From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 05:52:28 -0400 (EDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-29 June 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 29 June 2001
.
*THOUSANDS PROTEST IMPRISONMENT OF FIVE CUBANS IN FLORIDA
*CUBA TAKES PART IN IBEROAMERICAN MEETING ON DEFENSE
*VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK
*RICARDO ALARCON MEETS WITH MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX
*MEXICO-CUBA INTER-PARLIAMENTARY MEETING CONCLUDES
*GOVERNOR OF GUARICO CONCLUDES VISIT TO CUBA
*VOICES IN U.S. CONGRESS DEMAND INFORMATION ON CIA TIES WITH MONTESINOS
*MONTESINOS CASE SPARKS DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS BETWEEN PERU AND VENEZUELA
*GLOBALIZATION UNDER FIRE AT ALTERNATIVE CONFERENCE IN GENOA
Viewpoint
*NAFTA: FREE TRADE FOR USA, EXPLOITATION FOR MEXICAN WORKERS
.
*THOUSANDS PROTEST IMPRISONMENT OF FIVE CUBANS IN FLORIDA
Havana, June 29 (RHC)--The return of the five Cubans imprisoned in Florida
for collecting information in the defense of their nation against terrorism
was demanded by thousands of Cubans who gathered this morning at the
Anti-Imperialist Tribune in front of the US Interests Section in Havana.
Along with President Fidel Castro, participants included ex-combatants,
students, workers and artists who condemned Washington which goes to any
lengths to protect its nationals from acts of terrorism -- including the
bombing of other nations and the assassination of their leaders -- and which
then takes a hypocritically "moral" stand against five Cuban patriots who
had done nothing other than seek to protect their own people against the
constant terrorism that emanates from Florida.
Participants pointed to the introduction of dengue fever onto the island in
the 1980s which resulted in the death of 81 children, the bombing of the
Cubana jet in 1976 with the death of the island's entire youth fencing team,
the bombing of Havana hotels in 1997 and the constant attempts to
assassinate the nation's leaders.
The singer Silvio Rodriguez closed the event in the company of Grupo
Moncada.
*CUBA TAKES PART IN IBEROAMERICAN MEETING ON DEFENSE
Mexico City, June 29 (RHC)--Cuba today supported the right of every nation
to its sovereignty and self-determination as well as equality in
international relations.
In a meeting of Iberoamerican countries on issues of defense that took place
in the Brazilian capital of Rio de Janeiro, Cuba insisted that without such
guarantees of independence it is impossible to ensure peace, stability and
security.
The director of the island's National Defense College, General Reinaldo
Gomez Cuevas, criticized the "free market" economic model that is constantly
being trumpeted by the United States as the one and only workable system on
the planet and said Cuba's security is severely threatened by the fact that
it has constructed a society that is a far cry from that demanded by
Washington of Third World nations. "We live under the permanent aggression
of our northern neighbor," added Gomez Cuevas, "for simply espousing another
type of socio-economic system."
"Cuba is not opposed to the principles of globalization in which trade,
economic, communications, technical and scientific advances are shared to
everyone's benefit," said the General. "Correctly applied they can address
the problems of hunger, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, disease and
marginalization. However," he added, "their neoliberal application has
caused worldwide misery and has become completely unsustainable."
Gomez Cuevas demanded an end to intimidating international military
exercises and the removal of foreign military bases from sovereign land. The
United States, said the Cuban general, is preparing to annex all of Latin
America as it readies its Free trade Area of the Americas for implementation
in a few years time.
The Second Conference of Directors of Defense Colleges in Iberoamerica
concluded today with the participation of 14 countries. Its recommendations
will be presented to the heads of state meeting for the next Iberoamerican
Summit scheduled to next take place in Lima, Peru.
*VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK
Havana, June 29 (RHC)--Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage returned home on
Thursday after heading the island's delegation to a special session of the
UN General Assembly on AIDS.
Lage was welcomed at the Jose Marti International airport by Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque.
While in New York, the Cuban vice president had an intense program of
bilateral contacts with high-ranking UN officials, including UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, the Executive Director of the UN AIDS Program Peter Piot
and UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy.
Vice president Lage's agenda also included meetings with heads of state or
government of countries such as Nigeria, Portugal, Kenya, Senegal and
Barbados, as well as with vice prime ministers and foreign ministers of
Holland, Uganda, South Africa, France and Brazil.
The Cuban vice president's speech on Monday is considered one of the most
transcendental moments of the important gathering. Speaking on behalf of the
Cuban government, Lage offered to send 4,000 Cuban doctors and other health
specialists, as well as all the necessary personnel to create 20 medical
faculties in poor nations affected by the virus.
