From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 18:17:28 -0400 (EDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-29 August 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 29 August 2001 . *CUBA TAKES CENTER STAGE AT WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM *ASSEMBLY OF CARIBBEAN BROADCASTING UNION GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS VISITS CUBA *CUBAN TEACHERS OFFER CLASSES IN JAMAICA *CEASEFIRE IN WEST BANK AS ISRAELIS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST SHARON *YASSER ARAFAT TO ATTEND DURBAN CONFERENCE ON RACISM *PARAGUAY'S PRESIDENT REFUSES TO RESIGN IN PARTISAN POWER STRUGGLE *PANAMANIAN WORKERS END STRIKE AFTER CHIQUITA CORPORATION BACKS DOWN *NICARAGUAN MARCHERS AGAINST HUNGER BEGIN ARRIVING IN MANAGUA *SECRET GRAVES OF MILITARY'S VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN HONDURAS *Viewpoint: APARTHEID LIVES, IN ISRAEL AND OCCUPIED PALESTINE . *CUBA TAKES CENTER STAGE AT WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM Durban, August 29 (RHC)--Cuba will take center stage during the World Conference Against Racism, which officially gets underway this Friday, August 31. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, the island's delegation will not only strongly condemn racism and xenophobia, but will also clearly show the Cuban Revolution's record in the fight against discrimination in all its forms. Prensa Latina notes that the African continent was the scene of numerous battles against racism, pointing out that the struggle against apartheid was the leading fight in which Cubans took part. More than 300,000 Cubans participated in internationalist missions in Angola and Ethiopia -- directly engaging the forces of racism and apartheid. The battle of Cuito Cuanavale was a turning point in the struggle against the South African apartheid regime, in which Cuban military forces wrote a beautiful page in the history of the continent, in the fight for independence and the elimination of racism. Cuba has also served as a shining example of solidarity with the African peoples. Prensa Latina notes that over the past 30 years, more than 25,000 young people from Africa have studied in Cuba, many of them graduating as teachers and doctors. They have returned home to their communities to serve their people. Recently at the United Nations, Cuba offered to send 4,000 doctors and medical personnel to the African continent in the fight against AIDS. The UN-sponsored World Conference Against Racism will open yet another chapter in Cuba's battle against discrimination. The delegation representing the Cuban Revolution at the international conference will call for an end to neo-liberal globalization and will demand full rights for indigenous and other peoples of color, and respect for their cultures. Prensa Latina points out that the upcoming World Conference Against Racism in Durban will provide an exceptional opportunity in the battle against the legacy of colonialism and slavery -- and for a world free of racism and discrimination. *ASSEMBLY OF CARIBBEAN BROADCASTING UNION GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, August 29 (RHC)--The Annual Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) got underway today in the Cuban capital. The CBU is made up of 22 Caribbean nations -- including Spanish, English, French and Dutch-speaking islands. The annual meeting, which runs through Friday, is being held at the Havana Libre Hotel. CBU President Stewart Krohn explains that the Caribbean Broadcasting Union was founded in 1970 with the purpose of contributing to regional integration. The group organizes the exchange of radio and television programming and trains broadcast personnel throughout the region. Interviewed by the Cuban daily Granma, Krohn said that the Caribbean Broadcasting Union works to improve and enrich the region's cultural and social programming on radio and TV. *DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS VISITS CUBA Havana, August 29 (RHC)--The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Barbados, Billie Miller, is visiting the island -- taking part in the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU). The Barbadian official was welcomed at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport on Tuesday by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Pedro Nunez Mosquera. On Wednesday she met with her Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, and Ricardo Alarcon, President of the Cuban Parliament, as well as other Cuban officials. According to members of the delegation from Barbados, the visiting deputy prime minister will sit down with Cuban officials to analyze bilateral relations and future prospects for developing commercial and economic relations between the two countries. Billie Miller also delivered the inaugural speech at the Annual Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, which opened Wednesday here in Havana. *CUBAN TEACHERS OFFER CLASSES IN JAMAICA Kingston, August 29 (RHC)--Another group of 18 Cuban teachers will offer classes in Jamaica beginning next month. The teachers will join 21 other educators, who have already started classes. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, the teachers form part of a joint cooperation program between Jamaica and Cuba. They will teach physics, chemistry, math and Spanish. The teachers will work in rural areas and conduct classes in local high schools. The joint agreement between Cuba and Jamaica establishes bilateral cooperation in the areas of education, sports and health -- and includes scholarships for Jamaican students to study in Cuba. *CEASEFIRE IN WEST BANK AS ISRAELIS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST SHARON Tel Aviv, August 29 (RHC)--After two days of fighting, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres today called a ceasefire in the West Bank town of Beit Jala, invaded by Tel Aviv on Monday. The invasion was in response to shots reportedly fired on the Jewish border town of Gilo following the assassination of Palestinian leader Abu Ali Mustafa by an Israeli hit squad. Palestinians resisted the incursion of troops, tanks and helicopters over two days before the Israelis were obliged to stop their advance due to mortars being fired into Gila