From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 06:55:43 -0500
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-03 January 2002
Radio Havana Cuba-03 January 2002
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 03 January 2002
.
*LOWEST INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN CUBA'S HISTORY REPORTED
*US SENATORS AND OPPONENTS OF BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA ARRIVE IN HAVANA
*WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION RULES AGAINST WASHINGTON IN CUBAN RUM DISPUTE
*2001 COMES TO AN END WITH AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK FOR CUBA'S SUGAR INDUSTRY
*ARGENTINA'S FIFTH PRESIDENT IN TWO WEEKS VOWS TO DITCH FREE-MARKET MODEL
*US JUDGE DISMISSES PUERTO RICAN LAWSUIT AGAINST VIEQUES BOMBING
*CONGRESS TO PROBE ENRON SCANDAL AND BUSH ADMINISTRATION LINKS
*MORE AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED IN US AIR STRIKE AGAINST VILLAGE
*WARNINGS OF IMPENDING DISASTER AT AFGHAN REFUGEE CAMP HOUSING 350,000
.
*LOWEST INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN CUBA'S HISTORY REPORTED
Havana, January 3 (RHC)-- The year 2001 closed with the announcement
that Cuba had reduced its infant mortality to a new record low: 6.2
for every 1000 live births.
With this news, Cuba has officially achieved a lower infant mortality
rate than the United States -- which stands at seven.
According to reports from the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), Cuba tied with Canada and leads the Americas with the
lowest death rate among children under the age of one year. The
infant mortality rate of a country is often used as an indicator of
the nation's health.
Cuban officials noted that the island's care for children begins with
excellent pre-natal attention. Among the services provided --
free-of-charge: fourteen weeks into one's pregnancy, mothers-to-be
are given special attention by their family doctor. If women are
unable to get to their neighborhood clinic, the doctors make house
calls.
During their first year, newborn children receive an average of 25
medical checkups -- in addition to vaccines against 12 childhood
diseases, including tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, measles,
mumps and polio.
New mothers are also given one year off from work -- with full pay --
and are guaranteed, by law, the jobs they left before becoming
mothers. A government-sponsored campaign to promote breastfeeding has
apparently been successful -- with a high percentage of mothers
reporting that they exclusively breastfeed their babies for the first
four to six months.
At the time of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, in 1959, the
infant mortality rate was nearly 40 for every 1000 live births. Over
the past 43 years, health authorities report that the indicator has
progressively improved. During the 1970s, infant mortality was in
the 20s; during the 1980s, the rate was reduced to the lower teens;
and during the decade of the 1990s, infant mortality in Cuba was
lowered to less than ten per one thousand births.
*US SENATORS AND OPPONENTS OF BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA ARRIVE IN HAVANA
Havana, January 3 (RHC)-- An outspoken opponent of Washington's
blockade against Cuba, Sally Grooms Cowal, has arrived in Havana,
along with seven congressional representatives. Grooms Cowal, former
U.S. ambassador in Trinidad and Tobago, is president of the Cuba
Policy Foundation.
She's accompanied by Democratic Representatives William Delahunt and
Stephen Lynch from Massachusetts, Vic Snyder from Arkansas, William
Clay from Missouri, Collin Peterson from Minnesota and Hilda Solis
from California, along with Republican Jo Ann Emerson from Missouri.
Republican Senators Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania and Lincoln
Chaffee from Rhode Island arrived in Havana Wednesday on a separate
two-day visit.
At the same time, a group of some 100 young American business
executives arrived today in the Cuban capital, along with their
families -- forming an entourage of nearly 500 people. The young
executives will meet with National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon
and with officials involved in tourism renovation projects in Old
Havana.
*WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION RULES AGAINST WASHINGTON IN CUBAN RUM DISPUTE
Paris, January 3 (RHC)-- A World Trade Organization appeals body has
ruled that a U.S. law aimed at preventing the sale of Havana Club rum
in the United States violates WTO regulations.
According to the French firm Pernod Ricard, the World Trade
Organization called on Washington to bring its legislation into
compliance with an international accord known as TRIPS (Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). Pernod Ricard, which is
associated with a Cuban firm in the production of Havana Club rum,
charged that a 1998 U.S. law known as Section 211 was approved to
protect the interests of Bacardi.
Section 211 prevents Havana Club holdings, which is joined with
Pernod Ricard and Havana Rum and Liquors of Cuba, from defending its
interests in U.S. courts against Bacardi.
