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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 05:47:55 -0500 (EST)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (CubaNews List)
Subject: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-13 December 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 December 2001
.
*CUBANS REACT WITH DISGUST TO SENTENCING OF AGENT IN MIAMI
*ARGENTINA, MEXICO, CHILE AND BRAZIL WIN HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
*CUBAN NATIONAL CENSUS READY TO ROLL NEXT YEAR
*URUGUAYAN PEOPLE FORCE GOVERNMENT TO USE CUBAN MENINGITIS B VACCINE
*US PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL FROM ABM TREATY
*INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SLAMS ISRAEL'S DECSION TO 'UN-RECOGNIZE' ARAFAT
*FOR THE FIRST TIME, US ARMY ADMITS IT STILL PRODUCES ANTHRAX
*ENRON SCANDAL GETS SCANT MEDIA ATTENTION
*US NATINAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ISSUES ALARM ON GLOBAL WARMING
Viewpoint:
*THE "GOOD" TERRORISTS AND THE "BAD," ACCORDING TO THE USA
.
*CUBANS REACT WITH DISGUST TO SENTENCING OF AGENT IN MIAMI
Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Cubans are reacting with sadness, anger
and indignation at what is being described here as the "brutal"
sentence imposed on Gerardo Hern�ndez Nordelo who was condemned in a
Miami court Wednesday to two terms of life imprisonment.
Hern�ndez was convicted of conspiracy to spy on the United States and
conspiracy in the "murder" of four Cuban Americans who were shot down
by Cuban aircraft in 1996 for violating the island's airspace.
One of the aspects of Wednesday's sentencing that has especially
upset Cubans was the presence in the US court of well-known Cuban
American terrorists who have been responsible for numerous attacks on
Cuba. The work of infiltrating the terrorist groups these individuals
belong to had been assigned to Hern�ndez and four others convicted of
conspiracy to carry out espionage on the US. In the light of the
campaign against terrorism being waged in the United States, Cuban
citizens and observers conscious of the details surrounding the case
saw the fact that such people walk freely through the streets of
Miami as particularly hypocritical.
Hern�ndez' mother was present at his sentencing and said she was
proud of her son who had, she said, "batted a home run" for his
country.
*ARGENTINA, MEXICO, CHILE AND BRAZIL WIN HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and
Mexico picked up most of the awards as the 23rd International
Festival of New Latin American Film wound up Thursday in Havana.
An Argentine film, La Cienaga,, won top honors. The Argentine-Spanish
production written and directed by Lucrecia Martel, stars Graciela
Borges, and Mercedes Moran. The movie tells the story of two couples
who live near the north eastern Argentine city of La Cienaga. Two
accidents draw the two families to the countryside where they try to
survive a blazingly hot summer.
The 23rd International Festival of New Latin American Film gave its
special jury prize to Brazil's "A la Isquierda del Padre," "On the
Left of the Father" by Luiz Fernando Carvalho.
The Second Coral award went to the Mexican film, "Perfume de
Violetas" by Maryse Sistach and third was awarded to "Taxi for Three"
by Orlando Luebbert of Chile.
Special mention was given to the Cuban movie, "Miel para Ochun," or
Honey for Ochun, by famed Cuban film director, Humberto Solas, who
made Cuban classics like, "Lucia" and "A Successful Man."
Two movies shared the Festival's award for the best first work: they
were Cuba's "Nada" or "Nothing," by Juan Carlos Cremata and from
Uruguay, "25 Wattes" by Juan Pablo Rebella. The movie is a Cuban,
French, Spanish and Italian co-production.
The Best Actress Coral Award was given to one of the stars of "La
Cienaga," Graciela Borges, while the Best Actor Award went to popular
Brazilian star, Selton Mello for his role in "On the Left of the
Father."
A U.S. film by Juan Carlos Saldivar, "90 miles," won first place in
the documentary category. The 79-minute movie features a family
divided by the 90 miles between Cuba and the United States.
On Tuesday, Radio Havana Cuba chose the Uruguayan movie, "En la Puta
Vida" as the best entry in the 10-day festival that winds up tonight
in Havana's Charles Chaplin when the prestigious Coral Awards are to
be handed out.
