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Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 01:09:37 -0500
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-22 November 2001
Radio Havana Cuba-22 November 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 22 November 2001
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*PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN LIMA FOR 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT
*CUBA CONDEMNS USE OF FOOD AS A POLITICAL WEAPON
*U.S. STUDENTS, ENROLLED IN "SEMESTER AT SEA," TO ARRIVE IN HAVANA
*POLITICAL DEATH-ROW PRISONER MUMIA ABU-JAMAL LOSES ANOTHER LEGAL BATTLE
*BRITISH OFFICIAL'S CRITICISM OF US SPARKS DISPUTE ON DOWNING STREET
*PORTLAND, OREGON REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH FBI TERROR SWEEP
*NORTHERN ALLIANCE REJECTS ANY TALIBAN IN FUTURE AFGHAN COALITION GOVERNMENT
*REBELS AND GOVERNMENT IN COLOMBIA STILL TRADING VERBAL GUNFIRE
*Viewpoint: IBERO AMERICA - A DECADE OF PROMISES
.
*PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN LIMA FOR 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT
Lima, November 22 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez has
arrived in Lima, the Peruvian capital, to attend the 11th
Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Governments.
Shortly before leaving for Peru Thursday morning, Cuba's top diplomat
spoke with journalists at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.
He said the Cuban delegation would take part "in a frank, open and
wide-ranging discussion on the work done over the past ten years of
Ibero-American Summits."
Cuba's foreign minister noted that he would have a packed agenda,
beginning with a ministerial meeting with his Ibero-American
counterparts on Friday. Felipe Perez Roque also announced that he
would travel from Lima to the United Nations on Sunday to participate
in the current session of the UN General Assembly. He said that on
Tuesday, November 27th, Cuba would introduce its annual resolution on
the need to end Washington's economic blockade against the island.
In the Peruvian capital, the Ibero-American cooperation coordinators
continued negotiations on a draft of "The Declaration of Lima," which
will be signed by the participating regional heads of state and
governments on Saturday. Following a thorough review of the 50-page
text, the document will be submitted to the foreign ministers for
discussion on Friday.
While attending another ministerial meeting leading up to the Summit,
Cuba's finance minister -- Manuel Millares -- told reporters that he
hoped the island's economy would grow by at least three percent this
year, despite the damage caused by the biggest hurricane to hit Cuba
in more than 50 years. Millares took part in a preparatory meeting of
economy ministers and officials from Latin America, Spain and
Portugal.
Havana's finance minister said that Hurricane Michelle had forced
Cuba to readjust the island's growth estimates for 2002. Manuel
Millares said that while authorities are still reviewing the numbers,
it is generally believed that the island will maintain a three
percent growth next year.
The island's economy minister told journalists that Cuba's citrus
harvest -- which officials say is heading for a production of one
million tons a year -- had been particularly hard hit by the recent
storm. But he emphasized that the sugar harvest would recover and can
still hit an official goal of four million tons this year. He said
that while the sugar crop had been seriously affected by Hurricane
Michelle, "we will be able to get back on track and meet our goals."
*CUBA CONDEMNS USE OF FOOD AS A POLITICAL WEAPON
New York, November 22 (RHC)-- Cuba has strongly criticized the use
of food as a political weapon. According to Prensa Latina News
Agency, Cuba filed a draft resolution in the United Nations on
Wednesday -- calling the use of food as a weapon "a violation of
human dignity and the right of all people to have access to an proper
diet."
The resolution, which is co-sponsored by another 70 UN member-states,
was presented in the Third Commission of the UN General Assembly --
dedicated to issues related to human rights. The proposal will be
submitted to a vote in an upcoming plenary session of the world body.
Cuba and the other co-sponsors of the draft resolution insist that it
is intolerable that 826 million people in the world -- mostly women
and children -- lack basic nutrition. The document urges all UN
member-nations to take whatever measures are necessary to alleviate
hunger, also calling for a better distribution of resources.
*U.S. STUDENTS, ENROLLED IN "SEMESTER AT SEA," TO ARRIVE IN HAVANA
Pittsburgh, November 22 (RHC)-- More than 600 undergraduate
students will arrive in Havana on December 5th aboard the S.S.
Universe Explorer, the maritime campus for a global studies program
called "Semester at Sea."
The vessel is the only ship carrying U.S. students to be licensed to
dock in Cuba. Havana is the last port of call for these students, who
are enrolled in the Fall 2001 term of "Semester at Sea," an
international studies program academically sponsored by the
University of Pittsburgh and administered by the Institute for
Shipboard Education.
Before the students return to their final destination in Miami, they
will spend four days of cross-cultural exchange and educational
travel within Cuba. Despite adjustments that had to be made to the
Fall itinerary, the program includes Cuba for the fifth time in the
past two years as an integral part of the academic program.
