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Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:02:05 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-18 Sept 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 18 September 2001
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*CUBAN EXPERTS EXAMINE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION AFTER SEPT 11 ATTACKS
*PRIME MINISTER OF ST. VINCENT/GRENADINES MEETS WITH CUBAN OFFICIALS
*SINCE 1997, CUBA HAS PREVENTED HIV/AIDS TRANSMISSION TO NEWSBORNS
*EGYPT, OTHER US ALLIES CAUTIOUS ON US TERROR WAR
*CRISIS PROVOKES EXAMINATION OF US ROLE IN CREATING TALIBAN REGIME
*IN US, A RISING CHORUS QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT AND THE MEDIA
*Viewpoint: ONE WEEK LATER
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*CUBAN EXPERTS EXAMINE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION AFTER SEPT 11 ATTACKS
Havana, September 18 (RHC)--Cuban journalists and experts in
international affairs analyzed the present situation in the wake of
last week's tragic events in the United States. During Monday
evening's roundtable discussion, broadcast live on Cuban radio and
television, special attention was devoted to Washington's
preparations for military strikes against those they believe are
responsible for the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.
TV and radio commentator Eduardo Dimas warned that the United States
was on a war footing, psychologically preparing public opinion for a
military response to the events of last week. He said that statements
by U.S. authorities over the past several days -- including President
George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell -- have all
pointed in the direction of a major military action.
Panelists on the roundtable discussion agreed that any escalation of
the violence would only generate more bloodshed. Randy Alonso, the
moderator of the program, noted that many countries around the world
are reportedly being pressured by Washington to sign-on to the
impending military strikes -- but are cautioning the U.S. not to take
imprudent actions. The roundtable discussion aired by Cuban radio and
television Monday evening stressed that the drums of war being heard
in Washington could lead the world to a conflict of incalculable
consequences.
In related news, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarc�n said that
the present international situation requires "wisdom and moderation"
in order to avoid further tragic and even perhaps more disastrous
events. Condemning last week's terrorist actions in New York and
Washington as "unjustifiable and totally reprehensible," the head of
Cuba's Parliament recalled that President Fidel Castro has strongly
come out against the tragic events.
Ricardo Alarc�n said that while he feels that justice must be done,
the problem now is how to apply it. The Cuban legislative leader said
that the United Nations should play a role, avoiding at all costs a
unilateral response. And he added that "actions should be carefully
thought out and must be based on international law and principles."
Alarc�n spoke with reporters in Paris, following a meeting with his
French counterpart, Raymond Forni.
*PRIME MINISTER OF ST. VINCENT/GRENADINES MEETS WITH CUBAN OFFICIALS
Havana, September 18 (RHC)--The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, continues his official four-day
visit to the island. Following the formal welcoming ceremony and
talks with Cuban President Fidel Castro, Ralph Gonsalves met with
Marta Lomas, Cuba's Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic
Cooperation.
The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines led his
country's delegation to the Second Bilateral Mixed Commission. During
the opening session of the meeting, work groups were created to deal
with bilateral relations in the areas of trade and investments,
health, education, sports, agriculture and industry.
Addressing participants at the inaugural session of the Mixed
Commission, Cuba's minister of foreign investment pointed out that
between April and June this year, the number of Cuban
internationalists carrying out missions throughout the world reached
6682 in 95 countries. Marta Lomas added that more than 8000 young
people are studying in Cuban schools -- including 5018 at the Latin
American School of Medicine and 578 at the International School of
Sports and Physical Education. She said there were a total of 22
medical students from St. Vincent and the Grenadines studying
free-of-charge on the island.
The Deputy Prime Minister and head of Foreign and Commercial
Relations of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Louis Straker, stated
that no one in this hemisphere has anything to fear from Cuba. He
emphasized that Cuba only offers friendly assistance to its
neighbors, which has gained international respect for the island.
