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Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 04:30:14 -0500
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-18 January 2002
Radio Havana Cuba-18 January 2002
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 18 January 2002
.
*NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE BATTLE OF IDEAS
*PERUVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL
*CUBA: A MODEL OF HOW TO DEAL WITH AND OVERCOME ECONOMIC CRISIS AND CHAOS
*ANOTHER GROUP OF VENEZUELAN PATIENTS RETURNS HOME
*ENRON SCANDAL INCREASINGLY DOGGING BUSH ADMINISTRATION
*SOCIAL PROTEST BACK ON THE RISE IN ARGENTINA
*PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY DEMAND INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION TO
STOP DISPROPORTIONATE ISRAELI MILITARY REPRISALS
*WASHINGTON DENIES RUMORS THAT SAUDI ARABIA WANTS US TROOPS TO LEAVE
*FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIMS CONTINUE TO PROTEST COMPENSATION PLAN
*Viewpoint: DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH
.
*NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE BATTLE OF IDEAS
Havana, January 18 (RHC)-- The commitment and responsibility of
universities in the educational programs being developed in Cuba was
top on the agenda at a national workshop held here in Havana.
Cuban President Fidel Castro presided over the sessions of the
"Second National Workshop: The University in the Battle of Ideas."
Nearly 400 university professors and students from across the island
attended the two-day workshop on Thursday and Friday, held at
Havana's International Convention Center.
During the sessions, participants discussed the role of universities
and other higher-learning institutions in the island's educational
system. It was pointed out that one of the main challenges of the
universities has been to guarantee the quality of continuing
education offered by the facilities.
The Cuban president emphasized the importance of training courses for
university teachers, which have now been set up across the island.
Fidel Castro said that Cuba is being turned into a huge university.
*PERUVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL
Havana, January 18 (RHC)-- Peruvian Foreign Minister Diego Garcia
Sayan has arrived in Havana, beginning an official visit at the
invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque.
Speaking with reporters upon his arrival at Jose Marti International
Airport, the Peruvian official said that relations between Lima and
Havana are "more than cordial" -- pointing to the many areas of
assistance to his country by Cuba. And he said he was prepared to
provide to the island whatever Peru could offer.
Diego Garcia Sayan said it was an honor to visit Cuba at the
beginning of 2002 -- the year in which the 30th anniversary of
diplomatic relations between the two countries is being celebrated.
Relations between Havana and Lima were re-established in 1972.
During his stay in Cuba, Peru's foreign minister will meet with top
government officials and tour places of social and economic interest.
*CUBA: A MODEL OF HOW TO DEAL WITH AND OVERCOME ECONOMIC CRISIS AND CHAOS
Mexico City, January 18 (RHC)-- Cuba is an example on how to deal
with and overcome economic crisis without any interference from the
IMF, the World Bank or any other international lending institution,
according to Mexican legislator Alberto Anaya.
The lawmaker returned to Mexico City on Thursday, after a week-long
visit to Cuba at the head of a delegation from the Mexican Chamber of
Deputies. Speaking with reporters, Alberto Anaya praised the economic
reforms adopted by Cuba to pull itself out of the acute economic
crisis affecting the island in the early 1990s. The island was
affected by the collapse of the former socialist camp in Eastern
Europe and the tightening of the Washington's economic blockade.
In reference to the social programs implemented by Cuban authorities
to alleviate the hardships, Anaya, who is also the President of the
Mexico-Cuba Friendship Group, said other regional nations should
follow Cuba's example. He termed as mutually beneficial all the
contacts and meetings they had during their stay on the island,
particularly their meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The Mexican parliamentary delegation condemned Washington's 40-year
blockade against Cuba and called for strengthened friendship and
cooperation ties between Havana and Mexico City.
*ANOTHER GROUP OF VENEZUELAN PATIENTS RETURNS HOME
Havana, January 18 (RHC)-- A group of 47 Venezuelans returned home
on Friday after receiving medical treatment in Cuba. Their treatment
is part of a cooperation program put in place by Cuban authorities to
provide specialized medical assistance for patients from the South
American nation.
According to Doctor Pedro Francisco Llerena, Director of the Las
Praderas International Health Center, 1415 Venezuelan patients have
already received medical treatment in Cuba under the comprehensive
cooperation agreement signed by Cuban President Fidel Castro and his
Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in late 2000. Of that total, 1196
have already returned home.
John Pope Gutierrez was among the patients who returned to Venezuela
on Friday. The 52-year-old man, who suffers from severe diabetes,
told reporters that the five months he spent in a rehabilitation
center in Cuba was the first time ever that he was treated as a
patient and not a client, as happens in most countries around the
world.
Another group of 76 Venezuelans is expected today in Havana. They are
to receive medical treatment in various health institutions across
the island.
