From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 22:33:47 -0400 (EDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-16 May 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 16 May 2001
.
*FIDEL CASTRO DEPARTS SYRIA FOR OFFICIAL VISIT TO LIBYA
*AT UN CONFERENCE, CUBA CALLS FOR RADICAL RETHINKING
*SPANISH AIRLINE SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH CUBANA; DIRECT FLIGHTS TO UK ENDED
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNOR REQUESTS MORE CUBAN SPORTS EXPERTISE
*BRAZIL CONTINUES AIDS MEDICINE CRUSADE AGAINST PHARMACEUTICAL GIANTS
*CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AT UNITED NATIONS AGAINST US BOMBIING OF VIEQUES
*Viewpoint: TUNNEL VISION
.
*FIDEL CASTRO DEPARTS SYRIA FOR OFFICIAL VISIT TO LIBYA
Tripoli, May 16 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro has arrived in Libya
for an official visit, following his one-day visit to Syria.
President Castro was received by Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi at his
residence, which was bombed by the United States in 1986. The residence has
not been restored, and has become a place of pilgrimage for guests of honor.
Prior to his arrival in Tripoli Wednesday evening, in Syria the Cuban leader
paid homage to the late Syrian President Hafez Al Assad, laying a floral
wreath before the monument to honoring the "Lion of Damascus," who died last
year.
President Castro also visited the Omayyad Mosque, one of Islam's oldest and
most venerated ancient sites. Images of the mosque, with its mixture of
Greek, Roman and Arab influences, were were broadcast around the world
earlier this month when John Paul II became the first Pope to visit a Muslim
house of worship.
The visit to Syria was Fidel Castro's first, while his visit to Libya is the
second since 1977.
*AT UN CONFERENCE, CUBA CALLS FOR RADICAL RETHINKING
Brussels, May 16 (RHC)--At the 3rd United Nations Conference on Least
Advanced Countries, Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas has called
for a radical rethinking of the current world economic order which, he
asserted, has contributed to the poverty of the most underdeveloped nations.
The Cuban official said that over the past 30 years, the economic and
financial policies of the world's industrialized capitals have led to an
increase in the number of least advanced countries from 24 to 49. Citing
World Bank figures, Cabrisas said that during the same period the foreign
debts of those nations have increased by more than $49 billion.
Noting that industrialized countries have not complied with their promise to
earmark 0.7 percent of their gross domestic products to development aid, he
pointed out that the Program of Action to fight poverty adopted at the 2nd
UN Conference in Paris in 1990 has not achieved its established aims.
Cabrisas said that despite these realities, credit institutions, investors
and potential donors continue to blame poor nations for their poverty, with
the excuse that the weaknesses of their markets, policies and institutions
are the cause of their economic calamities.
*SPANISH AIRLINE SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH CUBANA; DIRECT FLIGHTS TO UK ENDED
Havana, May 16 (RHC)--The Spanish airline Spanair has signed an agreement
with Cubana Airlines to share flights to and from Cuba.
The director of the Spanish airline, Luis Dans, said that Spanair was also
considering setting up a hub in Havana from which its flights would have
coordinated departures to other destinations in the region.
Spanair, the second largest airline in Spain, is partially owned by the
Scandinavian airline SAS.
In a related development, British Airways has announced that next spring it
will discontinue its weekly flight from London to Havana, following Cubana's
April cancellation of its weekly flights to London.
Although many people in the travel industry were surprised at the move,
given Cuba's attraction for English tourists, British Airways said that it
was unable to run the route at a profit. The only flights that will be
non-stop to Cuba from England will now be charters going into Varadero. Any
traveler wishing to fly to Havana from London will have to do so via Paris
or Madrid.
*VENEZUELAN GOVERNOR REQUESTS MORE CUBAN SPORTS EXPERTISE
Caracas, May 16 (RHC)--The governor of the Venezuelan state of Anzoategui,
David de Lima, today requested a significant increase in the number of
sports trainers assigned to his province.
