From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 23:06:38 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-08 May 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 08 May 2001
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*FIDEL CONTRASTS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC WITH IRAN UNDER THE SHAH
*PRESIDENTIAL VISIT SIGNALS CLOSER CUBAN RELATIONS WITH IRAN
*CUBA VIRTUALLY ERADICATES MENINGITIS-CAUSING BACTERIA
*MEXICO AND CUBA CONTINUE ON PATH OF CLOSER TIES
*CUBADISCO 2001 MUSIC FESTIVAL SLATED FOR MAY 16th
*LATEST UNITA ATTACK IS SEVERE SETBACK TO ANGOLAN PEACE
*PALESTINIANS PROTEST NEW ISRAELI ATTACKS
Viewpoint:
*US HAS ONLY ITSELF TO BLAME FOR FOREIGN POLICY FAILURES
.
*FIDEL CONTRASTS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC WITH IRAN UNDER THE SHAH
Teheran, May 8 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro has expressed
satisfaction with his visit so far to the Islamic Republic of Iran. During a
news conference in Teheran, the leader of the Cuban Revolution stated that
this was his first visit to Iran -- coming 22 years after the triumph of
that country's revolution.
The Cuban president noted that before the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the
country played out a very sad role for U.S. imperialism -- acting as the
region's principal gendarme. Fidel Castro said that today's Iran is very
different -- having become the main bulwark of independence and dignity.
Emphasizing that it was an honor for him to visit the country, the Cuban
president said that he had great respect for Iran's culture, which he
described as intelligent and valiant throughout its long history.
Following the news conference, Cuban President Fidel Castro began official
talks with his Iranian counterpart Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. The leader
of the Cuban Revolution will also meet with the President of the Islamic
Consultative Assembly and other high-ranking Iranian officials during his
three-day visit.
*PRESIDENTIAL VISIT SIGNALS CLOSER CUBAN RELATIONS WITH IRAN
Teheran, May 8 (RHC)--Speaking with reporters upon Fidel Castro's arrival in
Iran, Havana's ambassador to Teheran, Dario Urra, stated that the Cuban
President's visit will further strengthen bilateral relations between Havana
and Teheran.
The diplomat noted that over the past several months, a number of Cuban
officials have visited Teheran, including Vice President Carlos Lage,
Parliamentary President Ricardo Alarc�n and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
Roque.
Ambassador Dario Urra said that Fidel's visit to Iran and the region is
extremely important, predicting that positive results will be seen in the
near future. Both Cuba and Iran play dynamic and important roles in the
Movement of Non-Aligned Nations, he said, adding that Fidel Castro and his
Iranian counterpart first met during the 1998 Non-Aligned meeting in Durban,
South Africa.
Havana's ambassador to Teheran pointed out also that Cuba represents the
Group of 77, an organization of Third World countries, before international
organizations in Rome and Geneva. Iran represents the Group of 77 at the
United Nations in New York City and in Austria.
He told reporters in the Iranian capital that Havana and Teheran are
cooperating on a number of joint projects -- and it is expected that
bilateral cooperation will increase following this official visit.
*CUBA VIRTUALLY ERADICATES MENINGITIS-CAUSING BACTERIA
Havana, May 8 (RHC)--The Haemophilus Influenzae bacterium, which causes
meningitis and pneumonia, has been virtually eradicated from the island,
reports the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). Dr. Ibrahim Quintana, who
heads a MINSAP program dealing with infectious diseases, announced that this
success is due to a nationwide vaccination campaign begun in 1999, in which
all children born after 1998 have been innoculated.
In 1998, 169 pediatric cases of the bacterial infection were reported.
Infections were reduced to 35 in 2000, and so far this year, only 2 cases
have been reported, both in children who had not been vaccinated.
The vaccine was developed by the Cuban Finlay Institute, which is also
responsible for the success of another innoculation campaign against
Neisseria meningitis bacteria.
