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Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 22:25:44 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC Weekend-01 September 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 01 September 2001
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*FIDEL CASTRO TERMS U.S. EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES "PURELY FORMAL"
*CUBA CALLS FOR A REGIONAL GATHERING TO FIGHT AGAINST THE FTAA
*CHAMBAS MUNICIPALITY CALLS FOR THE RELEASE OF CUBANS HELD IN FLORIDA
*MODERATE EARTHQUAKES HIT EASTERN SANTIAGO AND GUANTANAMO
*CARELESS CYCLERS CAUSING TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN CUBA
*ANOTHER PALESTINIAN LEADER IS ASSASSINATED
*AUSTRALIAN COURT ORDER THREATENS DEAL REACHED ON ASYLUM-SEEKERS
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*FIDEL CASTRO TERMS U.S. EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES "PURELY FORMAL"
Havana, September 1 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro, who is attending
the United Nations Conference on Racism, said today that it is impossible to
analyse racism without linking it to conquest and exploitation. He said that
the United States emancipation of slaves had been "purely formal" and that
racism against African Americans and Native Americans persists to this day.
In a speech punctuated with frequent applause, the Cuban leader added that
it was time for countries like the US to pay compensation for slavery. The
issue has been a delicate one which has been partly responsible for
Washington's boycott of the gathering and the low level representation of
European nations. He said that nobody has the right to boycott or attempt to
sabotage the conference when it is attempting to alleviate the suffering of
the victims of racism and the terrible injustice that racism signifies for
humanity.
Touching on the other controversial issue of the conference -- that of
Israel's treatment of Palestinians -- the Cuban leader said that no nation
has the right to tell the rest of the world how to qualify the terrible
genocide that is being perpetrated on the people of Palestine. The United
States and Israel have boycotted the conference due to what is perceived as
"anti-Israel" language employed in the agenda which sought to discuss what
other nations describe as the apartheid type of regime employed against
Palestinians in both Israel and the Occupied Territories.
When Cuba speaks of compensation, said Fidel Castro, it supports the idea as
an indelible moral obligation. He drew a parallel with the reparations being
given in Europe to Jews who has suffered genocide during the Second World
War, saying that the racist holocaust that had occurred there was brutal and
terrible.
The Cuban President indicated that slavery was alive and well in the United
States, saying that the unequal numbers of African Americans incarcerated in
US prisons is indicative of the level of racism that continues to plague the
biggest power on earth.
Aside from being responsible for, and maintaining such racism, said Fidel
Castro, the developed world and their consumer societies are also
responsible for the degradation and destruction of the environment. He added
that these countries have the money to save humanity and proposed what he
said was a modest 0.7% of the gross national product of the rich nations to
go toward developing the poor nations if we are to save the planet.
*CUBA CALLS FOR A REGIONAL GATHERING TO FIGHT AGAINST THE FTAA
Havana, September 1 (RHC)--Several Cuban non governmental organizations and
institutions launched a call on Saturday for a regional gathering to fight
against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The call appeared in today's edition of Granma newspaper, and said that the
meeting would be held at Havana's International Convention Center from
November 13th to the 16th this year.
Cuban workers, students, women, campesinos, economists, and religious
people, along with artists, journalists and jurists among other sectors have
joined the call against annexation, social injustice, poverty and threats
against Latin American and Caribbean sovereignty represented by the FTAA.
The call indicates that the Free Trade Area of the Americas goes beyond the
appearance of being a proposal for trade liberalization as it is formally
presented. Instead, the FTAA is condemned as a strategic project designed by
the US to consolidate its hegemony over Latin America and the Caribbean, to
extend its economic frontiers securing a giant market to wipe out
competition from the European Union and that of the Asian nations.
The meeting's agenda will include topics such as the FTAA threat to the
region's cultural identity, and analyse the possibility of holding national
plebiscites to decide on whether to join the project.
*CHAMBAS MUNICIPALITY CALLS FOR THE RELEASE OF CUBANS HELD IN FLORIDA
Havana, September 1 (RHC)--In what has become a Cuban tradition, this
Saturday's Open Tribune attracted more than 25,000 people in the
municipality of Chambas, in Central Ciego de Avila Province.
Participants called for the immediate release of the five Cubans illegally
being held in a Florida prison.
All speakers at the Open Tribune called for the release of Antonio Guerrero,
Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino and Rene Gonzalez,
arrested September 1998.
The rally also demanded an end the hostile US policy against the island,
especially the Helms-Burton Law and the Torricelli Bill which are aimed at
tightening the four decade old Washington's blockade of the island.
Presiding over the popular rally were Commanders of the Revolution Juan
Almeida, Guillermos Garcia and Ramino Valdes along with National
Parliament's vice-president Jaime Crombet.
