From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 22:45:32 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-31 July 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 July 2001
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*MIAMI 5 DEMAND THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE VISITS FROM CUBAN DIPLOMATS
*CUBAN ECONOMY CONTINUES SLOW RECOVERY, MINISTER REPORTS
*HAVANA BAY TUNNEL REOPENS AFTER 14-MONTH RESTORATION PROJECT
*CUBA, SPANISH BALEARIC ISLANDS FORM EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECT
*GRANMA PLASTIC SURGERY AND BEAUTY CONTESTS
*CHILE'S SUPREME COURT APPROVES RIGHTS INTERROGATORY FOR KISSINGER
*ARGENTINES BLOCK ROADS NATIONWIDE IN PROTEST OF AUSTERITY PACKAGE
*INDIGNATION IN VIEQUES OVER PLANS FOR LARGEST MILITARY EXERCISE EVER
*Viewpoint: US NAVY, GO HOME!
.
*MIAMI 5 DEMAND THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE VISITS FROM CUBAN DIPLOMATS
Miami, July 31 (RHC)--The five Cuban patriots wrongfully convicted of spying
against the United States government have a legal right to receive visits
from members of the Cuban government, one of their attorneys in Miami said
today. Attorney Joaquin Mendez told "The Miami Herald" that Antonio
Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene
Gonzalez have the same rights as US citizens incarcerated in foreign jails
who are allowed visits from members of Washington's diplomatic
representation in those countries.
Mendez recalled that this right is stipulated in the Geneva Convention on
Consular relations, noting that the Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC
has repeatedly petitioned the US State Department and the Florida Prisons
Bureau to allow Cuban diplomats visit the five Cubans, but that they have
not received permission.
Havana has reminded Washington that all Americans confined in Cuban prisons
are allowed regular visits by members of the US Interests Section in Havana.
The defense attorneys and the Cuban government have also repeatedly demanded
an explanation for the isolation imposed on the five Cubans, who for several
weeks now have been incommunicado in what is known as the hole, or solitary
confinement.
*CUBAN ECONOMY CONTINUES SLOW RECOVERY, MINISTER REPORTS
Havana, July 31 (RHC)--In brief comments to the press during a break on
Tuesday in National Assembly commission meetings, Cuba's Minister for
Economics and Planning reported an increase in the island's economic
activity by a margin of 3.6% in the first quarter of this year.
Jos� Luis Rodriguez said this increase was mostly due to a parallel increase
in worker productivity, which was up by 2.8%, along with a decrease in
energy consumption of 2.9%. Exports, he added, had swollen by 10.7% while
imports had remained stable at last year's 0.7%.
Cuba has aimed for a 5% increase in GDP this year, said Rodriguez, who feels
that in spite of the bad sugar harvest, the goal is realistic and will
probably be achieved. Expectations for the just-completed second quarter of
2001 are even higher, he added. International sugar and nickel prices
dropped this year, thereby negatively affecting the island's bottom line.
The nickel industry is the third most important income earner for the
nation.
This process of economic recovery goes hand in hand with gains in education,
culture, social assistance and changes in employment policies, said the
Cuban Economics Minister, who pointed to improved confidence in the economy
on the part of the population. Even conservative international publications
like "The Economist" speak of optimized economic recovery in Cuba for this
year.
*HAVANA BAY TUNNEL REOPENS AFTER 14-MONTH RESTORATION PROJECT
Havana, July 31 (RHC)--In an announcement that is very welcome to the people
who commute from one side of the Havana to the other, the tunnel that
crosses the city under Havana bay is to be reopened after 14 months of
repairs.
In a ceremony to celebrate the opening, Cuban vice-president Carlos Lage
congratulated the project laborers for a job well done and a tunnel that is
much improved in looks and safety. Some 32,000 vehicles pass through the
tunnel every day, and the work has caused back-ups and serious detours for
drivers.
The worst affected have been the quarter of a million commuters who cross
over from the residential towns of Coj�mar, Bah�a, Villa Pan Americana and
Alamar every day. The majority of workers from these suburbs work in Havana,
and what was a relatively short commute was lengthened by long lines and
detours. Lage said that Alamar, for example, comprises 100,000 residents,
many of whose lives will now be improved by the restored tunnel.
