From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 20:27:15 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-27 August, 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 27 August 2001
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*BRAZILIAN SOLIDARITY GROUPS CALL FOR RELEASE OF MIAMI FIVE
*VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER ENDS VISIT TO CUBA
*EDUCATIONAL INTEGRATION FOR CUBA�S HEARING/VISUALLY IMPAIRED
*LOS VAN VAN OFFERS SUMMER CLOSING CONCERT IN HAVANA
*CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON NEW SECTION OF UNDERGROUND FIBER OPTIC CABLE
*ISRAEL ASSASSINATES PALESTINIAN LEADER ABU ALI MUSTAFA
*FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, AUSTRALIA TURNS AWAY ASYLUM SEEKERS
*COLIN POWELL WILL BE A NO-SHOW AT RACISM CONFERENCE IN DURBAN
*FRENCH PRESIDENT SUPPORTS ABM TREATY IN OPPOSITION TO WASHINGTON
*VENEZUELA SHARPLY CRITICIZES GLOBALIZATION BEFORE THE O.A.S.
*Viewpoint: EUROPE'S IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH CUBA
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*BRAZILIAN SOLIDARITY GROUPS CALL FOR RELEASE OF MIAMI FIVE
Havana, August 27 (RHC)--The two hundred participants in the national
Brazil-Cuba Solidarity Convention, held in Rio de Janeiro, demanded the
release of the five Cubans unjustly imprisoned in Miami.
Representatives of Cuba friendship associations and groups from all of the
Brazilian states agreed to issue a countrywide call to proclaim the right of
these men to protect the Cuban Revolution against terrorist actions from the
United States.
During the closure of the event, Professor Zuleide Faria de Mello, President
of the Jose Marti Cultural Association, emphasized that Cuba merited the
respect and support of all honest people of the world �because it is an
example of the defense of human dignity.
The convention demonstrates the growth of the Brazilian solidarity movement
with the island, not only for the number of delegates who attended, but also
for the open and critical spirit of the debates.
Cuba's contribution to Brazil in the areas of medical and sports training
was also underlined and an increase in the economic, cultural, and
scientific exchanges between the two countries was called for.
*VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER ENDS VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, August 27 (RHC)--The Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Luis Alfonso
Davila, has expressed his satisfaction with his visit here and with his
interview with Fidel Castro. The minister returned to his country on Sunday
after a three day official visit to the island.
During his visit Davila and his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque,
reexamined the Caracas Integral Agreement, signed in October 2000, which
among other things guaranteed the sale of 53,000 barrels of petroleum daily
to Cuba with preferential conditions, in return for with Cuban health
services and technical support in different sectors. The Foreign Minister
said that the Caracas agreement has produced positive results not only for
Cuba but for Venezuela as well.
On Saturday, both foreign ministers expressed their reserves about the Free
Trade Area of the Americas propagated by the United States and supported by
the rest of the countries in the region. The Cuban and Venezuelan foreign
ministers both expressed their preference for Latin American integration.
*EDUCATIONAL INTEGRATION FOR CUBA�S HEARING/VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Havana, August 27 (RHC)--More than 70 both hearing and visually impaired
children and young people will be incorporated into classrooms during the
next school year in all parts of the country. This is part of a social
integration program for those suffering from this double disability.
The students will be attended to by more than 30 teachers and a group of
auxiliary educators. These professionals will work with the children to
reach the maximum use of their abilities and of any residual visual and
audio capacity they may have.
The special teaching methods for people with the double disability began in
Granma province in 1995 using a program form Belgium. This method was later
extended to the five eastern provinces. The program from the North American
Hilton Perkins Institute is used in the west and center of the country.
The project also includes work with the families and relatives of the
children so that they can contribute to the preparation for their training
in the national rehabilitation center for the visually impaired.
Cuba has undertaken a plan of action to detect those persons with the double
disability with the result that 697 cases have been detected, the majority
localized in the western region of the country.
*LOS VAN VAN OFFERS SUMMER CLOSING CONCERT IN HAVANA
Havana, August 27 (RHC)--Hundreds of thousands of people -- mostly Cubans,
but also visitors from all over the world -- gathered to hear the Cuban
group Los Van Van play at what was called a summer closing event at an
open-air venue of the Piragua, Havana on Sunday. The event was packed with
high-spirited Cubans and tourists dancing and singing together.
Los Van Van reconfirmed their position in the affections of the Cuban people
with their excellent music and the high musical profile of their director,
Juan Formell.
Although the concert started more than forty minutes later than scheduled
and there were problems with the lights, Van Van fever soon took over and
all present enjoyed the exceptional repertoire which the group had to
offer.
Without doubt, said many present, this summer closing event will be
memorable for the quality of the music and the taste which Los Van Van left
on this occasion -- the workers, youth and foreign visitors responded by
enjoying themselves until daybreak.
*CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON NEW SECTION OF UNDERGROUND FIBER OPTIC CABLE
Matanzas August 27 (RHC)--Construction brigades have started to build a
132-kilometer underground section for the fiberoptic telecommunications line
which runs from Catalina de Guines, in Havana province, to Colon in
Matanzas. This stretch forms part of the national communication network
which has expanded enormously in the last few years.
