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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 09:09:07 -0500
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-10 December 2001
Radio Havana Cuba-10 December 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 December 2001
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*ACP GROUP CALLS ON EUROPEAN UNION TO ALLOW CUBA'S ENTRY INTO ALLIANCE
*VENEZUELA SENDS 3rd HUMANITARIAN AID SHIPMENT TO VICTIMS OF MICHELLE
*CUBA-SOUTH AFRICA MIXED COOPERATION COMMISSION MEETS IN PRETORIA
*INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENETIC MUTATIONS BEGINS IN HAVANA
*RIGHTS GROUPS AGAIN DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO TALIBAN POW MASSACRE
*JOURNALIST ROBERT FISK SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS AND FORGIVES AFGHAN ATTACKERS
*HUGO CHAVEZ BLASTS 12-HOUR LOCKOUT CALLED BY BUSINESS LEADERS
*RUSSIA'S RELATION TO NATO SPARKS DIFFERENCES IN WASHINGTON
*MORE BAD NEWS FOR ARGENTINE ECONOMY
*USA's 'FRIENDLY FIRE' KILLS THREE MORE AFGHAN OPPOSITION FIGHTERS
Viewpoint:
*FAST TRACK VOTE PROMISES FAST TRACK MISERY FOR LATIN AMERICA
.
*ACP GROUP CALLS ON EUROPEAN UNION TO ALLOW CUBA'S ENTRY INTO ALLIANCE
Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- The African-Caribbean-Pacific Group (ACP)
has called on the European Union (EU) to fully review its position on
Cuba and to allow Havana to enter the alliance that already exists
between the ACP and the EU.
A resolution was passed during a meeting of the ACP Council of
Ministers in Brussels earlier this month, calling on the EU to allow
Cuba's unconditional membership.
According to a report published in the Cuban daily Granma, Havana's
entry into the ACP/EU alliance has gained support because of the
disastrous impact of the U.S. blockade against the island, which has
been condemned on numerous occasions by the European Union and the
international community.
The ACP resolution comes after the reopening of constructive and
friendly talks in Havana last week between the Cuban government and
representatives of the European Union.
The resolution had been previously approved by the combined ACP/EU
Parliamentary Assembly in Abuja in March 2000 and in Libreville on
March 22nd, 2001, which called on the ACP/EU Council of Ministers and
the European Commission to consider Cuba's application in a favorable
manner.
*VENEZUELA SENDS 3rd HUMANITARIAN AID SHIPMENT TO VICTIMS OF MICHELLE
Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- A new humanitarian aid shipment, sent by
the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela to victims of Hurricane
Michelle in Cuba, arrived in the port of Havana on Sunday on board
the ship Goajira of the Venezuelan Navy.
This new aid shipment, the third since the devastating storm hit Cuba
in early November, includes primarily construction materials, as well
as foodstuffs. Cuban Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic
Cooperation Marta Lomas said that the aid will be distributed among
residents of affected areas in the central province of Matanzas --
the hardest hit by the hurricane.
Julio Montes, Ambassador of the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela in
Cuba told the press in Havana that this new aid shipment, which he
called a "shipment of love," has been possible thanks to the
contribution by state as well as private institutions and
organizations.
Montes praised the Cuban experience in facing natural disasters,
particularly the discipline of the people and government efforts to
facilitate recovery efforts. Although the hurricane caused severe
devastation on the island, said the Venezuelan diplomat, in very
little time life had returned to normal on the island, basic services
such as water supply and electrical power were restored.
The 80-member crew was received at Havana Bay by a group of
Venezuelans living on the island, among them students at the Latin
American School of Medical Sciences and patients at Havana's La
Pradera International Health Care Center.
*CUBA-SOUTH AFRICA MIXED COOPERATION COMMISSION MEETS IN PRETORIA
Pretoria, December 10 (RHC)-- The first meeting of the Cuba-South
Africa Mixed Cooperation Commission began sessions on Monday in
Pretoria, the South African capital.
The Cuban delegation to the meeting is headed by the President of the
National Institute for Hydraulic Resources, Jorge Aspiolea, while the
South African delegation is headed by the Minister of Hydraulic and
Forest Resources, Ronnie Kasrils.
During the three-day meeting, both countries' delegations will review
the state of bilateral cooperation relations in the areas of trade,
as well as analyze the extension of the bilateral cooperation to
other areas, including hydraulic resources, agriculture and
education.
*INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENETIC MUTATIONS BEGINS IN HAVANA
Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- The 4th National and 2nd International
Workshop on Genetic Mutations began on Monday in the Cuban capital
with the participation of some 70 experts.
The event, which runs through Wednesday, December 12th, includes
paper presentations and master lectures on issues related to applied
research and the impact of environmental pollution.
The organizing committee reported that alongside the Cuban experts,
there are specialists from Italy, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Chile and
Ecuador.