Every aspect of the tunnel has been modernized, from lighting, to signals,
to drainage, to ventilation, to emergency hermetically sealed doors and fire
safety precautions. In spite of unforeseen complications, said Lage, the
project was only two months over the initial deadline. More than 800 workers
participated in the restoration and improvement of the tunnel, with 28 Cuban
and 6 foreign companies involved.
*CUBA, SPANISH BALEARIC ISLANDS FORM EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECT
Madrid, July 31st (RHC)--The regional Spanish government of the Balearic
Islands -- which comprises the islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza among
others -- has donated $150,000 to the University of Camag�ey to fund eight
cooperation projects in conjunction with its own university. The projects
range from the tourist sector to agriculture, social and environmental
areas.
The initiative is part of an overall package, which also includes granting
postgraduate courses to Balearic students to study socio-economic issues in
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Peru. Students will be sent to
Central and South America along with material aid.
The project involves 30 students and is expected to last three years.
*GRANMA PLASTIC SURGERY AND BEAUTY CONTESTS
Havana, July 31 (RHC)--The Cuban news daily Granma published an editorial
Tuesday attacking the Miss World competition as a "Scalpel
Operation." The next Miss World event will be held in South Africa in
November and is expected to draw what Granma alludes to as the most perfect
specimens that the sharp knife of the plastic surgeon can create.
As with many other sources from around the world, the Cuban daily condemns
the competition which involves 40 contestants as "a territory of modern Dr.
Frankensteins." It reported that in both the Miss World and the Miss
Universe events a full three-quarters of contestants now undergo some type
of plastic surgery before competing.
Nose rebuilding, liposuction, and breast implants are the most common of the
myriad aspects of reconstructive surgery that these young women and their
promoters feel they have to go through in order to win. For this,
participants and their sponsors must have money, and thus it follows that
those with the most money have the best chance of success, added the
newspaper. Of the recent 22 candidates seeking the Miss Colombia title, 19
had undergone reconstructive surgery of some kind. The winner of the Miss
Venezuela event said that she would never have been victorious had she not
had a little of what she called, "retouching."
Women's rights groups around the world condemn these types of competitions
as base, sexist shows where women are treated as cattle for sale. The
financial outlay was very much like investing in a racehorse, said Granma,
with results that could generate millions of dollars.
Granma suggested the competition should be renamed "Miss Laboratory."
*CHILE'S SUPREME COURT APPROVES RIGHTS INTERROGATORY FOR KISSINGER
Santiago, July 31 (RHC)--The Supreme Court of Chile has approved a
interrogatory to be sent to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
concerning human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship. The
questionnaire was sent to Chile's highest court by Judge Juan Guzman, who
has been investigating numerous criminal denunciations against Pinochet, and
who has taken the case of the 1973 assassination of American journalist
Charles Horman.
Horman's widow filed the charges late last year through her Chilean
attornies and human rights activists Fabiola Letelier and Sergio Corbalan.
The interrogatory will now be sent to the Chilean foreign ministry and from
there to US judicial authorities.
Kissinger and some 20 other former U.S. government and CIA officials will be
asked about their knowledge concerning Horman's arrest, confinement in a
concentration camp and subsequent execution following the bloody overthrow
of constitutionally elected Chilean President Salvador Allende. Recently
declassified US State Department and CIA documents indicate that Kissinger
and other American officials knew of Horman's arrest but did little to
prevent his execution.
The American journalist is believed to have gathered information concerning
the US government's active role in Allende's overthrow. Declassified
documents also indicate that the CIA maintained surveillance on Horman from
the moment he travelled to Chile. This is the second time that Kissinger is
mentioned in investigations into human rights abuse in Chile. Last May a
French Judge unsuccessfully tried to question the former secretary of state
concerning the forced disappearances of five French citizens during the
Pinochet dictatorship.
*ARGENTINES BLOCK ROADS NATIONWIDE IN PROTEST OF AUSTERITY PACKAGE
Buenos Aires, July 31 (RHC)--Thousands of Argentines began nationwide road
blockages on Tuesday to protest the government's most recent economic shock
package. This is the country's first road blockage protest on a national
level, following several years of similar sporadic actions in economically
depressed regions.
