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Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 03:52:12 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-13 Sept 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 September 2001
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*NIGHTLY ROUNDTABLE EXAMINES ATTACKS IN UNITED STATES
*WAVE OF APPREHENSION AND FEAR SWEEPS THROUGH US ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
*ATTACKS SPARK DEBATE ON TRUE NATURE OF US NATIONAL INTERESTS AND SECURITY
*US ACTIVISTS MARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ATTICA PRISON UPRISING
*PRESIDENT OF MALI CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
*VISITING U.S. DOCTORS CONDEMN WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF THE ISLAND
*MORE THAN 7000 STUDENTS IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA PICK COFFEE
*Viewpoint: A CALL FOR REFLECTION, RESTRAINT AND RESPONSIBILITY
.
*NIGHTLY ROUNDTABLE EXAMINES ATTACKS IN UNITED STATES
Havana, September 13 (RHC)--Cuban media are giving maximum coverage
to the events that took place in the United States on Tuesday. During
the nightly news and information roundtable -- broadcast live on
Cuban radio and television -- journalists and experts in
international affairs examined the terrorist attacks in New York City
and Washington.
Taking reports from news cables and showing video images from U.S.
and European television transmissions, the panellists examined the
situation following the attacks on the World Trade Center in
Manhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
Eduardo Dimas, a commentator on both Cuban radio and television,
noted that U.S. authorities are calling for a massive, military
response to the attacks. He recalled the warning issued by Cuban
President Fidel Castro on Tuesday, emphasizing that a violent
response to the terrorist attacks will only generate more violence.
Dimas pointed out that a commitment to international cooperation in
the fight against terrorism and an end to State-sponsored terrorism
is the only way to restore peace.
Panellists on Wednesday's special roundtable discussion unanimously
echoed the sentiment of the Cuban government and people to offer any
assistance possible to the victims of the terrorist actions inside
the United States.
*WAVE OF APPREHENSION AND FEAR SWEEPS THROUGH US ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
Washington, September 13 (RHC)--A wave of apprehension and fear is
sweeping through the Arab and Muslim communities in the United States
in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. Members of the Arab-American and Muslim communities have
already received death threats and several have been attacked as
Americans lash out in anger against those they see as responsible.
Four bricks were launched Wednesday though the windows of an Islamic
bookstore owned by Hazim Barakat in Alexandria, Virginia. Barakat
told local media outlets that from his heart he is "really sorry for
the American people for what happened. The Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a prominent Washington-based Islamic
advocacy group, Wednesday faxed a letter to all members of Congress
asking them to support the American Muslim community as reports of an
anti-Muslim backlash begin to surface.
In the letter, the organization's Chairman, Omar Ahmad, and Executive
Director, Nihad Awad, said that American Muslims, along with all
other Americans, share the sense of grief and loss resulting from the
horrible attacks on innocent civilians in New York and Washington.
In addition, continued the letter, members of Arab and Muslim
communities are taking part in the recovery efforts through
volunteering medical expertise, donating funds to relevant relief
organizations and providing their life's blood to help those in need.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that Muslim women are
forced to remain in their homes because of widespread reports of
harassment against those who wear Islamic attire, Muslim children and
students are facing taunts by classmates and teachers and Islamic
institutions are receiving threatening calls and e-mail messages.
Following the terrorist bomb against a federal building in Oklahoma
by American terrorist Timothy McVeigh, some 200 attacks against Arabs
and Muslims were reported in the United States.
*ATTACKS SPARK DEBATE ON TRUE NATURE OF US NATIONAL INTERESTS AND SECURITY
Washington, September 13 (RHC)--The terrorist attacks in New York
and Washington have led to debate on the true nature of US national
interests and security. Saul Landau, Director of the Digital Media
and International Outreach Programs for the California State
Polytechnic University's College of Letters, Arts and Social
Sciences, has asserted that before voting for more military and
missile shield funds - which would not have prevented the low tech
terrorist operation -- the Senate should debate the nature of US
national interest.
Landau said that debate is missing since the onset of the Cold War.
Landau, a well-known writer, said that Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah
and California Democrat Diane Feinstein demanded more defense money
and immediate retaliation against Osama Bin Laden. Senior officials
of the administration, he said, referred to the terrorist acts as
acts of war, likened to Pearl Harbor, but didn't say what the enemy
wanted. Terrorism, said Landau, produces an absence of clear
thinking.