*RIGHTS GROUPS AGAIN DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO TALIBAN POW MASSACRE
London, December 10 (RHC)-- Amnesty International and other leading
human rights organizations have launched a new call for an urgent
investigation into the recent mass prison killings in the Afghan city
of Mazar-I-Sharif following the release of new video footage showing
CIA operatives threatening Taliban prisoners with death if they did
not cooperate under interrogation. In an exchange captured on video
by an Afghan cameraman, two CIA officers threatened the American
Taliban fighter John Walker at a prison fortress two weeks ago. One
of the officers is Mike Spann, a member of the agency's paramilitary
secret espionage branch who was killed in an uprising at the prison
only hours later.
Nearly 400 Taliban prisoners were also killed as the uprising was put
down. The video shows Spann cowering over Walker, as the other CIA
agent is heard saying: "The problem is, he's got to decide if he
wants to live or die." Within hours of the encounter, hundreds of
prisoners launched an uprising in which they seized guns and other
weapons from their Northern Alliance guards.
The exchange between the CIA officers raises the prospect that the
prisoners revolted because they feared they could be killed if they
did not cooperate with the coalition forces. The uprising was put
down by a combination of Northern Alliance fighters and American air
strikes called in by US and British special forces soldiers who were
at the prison acting as advisers and interrogating prisoners.
Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Ross stated Sunday that
international law is absolutely clear that any prisoner is entitled
to humane treatment and cannot be summarily executed. An Amnesty
International spokesperson said the video footage is alarming and
strengthens the case for an urgent inquiry into what happened at the
prison. The CIA said it was not ready to comment on the behavior of
its operative on the video.
*JOURNALIST ROBERT FISK SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS AND FORGIVES AFGHAN ATTACKERS
London, December 10 (RHC)-- British journalist Robert Fisk was
attacked and badly beaten over the weekend by Afghan refugees on the
Pakistani border. The 55-year-old veteran reporter for the London
based "Independent" newspaper said his car broke down as he was
passing through a village full of refugees who had just escaped from
Kandahar.
Writing Monday in the newspapers editorial pages, Fisk said he
completely understood and forgave those who beat him, calling the
attack a symbol of the hatred and fury of "this filthy war." He
affirmed that, in fact, if he were an Afghan refugee in Kila
Abdullah, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, he would have done the
same to Robert Fisk or any other Westerner he could find.
One of the journalists who has most harshly criticized Washington's
war against Afghanistan asked why he should record his few minutes of
terror under assault when thousands of innocent civilians are dying
under American air strikes in Afghanistan, when the so-called "war of
civilization" is burning and maiming Pashtuns of Kandahar and
destroying their homes because "good" must triumph over "evil." He
asserted that many of those Afghans were outraged by what they had
seen on television of the Mazar-I-Sharif massacres, of the prisoners
killed with their hands tied behind their backs.
*HUGO CHAVEZ BLASTS 12-HOUR LOCKOUT CALLED BY BUSINESS LEADERS
Caracas, December 10 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
affirmed today that he is not worried about a 12-hour lockout staged
Monday by the country's business community. He said his peaceful
revolution will not take one step backwards, and that its aim is to
make profound change in Venezuela's social and political structures.
The Venezuelan president said that if the business community wants
him to repeal the measures he has adopted, the more reason to adopt
them, noting that the business community has never put up resistance
to corrupt and dictatorial governments. Venezuelan business leaders
are protesting measures they say are heightening government control
of and intervention in the country's economy.
They had announced that the lockout wouldn't be held if Chavez sat
down with them and negotiated, but the Venezuelan president said he
would never hold talks to betray a people who have been betrayed on a
thousand occasions. In reference to the empty pot-banging protests
that could be heard in some middle and upper class neighborhoods,
Chavez said it's widely known that the right-wing opposition has
distributed compact disks with pot-banging noise.
He also said that business leaders threatened to fire workers who
showed up at their jobs. Meanwhile, thousands of Venezuelan small
farmers were gathering in the capital, Caracas, to demonstrate
support for the Venezuelan president's agrarian reform laws.
*RUSSIA'S RELATION TO NATO SPARKS DIFFERENCES IN WASHINGTON
Washington, December 10 (RHC)-- Differences have reportedly surfaced
within the White House over a plan to integrate Russia more closely
into NATO. The British news daily "The Guardian" reported Monday that
hawkish Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld has been lobbying hard against
the new NATO-Russia council - agreed at a NATO foreign ministers'
meeting in Brussels last week - believing the White House and State
Department are going soft on Russia because of its support for the
US's "war on terrorism."
Rumsfeld is reportedly concerned that the move could result in Russia
obtaining a veto over NATO decision-making, which Secretary of State
Colin Powell has denied. As a result of the Pentagon's objections,
NATO foreign ministers have agreed to delay launching the council for
six months while its functions and role are further discussed - with
the US's European allies confused about Washington's position.