Though numerous riot police have been deployed, and blockages have been
reported in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca,
Chaco, Santa Fe, Cordoba and Tierra del Fuego, there have only been isolated
incidents of violence and clashes. The protest action began at 10 am local
time and will wind up at the same hour on Wednesday.
At midday today public employees staged a work stoppage to support the
protest. Organizations of the unemployed and opposition labor unions have
vowed to resume the road blockages next week, but for 48 hours instead of
24, and then 76 hours the following week. Meanwhile, despite the economic
shock package, Argentina's financial markets continue depressed amid doubts
among foreign investors about the country's capacity to actually apply the
drastic measures and reduce the fiscal deficit.
*INDIGNATION IN VIEQUES OVER PLANS FOR LARGEST MILITARY EXERCISE EVER
San Juan, July 31 (RHC)--Puerto Ricans are expressing indignation following
the Pentagon's announcement of the largest military exercises ever in
Vieques.
The announcement came just hours results were in from the Sunday referendum
in Vieques in which 68% of the population called for an immediate halt to
the US Navy's target practice in the island, decontamination of the target
range and the return of Vieques to its inhabitants.
Numerous Puerto Rican and Hispanic activists in the Unites States have
called the Pentagon's plan an intentional and arrogant slap in the face of
Vieques residents and all those struggling for a Vieques free of the US
military.
Special Vieques Commissioner Juan Fernandez said Navy officials at Puerto
Rico's Roosevelt Roads base told him that the military exercises will be
intense and complex, with complete war scenario, including nighttime
training, helicopters and target practice from land, air and sea.
Fernandez said he was told that the nature of the exercises, to begin
Thursday, will pose a danger to any civil disobedience activists who attempt
to penetrate the restricted zone. But activists have vowed to massively
protest once again.
Meanwhile, the Puerto Rican government today began a media campaign on the
results of the Vieques referendum, calling on the Bush administration to
respect those results. "The Washington Post" and "The Washington Times"
published ads stating that the Vieques people have paid more than fair price
on behalf of the common defense, and that it's time to give them justice and
peace.
*Viewpoint: US NAVY, GO HOME!
The inhabitants of Vieques have declared the United States Navy to be
"persona non grata." On Sunday, Vieques residents told the US Government
overwhelmingly that they are tired of the Pentagon using their island as a
firing range.
The vote in the historic referendum -- with a turnout of 80%-- was 68% in
favor of ending 60 years of war games and military maneuvers and the
immediate departure of the U.S. Fleet from the Puerto Rican municipality.
These decisive results came despite attempts to buy off Vieques residents
when the Navy handed out money to "indemnify" fishing people for damages. A
hard-sell campaign mounted by pro-annexation forces also fell flat, with
only 30% voting in favor of inviting the foreign forces to stay on.
The mayor of so-called Isla Nena, Damaso Serrano, noted that "it is now up
to the U.S. Navy, which claims to the be most democratic in the world, to
obey the mandate: an immediate and permanent end to the bombings and the
return and clean-up of our land." However, Washington has ignored the clear
message of Vieques residents, which reflects the desires of the majority of
Puerto Ricans as well.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer commented that though the issue may be
of concern to Puerto Ricans, the training of U.S. forces must be guaranteed
while another location is being sought. As a reflection of this colonial
arrogance, on Wednesday the U.S. Navy announced that it will resume military
exercises, which will involve 10,000 troops in 11 ships, including the
aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
Certainly the people of Vieques will respond by mounting more acts of civil
disobedience, as they have been doing since April of 1999, when U.S. Navy
bombs killed a young civilian employee, David Sanes. More than 150 people,
representing a broad spectrum of Puerto Rican society, have been jailed over
the past few months for entering restricted Naval areas in order to serve as
human shields to stop the bombs from falling on Vieques.
After the results of this Sunday's referendum many people living in the
United States will certainly begin to question why the White House wants to
delay pulling US their troops out of the small island municipality of
Vieques. Haven't the people of Vieques voiced their opinion loud and clear?
U.S. Navy, go home!
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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