From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 20:32:54 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-07 August 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 07 August 2001
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*CUBA HOLDS US RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATHS OF ITS CITIZENS IN SMUGGLING TRAGEDY
*CUBAN LITERARY WORLD MOURNS BRAZIL'S JORGE AMADO
*FLORAL THERAPY SHOWS PROMISE IN CUBA
*HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA PREPARATORY TO DIPLOMATIC TIES
*US FACES SEVERE QUESTIONS AT UN COMMISSION ON RACIAL DISCRIMINTION
*ITALIAN PARLIAMENT BEGINS PROBE INTO GENOA VIOLENCE
*SOCIAL DISCONTENT, PROTESTS IN ARGENTINA CONTINUE TO ESCALATE
*AFTER A VICTORY ON HERBICIDE, A SETBACK FOR INDIGENOUS IN COLOMBIA
*Viewpoint: MEXICO/USA - FREE TRADE... BUT NOT MUCH
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*CUBA HOLDS US RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATHS OF ITS CITIZENS IN SMUGGLING TRAGEDY
Havana, August 7 (RHC)--Cuba is holding Washington fully responsible for the
deaths of 13 of its citizens in recent smuggling tragedies off the Florida
coast.
The nightly TV roundtable program said Monday that more than 95% of all
Cubans reaching dry land in the US do so using the speedboats of the
Cuban-American smuggling network that charges up to $10,000 per person for
the 2-4 hour ride.
The roundtable panelists accused President George W. Bush of maintaining
what they called a "gangster" posture toward Cuba and thereby tolerating the
trafficking of human beings across the Florida Straits.
Last week the United States government decided to grant residency to 20
Cubans picked up at sea after their boat capsized. Two Cuban Americans
picked up with them were detained for smuggling. They may also be charged
with murder in the deaths of six others -- three of whom were children --
due to the reckless nature in which they conducted themselves in the
transportation of the Cubans.
Cuba hold the U.S. responsible for such deaths because its 1966 Cuban
Adjustment Act entices Cubans to take the perilous journey, since they are
automatically granted residency if they land in the U.S. Subsequent accords
between both nations led to the repatriation of anybody found at sea.
*CUBAN LITERARY WORLD MOURNS BRAZIL'S JORGE AMADO
Havana, August 7 (RHC)--Cuba's literary world was in mourning Monday after
the death of 88-year-old Jorge Amado. The Brazilian writer's work is much
admired on the island. His works have been translated into 49 languages and
sold in 56 countries.
Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura told AFP news agency that the death of Amado
was a great loss not only to Brazilian literature but also to Latin America
and the Universe. The news daily Juventud Rebelde dedicated a full page to
Amado.
Poet Pablo Armando Fern�ndez added that the world had lost one of the
greatest forces in Latin American writing. He said Jorge Amado was a man of
integrity, generosity and honesty who would live on in his work.
Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso has decreed three days of
mourning for his country's most popular writer. The funeral Tuesday was in
Amado's hometown of Salvador de Bah�a.
*FLORAL THERAPY SHOWS PROMISE IN CUBA
Havana, August 7 (RHC)--Hundreds of Cuban doctors are successfully applying
the techniques of floral therapy to patients across Cuba, reports DPA press
agency. The therapy very often succeeds where other traditional medical
methods have failed.
Floral therapy involves the use of 39 extracts of floral essences in
alleviating or curing certain ailments. It was created by English researcher
Edward Bach. Floral remedies are based on the theory that the human organism
maintains an energy balance that is broken or interrupted by emotional
strain. Hospital and clinical consultants apply the therapy to assist those
suffering from emotional trauma, anxiety, neurosis, depression, behavioral
changes and severe asthma. Essence of flowers is used to stimulate the
energy of a patient to return them to an acceptable balance. The normal
combination of these essences average six flowers.
Last year a total of 1,400 Cuban doctors -- most of them psychologists,
psychiatrists and geriatric specialists -- gained diplomas in floral
therapy, which was first used in Cuba in the early 1990s.
*HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA PREPARATORY TO DIPLOMATIC TIES
Havana, August 7 (RHC)--The Honduran Foreign Minister, Roberto Flores
Bermudez, will be arriving in Cuba for a three-day visit Wednesday to hold
conversations with his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, and sign
various agreements.
Flores Bermudez is expected to lay a wreath at the base of the Jos� Mart�
monument and then visit Havana's historical center. On Thursday, the he will
meet with Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres, who will take him on a visit
of the Latin American School of Medicine where Honduran students studying
there will greet him. He will also hold meetings with the Minister of
Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas, where accords are
expected to be signed.
After pressure from the United States, Honduras severed diplomatic ties with
Cuba in 1962 for four decades. Last December, following a visit to Central
America by Perez Roque, Cuba and Honduras announced in a Memorandum of
Understanding that anticipated resumption of full diplomatic relations. In
the interim, Havana maintains an Interests Section in Tegucigalpa.
Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica are the only Latin American countries
with which which Cuba does not maintain diplomatic relations.
*US FACES SEVERE QUESTIONS AT UN COMMISSION ON RACIAL DISCRIMINTION
Geneva, August 7 (RHC)--At the Geneva-based United Nations Commission on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the United States
government Monday was unable to convince its critics that Washington is
effectively fighting racism. Ralph Boyd, Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights at the US Justice Department, and Lorne Craner, Undersecretary
of State, admitted to shortcomings, but insisted that the US government has
a solid policy in the fight against racial discrimination.
But according to Nancy Chang, of the Center for Constitutional Rights,
practically all the members of the UN Commission questioned the US
delegation concerning the vast racial disparities in all aspects of life,
including education, housing, medical attention and criminal justice. Erika
George, of Human Rights Watch, said the US delegation's responses contained
no solutions, nor demonstrated any progress in fighting racism.
A similar reaction was heard from Ramona Ortega, of the Urban Justice
Center's Human Rights Project. Ortega said Washington lacks adequate
measures to do away with racial discrimination, police violence and the lack
of protection for indigenous populations.
Other members of diverse US NGO's also mentioned racism in the
administration of justice, violence against minority prison inmates and the
propagation of racist propaganda on the Internet. The UN Commission on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination will make public its
definitive conclusion next August 17th.
The United States is one of several countries under analysis, coinciding
with preparations for the International Conference Against Racism in Durban,
South Africa. Washington has threatened to boycott the conference due, in
part, to widespread insistence on defining colonialism and the slave trade
as crimes against humanity.
*ITALIAN PARLIAMENT BEGINS PROBE INTO GENOA VIOLENCE
Rome, August 7 (RHC)--Thirty-six members of Italy's Parliament began a
probe on Tuesday into the violence during the G-8 Summit in Genoa, amid
on-going differences between the conservative government of Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi and the left-of-center opposition.
The so-called "informative commission" is led by ruling party House Deputy
Donato Bruno, who rejected opposition demands to call in for questioning
Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini and Justice Minister Roberto Castelli
for having been directly responsible for security at the summit. Bruno said
he refused to preside over a "political trial."
The informative commission, to release its findings next September 20th,
does not have the same power as an official investigative commission, which
the conservative majority refused to establish. Coinciding with the
Parliamentary probe, judicial authorities in Genoa began taking statements
on Monday from people who were arrested during the summit and who have filed
charges of physical and psychological mistreatment against the Italian
police.
Genoa district attorney Francesco Meloni will also hear the testimony of
doctors who attended to the injured anti-globalization demonstrators, many
many of whom charge that their wounds were inflicted after being arrested.
*SOCIAL DISCONTENT, PROTESTS IN ARGENTINA CONTINUE TO ESCALATE
Buenos Aires, August 7 (RHC)--Social discontent and protests in Argentina
continued to escalate today with the beginning of a second wave of road
blockages and other mobilizations.