Although headquartered in Bermuda, Bacardi produces and distributes a
product in the United States based on the same recipe as Havana Club
rum and under the same name. Section 211 in general deprives
companies currently holding title to operations that were
nationalized by the government of Cuban President Fidel Castro of
certain rights in the United States.
Havana Club Cuban rum was created in 1934 by the U.S. company Jose
Arechabala, whose assets were later nationalized by the Cuban
government.
The WTO appeals panel concluded that Section 211 violates provisions
of the TRIPS accord that ban discrimination and require a member of
the WTO to accord the same trading privileges to all other members of
the organization.
The European Union's executive commission, which had filed the
complaint against the United States, also announced the WTO decision
on Wednesday.
*2001 COMES TO AN END WITH AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK FOR CUBA'S SUGAR INDUSTRY
Havana, January 3 (RHC)-- 2001 was a record year for the export of
Cuban sugar -- topping export totals of the previous 15 years.
According to Cuban Sugar Minister Ulises Rosales del Toro, the fact
that 53 sugar mills island-wide are fully operating in the present
harvest is further evidence of the steady recovery of the sugar
industry.
During a tour of sugar mills on the outskirts of Havana, Rosales del
Toro also announced that there is enough unrefined sugar in
warehouses to fulfill the island's international commitments for the
beginning of this year.
The Cuban sugar minister praised the attitude of workers in the
sector, who defied the devastation caused by Hurricane Michelle and
harvested the crop either ahead of time or on schedule. He emphasized
that the year 2002 poses yet a greater challenge for the sector:
workers must increase efficiency and reduce production costs.
*ARGENTINA'S FIFTH PRESIDENT IN TWO WEEKS VOWS TO DITCH FREE-MARKET MODEL
Buenos Aires, January 3 (RHC)-- Veteran Argentine Senator Eduardo
Duhalde was sworn in as the country's fifth president in two weeks,
declaring that the nation is bankrupt and pledging to ditch his
predecessors' free-market model. Political divisions continued,
however, within the Argentine legislator as skeptical citizens
repeated their call for the eviction of the country's entire
political class -- perceived as hopelessly corrupt by a vast segment
of the population.
Duhalde said the free-market model cast millions of his fellow
countrymen into poverty and destroyed the middle class. He placed
most of the blame on the administration of Carlos Menem, even though
he was Menem's vice president during his first two years in office.
The new president, expected to soon announce an economic package that
will include a currency devaluation of between 20 and 50 percent of
the peso, also assured bank account holders that the measure will not
affect their savings.
He promised their return in a dollar-equivalent currency. But
according to observers, with only 14 billion dollars in liquid
reserves available, it remains to be seen how Duhalde plans to return
the 66 billion dollars belonging mostly to small account holders and
that was frozen in Argentina's nearly bankrupt banking system one
month ago. Analysts are also stating that another major challenge for
Duhalde will be the elimination of corruption without dismantling the
political party structures that harbor it.
*US JUDGE DISMISSES PUERTO RICAN LAWSUIT AGAINST VIEQUES BOMBING
Washington, January 3 (RHC)-- A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a
lawsuit filed by Puerto Rico that sought to halt U.S. Navy target
practice in the island-municipality Vieques. Puerto Rico sued the
Navy in April to force compliance with a new noise-limit law and the
Federal Noise Control Act that gives states authority to control
noise levels in their jurisdictions, but District Judge Gladys
Kessler threw out the legal action.
Kessler, citing a lack of jurisdiction, said the U.S.-controlled
territory did not have to the right to file a federal lawsuit to
force compliance with a local noise law. Calling the decision
"erroneous," Puerto Rican Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez said
the Caribbean island's government would appeal. Puerto Rican Governor
Sila Calderon said she had filed the suit to protect the health and
safety of Vieques residents, after having also issued a study saying
the bombing put the island's children at risk of developing coronary
disease.
Despite President George W. Bush's pledge to eventually end naval
training on Vieques, Congress passed legislation last month barring
the Navy secretary from closing the site until he and top military
leaders certify the availability of a site or sites that would
provide equivalent or superior levels of training. Many Puerto Ricans
believe that Bush will use his war on terrorism to back down on his
promise.