*RICARDO ALARCON MEETS WITH MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX
Mexico City, June 29 (RHC)--Mexican President Vicente Fox received Cuban
Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon, with whom he discussed the future of
bilateral relations, as well as other international issues of common
interest.
The two dignitaries also touched on a future visit to Cuba of a high-ranking
delegation headed by the Mexican president.
Cuba's Ambassador to Mexico, Jorge Bola�os, described the meeting as very
successful and pointed to the expressed willingness of both governments to
work together toward strengthened bilateral friendship and cooperation ties
between the two peoples.
Bola�os also referred to the interest shown by the Mexican president in
restoration projects that are currently underway in Old Havana. He added
that on the basis of such projects, the president of the Cuban parliament
and President Fox examined the possibility of bilateral cooperation to
implement similar projects in old Mexican cities.
*MEXICO-CUBA INTER-PARLIAMENTARY MEETING CONCLUDES
Veracruz, June 29 (RHC)--The 4th Mexico-Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Meeting
concluded on Friday in the eastern Mexican State of Guarico.
For two days, legislative delegations from the two nations discussed
bilateral investment and exchange in areas such as technology, culture,
sports, health and education.
On Thursday evening participants in the inter-parliamentary meeting paid
homage to Cuban national hero Jose Marti with a solemn ceremony and the
placing of a floral wreath before a bust of Marti that stands in Veracruz.
After listening to the national anthems of the two nations, Mexican Deputy
Beatriz Grante, from the ruling National Action Party, said it was an honor
for the Mexican legislators to honor Jose Marti, a patriot who fought and
gave his life for the independence of Cuba and Latin America.
The 4th Mexico-Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Meeting took place at a very
favorable time of growing economic cooperation marked by a recently signed
bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments. Mexico
is Cuba's principal Latin American investor and second most important
trading partner.
In the international arena, Cuba has formally expressed its support for
Mexico's candidacy to represent Latin America in the United Nations Security
Council.
*GOVERNOR OF GUARICO CONCLUDES VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, June 29 (RHC)--The Governor of the Venezuelan State of Guarico,
Eduardo Manuitt, concluded a three-day official visit to Cuba on Friday.
The visit was in the framework of the comprehensive bilateral cooperation
agreement signed last year by Cuban President Fidel Castro and his
Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez and served to establish important
cooperation ties between the Venezuelan region and the Caribbean island.
Before returning home on Friday evening, the Venezuelan governor signed
various cooperation agreements with Cuban Minister for Foreign Investment
and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas.
Manuitt's agenda in Cuba also included meetings with various ministers and a
tour of places of economic and social interest in the Cuban capital.
*VOICES IN U.S. CONGRESS DEMAND INFORMATION ON CIA TIES WITH MONTESINOS
Washington, June 29 (RHC)--Voices in the U.S. Congress have joined many
others demanding clarification of the CIA's ties with former Peruvian
national intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos. Massachusetts Democrat
Representative William Delahunt stated on Thursday, during a special session
of the House Subcommittee on Western Hemispheric Affairs, that President
George Bush should decisively support Peruvian President-elect Alejandro
Toledo's petition that Washington declassify documents concerning
Montesinos' criminal network.
Delahunt said the CIA's relations with Montesinos should be completely
revealed to the public, contending that Peruvian institutions have been
undermined and are weak as a result of the criminal network that maintained
Montesinos and former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori in power. Numerous
U.S. human rights activists and political analysts have said that CIA
considered Montesinos a key ally in South America's war against drugs,
though the now-arrested former intelligence chief is himself accused of
amassing an immense fortune based partly on drug trafficking.
*MONTESINOS CASE SPARKS DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS BETWEEN PERU AND VENEZUELA
Caracas, June 29 (RHC)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused
authorities in Peru of mounting a secret police operation in his country,
behind the backs of Venezuelan authorities, in efforts to capture Vladimiro
Montesinos. Announcing late Thursday the withdrawal of Venezuela's
ambassador in Lima, Chavez spoke of Peruvian Interior Minister Antonio Detin
Vidal's confirmation earlier this week of the clandestine operation, dubbed
"Checkmate."
The Venezuelan president called the action unfriendly, disrespectful and a
violation of international law, asking if Peruvian authorities are capable
of launching such an operation in a sovereign country, what they are capable
of doing at home. The Peruvian interior minister stated that former
Venezuelan secret police agent Jose Otoniel Guevara, who had been protecting
Montesinos in Caracas, betrayed his host in order to collect a $5 million
dollar reward for the fugitive's capture.