*MEXICO AND CUBA CONTINUE ON PATH OF CLOSER TIES
Mexico City, May 8 (RHC)--The Prensa Latina news agency reports today that
the Secretary of Cuba's Chamber of Commerce predicts steadily increasing
business with Mexico. Sara Marta Diaz was part of a Cuban delegation of 70
who traveled to Mexico seeking increased Cuba-Mexico trade. Cuba considers
Mexico, which maintains a major presence at the annual Havana International
Trade Fair, to be its second-most important commercial partner after
Venezuela.
Some Mexicans are celebrating increasingly close relations in their own way.
Mexico City Bus #102 is painted with a Cuban flag and the words:
"Sovereignty and Self-determination, Always" along one side. On the other
side of the vehicle, the famous Mexican liberation leader Benito Juarez is
quoted: "Respect for the Rights of Others leads to Peace". One of Diego
Rivera's murals is also reproduced. The bus route runs down the major
traffic arteries of Reforma and Chapultepec.
Bertha Zapata, president of the Benito Juarez International Committee, said
Bus #102 serves as a statement of the Mexican people's solidarity with Cuba
and their condemnation of the blockade imposed by Washington on the island
for the last four decades. She said that the design is intended to protest
the recent campaign in the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva orchestrated
by the US against Cuba.
*CUBADISCO 2001 MUSIC FESTIVAL SLATED FOR MAY 16th
Havana May 8 (RHC)--Cubadisco is Cuba's largest music awards festival, the
island's equivalent to the US Grammy awards. This year, the Festival will
run from May 16-20 at Havana's PabExpo Pavilion. In a news conference at
Habana Club Rum House, the event's main sponsor, the president of the
festival's organizing committee, Ciro Benemelis, said that Cubadisco 2001
will be dedicated to Brazil, for which many important figures have been
invited, such as singer Ivan Linz and the Toque de Prima samba group.
The Festival will include daily colloquia on Cuban music and a host of other
special activities, including two special Radio Rebelde programs daily.
There will be concerts and record launchings at several institutions and
theaters, with up-to-the-minute schedules available on Cuban websites. The
Trianon Theater, for example, will be presenting a documentary on legendary
Cuban pianist and composer Isolina Carrillo, from May 17-20.
Under the slogan of Music, Image, and Sound, Cubadisco 2001's awarding
ceremony will be held on May 16th at Havana's PabExpo Pavilion. A special
gala tribute to Cuban troubadours of all time is scheduled the same day at
the Cuban capital's National Theater.
*LATEST UNITA ATTACK IS SEVERE SETBACK TO ANGOLAN PEACE
Luanda, May 8 (RHC)-- A recent attack carried out by UNITA terrorists
against a northern Angolan town has been called a severe setback to the
possibility of peace in that African country. According to Angolan Interior
Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, the attack on Caxito, located
some 50 kilometers north of the capital Luanda, was not just a terrorist
action, but a grave error on the part of UNITA forces.
The Angolan foreign minister spoke with reporters following a meeting with
government opposition groups in Luanda. He said that the weekend attack was
strongly opposed by peaceful groups who are not in agreement with the
government. The violence took the lives of at least 69 civilians, and
humanitarian groups report that the death toll could reach as high as 100.
Eye-witnesses say that UNITA forces went into the town and rounded up 60
orphan children -- most of them between the ages of ten and 16.
Angola's foreign minister called the attack "barbaric" and said that such
actions by UNITA should put serious doubt in the minds of those who still
believe that Jonas Savimbi has good intentions.
Despite the brutality of UNITA's latest attack against the townspeople of
Caxito and the ongoing war against the Angolan people, the MPLA government
in Luanda has every intention of continuing to offer peace -- with or
without UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.
*PALESTINIANS PROTEST NEW ISRAELI ATTACKS
Teheran, May 8 (RHC)-- More than 10,000 Palestinians protested against yet
another Israeli attack -- this time at the funeral ceremony for a
five-month-old infant who was killed on the West Bank. Ima Hejo was killed
when Zionist tanks opened fire on a refugee camp. At her funeral on Tuesday,
thousands of mourners and demonstrators vowed to fight against Israeli
occupation troops until the total and complete liberation of Palestine.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops fired on a group of youngsters throwing stones at
occupation forces, wounding at least one dozen young people.
