From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 04:45:37 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-02 Aug 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 August 2001
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*SOLIDARITY GROUP IN PANAMA DENOUNCES ESCAPE PLANS OF POSADA AND HIS GANG
*NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF CUBAN MOTHERS NURSE THEIR BABIES
*CUBAN DELEGATION TO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL BEGINS PREPARATION
*SIERRA MAESTRA HOTEL REOPENED TO FOREIGN TOURISTS
*DISREGARDING INTERNATIONAL OPINION, US NAVY AGAIN BOMBING VIEQUES
*INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO AVOID MIDDLE EAST BLOODBATH
*KOFI ANNAN DEMANDS US FIRST PAYMENT PROMISED BY US ON DEBT
*ALEMAN SAYS THERE IS NO HUNGER IN NICARAGUA
*THREAT BY US TO BOYCOTT RACISM CONFERENCE CONDEMNED IN SOUTH AFRICA
*Viewpoint: WHITE HOUSE WANTS TO SABOTAGE CONFERENCE ON RACISM
.
*SOLIDARITY GROUP IN PANAMA DENOUNCES ESCAPE PLANS OF POSADA AND HIS GANG
Panama, August 2 (RHC)--Social and student organizations working with
Panama's Solidarity with Cuba Association have denounced escape plans by a
group of terrorists that plotted an attempt against the life of Cuban
President Fidel Castro during the last Ibero-American Summit.
Well-known international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and three
accomplices, Guillermo Novo Sampol, Gaspar Gimenez Escobedo and Pedro Remon
Crispin, are being held in Panama, accused of plotting to assassinate the
Cuban leader during an activity at the University of Panama in Panama City.
Had it succeeded, the plot would have claimed not just the life of Fidel
Castro, but also more than 2,000 Panamanian students and solidarity
activists who had gathered there to hear the Cuban leader speak.
Solidarity groups in Panama have denounced a propaganda campaign launched by
right wing anti-Cuba extremists in Miami to make Posada Carriles and his
accomplices appear as the "innocent victims" of a trap laid for them in
Panama.
The solidarity activists also pointed to false allegations regarding Posada
Carriles' presumed poor health conditions, charging that they are tactics
aimed at confusing public opinion and favoring requests for the defendants
to be placed under house arrest, rather than being held in jail, in order to
facilitate their escape.
A press release issued by the solidarity groups warns that it should come as
no surprise if the terrorists manage to escape if they are finally removed
from jail and placed under house arrest. Evidence of that, says the
statement, is their long criminal records, which include escapes from
prisons in Venezuela and Mexico and the use of false passports to travel
from one country to another.
The document also charges that the four terrorists have continued with
activities against Cuba from inside the Panamanian prison, where they have
been visited by Santiago Alvarez, the organizer of a recent plan to
infiltrate a terrorist group to plant bombs in Havana's world famous
Tropicana night club.
Carriles is known to be responsible for numerous terrorist actions against
Cuba and several other nations, including the 1976 bomb explosion on a Cuban
airliner in mid-air that claimed the lives of all 73 people on board.
*NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF CUBAN MOTHERS NURSE THEIR BABIES
Havana, August 2 (RHC)--Ninety-nine percent of Cuban mothers nurse their
babies and 46 percent of Cuban babies are breastfed during the first 4
months of their lives.
The statement comes from Dr. Pablo Carlos Roque, a pediatrics expert in the
National New Mothers and Infants Program promoted by Cuba's Health Ministry.
On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, running August 1st through the
7th under the auspices of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
scientific conferences will be held throughout Cuba on this important health
issue.
The Cuban expert emphasized that mother's milk is an excellent food source
as it contains all the nutrients that a new born baby needs for its first
six months, unpolluted, always available and at the proper temperature.
Scientific research has demonstrated that the 0colostrum - the first milk
secreted by mammary glands after the birth of a child - is the richest in
lacteal anti-bodies, providing the baby with short-term immunology against
various diseases, as well as long-term enteric immunology against intestinal
problems.
Working Cuban mothers are benefited by the society in which they live, where
they have the possibility to prolong exclusive breastfeeding for the first
six months and even beyond, since paid maternity leave in Cuba was recently
extended from six months to a year.
*CUBAN DELEGATION TO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL BEGINS PREPARATION
Havana, August 2 (RHC)--Cuba's multinational delegation to the 15th
International Youth and Students Festival has begun a week of preparations
for the important youth meeting, set for the Algerian capital from August
8th through the 16th.
The Cuban delegation to the meeting in Algiers is made up of young Cubans
and foreigners from 51 nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe,
representing the thousands of foreign students here on the island.