Brigades from the Jose Antonio Echeverria, Nicanor Egoscue and the Martires
de Goicuria contingents have been provided with modern excavation equipment
to do the work. This first phase of the excavation will run parallel to the
main highway which runs from the capital to Santiago de Cuba in the east of
the country.
The estimated cost of the underground section from Catalina de Guines to
Colon is 1.8 million Cuban pesos and it is scheduled to be completed in
three months.
The underground fiberoptic cable is a project of the Cuban company Cubacel
with the Italian firm Sirti.
*ISRAEL ASSASSINATES PALESTINIAN LEADER ABU ALI MUSTAFA
Havana, August 27 (RHC)--In an act that has been condemned the world over,
the secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
Abu Ali Mustafa, was assassinated in the West Bank city of Ramallah on
Monday by an Israeli hit squad.
Jordan's Minister of Information, Saleh Qalab, immediately condemned the
killing as "stupid and immoral," adding that Tel Aviv had discarded all
human and legal principles. He called on the international community to act
to prevent further Israeli aggression against Palestinians and reiterated
his government's continued support of Palestinian rights as laid out in
numerous United Nations resolutions.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan commented during a visit to Austria that
he was very worried by the increased violence in the Middle East, which is
now on a level not seen before.
The French government fully condemned Mustafa's assassination, saying that
the European Union has always stood against such acts, and called for a halt
to the current "cycle of reprisals and destruction."
The representative of the Palestine National Authority before the Arab
League, Mohamed Sbeih, announced Monday that such acts by Israel would not
halt the Intifada sparked last September by a visit to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa
Mosque -- one of Islam's holiest sites -- by now-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
accompanied by Israeli troops. Most regional observers say the visit was a
deliberate act of provocation for political gain.
Abu Ali Mustafa, who was killed in his office by missiles fired from Israeli
helicopters, was the most important Palestinian official so far slain in Tel
Aviv's open policy of targeting Palestinian leaders for assassination. He
participated in the 1967 founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, which was led by George Habash who retired due to ill health a
year ago. The new organization was a result of a split from the Palestine
Liberation Army under Yasser Arafat. Mustafa was considered a radical but
was also pragmatic, realizing that changes in attitude needed to be made and
consequently became closer to Arafat than his predecessor had been. One of
his concessions to a rapprochement with Arafat was his decision to move his
offices from Damascus, Syria, to the West Bank. He was 63 years old.
*FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, AUSTRALIA TURNS AWAY ASYLUM SEEKERS
Canberra, August 27 (RHC)--The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard,
Monday turned away a ship containing some 430 refugees who had been rescued
at sea, in an act condemned by his critics as the first time his nation has
turned away people seeking asylum.
The cargo ship Tampa rescued the mostly Afghani, Iraqi and Iranian refugees
off the coast of Indonesia after their vessel began to sink on Sunday.
Indonesia refused to allow the refugees into its territory and Australia
followed suit. Many of the migrants are suffering from dehydration and
dysentery, according to the ship's captain. There are 43 children among them
and a number of pregnant women.
Howard announced that his nation simply could not afford to be seen as an
easy destination for potential immigrants from around the world. In the past
eleven days, some 1,500 refugees have arrived in Australia by improvised
boats. Most had come from Indonesia and most were of similar origin to those
now languishing on the Tampa. The Prime Minister said that his country was
decent, generous, compassionate and humane but also had the right to refuse
entry to whomsoever it pleased.
Australia has a large Vietnamese population taken in by Canberra in the
seventies and eighties in an exodus of what were called "Boat People." As
with other nations, the immigration card has been used politically in
Australia, and Howard has been accused of using this instance to gain
political points.
*COLIN POWELL WILL BE A NO-SHOW AT RACISM CONFERENCE IN DURBAN
Habana, August 27 (RHC)--According to U.S. State Department sources, the
United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has confirmed that he will
not participate in this Friday's United Nations conference on racism
scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa, due to what he termed
"anti-Israel" language contained in the agenda. Powell also said that there
were many other parts of the document which his government deemed to be
offensive.
The decision was not a surprise, given the debate that has surrounded the
conference over the past two weeks. Washington has rejected out of hand the
notion of linking Zionism with racism as proposed by a number of nations to
be represented in Durban. The U.S. also wants to see debate on the issue of
reparations for the slave trade removed from the agenda.
On Sunday, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Michael Melchior, announced
that his country would boycott the conference if the agenda were not
altered. Arab states have agreed to remove the reference to Zionism and
racism but insist on a discussion relating to Palestine. In what was seen as
a veiled threat, Melchior said that any attack against Israel would damage
future peace efforts.
Last week, South African foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma deplored
efforts by Washington to dictate the agenda of the conference against
racism. In reference to the U.S. and other Western nations concern regarding
the issue of slavery, the foreign minister said that it was impossible to
discuss contemporary forms of racism without referring to the most barbaric
forms during colonial exploitation.
