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Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 03:54:16 -0500
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-12 November 2001
Radio Havana Cuba-12 November 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 12 November 2001
.
*FIDEL CASTRO TOURS AREAS AFFECTED BY HURRICANE MICHELLE
*PROGRESSIVES IN MIAMI FORM CUBA HURRICANE RELIEF COMMITTEE
*FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE TO SPEAK AT UNITED NATIONS ON TUESDAY
*GATHERING AGAINST FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS GEARS UP IN HAVANA
*ITALIANS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
*STUDY REVEALS GORE WOULD HAVE WON ELECTION WITH A FLORIDA RECOUNT
*WTO CLOSE TO AGREEMENT ON Rx PATENTS, FAR APART ON OTHER ISSUES
*UN REPORTS NORTHERN ALLIANCE LOOTING, KILLING AND KIDNAPPING
*NORTHERN ALLIANCE HOLD HALF OF AFGHANISTAN, ON OUTSKIRTS OF KABUL
*INTERNATIONAL PESSIMISM ON POST-TALIBAN COALITION GOVERNMENT
*AMERICAN AIRLINES CRASH IN NYC NOT SEEN AS TERRORISM
.
*FIDEL CASTRO TOURS AREAS AFFECTED BY HURRICANE MICHELLE
Matanzas, November 12 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro on Sunday
toured areas hard hit by Hurricane Michelle. During visits to the
provinces of Matanzas and Villa Clara, the Cuban leader told
reporters that he was impressed with the recovery efforts by local
residents.
Speaking with victims of the storm damage, the Cuban president
reassured them that the response of work crews will be "in record
time." He also reiterated that no one will be left abandoned and that
the government will provide people with materials to rebuild their
damaged homes.
Recovery work continues throughout the areas most affected by the
powerful storm, which was the strongest hurricane to hit the island
in more than 50 years. Damage was widespread, covering more than 45
percent of the island's territory -- a little over five million of
the country's 11 million inhabitants.
In terms of agricultural damage, sugar and citrus were the two export
crops most affected by Hurricane Michelle. Nearly one million acres
of sugarcane -- which was to be harvested later this month and into
December -- was flattened by the hurricane-strength winds.
In related news, the government of Belize has offered to send relief
aid to Cuba in the wake of Hurricane Michelle. According to reports
from Belmopan, the Belizean capital, the aid will consist of food
stuffs and other emergency assistance.
*PROGRESSIVES IN MIAMI FORM CUBA HURRICANE RELIEF COMMITTEE
Miami, November 12 (RHC)-- Progressive groups in Miami have announced
that they're putting together a Cuba Hurricane Relief Committee to
collect and transport medicine, food and other humanitarian aid. The
Miami Coalition Against the U.S. Embargo, the Cuban Committee for
Democracy, the Antonio Maceo Brigade and the Cuban American Defense
League, among others, have issued a statement insisting that the
donations will be given without conditions to the proper Cuban
institutions responsible for their distribution to the needy
population.
The statement added that the Cuba Hurricane Relief Committee
absolutely rejects any attempt to condition in any manner donations
offered to the Cuba people as the result of the natural disaster.
*FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE TO SPEAK AT UNITED NATIONS ON TUESDAY
New York, November 12 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
Roque is heading the island's delegation to the 56th Session of the
United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Meeting with other delegates and representatives of Third World
countries at UN Headquarters on Monday, Cuba's top diplomat is slated
to address the world body tomorrow, Tuesday.
During his stay in New York, Felipe P�rez Roque will also attend
ministerial meetings of the Movement of Non-Aligned Nations and the
Group of 77.
*GATHERING AGAINST FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS GEARS UP IN HAVANA
Havana, November 12 (RHC)-- The Hemispheric Conference Against the
Free Trade Area of the Americas gets underway tomorrow, Tuesday, in
the Cuban capital. The gathering will be attended by more than 400
representatives of 60 organizations and social movements from 37
countries.
In statements to the weekly newspaper Trabajadores, the director of
the Center for the Studies of the World Economy, Osvaldo Mart�nez,
stated that the main objective of the regional gathering is to
analyze the effects of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA).
The Cuban economist emphasized that delegates attending the meeting
-- which runs through Friday, the 16th -- will bring new ideas and
strategies with them to Havana to fight against neo-liberal
globalization.
Osvaldo Mart�nez warned that Washington's project for so-called "free
trade" is nothing more than a plan to economically annex Latin
America and the Caribbean to the United States. "It is a clear
attempt to impose the old imperialist dream," which is actually a
nightmare for our peoples and will only bring greater poverty and
misery to the region.
The Cuban economist said that among the participants at the gathering
will be representatives from trade union organizations, religious
groups, indigenous activists, environmentalists and representatives
from youth and women's organizations.
*ITALIANS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
Viareggio, November 12 (RHC)-- Nearly 200 Italians took part in a
solidarity with Cuba meeting held over the weekend in Viareggio.
Representatives of 86 solidarity and friendship organizations based
in Italy met to discuss their present and future work.
The gathering was held on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the
Italy-Cuba Friendship Association, with the aim of further
strengthening solidarity toward the Cuban Revolution. On hand for the
event was the President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the
Peoples (ICAP), Sergio Corrieri, and Havana's Ambassador to Italy,
Mar�a de los Angeles Flores.
*STUDY REVEALS GORE WOULD HAVE WON ELECTION WITH A FLORIDA RECOUNT
Washington, November 12 (RHC)-- An independent study of the vote in
last year's US presidential race in Florida has revealed that Al Gore
would have won in a recount of all the state's ballots. Eight U.S.
media outlets contracted a $900,000 study by the University of
Chicago which found that Gore would have won by a narrow margin of
between 42 and 171 votes.