Among the more than 400 victims killed by the Isreali army since last
September, over one hundred have been children under the age of 12.
.
Viewpoint:
*US HAS ONLY ITSELF TO BLAME FOR FOREIGN POLICY FAILURES
The officials responsible for the current direction of foreign policy have
rushed to express their distress over the huge setback handed them in the
United Nations Human Rights Commission when, in a secret ballot election,
the United States lost the Commission seat it has held for 54 years.
George W. Bush's national security advisor Condoleeza Rice complained to Fox
News that the decision excluding the US from the Commission was an "offense"
to her country, and went on to say that now friends of the world's tyrannies
would be happy. Rice also lashed out at the US Congress for blaming the
situation on the executive branch.
Race's accusations are a weak defense. Criticism of US actions in the Human
Rights Commission abound, with few exceptions, and Washington has so far
been unable to come up with a face-saving explanation for its humiliating
defeat.
The real reasons are many. Since the beginning, Washington has used the
Geneva-based Commission as an instrument of its foreign policy, bullying
and threatening those who dared to disagree.
In light of the generalized rejection of Washington's anti-Cuba policies,
which have entered the realm of the ridiculous, we can only recommend that
the United States pay less attention to ultra-rightwing Cuban Americans in
Miami. Those extremists who control US policy toward Cuba have been making
a plush living from their attempts to destroy the island. While they have
managed to profit from the situation over the past 40 years, it appears that
times are changing. They would do well to see the writing on the wall, stop
their dirty dealing, and try some honest work for a change.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
istreated peaceful
demonstrators in the most recent civil disobedience campaign against the
military exercises in Vieques.
The 18 Hispanic Caucus members said they would hold public hearings, call
for testimony from the Navy and will travel to Vieques to listen to the
residents of the island-municipality. Caucus president Silvestre Reyes said
the Hispanic legislators are alarmed over the treatment of their colleague,
representative Luis Gutierrez, who says that he and many others were
held in open-air dog cages containing excrement.
The office of Attorney General John Ashcroft had previously indicated that
it would investigate the conditions in the facilities in which the
demonstrators were detained.
.
Viewpoint:
*CUBA WARNS THE SOUTH NOT SURRENDER THEIR ECONOMIES TO US CONTROL
Cuban President Fidel Castro, since the beginning of the so-called
"neoliberal globalization process", has been warning that the system's
logical conclusion is the economic colonization of Latin America. After
everything has been privatized, all the national economies will be in the
hands of transnational corporations, from industry and business to social
security. Worse yet, the political decisions of independent nations will be
made based on market concerns.
President Castro warns that national currencies will disappear, to be
replaced by the US dollar, as in Ecuador. The US Federal Reserve will
dictate the monetary policy which will mean that it will make political
decisions as well. If the neoliberal globalization process is allowed to
continue the freedom, independence and sovereignty of all of our peoples
will be seriously compromised in the near future.
The United States will become the czar of the hemisphere and nothing will be
able to be done without Washington's consent. Latin America will be
condemned exclusively to providing raw materials and labor to the great,
industrialized North and will be at the mercy of US wishes.
In the factories and businesses it installs in Latin America, US industry
pays workers salaries that are 15 to 20 times lower than it would pay North
American workers. And those big industries, dependent on automated
production, each day employ fewer workers.
Education and culture in the South will become a simple business
proposition. And only those who have managed to acquire modern technical
skills will find work. Every day, thousands more human beings of this and
other continents will join the ranks of the poor, the ignorant and the
unemployed. It will be only the highly qualified professionals, or what is
left of the upper classes, who will be able to aspire to a decent life.
All those who realize the urgency of the situation must begin to mobilize
now and demand that their governments hold plebiscites to find out how the
people truly feel about becoming part of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas,
the FTAA. To act otherwise will mean that the dreams of North American big
business may be realized, but not those of the millions around the world who
are experiencing hunger and thirst.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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