From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-31 October 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 October 2001
[RHC's connectivity problems continue, but we managed to obtain their
French, Spanish and English news for October 31. as of midnight, we
are still attempting to get the Portuguese news.-- NY Transfer]
.
*MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
*HAVANA'S TRADE FAIR DEMONSTRATES GROWING BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IN CUBA
*"LA RUMBA SOY YO" WINS LATIN GRAMMY FOR BEST FOLKLORIC ALBUM
*PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS ARRIVES IN HAVANA
*U.S. BOMBS OVER AFGHANISTAN HIT HOSPITAL IN KANDAHAR, KILLING 15
*BROAD-BASED POST-TALIBAN AFGHAN GOVERNMENT UNLIKELY, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
*"WASHINGTON POST" BLASTS U.S. GOVERNMENT SECRECY ON 1,000 DETAINEES
*WHITE HOUSE ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER LATEST WARNING OF IMMINENT TERROR ATTACK
*TALIBAN STILL DEFIANT AFTER FOUR WEEKS OF BOMBARDMENT
Viewpoint:
*ARGENTINA: UP AGAINST AN ECONOMIC WALL
*AS WAR FALTERS, US ENACTS NEW REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
.
*MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, October 31 (RHC)-- Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano
continues his official visit to the island, with tours of the Cuban
capital, Old Havana and the province of Matanzas.
On Tuesday, the African leader visited the Jose Marti Memorial,
located in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion. He later toured the Latin
American School of Medicine and the International School of Sports
and Physical Education.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Mozambique's president
affirmed that the world is at a dangerous crossroads. He said one of
today's major concerns is poverty, but that wars and conflicts are
getting all the attention. Joaquim Chissano said: "In our opinion,
the fight against poverty and the search for solutions to the most
urgent problems of humanity are the only way to resolve conflicts."
The Mozambican president noted that the international situation is
affecting the economies of many countries around the world, creating
divisions and fueling hatred. "We must discover the fundamental, root
causes of these conflicts and do whatever we can to eliminate them."
He added that his country is deeply concerned about Washington's
attacks on Afghanistan and the loss of innocent lives.
On Wednesday, the African leader traveled to the province of Matanzas
and toured Playa Giron, also known as the Bay of Pigs -- site of the
1961 CIA-sponsored invasion of the island.
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano will visit numerous places of
social and economic interest during his stay in Cuba, which ends
Saturday, November 3rd.
*HAVANA'S TRADE FAIR DEMONSTRATES GROWING BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IN CUBA
Havana, October 31 (RHC)-- Havana's 19th International Trade Fair is
well underway at the EXPOCUBA exhibition center. More than 1800
companies from 60 countries are represented at this year's event.
Cuba's Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez told reporters covering
the international exhibit that the increased participation is
evidence of growing business confidence in Cuba.
While touring the Canadian pavilion at the Trade Fair, the island's
foreign trade minister noted that commercial trade between Havana and
Ottawa so far this year has risen by 18 percent with respect to the
same period of time last year.
Havana's International Trade Fair runs through Sunday, November 4th.
*"LA RUMBA SOY YO" WINS LATIN GRAMMY FOR BEST FOLKLORIC ALBUM
Los Angeles, October 31 (RHC)-- The long-awaited announcement of the
winners of this year's Latin Grammy Awards brought good news to Bis
Music in Havana. The Best Folkoric Album Award went to Cuban producer
Cary Diez and arranger Joaquin Betancourt for their powerful,
multi-artist compilation of authentic rumba called "La Rumba Soy Yo."
Bis Music produced the award-winning album.
The winners of the Second Annual Latin Grammy Awards -- an event that
was moved from Miami to Los Angeles because of anti-Cuban protests in
southern Florida, and then put on hold in the wake of the events of
September 11th -- were finally announced Tuesday evening at a news
conference in Los Angeles.
Cuban nominees for the Grammys -- including salsa singer Issac
Delgado and pianist Chucho Valdez -- traveled to the United States in
early September for the awards ceremony. But the musicians returned
to Havana following the abrupt cancellation of the event, which had
been scheduled for the same night as the attacks against the World
Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
Before coming back home, the Cuban musicians donated blood at a local
children's hospital in Los Angeles -- a donation for the victims of
the tragic events of September 11th.
*PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS ARRIVES IN HAVANA
Havana, October 31 (RHC)-- The President of the Principality of
Asturias, Vicente Alberto Alvarez Areces, arrived in Havana Wednesday
evening. The official visit of the Asturian leader fulfills an
invitation by Cuban President Fidel Castro.
President Alvarez Areces is accompanied by a large delegation of
government officials and business representatives from the Spanish
autonomous community.
