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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 07:47:48 -0500
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Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-28 January 2002
Radio Havana Cuba-28 January 2002
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 28 January 2002
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*RAUL CASTRO DESCRIBES NEW CLIMATE IN CUBA-US RELATIONS
*CUBAN YOUTH PAY HOMAGE TO NATIONAL HERO JOSE MARTI
*NEW HONDURAN GOVERNMENT RATIFIES DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA
*CUBAN DELEGATION TAKES PART IN INTERNATIONAL ENCOUNTER OF COMMUNISTS
*TRAVEL OPTIONS FROM MEXICO TO CUBA EXPAND
*INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONS GREEN BERET RAID IN AFGHANISTAN
*WASHINGTON INSISTS THAT DETAINEES ARE NOT PRISONERS OF WAR
*ANGER GROWS AMONG PALESTINIANS OVER WASHINGTON'S MIDDLE EAST POLICIES
*Viewpoint: THE 149th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF JOSE MARTI
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*RAUL CASTRO DESCRIBES NEW CLIMATE IN CUBA-US RELATIONS
Havana, January 28 (RHC)--The Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed
Forces, Raul Castro Ruz, told reporters in Havana over the weekend
that relations between the United States and Cuba are advancing
slowly, step-by-step, and that a new climate prevails regarding those
relations.
Raul Castro, who is also the second secretary of the Cuban Communist
Party, said that relations between the two nations could improve, and
that any goodwill gesture on the part of Washington will find an
equal response on the part of Cuba.
He explained that the process is slow, despite the ever-growing
numbers of people in the U.S. who oppose the 40-year long blockade.
Raúl Castro said that there could be a mutually beneficial
rapprochement as long as it is based on mutual respect and
non-interference in the internal affairs of the other nation. He
noted, however, that a spokesperson for the White House or the State
Department may one day say something and complicate things between
the two nations -- pointing out that within the U.S. administration
itself, there are forces that represent different tendencies.
The Cuban defense minister reaffirmed that within the framework of
relations with the U.S., there are sacred, inalienable principles
like sovereignty and self-determination that Cuba will never
renounce. He also pointed to Washington's military presence at the
U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo, which is against the will of the Cuban
people. "They are there," said the Cuban minister of defense. "That
is a fact and we can not ignore that fact." He went on to say that
neither is the United States pleased with having Cuba -- a socialist
society -- near their shores.
In other comments to reporters, Raul Castro said that the Lourdes
Electronic Radar Station has been dismantled and Cuban authorities
expect the Russians will soon take away all the equipment. Cuban Army
General Raul Castro told reporters over the weekend that the antennas
were shut down on December 29th and that none of the equipment at the
radar station is functioning.
Raul Castro said that only 50 Russian technicians remain at the radar
station, which had originally housed more than 700. He said that as
soon as the Russians remove all the remaining equipment, Cuba would
make a decision on what to do with the area and invite the media to
tour the former facility.
In October, Moscow announced it would close the Lourdes Electronic
Radar Station in January, claiming that it was doing so for economic
reasons. But Havana strongly protested the move, noting that it was
coming at a very dangerous time in world events and without having
consulted with Cuban authorities.
*CUBAN YOUTH PAY HOMAGE TO NATIONAL HERO JOSE MARTI
Havana, January 28 (RHC)--Delegates to the 10th Congress of the
Cuban Federation of High School Students (FEEM) dedicated Sunday's
plenary session in Havana to Cuba's National Hero José Martí on the
occasion of the 149th anniversary of his birth, on January 28th,
1853.
The more than 1,300 delegates and guests to the congress of Cuban
high school students analyzed the validity today of Martí's
anti-imperialist ideals.
Participants in the Three-day Congress are also discussing issues
related to the combination of educational, sports and recreational
activities and professional training and they are taking advantage of
the meeting to exchange opinions with young people of their age from
around the world.
Cuban children also paid homage to the man who dedicated his life and
most of his vast literary works to them. Over 1,460,000 members of
the Pioneers children's organization commemorated the 149th
anniversary of the birth of Jose Marti in schools and plazas, island
wide. Some 24,000 school age children here in Havana placed a floral
wreath at the monument to the Cuban national hero at Revolution
Square. Martí said "nothing could ever be more important than
children because children are the hope for a better future for all of
humanity."
The 149th anniversary of the birth of José Martí was also
commemorated Sunday evening with hundreds of torches held aloft by
delegates to the 10th Congress of the Federation of High School
Students, university students and workers. The march began at the
historical grand staircase of the University of Havana and concluded
at the Fragua Martiana -a museum built on the ruins of a rock quarry,
where in 1869 José Martí was sentenced to forced labor at the age of
16, for his revolutionary activities.
Heading the Sunday night march were Cuban Defense Minister, Raúl
Castro Ruz and other Cuban leaders who initiated the torchlight march
tradition in 1953, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the
birth of José Martí. Raúl Castro highlighted the difference between
this march as it's held today with the participation of students,
workers and police marching together to pay homage to the national
hero and what it was like before 1959, when henchmen and police of
the Batista dictatorship were sent to break up the demonstration.