De Lima made the request directly to the president of Cuba's National Sports
Institute, Alberto Juantorena, and to Lazaro Costa and Elio Perera, the
representatives of Cubadeportes, the coordinating sports organization, in
Venezuela. The governor explained that he wants to see increased
participation in school sports programs and has begun to improve sports
facilities across the state.
The request was made under the auspices of the cooperation agreement signed
by Cuba and Venezuela last October, which essentially provided for Cuban
expertise in the fields of health and sports in return for Venezuelan oil.
*BRAZIL CONTINUES AIDS MEDICINE CRUSADE AGAINST PHARMACEUTICAL GIANTS
Brasilia, May 16 (RHC)--In its ongoing offensive against exorbitant prices
for AIDS medication, Brazilian Health Minister Jose Serra has given the
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche until July to reduce the price of one of
the drugs forming part of the AIDS cocktail.
According to the Brazilian news daily "O Estado de Sao Paulo" Serra --
currently participating in the World Health Organization Assembly in Geneva
-- stated that if Roche doesn't substantially reduce the price of the drug
Nelfinavir, Brazil will cease recognizing the firm's patent. He said
Brazil's state pharmaceutical laboratory Farmanguinhos is currently
preparing to produce the medication. Roche reportedly proposed a 13% price
reduction, which the Brazilian government rejected.
Serra said that as a result of Brazil's intellectual property norms, in the
government's efforts to provide AIDS patients with free medication the
country has been able to negotiate 60% reductions in the price of drugs from
the pharmaceutical transnational Merck, Sharp and Dohme. As a result, Brazil
has significantly reduced mortality in HIV-carriers and has saved hundreds
of millions of dollars.
*CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AT UNITED NATIONS AGAINST US BOMBIING OF VIEQUES
New York, May 16 (RHC)--Police and security forces broke up a peaceful
demonstration in front of United Nations Headquarters in New York City on
Tuesday -- arresting nearly 30 protesters who were blocking the main
entrance of the UN building. According to eye-witness reports, several
activists protesting U.S. military exercises on the Puerto Rican island of
Vieques were able to actually enter the building and carry out their civil
disobedience action inside the United Nations.
A press release issued by the protesters called on the international body to
intervene and stop renewed bombing and target practice by the U.S. Navy on
the island of Vieques. Protest organizers told journalists that Washington's
violation of human rights in Vieques is one of the many reasons why the
United States was recently voted off the Geneva-based UN Human Rights
Commission.
*Viewpoint: TUNNEL VISION
While politicians and business executives in Latin America glorify the free
market, the reality could be a rude awakening. According to the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as CEPAL, the growth
of the region's domestic gross product will fall again this year by an
estimated 3%. The major cause is the slowdown of the U.S. economy.
In the study "Perspectives of Latin America in the New International Context
2001," CEPAL notes that the crisis in the United States has sparked a
decline in the demand for regional products and a noticeable reduction in
growth rates.
As a consequence, unemployment is remaining at the high levels of the past
two years and may even rise in some countries, warns the report, issued in
Santiago, Chile. What's more, Latin America registers elevated shifts in
financial fluidity, and experts predict a fall-off in direct foreign
investment.
Latin American exports will increase by just 5%, as opposed to 20% in 2000,
while the deficit will rise by $55 billion, $7 billion more than last year.
The truth is that the neoliberal model almost uniformly implanted across
Latin America sacrifices the improvement of society for growth in the
economy; a growth that naturally, only benefits an elite.
The privatization programs sweeping the continent have left governments
practically helpless in the face of spiraling poverty, which now affects
more than 225 million Latin Americans.
Free market reforms have exhibited their efficiency in marginalizing the
majority to the point that Latin America is now the region with the most
inequitable distribution of wealth in the world, the area where the gap
between rich and poor is the most pronounced.
But, the worst thing is that a change of direction is not in the cards -- at
least not in the immediate future -- which means that misery and inequality
will continue to grow.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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