>Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 05:30:08 -0500 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-09 December 2000 >Radio Havana Cuba-09 December 2000 > >Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 09 December 2000 > > . > >*USA'S MAJOR ELECTORAL SCANDAL OCCURS IN TERRITORY OF RIGHT-WING EXILES > >*FIDEL CASTRO, RICARDO ALARCON ATTEND UNVEILING OF JOHN LENNON STATUE > >*CARLOS LAGE MEETS IN HAVANA WITH DELEGATION FROM FRENCH SENATE > >*PEREZ ROQUE RETURNS FROM HONDURAS VISIT > >*DAY FIVE AT HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL > >*GRANMA EDITORIAL ON SUSPENSION OF CUBA-US TELEPHONE SERVICE > > . > >*USA'S MAJOR ELECTORAL SCANDAL OCCURS IN TERRITORY OF RIGHT-WING EXILES > >Havana, December 9 (RHC)--Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told >Notimex News Agency yesterday that it is very significant that the US State >of Florida, where the majority of right-wing Cuban exiles live, is the site >of the first major electoral irregularity in the history of the USA. Perez >Roque added that Cuba has offered the US some unsolicited advice regarding >the holding of clean elections. > >The Foreign Minister pointed out that Miami-Dade county and the Miami area >have the largest number of powerful ultra-rightwing Cuban exiles, who -- >even before the triumph of the Revolution -- were already corrupt. They had >previous experience of electoral manipulation before arriving in Miami and >now they effectively control the city. > >Perez Roque mentioned that George W. Bush is putting a great deal of >emphasis on the support received by Cuban voters in Miami, ignoring the fact >that only 170,000 Cubans cast their vote compared with the total of 6.5 >million voters in Florida. However, they are very influential and have money >to finance electoral campaigns. The Cuban Foreign Minister recalled that >Vice Presidential candidate and Democrat, Joseph Lieberman, has also >received large sums of money from the rightwing Cuban American National >Foundation. > >Perez Roque paid a short visit to Honduras on Friday and met with President >Carlos Flores and the Honduran Foreign Minister Roberto Flores. Perez Roque >signed several cooperation agreements with the Central American nation >covering culture, education and migratory issues. > > >*FIDEL CASTRO, RICARDO ALARCON ATTEND UNVEILING OF JOHN LENNON STATUE > >Havana, December 9(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro attended the >unveiling yesterday of the statue of John Lennon on Friday in a Havana park. >The President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, spoke to the crowd >gathered to mark the historic occasion. The ceremony took place on the 20th >anniversary of Lennon's murder. He was shot to death in New York City on >December 8th, 1980. > >Ricardo Alarcon said that John Lennon is best remembered for his efforts on >behalf of world peace and tolerance. The President of the Cuban Parliament >stated that John Lennon is especially popular in Cuba, where many musicians >acknowledge his influence in their work. > >Lennon Park sits in the center of the city, in the tree-lined Vedado >neighborhood. The statue of Lennon, sitting cross-legged on a park bench >next to where others may sit, is a striking likeness of the legendary >British singer and songwriter. > >Friday night at Havana's Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribunal, a group of >Cuban singers and songwriters performed Beatles songs in a free, open-air >concert. The concert ended with the enthusiastic crowd singing along on such >classics as "Imagine" and "Hey Jude." > > >*CARLOS LAGE MEETS IN HAVANA WITH DELEGATION FROM FRENCH SENATE > >Havana, December 9(RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage met in Havana on >Friday with the president of the French Senate, Cristian Poncelet. Lage told >the press that relations between Cuba and France are at a good moment, >especially on a parliamentary level, and he made reference to the >possibility of extending these relations to other sectors. > >The Cuban Vice President affirmed that the parliamentary links between the >two nations opened up commercial relations between France and Cuba, and he >praised the position of the French government against Washington's blockade >of Cuba. > >Lage also reported that despite the increase in oil prices, the Cuban >economy has managed to overcome the crisis generated by that situation -- so >much so, he added, that it has been able to maintain its growth, which >should be some 5.6 percent by the end of the year. > >The Cuban leader, who also heads the Executive Committee of the Cuban >Council of Ministers, pointed out that tourism continues to be the island's >most important hard currency sector. He added that the island's oil industry >is also doing very well due to increases registered in the island's oil and >gas production. On Saturday, a cooperation accord was signed between Cuban >Parliament President, Ricardo Alarcon, and the President of the French >Senate, Cristian Poncelet. > > >*PEREZ ROQUE RETURNS FROM HONDURAS VISIT > >Havana, December 9th(RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has >returned to Havana after a short working visit to Honduras. > >During his stay in the Central American country, Perez Roque met with top >Honduran authorities and Cuban doctors who are volunteering their services >in that country. > >Honduran President, Carlos Flores, met with Perez Roque who presented Flores >with personal message from Cuban President Fidel Castro. Bilateral >cooperation between the two countries was among the topics under >discussion. > >After a meeting in the capital OF Tegucigalpa, the Cuban Foreign Minister and >the