This is the first visit of the Asturian president since taking office
in July 1999. During their stay -- which runs through Sunday,
November 4th -- the Asturian delegation will visit places of interest
and plans to meet with members of the Asturian community in Cuba.
*U.S. BOMBS OVER AFGHANISTAN HIT HOSPITAL IN KANDAHAR, KILLING 15
Kabul, October 31 (RHC)-- U.S. bombs over the southern Afghan city
of Kandahar reportedly hit a hospital and a home, claiming the lives
of 15 civilians. The attack on Kandahar began several hours after a
group of 29 Pakistani and western journalists arrived in the city on
the first Taliban-conducted tour there since air raids began four
three weeks ago.
The journalists were taken to a hospital of the Afghan Red Crescent,
the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross, where Doctor Obeidallah
Hadid said 15 people had been killed and 25 severely injured.
Reporters could not see the bodies, but saw some of the injured.
They were also able to see extensive damage to the clinic and to the
bombarded home. In western Herat province, there were reports that
residents in Jabraheel - the site of several UN refugee camps - have
found small explosives the Taliban say were dropped two nights ago
when the U.S.-led coalition used cluster bombs. One person reportedly
died after picking up a small bomb, though this could not be
independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, amid daily reports of civilian victims - many
independently confirmed - the executive director of the CNN TV
network, Walter Issacson, has called on reporters to not concentrate
solely on producing images of the devastation and destruction in
Afghanistan. According to "The Washington Post", Issacson called for
more balance, terming as perverse too much coverage of the victims
and devastation.
*BROAD-BASED POST-TALIBAN AFGHAN GOVERNMENT UNLIKELY, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
Islamabad, October 31 (RHC)-- The United Nations special
representative for Afghanistan has affirmed that there are many
Afghan exile leaders but little unity. Following two days of talks
with exile groups in Pakistan, UN official Lajdar Ibrahimi stated
that he still has no guarantee that an eventual fall of the Taliban
regime won't lead to another civil war in Afghanistan.
Ibrahimi's consultations coincide with a series of visits by western
diplomats to Afghanistan's neighboring countries in an effort to
hammer out a political accord in a post-Taliban Afghanistan that
would be acceptable to all parties, but the UN official said there is
little perspective for such an eventuality.
Ibrahimi added that the UN objective of promoting a broad-based
government in Afghanistan comes up against the country's extreme
poverty, the latent distrust among its ethnic groups, its culture of
violence and the abundance of weapons. He said a significant sector
of Muyahidin leaders have a long history of political betrayal and
the establishment of alliances of convenience based on personal
interests.
*"WASHINGTON POST" BLASTS U.S. GOVERNMENT SECRECY ON 1,000 DETAINEES
Washington, October 31 (RHC)-- "The Washington Post" has blasted the
U.S. government's refusal to release information regarding the more
than 1000 persons detained in its investigation of the September 11
terrorist attacks. In its lead editorial Wednesday, the news daily
affirmed that it shouldn't be necessary for civil liberties and other
groups to resort to filing a request for the data under the Freedom
of Information Act.
The editorial noted that the Justice Department not only refuses to
provide the answers, but also doesn't give a serious explanation of
why it won't provide them. Admitting that authorities have an
enormously difficult task in the prosecution of any surviving
conspirators and the prevention of a recurrence of the attacks, the
Post editorial asserted that at the same time - lest it abandon some
of the very principles it is fighting - the government must act
within traditional constitutional bounds.
Recalling that Attorney General John Ashcroft has denied that the
arrests have exceeded those bounds, the editorial affirmed that if
the government's response has been as benign as claimed, why not
release the data and put the questions that have come to arise at
rest. Meanwhile, the AP news agency in New York Wednesday reported
another denunciation of abuse against those arrested. Saudi Arabian
Yazeed al-Salmi, a former room mate of one of the hijackers, told AP
after his release that he and others were treated worse than animals,
isolated, blindfolded, stripped, beaten and prevented from sleeping.
*WHITE HOUSE ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER LATEST WARNING OF IMMINENT TERROR ATTACK
Washington, October 31 (RHC)-- Numerous media outlets are reporting
that White House officials found themselves on the defensive Tuesday
after Americans reacted more with bemusement than alarm to the
administration's warning to be on alert because of a new "credible
but non-specific" threat of a terrorist attack. In TV appearances and
then at a press conference, Washington's Director of Homeland
Security, Tom Ridge, gave what the British news daily "The Guardian"
called a "spluttering" defense of the decision to go public on the
subject at all, admitting that it had been a marginal one.
Ridge also gathered with congressional leaders expressing concern
over the public alert, some of whom where saying that there was also
concern that too many warnings could lead the population to not take
them seriously. Illinois democratic Senator Richard Durbin expressed
doubts over the practical aim of warnings that only generate more
fear.