*FRENCH PRESIDENT SUPPORTS ABM TREATY IN OPPOSITION TO WASHINGTON
Paris, August 27 (RHC)--French president Jacques Chirac reaffirmed Monday
his support for the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed between the
United States and the then Soviet Union.
His words were in reaction to U.S. President George W. Bush's plans to to
renounce the treaty, against massive international condemnation, in favor of
his missile screen or Star Wars proposal.
All development of anti-missile defense systems should take into account two
imperative facts, pointed out Chirac. First, they should not weaken
international policies seeking to prevent nuclear war, and secondly it is in
the interests of the world community to maintain a minimum strategic balance
to avoid another arms race. He said that there was great need to reinforce
international efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons.
The ABM Treaty's prohibition against the development of anti-missile defense
systems is considered to be a fundamental part of any global arms control
agreement.
Washington's is dropping the ABM Treaty and building a massive defense
system using the excuse of "defending" itself against what it defines as
"rogue states" that seek its "destruction." With Russian premier Vladimir
Putin refusing to agree to relinquish the 1972 treaty bilaterally, Bush has
decided to go ahead and drop it anyway if a compromise with Moscow cannot be
reached.
*VENEZUELA SHARPLY CRITICIZES GLOBALIZATION PROCESS BEFORE THE O.A.S.
Caracas, August 27 (RHC)--Venezuela today severely criticized the effects
of free market neoliberalism, globalization and the process of unrestricted
economics, and called for the rest of Latin America to join together to seek
other alternatives to reduce poverty.
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Luis Alfonso D�vila, announced that today
we are faced with a new dogmam that of neoliberalism and globalization,
which, in spite of their destructiveness in the region, are revered as in a
cult or religion. D�vila was speaking before the permanent council of the
Organization of American States in a special session held in Washington
Monday, in which all of the nations of the continent were represented except
for Cuba. He received a standing ovation.
Although recognizing the advantages of globalization, such as
telecommunications, cultural exchanges and the Internet, D�vila also spoke
of what he called its "perversions," such as unrestricted circulation of
capital without a human face, and its ability to affect a nation's economy
at the touch of a key. He said such globalization was attempting to turn the
planet into one huge supermarket.
The Venezuelan foreign minister spoke of the crushing external debt of
under-developed nations, which grows in geometric proportion to their
poverty, and the payment of enormous sums of interest that could go instead
toward mitigating hunger and misery. Success today is measured only in
numerical terms, said D�vila, which hides the realities of the misery such
profit-making involves, and places humankind at the service of economics and
not economics at the service of humankind. We have gone far from equality,
justice and solidarity, he added.
Quoting from figures provided by the Economic Commission for Latin America,
known as CEPAL, D�vila reported that those people living in poverty in the
region had gone from 204 million in 1997 to 220 million in 2000. He
considered the anti-globalization demonstrations of Seattle, Quebec and
Genoa an example of the crisis we are facing and pledged Venezuela's full
cooperation with all other nations toward the reduction of poverty.
*Viewpoint: EUROPE'S IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH CUBA
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union,
the prediction was that Cuba would quickly follow the same path as the
former socialist European nations and that the days of socialism were
numbered on the island.
In Miami, many Cuban-Americans sharpened their nails and teeth, waiting for
the precise moment to seize the island and return it to the times before
1959, when Cuba was merely a U.S. colony and they were rolling in money. For
them it was just a matter of time: Overnight, Cuba had lost 85% of its
market and any possibility of further credits, and it seemed impossible that
the island could survive without yielding to U.S. economic pressures.
What actually happened is common knowledge. The prediction that the Cuban
Revolution would collapse was put to rest and the folks in Miami had to
unpack their bags once again. For they had ignored one crucial detail: The
Cuban social project is authentic and has the unconditional support of the
vast majority of the Cuban people.
A decade later, Cuba has diplomatic relations with 170 nations, something
that the Western mainstream media tends to ignore. Cuba -- the only
socialist society in the hemisphere -- maintains economic and commercial
exchange with 125 nations on the four continents.
Every link that Cuba has established with the rest of the world is based on
three unalienable principles of Cuban foreign policy: mutual respect,
non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations and total respect
for all nations' right to self-determination.
It was under those principles that the President of the European Union's
Council of Ministers, Louis Michel, visited Cuba last week. Michel, who is
also Belgium's Foreign Minister, affirmed in Havana that relations between
Cuba and the European Union should be based on mutual respect, understanding
and friendship.
The Belgian minister, who traveled to Havana accompanied by representatives
of various EU institutions, affirmed that his contacts with Cuban
authorities served to identify points of agreement and also some
discrepancies which could be worked on in a constructive manner. After
exchanging views with the EU minister, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
Roque pointed out similar views and concerns about many international
issues.
Without doubt, Louis Michel's visit to Cuba has given bilateral EU-Cuba
relations a new boost and also opened the door for more opportunities to
strengthen the island's relations with Europe.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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