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Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 22:23:22 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-02 July 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 July 2001
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*LAWYERS FOR CUBANS HELD IN US DEMAND EXPLANATION FOR SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
*PRESIDENT OF CANARY ISLANDS DELIVERS DONATION FOR CUBAN HEALTH SYSTEM
*CUBA'S ENTRY INTO PARLACEN WOULD HELP CENTRAL AMERICA: HONDURAN LEADER
*PRESIDENT OF MOZAMBIQUE TO VISIT CUBA
*DELEGATION FROM GERMAN TOURIST CONSORTIUM CONCLUDES VISIT
*MUNICIPALITIES IN PINAR DEL RIO REGISTER ZERO INFANT MORTALITY
*PAINTER MANUEL MENDIVE TO EXHIBIT IN SPAIN
*BELGIAN COURT TO INVESTIGATE SHARONS ROLE IN SABRA-SHATILA MASSACRES
*ANTI-GLOBALIZATION PROTESTS ASSAIL WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN SALZBURG
*ITALIAN ARREST ORDER NABS ARGENTINE NAVY OFFICER CHARGED WITH ABUSES
Viewpoint:
*THE CUBAN ECONOMY: AGAINST THE WIND AND THE CURRENT
.
*LAWYERS FOR CUBANS HELD IN US DEMAND EXPLANATION FOR SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
Miami, July 2 (RHC)--Defense attorneys in Miami are demanding an explanation
for the isolation of and reprisals against five Cuban patriots wrongly
convicted of spying against the United States, according to today's edition
of "The Miami Herald." Attorney Jack Blumenfeld, attorney for one of the
five, stated that the Cubans have been model prisoners.
According to attorney Phillip Horowitz, the five Cubans have also had their
visits restricted and much of their personal property confiscated. Horowitz
said sending prisoners to what is known as "the hole" is the result of a
disciplinary or security measure.
He said that if it were a question of security they would have been isolated
three weeks ago after they were convicted. The five Cubans were sent to "the
hole" last Tuesday, reportedly after having admitted that they wrote a
letter published in the principal Cuban news daily "Granma" defending their
innocence, while at the same time proudly admitting that they contributed to
the discovery of terrorist plans against Cuba organized and financed in
Miami.
Last week the government of Cuba stated that the cruel measure against the
five Cuban patriots might also be related to Attorney General John
Ashcroft's visit to Miami, where he met with ultra-right wing
Cuban-Americans and members of the terrorist Cuban-American National
Foundation.
*PRESIDENT OF CANARY ISLANDS DELIVERS DONATION FOR CUBAN HEALTH SYSTEM
Havana, July 2 (RHC)--The President of the Spanish autonomous region of the
Canary Islands, Roman Rodriguez, has donated 20 million pesetas to the
construction of more family doctor offices in the Cuban capital.
Rodriguez, who leaves today, was in Havana for an official visit at the
invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Rodriguez's agenda on the island included the signing of a protocol of
solidarity with Angel Garate, President of the Provincial Assembly of
People's Power in Havana. The document demands an end to Washington's
40-year blockade against Cuba and also calls for strengthened friendship
ties between the peoples of Cuba and the Canary Islands.
Garate thanked Rodriguez in the name of Havana residents and pointed to the
cooperation ties that have existed for more than 10 years now between Havana
and the Canary Islands. The Cuban official recalled many social projects
that have been carried out in the Cuban capital with financial support from
the Iberian region -- the latest of them being the Ciro Rodriguez Hospital,
built in the town of Artemisa.
For his part, Rodriguez termed bilateral ties with Cuba as very constructive
and mutually beneficial.
Other activities of the Canary Island delegation included the inauguration
of an exhibition at the Jose Marti National Library, an activity at Cuba's
Canary Island Association and a tour of the Havana stand at the Expocuba
exhibition hall, which highlights the province's socio-economic and cultural
achievements.
*CUBA'S ENTRY INTO PARLACEN WOULD HELP CENTRAL AMERICA: HONDURAN LEADER
Havana, July 2 (RHC)--The incorporation of Cuba into the Central American
Parliament (PARLACEN) would be very positive for the region, said former
Honduran President Jose Azcona.
Azcona was one of the main speakers at the 10th Conference of Political
Parties from Central America and the Dominican Republic, held in Managua,
Nicaragua, with the participation of more than 120 delegates.
The Honduran politician praised Cuban progress in areas such as health,
sports, education and science. He stressed that no one, not even those with
different ideological beliefs, can deny the fact that Cuban advances have
reached far beyond the island's borders to benefit all of Latin America.