*TALIBAN STILL DEFIANT AFTER FOUR WEEKS OF BOMBARDMENT
Kabul, October 31 (RHC)-- After four weeks of air raids the Taliban
regime continues expressing defiance, asserting that it won't be
easily defeated. Taliban Education Minister Amir Jan Muttaqi, also
spokesperson for supreme leader mullah Mohammed Omar, Wednesday told
the Associated Press news agency that Afghanistan's lack of
sophistication is precisely why it can't be easily defeated. He said
the country has no sophisticated computer, communications and
aviation systems - that it lacks an infrastructure whose destruction
would plunge the nation into chaos.
Viewpoint:
*ARGENTINA: UP AGAINST AN ECONOMIC WALL
The feeble attempts by Argentine president Fernando de la Rua to
appear optimistic by assuring the people that there will be no
devaluation of the national currency nor will the government end its
foreign debt payments, is nothing more than a last ditch effort to
try and stop his popularity from plummeting. Just a few hours after
this week's free fall of the Argentine markets and the country's
soaring risk index, the Argentine president insists on ignoring the
unmistakable demands for change reflected in the elections held
earlier this month. Members of the ruling government Alliance
suffered a crushing defeat and not only did the Peronists emerge
victorious, but voters made it clear that they wanted De la Rua to
make major changes in his economic program.
Even though the president has done everything in his power to soothe
the public by promising not to apply new economic measures, the delay
in that announcement and the drop in international confidence
regarding Argentina's ability to pay its debts, has sent markets into
a nose dive and pushed up the country's risk factors to an all time
high bestowing on the South American nation the dubious honor of
ranking among the world's least desirable countries for investment.
Also contributing to the sharp drop in the Buenos Aries markets are
serious problems in coming to an agreement with the country's
governors who are demanding more than a billion dollars monthly to
pay off budget deficits.
In the midst of their manifest inability to end the crisis, Argentine
officials insist on keeping in place a zero-deficit plan, which
contemplates the lowering of salaries and pensions by up to 13
percent in a desperate attempt to balance the national budget. Tens
of thousands of unemployed, that block the country's highways,
strikers and other sectors are demanding the elimination of the plan.
The head of the Argentine cabinet, Cristian Colombo, issued a
pathetic call to political and social sectors and the business
community to come to some sort of national understanding to try and
save the sinking economy, but his plea appears to have fallen on deaf
ears. But how can a consensus be reached in a country that has had
eight economic adjustment packages foisted on it the last few years
alone, by three economic ministers appointed one after the other
since December l999?
After 41 months of recession, Argentina's future looks dim. Now, not
even support from the International Monetary can be held out as the
"solution". Not after the long series of previous loans have only
served to put off the inevitable total bankruptcy of the national
economy.
*AS WAR FALTERS, US ENACTS NEW REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
Three weeks of intense bombing of Afghanistan has failed to produce
the announced collapse of the government. Nor has the anti-Taliban
alliance been able to reclaim a square meter of territory. Meanwhile,
international rejection of the war has begun to open the eyes of
many.
The United States and Great Britain can only show the dubious results
of their massive bombardments, plagued by mistakes which have
troubled many people. As time goes on it will be difficult to
maintain Muslim support especially if the attacks continue during
Ramadan which signals the most sacred month for believers of that
religion.
But as the military adventure, the first of the Third Millennium,
begins to spring leaks on various fronts, the United States has
passed a worrisome new anti-terrorist law. On Friday President George
W. Bush signed legislation that has greatly troubled humanitarian and
civil rights organizations. Under this new draconian law,
intelligence agencies are authorized to carry out secret operations
listening, watching and reading the communications of anyone they
suspect could be planning terrorist acts.
This will mean the loss of privacy in one fell swoop. Now telephone
conversations can be listened in on without a warrant, microphones
can be planted in homes and automobiles, in offices or in all three
places . People's most intimate activities can be spied upon and the
courts will be unable to interfere.
But that is just the beginning. Now the CIA finally has something it
has been desiring for decades: it can now legally mount covert and
open actions inside the United States. Not that anyone believes it
wasn't already done, but it was done clandestinely and exposure could
bring legal action against the spy agency.
Among the many troubling issues is that those who exercise their
constitutional right to assemble, that is, participants or promoters
of protest demonstrations, could for political reasons, be
interpreted as pro -"terrorist".
Finally, if you have the bad luck of being an undocumented immigrant
in the United States, now you can be detained without a legal order
and be held to obtain information seven full days before being turned
over to a court of law.
This law has brought new fears to the common people in the United
States, not from far away foreign enemies, but from the very
institutions that are designed to protect them and insure their
security. More and more the United States is looking like the police
states it so loudly deplores.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=================================================================
_________________________________________________
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]
__________________________________________________