As associations of the unemployed, backed by labor organizations, began
blocking roads and highways throughout the country, Argentine public
employees began a two-day strike, state university professors entered the
second day of a strike that will extend until Friday. and the most radical
labor leaders announced mobilizations in all provincial capitals for
Wednesday.
The most recent surveys indicate that Argentine President Fernando de la
Rua, after announcing his governments 7th economic shock plan in 20 months,
has the support of only 16% of the population.
The road blockages got underway as Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio
celebrated mass before hundreds of thousands of Argentines flocking to the
Saint Cayetano sanctuary, the patron saint of food and jobs.
The Catholic prelate deplored what he called the "contrasting images of the
country's reality," with the poor being persecuted for demanding jobs and
the rich eluding justice. An estimated 2 million ot motr Argentines made the
pilgrimage to the Saint Cayetano shrine.
*AFTER A VICTORY ON HERBICIDE, A SETBACK FOR INDIGENOUS IN COLOMBIA
Bogot�, August 7 (RHC)--Indigenous communities in southern Colombia have
suffered a setback following a brief victory in their campaign against the
fumigation of illicit drug crops. The same federal judge who ordered a
suspension of fumigation in their communities revoked his decision on Monday
after hearing arguments concerning the human and environmental damage caused
by the herbicide,
The new ruling came after US ambassador in Bogot�, Anne Patterson, stated
that a suspension of the fumigation would threaten Washington's economic and
military aid to Colombia's drug war. On Tuesday, the Governor of the
southwestern Cauca Department, indigenous leader Floro Tunubala, reacted
with indignation.
Last week, Governors from other southern Colombian departments, Colombian
legislators and members of non-governmental organizations travelled to
Washington to meet with US lawmakers and human rights groups in an effort to
drum up support for their cause. During their visit, the US State Department
denied that the herbicide used in the fumigation poses a threat to human
health or the environment. But numerous reports from Colombia and from
neighboring Ecuador indicate the contrary.
*Viewpoint: MEXICO/USA - FREE TRADE... BUT NOT MUCH
Two important sectors of the Mexican economy have just received harsh
lessons in free trade from their number-one partner and northern neighbor,
the cradle of so many failed liberties.
The first of these lessons was received by Mexican truckers, for whom U.S.
highways remain practically closed, thanks to tight restrictions imposed
against their southern neighbors.
It seems that the U.S. truckers' union convinced the Congress that Mexican
drivers are a menace to society so they must be kept far from the U.S.
border. So despite the fact that the North American Free Trade Agreement --
which includes Canada and Mexico, guarantees the freedom to move merchandise
-- the only ones who are truly free to move cargo on U.S. highways are
American truckers.
The huge economic benefits that transportation companies are reaping can't
be ignored, so it isn't surprising that a U.S. truckers' union would have
fought to get a piece of the pie. They had the enthusiastic support of the
Congress, which not only maintained previous restrictions on Mexican
drivers, but imposed even stricter measures on their vehicles.
Another lesson in free trade was delivered by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to 25 million Mexicans who live in the countryside, with the
announcement of the entry into their market of "Terminator," a new
technology of genetic manipulation of grains, which makes it impossible for
farmers to use seeds from one harvest to the next.
The message is clear: you have total freedom to sell your grains in our
country, but you must buy our seeds every year and of course, we have total
freedom to set the prices and conditions of sale. Terminator, which can only
be sold by the U.S. company Delta Pine Land, produces seeds that can only be
used for one harvest, so farmers cannot save seeds to be used from year to
year.
Naturally, only the biggest most important seed distributors will be granted
licenses for the use of Terminator. This "genetic revolution" will insure
that farmers are forced to continue buying seeds every year, which will
cause even more poverty and despair. This type of genetic engineering has
been the target of international protests which contend that it is a threat
to global food security.
So, when Mexican small farmers and truckers hear Washington speak of the
great "benefits" of free trade, if they have learned the lessons well they
will join together and say "no, thanks."
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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