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Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 13:18:20 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-24 May 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 24 May 2001
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*PEREZ ROQUE REMINDS BUSH THAT CUBA HAS OUTLIVED 10 US ADMINISTRATIONS
*UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN HAVANA
*MEXICO STRENGTHENS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA
*CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES CELEBRATES 60th ANNIVERSARY
*VERMONT SENATOR ALTERS BALANCE OF POWER IN US SENATE
*ALEMAN ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION BY MEMBERS OF HIS OWN PARTY
*CANADIAN LEGISLATOR SUES POLICE FOR QUEBEC SUMMIT RAMPAGE
*Viewpoint: CHILDREN'S MARCH FOR LIFE IN ARGENTINA
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*PEREZ ROQUE REMINDS BUSH THAT CUBA HAS OUTLIVED 10 US ADMINISTRATIONS
Havana, May 24 (RHC)--Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has reminded
U.S. President George Bush that Cuba has outlived 10 U.S. administrations.
During his weekly press conference in Havana, Perez Roque referred to Bush's
recent public expression of support for Washington's blockade of Cuba and
for legislation to finance so-called dissidents on the island.
The Cuban Foreign Minister said the announcement sparked no interest or
concern in Cuba, that Cubans were merely astonished by how much Bush can
talk without saying anything. He said that, like his predecessors, Bush will
not be able to isolate Cuba -- pointing to the majority of U.S. public
opinion and the 167 countries in the United Nations that support lifting the
blockade.
The Cuban foreign minister wondered when Washington would realize it has
lost its war against Cuba. In reference to the legislation to finance
so-called dissidents in Cuba, Perez Roque welcomed the move, stating that
it's merely another public display of the U.S. interventionism that Cuba has
always denounced.
Felipe Perez Roque said Bush's incoherent and senseless anti-Cuba speech
last week was merely an effort to thank those in Florida for his fraudulent
electoral victory and to try and guarantee the re-election of his brother,
Jeb Bush, as Governor of Florida.
*UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN HAVANA
Havana, May 24 (RHC)--The 11th Regional 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 are meeting 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 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.
On Wednesday, during the opening session held at the Hotel Nacional, Cuban
Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon called for the total and definitive
independence of Puerto Rico. The Cuban parliament leader said that the
struggle for Puerto Rican independence has more significance than ever,
given the battle to prevent the absorption of the continent by the United
States -- a reference to the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA).
Among the participants at the regional meeting of the UN Decolonization
Committee is Juan Mari Bras, a veteran fighter for Puerto Rican
independence. Speaking with reporters during a break in the closed-door
meeting, Mari Bras said he hoped the session in Havana would lead to a
better understanding of the colonial situation of Puerto Rico and hasten the
eventual independence of his country.
Juan Mari Bras pointed to the growing movement to throw the U.S. Navy out of
Vieques -- and called for a renewed commitment to work for the total
liberation of all colonial territories under foreign rule.
*MEXICO STRENGTHENS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA
Mexico City, May 24 (RHC)--Mexico will strengthen its economic relations
with Cuba despite threats from the United States. According to Eduardo Sojo,
the Public Policy Coordinator of the Mexican Presidency, Mexico will not bow
to Washington's threats.
Speaking with reporters in Mexico City, Eduardo Sojo referred to recent
threats by the U.S. government to take reprisals against Mexican companies
that do business with Havana. He said that Mexico and Cuba would go ahead
with the signing of an agreement on the reciprocal promotion and protection
of investments, slated to take place next week.
The Mexican official said that the U.S. Stock Exchange has issued a warning
to all foreign companies that have agreements with countries subjected to
economic blockades -- such as Cuba. According to Wall Street, the companies
will be required to submit a detailed report on their transactions. Failing
to do this will result in the denial of those companies to participate on
the U.S. Stock Exchange.
In related news, Mexico's Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations for Latin
America and the Caribbean, Gustavo Iruegas, stated that his country would
not be intimidated by extraterritorial laws. He confirmed that despite
threats by Wall Street and the White House, Mexico plans to sign the
economic cooperation agreement with Cuba next week.
Mexico's Minister of the Economy, Luis Ernesto Derbez, is scheduled to
arrive in Havana on Sunday on an official visit. Derbez will take part in
the 11th Session of the Inter-governmental Commission for Economic and
Industrial Collaboration here in the Cuban capital. On Wednesday, the 30th,
the Mexican official will sign an accord to promote and protect investments
between Cuba and Mexico.
*CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES CELEBRATES 60th ANNIVERSARY
Havana, May 24 (RHC)--The Cuban Council of Churches is getting ready to
celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Founded on May 28, 1941, the Cuban Council of Churches was created with the
aim of meeting the national and international need for cooperation among
churches, Christian organizations and ecumenical movements.
During a news conference in Havana, the President of the Cuban Council of
Churches, Dr. Reinerio Arce Valentin, gave reporters details of the major
celebrations taking place in the Cuban capital to mark the historic date. He
said special services will take place at two major Protestant churches in
Havana, including the First Presbyterian Reformed Church, the site where the
Council was set up in 1941. A concert will also be held at the Mella
Theater, located in downtown Havana.
Dr. Arce said that three special religious services will take place next
week with the participation of internationally renowned religious
personalities. Among them are the Reverend Oscar Bolioli from the National
Council of Churches of Christ, USA -- who participated in his organization's
effort to bring Eli�n Gonzalez back home following his kidnapping by the
anti-Cuba Miami mafia. Also present will be Bishop Federico Pagura from the
Presidium of the World Council of Churches; the Rev. Franklin Guerrero from
the Board of Global Ministries, USA; and Werner Rostan from the German-based
Bread for the World Agency.
