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Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 06:47:11 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-19 June 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 19 June 2001
.
*CUBAN AND BRITISH BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES BEGIN TALKS IN HAVANA
*RICE-RICH VIETNAMESE PROVINCE OPENS TRADE OFFICE IN CUBA
*US PHILOSOPHERS MEET IN HAVANA
*REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON HEALTH AND NUTRITION UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
*THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
*TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE CALLS FOR LIFTING OF U.S. BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA
*WIFE OF JESSE JACKSON ARRESTED IN VIEQUES PROTEST
Viewpoint:
*CARIBBEAN UNITY ESSENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC BALANCE IN THE REGION
.
*CUBAN AND BRITISH BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES BEGIN TALKS IN HAVANA
Havana, June 19th (RHC)--British Baroness Janet Mary Young, currently
heading a business delegation to Cuba, spent a busy day on Monday, the third
day of an official visit to Cuba.
The Baroness is the co-director of the Cuban Initiative, created in 1995 to
strengthen commercial relations and promote investment between Cuba and
Great Britain.
The trade delegation is made up of representatives of 20 British companies
and constitutes the 9th Annual Advisory Trade Group with the Caribbean. This
is Baroness Young's 5th visit to Cuba.
After participating in the inauguration ceremony of the Expo Caribe Trade
Fair in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, the Baroness and her
delegation met with several Cuban ministers, including Marta Lomas, Minister
of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Government Minister Ricardo
Cabrisas and Ibrahim Ferradaz, Minister of Tourism.
Cuban representatives briefed the British business executives on the Cuban
economy and possible business opportunities. The Baroness mentioned the work
of her institution during its 5 years of existence in encouraging the
development of Cuban exports to the United Kingdom and bilateral exchange in
different sectors. She also stressed that some 130 British companies have
visited the island during these five years.
The British guest thanked her hosts for arranging the mission's visit and
she said that she and her delegation were confident that relations between
Cuba and Great Britain will continue to expand.
*RICE-RICH VIETNAMESE PROVINCE OPENS TRADE OFFICE IN CUBA
Long Xuyen, Vietnam, June 19th (RHC)--An Giang Province, in Vietnam's
rice-rich southern Mekong Delta, will open an office in Cuba to promote
bilateral trade.
Cuba has stated that rice trade will be a priority and that it wants to
import more Vietnamese rice.
The agreement was reached on June 14th between a delegation from Cuba's
Foreign Trade Ministry, led by Estrella Madrigal Valdes, Deputy Minister for
Imports and Exports, and An Giang official Nguyen Minh Nhi.
Nhi briefed the Cuban guests on his province's economic and export
potential. An Giang produces 2.4 million metric tons of unmilled rice and 60
thousands of tons of vegetables annually. The province earns 150 million
dollars yearly from exports of leather footwear, clothes and rice.
The Vietnamese official noted that An Giang province could provide Cuba with
rice, fish, pork, poultry, peas and leather shoes, among other products.
Jobs would be created in both countries if the Vietnamese province supplies
semi-finished footwear products and sewing machines to Cuba to finish the
products, he said, adding that An Giang needs Cuban sugar and pharmaceutical
products for the treatment of heart disease and hepatitis.
*US PHILOSOPHERS MEET IN HAVANA
Havana, June 19th (RHC)--Some 75 North American philosophers and social
scientists from 20 U.S. universities, along with 65 Cuban researchers and 15
Cuban university students, are participating in the 13th Conference of North
American and Cuban Philosophers and Social Scientists currently underway in
Havana.
The president of the Cuban Society of Philosophic Research, Thalia Fung,
presented a paper on Howard Parson, considered one the U.S.'s most
outstanding philosophers of the 20th century. Parson is known for his work
for world peace, nuclear disarmament and ecology.
