From: John Clancy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Radio Havana Radio Jan 20/21. Bush-uncertain expectations
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba Weekend - News Update - 20/21 January 2001
.
*FOREIGN PRESS IN HAVANA REPORT ON RALLY AGAINST CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT
*FIDEL MEETS WITH LEADER OF JAPAN'S CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
*BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVES IN HAVANA
*OSPAAAL EVENT HONORS CHE GUEVARA
*CUBA SOLIDARITY MEETING PLANNED IN GUADALAJARA
*CUBAN DOCTORS ARRIVE IN EL SALVADOR
*PHILIPPINES PROTESTORS FORCE PRESIDENT ESTRADA FROM OFFICE
*US TEAM DISCOVERS HIGH LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN IRAQ
*CLINTON PARDONS HIS HALF-BROTHER, BUT NOT PELTIER, AS PROTESTORS
FILL STREETS
Viewpoint:
*BUSH TAKES OVER US PRESIDENCY AMID UNCERTAIN EXPECTATIONS
.
*FOREIGN PRESS IN HAVANA REPORT ON RALLY AGAINST CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-All of the foreign press agencies accredited
in Havana reported the rally of over one million Cuban people that
was held on Friday along the Malecon seaside drive which passed the
US Interest Section. The protesters were headed by Cuban President
Fidel Castro and demanded an end to the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Washington's Cuban Adjustment Act permits any Cuban that reaches
US territory to stay and request immediate residency.
According to EFE news agency, Cubans were protesting Washington's
migratory policy towards the island and denounced the recent deaths
of two Cuban teenagers as directly attributable to the Cuban
Adjustment Act which promotes illegal departures from the island.
Notimex news agency reported on Friday that the huge rally headed
by President Fidel Castro was the first protest of the new century
demanding an end to the criminal law. Other news agencies like DPA,
Xinhua, Itar-Tass and many others reported the huge rally saying that
the Cuban people were condemning the Cuban Adjustment Act and other
US legislations that attempt to destroy the Revolution.
*FIDEL MEETS WITH LEADER OF JAPAN'S CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-Cuban President Fidel Castro met on Friday
in Havana with the leader of Japan's Chamber of Deputies, Tamisuke
Watanuki who ended his three-day visit to the island.
During the meeting at the Japanese ambassador's residence, the two
leaders discussed bilateral relations and other issues of mutual
interest.
The Japanese legislator donated language laboratory equipment to the
School of Languages at the University of Havana and visited the Latin
American School of Medicine where some three thousand foreign
students are studying free of charge as part of a integral health
program.
*BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVES IN HAVANA
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-The Director of the Americas Department for
the British Foreign Office, Richard Wilkinson, will arrive on
Saturday in Havana on a official visit.
During his stay on the island, Wilkinson will meet with Cuban
Foreign Ministry officials, as well as Foreign Trade, Justice and
Basic Industry Ministry and the Anti Drug Division.
The British official will also tour places of economic and tourism
interest in the provinces of Havana and Matanzas -- mainly the oil
wells and Varadero Beach Resort.
*OSPAAAL EVENT HONORS CHE GUEVARA
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-A representation of the Organization in
Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America paid
homage on Friday in the central city of Santa Clara to legendary hero
Ernesto Che Guevara as part of activities for the 35th anniversary of
OSPAAAL.
Headed by OSPAAAL's General Secretary, Juana Carretero, the
group's representatives placed a floral wreath at the Ernesto Che
Guevara Mausoleum where the remains of the heroic guerrilla and his
companions that fell in combat in Bolivia were laid to rest.
OSPAAAL was created during the first solidarity conference was held
in January 1966.
*CUBA SOLIDARITY MEETING PLANNED IN GUADALAJARA
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-The 6th National Solidarity with Cuba
meeting will be held on February 17th and 18th in the Mexican state
of Guadalajara.
The organizer of the event, Peter Gellert, told Prensa Latina news
agency that political and social organizations opposing Washington's
blockade and defenders of self-determination, as well as many
individuals will participant in the event.
Gellert added that the 6th solidarity meeting will outline Cuba's
successes and achievements over the past year despite the outside
political interference and economic challenges it faces.
A text that was issued on Friday says that Cuba is recovering from
the special period at an incredible pace, while at the same time
maintaining its sovereignty and independence and dignity.
The text concludes by saying that to defend Cuba is to defend
democracy.
Leaders from Cuba's Federation of University Students, and the
Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP will be invited to
attend the solidarity event, said Gellert.
*CUBAN DOCTORS ARRIVE IN EL SALVADOR
Havana, January 20 (RHC)-A contingent of Cuban doctors arrived Friday
night in El Salvador to contribute toward stopping the proliferation
of diseases among thousands of refugees from last week's earthquake.
According to Dr. Elia Rosa Lemus, head of the Cuban mission, the
Cuban doctors will help and support the work in reducing the risk of
outbreaks in the region.
Salvadoran health authorities fear an outbreak of epidemics in the
country after last week's earthquake which killed at least 700 people
and rendered many thousands homeless.
*PHILIPPINES PROTESTORS FORCE PRESIDENT ESTRADA FROM OFFICE
Havana, January 20 (RHC)--The new president of the Philippines,
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has begun to appoint her cabinet after mass
protests forced Joseph Estrada out of office early Saturday following
his removal aspresident by the nation's supreme court.
Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as chief executive today saying that
she will promote a government that is transparent and without
corruption. The new leader also stated that her administration will
work to eliminate poverty.
The Philippine president who was a university classmate of former
U.S. president Bill Clinton, was sworn in on the same day Clinton
left office. Macapagal-Arroyo told the press that she will refrain
from naming "friends" in official posts.
Apparently the head of the Philippine National Police, General
Panfilo Lacson will remain in power as well as the chief of the
country's Armed Forces Angelo Reyes, both of whom supported Estrada's
removal.
It is also likely that the new president will retain the presidential
guard, which surrounded Estrada over the last two days of
demonstrations around the presidential palace in Manilla.
High on president Macapagal-Arroyo's agenda will be the fate of the
island of Mindinao, one of the country's poorest areas and a
stronghold of separatist Moslem rebels.
The new leader plans to install herself in the presidential palace
within 5 days. Former president Estrada left the palace a few hours
after Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in. Estrada had requested to stay on
as leader of thePhilippines until Wednesday but his political rivals
refused to wait.
The former film star was accused of illegally amassing millions of
dollars during his two and half year rule of corruption and toadyism.
*US TEAM DISCOVERS HIGH LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN IRAQ
Havana, January 20 (RHC)--An investigating team from the US
based International Action Center has found evidence of extremely
high levels of radioactivity in soil that it was testing in Iraq. The
soil came from an area where hundreds of thousands of shells
reinforced with depleted uranium werefired during the Gulf War in
1991.
The Action Center delegation, which is led by its founder, former
US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, reported its findings at the
Italian Parliament in Rome on Friday.
The increasing proof of massive radioactive pollution by the US and
NATO in their wars in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo has prompted widespread
European condemnation and demands by soldiers posted to these areas
that they be withdrawn for health reasons. Israel has also been
accused of wantonly using depleted uranium ammunition received from
Washington for its war against Palestinians, in spite of these recent
disclosures.
London and Washington both maintain a no fly zone over Iraq,
constantly bombing ground installations and enforcing an economic
blockade that has resulted in the deaths of millions of Iraqi
children, said Ramsey Clark, who called the sactions "war by other
means".
*CLINTON PARDONS HIS HALF-BROTHER, BUT NOT PELTIER, AS PROTESTORS
FILL STREETS
Havana, January 20 (RHC)--A few hours before leaving office on
Saturday, US President Bill Clinton pardoned more than 100 people,
including his brother and a former business partner.
In a controvertial end to a controvertial second term, Clinton
pardoned Roger Clinton who had been convicted of a drug charge, as
well as Susan McDougal, his former Whitewater partner who refused to
testfy against Clinton and was convicted for contempt of court and
obstruction of justice.
The list also included Patty Hearst, the heiress turned bankrobber,
and Navaho Nation chief Peter MacDonald who was convicted of inciting
a riot in 1989 after he was removed from office for bribery and
corruption.
Former Clinton Housing Secretary, Henry Cisneros, was also pardoned.
He was convicted of a misdemeanor charge after lying to the FBI in a
payment scandal involving a former mistress in 1996.
Notable in the list were those who were not included on it -
especially Leonard Peltier, the American Indian activist convicted -
many believe unjustly - in the deaths of two agents during a
disastrous FBI siege in 1975, and one time Wall Street financier
Michael Milken.
Meanwhile thousands of demonstrators packed the streets in Washington
to protest at George W Bush's inauguration as the country's 43rd
president. Although police kept the protesters well away from the
area in which the swearing-in ceremony took place, a number of
demonstrators were able to get through although they were soon
arrested. The security measures taken by the Washington police and
the US Secret Service were some of the most extensive ever
undertaken.
A spokesperson for one of the groups, Votermarch, explained that
large numbers of otherwise moderate citizens were protesting because
they were upset not so much with Bush winning the election but with
the series of right wing and reactionary people he has appointed to
his cabinet. Bush won the election but lost the popular vote -
something that has happened only once before in the nation's history.
*Viewpoint: BUSH TAKES OVER US PRESIDENCY AMID UNCERTAIN
EXPECTATIONS
On Saturday, January 20th, 2001, the US new Republican
administration begins, headed by the Texan George W. Bush, who will
take over the presidency of the biggest political, economic and
military force in history.
The perspectives of this new administration, influenced by the
US ultra-right wing, are uncertain. These perspectives include the US
intention to continue tightening the anti-Cuban policy, maintained by
Washington for more than 40 years.
The United States has not accepted the total loss of its neo-
colonial control of Cuba during the first six decades of the last
century. The new US president, like many of his predecessors, should
not ignore the reality of the situation in order to fulfill his
commitments to the anti-Cuba Miami organizations, in the face of
which Cubans have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate their
loyalty to their country and the Revolution.
In the domestic field, financial experts predict that President Bush
is facing an economic recession in the US. During the past 8 years,
the nation has enjoyed a huge level of economic bonanza and
unprecedented prosperity, although there has been little trickle-down
to the poor. The outgoing Democratic President, Bill Clinton, is
leaving the Oval Office with the satisfaction of having presided over
a period of relative financial well-being and progress.
In relation to other political aspects, the new US president showed
little interest in world issues during his campaign, mainly due to
his lack of knowledge and advance preparation. All he is left with is
the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to take a just road as
the 43rd president of the United States.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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rhc-eng-28235 2001-Jan-20 20:12:59 " JC
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