Though the competition has officially ended, and most of the
directors, actors and other industry professionals have returned
home, film lovers will be able to keep watching festival films
through Sunday.
*CUBAN NATIONAL CENSUS READY TO ROLL NEXT YEAR
Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Preparations by the Cuban National
Statistics Office for the 2002 national census continue, reports Juan
Carlos Alfonso Fraga, the director of the census.
In an press conference on Wednesday, Alfonso Fraga said that every
single dwelling on the island will be visited by a census worker to
determine the number of people living there, their occupation, their
living conditions etc. The census will also be used to determine
housing location for cartographical purposes as well as the
re-numeration of residences and re-mapping of street names. The
census director added that all the workers who will be knocking on
doors across the island next year, have been trained and are ready to
go.
The director of the National Statistics Office, Rodolfo Roque, said
that he is very pleased with the work of the commissions that were
set up in every province and municipality to prepare the country for
the census which is normally carried out every decade but due to
problems associated with the economic crisis in the early 1990s the
last census was carried out 20 years ago. He stressed the tremendous
importance of the census to the future work of the government and
said that no documents or papers will be requested during the census
interviews.
*URUGUAYAN PEOPLE FORCE GOVERNMENT TO USE CUBAN MENINGITIS B VACCINE
Havana, December 13 (RHC)--In the wake of the deaths of two
children from meningitis in the Uruguayan town of Santa Luc�a, the
South America nation's health minister, Luis Fraschini, Thursday
agreed to vaccinate all children and youth between the age of 4 and
20 in the department of Canelones where the meningitis outbreak has
occurred.
The health authorities at first decided not to use the vaccine
because the meningitis strain reportedly does not respond to the
Cuban vaccine which was designed to combat a different strain of
meningitis B. However, public pressure and overwhelming medical
opinion that the Cuban vaccine should be used regardless, has forced
the authorities to use the vaccine.
*US PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL FROM ABM TREATY
Washington, December 13 (RHC)--US President George W. Bush's
announcement that Washington is unilaterally withdrawing from the
1972 Antiballistic Missiles Treaty has been called by critics
opportunistically timely. The "Los Angeles Times" noted Thursday that
by making the move during a war that has strengthened his support at
home and abroad, Bush helped ensure that opposition to pulling out of
the treaty both at home and abroad will be muted.
Aimed at paving the way for the deployment of a space-based nuclear
shield, Russia and many US allies have warned Bush that withdrawal
from the ABM could unleash a new nuclear arms race. Other critics
have warned of the enormous cost of a Star Wars project, while still
others have expressed serious doubt over the efficacy of an
anti-missile shield when terrorist threats are more likely to come in
small suitcases and hijacked planes.
A Tuesday article in the "San Francisco Chronicle," entitled "Why We
Don't Need a Missile Defense Shield," noted that with a mere fraction
of the money spent on the project, the United States could build more
schools, water purifying plants and other infrastructure in
Afghanistan and Palestinian areas - alleviating some of the
desperation of the people there. The article asserted that such moves
would provide greater regional economic stability, engender goodwill
toward the United States and, more importantly, terrorist groups
would have more difficulty recruiting in those areas.
In related news, Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday called
Bush's ABM decision "an error," as Russian political leaders and
lawmakers reacted angrily and spoke of possible reprisals. While
observers note that scrapping the ABM could unravel more than 30
other nuclear weapons accords, thereby undermining international
security, the pro-government Fatherland-All Russia Party called
Washington a superpower that is trying to dictate its rules to the
world.
The liberal Yabloko Party called the move an error and a bad sign
after Russia has cooperated in the US's war on terrorism. The
president of the Russian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission,
Dimitri Rogozin, said Russia will retain and perhaps mount more
multiple nuclear warhead missiles. These weapons were to be scrapped
under the START-2 arms reduction treaty, though in Russian law
ratification of START-2 is valid only if the ABM treaty remains
intact.
*INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SLAMS ISRAEL'S DECSION TO 'UN-RECOGNIZE' ARAFAT
Havana, December 13 (RHC)--The international community has slammed
Israel's decision to no longer recognize Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat following an attack against Jewish settlers that left ten
killed. Pope John Paul II condemned the violence by both Israelis and
Palestinians, saying that two different extremisms were disfiguring
the face of the Holy Land.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine termed as a mistake to not
consider Arafat and the Palestinian National Authority as a partner
in peace efforts, recalling that the European Union has demanded that
Israel freeze the construction of illegal Jewish settlements,
withdraw its troops from autonomous Palestinian territory, cease the
selective assassinations of Palestinian activists and unconditionally
sit down at the negotiation table.
Even Washington, oftentimes considered Israel's unconditional ally,
has stated that the US government will continue recognizing Arafat as
the leader of the Palestinian people and will not break off contact
with him. The Arab League has accused Israel of destroying the Middle
East peace process, charging that it's useless to speak of peace with
Tel Aviv. The government of Jordan said Israel is generating more
violence and a possible civil war among Palestinians - which some
observers have asserted is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deliberate
plan.
The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East warned of a
heightened confrontation that will bring chaos to the region and have
international repercussions. Meanwhile, Israel has prohibited Arafat
from leaving the West Bank city Ramallah, surrounding his official
residence with army tanks.
*FOR THE FIRST TIME, US ARMY ADMITS IT STILL PRODUCES ANTHRAX
Washington, December 13 (RHC)--The United States Army has for the
first time admitted that it is still producing anthrax, 32 years
after President Richard Nixon closed down the country's offensive
biological weapons program. But a statement by the Army released late
Wednesday claimed that all the anthrax produced by Army scientists at
the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah has been accounted for, despite a
report that the weapons-grade organisms sent to members of the US
Congress are genetically identical to those made at Dugway.
The Wednesday edition of the "Baltimore Sun" noted that the anthrax
produced at Dugway, never before publicly revealed, was regularly
sent by Federal Express to the Army's biodefense center at Fort
Detrick until the mail attacks that killed five people sparked
tighter security measures. While providing details concerning the
identical match in the high concentration between the organisms
produced at the Army laboratory and those sent to Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle, the newspaper affirmed that this concentration
exceeds that of weapons anthrax produced by the old US offensive
program or the Soviet biowarfare program.
*ENRON SCANDAL GETS SCANT MEDIA ATTENTION
Washington, Los Angeles, New York, December 13 (RHC)--Washington
Post staff writer Howard Kurtz has affirmed that one of the biggest
scandals in US financial history is being buried amid the so-called
war on terrorism. In reference to the collapse of the powerful Enron
energy firm, Kurtz asserted Wednesday that the daily drumbeat
political treatment that often surrounds corporate chicanery with a
strong whiff of scandal is only sparking outrage from a few, among
whose ranks is Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer.
Scheer recently wrote that the trickle-down model provided to recent
US administrations gave the fat-cat corporate hotshots everything
they want in return for bankrolling political campaigns. He said that
this isn't just some rinky-dinky land investment, but rather, has the
makings of one of the greatest presidential scandals ever, noting
that the George W. Bush administration has a long and intimate
relationship with Enron, whose much-discredited chairman, Kenneth L.
Lay, was a primary financial backer of Bush's rise to the
presidency.
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently stated that Enron
used its political clout to create what one of its own executives
called a black hole of unregulated markets in which it could operate
freely, and into which billions of hard-earned dollars disappeared -
including the life savings of many of Enron's own employees who had
invested in the company's stock. Vice President Dick Cheney is
reportedly in the loop, with some Democrats asking him for details of
his meetings with Lay when preparing the Bush administration's energy
plan.
A recent cover story in Fortune Magazine was headlined "The Enron
Disaster. Lies. Arrogance. Betrayal: How Ken Lay and his team
destroyed America's seventh-largest corporation." In alternative news
web sites, David Morris -- a staunch critic of Washington's energy
policies -- recalled that Lay was Deputy Undersecretary for energy
matters for the Department of Interior during the George Bush senior
administration, after having become, in the 1980s, the principle fund
raise for Bush and later his son. His board of directors, wrote
Morris, included Wendy Graham, wife of Texas Senator Philip Graham.
He said a month after they left office, Enron put former Secretary of
State James Baker and former Secretary of Commerce Robert Mossbacher
on the Enron payroll as Lay played golf with former President Bill
Clinton. The British news daily The Guardian recently reported that
Enron's quietly paid bonuses to 500 staff members of 110,000 dollars
a piece has sparked outrage among both the 5,000 workers already laid
off and its creditors, who are chasing debts of more than 30 billion
dollars.
