From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001 16:03:14 -0500 (EST)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-02 November 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 November 2001
.
*MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO TOURS MATANZAS
*PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
*CUBA SOLIDARITY GROUP QUESTIONS WASHINGTON'S DEFINITION OF TERRORISM
*PABLO MILANES SLATED TO PERFORM IN MEXICO CITY
*GUATEMALANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM IN HAVANA EXPRESS REGRET FOR THEIR ACTS
*U.S. MEDIA WATCHDOG DEPLORES CNN COVERAGE OF AFGHANISTAN WAR
*PENTAGON CHANGES COLOR OF FOOD PARCELS DROPPED IN
AFGHANISTAN TO PREVENT CONFUSION WITH CLUSTER BOMBS
*DOUBLE STANDARD SEEN IN WASINGTON'S DISREGARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL
PATENT RIGHTS IN THE ANTHRAX SCARE
*ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT FINALLY ANNOUNCES EIGHTH ECONOMIC PROGRAM;
MARKET AND OBSERVERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL
Viewpoint:
*WAR ON AFGHANISTAN FAILS TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES DESPITE BRUTAL BOMBING
.
*MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO TOURS MATANZAS
Matanzas, November 2 (RHC)-- Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano,
wrapping up a six-day official visit to Cuba, toured the province of
Matanzas on Friday and visited the tourist installations of Varadero
Beach.
Earlier, the African leader toured Playa Gir�n -- also known as the
Bay of Pigs -- site of the CIA-sponsored mercenary invasion of the
island in April 1961. Speaking with reporters covering his visit, the
Mozambican president said the liberation struggles of the African
continent were greatly helped by Cuba's victory against the mercenary
invaders. He noted that the struggle against Portuguese colonialism
was just beginning in Mozambique when Cuba gained its independence,
adding: "Had you not won [the fight against the U.S.-backed invasion],
our success would have been impossible".
At the beginning of his visit this week, the Mozambican president
toured the Latin American School of Medicine and the International
School of Sports and Physical Education, both located on the outskirts
of Havana. He praised Cuba's gains in health and education, noting
that the Cuban Revolution has generously offered its help in these and
other areas to the rest of the Third World.
The African leader told journalists that one of today's major concerns
in the world is poverty, but that wars and conflicts are currently
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." And he
added, "We must discover the fundamental, root causes of these
conflicts and do whatever we can to eliminate them".
The Mozambican president will wrap up his visit to the island
tomorrow, Saturday.
*PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
Havana, November 2 (RHC)-- The President of the Principality of
Asturias, Vicente Alberto Alvarez Areces, met on Friday with Cuban
Foreign Minister Felipe P�rez Roque. He also toured the Salvador
Allende Hospital in Havana, the Latin American School of Medicine and
the Museum of Fine Arts.
President Alvarez Areces arrived in the Cuban capital Wednesday
evening and 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 -- the
Asturian delegation will visit places of interest and plans to meet
with members of the Asturian community in Cuba.
*CUBA SOLIDARITY GROUP QUESTIONS WASHINGTON'S DEFINITION OF TERRORISM
Seattle, November 2 (RHC)-- In an open letter to the editor of the
daily Seattle Times, a Cuba solidarity group has questioned
Washington's definition of terrorism. The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities
Association says that while the events of September 11th were obvious
terrorist attacks, "how is terrorism defined and by whom?".
The open letter points out that Cuba is considered by the U.S.
government to be a country that sponsors terrorism. "However, Cuba
does not presently pose a military security threat nor has it been
convicted of any terrorist activity. On the contrary, Cuba is known
for exporting doctors as international relief workers, training
medical students from poor countries for free, having exemplary public
health care, high literacy rates and low infant mortality rates".
The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities Association notes that Cuba's
achievements can serve as models for other countries. The
letter-to-the-editor points out that "including Cuba on a list of
terrorist nations and thereby preventing Americans from traveling to
Cuba is clearly a policy that deserves to be questioned".
According to the solidarity organization, members of the Sister Cities
Association have traveled to Cuban towns, communicated openly with the
people, visited schools, medical institutions, churches, community
centers as well as the homes of local residents. The goal of the group
is to foster people-to-people exchanges "so that Americans can see for
themselves what life is like in Cuba and create an open dialogue." The
open letter states that "without such current information based on
personal experience, Americans will continue to be susceptible to
propaganda about Cuba and will be unable to engage in intelligent
debate about its role in "terrorism".
The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities Association encourages readers of the
letter, as well as their government representatives, "to learn about
Cuba, travel to Cuba or talk to those who have, listen to multiple
viewpoints and make their own decisions".