in response, and the international outcry the invasion had caused. A similar military operation took place across the border in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Palestinian families reported that their houses were occupied and that Israeli troops forced them into single rooms while they fought with Palestinian police. One family described nine hours of terror in which 20 people -- half of them children -- were forced into a 12 meter by 12 meter room while the house was used to fire upon people resisting the invasion. The occupants found some 50 shell casings after the soldiers left. Meanwhile, Israel was being condemned for preventing Palestinian doctors and ambulances from entering the West Bank. One of the doctors was the director of a hospital traveling in a United Nations vehicle. The English language newspaper, The Palestine Monitor, reported the events and declared them to be abuses of human rights and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Hundreds of Israelis joined the Jewish group "Peace Now" to demonstrate in front of the Defense Ministry, blaming Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for driving the region toward total war. Sharon provoked the current Intifada by visiting one of Islam's holiest sites in the company of a group of soldiers last September. Since then, some 750 people have died, the majority of them Palestinians. Increasing numbers of Israeli recruits, reservists and students are refusing to fight in what is being called "Sharon's War." He has been much criticized by Jews both at home and abroad for his assassination squads against Palestinian leaders. *YASSER ARAFAT TO ATTEND DURBAN CONFERENCE ON RACISM Durban, August 29 (RHC)--The president of the Palestine National Authority, Yasser Arafat, will attend the United Nations conference on racism scheduled for August 31 through September 7. Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Minister for International Cooperation, announced that the Palestinian delegation would denounce the racist policies of the state of Israel during the conference. He said that delegates were working closely with Egyptian delegates who had more experience in preparing such presentations. Shaath added that the Palestinian position would be in line with that of Syria in attempting to prevent Israel from "fooling those seeking peace in the world," he said. Some 12,000 delegates from countries all over the world, including 15 heads of state, will be attending Friday's UN conference in which Israel's treatment of Palestinians is on the agenda. As a result, US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced earlier this week that he would not be attending the event because of what he called "anti-Israeli" language in the agenda and proposed final document. The US also objects to the insistence by African states and NGOs that the issue of slavery and reparations be debated. The Vatican today came out in support of such reparations. Some 20 victims of racism from all nationalities and walks of life will give testimony at the conference. *PARAGUAY'S PRESIDENT REFUSES TO RESIGN IN PARTISAN POWER STRUGGLE Asuncion, August 29 (RHC)--In what is being described by political observers as a clear power struggle along partisan lines, the president of Paraguay, Luis Gonzalez Macchi, who belongs to the Colorado Party, reiterated Wednesday that he has no intention of resigning in spite of pressure from opposition parties and social organizations. He added, however, that if his own party requested his resignation, he would step down. Macchi warned that if the Vice President, Julio Cesar Franco, were to take over, a political crisis would ensue as Franco belongs to the Liberal Party. In past confrontations between the Liberal and Colorado Parties many people have been killed. Interior Minister Julio Fanego announced today that anyone attempting to march on the palace would be repelled -- including the Vice President himself and up to and including the Pope, he added. The president of the Liberal Party, Miguel Saguier responded that Fanego's were empty threats. The continuing poverty of the vast majority of people in Paraguay and the free market neo-liberal economic policies that continue to be espoused by all parties in government have caused severe political and social instability across the nation. *PANAMANIAN WORKERS END STRIKE AFTER CHIQUITA CORPORATION BACKS DOWN Panama City, August 29 (RHC)--Workers from the Puerto Armulles Fruit Company, a Panamanian offshoot of the US Chiquita Brands Corporation, have ended a ten-day strike which was called to protest the closure of three plantations. The strike of 3,500 workers cost Chiquita $4.4 million and forced the company to agree to reopen the plantations. At one point during the strike, Chiquita Brands president Stephen Warshaw threatened to close down his company's entire operation in Panama if the workers continued their labor action. However, the Panamanian president, Mireya Moscoso, brought her Minister of Labor to arbitrate negotiations. According to the workers union general secretary, Jos� Morris, the agreements reached involve a reopening of the plantations and the rehiring of 500 laid-off workers, the movement of workers between plantations and different banana production methods. Chiquita had said it was obliged to close the plantations because of a worldwide glut of bananas, the price of which has dropped considerably. As with the United Fruit Company, the other major US fresh produce corporation in Central America, Chiquita Brands Corporation is remembered by people in the region for its role in numerous government takeovers engineered by the CIA, the most renowned of which was the removal of popularly elected leftist leader Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954. *NICARAGUAN MARCHERS AGAINST HUNGER BEGIN ARRIVING IN MANAGUA Managua, August 29 (RHC)--A number of unemployed Nicaraguan campesinos who Monday began a 173-kilometer "March Against Hunger" arrived in Managua today, in advance of the main body of some 2,000 participants and their families. They are demanding that the government of Arnoldo Alem�n prevent their children from starving, instead of claiming that there is no hunger in Nicaragua, as he did recently. The advance group installed themselves