*MODERATE EARTHQUAKES HIT EASTERN SANTIAGO AND GUANTANAMO
Havana, September 1 (RHC)--A moderate earthquake hit Cuba's Eastern
province of Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo early this morning. According to
reports, the quake measured 4.6 on the Richter scale and so far there are no
victims or damages reported. However, this the 7th and strongest tremor that
has been felt in the Eastern part of the country this year.
The epicenter was located at sea, more than 27 kilometres deep and South of
Baconao National Park, in Santiago de Cuba Province.
*CARELESS CYCLERS CAUSING TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN CUBA
Havana, September 1 (RHC)--Despite the fact that public transportation in
Havana has improved and the use of bicycles has subsequently decreased, the
number of traffic accidents involving bicycles is on the rise.
The number of people killed during the first six months of this year mounts
to 108 island wide, which represents 25% of the 476 people dead in traffic
accidents in Cuba from January to June.
Granma newspaper indicates that 5,306 traffics accidents have been reported
on the island and 991 bicycles have been involved in them. Of the 4,050
people injured in those accidents, 804 bicycle were riders.
Authorities say that among the main reasons leading to these figures is a
disrespect for traffic signs and regulations, not using adequate light
colored clothes and reflectors, and riding after drinking alcohol.
Traffic authorities called on the population in general and families in
particular to help in a drive to teach and warn youngsters on the adequate
use of bikes and the risks of careless riding.
*ANOTHER PALESTINIAN LEADER IS ASSASSINATED
Gaza, September 1 (RHC)--As another Palestinian leader was assassinated
today, over one million Palestinian children returned to school after the
summer holidays in an atmosphere of bombings, tanks, guns and violence.
A prominent adviser to the head of Palestinian intelligence, 52 year old
Tayser Jatab, was blown up in Gaza after a bomb had apparently been placed
in his car. The killing was another in a list of Palestinian leaders that
Israel has openly targeted for execution to widespread international
condemnation. However, on this occasion the Israeli authorities denied
participating in the assassination.
The Palestinian Minister of Education, Naim Abu El Homos, said that parents
are sending their children back to school very concerned for their safety.
Since the current Intifada began last September, 140 school children have
died and 2,000 have been injured by Israeli soldiers. Abu El Homos said that
he was especially concerned by the Israeli bombardments by tanks,
helicopters and planes as they are responsible for the majority of those
children killed. He also expressed concern for the psychological well-being
of youngsters constantly exposed to extreme forms of violence. Many children
have had their homes destroyed and a number of them are orphans, he added.
Over the last year Israel has closed six high schools and suspended classes
in 65 colleges as a result of a curfew imposed on numerous West Bank
communities by the Israeli army, reported the Education head.
Children attending the El Rahman primary school in Gaza were witness to the
explosion that killed Tayser Jatab barely two blocks from the school.
Since the intensification of conflict in the Middle East, 50 Palestinian
officials have been assassinated in what Israel refers to as "selective
attacks" - some involving the deaths of innocent child bystanders.
*AUSTRALIAN COURT ORDER THREATENS DEAL REACHED ON ASYLUM-SEEKERS
Canberra, September 1 (RHC)--An Australian court has issued an order that
jeopardises a deal to send 438 stranded asylum seekers to New Zealand and
the island of Nauru. The asylum seekers have been stranded at sea for almost
a week. Federal Court Justice Tony North issued an injunction preventing the
Norwegian freighter Tampa from leaving Australian waters until a hearing
scheduled to begin Sunday determines the fate of the ship's human cargo. The
refugees were picked up by the Tampa at the beginning of the week after
being rescued from their sinking Indonesian boat. They have become part of
an international furore since Canberra denied them landing rights in
Australia for the first time in the history of the nation.
A spokesperson for Australian immigration, Philip Ruddock, later confirmed
the government would defend both its handling of the crisis and its legal
position when the hearing resumes Sunday. He declined to reveal if the
government of Prime Minister John Howard would seek urgent High Court orders
blocking further legal moves to prevent the asylum seekers from being taken
to New Zealand and Nauru.
After a day of legal argument, North ruled the quickest and fairest way of
resolving the crisis unfolding off Australia's northwest coastline was to
test the evidence during a full-blown court hearing. His ruling was in
response to an application from the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties
(VCCL) aimed at allowing the refugees to disembark at Christmas Island to
request asylum in Australia. The VCCL claims the Tampa's human cargo is now
subject to Australian law because the ship is anchored in Australian waters
off Christmas Island.
The predominantly Afghan, Sri Lankan, Iranian and Iraqi asylum seekers have
been living on the deck of the Tampa for almost a week. Their ranks include
pregnant women and 43 children who were plucked from the sea last Sunday by
the Tampa's crew after captain Arne Rinnan was alerted to their plight by
Australian maritime authorities.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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