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Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 03:01:27 -0400
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-17 October 2001
Radio Havana Cuba-17 October 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 17 October 2001
.
*PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO INAUGURATES TRAINING SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
*WORLD DAY AGAINST POVERTY COMMEMORATED IN CUBA
*SALT WITH FLUORINE WILL REDUCE TOOTH DECAY
*TROPICAL MEDICINE INSTITUTE APPLIES NEW THERAPY TO COMBAT AIDS
*DOMINICAN PRESS PRAISES PERFORMANCE OF CUBA'S "BUENDIA" THEATER GROUP
*PENTAGON SPENDS MILLIONS TO SUPPRESS SATELLITE PHOTOS OF AFGHANISTAN
*WAR AGAINST TERRORISM ALREADY LOST, SAYS JOHN LeCARRE
*AID ORGANIZATIONS CONTINUE PLEADING FOR PAUSE IN BOMBING OF AFGHANISTAN
*SHARON THREATENS TO CUT OFF PEACE PROCESS AFTER ASSASSINATION OF MINISTER
*WASHINGTON POST CALLS FOR ACCOUNTING OF PEOPLE DETAINED AFTER ATTACKS
*Viewpoint: BOMBS AND PEANUTS
.
*PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO INAUGURATES TRAINING SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
Santa Clara, October 17 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro on
Tuesday inaugurated a new school to train social workers. The
facility, located in the central city of Santa Clara, has a capacity
for 1200 students, who are from the provinces of Villa Clara,
Cienfuegos and Sancti-Spiritus.
During the ceremony -- attended by students, professors, local
authorities and guests -- the Cuban leader stressed the importance of
the work of social workers. He said social workers should detect and
try to solve the needs and problems of citizens, especially people
with few economic resources, old people who live alone and the
visually, physically and mentally impaired.
The Cuban president stated that social workers also help young people
who have dropped out of school and are on the streets. He said they
need a tutor or a friend, someone who can give them a piece of
advice, guide them, help them find a job or choose a career. He also
made reference to some of the 70 social and educational programs
developed by the Revolution and announced that in January, all
primary schools in rural areas will have computers. In addition,
there will be no classrooms with more than 20 students.
The Cuban leader also commented on the new television channel that
will be operating in a few weeks, which will be devoted to
educational programs. At first, the new channel will broadcast to the
two Havana provinces and then to eastern Santiago de Cuba, thus
covering one-third of the island's population.
The new training school for social workers opened in central Santa
Clara is the fourth such school on the island, which will graduate a
total of some 7,200 students this year.
*WORLD DAY AGAINST POVERTY COMMEMORATED IN CUBA
Havana, October 17 (RHC)-- Today, October 17th, is the World Day
against Poverty. Here in Cuba, the day was commemorated with an
activity at the offices of INFOMED, a computer network linked with
hospitals and clinics across the island.
Speaking at the special event, Luis Gomez Echeverri, Havana's
representative of the United Nations Development Program, said that
poverty "is a multi-dimensional tragedy, bringing with it disease,
epidemics, illiteracy, hunger and the destruction of the
environment."
The UN official said poverty is a serious violation of human rights
-- constituting a dramatic situation that cannot be justified in any
way. He told those gathered for the event that the UN agency
dedicates the date each year to a theme or sector that contributes to
the eradication of poverty. This year, the UN Development Program
dedicated October 17th to the new information and communication
technologies that can help to eliminate poverty.
*SALT WITH FLUORINE WILL REDUCE TOOTH DECAY
Havana, October 17 (RHC)-- Adding fluorine to salt distributed in
Cuban markets will contribute to a 40 percent reduction of tooth
decay. The addition does not imply an increase in its consumption and
also requires other measures to keep ones teeth strong and healthy,
such as hygiene or a good diet.
The process of adding fluorine to salt began a month ago at the Frank
Pais salt plant, located in eastern Guantanamo province.
According to Dr. Maritza Sosa, from the National Program for the
Fluoridation Salt -- part of the island's Ministry of Health -- told
the reporters that almost 100 percent of the Cuban population will
consume salt with fluorine during the first several months of next
year.
The effectiveness of fluorine to combat tooth decay was discovered by
scientists in 1949.
*TROPICAL MEDICINE INSTITUTE APPLIES NEW THERAPY TO COMBAT AIDS
Havana, October 17 (RHC)-- A new multi-drug therapy for people
affected by AIDS is being applied at Havana's Pedro Kouri Tropical
Medicine Institute, known as IPK, with favorable results.
Dr. Manuel Diaz, deputy director of IPK, told journalists that since
the beginning of the treatment last June, mortality due to the
incidence of what they call opportunistic diseases has decreased, and
thus, life expectancy for those patients have increased.