*PABLO MILANES SLATED TO PERFORM IN MEXICO CITY
Mexico City, November 2 (RHC)-- Popular Cuban singer/songwriter Pablo
Milan�s will offer a free, open-air concert in Mexico City's Z�calo on
Sunday.
According to the director of Mexico's Cultural Institute, British pop
star Elton John had also been invited to perform, but turned down the
offer -- claiming that he was not assured of adequate security
measures in the open plaza area.
Pablo Milan�s recently performed a series of concerts in the Mexican
capital, promoting his latest recording entitled "Pablo Querido"
("Dear Pablo"). The CD includes more than 20 compositions by the Cuban
artist, sung with internationally-renowned musicians. Colombian writer
Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez recorded an introduction for Pablo's new CD.
*GUATEMALANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM IN HAVANA EXPRESS REGRET FOR THEIR ACTS
Havana, November 2 (RHC)-- Three Guatemalans standing trial in Havana
on charges of terrorism have expressed regret for their acts, asking
forgiveness from the Cuban people. Trial proceedings against Nadel
Kamal Musalem, Jazid Fernandez Mendoza and Maria Elena Gonzalez de
Fernandez began Thursday, with Havana's district attorney's office
requesting 30, 25 and 20 year prison sentences.
The three Guatemalans pleaded guilty to charges that they attempted to
smuggle into Cuba 432 grams of explosives to be used in terrorist
attacks against tourist installations, revealing that they were hired
by Francisco Chavez Abarca -- a member of Miami's ultra right-wing
Cuban-American National Foundation. They said Abarca promised to pay
them 1300 dollars for each bomb explosion.
Cuban authorities insist, and say they have ample evidence, that the
terrorist attacks against the island's tourism infrastructure was
planned in Miami and El Salvador, with the help of Luis Posada
Carriles -- terrorist of Cuban origin currently imprisoned in Panama
-- and financed by Miami's CANF.
All three defendants, arrested in March 1998, testified that they did
it for the money, that there was no political motive. The foreign
press and Guatemalan diplomats have access to the trial proceedings.
*PENTAGON CHANGES COLOR OF FOOD PARCELS DROPPED IN
AFGHANISTAN TO PREVENT CONFUSION WITH CLUSTER BOMBS
Washington, November 2 (RHC)-- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
Thursday announced a change in the color of the food parcels launched
over Afghanistan, so that they won't be confused with cluster bombs.
Until now, the wrapping of the food parcels was the same color,
yellow, as the cluster bombs, but will now be changed to blue.
At a press conference in Washington with the head of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, Air Force General Richard Meyers, Rumsfeld also defended the
use of cluster bombs in the bombardment of Afghanistan, asserting that
the September 11 terrorist attacks give the U.S. every right to use
this anti-personnel weapon. He also said that until the color is
changed the yellow food parcels will continue to be dropped over
Afghanistan even though they're the same color as the cluster bombs.
*DOMESTIC WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS SCRUTINIZED BY FEDERAL AGENTS IN
ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION
Paris, November 2 (RHC)-- The U.S. government is coming under fire for
its disregard of pharmaceutical patent rights in the anthrax scare
while opposing the right of Third World nations to do the same in the
face of the AIDS epidemic. French Foreign Trade Minister Francois
Huwart has affirmed that Washington is applying a double standard by
forcing the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer to reduce its price for
Cipro, the anthrax antibiotic.
In statements Friday to the French news daily "Liberation", Huwart
noted that the United States and Switzerland are radically opposed to
a trade accord on intellectual property rights that does not impede
exceptional health measures in cases like the struggle against AIDS,
which is promoted by 60 developing countries led by Brazil and India.
A US congressional panel Thursday proposed that Washington set up a
government-owned pharmaceutical laboratory to produce vaccines in the
case of a massive bioterrorist attack, which is precisely what the US
government has opposed when it comes to dealing with AIDS in
underdeveloped countries.
South Africa had to engage in a three-year legal battle to get the
world's leading pharmaceutical firms to reduce the cost of AIDS
medication. The intellectual property rights issue is on the agenda of
the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference next week in
Doha, Qatar. Observers believe that Brazil and India could reject
another round of trade talks if their demand is not satisfied, which
would lead to another failure for the WTO following its debacle in
Seattle in December 1999.
*DOUBLE STANDARD SEEN IN WASINGTON'S DISREGARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL
PATENT RIGHTS IN THE ANTHRAX SCARE
San Francisco, November 2 (RHC)-- U.S. federal agents hunting for the
source of the nation's anthrax attacks are scrutinizing a host of
homegrown terrorists with grudges against anyone from nonwhites to
non-Christians, according to the Thursday edition of the "San
Francisco Chronicle". As has been widely reported in alternative media
outlets, Chronicle staff writer Kevin Fagan wrote that investigators
are looking at domestic hate groups like the white supremacist Aryan
National Alliance and the Christian fundamentalist Army of God.