in the Luis Alfonso Velasquez Park in the center of the city a short distance from the presidential mansion. They announced that they would be asking the country's cardinal, Miguel Obando y Bravo, to intercede for them. They said that they could not wait for a change of government expected in January after November's elections because they would starve before then. They pleaded with the government not to politicize their plight and simply to help them to resolve the enormous problems they have. They added that 16 of their number had already died of hunger -- most of them children -- and that they had decided to die on the streets of Managua, if need be, to make the country aware of their suffering. The majority of the marchers are former coffee workers laid off after plantation closings due to falling international coffee prices. They come from the northern region around the cities of Matagalpa and Jinotega. The coffee plantation owners have requested credits to prop up their businesses while prices are low, but have been turned down by what the campesinos called a heartless government not interested in the poor. Critics say that the Alem�n government has consistently minimized the crisis in the north of Nicaragua, attributing the protest to the political machinations of the opposition Sandinista Party expected to win November's elections. *SECRET GRAVES OF MILITARY'S VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN HONDURAS Tegucigalpa, August 29 (RHC)--The remains of at least ten victims of military repression in Central America during the 1980s have been exhumed in Honduras. According to news reports from Tegucigalpa, a group of anthropologists discovered the clandestine cemetery located some 270 kilometres west of the Honduran capital. Three bodies -- including the skeletal remains of a Nicaraguan civilian -- were uncovered on Monday. The group found seven more victims buried in secret graves on Tuesday. Reports from Tegucigalpa state that a retired Honduran military officer, Angel Ricardo Portillo, is being investigated in connection with the clandestine cemetery. Portillo is said to be a suspect in the disappearance and torture of at least 80 people, most of them Hondurans. This morning's edition of the Honduran daily "La Prensa" reports that Portillo led a military operation in the western Department of Olancho during the height of the guerrilla war in the 1980s. According to the newspaper, many of the operation's victims were tortured and killed, their bodies secretly buried. Experts working at the site say the exhumations will take at least another month. By late September, anthropologists hope to make positive identification of the remains. . Viewpoint: *APARTHEID LIVES, IN ISRAEL AND OCCUPIED PALESTINE The United States has caused a furor by boycotting the United Nations conference on racism scheduled to begin on Friday in the South African city of Durban. By now, we all know the issues that got Washington's goat -- Israel and equating Zionism with racism, and discussions on slavery reparations. The US and Israel managed to have the Zionist bit struck from the agenda, but there is no way -- especially with Monday's assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa by Ariel Sharon -- that the rest of the nations of the world could fail to discuss the issue of Tel Aviv's racist policies toward Palestinians. Although the United Nations -- under US pressure -- repealed its former resolution condemning Zionism as racism ten years ago, the discrimination practiced by Israel against its Arab population certainly comes under the realm of discussion on racism planned by the delegates to the conference. Since its inception in 1948, Israel has refused to grant the Palestinians with whom they live side by side any level of equal rights -- whether they are citizens of Israel or residents in the still-occupied territories. The writer Hussein Ibish recently commented that every aspect of life in the occupied territories depends on one's ethnicity: Where one can live, the roads on which one may drive, freedom of movement, access to education, the right to bear arms in self-defense, land and water use, and the application of social services. Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza are completely segregated. Israelis live in heavily guarded settlements with good sewage, drinking water and road access. Palestinians live on what is left of their land with no public resources or services dedicated to their communities other than what they themselves can rustle up, or the under-funded Palestinian National Authority and United Nations Relief & Works Agency can provide. Within Israel itself the same situation applies. Even though Palestinians of Israeli nationality can vote, Hussein Ibish points out, they are not granted social services or amenities because they have not performed military service. The state owns some 90% of the land, which is never granted to Arabs, only Jews. Any Israeli of Arab origin is very much treated as a second-class citizen. All this sounds terribly familiar to those living in the country where the conference on racism will be held. What Palestinians are living through today is the system of apartheid South Africans lived through for decades. For Israel is not a social system of discrimination but a legal, institutionalized structure based quite simply on race. Palestinians are denied the right to return to their homeland when Jews who are not even originally from the Middle East are granted land and citizenship rights by the nation's Law of Return. It's not even an issue of color, as many Jews and Arabs in the region have the same Semitic origins. Israel today practices the most rudimentary form of racism that exists: denial of rights based on nothing more than race -- the root word of racism. There couldn't be a better forum than that provided in Durban this week to discuss this modern system of apartheid, overtly practiced with substantial funding and political backing from Washington. Not to place this issue on the conference agenda would have been immoral and -- given the racism that exits in his own country and the fact that he is African-American -- US Secretary of State Colin Powell should be ashamed he is not attending. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