Beginning today, Thursday, delegates are attending conferences and master
lectures by Cuban government ministers and experts on issues such as Cuba's
foreign policy and health care system, as well as on current international
problems.
The delegation's agenda this week in Havana, prior to their trip to Algiers,
also includes visits to sites of interest, including the Latin American
School of Medicine, which provided dozens of the 240 foreign youths that
make up the island's delegation to the 15th International Youth and Students
Festival.
*SIERRA MAESTRA HOTEL REOPENED TO FOREIGN TOURISTS
Granma, August 2 (RHC)--Equipped with state-of-the-art technology the Sierra
Maestra Hotel has reopened its doors to foreign visitors. Hotel is located
in the city of Bayamo in the eastern province of Granma.
The colonial-style, 204-room facility will help to increase international
tourism in Granma province and the rest of the eastern Cuban region, said
Cuban Tourism Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz.
The Sierra Maestra Hotel is also key in a program to promote the larger
numbers of foreign visitors in Bayamo - considered to be Cuba's National
Monument City for its historical and cultural attributes. To achieve this
objective, another two hotels have also been reopened in Bayamo's historic
center, while in the neighboring municipality of Niquero a new, modern hotel
was inaugurated last year.
Cuba plans to welcome two million foreign tourists this year, which
represents an increase of 13 percent over last year.
*DISREGARDING INTERNATIONAL OPINION, US NAVY AGAIN BOMBING VIEQUES
Havana, August 2 (RHC)--Just two days after residents of Vieques voted
overwhelming to end U.S. war games on their island, Navy pilots began new
bombing runs over the tiny Puerto Rican municipality. International
condemnation was quick to follow.
According to U.S. Navy officials the exercises involve 23,000 soldiers and
include simulated landings, target practice and bombings from ships and
aircraft. The war games are the largest the Navy has mounted in Vieques
since l999 when a civilian guard was killed by a bomb that had strayed from
its intended target.
Anti-war game activists stated that at least seven people managed to
penetrate the restricted firing-range in the latest attempt to stop the
military maneuvers.
On Wednesday, a group of lawyers announced that they will file suit against
the U.S. Navy for health damage caused to the island's 9,400 residents. The
lawyers will also present a medical report revealing that Vieques
inhabitants are 269 times more likely to contract cancer then other Puerto
Rican residents.
Meanwhile in Washington D.C., the Pentagon has sent a bill to Congress which
would cancel next November's referendum on the future of the Navy training
in Vieques. According to a Defense Department spokesperson, the legislation
was sent on Wednesday, just one day after Vieques residents had voted
overwhelmingly to end Navy maneuvers which have wreaked havoc on the island
for more than 40 years.
The Defense Department told the press that the Navy had intended to leave
the island by May of 2003, but that it needs a place to practice in the
meantime.
*INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO AVOID MIDDLE EAST BLOODBATH
Cairo, August 2 (RHC)--In a flurry of diplomatic exchange, the United
States and the European Union are attempting to avoid what increasing is in
danger of becoming a general Palestinian uprising against Israel following
Tel Aviv's attack against Palestinian leaders on Tuesday.
The eight people killed were buried by an estimated 140,000 people in a huge
demonstration Wednesday against what world leaders - including even
Washington - have termed a clear provocation on the part of Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon.
In what many feel is a race against time to avoid a further descent into a
possible bloodbath, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have agreed to the
deployment of an international peace force in accordance with accords
reached by the G8 nations in Genoa recently. The principal objective is to
avoid the spread of violence to enable the so-called cease-fire that took
effect on 23rd June to be observed by both sides. International observers
would also be sent into the autonomous Palestinian territories - something
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been requesting for months.
Israel has said that it will only accept observers from the United States
and has rejected a proposal by France to send European experts. EU diplomats
feel that without the team of observers it will be practically impossible to
put an end to the violence - especially after this week's bloodshed.
*KOFI ANNAN DEMANDS US FIRST PAYMENT PROMISED BY US ON DEBT
United Nations, August 2 (RHC)--The General Secretary of the United
Nations, Kofi Annan, has demanded that the United States remit its first
payment of $582 million to offset at least part of its debt to the world
body.
In statements to the press the UN spokesperson, Fred Eckhard, reported
Wednesday that Annan had met with US congressional leaders to ask them why
the money has not been forthcoming in spite of payment agreements reached in
December of last year. The settlement with Washington reduced the US stipend
from 25% to 22% of the UN budget and from 31% to 26% of the total
contribution toward international peace keeping. The US was granted a
discount of $926 million if it fulfilled its payment schedule. The first
payment of $582 was due in the fiscal period of 2000 and should have been
paid by now.
