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Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 01:59:15 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News update-02 June, 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 June 2001
.
*US DENIES VISAS FOR ALARCON, 3 OTHER OFFICIALS TO VISIT PUERTO RICO
*HAVANA BAY CLEAN-UP IS ATTRACTING WILDLIFE BACK TO THE CAPITAL
*GALICIAN LEADER SEEKS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF EU TOWARDS CUBA
*REMOTE CLASSROOMS RECEIVE TV/VIDEO HOOKUP VIA SOLAR POWER
*COLOMBIA: FARC-GOVERNMENT POW EXCHANGE IMMINENT
*ARGENTINA: MORE LABOR UNREST, PROTESTS AGAINST PRIVATIZATION
*NKOSI JOHNSON, 12-YEAR-OLD SYMBOL IN STRUGGLE AGAINST AIDS, IS DEAD
.
*US DENIES VISAS FOR ALARCON, 3 OTHER OFFICIALS TO VISIT PUERTO RICO
Washington, June 2 (RHC)--The United States has denied visas to an official
Cuban delegation planning to visit Puerto Rico. The visas were denied to the
President of Cuba's Parliament, Ricardo Alarc�n, as well as to three other
Cuban officials. The Cubans had been invited to Puerto Rico to attend a
commemoration of the founding of the Puerto Rican Mission in Havana 35 years
ago.
The head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, Fernando Ramirez,
will now represent the Cuban government as he is allowed to travel to Puerto
Rico on his diplomatic passport. Anti-Cuba congressional representatives
Ileana Ros Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz Balart had both lobbied hard to have
the visa request denied, saying that Alarc�n wanted "to meddle in the
internal affairs of Puerto Rico."
The political party PNP, which supports the full integration of Puerto Rico
as the 51st state of the U.S., also worked to have the visas turned down.
The clearly political reason behind the denial comes in the wake of Cuba's
support for the people of Vieques in their attempt to stop the U.S. Navy
from using the island for any further military exercises, which have cost
the life of one inhabitant and affected the health of many others.
Congressional Representative Jose Serrano criticized the move by the U.S.
State Department, saying that the sad thing was that Alarcon's visit had
nothing to do with Vieques, and that the decision smacked of a colonial
mentality.
*HAVANA BAY CLEAN-UP IS ATTRACTING WILDLIFE BACK TO THE CAPITAL
Havana, June 2 (RHC)--As Havana prepares for an international environmental
conference, the Havana Bay Task Force is slowly bringing back to life the
waters that border the capital.
Havana Bay was deemed to be one of the most heavily polluted bays in the
world according to the United Nations Development Program. That is, until
recently, says Maria Josefa Rodes, an environmental expert with the Task
Force.
In comments to reporters, Rodes said that thanks to a concerted clean up
effort that began a few years ago, the Bay is recovering. She cited the
increasing number of sea birds returning to Havana Bay as proof. Pelicans
and seagulls are being seen in the skies above Havana once more, although
the environmental manager pointed out that the water of the inner bay was
still not safe for swimming.
Frequent oil spills as well as cruise ship and freighter pollution, the
city's aging sewer system and the fact that three rivers empty into the Bay,
have been the cause of what was an environmental disaster until the Havana
Bay Task Force took over in 1998.
Measures have been taken that have already reduced the flow of contaminants
into the Bay, such as improving the technology of an oil refinery on the
water's edge, building a water treatment plant on the Luyano River and
purchasing state-of-the-art containment booms and oil skimmers to clean up
oil spills from passing ships.
The Task Force is responsible for public education on maintaining the
environmental integrity of the Bay as well as designing economic incentives
for companies that choose to join its efforts to conserve the environment.
Maria Josefa Rodes acknowledges that there is still much work to be done,
but says her organization has begun to reverse the catastrophes of the past.
*GALICIAN LEADER SEEKS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF EU TOWARDS CUBA
Havana, June 2 (RHC)--The spokesperson of the Spanish autonomous party, the
Galicia National Block or BNG, Jose Manuel Beira, considers Cuba to be the
First World of the future.
Beira came to the conclusion after meeting with Cuban government, party and
institutional authorities, including Fidel Castro, as well as people on the
street over the past few days. He said that in Europe it is difficult to
alter what he called a euro-centric attitude toward Cuba. Politicians from
the EU should be more willing to analyze Cuban society rather than condemn
it outright. Beira said that in Cuba, for instance, there was a very
positive participation of the people in the island's political process and
that there was clear evidence of progress in many things such as ecological
agriculture and city restoration work.