The yearly event's co-sponsor, Cliff Durand -- of the U.S. Association of
Radical Philosophers -- referred to Washington's blockade as a barrier which
limits intellectual exchange between the two countries. He told RHC what is
gained by holding the conferences:
"Really there is a two-fold benefit for both sides, on one hand the academic
and intellectual exchange helps us bridge the communications gap that the
blockade has imposed on both of our peoples, Durand said. "It is not so
easy, it is expensive for Cuban academics to visit the United States. We are
more easily able to visit Cuba and so we bring the Conference here to Havana
and so there is that academic/intellectual aspect to it. There is also a
political aspect: we come in solidarity with the Cuban people, with the
Cuban Revolution and when we return to the States, to our universities and
communities around the country, we seek to educate the American people about
the reality of Cuba and to help strengthen the solidarity movement to end
the blockade."
The event concludes on Friday.
*REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON HEALTH AND NUTRITION UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
Havana, June 19th (RHC)--The Regional Workshop on Health and Nutrition,
sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, is underway in the
Cuban Capital's Melia Havana Hotel.
UNICEF representatives from some 20 nations are participating in the
Regional Workshop on Health and Nutrition. Under the slogan, towards the
regional strategy of UNICEF in health and nutrition within a framework of
rights, participants in the meeting are debating the present conditions of
health and nutrition of children in Latin America and the Caribbean and to
outline strategies to cope with some of the most important problems these
nations are now facing. Another objective is to prepare nations in the
region for the upcoming special meeting on children and adolescents convened
by the UN General Assembly in September in New York.
Cuba, one of the few countries that has fulfilled the goal of health for all
in the year 2000, was chosen to hold the workshop because of its excellent
results in this field. That is also the reason why Cuba has been chosen by
UNICEF as the nation that will serve as a consultant to other countries in
educational programs promoted by community leaders and families, using as an
example a program implemented on the island since the 1990's called: "Educa
a
tu hijo" or "Educate your child."
*THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo, June 19 (RHC)--The Dominican government today deployed
troops and police at all entrances to the capital, Santo Domingo, as well as
in other parts of the country, as citizens took to the streets in a national
day of protest. The demonstrators were protesting the state of the economy
and the changes recently made by the government of Hipolito Mejia but
stopped short of calling a national strike.
They are also calling for the resignation of the nation's police chief,
Pedro Candelier, for human rights abuses, the revocation of attempts to
privatize the state electricity company and the building of new hospitals,
aqueducts andimprove local infrastructure. Some local strikes were called by
a number of workers organizations after leaders rejected the government's
last-minute plan to create a what it called a "social pact" to address the
needs of the population.
In an effort to avoid today's protest, Mejia cancelled a 20 percent
electricity rate hike scheduled for July 1st. However, organizers said this
was not enough. Two of the protestor's leaders, Victor Geronimo and Fernando
Pena were among dozens arrested for what police called "preventative"
reasons.
They are expected to be released before the end of the week. In the last two
months there have been a number of violent disturbances across the Dominican
Republic in which at least four people have lost their lives. More than 20
have been injured in clashes with the police.
*TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE CALLS FOR LIFTING OF U.S. BLOCKADE
Havana, June 19 (RHC)--The U.S. state of Texas Monday adopted a
resolution calling for an end to Washington's economic blockade of Cuba. The
state which is home to former governor and current US president, George W.
Bush, passed State Resolution 54 after the Governor allowed it to take
effect without either endorsing or rejecting it.
The resolution was sponsored by State Representatives Domingo Garcia, Jose
Menendez and State Senator David Bernsen. The Resolution specifically calls
for the removal of all trade, financial and travel restrictions pertaining
to Cuba, indicating that the US blockade of the island is the longest in
history.
It states that Texas is in an excellent position to benefit from trade
relations with Cuba as it recovers from its severe economic recession.
Rather than depriving Cuba of agricultural products, its suggests, the U.S.
embargo only succeeds in driving sales to competitors in other countries
that have no such restrictions.