Azcona characterized as very successful the participation of a delegation of
Cuban observers in the PARLACEN conference, where participants discussed
integration as a way for small regional countries to face challenges posed
by today's globalization.
The former Honduran president said the day is not far off when Cuba will
enjoy full membership in the Central American Parliament, for regional
integration requires joint efforts by all, without any exclusion, to save
the Central American peoples from the devastating effects being caused by
neo-liberalism, hunger, poverty, drugs and prostitution.
*PRESIDENT OF MOZAMBIQUE TO VISIT CUBA
Havana, July 2 (RHC)--The President of the People's Republic of Mozambique
will soon pay an official visit to Cuba. The announcement was made by Cuban
Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Guerra Menchero during a weekend event at
Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) to mark the 26th
anniversary of Mozambique's independence.
On hand was Mozambique's Ambassador to Havana, Julio Gonzalez Braga, and
members of Mozambique's diplomatic mission here in Cuba. Participants in the
activity paid homage to Samora Machel and Eduardo Mondlane, both renowned
personalities of the African nation.
*DELEGATION FROM GERMAN TOURIST CONSORTIUM CONCLUDES VISIT
Havana, July 2 (RHC)--Michael Frenzel, President of the German consortium
PREUSSAG, and Ralf Korsten, Head of the firm's Tourism Division, concluded a
three-day official visit to Cuba on Monday.
Invited by the Cuban Tourism Ministry, the two German officials visited
tourism sites on the island, including the world famous Varadero beach
resort and the Bacunayagua and Yumiri valleys, all in Matanzas province.
PREUSSAG is the world's largest consortium of its type with over 3,500
travel agencies in 13 nations and a flotilla of 85 planes that transport
some 22 million mostly European vacationers a year. The German firm is also
one of the main providers of clients for the Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia,
which operates a number of tourism facilities in Cuba.
*MUNICIPALITIES IN PINAR DEL RIO REGISTER ZERO INFANT MORTALITY
Pinar del Rio, July 2 (RHC)--Four municipalities in Cuba's westernmost
province of Pinar del Rio have registered zero cases of infant mortality so
far this year.
Dr. Barbara Hernandez, head of the Reproductive Health and Family Planning
Program, said that results reported by the municipalities of La Palma,
Mantua, Minas de Matahambre and Los Palacios are a direct consequence of
joint efforts by health personnel, government institutions and the
communities.
Hernandez said that among the priorities of the program she heads is
assistance to children under 14 suffering from chronic, non-transmittable
diseases and efforts to prevent accidents involving preschool-age children,
which despite a significant decrease, continue to be a major cause of death
in the area.
The Cuban official noted that before the triumph of the Revolution in 1959,
Pinar del Rio registered an infant mortality rate of more than 60 for every
1000 live births.
*PAINTER MANUEL MENDIVE TO EXHIBIT IN SPAIN
Havana, July 2 (RHC)--More than 40 art works by renowned Cuban painter
Manuel Mendive will be exhibited in various Spanish cities, beginning July
10the. The Cuban artist is currentlly putting the final touches to his
exhibition, entitled "Chango and Life." The exhibition comprises oil
paintings and sculptures made out of iron and bronze, all of them created
this year.
>From Spain, where the exhibition will remain open for two years, Mendive
will travel to Nigeria, Benin and Egypt to work on some new pieces with a
group of collaborators.
*BELGIAN COURT TO INVESTIGATE SHARONS ROLE IN SABRA-SHATILA MASSACRES
Brussels, July 2 (RHC)--A court in Belgium announced Monday an
investigation against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the 1982
massacres of hundreds of Palestinians. Judicial authorities said Belgian
Judge Patrick Collignon found merit in two charges recently brought against
Sharon for the infamous massacres of Palestinians in the Lebanese refugee
camps Sabra and Shatila. Sharon is widely referred to in the Arab world as
the butcher of Sabra and Shatila.
Lebanese attorney Chibli Mallat, who filed the charges on behalf of 23
survivors of the massacres, applauded Collignon's decision, stating that
this is an important day for the victims. Attorney Mehdi Abbes, representing
at least five other survivors, pointed out nevertheless that the legal
process will be extensive.
A trial in Belgium earlier this year against four Ruandans accused of
participating in that African nation's 1994 genocide against members of the
Tutsi ethnic group didn't begin until six years after judicial authorities
opened the investigation.