*SINCE 1997, CUBA HAS PREVENTED HIV/AIDS TRANSMISSION TO NEWSBORNS
Havana, September 18 (RHC)--Cuba has registered only nine cases of
vertical transmission (from mother to child) of the HIV virus since
1986. According to a study issued by the Cuban Health Ministry, over
the past 15 years, 84 children were born to mothers with HIV/AIDS.
The report says that of the nine newborns with HIV, three have died.
The other children are three, four, eight and nine years of age, and
two children have lived the age of 15.
Although treatment is very expensive, Cuba provides all medical care
free of charge. AZT has been administered to all pregnant women with
HIV/AIDS since 1997 and since that time, no cases have been reported
of direct transmission from mother to child.
The Cuban Health Ministry also notes that a program of early
detection has been implemented throughout the island, aiding in the
treatment of the deadly virus.
*EGYPT, OTHER US ALLIES CAUTIOUS ON US TERROR WAR
El Cairo, Paris, Bonn, London, September 18 (RHC)--Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak has affirmed that it's too early to talk of
an alliance against terrorism and that the United States should think
twice before taking military action that would kill civilians.
Mubarak, whose country is a key US ally in the Middle East, said
Washington has to be very careful about attacking a country because
of one individual and killing innocent people as a result.
In an interview broadcast Monday on CNN's Larry King Live program,
the Egyptian President stressed that "we have to work hard not to be
in a hurry, not to jump to conclusions unless you have hard evidence
about who did it." US officials have cited the Gulf War coalition as
a model for what they are trying to achieve now, but Mubarak said
Egypt would prefer to see a United Nations conference agree on an
anti-terrorism convention similar to conventions imposing
international inspections of nuclear facilities.
Other US allies have continued to pledge support for its war on
terror, but many are reportedly cool on military strikes against
Afghanistan. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has stated that
evidence needs to be assembled in order to pursue those responsible
for last week's terrorist attacks, while French Foreign Minister
Hubert Vedrine has warned that a "clash of civilizations" must be
avoided.
Vedrine said he hoped American leaders can come up with a strong and
justified response to what has happened without falling into the
diabolical trap conceived by the instigators of the assault. German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
have warned that a reaction should not create more instability than
was previously the case.
Experts and analysts, meanwhile, are questioning Washington's
military options. Michael O'Hanlon, analyst with the Brookings
Institution, said that a land invasion against Afghanistan's Taliban
regime could work, but at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.
He added, however, that it could also fail due to the difficult
terrain in Afghanistan and its combatants' long tradition of
resistance.
Andrew Krepinevich, military expert and director of the Center for
Strategic and Budget Matters, said small scale commando operations to
capture or kill Osama Bin Laden would require time, excellent
intelligence, remote bases and the cooperation of countries like
Pakistan and Iran.
*CRISIS PROVOKES EXAMINATION OF US ROLE IN CREATING TALIBAN REGIME
Paris, Washington, September 18 (RHC)--The terrorist attacks against
the United States are sparking increasing commentary on the US role
in establishing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Writing from
Paris, Gilles Bertin, AFP's correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan
between 1987 and 1989, said Washington gave strong support to the
fundamentalist Mujahedeen in Afghanistan in order to beat back the
Soviets and obtain vengeance for its defeat in Vietnam.
Bertin said Osama Bin Laden was a pillar of that fundamentalist
movement, adding that the US CIA and Pakistani intelligence services
provided the most radical factions with 80 percent of their weapons,
supplies and money.
According to Bertin, at the time European experts and analysts
accused the United States and Pakistan of building a time bomb by
isolating the more moderate and pro-western fundamentalists. The
former correspondent said more moderate Muslim sectors in Afghanistan
often had to protect western journalists as the radical
fundamentalists supported by the CIA did not hide their hostility
towards the west.
Other press reports are asserting that Washington is worried about
the land-to-air stinger missiles provided to anti-Soviet forces in
Afghanistan that can now be used against US military forces.