The Texas legislature also recognized Cuba's advances in biotechnology,
commenting especially on the Meningitis B vaccine that has virtually
eliminated the disease from the island and would be very beneficial to the
population of the United States. House Resolution 54 will now go to the
president's desk in Washington where observers say it will unlikely be
commented upon -- at least in public.
*WIFE OF JESSE JACKSON ARRESTED IN VIEQUES PROTEST
San Juan, 19th July (RHC)--Another civil disobedience campaign is underway
in Vieques amid the renewal of U.S. naval bombardments in the Puerto Rican
island municipality. Late Monday U.S. military authorities arrested
African-American activist Jacqueline Jackson, co-president of the
Rainbow/Push Coalition and wife of the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Jackson arrived in Vieques on Sunday, and penetrated the target
practicerange Monday with another five persons, all of whom who were
arrested minutes later. Previously, the Navy had announced the arrest of
another nine activists participating in the civil disobedience campaign.
It's estimated that as many as 30 protestors penetrated the target range.
The military exercises were to begin at 8:00 am local time, but did not get
underway until 2:30 pm -- though the Navy gave no explanation and decided to
begin the bombing runs despite the probable presence of other protesters on
the target range.
A US judge in Puerto Rico today granted $3000 bail to Jackson which she
promptly refused to pay, saying it was beneath her dignity as a human being.
Others declined bail stating they did not recognize US jurisdiction over
Vieques. More than 180 activists were arrested in similar protests in late
April and early May. Some are still serving two, three and four month
sentences.
Viewpoint:
*CARIBBEAN UNITY ESSENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC BALANCE IN THE REGION
A hundred years ago, the Cuban national hero, Jose Marti, predicted that
"The center of the Americas is in the Antilles, which if enslaved, will be
merely a small fortress of the Roman imperialist America, and if free will
be a guarantee of balance in the continent." A century later, the dilemma is
more crucial than ever.
The United states is not the imperialist nation it was at the end of the
19th century, however it has the potential and the greed to force its
economic philosophy on the world and to take this hemisphere as a market
exclusively for its own products.
Transparent evidence of this is the FTAA (the Free Trade Area of the
Americas) a new version of the old dream of former U.S. president, James
Monroe, revealed in his famous cynical saying: America is for the North
Americans.
Washington obviously has other intentions rather than the creation of a free
trade zone from Alaska to Patagonia; it is looking to impose its economic
laws with a view to becoming the supreme master of the continent.
In the face of this, the Antilles and all the Caribbean Basin must move
toward further integration and cooperation which is its only chance of
maintaining its own economic strength.
The value of Caribbean integration was emphasized by Lord Edward Carrington,
Secretary General, of CARICOM, the organization of the Caribbean Community,
at the signing of a major trade and cooperation agreement with Cuba in
Kingston, Jamaica, last Friday. He underlined that investments were crucial
in the effort of advancing regional integration to stave off capitalist,
neo-liberal policies and keep the area from, in his words, being absorbed by
the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Lord Carrington noted that CARICOM will not have a true regional scope until
it fully incorporates Cuba, and also the Dominican Republic to the
community. Cuba belongs to the Association of Caribbean States but is not a
member of CARICOM, where it has observer status.
The Association of the Caribbean states (Acs) with its 25 member countries
and 11 associate members, mostly made up of small islands, could easily be
subsumed by globalization. It is true that the ACS has achieved some
successes in the three sectors prioritized until now, tourism, business and
transport, but it is also true they need to take more steps to facilitate
the necessary consensus for full unity of the Caribbean Basin.
This unity could bring the strength of a common market of more than 200
million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than 500
billion dollars to the FTAA negotiating table.Cuban trade alone within the
Caribbean reached $150 million (US dollars) in the year 2000, a figure that
the recently signed agreement is expected to expand.
With unity and cooperation, the Antilles and the Caribbean has the power to
guarantee the continental balance referred to by Jose Marti. This would
assure that the region would never become a mere fortress of the imperialist
American.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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