Honduran leader announced to the press that Cuba and Honduras will >maintain relations based on joint work and cooperation, and that the lack of >formal diplomatic relations will not be an obstacle. > >During his visit, Perez Roque signed agreements on cultural and education >cooperation, a cooperation mechanism and a proposal to come to a migratory >agreement. > >The Cuban official also met with more than 200 members of the Honduras-Cuba >Friendship Association, who rejected the tightening of the US blockade >against the island and reiterated their support for the Cuban Revolution. > > >*DAY FIVE AT HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL > >Havana, December 9 (RHC)--The fifth day of the 22nd International Festival >of New Latin American Film brings another day of practically non-stop films >and documentaries. One of the most important and significant categories is >Italian Cinema, not only because the major Italian films of the year are >being presented, but also because of Italy's many co-productions with Cuba, >Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and many other Latin American countries. > >Independent filmmakers from the U.S. like Karin Kusama and Maziu Oldrich, >are showing their work here because of the particular ethic of this >Festival, which has nothing to with commercialism or bland, globalized >culture. > >Among Saturday's offerings are: "Children of Paradise" from Iran, "Holy >Smoke," directed by Jane Campion, an Australia/USA co-production, "La >Aventura", Brazil, "A Night with Sabrina Love" Argentina/Italy. Cuban >director Rigoberto Lopez is set to show his new documentary "Puerta >Principio Mio," made in Haiti. > > >*GRANMA EDITORIAL ON SUSPENSION OF CUBA-US TELEPHONE SERVICE > >Havana, December 9 (RHC)--Cuba's official daily Granma published an editorial >on Saturday on Cuba's announcement that it will suspend direct telephone >communications between the island and the United States as of next Friday, >December 15th, unless it receives payment of taxes from U.S. telephone >companies. > >Today's editorial says that the right wing Cuban Americans in Miami, >supported by the right wing members of Congress pushed ahead a measure in >Congress to refuse payment to the island of frozen funds of years of >telephone services between Cuba and the United States. > >The frozen funds, says today's Granma editorial, were re-routed to terrorist >groups that have continuously violated Cuban air space and committed all >types of attacks against the island. Saturday's editorial goes on to say >that the corrupt Florida legal system and that of Mr. King, well-known Miami >judge who was an accomplice to the illegal detention of Cuban Elian >Gonzalez by the ultra right wing in Miami, was in charge of the dirty and >embarrassing lawsuit to attempt to steal the frozen funds that belong to >Cuba. > >The official editorial explains that the Cuban Council of State approved a >law last October 25th, in which Cuba established a ten percent tax on all >direct telephone calls, totaling the amount of the frozen funds. The total >amount that would be recovered would then be used for the island's health >care system. Today's editorial adds that after the tax law was approved, >Cuba warned that if the tax money of direct telephone calls to the island >were not received by a certain date, direct phone services would be >suspended. On December 7, the Nuevo Herald, mouthpiece of the right wing >Cuban Americans in Miami, announced that US telephone companies would not >pay the ten percent tax. In statements published the same day by one of the >new magnates of the right wing Cuban American National Foundation, Mr. >Dennis Hayes, former State Department official cynically criticized the >island by saying that now that Christmas is approaching, Castro is willing >to cut direct telephone calls between Cuban families abroad and on the >island. > >Granma asks why Mr. Dennis Hayes is now concerned about Christmas, Cuban >families, or even the birth of Christ. He never took these things into >account, says the paper, during the almost 40 years when millions of Cuban >families were being economically blockaded in an attempt to destroy the >elderly, women and children by hunger and disease, when sabotage and >terrorism were being committed against Cuba through mercenary attacks, >biological aggression and other actions that have cost the lives of >thousands of Cuban people. > >Now, says the newspaper, with the complicity of the US government the right >wing is attempting to steal frozen funds that rightly belong to Cuba for >over 30 years of telephone service between the Cuban families on the island >and abroad. Cuba, says today's editorial, has the right to adopt additional >measures until those funds are returned to their rightful owners. > >Saturday's editorial concludes by saying that what the ultra-rightwing Cuban >Americans must do is to take responsibility for their own actions which have >provoked the suspension of direct telephone calls between Cuba and the >United States. The ultra-rightwingers, says Granma, were dreaming if they >thought that Cuba would not respond. > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved. > >================================================================= > NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems > Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us > 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 > http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >================================================================= > >nytcari-12.10.00-05:27:59-17855 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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