RHC Weekend-17/18 March 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 17/18 March 2001 . *EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS HELMS-BURTON SANCTIONS AGAINST MELIA HOTEL GROUP *FIVE FORMER PANAMANIAN PRESIDENTS DEMANDING POSADA GANG BE EXTRADITED *LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN STUDENT GROUP DEFENDS INDEPENDENCE AND EDUCATION *SYRIA CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA *CUBA'S CATTLE FREE FROM DEADLY DISEASES *CUBA, MOZAMBIQUE BOOST BILATERAL COOPERATION *CUBA PROMOTING REGIONAL ECO-TOURISM *FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS ABOUT THE ROLE OF NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS . *EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS HELMS-BURTON SANCTIONS AGAINST MELIA HOTEL GROUP Havana, March 17 (RHC)--The European Commission will not allow the United States to sanction the Spanish Sol Melia hotel group for its investments in Cuba. The Spanish newspaper "El Pais" reported on Saturday that Foreign Affairs Commissioner Pascal Lamy assured Sol Melia representative, Sabastian Escarrer that the E.U.will oppose any attempts by Washington to apply the Helms-Burton Law against the Spanish company. The article reported that in a meeting held in Brussels, Lamy discounted the possibility that Europe would agree to impose sanctions if the Bush administration decides to enforce Title Four of the controversial U.S. legislation. That section of the law provides for reprisals against business executives of third countries who violate provisions of the Helms-Burton law, which has been internationally criticized for its extra-territorial implications. According to "El Pais," the EU has never denounced the law to the World Trade Organization because the United States promised not to use the law against European business executives. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton suspended the offending article each six months during his administration. In June, Bush must decide whether he will do the same. *FIVE FORMER PANAMANIAN PRESIDENTS DEMANDING POSADA GANG BE EXTRADITED Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Five former presidents of Panama and 50 labor, student and non-governmental organizations have called on president Mireya Moscoso to extradite to Cuba four international terrorists who have been detained in Panama as being part of a plan to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro. Cuban-born Luis Posada Carriles, and three other known terrorists, are charged with possession of explosives and falsifying documents in relation with a plot to kill the Cuban president in Panama last year during the Tenth Ibero American Summit. In a declaration presented to Cuba's ambassador in Panama, the signatories of the petition also demanded that the Panamanian government not give in to internal or external pressures to extend the men impunity or to allow them to escape. Cuban's ambassador in Panama, Carlos Zamora, recalled that Cuba has pledged not to apply either the death penalty or life imprisonment if the four right-wing terrorists are extradited to the island as Cuba has requested. "We recognize Panama's right to try these terrorists for crimes committed in Panama," said the Cuban diplomat upon receiving the petition, "but we also claim the right to try them for crimes against Cuba." Former Panamanian presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Guillermo Endara, Manuel Solis Palma, Francisco Rodriquez and Arístides Royo are among the scores of names on the petition. Cuban ambassador Zamora stressed that the right of Panama to try the men in Panama and Cuba's right to try them in Cuba, for actions committed outside of Panama, are not contradictory, if extradition is permitted and the four are not given impunity. Panamanian police arrested Posada Carriles and the other three men after Cuban president Fidel Castro himself denounced the assassination plan. Later authorities found 40 pounds of C-4 explosives, which were presumably to have been set off by remote control while the Cuban president was meeting with thousands of supporters in Panama University. Posada Carriles is also wanted in Venezuela where he was jailed in the l976 sabotage of a Cubana Airlines passenger plane, which killed all 73 people on board. *LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN STUDENT GROUP DEFENDS INDEPENDENCE AND EDUCATION Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Yosvani diaz, the president of the Latin American and Caribbean Students Organization (OCLAE), has announced in Havana that the organization will launch a new campaign in favor of public education and people's sovereignty. Diaz said the drive, to begin April 7th, will be announced during an upcoming gathering of Latin American Economy Ministers in Argentina. Diaz said that the continental students organization will join in street demonstrations during the ministers' gathering. The OCLAE president added that the organization is planning a hemispheric drive for April 20th, coinciding with the Summit of the Americas set for Quebec, Canada, to reivindicate the voice of those excluded and to demand the inclusion of the student movement into the decision-making process in each country. Students will be holding gatherings and seminars to discuss education in the region, the Free Trade Agreement, the Colombia plan and their true impact on the region. *SYRIA CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Syria's new ambassador to Havana, Clovis Khoury, has denounced Washington's economic blockade of the island. Speaking at a ceremony marking the 38th anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, Khoury