Dr. Diaz reiterated that AIDS patients suffer a deterioration of
their immune system and highlighted the advantages of the new
treatment, through which patients return to a more satisfactory
condition.
Recommended by the World Health Organization, this anti-retroviral
therapy is used internationally, but not as widely as here on the
island, where it's available to all AIDS patients.
Over the last few years, Cuba has had notable results in its fight
against AIDS, through the National AIDS Program.
The IPK, founded in 1937, has the mission of providing medical
attention to people suffering from diseases caused by parasites as
well as to broaden the study of tropical medicine. It has also played
an important role in the struggle against dengue and epidemic
neuropathy, among other diseases.
*DOMINICAN PRESS PRAISES PERFORMANCE OF CUBA'S "BUENDIA" THEATER GROUP
Havana, October 17 (RHC)-- The Dominican Listin Diario and El Caribe
newspapers dedicated a large amount of space to praise the
presentations of the Cuban "Buendia" Theater group, which performed
in Santo Domingo. The good use of music and dance were among the
characteristics highlighted.
Cuban playwright Raquel Carrio told reporters that their performance
of the play Las Bacantes drew lots of people to the theater over the
weekend, who gave a warm reception to the Cuban artists.
*PENTAGON SPENDS MILLIONS TO SUPPRESS SATELLITE PHOTOS OF AFGHANISTAN
London, October 17 (RHC) -- The Pentagon has spent millions of
dollars to prevent western media from seeing highly accurate civilian
satellite pictures of the effects of bombing in Afghanistan,
according to the Wednesday edition of the British news daily "The
Guardian." The images are reportedly taken from the Ikonos advanced
civilian satellite launched in 1999 and are better than the spy
satellite pictures available to the military during most of the cold
war.
"The Guardian" reported that the extraordinary detail of the images
already taken by the satellite includes a line of terrorist trainees
marching between training camps at Jalalabad, noting that at the same
resolution it would be possible to see bodies lying on the ground
after bombing attacks. According to the British news daily, under
American law the US defense department has legal power to exercise
what's called "shutter control" over civilian satellites launched
from the US in order to prevent enemies using the images while the
country is at war.
But no order for shutter control was given, even after the bombing
raids began. The decision to shut down access to satellite images was
reportedly taken last Thursday after reports of heavy civilian
casualties in an overnight bombing north-west of Jalalabad. Instead
of invoking its legal powers, reported "The Guardian", the Pentagon
bought exclusive rights to all Ikonos satellite pictures of
Afghanistan from the company that runs the satellite, the Space
Imaging firm.
The news daily noted that the US military does not need the pictures
because it already has seven imaging satellites in orbit, four of
which take photographic images estimated to be six to 10 times better
than the one meter resolution available from Ikonos.
*WAR AGAINST TERRORISM ALREADY LOST, SAYS JOHN LeCARRE
Bonn, Toronto, October 17 (RHC)British writer John Le Carre has
asserted that the war against terrorism has already been lost. In an
article contributed Wednesday to the German news daily "Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung", Le Carre said it's practically impossible to
prevent Osama Bin Laden from being converted into a martyr by his
followers, and that after his annihilation Bin Laden's armies in the
shadows will grow instead of disappearing.
He affirmed that the Saudi multi-millionaire is probably celebrating
in his cave because western nations are doing exactly what he wanted:
expanding police powers, suspending some civil rights, limiting
freedom of the press, intensifying veiled censorship and, in the
worst of cases, assaulting mosques and persecuting people whose skin
color sparks fear.
The British author said that after the cold war western nations lost
a magnificent opportunity to conceive a new world order and
decisively confront poverty, tyranny, intolerance and racism. Le
Carre said the war is a savage but necessary and humiliating police
action whose objective is to neutralize the western world's political
blindness that led to arm fanatic Islamic militants to use them as
instruments to fight against the former Soviet Union.
In an article published last weekend by "The Globe and Mail" in
Toronto, Canada, the British author said that though Osama bin Laden
and his men should be hunted down, unfortunately what the US and
Great Britain need, even above retribution, is more friends and fewer
-enemies - but that they're storing up for themselves more enemies.
He said we cannot prevent another suicide bomber being born each time
a misdirected missile wipes out an innocent village, and no one can
tell us how to dodge this devil's cycle of despair, hatred and - yet
again - revenge.
*AID ORGANIZATIONS CONTINUE PLEADING FOR PAUSE IN BOMBING OF AFGHANISTAN
Islamabad, October 17 (RHC) -- Humanitarian agencies have continued
calling for a pause in the bombardment of Afghanistan in order to
renew the transportation of food to the needy. While UNICEF warned
this week that 100,000 children could die of starvation when Winter
begins in mid-November, 5 other humanitarian agencies have asserted
that as many as 500,000 people in remote regions will find themselves
isolated by the snow within the next 4 weeks.
