreign Ministry reminded Panamanian authorities that
besides the 1976 terrorist bomb in a Cuban civilian airliner that killed all
73 people aboard, Luis Posada Carriles and his three accomplices are
responsible for the assassination of Cuban diplomat Felix Garcia Rodriguez
who worked with Cuba's United Nations Mission in New York, the assassination
in Mexico of Cuban Fishing Ministry official Artanan Diaz Diaz--
for which the accomplice, Gaspar Jimenez Escobedo, was arrested in Mexico
and later escaped from prison -- and the kidnapping and murder in Argentina
of Cuban diplomats Crescencio Galanena Hernandez and Jesus Cejas Arias.
These terrorists, continued the Cuban Foreign Ministry, have also placed
explosive devices in Cuban diplomatic installations, airlines and other
means of transportation in countries that trade with Cuba -- to the point
where their extradition could be requested by more than two dozen nations.
*WORKING CLASS MUST GAIN AND MAINTAIN POWER: RAUL CASTRO
Santiago de Cuba, May 2 (RHC)--During a mass rally to celebrate
International Worker's Day in Santiago de Cuba on Tuesday, the head of the
island's armed forces, General Raul Castro, affirmed that the workers of the
world must gain power and, once it is secured, never give it up.
More than 300,000 gathered at the Antonio Maceo Plaza de la Revolucion to
mark the day of the working class. Raul Castro addressed the crowd and,
looking out over the sea of flags and fists, stated that the residents of
Santiago de Cuba are known for their militancy, enthusiasm and patriotism.
In the face of an increasingly globalized world, Raul said that the
principal challenge for Cuban workers is to maintain their revolutionary
achievements. He noted that the recently concluded 18th Congress of the
Confederation of Cuban Workers (CTC) was a tremendous success, adding that
despite the fact that power is in the hands of the workers in Cuba, they
must never let their guard down.
After the rally, Raul Castro spoke with visiting trade union delegations
from France and Italy. He told them that once power is achieved, the workers
can never surrender -- emphasizing that if they do, that power will never be
recovered.
*INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ENCOUNTER AGAINST NEO-LIBERAL GLOBALIZATION
Havana, May 2 (RHC)--Trade union representatives from more than 60 countries
around the world met on Wednesday for an international solidarity gathering
in the Cuban capital.
Attended by Cuban President Fidel Castro, foreign delegates who took part in
the 18th Congress of the Confederation of Cuban Workers gathered for the
one-day meeting, during which they strongly condemned neo-liberal economic
policies throughout the world.
Participants discussed strategies to confront the US-led Free Trade Area of
the Americas, calling Washington's plan "a new attempt to dominate Latin
American economies."
Speaking at the opening session of the encounter, Cuban economist Osvaldo
Martinez stated that neo-liberal globalization will only bring more poverty
and marginalization to a region that is already overburdoned by millions of
poor.
*SYLVIA BARALDINI RELEASED FROM JAIL AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS
Havana, May 2 (RHC)--Imprisoned activist Sylvia Baraldini, who spent 17
years in a U.S. prison before being transferred to a prison in her home
country of Italy, has been allowed to go home.
Although Baraldini had another nine years of her sentence to complete,
Italian authorities have placed her under partial house arrest because she
is suffering from cancer. She may leave her house between 9 am and 2 pm
every day.
Baraldini was convicted of kidnapping prison guards to aid former African
American activist Assata Shakur to escape from US authorities.
There has been a strong movement, especially in Italy, to free Baraldini who
calls her new situation "a step forward." She was transferred to custody in
Italy last year after international pressure was placed on the US.
*HUNDREDS IN BOGOTA EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
Bogota, May 2 (RHC)--Hundreds of Colombians took part in a solidarity
activity in Bogota on Tuesday, expressing their support for the Cuban people
and their Revolution.
Gathered at the headquarters of the Colombian Teachers Federation, more than
400 people called for an end to Washington's economic blockade against Cuba.
A special guest speaker at the rally, Antonio Lopez, Political Attache at
the Cuban Embassy in Colombia, thanked the crowd for their solidarity. He
said that the Cuban Revolution is currently undergoing one of its most
important periods in defense of its sovereignty, independence and socialism.