The Secretary General made it clear to the president of the House Foreign
Relations Committee, Henry Hyde, that he expected the long outstanding debt
to be paid before US President George Bush addresses the plenary session of
the UN in September. For his part, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell,
was reported by CNN to have said that he was doing all he could to persuade
Congress to guarantee payment of the dues owed.
*ALEMAN SAYS THERE IS NO HUNGER IN NICARAGUA
Havana, August 2 (RHC)-The president of Nicaragua, Arnoldo Alem�n,
assured reporters on Wednesday that contrary to the opinion of the
opposition Sandinista Party, there was no hunger in his country.
The Nicaraguan leader added that the reason for this was that there have
been no food price increases, insisting that the Sandinistas are trying to
frighten his government into increasing prices which would result in a
political fall-out for him.
When questioned as to the food lines in the impoverished north, Alem�n
responded that the area was under the control of Sandinista mayors whom God
perhaps didn't like. At one point he lost his temper with journalist Eloisa
Ibarra of El Nuevo Diario, and grabbing her by the hand, shook it violently
calling her an incorrigible Sandinista.
Contrary to the President's statements, some 40 municipalities in the
northern half of the country have lost between 50% and 100% of their crop
due to drought, and the World Food Program has had to step in distributing
food to 470,000 Nicaraguans with plans to incorporate another 44,000 from
arid areas and 6,000 Miskito indigenous people from along the Caribbean
coast who have suffered from severe floods this year.
Another 150,000 people have been made redundant by the drop of international
coffee prices and are expected to need similar attention by either
government or international food programs.
*THREAT BY US TO BOYCOTT RACISM CONFERENCE CONDEMNED IN SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg, August 2 (RHC)--The President of the South African
parliament, Frene Ginwala, Thursday criticized the United States for
threatening to boycott the world conference on racism which is due to take
place in Durban on the 13th August.
In a press conference, Ginwala said that the position of Washington was
"strange and unacceptable" given that the country's Constitution guaranteed
freedom of expression yet it was objecting to the inclusion of discussions
on Zionism and reparations for slavery on the agenda as concepts of racism.
Slavery, colonialism and Zionism, said the lawmaker, should be included in
the conference, even if the US objects.
However, the head of the South African Human Rights Commission, Barney
Pityana, in comments to the South African Press Association, said Thursday
that he feared the Durban conference would fail in light of the US position.
The European Union has also expressed its reservations as to whether Durban
is the right forum to debate issues pertaining to the Palestinian autonomous
territories.
*Viewpoint: WHITE HOUSE WANTS TO SABOTAGE CONFERENCE ON RACISM
Washington's threats to refuse to attend the upcoming international
conference on racism to be held in South Africa, highlights the White
House's desire to thwart the forum.
The George W. Bush administration has warned the international community
that it might not send representatives to the World Conference against
racism, xenophobia and other types of intolerance. The meeting, scheduled to
open in the South African city of Durban on the 26th of this month, will be
an opportunity to examine different forms of intolerance, including Zionism
and slavery.
However, Washington refuses to consider Zionism as a form of racism. The
Bush administration also refuses to listen to the arguments of African
countries that the former slave nations should indemnify those who suffered
the consequences of this crime against humanity.
Though the European nations and others of the industrialized North haven't
openly submitted to the U.S. position, they have warned that they are
unwilling to participate in a debate on the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian lands. The dispute appears to be an "elegant" way of at least
keeping the topic off the Durban agenda, cutting off the opportunity to
debate the genocide committed by Tel Aviv in Gaza and the West Bank.
Nonetheless, if the U.N.'s call to make the Durban meeting a true platform
for debate on racism is to be heeded, all aspects of racism should be
explored.
By just opening the newspaper or listening to the radio or television, one
is inundated by reports and images of the crimes committed by Israeli
soldiers.
The horrors of slavery should not be forgotten either because it prospered
for more than 200 years in Africa and America, until the beginning of the
19th Century. And though slavery has been officially abolished, it persists
in more subtle forms.
In the United States, African Americans make up 30 per cent of the
population and are still the target of unfair treatment, whether covert or
openly, when it comes to access to opportunities.
Some 12 young African Americans are currently in Cuba studying medicine on
scholarships granted by the Cuban government. They are in Cuba because it
would be impossible for them to do the same in the United States because of
the high cost of education and racial prejudice.
If the United Nations wants the Durban conference to succeed, it must deal
with issues that are of interest to the majority and it must reject U.S.
threats of a boycott, the card the White House is holding in hopes of
molding the meeting to fit its national interests.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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