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Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 09:24:15 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-23 May 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 23 May 2001
.
*THE "McDONALDIZATION" OF THE REGION'S ECONOMIES
*UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL
*AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY COMMEMORATED IN CUBA
*BATISTA'S CHIEF OF POLICE DIES IN MIAMI
*CARIBBEAN CONGRESS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING UNDERWAY
*SHARON'S CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE A PR STUNT--PALESTINIANS
*UPHEAVAL INTENSIFIES AS DOMINICAN PROTESTORS TAKE UP ARMS
*ARGENTINA: MENEM SINKS DEEPER IN CORRUPTION SCANDAL
Viewpoint:
*TRAGIC PRISON FIRE IN CHILE
.
*THE "McDONALDIZATION" OF THE REGION'S ECONOMIES
Havana, May 23 (RHC)--In Havana, a team of renowned economists again
denounced the subversive intentions behind the so-called Free Trade Area of
the Americas, the FTAA.
During a round table devoted to analyzing the effects that the agreement
would have on the region, a panel of experts from the Cuban Research Center
on the World Economy said in its present form the FTAA is a disguised
version of the now defunct Multilateral Agreement on Investment, the
notorious MAI, ruled out in Paris due to popular opposition.
The experts described the idea of integrating the greatly indebted and
dispersed Latin American economies to that of the U.S. as unsustainable and
highly questionable. Chilean economist Orlando Caputo said the Free Trade
Area of the Americas was designed to solely benefit transnational
corporations, noting that the FTAA should rather be called the Free
Circulation of Capital for the Americas. Economist Osvaldo Martinez,
director of the Havana-based Research Center on the World Economy, said that
the direct results of the implementation of the FTAA would be the
destruction of Latin America's genuine regional integration efforts, and the
"McDonaldization" of Latin American economies. Martinez also said that the
United States was trying to use the Free Trade Area of the Americas as an
instrument to counter competition by Western Europe and Japan. A second
round table on the subject of the Free Trade Area of the Americas was
scheduled for this Wednesday evening in Havana.
*UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL
Havana, May 23 (RHC)--The international colonial situation -- an issue
that many believe should have been resolved long ago -- is being discussed
during a two-day meeting in Havana. The 11th Session of the United Nations
Decolonization Committee got underway in the Cuban capital on Wednesday.
Experts from the 24 member-nations of the UN agency will meet here in Havana
until Friday -- examining the issues of self-determination and sovereignty.
The Committee makes recommendations to attempt to resolve colonial
situations, but does not adopt binding resolutions.
The UN agency was founded in 1961 during the height of the African
liberation struggle and when many countries on the African continent were
given their nominal, economic independence.
On December 14, 1960, the United Nations General Assembly approved
Resolution 1514 -- calling for the independence of all colonial countries.
The Decolonization Committee, formed one year later, was designed to help
monitor the independence process.
Of the 72 territories under colonial rule when the Committee was created 40
years ago, 17 have not been granted independence and are still directly
ruled by a colonial power. They are: Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands,
the Malvinas Island (also known as the Falkland Islands), the Turks and
Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
Montserrat, St. Helena, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Island, American Samoa and
the Tokelau Islands.
Under tremendous pressure from Washington, the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico
was taken off the list during the 1960s but was returned to the list of
colonies by the UN Decolonization Committee in 1978.
*AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY COMMEMORATED IN CUBA
Havana, May 23 (RHC)--African Liberation Day will be celebrated in Havana
with special activities to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the
Organization of African Unity, the OAU.
The OAU was created in Addis Ababa in 1963 with the objective of promoting
unity and solidarity among all African states. Each year, special attention
is given to the anniversary -- demonstrating the strong identification that
Cuba has always had with Africa.
An extensive, three-day program of activities to commemorate the
Organization of African Unity gets underway Thursday, in the Cuban
capital. Art exhibits from the African continent and literature readings
will be held at the Cultural Pavilion, located in downtown Havana.