*VERMONT SENATOR ALTERS BALANCE OF POWER IN US SENATE
Havana, 23rd May (RHC)--In an important move that alters the balance of
power in the US Senate in favor of the Democrats, Republican Senator James
Jeffords has announced that he will become an Independent.
The Republican Party will now be deprived of its one-vote majority, which
observers say will seriously complicate President George Bush's life. The
Senate votes on the heads of committees, for example, with such appointments
affecting policy across the board.
Jeffords, who is already known for his independent leanings, currently heads
the Senate Committee on Education and Health. He said he made the decision
due to his disagreement with President George W. Bush on issues such as the
budget, tax reductions, education, energy, the environment and plans for a
space-based anti-missile system, affirming that the move is for the good of
the state of Vermont and the country in general.
Jeffords is also known for his staunch defense of the right of abortion, and
has openly come out in defense of gay rights. His defection from the
Republican Party immediately converts Democrat Tom Daschle into the new
Senate majority leader, reducing Republican Trent Lott into the minority
spokesperson. At the same time, Democrats will now preside over the
important Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees, formerly presided over
by Republicans Jesse Helms and Orrin Hatch.
Bush will now have to negotiate all of his proposed legislative measures
primarily with the democrats. Both Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney met
separately with James Jeffords on Tuesday but, Jeffords said, he made no
promises to either.
*ALEMAN ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION BY MEMBERS OF HIS OWN PARTY
Havana, 24th May (RHC)--Dissident ruling party legislators in Nicaragua have
announced a campaign to gather 50,000 signatures to support a petition to
investigate charges that President Arnoldo Aleman has illicitly amassed a
huge fortune during his mandate.
Liberal Constitutionalist Party dissidents Leonel Teller and Sergio Garcia
said the campaign will begin Friday and that an eventual investigation will
also include Aleman's entire family. The two legislators have accused Aleman
on several recent occasions of amassing $250 million through corrupt
activities. The announcement came after the ruling-party controlled
parliamentary anti-corruption commission refused to investigate the
president.
In other news, President Aleman has bowed to pressure from the International
Monetary Fund to veto legislation on a debt moratorium for thousands of
coffee farmers. The legislation, approved in the Nicaraguan Parliament last
April 30th and originally supported by Aleman, would suspend the sector's
debt payment for 300 days, suspend trials and seizures of property against
indebted farmers, and would release the indebted farmers who have been
imprisoned.
The legislation led the IMF to suspend conversations with the Nicaraguan
government last weekend. Some 30,000 farmers are currently strangled by debt
in Nicaragua, a situation that indirectly affects nearly 250,000 farmers.
*CANADIAN LEGISLATOR SUES POLICE FOR QUEBEC SUMMIT RAMPAGE
Quebec, 24th May (RHC)--A Canadian legislator has filed a lawsuit against
the country's Royal Mounted Police for the excessive repression of
anti-globalization demonstrators during last month's 3rd Summit of the
Americas in Quebec.
Canadian member of Parliament Svend Robinson, of the left-of-center New
Democracy Party, accused police of firing rubber bullets and tear gas into a
group of persons carrying out a peaceful protest. Robinson said he was among
the group and was hit in the leg with a rubber bullet. The Canadian
legislator joined forces with some 40 grassroots and human rights
organizations demanding an independent investigation of police actions
during the protests.
The organizations charged that police fired nearly 8,000 tear gas canisters
and more than 500 rubber bullets, creating a climate of terror in Quebec.
Tear gas reportedly entered the homes of Quebec residents who had nothing to
do with the anti-globalization protests. Robinson said the Summit of the
Americas should be called the Summit of Shame.
*Viewpoint: CHILDREN'S MARCH FOR LIFE IN ARGENTINA
Carlos Menem came to the presidency of Argentina in 1989 with the promise
that his government would work a "miracle" to change Argentina into a First
World country. Ten years later and after Menem's two terms in office,
instead of advancing to first world status, the majority of Argentines have
passed through a nighmarish period. Today, the government of Fernando de la
Rua is following in Menem's footsteps by applying the same disastrous
economic model.
The application of the doctrine of neoliberalism has been devastating in
Argentina, where there are now more than 13 million people living in
conditions of extreme poverty. And in this exercise of giving absolute power
to market forces, the most vulnerable victims are the children.
In Argentina, where there are six million people under the age of 18, child
poverty has increased dramatically, by 70% on the northeastern borders with
Paraguay and Brazil, and in the northwestern frontiers with Bolivia and
Chile, by 61%.
Recently, nearly a thousand poor children travelled from the North of
Argentina on a fifteen-day march to Buenos Aires to ask president Fernando
de la Rua to show some respect for their rights and to give work to their
parents.
"To be a poor child in Argentina has a name and a destiny: prostitution,
drugs, jail or to be assassinated in a distant corner of poverty," was the
message sent in a press announcement from the organizers of the march. Aside
from the call for work, the marchers also demanded bread and changes in the
the country's economical model, which they say is a sell-out of their
welfare, their happiness and one of the major causes of child poverty.
Meanwhile, the government continues its series of adjustments and
readjustments which are meant to bring Argentina out of an economic
recession which has already lasted three years. Signs of economic growth are
very important aspects of the program, which Argentina agreed to with the
International Monetary Fund, which has facilitated De La Rua by providing a
meaningless line of credit to the tune of $40 million to date.
The poor children of Argentina will not benefit from any of this money and
neither will Argentina's economic growth. It only serves to increase the
interest which has to be paid to the International Monetary Fund and the
coffers of the world's multinational corporations, at a tremendous social
cost to its youth.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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