Those who lost their jobs received just 4,500 dollars each, while
some belonging to the firm's pension fund have seen 70 percent of
their retirement assets disappear.
*US NATINAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ISSUES ALARM ON GLOBAL WARMING
Washington, December 13 (RHC)--Greenhouse gases and other pollutants
causing global warming could trigger large, abrupt and potentially
disastrous climate changes, according to a new National Academy of
Sciences report published in the Wednesday edition of the Washington
Post.
While climate change studies have focused on the risks of a gradual
rise in the Earth's temperature, the report -- citing a wealth of
paleontological, evidence, historical observations and computer
modeling analyses reaching back hundreds of centuries -- researchers
have reportedly found that in some places periods of gradual changes
were punctuated by sudden temperature spikes of about 10 degrees
Celsius in only a decade.
Roughly half of the warming that has occurred in the northern part of
the Atlantic Ocean since the last ice age was achieved in only a
decade, according to the report, adding that this warming was
accompanied by significant climate changes across the globe,
including flooding and drought. The authors of the study affirmed
that abrupt climate changes were especially common when the climate
system was being forced to change most rapidly, concluding that
greenhouse warming and other human alterations of the earth system
may increase the possibility of large, abrupt, and unwelcome regional
or global climatic events.
The Post affirmed that the report offers a new wrinkle to the
decades-long debate over global warming problems, and will likely
provide additional ammunition to European and Asian environmental
leaders seeking to persuade the US government to reconsider its
position to a global warming treaty recently concluded in North
Africa
Viewpoint:
*THE "GOOD" TERRORISTS AND THE "BAD," ACCORDING TO THE USA
There is an anecdote about John Dulles when he was US Secretary of
State in the Eisenhower government. When asked why, in spite of all
the scandals and improper conduct, Edgar J. Hoover was kept on in the
Department of Justice, he answered that there are certain people it
is better to have inside the shop throwing garbage out than outside
the shop throwing garbage in.
The story is as relevant today as it was in the '50s. Everything
appears to indicate that for the United States, those who are inside
the so-called shop are the so-called "good" ones. It doesn't matter
what they have done outside, even if it is potentially dangerous and
criminal. For example, when Osama Bin Laden was in favor in the White
House he was a good boy; when he left he was under suspicion.
When he rose up against those who taught him how to use weapons, he
was portrayed as a terrorist of the worst kind, someone that must be
captured, dead or alive, no matter what the price, be it the
destruction of a country or the annihilation of its people. In
contrast, it is of no importance to them that Cuban-born Orlando
Bosch, Jose Basulto or Luis Posada Carriles, to mention only a few,
conspire to commit terrorist acts, execute terrorist deeds and
violate the laws of the United States and international community.
The point is that they are inside the shop and that means that they
can move with total impunity.
This paradoxical approach to terrorism is functioning again, as
witnessed Wednesday in a court room in Miami, where the Cuban
patriot, Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, was handed two consecutive life
sentences and fifteen years for committing the so-called grave crime
of monitoring the terrorist organizations that are openly based in
the south of Florida.
The message cannot be clearer: These terrorists have sanctuary in the
United States and can carry out, more or less any activity they wish.
They will be protected and the weight of the law will fall on whoever
tries to stop their nefarious actions against our country.
These are the good boys, and they are helped to stay on their feet by
the shop owners who help them logistically and financially. It
doesn't matter what is done outside, inside the house they will
continue to be treated as good boys. The "bad" ones are the others,
those who try to put a stop to crimes, those who defend their
country's people, those who work to keep innocent senior citizens,
women and children, from having to pay the consequences of the hatred
that these people feel towards Cuba.
The hypocrisy of the United States system, which imposes a double
moral standard on what they consider to be desirable conduct,
demonstrates once again that what is important for Washington is not
what is done but where and against whom it is done. On that depends
their approval or disapproval. On that basis, any person who has an
atom of common sense and decency should be careful about having such
a country as a friend, although that doesn't appear to worry them.
It's as if they are proclaiming that there are no friends, just
interests.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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