From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 09:41:41 -0400 (EDT)
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 12 May 2001
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*FIDEL WINDS UP VISIT TO MALAYSIA
*20,000 RALLY IN PINAR DEL RIO ON US POLICY, MUMIA, PANAMA
*GUATEMALAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAYS NUN'S MURDER WAS POLITICAL
*TALIBAN DECLARES WAR ON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
*POLICE HQ ATTACKED IN GHANA FOLLOWING STADIUM TRAGEDY
*ALARMING INCREASE REPORTED IN DESTRUCTION OF AMAZON JUNGLE
*LAYOFFS DUE TO POWER BLACKOUTS SPARK STRIKES IN BRAZIL
*VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ BEGINS 20-DAY FOREIGN TRIP
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*FIDEL WINDS UP VISIT TO MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur, May 12 (RHC)--President Fidel Castro, on Saturday completed
his second and final day of an official visit to Malaysia.
In a ceremony at his palace in Kuala Lumpur, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz
Shah awarded the Cuban leader the Supreme Order of the National Crown, the
highest decoration in Malaysia.
The Sultan congratulated Cuba on its achievements and on its important role
in the world today. The Cuban leader for his part praised the remarkable
advances that Malaysia had made in so short a period of time in the nation's
history. He said that rather than being a country of myths and mysteries,
Malaysia was actually a nation of great natural riches, of a hard-working
and devoted people, firmly maintaining its sovereignty and well on the road
to development. Fidel Castro said that indeed, Malaysia was an example to
many other nations.
Following a visit to the highest building in the world, the Twin Towers of
the petroleum giant Petronas, the Cuban leader and his delegation wound up
their visit to Malaysia.
*20,000 RALLY IN PINAR DEL RIO ON US POLICY, MUMIA, PANAMA
Havana, May 12, (RHC)--Some 20,000 people gathered on Saturday morning in
the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio demanding an end to the US Cuban
Adjustment Act, the blockade against Cuba and Washington's economic war
against the island.
Cuban Defense Minister Raul Castro headed this Saturday's "Open Tribune,"
held in a football field in Bahia Honda. The giant rally featured as
speeches by children, workers, students and others. Some condemned Panama's
refusal to extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Cuba. Posada Carriles is wanted
in connection with a plot to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro and
other terrorist acts.
Demonstrators also called for the release of US political prisoner and
journalist Mumia Abu Jamal, who has been on Death Row in the United States
for the past 18 years.
*GUATEMALAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAYS NUN'S MURDER WAS POLITICAL
Guatemala City, May 12 (RHC)--The Unified Association of Guatemalans said
today that the US nun Barbara Ann Ford was shot to death last Saturday
because she was working with the nation's poor.
In a press release, the Association said that although the country's police
are still insisting that Ford's death was a common crime, it was clear that
she was assassinated for political reasons.
According to witnesses, Ford was shot while resisting an attempt to steal
her vehicle. However, the vehicle was found a short time later only four
blocks away from the scene of her murder -- a clear indication, the
Association said, that the motive was not robbery. Other religious and human
rights organizations concur.
Ford had been working with the marginalized and poor in Guatemala since
1978.
At the time of her death, she was affiliated with the History Recuperation
Project. The Project seeks reconciliation between Guatemalans following the
devastating years of civil war in which more than 300,000 lost their lives.
However, the Project also attempts to maintain a record of the past in the
memory of the living, in order to prevent such events from reoccurring.
The Project places the blame for the majority of deaths and other human
rights abuses squarely on the shoulders of the military, and it is for this
reason that most people feel Ford was targeted and assassinated.
*TALIBAN DECLARES WAR ON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Havana, May 12 (RHC)--In Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban authorities have
begun to destroy musical instruments and punish those who miss their
prayers.
Following the destruction of ancient statues of Buddha, the first batch of
musical instruments were burned yesterday in Talogan, the capital of the
province of Takhar. The owners of the instruments were sanctioned, according
to the state Radio Shariat.
Twenty one persons were punished for missing their prayers and another 41
arrested for possessing musical cassettes. Eighty men were punished for
cutting their beards in violation of the strict religious code imposed on
the population by the Taliban. The punishment for such a misdemeanor is
usually 15 days in prison.
*POLICE HQ ATTACKED IN GHANA FOLLOWING STADIUM TRAGEDY
Accra, May 12 (RHC)--In the wake of the tragedy in Ghana in which 127
soccer spectators were crushed to death in a stampede caused by police
intervention in a fight, hundreds of people have attacked a police
commissariat.
Following the funeral of 25 of the victims of last Wednesday's disaster, a
crowd raised barricades and stormed the police headquarters in the capital,
Accra. The police have been blamed for the deaths because, reacting to a
disturbance, they closed the doors of the stadium and then fired tear gas
into the crush of 70,000 spectators. The resulting panic caused the deaths.
The president of Ghana, John Kufuor, has ordered a three-day period
of national mourning. He has also promised substantial financial recompense
to the families of those killed and added that the government will pay the
medical expenses of those injured and needing treatment.
*ALARMING INCREASE REPORTED IN DESTRUCTION OF AMAZON JUNGLE
Rio de Janeiro, May 12, (RHC)--Cutting down the Brazilian Amazon jungle has
increased by 15% in the past two years, bringing about serious ecological
consequences.
An official government report to be released on Monday shows that in l999
and 2000 some 20,000 square kilometers of forest were felled, compared to
17,000 in the two years before.
According to the Jornal do Brazil, which published the study, the rate of
deforestation of the Amazon has become a measure of government failure to
sufficiently protect the environment.
The official report reveals that, unlike previous eras when big landowners
and usurpers burned and cleared immense areas and were easily detected by
spy satellites, the current destruction is occurring in many small and
medium-sized areas of jungle, making detection more difficult.
*LAYOFFS DUE TO POWER BLACKOUTS SPARK STRIKES IN BRAZIL
Rio de Janeiro, May 12, (RHC)--Some 25,000 metal workers from 134 big
enterprises in Sao Paulo announced on Saturday that they would hold a series
of work stoppages next week. The Brazilian workers are angered over layoffs
and electrical outages programmed by the government. The metal workers are
planning to start their walkouts on Tuesday.
Gripped by an energy crisis requiring blackouts of up to six hours a day
beginning June 1st, businesses are warning that they will be forced to lay
off workers and shorten the workday.
Some businesses have come to agreements with unions on salary reductions in
keeping with shorter hours. However, it is estimated that the six months of
rationing planned by the government to achieve a 20% cut energy consumption
will force some 850,000 workers off the job.
*VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ BEGINS 20-DAY FOREIGN TRIP
Caracas, May 12, (RHC)--Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez has begun a
20-day foreign trip to seven nations. On Thursday, the president told
the nation he was considering declaring a state of emergency to deal with
problems that he said require special measures.
Chavez explained that traditional remedies may not be sufficient to combat
corruption, poverty and economic problems facing Venezuela. He noted that he
would continue examining the situation during his trip, said that he may
submit a state of emergency plan to a referendum.
President Chavez's tour begins in Russia, where he is scheduled to meet
with Vladimir Putin and to sign a series of cooperation agreements. From
there the Venezuelan president will proceed to Iran.
The Venezuelan leader will also visit China for the second time during his
administration. Chinese president Jiang Zemin was in Venezuela last month.
He will then make a private visit to India and Bangladesh, and winds up his
trip in Indonesia. Chavez will meet in Jakarta with the Group of 15 to
continue consolidating south-south cooperation and where the leadership of
the organization will be turned over to Venezuela.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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