The Associated Press, CNN, Tribune Company, The New York Times, The
Washington Post, the St. Petersburg Times, The Palm Beach Post and
The Wall Street Journal-sponsored study also determined, however,
that had the Supreme Court allowed the partial recount requested by
Gore, George W. Bush would have maintained his lead. Gore had
publicly defended a full vote recount, but only petitioned the
Supreme Court for a partial review.
The revelation this weekend led White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
to impatiently reiterate that Bush won and that it's time to move
forward, while Bush advisor Carter Eskew said it's time to leave
behind the bitterness. The media organizations that contracted the
study had originally declined to publish its results, which were
ready around the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Observers had speculated that the media didn't want to embarrass the
Bush administration at that particular time. It wasn't clear why they
decided to publish the results now.
*WTO CLOSE TO AGREEMENT ON Rx PATENTS, FAR APART ON OTHER ISSUES
Doha, November 12 (RHC)-- At the World Trade Organization's
ministerial meeting in Qatar, delegates are closer than ever to an
agreement on pharmaceutical patent rights, according to Brazilian
Trade Minister Sergio Amaral. Amaral said there is light at the end
of the tunnel. A rough draft of the accord, according to the AFP news
agency, retains the premise established by Brazil and India that WTO
patent regulations should not impede member nations from taking the
necessary measures to protect public health.
Observers and journalists covering the event, however, have noted
that despite an eventual accord on the issue, other items under
negotiation are advancing slowly. In the sphere of agriculture, the
total elimination of export subsidies, demanded by many developing
nations, is up against opposition by the United States, the European
Union and Japan. These countries are in favor of a gradual, not a
total elimination of subsidies. Rich nations are also opposed to
further opening their markets to the textile industries of Third
World nations. The disputes and disagreements reportedly did away
with the euphoria following China's official membership in the WTO,
announced Saturday after 15 years of negotiations, and Sunday's
admittance of Taiwan following 12 years of talks.
The atmosphere is now reportedly pessimistic, as trade ministers
desperately hope to avoid a repetition of the 1999 failure in Seattle
during the WTO's last ministerial gathering.
*UN REPORTS NORTHERN ALLIANCE LOOTING, KILLING AND KIDNAPPING
Rome, Islamabad, November 12 (RHC)-- Afghanistan's anti-Taliban
Northern Alliance is looting, carrying out executions, kidnapping and
deporting civilians in the recently conquered city of Mazar-I-Sharif,
according to the United Nations World Food Program. The
organization's spokespersons in Islamabad and Rome said it had 8
workers in the city and that 89 tons of food have been stolen from
its deposits.
Of the city's 250,000 inhabitants, 102,000 reportedly depend on
monthly rations of food aid. Mazar-I-Sharif has exchanged hands on
several occasions in the past years of civil war in Afghanistan, and
has been the scene of massacres perpetrated by both the Taliban and
the Northern Alliance.
On Sunday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson called
on the armed opposition to protect the city's civilian population,
recalling the history of vengeance and civilian losses that have
accompanied its diverse military occupations.
*NORTHERN ALLIANCE HOLD HALF OF AFGHANISTAN, ON OUTSKIRTS OF KABUL
Islamabad, November 12 (RHC)-- The Northern Alliance has taken
control of approximately 50 percent of Afghanistan, occupying key
provinces and cities and now on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.
Washington and London, however, have called on the armed opposition
to not occupy Kabul until there is a coalition government to replace
the Taliban.
Among the occupied cities is Herat, the gateway to the Taliban
stronghold Kandahar - the most important city in western Afghanistan.
Kandahar is the home of supreme Taliban leader mullah Mohammed Omar,
and is believed to be the principle base of Osama Bin Laden.
According to observers, the rapid manner in which the Taliban are
collapsing suggests that many of its combatants are changing sides
instead of putting up resistance, a common occurrence among the
numerous factions in Afghanistan dating back to the Soviet
intervention in that nation.
Observers are also saying that it remains to be seen whether the
opposition can maintain the pace of its offensive as it approaches
Taliban bastions in the south, where the majority of inhabitants are
of the same ethnic group as the Taliban.
*INTERNATIONAL PESSIMISM ON POST-TALIBAN COALITION GOVERNMENT
Islamabad, November 12 (RHC)-- As the Northern Alliance advances in
Afghanistan, members of the international community are expressing
concern over what direction the country will take if the Taliban
regime falls. Still present the memory of the anarchy and mass
murders committed in Kabul by the Northern Alliance warlords in April
1992, pessimism reigns about the possibility of a political
leadership representing all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups and that
would satisfy the opposing interests of the country's neighbors.
Afghan-Uzbek General Abdur Rashid Dostum has already declared
Mazar-I-Sharif his group's bastion, the Tajik militia have claimed
exclusive rights over Talokan and the Hazan-Shiites claim Bamian.
Pakistan, meanwhile, Monday reiterated its opposition to a dominating
role of the Northern Alliance in any future Afghan government.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry stated that if a political process fails
there will be more civil war in Afghanistan. The United Nations has
expressed support of an international interim government similar to
that established in East Timor, but neither would all the factions
support such a move.
*AMERICAN AIRLINES CRASH IN NYC NOT SEEN AS TERRORISM
Washington, November 12 (RHC)-- The White House has announced that
terrorism does not seem to be behind the Airbus A-300 American
Airlines plane that crashed into a neighborhood in Queens, New York
with 255 passengers on board. Though White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer refused to totally discard a terrorist attack, he said
there was no unusual communication from the crew in the cabin, that
there was no threatening message or warning.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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