Havana's representative in Bogota stated that the Cuban people will never
surrender their social achievements, adding that their struggle will be
intensified against the infamous Cuban Adjustment Act and the Helms-Burton
Law, as well as the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas.
*US NAVY CONTINUES BOMBING VIEQUES DESPITE WIDESPREAD PROTESTS
Havana, May 2 (RHC)--The U.S. Navy has concluded another round of military
exercises in Vieques carried out amid a civil disobedience campaign that
resulted in more than 150 arrests, charges of police abuse.
While leaving a federal court in San Juan after posting bail, US Congressman
Luis Gutierrez, of Puerto Rican origin, criticized the public mistreatment
and violation of the human dignity of Puerto Rican Independence Party leader
Ruben Berrios when he was arrested by US authorities. He added, however,
that in private all those arrested were treated in a similar fashion, and
invited journalists to request permission from the Navy to inspect what he
called the cages they were held in.
Congressman Jose Serrano, and Puerto Rican delegate to Washington Anibal
Acevedo Vila, have also protested before the US Congress, expressing alarm
over the treatment of those arrested and the use of excessive force against
peaceful demonstrators. Among the last protesters to be arrested Tuesday
were the civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and Puerto Rican political
leaders from New York, Roberto Ramirez, Jose Rivera and Adolfo Carrion.
Others arrested included Puerto Rican Senators Norma Burgos, Velda Gonzalez
and Yasmin Mejias, attorney Robert Kennedy Jr., the Mexican-born movie actor
James Olmos and New York labor leader Dennis Rivera All were released on
bail Tuesday. Vieques Mayor Damaso Serrano and Puerto Rican Independence
Party leader Ruben Berrios have refused to post bail. The civil disobedience
campaign forced the suspension of the US military's target practice during
several hours on Thursday and again on Saturday.
*RADIO HAVANA CUBA GIVEN AWARD BY FIDEL CASTRO
Havana, May 2 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro has awarded Radio Havana
Cuba a certificate of recognition.
In a ceremony held at the Radio station and attended by all nine language
departments, the distinction was presented by Rolando Alfonso Borges from
the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.
Alfonso Borges read the inscription signed by Fidel Castro, granted for
exemplary service to the nation over the past four decades in broadcasting
the truth in defense of the Revolution and its unwavering principles. The
Cuban leader said that he was comfortable in the assurance that Radio Havana
Cuba will continue to be in the forefront of the island's battle of ideas.
Radio Havana Cuba broadcasts in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese,
Arabic, Quechua, Esperanto, Guarani and Creole.
*Viewpoint: FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS - A DISASTER FOR LATIN AMERICANS
Cuban president Fidel Castro had harsh words in his May Day address about
the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the FTAA. Speaking to some 600,000
people gathered in Havana to celebrate International Workers Day, the Cuban
leader denounced the US project, through which the majority of the region's
governments will subject their peoples to North American domination.
With the area plunged into economic crisis, government leaders are rushing
to join with the United States in a strange strategic alliance in which the
huge transnationals will gobble up the identity, independence and
sovereignty of all Latin America.
President Castro stressed that this dangerous project is being undertaken
without consulting either the peoples of these nations, their parliaments or
grassroots organizations. It is the first time that such a project has been
launched in the public domain without the slightest concern for the
democratic measures so often talked about on this continent which everyone
knows are based on the US model.
If the FTAA is as beneficial as is claimed by those who have signed on, why
don't they consult the people of their countries? Why hasn't that been done
by a single one of the governments that have gone to Washington to proclaim
their participation? Why did these same governments condemn Cuba before the
United Nations Human Rights Commission for violations it has not committed?
Why did they stoop to do Washington's bidding when the US Secretary of State
himself has proclaimed that Cuba has done good things for its people?
These are the questions we put to all those who feel that they have the
freedom to truly reason. For any nation that truly calls itself democratic,
it is clear that national plebiscites should be held to determine what Latin
America wants to do about this so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The alternative is the annexation of the entire region to the greed of US
corporate politics.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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