Books on Africa and issues related to African liberation will be displayed
and several titles will be available for sale at a special exhibit in the
Jose Marti National Library.
African students who are currently studying in Cuba -- many of them at the
Latin American School of Medicine -- will also take part in the
commemoration activities.
On Friday, the 25th -- African Liberation Day -- a special gala will be held
at the Garcia Lorca Theater. The Contemporary Dance Troupe of Cuba will
perform at the Gran Teatro in Havana this Friday evening.
*BATISTA'S CHIEF OF POLICE DIES IN MIAMI
Miami, May 23 (RHC)--The former chief of police during the last days of
the Batista dictatorship in Cuba -- Esteban Ventura Novo -- died on Monday
in the capital of the anti-Cuba mafia: Miami, Florida. He was 87.
Considered one of the most repressive police agents during the dictatorship,
Ventura gained his notoriety during the '40s and '50s. Among those on the
long list of his victims: Jorge Cabrera Graupera, a well-known and
progressive attorney whose tortured body was found after the police finished
with him in April 1958; Marcelo Salado, a member of the revolutionary July
26th Movement, machine-gunned to death in broad daylight on the streets of
Havana shortly after he had been released from jail; and the Humboldt 7,
four revolutionary university students, brutally assassinated in April 1957.
The former police chief left Havana along with his boss, Fulgencio Batista,
on January 1, 1959 -- arriving in Miami where they were received with open
arms. Ventura was never charged with the numerous murders he committed over
the years in Cuba. He opened a private security agency called "Preventive
Security Service and Investigation."
One political commentator in Havana stated that for the past 42 years,
Ventura worked closely with Miami police and his buddies from the "good old
days" -- when torture, assassination and human rights violations in Cuba
were
paid for by U.S. tax dollars.
*CARIBBEAN CONGRESS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING UNDERWAY
Havana, May 23 (RHC)--The First Caribbean Congress of Biomedical
Engineering opened in Havana today and will run through Friday, the 25th.
Held at the Hotel Havana Libre, the Congress will be attended by more than
500 delegates from the Caribbean and other countries including Great
Britain, the United States, Egypt, France, Denmark and China.
The program will include conferences, panels and roundtables facilitated by
Cuban and international experts in the field of biomedical technology.
*SHARON'S CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE A PR STUNT--PALESTINIANS
Jerusalem, May 23 (RHC)--Palestinian leaders have rejected Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's call for a cease-fire, saying it's merely a public
relations stunt. Sharon Tuesday announced a unilateral cease-fire in
occupied Palestinian territories, though he rejected demands for a halt in
the construction of new Jewish settlements.
The demand came in recommendations from the Mitchell Commission, published
Monday in the United States. Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo
said Sharon's call is deceitful and inexact, pointing out that the conflict
in the Middle East is not a war between two armies and two states, but
rather an aggression by an occupation force against a subjugated people.
The Arab League has again joined voices with the Palestinian people, warning
that the construction of Jewish settlements is the principle cause behind
the violence in occupied Palestinian territories. Despite the Israeli prime
minister's unilateral cease-fire, violence continued Wednesday in those
territories, with conflicting reports concerning which side initiated
confrontations.
*UPHEAVAL INTENSIFIES AS DOMINICAN PROTESTORS TAKE UP ARMS
Santo Domingo, May 23 (RHC)--The Dominican Republic is immersed in the
most intense social upheaval since President Hipolito Mejia assumed office
last August. TV news programs have broadcast images of hooded protesters
engaged in gun battles with police and soldiers in municipalities in the
north, northeast and northwest of the country, where grassroots
organizations are demanding an end to extended electricity black-outs, and
the construction of infrastructure such as paved roads, health clinics and
schools.
In the Navarrete Municipality, 155 kilometers north of the capital, Santo
Domingo, protesters launched an attack Tuesday evening against an army truck
with firearms and Molotov cocktails, wounding one soldier and practically
destroying the vehicle. Police Chief, General Pedro de Jesus Candelier --
who has asserted that an armed uprising is underway in Navarrete -- said a
police station came under fire today, with three officers wounded.