He recalled that 28 years ago US officials conspired to overthrow the
socialist government of Chile, that over five plus decades the United
States has backed Israel almost unconditionally in wars against its
neighbors and the Palestinians, that from the mid 1960s until 1974
the US defined as national security threats the people of Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia, who had done nothing to the United States but whom
Washington bombed and napalmed.
Landau also recalled that US planes regularly bomb Iraq, they have
hit Yugoslavia, Sudan and Afghanistan, and Washington formally and
informally sponsored terrorist campaigns against Cuba for some four
decades - adding that all this had been defined as US national
security.
In moral terms, he continued, Americans have only memorized the first
three words of the Christian adage "Do unto others", adding that now
sensitive Americans can understand, thanks to the barrage of TV
horror images, what the victims of Baghdad and Belgrade suffered from
US bombs.
*US ACTIVISTS MARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ATTICA PRISON UPRISING
New York, September 13 (RHC)--Activists around the United State
today held numerous activities to mark the 30th anniversary of the
Attica prison uprising in New York, four days of rebellion by one
thousand 281 prisoners demanding humane treatment. More than 500
state troopers assaulted the prison compound under orders from
then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
The troopers' gunfire killed 29 inmates as well as 10 guards being
held hostage. In a recent interview, one of the prominent
participants in the rebellion - Frank Smith - stated that the problem
isn't just with Attica or with prisons. He said it's with the
foundation the prisons are built on: selective prosecution, selective
arrest, class and racism. Smith was among the prisoners who underwent
torture.
After his release from prison, he became a paralegal and litigant in
the lawsuit that resulted in a 12 million dollar settlement with
prisoners after a 26-year legal battle. According to Elizabeth Fink,
the lead counsel for Attica prisoners in their civil rights case,
conditions in US prisons today are worse than they were at the time
of Attica.
Fink noted that at that time there were 11 prisons in New York State;
today there are 90. She said there were 11 thousand inmates in the
state; today there are 90 thousand. The attorney said the vast
majority of inmates do not belong in prison, but rather, in some form
of rehabilitation - most in drug rehabilitation. She added that the
potential for another Attica looms large today.
On September 9th, Court TV aired the documentary "The Ghosts of
Attica", produced and directed by David Van Taylor and Brad
Lichtenstein. Taylor and Lichtenstein said they had an incredible
opportunity to tell some truth about a story that continues to
produce archival evidence that had never been available before the
court settlement with the former inmates.
They said there was graphic evidence of the assaults and torture
committed by the state against inmates, and that the footage
demonstrated the depravity of state officials who went to great
lengths to cover up the brutality.
*PRESIDENT OF MALI CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, September 13 (RHC)-- The president of the African nation of
Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare, continues his official visit to the island
at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro.
The visiting African leader was formally welcomed Wednesday morning
at the Palace of the Revolution by Fidel Castro. Following the
ceremony, the two presidents led their country's delegations in
official bilateral talks.
During his visit, which will run through Saturday, the president of
Mali and his accompanying delegation will visit areas of economic,
scientific and historic interest. Mali President Konare will also
hold talks with the island's Minister of Education and visit Havana's
Latin American School of Medicine.
*VISITING U.S. DOCTORS CONDEMN WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF THE ISLAND
Havana, September 13 (RHC)-- Five U.S. doctors who are currently
visiting Cuba to evaluate the impact of Washington's blockade on
health care have strongly condemned their country's policies toward
the island.
Calling the blockade "an immoral and shameful policy," the medical
specialists said they were pleasantly surprised to find that there
were tremendous results in health care, despite Washington's policy.
The group is sponsored by Disarm Education Fund, a non-governmental
group that sends humanitarian aid to the island.
Doctor Jocelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General during the early
days of the Clinton administration, told reporters in Havana that she
was impressed by the system of preventive medicine in Cuba. She
stated that there was a great deal of work being done in the area of
health care in spite of the lack of modern equipment and advanced
medicines.
Another visiting physician, Doctor Julius Richmond, said that upon
his return to the United States, he would work to inform the American
people about the negative impact of the blockade on health in Cuba.
Julius Richmond is a professor at the Harvard University School of
Medicine.
Rodney Hood, President of the American Medical Association and
coordinator of the program that has allowed young U.S. medical
students to study in Cuba, told journalists that he was impressed by
the efforts made over the past 40 years by the Cuban Revolution in
the areas of health care and education. He expressed his confidence
that the young people from the United States studying medicine in
Cuba would receive excellent training.
*MORE THAN 7000 STUDENTS IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA PICK COFFEE
Santiago de Cuba, September 13 (RHC)-- More than 7000 high school
students along with their professors have been mobilized in the
eastern province of Santiago de Cuba to work in the coffee harvest.