According to organizers of the "Semester at Sea," students have
written letters of invitation to Cuban President Fidel Castro to meet
with them -- as he did last year -- to discuss the past and future
relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. Such cross-cultural exchanges
have often occurred during visits to many other countries including
Vietnam, China and South Africa, where students have previously met
with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The 645 "Semester at Sea" students, who represent 260 different
colleges and universities, left Vancouver, Canada on August 31st and
will have visited Japan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, the
Seychelles, South Africa and Brazil before arriving in Havana.
Courses offered are accredited by the College of Arts and Sciences at
the University of Pittsburgh and can be fully transferable to the
student's home institution. Students choose from approximately 75
lower and upper division courses in a variety of disciplines and
classes meet daily while the ship is at sea. The faculty is made up
of visiting professors from institutions across the U.S. and abroad.
The entire faculty has extensive resident international experience,
which serves to integrate course content with countries on the
itinerary. Over 34,000 students have participated in the program
since it began in 1964.
*POLITICAL DEATH-ROW PRISONER MUMIA ABU-JAMAL LOSES ANOTHER LEGAL BATTLE
Philadelphia, November 22 (RHC)-- A judge in the US state of
Philadelphia has ruled that she does not have jurisdiction over
African-American political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal's petition for a
new trial. Twenty years after Mumia was arrested and later convicted
for the killing of a police officer, in a trial riddled with racism
and other irregularities, Judge Pamela Dembe's decision does away
with hopes for another round of state-court appeals.
The award-winning journalist and former member of the Black Panther
Party is arguing that his former lawyers did a poor job and that he
has new evidence that could clear him. Still pending is his federal
appeal, but neither have the federal judges involved in the case
indicated that they will allow any new evidence to become part of the
official record.
The new evidence includes the videotape of an individual confessing
the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, and
evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial error and racism on
the part of the first judge to preside over the case, Albert Sabo -
also widely known as "the hanging" judge. Numerous celebrities and
political leaders in the US and around the world have rallied to
Abu-Jamal's cause, saying he was railroaded by a racist justice
system.
The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
noted that Judge Dembe picked the day before thanksgiving to post her
decision, at approximately 3 pm, hoping that supporters of the
African-American political prisoner would be unable to mobilize.
Those supporters, however, are organizing what they hope will be a
massive demonstration in Philadelphia on December 8th, the 20th
anniversary of his frame-up on murder charges.
*BRITISH OFFICIAL'S CRITICISM OF US SPARKS DISPUTE ON DOWNING STREET
London, November 22 (RHC) -- A British government official's
criticism of the United States over Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis
Thursday sparked a dispute in Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet. As
Downing Street attempted to ease diplomatic tension with the White
House, an undeterred Clare Short - Secretary of State for
International Development - gently mocked the Americans for dropping
"jam, crackers and peanut butter" on refugees.
The divisions between members of Blair's war cabinet became public
after Short accused the US of lacking commitment to the humanitarian
effort, urging the rapid deployment of troops on the ground to ensure
aid was delivered. Meanwhile, British foreign correspondents in
Kabul, writing for "The Guardian" news daily, Thursday reported that
there is frustration as America gives food low priority in
Afghanistan.
The correspondents reported that the ironically-named Friendship
Bridge linking Uzbekistan and Afghanistan remained closed on
Wednesday, with mounds of barbed wire obstructing the way for tons of
much-need food aid for the Afghans. Noting that aid workers are
leaving the Friendship Bridge crossing in disgust, the report
affirmed that its closing is the most visible sign of the differences
between the US and Europe in the approach to Afghanistan.
The article takes note of the 6,000 British troops to supervise
humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan that were placed on 48-hour
stand-by almost a week ago, asserting that with British government
ministers giving different accounts about the role of British troops,
Blair has been left in an awkward position. Abby Spring, a
spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said military support was
essential to allow aid groups to reach up to 3 million Afghans cut
off by continued fighting, dangerous roads and the onset of a
terrible winter.
According to observers, the Pentagon appears to be reluctant to allow
allied troops to step in before the US has been able to declare
victory over the Taliban and Al Qaida, for fear of turning a US
dominated operation into a joint international effort over which
Washington would no longer have total control. It's also believed
that Washington does not want to upset the Northern Alliance with a
massive influx of foreign troops.
*PORTLAND, OREGON REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH FBI TERROR SWEEP
Portland, Oregon, November 22 (RHC) -- At least one US city,
Portland, Oregon, has officially refused to help the FBI question
Middle Eastern immigrants hauled in as part of the terrorism
investigation, saying the practice violates state law. Portland
Police Chief Andrew Kirkland refused to help track down some 5,000
men wanted for questioning about the September 11 terrorist attacks,
while Mayor Vera Katz Wednesday stated that the city objected to
certain questions that would be asked of those on the list - though
without specifying which questions.
Katz said the law does not allow her state to go out and arbitrarily
question people whose only offense is immigration or citizenship.
While the FBI refused to comment and civil rights activists
applauded, experts recalled that Oregon's laws are much more liberal
than those in most states, while a local legislator threatened to
reassess those laws. Max Williams, a Republican state representative
who heads the Oregon House Judiciary Committee, expressed concern
about the denial to assist the federal probe, affirming that the
state law in that regard could be "revisited."