*CONGRESS TO PROBE ENRON SCANDAL AND BUSH ADMINISTRATION LINKS
Washington, January 3 (RHC)-- A U.S. Senate committee has announced
that it's subpoenaing top executives and directors of the
controversial, bankrupt Enron Corporation - an entity with strong
ties to the George W. Bush administration. In what is believed to be
the first congressional probe in the Houston company's stunning
collapse, observers are affirming that among the likely subpoena
recipients is Wendy Gramm, an Enron director who is the wife of Texas
Republican Senator Phil Gramm.
The Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing for
January 24 on Enron's use of a large number of partnerships that kept
billions of dollars of corporate debt off the company's books, and
will also examine whether federal regulators missed warning signs of
the company's trouble. The Enron scandal involved millions of dollars
in campaign contributions to Bush, Senator Gramm and other members of
Congress.
According to numerous investigative reports, the cozy relationship
between the Bush White House and Enron allowed the giant firm's top
executive, Kenneth L. Lay, to meet in secret with Vice President
Richard Cheney to help mold the U.S.'s energy policy after having
contributed more than a million dollars to the presidential campaign.
Shortly after taking office, Bush waged a battle against the
imposition of federal price controls amid California's energy crisis,
costing the state billions of dollars and allowing Enron to report
increased revenues of almost 70 billion dollars in comparison to the
previous year.
Bush also resisted attempts to crack down on Enron's utilization of
its 2830 offshore subsidiaries in countries with lax
banking-regulation laws. The consumer-rights watchdog organization
Public Citizen has asserted that some of these offshore havens helped
Enron defraud its stockholders.
Enron forced its employees to invest their retirement plans in the
company's plummeting stock while corporate executives were free to
sell their stock when it was near its peak before anyone caught wind
of the firm's impending collapse. The employees were ruined, while
500 of the company's top executives divided up 55 million dollars
worth of bonuses.
*MORE AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED IN US AIR STRIKE AGAINST VILLAGE
Kabul, January 3 (RHC)-- News agencies outside the United States are
giving major coverage to another U.S. air strike that seems to have
killed more than 100 civilians in the eastern Afghan village of
Qalaye Niazi. Villagers told the Reuters news agency that at least
one fighter jet, a B-52 bomber and two helicopters Sunday morning
swooped down on the village in eastern Paktia province, as a Reuters
cameraman filmed huge craters, scraps of flesh, pools of blood and
clumps of what appeared to be human hair.
A local Afghan religious leader invited U.S. forces to the village to
see the damage, while in Washington, Major Pete Mitcher -- a
spokesman for the U.S. Central Command -- said the Pentagon is aware
of the incident and is currently investigating. Previously, the
Pentagon said the village was a haven for Al Qaida and Taliban
fighters and that, in any event, the estimate of casualties is
unfounded.
The incident has again launched the debate on conflicting information
that has served to obscure the civilian death toll in Afghanistan. As
the bombing campaign remains largely uncontroversial in U.S. media,
University of New Hampshire economics professor Marc Herold said
officials in Washington have again demonstrated their ability to
manage the news and mainstream U.S. media have shown their
willingness to be managed.
Professor Herold has gathered media reports from around the world
demonstrating that coverage of reports on civilian casualties has
been much more abundant and thorough than in the U.S. He noted that
by buying exclusive rights to accurate satellite images of the areas
under bombardment, Washington has created precisely what the Pentagon
and the White House seek: a war without witnesses, without the images
of human suffering caused by U.S. bombs.
*WARNINGS OF IMPENDING DISASTER AT AFGHAN REFUGEE CAMP HOUSING 350,000
Herat, January 3 (RHC)-- Aid workers at an Afghan refugee camp
housing 350,000 displaced persons are warning that the camp is on the
brink of an Ethiopian-style humanitarian disaster. Situated 30 miles
west of Herat, 100 people are dying daily of exposure and starvation
at the Maslakh camp, translated as "slaughterhouse" in English.
With more than 15 years working in humanitarian disasters, Ian
Lethbridge -- executive director of the British charity organization
Feed the Children -- stated that Maslakh is among the worst he has
experienced. The camp was set up four years ago to deal with the
drought, but the U.S. bombardment of the country has swollen its
ranks.
Newcomers reportedly pitch whatever shelter they can muster on a
barren plain littered with human waste, while families without any
shelter are forced to dig foxholes in the frozen earth to escape the
biting wind. Lucky ones are said to have a few tattered blankets or
torn plastic sheets as cover, while nearby graveyards offer clear
evidence that most of those buried are children. The refugees thought
that aid would arrive quickly from Western nations, but almost no aid
is getting to the camp.
(c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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