Over the weekend, the "New York Times" reported that the US
ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns, said at one point that he was
unable to proceed because he had received conflicting instructions
from Washington. Meanwhile, in Moscow Washington's top diplomat and
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Monday admitted that differences
persist between the two countries concerning the Antiballistic
Missiles Treaty and deployment of a space-based missile defense
system. In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Powell
was reportedly unable to convince the Kremlin to abandon its
objections to Washington's Star Wars Program.
*MORE BAD NEWS FOR ARGENTINE ECONOMY
Washington, December 10 (RHC)-- Argentina's currency is reportedly
on the verge of collapse after Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo
emerged empty handed from weekend crisis talks with the International
Monetary Fund. Argentineans were expected to flood banks once again
in a desperate attempt to withdraw their savings.
The IMF has reportedly demanded that Buenos Aires make a further 4
billion dollar cut in spending before it releases a frozen loan, but
President Fernando de la Rua is facing stiff opposition to its
attempts to ram through further austerity measures. With analysts
predicting that the Argentinean peso's one-to-one peg with the US
dollar is close to rupture, black market money changers on the
streets of Buenos Aires are already selling the peso for as much as
20 percent below its official value.
Devaluing the currency would bankrupt thousands of firms and
households, as most loans have to be repaid in dollars. The
government has been forced into increasingly drastic measures to
prevent a complete financial crack. Earlier this month, Cavallo
introduced strict controls on bank withdrawals.
Last Thursday he took the drastic step of converting private pension
funds into government bonds and using the proceeds to continue
payments on Argentina's 132 billion dollar foreign debt. The cash
crunch has reportedly devastated consumer spending, with retail sales
down as much as 80 percent last week.
*USA's 'FRIENDLY FIRE' KILLS THREE MORE AFGHAN OPPOSITION FIGHTERS
Kabul, December 10 (RHC)-- American planes bombing Osama Bin Laden's
Al Qaida fighters in eastern Afghanistan's White Mountains have
accidentally killed three more soldiers of the Afghan opposition, the
third "friendly fire" incident in eight days. The three were killed
Saturday night as American B52 bombers and fighter jets continued
their daily bombardment of the Tora Bora region where Bin Laden and
his fighters are believed to be holed up.
The previous weekend, 15 Afghan opposition soldiers, as well as
hundreds of Afghan civilians, died in two days of bombing directed at
villages in the region. The deaths came as disagreements between
mujahedin commanders at the battle front boiled over in a tense
confrontation in which soldiers from rival groups brandished their
guns and took up firing position in front of one another's
headquarters.
An internal struggle is reportedly taking place within the ruling
council of eastern Afghanistan between rival warlords Haji Zama
Gamsharik and Hazrat Ali. Journalists and other mujahedin reportedly
fled in panic when the two warlord's men loaded and raised their
assault rifles towards one another. For close to half an hour the two
sides took up firing positions with machine-guns trained on one
another's headquarters, which stand 100 meters apart on the road
leading to the battle front. The tension eased, but news
correspondents reported that the incident is a further demonstration
of the fragility of the mujahedin alliance.
Viewpoint:
*FAST TRACK VOTE PROMISES FAST TRACK MISERY FOR LATIN AMERICA
Last Thursday's vote in the US House of Representatives, granting
President George W Bush Fast Track trade negotiating powers by a
one-vote margin, is likely to have very serious effects on the
workers and the poor of Latin America.
The 215-214 vote for the President's proposed policy of by-passing
Congress on issues related to the Free Trade Area of the Americas was
a hard-fought battle and a bitter defeat for labor, human rights and
environmental groups across North and South America.
If the legislation passes the Senate - as it may well do if some
Democrats do what they did in the House and vote to give Fast Track
powers to Bush - then the power given to the administration will be
formidable indeed. The President will be able to negotiate sweeping
new free-trade pacts - especially that of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas which is viewed by critics - including Cuba - as a disaster
for the faltering economies of the region. The free-trade neo-liberal
economic policies that have made lots of money for the corporate
fat-cats of the North have come at a terrible cost to the South.
Millions have been driven into impoverishment in scenarios that are
the worst since the 1970s.
The US president has been given this power through what have become
threats that if you're not with us you're against us routine that
leaves Congress with only the power to approve or reject the
administration's pacts that cannot be amended will create a situation
in which, says House Minority Whip David Bonior, "Fast Track will be
a bullet train to the unemployment line."
To gain this power, Bush traded everything from concessions on citrus
protections to support for new unemployment benefits within the US
and effectively destroyed prospects for bipartisan consensus on trade
issues.
The US president also clearly intends to trade the lives of Latin
America's poor for the pocketbooks of his corporate allies.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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