Chavez said that Guevara was a member of Venezuelan intelligence who was
involved in illegal activities -- including electronic eavesdropping --
during the social democratic governments of Carlos Andres Perez and Jaime
Lusinchi, and the social christian government of Rafael Caldera. He added
that Andres Perez -- who Chavez attempted to overthrow during a military
insurrection in 1992 -- and Lusinchi are behind an international conspiracy
against his government.
Both former Venezuelan presidents have accused Chavez of protecting
Montesinos. Chavez said the international conspiracy is the result of his
government's defense of Venezuelan sovereignty, and of its refusal to join
the international bandwagon of free market neoliberal globalization.
*GLOBALIZATION UNDER FIRE AT ALTERNATIVE CONFERENCE IN GENOA
Genoa, June 29 (RHC)--Globalization has come under intense fire in Genoa,
Italy, the site of next month's gathering of the Group of 8 industrialized
countries, and the site since yesterday of an alternative conference. The
conference, called "The Periphery and the Center in the Era of
Clobalization" opened with the participation of former Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachov and former South African President Frederick De Klerk.
Participating U.S. economist Jeremy Rifkin said globalization requires that
governments and institutions accept the active participation of civil
society and that leaders be defined by local communities. Rifkin said it's
time for political leaders to "come out of the trunk and replace the
financial leaders who are driving the vehicle." He asserted it is possible
to create a world social security system that in 20 years will guarantee
water, food, health and education for everyone.
Italian Riccardo Petrella, professor at Belgium's University of Louvain,
stated that the current international economic order is based on
individualism against the common good, the market against the State and the
growth of finance capital against social security. As a result, added
Petrella, everything becomes a commodity, even our genes, and instead of
living, a culture of survival is imposed. He said solidarity has no value
because it doesn't produce profit, and democracy loses its sense of reality.
Stephen Zunes, head of the Peace and Justice studies program at the
University of California, San Francisco, said hunger in today's world is the
result of mistaken political decisions. Hunger, said Zunes, is a political
condition since the Earth has sufficient resources for its eradication.
While he agreed that globalization is inevitable, Zunes said it's a question
of whether it will be organized from the top or from the bottom -- whether
we will have a global village or global pillage. That, he added, will
determine if and how fast we can eliminate hunger, assure the future of our
environment, enhance the quality of life and restore meaning to the word
democracy.
Viewpoint
*NAFTA: FREE TRADE FOR USA, EXPLOITATION FOR MEXICAN WORKERS
Today, the defenders of so-called "free trade" claim that the economic
system is magically capable of producing wealth quickly and therefore
reducing social tensions.
It is through this prism that they view the North American Free Trade
Agreement, NAFTA, signed between the United States, Canada and Mexico in
l994. But Mexican workers have a very different opinion.
Workers in the foreign assembly plants, internationally known as
maquiladoras, complain that their salaries fail to cover basic necessities.
With the establishment of NAFTA, maquiladoras began proliferating in Mexico
until now there are more than 3,500, mostly in the area bordering the United
States.
These plants are designed to create cheap products by exploiting their
employees, with long working hours and low salaries that aren't enough to
buy sufficient food, housing, clothes and other necessities.
Three U.S. social organizations has conducted studies that reveal the huge
gap between the average salaries of workers in 15 Mexican cities and the
spiraling cost of living. Even The Wall Street Journal has reported the
complaints of Mexican workers who call on the U.S. parent companies of the
maquiladoras to raise the salaries of their Mexican workers.
The future of Mexican workers is greatly affected by the slowdown of the
U.S. economy since the maquiladoras' corporate headquarters are located in
the United States. The foreign companies began to cut the number of workers
they employ in Mexico, increasing the rate of the unemployed to over 1.4
million last year.
Mexican truckers are also concerned, because of U.S. limitations on the
entrance of vehicles into the U.S. territory. With that measure Washington
is violating the spirit and the letter of the North American Free Trade
Agreement, which authorizes the free access of Mexican trucks to the
southern part of the United States. The implementation of permission for
Mexican cargo vehicles to freely enter the United States had been squelched
for five years by the Clinton administration under the claim of supposed
lack of security.
North Americans appear to be only concerned about toppling barriers that
limit their access to Mexico, while they do nothing to improve the
well-being of Mexican workers.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=================================================================
_________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki
Phone +358-40-7177941
Fax +358-9-7591081
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
General class struggle news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Geopolitical news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