It's estimated that following the arrival of the Soviets in
Afghanistan in 1979, the CIA invested more than $2 billion over a
period of 10 years to support the resistance of 200,000
fundamentalist Mujahedeen from 20 Islamic countries. By the
mid-1990s, the Taliban and Pakistani intelligence services had found
a new source of funds: the planting, processing and trafficking of
heroin. In July of this year, a Pakistani brigadier general was
sentenced to 8 years in prison for possessing a $40 million bank
account and vast properties of inexplicable origin.
*IN US, A RISING CHORUS QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT AND THE MEDIA
Pomona, California, September 18, (RHC)--More voices in the United
States are increasingly questioning government and media reactions to
the September 11th terrorist attacks. Saul Landau, author and
director of the Digital Media and International Outreach Programs at
the California State Polytechnic University's College of Letters,
Arts and Social Sciences, has written that Americans have ingested a
TV, radio and print diet of bombast, hyperbole and sheer nonsense.
Posted on the Internet, Landau's article "The Questions Not Asked as
The Empire Strikes Back" asserted that while messages from elected
leaders, so-called experts and actors posing as TV anchors stress
retaliation, few in power or the limelight have asked about the
enemy's objectives. Asking what exactly is the cause of those who
carried out the terrorist attacks, he said this is a question those
in power should be debating before rushing madly around the world
with troops, missiles and extreme belligerence.
Landau said Congress didn't even discuss the crisis, but simply voted
massive amounts of money for a confused president to use as he
wishes, while destroying the fiscal soundness of social security and
Medicare. He said it's time for study, thought and debate.
*Viewpoint: ONE WEEK LATER
As thousands of Afghan civilians pour out of their cities in fear of
what is to come, the administration of George W Bush ponders its
options in retaliation for last Tuesday's horrors.
The immediate questions are: Why would those who caused the mayhem in
New York and Washington be concerned by threats against their lives
when they have clearly indicated by their actions that their lives
are expendable?
Does the US president not realize he is playing into the hands of
such people by placing his nation on a war footing and thereby
disrupting the entire world? And who are the victims of any US
engagement likely to be? The people of Afghanistan who live under
what is probably the most repressive and brutal regime on earth, and
who have nothing to do with harboring the likes of Osama bin Laden.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Washington has determined
that "American spy agencies should be allowed to combat terrorism
with more aggressive tactics, including the hiring of unsavory
foreign agents." When, one asks, did the CIA stop hiring unsavory
agents? Let us not forget that one of these "unsavory agents" was Bin
Laden himself, successfully trained to bring the Taliban into power,
just as past US administrations brought in and supported the Khmer
Rouge in Cambodia -- at the cost of three million Cambodian lives.
The Washington Post reported in May that the Bush administration
"pledged $43 million in assistance to Afghanistan, raising total aid
this year to $124 million" -- clear support for the Taliban's
ruthless but politically useful regime.
The CIA was supposed to be aware of the movements and operation of
Bin Laden, according to a directive signed by former US President
Bill Clinton, yet the agency's disastrous failure in New York and
Washington is being rewarded with the allotment of more fabulous sums
of money to carry on doing the same, taking away from essential
domestic programs like Medicare and social security.
In spite of headlines from US newspapers churning out things like the
Washington Times' "Time to Use the Nuclear Option" or the
Philadelphia Inquirer's "Give War a Chance," which pound away at the
US public, it is hard to believe that Bush will have popular support
for any type of attack against Afghanistan. One of the more emotional
moments in the aftermath of the World Trade Center destruction was
the sight of lines of New Yorkers giving blood to assist the injured.
Although there has been much flag-waving and cries for vengeance, the
larger part of the population of the United States are able to see
clearly through their grief, and there have been many calls for
restraint and reflection from inside the US, not just from abroad.
As Washington says, the struggle against terrorism should involve a
concerted effort on the part of the world's nations. Events such as
those of seven days ago have affected us all. However, the answer is
not to invoke NATO's defense clause in which one country attacked
must be militarily defended by all the others, as Bush is seeking to
do. The answer is to use the $40 billion just voted by Congress to
carry war into the Third World, and instead carry out a massive
attack against poverty, injustice, racism and marginalization with
the cooperation and involvement of every nation on earth.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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