Speakers at this year's homage said Cuba's salute to Jose Marti comes
at a moment when Cubans are immersed in what President Fidel Castro
has termed "a revolution within the revolution." This is a reference
to the national campaign underway to upgrade the cultural level of
the entire population -a campaign inspired by José Martí's idea that
"peoples can only be free when their children are well educated."
To the new generations of Cubans, Martí is remembered as the man who
taught us that a dignified person is one who chooses to be useful to
others, rather than choosing to have a more profitable life.
*NEW HONDURAN GOVERNMENT RATIFIES DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA
Havana, January 28 (RHC)--New Honduran President Ricardo Maduro
will maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba, said the country's
Foreign Minister Guillermo Pérez Cadalzo.
Bilateral diplomatic relations between Tegucigalpa and Havana were
reestablished Saturday evening by out-going Honduran President Carlos
Flores, in what constituted one of his last actions as president of
the Central American nation.
The Honduran foreign minister termed as "a normal step" the
reestablishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba. He explained that under
the new administration, his country's foreign policy remains the same
and President Ricardo Maduro will work to strengthen the already
existing diplomatic ties with the Caribbean island.
*CUBAN DELEGATION TAKES PART IN INTERNATIONAL ENCOUNTER OF COMMUNISTS
Montevideo, January 28 (RHC)--A Cuban delegation, headed by
Communist Party Political Bureau member José Ramon Balaguer, has
arrived in Uruguay to take part in an international encounter of
communist organizations from Latin America, Europe and the Caribbean.
Upon arriving in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, Balaguer, who is
also a member of the Cuban Council of State, highlighted the need for
the meeting in order to analyze problems affecting today's world.
"We should work together toward finding solutions to problems through
alliance, cooperation and coordination with other social forces that
are suffering the effects of imposed neo-liberalism," said the Cuban
official.
The international seminar in Montevideo gathers together leaders of
communist organizations from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,
Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay, among other Latin American nations.
Also on hand are the general secretaries of the Communist Parties of
Spain, Italy and Greece.
*TRAVEL OPTIONS FROM MEXICO TO CUBA EXPAND
Havana, January 28 (RHC)--The travel agency Viñales Tours,
considered Cuba's most successful Latin American tour operator, has
signed an agreement with Mexicana Airlines to expand travel options
to the Caribbean island.
Viñales Tours' General Manager, Dolores Albuerne, announced in Havana
that beginning March 1st, Mexican tourists would have a new scheduled
flight to Cuba. The new air route will leave from Tijuana in Northern
Mexico, with a stop over in Monterrey and then on to its final
destination, the Cuban capital.
The new route, the second agreement signed between Viñales Tours and
Mexicana Airline, will have scheduled flights every Friday.
*INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONS GREEN BERET RAID IN AFGHANISTAN
Kabul, January 28 (RHC)--News reports about a U.S. Army raid on an
old grade school in central Afghanistan have raised concerns about
possible human rights violations. The attack, carried out by Green
Beret special forces, killed at least 21 local residents.
Concerns were raised when neighbors and townspeople who had escaped
the attack ventured back to inspect the damage. They reportedly found
the charred bodies of more than a dozen men who had been shot and
burned in the rooms of one of the two compounds. Others said they
found two bodies outside the compound, their hands tied behind them
with strips of tough white plastic.
The Pentagon defends the raid as an appropriate military action,
saying they checked to make sure the area was Taliban. But in dozens
of interviews this weekend, residents in this town about 100 miles
north of Kandahar in central Afghanistan said the two-hour raid
before dawn, which ended with a U.S. plane firing at the compound,
was an error.
Local officials say the former grade school was briefly used by the
Taliban, but was recently being used as a weapons depot for a
disarmament drive. All the officials and local commanders interviewed
in the area, including the provincial governor, insist that Taliban
fighters are no longer in the area, which has been quiet since the
interim government took power in Kabul over a month ago.
Residents expressed surprise at the attack, saying that everyone in
the area is anti-Taliban. Many told reporters they suspected that the
United States had been misled by false intelligence information
deliberately spread by one of the two factions in town that were
vying to control weapons left behind by departing Taliban. The
weapons had been collected to put them under the control of the
interim government, as part of a campaign being carried out
throughout Afghanistan.
According to reports, one side or the other gave a false tip to the
U.S. Army forces in order to destroy its rival, only to have the
Pentagon send in the Green Beret forces to attack both compounds.
Throughout the war, the Pentagon has solicited local intelligence,
but admits that much of the information is unreliable.
People in the town, describing the dispute between the factions, said
it had been created by a recent change in governors, both of whom
were appointed by Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai. It
rested on who is the rightful district government chief and who has
the right to collect weapons. Each group had amassed a sizable
arsenal during a government-ordered disarmament program, and in the
dispute over who is in charge, neither side had been willing to turn
over its weapons.
One local resident told reporters that after the U.S. Army special
forces left, gunfire and rockets rained from the sky, destroying the
ammunition compound. The Green Beret forces had apparently called in
an air raid by an AC-130 flying warship.