Oxfam International, Islamic Relief, Christian Aid, Tear Fund and
Action Aid launched the appeal in Islamabad, asserting that US
President George Bush is running the risk of sacrificing hundreds of
thousands of innocent lives in pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. The
organizations stated that there's no doubt that the American people
require that justice be done, but not at the cost of allowing
hundreds of thousands of Afghans to die of hunger. The United Nations
estimates that 50,000 tons of food will have to arrive in Afghanistan
before Winter sets in.
*SHARON THREATENS TO CUT OFF PEACE PROCESS AFTER ASSASSINATION OF MINISTER
Tel Aviv, October 17 (RHC) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has
announced the cancellation of all contacts with the Palestinian
National Authority following the assassination of Tourism Minister
Rejabam Zehevi, sparking fears in the international community of a
definitive suspension of the Middle East peace process and an
escalation of the violence in occupied Palestinian territory. Amid
widespread criticism of Israel for its selective assassinations of
Palestinian activists, Sharon has personally blamed Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat for the murder.
The Israeli Prime Minister said the assassination marks a new stage
in the peace process. The announcement came just hours after Sharon
expressed a willingness to negotiate the conditions for an
independent Palestinian state - conditions that are far from pleasing
the Palestinians. The Palestine Popular Liberation Front, meanwhile,
took responsibility for the assassination, asserting that the
ultra-right wing tourism minister was a member of the Israeli
cabinet's security commission that gave the order last month to
assassinate their leader, Abu Ali Mustafa.
The tourism minister's political party is considered one of the most
extremist right-wing groups in Israel, in favor of annexing all
Palestinian territories and sending the entire Palestinian population
to other Arab nations. Arafat denounced the assassination and ordered
authorities to arrest any eventual suspects.
*WASHINGTON POST CALLS FOR ACCOUNTING OF PEOPLE DETAINED AFTER ATTACKS
Washington, October 17 (RHC) -- The "Washington Post" has asserted
that it's time for the US Justice Department to give an accounting of
how many people have been detained in connection with the September
11th terrorist attacks. An editorial in the news daily's Wednesday
edition, entitled "A Need For Sunlight", asked how many are still in
custody, who are they, what are the charges against them and where
and under what conditions are they being held.
With an estimated more than 600 people detained in the course of the
government's investigation, the editorial noted that there have been
complaints that some should never have been picked up, are being held
unjustly and even mistreated. Recalling that Attorney General John
Ashcroft has declared that the government actions have been
"consistent with the framework of the law", the "Washington Post"
insisted that Ashcroft has offered no supporting detail.
The editorial asserted that the government has a responsibility to
act as aggressively as it can to prevent further terrorist attacks
and at the same time to act with constitutional restraint. In recent
days and weeks, several major newspapers in the United States have
reported specific cases of individuals released after having been
arrested, confined in difficult conditions, isolated and either
denied legal assistance or allowed limited visits by attorneys
following several days or even a week after their detention.
*Viewpoint: BOMBS AND PEANUTS
The United States is pretending to the world that it is involved in
a two-pronged campaign in Afghanistan, the first, to fight a to war
against terrorism and the second linked to the so-called humanitarian
aid for the people of this central Asian country. But it is difficult
for anyone to rationalize that bombers have been ordered to drop
bombs on one of the poorest countries in the world for the tenth
consecutive day, at the same time as airplanes drop several tons of
food and medicines.
In a patently clear propaganda action, inside and outside its
territory, the US government is promoting monetary donations from the
children of the US destined for Afghanistan. Their own President
George W. Bush exhorted the children to donate a dollar for the
Afghan children at risk, but he didn't mention in his message that
the head of their country is directing a campaign of war against that
nation.
According to Bush, to send donations to the Afghanistan children is a
demonstration of love, friendship and compassion, although this is
obviously a smoke screen to dilute the growing worldwide protests
clamoring for an end to their belligerent actions. At the same time
that Washington is looking for donations consisting of money,
medicines and equipment; it is investing millions of dollars to
finance the war against the Afghan.
>From the 7th October, the start of the bombing campaign against
Afghanistan, the US military exercise has used more than two thousand
rockets and bombs to attack communication sites, government centers
and towns. Furthermore it is more than a little far fetched to
believe that the shipments dropped by the airplanes will end up in
the hands of the Afghans, who actually have to change their location
constantly to hide from the projectiles that are raining down on
them.
The US State Department must realize that their so-called
humanitarian action will be viewed somewhat cynically by the world.
They cannot feed and kill the same person and that is known in the
Islamic world, where anti war demonstrations have increased since the
7th of October, date of the first attack against Afghanistan.
But the over-exaggerated vast US arsenal of propaganda will achieve
little in persuading that their the aggressive operations are
justified. In fact, they constitute a manifestation of hate and take
the lives of thousands of innocents.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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