*ENRON SCANDAL INCREASINGLY DOGGING BUSH ADMINISTRATION
Washington, January 18 (RHC)-- A U.S. Democratic congressional
leader affirmed Thursday that he documented 17 provisions in Vice
President Richard Cheney's energy plan that benefited the
scandal-ridden Enron firm. Representative Henry Waxman, the top
Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, reiterated his
demand that the White House list in detail its contacts with the
bankrupt energy trading company.
But the George W. Bush administration again refused, claiming that
the request is a "partisan waste of taxpayer money." Waxman has been
asking Cheney since April to turn over records on whom he met with as
he developed the national energy strategy, and Cheney has
consistently refused to do so - though the White House finally
admitted in early January that the vice president had met with
unnamed Enron executives on six occasions.
The admittance, and a subsequent Justice Department announcement of a
criminal investigation, has sent the Enron scandal snowballing after
having been largely ignored in the mainstream media. Enron has been
the largest single donor to President Bush, whose administration is
now under intense scrutiny in those same media outlets.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Enron's influence reached
deep into the administration. Noting that Lawrence B. Lindsey was
Bush's top economic adviser during the presidential campaign while
also a paid consultant to Enron, the news daily affirmed that this
cozy relationship served as one more reminder of the political
influence and reach of the once-giant energy company - whose ties
extended deep into Bush's staff, appointments, Cabinet members,
friends, family and his own past.
It also noted that according to financial records, 35 administration
officials have held Enron stock, a few with six-figure holdings.
Following an extensive analysis of the ties between Enron and Bush
and his entourage, The Washington Post reported that even since its
bankruptcy filing, the vestiges of Enron continue to touch those
around the president. Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, flew
to Houston this week for a 500-dollar-per-person fundraiser at the
home of a former Enron president.
*SOCIAL PROTEST BACK ON THE RISE IN ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires, January 18 (RHC)-- Renewed protests have continued on
the rise in Argentina, with at least two people wounded by rubber
bullets, seven riot police injured and Molotov cocktail attacks
against the homes of two high-ranking political leaders. The clashes
occurred in Santiago del Estero and Cordoba provinces, while
protesters also took to the streets in Formosa, Jujuy, San Juan and
the greater Buenos Aires.
In Cordoba, protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the home
of Humberto Roggero, the Justicialista Party's ranking House Deputy,
while the home of Vice Governor Edelmiro Pauletti suffered a similar
attack. The protests come amid government efforts to gradually ease
restrictions on bank withdrawals, one of the aspects of Argentina's
socio-economic crisis that has most angered the population.
Authorities fear that a massive run on bank accounts would bankrupt
Argentina's crippled financial system. President Eduardo Duhalde
reiterated Thursday that the country on the brink of a bloodbath. He
said his new administration has been left with a ticking time-bomb
that could explode at any moment. If it does explode, added Duhalde,
not only will no one be able to take their money out of banks, but
the country's productive apparatus will collapse to the point where
it will take decades to recuperate.
Another target of popular anger is Argentina's Supreme Court, where
Thursday thousands gathered to again demand the removal of its
justices accused of having tolerated abuse and corruption during the
10 year administration of former President Carlos Menem and the two
years of former President Fernando de la Rua.
The renewed protest movement comes as authorities continue
investigating large private banks, airports and transportation firms
suspected of engaging in multi-billion dollar capital flight and
other illegal operations that led to Argentina's current financial
crisis. British, French, Spanish and American firms are under
scrutiny, including American Airlines and Citibank.
*PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY DEMAND INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION TO
STOP DISPROPORTIONATE ISRAELI MILITARY REPRISALS
Ramallah, January 18 (RHC)-- The Palestinian National Authority has
again demanded urgent international intervention to stop what it
affirms is disproportionate Israeli reprisals. Following a suicide
attack by a Palestinian gunman who killed six Israelis and wounded
45, Israeli troops launched renewed attacks in autonomous Palestinian
territory, again surrounding the residence of Yasser Arafat and
bombarding autonomous government installations.
Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erakat accused Europe and the
United States of shirking on their responsibility to bring stability
to the region in the face of terrorism and Israeli aggression. The
so-called Brigades of the Al Aqsa Martyrs -- in reference to the
Palestinians killed a year and a half ago during protests against the
presence of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Muslim holy site
-- claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in the Israeli town
of Hadera.
But Tel Aviv is again placing the blame on Arafat and his Palestinian
National Authority. Observers and news correspondents are asserting
that both sides seem incapable of breaking the vicious circle of
violence in the region. From his own office, Arafat could reportedly
hear the exchange of gunfire between Israeli troops and Palestinian
activists as the occupation soldiers surrounded his official
residence with army tanks.
Israel also used F-16 fighter jets in renewed attacks, killing at
least 2 Palestinians and wounding 45. One of Sharon's spokespersons
said Israel will now give the Palestinians an unforgettable lesson.