There are reports of torched vehicles and the explosion of homemade bombs,
with at least seven people wounded Tuesday. Community organizations are also
calling for the police chief's resignation, accusing the department of
gunning down three protesters last week. In January, President Mejia
implemented an economic shock program that he himself admitted is extremely
harsh. There have been across-the-board tax hikes, an increase in fuel
prices and a devaluation of the national currency.
*ARGENTINA: MENEM SINKS DEEPER IN CORRUPTION SCANDAL
Buenos Aires, May 23 (RHC)--Former Argentine President Carlos Menem is
deeper in the loop of a corruption scandal with today's arrest of his former
Defense Minister Erman Gonzalez, who was arrested Wednesday in connection
with the illegal transfer of weapons to Croatia in the 1990s, a country
that was subjected to an international arms embargo at the time.
Gonzalez is the first cabinet member of the Menem administration to be
arrested, though two other former government officials are also behind bars.
Former presidential advisor and Menem's former brother-in-law, Emir Yoma,
was arrested recently in connection with the illegal transfer of weapons
to Croatia and Ecuador.
Menem, Gonzalez and other former ministers signed three decrees authorizing
the sale of weapons to Panama and Venezuela that were later diverted to
Croatia and Ecuador. Current Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, who occupied
the same post during most of Menem's 10-year mandate, also signed the
decrees -- but has not been called in for questioning. Menem has been
ordered to appear before a federal court for interrogation next July 13th.
*Viewpoint: TRAGIC PRISON FIRE IN CHILE
Chile and the world were shaken this week by news of the deaths of 26
prisoners in a fire that broke out in an overcrowded prison in northern
Chile. The fire in Iquique was the worst prison tragedy in Chilean history.
The 26 who burned to death or were asphyxiated were all young people serving
short sentences for minor crimes. The Chilean president, Ricardo Lagos, was
forced to admit that Chilean jails are horribly overcrowded. Only three
guards were on duty at the time the blaze erupted, and they were unable to
save anyone. A parliamentary commission has been formed to investigate the
incident.
The tragic fire has focused international attention on a serious regional
problem. Social exclusion has risen sharply during the two decades of the
neoliberal experiment which has dramatically increased the continent's
prison population. The 26 youths who were burned alive in Chile were among
1,700 prisoners jammed together in a facility built for only 900 people.
They were the victims of an economic policy which casts aside human beings
in favor of fabulous profits for the few.
The worst is that the magic "solution" to ease conditions in overcrowded
prisons is to build more, something that would be unnecessary if the economy
were democratic and non-elitist.
This social Darwinism imposed on nations by free market tyranny increases
poverty, unemployment, violence and dissatisfaction, creating the perfect
breeding ground for crime.
Gangs and hired killers abound, imposing their own law on entire
neighborhoods in many Latin American cities. According to studies, a high
percentage of criminals come from broken families that are poor -- a
situation in which some half of Latin Americans find themselves. United
Nations data reveals that some 40 million youths under 20 years of age live
on the streets of Latin America.
Last February Brazilian police faced the worst prison revolt in its history
when 20,000 prisoners rioted, taking 7,000 hostages in the huge Brazilian
prison of Carandiru. The riot ended with more than 15 deaths.
The truth is that neoliberalism acts as a giant prison in which the
malnourished, the homeless, those without families, those with nothing and
nobody, are confined. On the outside are those who rigorously apply the
economic model in the name of democracy and freedom. Many of these
individuals tortured, murdered and disappeared thousands during the plague
of dictatorships that spread across Latin America in the '70s and '80s, and
who are still free to walk the streets. There are also corrupt politicians
who promise heaven and earth and then forget everything except the
"miraculous" fattening of their bank accounts.
Uruguayan poet Eduardo Galeano was right was he stated that "in today's
world it is those who most ferociously violate nature and human rights who
are never imprisoned. They are the ones who hold the keys to the prisons."
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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