said that Cuba's voice and presence is growing in the United Nations and other international forums. He noted that Cuba is always is on the side of the Arab people and their rights. The diplomat also came out in favor of strengthening bilateral ties. Cuban Arab Union official Juan Douflat emphasized that the Syrian Revolution, since its beginning, has been working toward greater social peace, more jobs, and social progress for the nation. *CUBA'S CATTLE FREE FROM DEADLY DISEASES Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Cuba's Veterinary Medicine Institute has dismissed the possibility that either hoof-and-mouth or mad cow disease exist on the island. International Veterinary expert Paulino Santos Montero pointed out that Cuba has reinforced sanitary and control measures at all air and maritime ports. The specialist explained that Cuba has placed a permanent ban on importing frozen meats and biological by-products from countries in which those diseases are present. Regarding mad cow disease, Santos Montero said that the island is well protected and has prohibited imports of live animals, meat and animal feeds made from animal protein. *CUBA, MOZAMBIQUE BOOST BILATERAL COOPERATION Havana, March 17 (RHC)--Cuba and Mozambique on Friday signed a cooperation protocol as part of the 13th Technical, Scientific and Economic Cooperation Joint Session, held this week in Havana. The two sides agreed on the need to continue strengthening bilateral ties and reiterated their willingness to work in that respect. During the joint session, the two countries also signed a cooperation protocol for the 2001-2003 period in health, education, culture, tourism, science and technology, as well as in the fishing industry, agriculture, sports and trade. Bilateral cooperation ties began in 1977; to date, some seven thousand Cuban experts from various sectors have worked in the African nation, while more than 1,300 Mozambican youngsters have studied on the island. *CUBA PROMOTING REGIONAL ECO-TOURISM Havana, March 17 (RHC)--The Cuban Tourism Ministry has announced the Second International Gathering on Eco-Tourism, set for central Cienfuegos province from November 5 through November 9. Norman Medina, head of the Tourism Ministry's development program, made the announcement in Varadero Beach on Friday. Local and foreign tour operators attended the meeting. The international meetings will include a Cuba and Caribbean eco-tourism trade fair, as well as a seminar on sustainable development and regional eco-tourism. Participants will visit sites of ecological interest, including Topes de Collantes in the Escambray Mountains, the Zapata Peninsula, the island's most extensive wetlands, and the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, which was inaugurated October 25th, 1901 under the auspices of Harvard University. The garden, which celebrates its centennial this year, boasts one of the largest palm collections of the world, with 280 species on 231 acres. Seventy percent of its 2000 plants are considered exotic. *FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS ABOUT THE ROLE OF NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS >From the very beginning, the leaders of the Cuban revolution have recognized the value of education. One of the first projects undertaken after the triumph of the revolution was the literacy campaign, involving thousands of young students and teachers who went to the most remote parts of the island in order to teach people how to read and write. Cuba now has one of the highest literacy rates in the Americas, if not in the world. Education is seen as an integral part of the full development of the human being. Last Thursday, Cuban president Fidel Castro, at the graduation ceremony of new primary school teachers, spoke about the new cultural and education movement, which is occurring in Cuba right now. The "University for All" television classes head up this new campaign, along with televised informative round tables that discuss and analyze the important issues of the day. During his speech, Fidel stressed the importance of having a vocational attitude to one's work when one is responsible for forming the ethical and spiritual values of young children. He also underlined the necessity to educate, rather than merely instruct. In the same vein, the Cuban leader went on to state that to be on top of teaching, it is necessary for the educator to have a thorough knowledge of science, art and ethics. The young teachers who graduated will soon be in the classrooms of Havana and Matanzas. They are the first to graduate under the umbrella of the new cultural project. They now have the opportunity to benefit from new methodology that has been developed to give a deeper understanding of young children's educational needs. Links formed between schools and families will contribute to the overall development of the child. The new graduates are the first in a whole new movement, which will result in thousands of new primary school teachers deployed around the island. The number of new teachers will enable smaller numbers of pupils per class with the eventual ratio projected at 20 pupils per teacher, or even lower in some areas. This work will bring about a renewal of the Cuban nation's cultural identity, which has always been strong, but will now go on to reach further heights. This will lead, in turn, to the development of a stronger community and national spirit among the Cuban people -- a crucial element in Cuba's struggle against globalization. (c) 2001 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-03.17.01-22:23:12-11795 _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________