He remarked on what he termed the tremendous vitality of President Fidel
Castro and said that they had discussed diverse subjects of international
current affairs, one of which was the Washington-sponsored Free Trade Area
of the Americas. The Galician politician said that while integration of
Latin America was essential for its survival there had to be found an
alternative to that proposed by the US. A system by which the region retains
its voice and controls its own destiny.
Jose Manuel Beira is the BNG candidate for the presidency of the Autonomous
Region of Galicia. The BNG groups different left wing political groups into
one central party.
*REMOTE CLASSROOMS RECEIVE TV/VIDEO HOOKUP VIA SOLAR POWER
Cumanayagua, Cienfuegos, June 2 (RHC)--In one of the most remote areas of
Cuba's Escambray Mountains, the Oscar Salas Blanco Primary School in the
town of Cumanayagua continues to provide its six pupils with the same
education as the biggest schools in Havana. However, it has always done so
without electricity for the tiny rural community it serves is not yet hooked
to the nation's grid.
Then the Ministry of Education decided to include some photocells in the
school supplies for the year. The installation of solar panels has ensured
that the children have access to television for the first time in their
lives and, with it, the educational programs that are broadcast daily. It is
the only TV for a 15-kilometer radius. The school also has two light bulbs
to augment whatever light comes in through the windows and door.
The Oscar Salas Blanco School is part of a program the Ministry of Education
has developed to bring audio and video to the island's most remote
classrooms. Very often the new school supplies have had to be brought in by
mule, so far into the mountains are these tiny rural communities. There are
now 53 other such installations of solar-powered televisions in the
Escambray Mountains, and 15 of them have also been provided with video
equipment. The project aims to provide a TV and video to every classroom in
the country.
*COLOMBIA: FARC-GOVERNMENT POW EXCHANGE IMMINENT
Bogota, June 2 (RHC)--Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgency has
announced an imminent exchange of prisoners of war with the government.
Guerrilla spokesman and peace negotiator Raul Reyes said that 95 percent of
the POW exchange agreement has already been hammered out, and that the last
details should be fine-tuned on Saturday.
Reyes also announced that besides an exchange of captured soldiers for
imprisoned guerrillas who are in a poor state of health, the rebel
organization will unilaterally release another 100 soldiers and police as a
humanitarian gesture. The exact number of soldiers and guerrillas to be
released has not been defined.
Since 1997 the leftist rebels have captured more than 500 soldiers and
police, while some 350 guerrillas are in Colombian prisons. If the accord is
finally hammered out, it will be the first since the rebel government peace
process began in November, 1999.
*ARGENTINA: MORE LABOR UNREST, PROTESTS AGAINST PRIVATIZATION
Buenos Aires, June 2 (RHC)--The dissident wing of Argentina's General Labor
Confederation has called a boycott against Spain's investments in the
country and a 24-hour general strike next week. Labor leader Hugo Moyano
said Spaniards have stolen the money that has left the privatized Argentine
Airlines in bankruptcy, calling on Argentines to boycott the numerous firms
and banks in the country controlled by Spanish capital.
Argentine Airlines was privatized in 1990 when the firm had no debts and
11,000 workers. Today it owes $900 million, has less than 6000 workers and
has been shut down by its striking employees.
The executives of firms controlled by Spanish capital have reportedly
requested an urgent meeting with Spain's ambassador in Buenos Aires.
Regarding the 24-hour general strike called for next Friday, Moyano said
that it was to protest Argentina's economic model of exclusion and hunger.
He said Argentines should not continue allowing the government to lie to
them, deceive them and sell them illusions. Among the lies mentioned by the
labor leader was the $40 billion bail-out loan granted to the country last
December by the International Monetary Fund and other international credit
agencies.
President Fernando de la Rua had promised that the loan would bring an end
to Argentina's prolonged recession, but the severe economic slump continues.
*NKOSI JOHNSON, 12-YEAR-OLD SYMBOL IN STRUGGLE AGAINST AIDS, IS DEAD
Johannesburg, June 2 (RHC)--A South African child considered an
international symbol in the struggle against AIDS has passed away in
Johannesburg. Twelve-year-old Nkosi Johnson was born with AIDS, transmitted
by his mother, and was given only months to live.
But by the age of seven, he had become a nationally recognized anti-AIDS
activist and the HIV-infected child who had survived the longest in South
Africa. In 1997, Nkosi enrolled in elementary school, completing four years
of studies and playing with his classmates as if he weren't condemned to
die, according to the school's director.
He became internationally acclaimed last July when he spoke as an invited
guest of honor at the 13th International Conference on AIDS in Durban, South
Africa, where in an eloquent address he said that HIV-carriers are human
beings and should be treated as such. Nkosi was one of the 70,000
HIV-infected children born every year in South Africa.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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