The article quoted former FBI profiler Robert Ressler, who said that
though shocking, it has to be admitted that there are people in the
U.S. who will launch anthrax attacks for thrills or for some sick
agenda. It also quoted Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center
-- a racism watch organization -- who stated that American hate groups
have had caches of anthrax and other deadly bioweapons for at least a
decade.
Fagan pointed to the thwarted 1999 plot by a Texas militia to fire
anthrax-tipped darts from converted lighters, noting that the chatter
since September 11 on extremist hate-group Web sites has leaned
heavily toward joining in the attack. The article also quoted Gary
Ackerman, a bioterrorism specialist at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies, who affirmed that domestic terror groups in the
U.S. are capable of launching such an attack and have just as much
motivation as Osama Bin Laden to cause terror.
*ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT FINALLY ANNOUNCES EIGHTH ECONOMIC PROGRAM;
MARKET AND OBSERVERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL
Buenos Aires, November 2 (RHC)-- Under pressure, Argentinean President
Fernando de la Rua finally announced his eighth economic program in
less than two years. The economy, however, responded negatively - with
another stock index nosedive and a new record-breaking investment risk
factor - while observers and local media outlets are expressing
skepticism.
Admitting that "many aren't pleased with the government", de la Rua
said he will maintain his decision to continue paying the foreign
debt, not devaluate the national currency, maintain the currency's
exchange rate and consolidate his zero government spending plan. He
asked creditor nations to renegotiate Argentina's 132 billion dollar
foreign debt in order to reduce the debt's interest rate, while
announcing a social contract with the most needy that basically
consists of welfare checks for five million poor children and 500,000
elderly people living below the poverty line.
De la Rua also announced tax cuts to stimulate production and job
creation. The "Ambito Financiero" news daily called the plan an
"audacious" effort to prevent a moratorium on foreign debt payments,
but expressed doubts that it will work. The "Buenos Aires Economico"
daily wrote that de la Rua disguised a foreign debt payment default
while praying that the market believes him. Argentina's ultra
neoliberal Center for Macroeconomic Studies called some aspects of the
plan interesting, but did not see how it would encourage consumption.
Financial consulter Hernan Fardi said the magnitude of the
government's loss of credibility practically condemns to failure any
type of new economic measures. Argentina has been in recession now for
the past 42 months, with a such a sharp decrease in economic activity
and tax collection that for the past year observers have been
questioning the country's capacity to pay its foreign debt.
Viewpoint:
*WAR ON AFGHANISTAN FAILS TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES DESPITE BRUTAL BOMBING
After four weeks of unrelenting air attacks mounted by the two most
powerful armies against one of the world's most backward countries,
the only results exhibited have been the mutilated bodies of children.
Surely these children, massacred by the U.S. and British military, had
never in their short lives known of the existence of those powers and
their first contact with the so-called "latest" developments in
military technology, was also their last.
Those stark images and the destruction of humble dwellings of mud and
rocks are what remain in the minds of observers after 27 days of
attacks and four thousand bombs, in a spiral of mistakes and horror.
That is why people around the world are beginning to feel
uncomfortable, while in the major European cities tens of thousands
have taken to the streets calling for an end to the war of vengeance
waged on innocent victims.
It is impossible to predict how long the strength of the military
alliance against Afghanistan will last, but already the British labor
government is being pressured both from within and from abroad, with
demands for explanations about how the war is proceeding. Some
experts, like colonel Terence Taylor, of London's International
Institute for Strategic Studies, believe that the military imprecision
that has been demonstrated in the air attacks, stems from insufficient
intelligence gathering.
Even the commander of the Royal British Navy, Roger Lane, told the
British Broadcasting Company, BBC, that Britain would not send troops
to Afghanistan until the war's objectives have been adequately
identified. Enthusiasm for the war is also diminishing in the United
States itself. According to a New York Times survey, among those who
are not opposed to the current Republican administration, only 25 per
cent of those questioned believe that the war is going very well, 58%
say it is going well, and 13 percent feel it is going badly.
Though most people in the United States still support the war, which
is promoted by an intense media campaign, there has been a noticeable
decline in that support. It is obvious that the phantom of Vietnam
still exists in the hearts and minds of Americans. And it will become
even more a factor if ground troops are sent in large numbers to
Afghanistan, and begin returning in pine boxes.
And finally, though the world is already at war, there is always time
to stop and reflect on the situation, and hopefully public opinion
will eventually take the side of peace. We can only hope that it will
be sooner and not later.
(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]
__________________________________________________