*ANTI-GLOBALIZATION PROTESTS ASSAIL WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN SALZBURG
Salzburg, July 2 (RHC)--Anti-globalization protesters are back on the move,
this time in Salzburg, Austria, site since Sunday of the World Economic
Forum summit. Clashes Sunday evening left five people injured and thirtenn
arrested, amid unprecedented security measures. City authorities have
prohibited street gatherings, allowing demonstrators to protest only at a
square in front of the train station -- far from the convention center where
some 700 participants in the summit are gathering until Tuesday.
Austria has also reinforced border controls after suppressing the European
Union's Schengen Accord on open borders. Austrian authorities denied entry
into the country of persons from several bordering nations, including 40
people from Germany's Bavaria region.
Four thousand police deployed in Salzburg, on the streets and in helicopters
patrolling the skies, have been given the authority to search anyone, while
the convention center has been hermetically sealed. Clashes ensued Sunday
evening when hundreds of protesters attempted to march through the city's
streets but were blocked by riot police.
At least 150 demonstrators were loaded onto a train heading for Vienna.
During a press conference Monday, Salzburg police chief Karl Schweiger
boasted that authorities have been able to prevent images similar to those
of the recent European Union summit in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Of the thirteen arrested there were five Austrians, one Turk, one Congolese,
one Italian, three Germans and two persons of unknown nationality.
*ITALIAN ARREST ORDER NABS ARGENTINE NAVY OFFICER CHARGED WITH ABUSES
Buenos Aires, July 2 (RHC)--Former Argentine naval officer Alfredo Astiz
has been placed under arrest. Considered a symbol of the brutal repression
unleashed by the country's military regime in the 1970s, Astiz turned
himself in following an arrest warrant issued by an Argentine court over the
weekend in response to a petition by Italian judicial authorities
investigating the forced disappearances in Argentina of three Italian
citizens between 1976 and 1977.
Italy is expected to request Astiz's extradition, although the former
administration of Carlos Menem and the current Fernando de la Rua
administration have systematically refused requests for the extradition of
dictatorship agents. Astiz, known in Argentina as "the blond angel of
death," was the first such agent to be tried in absentia abroad, when in
1990 a court in France sentenced him to life in prison for the murder of two
French nuns.
He has also been accused of murdering a young Swedish citizen, and is one of
97 Argentine military officers whose arrest has been requested by Spanish
Judge Baltasar Garzon. Astiz is one of thousands of Argentine military
officers who avoided trial on charges of crimes against humanity due to the
amnesty laws passed by the 1983 to 1989 presidency of Raul Alfonsin.
*Viewpoint: THE CUBAN ECONOMY - AGAINST THE WIND AND THE CURRENT
Despite sailing against the wind and the current, the sails of the Cuban
economy continue to fill. Facing the hostility of the United States and the
ups and downs of the world market, the Cuban Gross Domestic Product is
expected to grow by 5% in the year 2001.
In the opinion of the island's Economy and Planning Minister, Jose Luis
Rodriguez, the most important aspect of this trend is the increase in
productivity. Work productivity rose by 3.5% on average during the last five
years. Rodriquez recalled that between l960 and l989 the rate was around
2.6% during a time of much greater investment and access to relatively
abundant resources.
Energy efficiency is also on the rise. In the last decade, Cuba multiplied
its petroleum production by a factor of six. Currently, 60,000 barrels of
oil are extracted daily, an amount which will provide some three million
tons this year, along with more than 500 cubic meters of natural gas.
This progressive increase constitutes one of the basic lines that sustains
the current process of reanimation of Cuba's economy; it sustains big
industries like cement and nickel, and domestic oil is now used to generate
70% of the island's energy needs. At the same time, energy use has been cut,
thanks to a systematic energy-saving policy.
Despite this, Cuba's largest expense is still oil, for which it spends some
$1 billion a year.
The re-animation of the economy can also be seen in the production figures
of nickel, steel and agricultural products. In addition, tourism has become
a driving force of the national economy and has created or recovered some
250,000 jobs over the past ten years.
The Economy and Planning Minister said that the growth in the economy is
demonstrated best in the health and education indices, sectors in which Cuba
has international prestige. The island is also able to offer increasingly
better social security benefits.
Another sure sign of the health of the Cuban economy is the growing
confidence of international investors. There are now more than 400 economic
associations in Cuba with the participation of foreign capital, despite the
threats of the Helms-Burton Law, passed by the United States to try to
strangle the Cuba economy and force the Cuban people to give up their
political and economic system.
Finally, and most importantly, the current recuperation process has
facilitated the progressive diversification of the island's economy, freeing
Cuba from total dependence on the whims of the climate and on the world
sugar market.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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