*WASHINGTON DENIES RUMORS THAT SAUDI ARABIA WANTS US TROOPS TO LEAVE
Washington, January 18 (RHC)-- Washington has denied rumors that
authorities in Saudi Arabia are getting nervous about U.S. military
presence in their country. Quoting mostly unnamed Saudi and U.S.
officials, The Washington Post reported Friday that Saudi Arabia's
rulers may soon ask U.S. military personnel to go home and deprive
the United States of regular use of the Prince Sultan Air Base, from
which American power has been projected into the gulf region and
beyond for more than a decade.
According to the article, Michigan Democratic Senator Carl M. Levin,
chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said this week that the
U.S. should consider moving its forces out the kingdom and find a
place that's more hospitable - affirming that the Saudis don't want
the Americans to stay there. Saudi Arabia has come under intense fire
in many US media outlets that accuse the country of directly or
indirectly sponsoring terrorism, while the country's royal family has
a special obligation to the Muslim world as guardian of Islam's two
most holy places: Mecca and Medina.
The Saudi's sensitivity about their independence and their ethnic
identity has led to numerous restrictions on Washington's use of
their facilities, including telling the United States not to use
planes based in Saudi Arabia for bombing raids against Iraq -- which
have continued sporadically for the last decade.
*FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIMS CONTINUE TO PROTEST COMPENSATION PLAN
New York, January 18 (RHC)-- Relatives of those killed in the
September 11th World Trade Center attacks are increasingly voicing
their anger over what they say is an unjust financial compensation
plan. Hundreds of them gathered Thursday in New York with local
political leaders to demand a change in the plan that they fear will
leave many families with nothing for their loss.
The gathering is being called the strongest show of dissatisfaction
from families of the victims, who in recent weeks have held press
conferences, rallies and enlisted political support in the effort to
alter the federal government's Victim Compensation Fund. New York's
Republican Governor George Pataki told the crowd that he deeply
believes the plan does not do justice to the victims and their
families.
Fund regulations for families giving up their right to sue would also
reduce compensation by any income received from life insurance
policies, pension plans or death benefits -- an aspect of the plan
that has drawn the most fire from critics. The families have also
complained about much higher benefits received by the family members
of top executives who worked at the World Trade Center as opposed to
lower-level employees.
*Viewpoint: DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH
Never before in history, has the breach between rich and poor been
so gaping. Poverty has become the rule and prosperity, the
exception. This dichotomy is now characteristic of our era.
Journalist Ignacio Ramonet, director of Le Monde Diplomatique, notes
that the 225 richest people in the world are worth more than a
trillion dollars, or the equivalent of the earnings of 47 per cent of
the world's poorest populations: some 2.5 billion people.
It is hard to imagine, but there exist individuals who are richer
than entire countries: taken together, the fortunes of the world's 15
richest people are more than the total Gross Domestic Product of all
of Sub Sahara Africa.
According to the exhaustive "Lugano Report," capitalism's principal
challenges in this century are the population explosion, economic
growth without the corresponding well-being of all, potential
environmental disaster, the rise of social inequality, arms
trafficking, terrorism, money laundering and corruption.
Paradoxically, there are many that happily ignore these sobering
truths. As though living on another planet, the principal gurus of
the financial world, the director of the International Monetary Fund,
Horst Koehler and the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn,
on Thursday agreed that "there is much real progress" in the
international struggle against poverty. The statement was made in the
closing of a conference on world problems, which was sponsored by the
two international lending institutions.
Koehler noted that " it is indispensable to work together to improve
people's living conditions" and he claimed that his institution is "
committed to this process."
Also during the closing of the four-day meeting in Washington, D.C.,
World Bank president, -Wolfensohn affirmed that the message the
gathering is sending out is that "the process known as Strategies to
Reduce Poverty, is moving forward." Also on Thursday it was learned
that the Paris Club did in fact reduce Tanzania's debt with Club
members by 737 million dollars. That makes Tanzania only the fourth
country to have received such "charity," after Uganda, Bolivia and
Mozambique.
Naturally, Woldfenshon stressed that "free trade will be a great
contribution to this task." Of course, during the meeting the
developed countries were urged to open up their markets to the
products of the poor nations in order to help mitigate the poverty in
which the great majority live. They were also encouraged to increase
development assistance, which is only .2 per cent of their combined
Domestic Gross Product.
Koehler stated that "it is unconscionable that the United States,
Japan and the European Union spend billions of dollars to maintain
some marginal activities that benefit only a few of its citizens, but
devastate some agricultural sectors that are fundamental for the
peace and development of the poor countries."
But perhaps the most interesting of his statements was his
recognition that "in this post September 11th world, there is a need
to deal with poverty and its consequences of desperation and
alienation." "It is not only a moral imperative or an economic and
social necessity, he noted, "but an important concern for all who
struggle for national and global security and for peace."
The question is: will the International Monetary Fund and World Bank
change their methods and objectives? Don't hold your breath...
(c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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