*NORTHERN ALLIANCE REJECTS ANY TALIBAN IN FUTURE AFGHAN COALITION GOVERNMENT
Tehran, November 22 (RHC) -- In another glimpse of the difficulties
that lay ahead for the formation of a broad-based government in
Afghanistan, Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah
Thursday rejected the inclusion of moderate Taliban elements in a
future Afghanistan coalition. The statement came at a press
conference in Tehran, Iran, after Abdullah held talks with British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
The Northern Alliance official was also speaking just days before
United Nations-brokered talks in Germany aimed at drawing up a
framework for a new ethnically mixed government to replace the
Taliban, overwhelmingly made up of the Pashtun ethnic group
constituting approximately half of Afghanistan's 20 million
population.
Pakistan has insisted that a future government needs to incorporate
moderate Taliban Pashtun elements if it is to enjoy broad support,
while other observers insist that Pashtun exclusion from
power-sharing will be a contributing element to another civil war -
along with the possibility that Northern Alliance warlords refuse to
subject their fiefdoms to some type of central authority, or engage
in disputes for the control of territory.
*REBELS AND GOVERNMENT IN COLOMBIA STILL TRADING VERBAL GUNFIRE
Bogot�, November 22 (RHC) -- The exchange of verbal gunfire
continued Thursday between the Colombian government and the country's
Revolutionary Armed Forces as the 3-year-old peace process hangs by a
thread. Responding to President Andres Pastrana's refusal to budge on
rebel demands concerning military maneuvers near the
guerrilla-controlled demilitarized zone, top rebel leader Manuel
Marulanda accused Pastrana of mortally wounding the peace process.
In statements to the leftist news weekly "La Voz", Marulanda called
on Pastrana to once and for all clarify whether he considered the
guerrilla organization terrorist, as Washington has charged. If
that's the case, he added, the government shouldn't be engaged in
negotiations with terrorists. The rebel leader also asked why should
talks be held if the government isn't willing to discuss topics like
the Washington-sponsored, military anti-drug Plan Colombia or
legislation on socio-economic development in the country.
He said that if these topics are non-negotiable, as Pastrana has
insisted, then why negotiate? Both the president and the rebel leader
have insisted in recent days that the ball is in the other's court.
This new verbal retaliation comes as the international community has
mobilized to save the rebel-government peace process. Special United
Nations envoy, Norwegian Jan Egeland, was to meet Thursday with
Marulanda, but it's not certain if the gathering will in fact take
place.
*Viewpoint: IBERO AMERICA - A DECADE OF PROMISES
Ibero-American government officials are facing a serious challenge:
that of pushing the region's summits towards practical solutions to
current problems. Many of the serious difficulties expressed in the
ten previous Ibero-American Summits remain unchanged or are even
worse, despite reams of declarations. Take for example, the first
Ibero-American Summit which was held in the Mexican city of
Guadalajara in l991 which debated regional integration as its central
theme.
Today, with the exception of the Southern Common Market, and the
Community of Andean Nations, there have been few attempts at full
integration, though it is clear that in the Caribbean Basin, CARICOM
and the Association of Caribbean States are making sincere attempts
in that direction. Meanwhile, the goal of the United States is to
achieve the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA, a project that
masquerades as integrationist but in reality is far from an economic
and social coming together of its future participants.
In Cartagena de Indias, where the fourth Ibero-American Summit was
held in l994, participants called for a boost in trade and
integration as factors of development, but in realty there have been
few attempts to strengthen intra-regional commercial transactions.
When in l996 it was Santiago de Chile's turn to host the group's
sixth meeting, the participating world leaders analyzed the topic of
democracy and governability, but years later social crisis continue
placing in doubt the capacity of various leaders.
A case in point is Argentina, where retirees block highways and
strikers take over factories in efforts to halt unpopular government
plans like the notorious " Zero Deficit", which includes cutting
salaries and pensions by 13 per cent in compliance with International
Monetary Fund demands.
In the Havana summit, the regional dignitaries called for sustainable
development, but little growth is predicted for the region for this
year. In fact, the UN Latin American Economic Commission, known as
CEPAL, estimates that the region's economy will only improve between
zero point five and one per cent in 200l.
Add to that the uncertainly prevailing in the world as a result of
the war in Afghanistan, and acts of terrorism in the United States,
which impact even more the downturn of the world economy since
September 11th. In this context, the central theme of the upcoming
11th Ibero-American Summit in Lima, Peru, "united to build tomorrow",
sounds like a pipe dream instead of a solid basis within which to
examine real problems. Nevertheless, the Ibero-American meetings
continue to be opportunities that must be taken advantage of because
they are the only chance to exchange views on the many problems of
the region. Though we are still far from achieving the " culture of
cooperation" called for by the second summit which was held in Madrid
in l992, there still is a chance to fill the existing void.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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