Another resident said he went back to the site of the attack the next
day and found a piece of paper with an American flag on the
windshield of one of the compound's destroyed trucks. Large letters
on the paper read, "God Bless America," and in one corner, someone
had written: "Have a nice day. From Damage, Inc."
*WASHINGTON INSISTS THAT DETAINEES ARE NOT PRISONERS OF WAR
Washington, January 28 (RHC)--U.S. officials have announced that
prisoners captured during the war in Afghanistan will not be
designated as prisoners of war. U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney
answered questions by reporters on a Sunday morning news program,
saying that prisoners held by U.S. forces will not be granted
treatment under the Geneva Convention.
The vice president's remarks were echoed by U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld. The head of the Pentagon, arriving at the U.S. Naval
Base at Guantánamo, said: "They are not P.O.W.'s and they will not be
determined to be P.O.W.'s."
Both administration officials referred to a debate in Washington on
whether or not to adhere to the 1949 Geneva Convention regarding the
treatment of prisoners. According to reports from the U.S. capital,
Secretary of State Colin Powell agrees that the captives should not
be given prisoner of war status, but has asked the administration to
study how that relates to the Geneva Convention.
Cheney said the Convention does not apply to those captives because
they were not conventional soldiers, but terrorists operating outside
internationally accepted norms. Reflecting the debate within the
administration, the vice president said that the question was whether
the prisoners should be treated within the confines of the convention
or outside it. He prefers outside, because it would allow -- in his
words -- "flexibility in interrogation."
The Number Two man in Washington said that the U.S. needs to have a
free hand to interrogate the prisoners and "extract from them
whatever information they have." He said that one line of thought is
that the Geneva Convention does not apply in cases of terrorism.
*ANGER GROWS AMONG PALESTINIANS OVER WASHINGTON'S MIDDLE EAST POLICIES
Jerusalem, January 28 (RHC)--Anger is growing among Palestinians
over Washington's policies in the Middle East. Tension is on the rise
following the Bush administration's endorsement of recent Israeli
military actions and the announcement that the White House is
considering breaking ties with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Many observers warn that a hardening of the U.S. position, which is
at odds with the Europeans, is counter-productive, given that it will
fuel militant groups, making it harder to prevent attacks on Israel.
One commentator pointed out that just a few months ago, the U.S.
president was talking about a two-state solution for the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
referred to the need for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories.
But the White House has since turned its back on Yasser Arafat,
claiming he was behind an arms shipment that was intercepted by
Israeli commandos earlier this month in the Red Sea. Palestinians
have always considered Washington to be pro-Israel, but now many
believe that the Bush administration is applauding the actions of
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- working to destroy the Palestine
National Authority and the possibilities of peace.
Arab criticism of Washington focuses on the fact that the U.S. is
pressing Arafat to jail members of armed groups attacking Israelis,
and yet has little or nothing to say about Israel's conduct,
particularly the use of U.S.-supplied F-16 war planes and
assassinations of Palestinian leaders.
Early Sunday morning, F-16s were back in action again -- bombing
security buildings in the West Bank and Gaza City. The latest attacks
injured at least two people.
*Viewpoint: THE 149th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF JOSE MARTI
"Cubans ask nothing of the world except that it recognizes and
respects their sacrifices and the blood they have spilt for
humankind." Although these words were written by Cuba's national
hero, Jose Marti, more than a century ago, they still apply this very
day, the 149th anniversary of Marti's birth.
A great thinker and one of the most remarkable figures of Latin
America's struggle for freedom, Jose Marti had the ability to foresee
political events on the continent. After spending 14 years in the
United States he warned the region of the power and ambitions of its
huge neighbor, having lived, as he called it, "within the entrails of
the monster." He saw clearly that US involvement in the war of
independence against Spain was for reasons of aggrandizement and
regional dominance. His fears were realized barely six years after
his death in combat in 1895 when the 1901 Platt Ammendment handed
Cuba's sovereignty to Washington on a plate.
The life of Jose Marti is in fact a resume of the history of the
peoples of Latin America who rebelled against the injustice of
ruthless colonial powers, who sought a better future in a just
society and who gave their lives so that others may live in freedom.
These are sentiments that are sadly nowadays viewed with suspicion
and sound almost pat.
The importance of Marti, his teachings and his ideas to Cuba cannot
be overstated. His writings, poetry, sayings and political wisdom
continue to be at the center of socio-political life on the island,
and are universally accessible. Highly cultured, he was nonetheless
not a wild idealist with a complicated thought process that few could
understand. Not a man who used cold reasoning to communicate his
views. He was a passionate writer of poetry and stories, a man who
showed great love for children and was able to write for them with as
much sensitivity as he wrote for all the impoverished and repressed
peoples of Latin America.
Today, as much as ever, Jose Marti continues to teach us all
humility, commitment and humanity. His image is seen everywhere here
in a national salute to a good man who died as he had lived,
defending his people and their right to a decent life with his own
blood - just as he had foretold.
(c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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