This season's coffee crop is considered to be better than last
year's. For that reason, a total of 53,000 students will eventually
be incorporated into agricultural brigades related to the coffee
harvest.
*Viewpoint: A CALL FOR REFLECTION, RESTRAINT AND RESPONSIBILITY
There is no joy here in Cuba at the events of Tuesday. No one is
cheering or holding impromptu block parties to celebrate the most
astonishing act of terrorism in history against what has been for
Cuba an implacable enemy for 40 years. There is, instead, a profound
feeling of shock, revulsion and compassion and very real apprehension
about the cries for vengeance that emanate from every corner of the
White House and the US Congress.
The most powerful nation on earth has been put on a war footing and
history has taught us all what to expect when Washington starts
waving the cudgel self-righteously. The families of almost a million
Japanese, four million Koreans, three million Vietnamese, and
thousands of Iraqis and Yugoslavians can all attest to what occurs
when the Oval Office scrambles its bombers.
It is hard to avoid the obvious accusation that an editorial such as
this will be viewed as a cheap shot against a weakened United States,
but there is an urgent need to respond to staggering and
inconceivable statements from US politicians and people calling for
the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in an almost
triumphal assertion that this is their first war of the 21st century.
The sabre rattling is deafening and very frightening to us all. US
mainstream media is stirring the hatred by airing statements from
people "on the street" calling for an immediate strike, an immediate
all-out war against the "enemy." But who is the "enemy?"
The enemy are successive Washington administrations that have for
more than five decades promoted terrorism on an enormous scale across
the globe.
Administrations that have trained international military personnel in
techniques of torture and terrorism in its meek-sounding School of
the Americas.
Administrations that have for 40 years permitted and supported
terrorist attacks against its island neighbor whose only crime was to
advocate a different socio-political system. Administrations that
introduced the world to nuclear holocaust, to carpet bombing, to
horrendous use of phosphorous and napalm bombs.
Administrations that maintain an economic blockade that is directly
responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children's
lives. Administrations that support one of the most repressive,
brutal and racist regimes on earth with massive flows of money and
weapons to use against the Palestinian people. Administrations that
financed the Latin American dictatorships of the eighties and then
later "apologized" for some of the unspeakable crimes they committed
in the name of "democracy."
Tuesday was the anniversary of the US sponsored coup in Chile in
which a legitimately elected government was brought down with extreme
violence. The man behind this event and the covert wars within
Cambodia and Argentina, Henry Kissinger, is one of those that today
clamour for a "tough and decisive" response to the attacks in New
York and Washington, who clamours for a blind war against an
invisible enemy.
Few doubt that Washington has just suffered the consequences of its
actions across the globe. Even if Osama Bin Laden is found to be
responsible, the people of the US should know that he was previously
trained and used by the CIA in its war against the former government
of Afghanistan. George W. Bush will seek to take the war to another
part of the globe where more civilians can pay for the death of US
civilians without their blood and disfigured bodies being shown on
CNN.
No solution will be forthcoming in the destruction of those deemed
responsible. The enemy will still be there because the enemy comes
from within. The CIA supported Noriega, Marcos, Sukarno, the Shah,
Idi Amin, Mobuto, the Contra, Pinochet, the Argentinian generals,
d'Aubuison, Somoza, Batista, Stroessner et al - the list is long and
represents the obliteration of hundreds of thousands of civilian
lives. In Panama 2,000, in Nicaragua 30,000, in El Salvador 75,000,
in Guatemala over 150,000, in Indonesia 300,000.
The people of the US can surely no longer remain immune from the
terrorism their governments provoke, promote and tolerate in their
name. After the rage, the hatred, and the clamouring for vengeance
have subsided, the time for reflection must come. War should be
declared on the real threats to humanity: AIDS, racism,
neo-colonialism, ruthless free market profiteering and Washington's
"democracy" of domination.
That way the poverty and desperation that creates the kind of hatred
of the US that leads to such unspeakable acts of terrorism will be
avoided. The security and welfare of the United States clearly
depends on social justice for all. There must be a change in this US
psyche of isolation and pre-eminence or we shall all be brought to
the brink of disaster once more.
The people of Cuba indeed share in the pain and distress of their
neighbors, but at the same time they are reminded of the fact that
five of their own were recently found guilty in a Florida court for
combating this very same kind of despicable terrorism that has so
stupefied the world after its use against the US.
The chickens have come home to roost and there is no smugness or
satisfaction in saying it -- just very sincere anxiety for what may
follow.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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