Radio Havana Cuba-20 March 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 20 March 2001
.
*CHINESE PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN SLATED TO VISIT CUBA
*GOVERNOR OF BRAZILIAN STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO ARRIVES IN HAVANA
*CUBA WARNS OF THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
*FOX ATTEMPTS TO KEEPS TALKS GOING AFTER MARCOS ANNOUNCES RETURN TO CHIAPAS
*THOUSANDS OF ARGENTINEANS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN ECONOMIC PROTESTS
*MORE DEATH THREATS IN CASE OF ASSASSINATED GUATEMALAN BISHOP GERARDI
.
*CHINESE PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN SLATED TO VISIT CUBA
Beijing, March 20 (RHC)--Chinese President Jiang Zemin is scheduled to visit
Cuba next month as part of a tour of several Latin American countries.
According to Prensa Latina News Agency in Beijing, the Chinese capital,
President Zemin will also visit Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela. The
Chinese president's Latin American tour will get underway during the first
week of April.
A news release issued by Prensa Latina on Tuesday noted that the upcoming
visit to Havana will be the second visit for the Chinese head of state.
Jiang Zemin's first visit to Cuba was in 1993. Cuban President Fidel Castro
reciprocated with a tour of China in 1995. It was noted that the two leaders
have met on other occasions -- most recently at the United Nations
Millennium Summit, held in New York City last November.
Prensa Latina pointed out that Cuba was the first Latin American country to
establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China -- on
September 28, 1960.
*GOVERNOR OF BRAZILIAN STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO ARRIVES IN HAVANA
Havana, March 20 (RHC)--The governor of the Brazilian State of Rio de
Janeiro arrived at Jose Marti International Airport Monday evening,
beginning a six-day official visit to the island.
Anthony Garotinho Matheus de Oliveira was received at the airport by Ricardo
Cabrisas, Cuba's Government Minister without Portfolio, and Raul Taladrid,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation.
Speaking with reporters upon his arrival, the governor of Rio de Janeiro
stated that the purpose of his visit was to establish bilateral cooperation
in the areas of agriculture, health and education.
Accompanying Matheus de Oliveira is an important delegation of 30 mayors
from cities and towns in the Brazilian State of Rio de Janeiro. They
expressed their desire to further develop the Cuban model of community
doctors -- which has been introduced recently in various areas of Brazil. A
number of Cuban physicians are also working in Rio de Janeiro to help
develop the recently-established Family Doctor Program.
On Tuesday -- the first full day of the delegation's visit -- the governor
of Rio de Janeiro met with Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon. He
also toured the newly inaugurated International School of Physical Education
and Sports, located on the outskirts of the Cuban capital.
Anthony Garotinho Matheus de Oliveira also plans to visit sugarcane fields
and areas where Cuban-built machinery is being used in the sugar harvest.
The governor has expressed a special interest in sugar production, given
that he comes from an area in the northern part of Rio where sugarcane is
grown.
Matheus de Oliveira and his delegation will tour different areas of economic
and social interest until they return to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, the
24th.
*CUBA WARNS OF THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
Santo Domingo, March 20 (RHC)--Neo-liberal globalization is decadent and
following the path of the Roman Empire, said Armando Har in a lecture he
delivered in Santo Domingo. Hart, Director of the Jose Marti Program and
former Cuban Minister of Culture, warned of the present and future dangers
of neo-liberal globalization.
Armando Hart told hundreds of students, professors and invited guests at the
University of Organization and Methodology in Santo Domingo that the world
is recklessly on the same course as that taken by the Roman Empire, which --
as everyone knows -- fell of its own weight. The former minister of culture
noted that there appears to be no one in the United States with the
intelligence or moral strength to turn things around. He pointed out that
"the recently 'selected' president of the United States, George W. Bush --
and the people he is surrounding himself with -- will obviously not change
the course."
Referring to the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Hart said it
would be useful to study the current crisis on the Left, learning from past
experiences and mistakes in order to bring together all progressive forces
fighting for real social justice. In his lecture, he argued that a correct
analysis of the problems affecting the Third World and the Left in general
will help to unite revolutionary forces as they confront the challenges of a
globalized world, modelled on neo-liberal economic theories.
Hart is in the Dominican Republic as a special guest of the 12th Forum of
Ministers of Culture and Politics from Latin America and the Caribbean. The
forum officially gets underway on Wednesday.
*FOX ATTEMPTS TO KEEPS TALKS GOING AFTER MARCOS ANNOUNCES RETURN TO CHIAPAS
Mexico City, March 20 (RHC)--Mexican President Vicente Fox has embarked on a
last-minute effort to jump-start the peace process in Chiapas following the
Zapatista caravan's announcement of its return to Chiapas on Friday. Rebel
commander Marcos asserted Monday that the indigenous rebels will not beg
Mexican politicians to hold talks.
Marcos accused the most reactionary sector of Congress of openly defying the
consensus and support that the Zapatistas and Mexico's National Indigenous
Congress have mustered. Marcos said the Caravan achieved its principal
objective: to center international attention on the Mexican indigenous
problem.
He also deplored what he called Mexican President Vicente Fox's concern
about the media impact of the caravan as opposed to the nationwide support
it achieved. But today President Fox responded by promising to dismantle the
remaining three military bases in Chiapas as demanded by the rebels and
asked Marcos for a list of all Zapatistas in federal prisons so as to order
their release. Fox called on Congress to seek alternatives for a dialogue
with the Zapatistas and invited Marcos to meet with him before Friday.
Though Marcos has yet to respond, members of the Congressional Chiapas Peace
Commission admitted that the Zapatistas' return to Chiapas would constitute
the loss of an historic opportunity. Marcos said the Caravan will take its
leave of Mexico City on Thursday following a demonstration in front of the
National Congress, and that the indigenous rebels will return home seeking
new forms of struggle.
President Fox had previously proposed a new format for dialogue in which the
Zapatista leadership can meet with all legislators in a large hall with the
presence of media correspondents. This way Fox hopes to overcome the
opposition of a sector of legislators who do not want to receive the
Zapatistas on the very floor of Congress.
*THOUSANDS OF ARGENTINEANS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN ECONOMIC PROTESTS
Buenos Aires, March 20 (RHC)--Thousands of Argentineans began a march
Tuesday morning on the capital from the greater Buenos Aires region to
repudiate the government's economic policies. Several columns of workers and
the unemployed were heading towards the Plaza de Mayo, in front of
presidential headquarters, despite the resignation of controversial Economy
Minister Ricardo Lopez Murphy.
The outgoing minister admitted that his economic shock program, announced
last Friday in the midst of a 32-month-long recession, does not have
support. The new Economy Minister, Domingo Cavallo, has indicated that he
will totally revise the severe austerity program.
The program led to the resignation of three government ministers and the
withdrawal of significant support from the left-center FREPASO coalition, a
member of the ruling alliance with President Fernando de la Rua's Radical
Civic Union. The workers' protest, meanwhile, coincides with strikes and
mobilizations on the part of teachers and students, deploring the fact that
the economic shock package will be particularly harsh for the education
sector. In addition, a 24-hour nationwide strike has been called for
Wednesday by several of Argentina's most important labor organizations.
*MORE DEATH THREATS IN CASE OF ASSASSINATED GUATEMALAN BISHOP GERARDI
Guatemala City, March 20 (RHC)--Another judge in Guatemala has denounced
death threats she received because of her involvement in the case of
murdered Catholic Bishop and human rights activist Juan Gerardi. Jazmin
Barrios, one of the judges who will preside over court proceedings in the
case next Thursday -- 3 years after the brutal crime -- has requested
special protection, although she emphasized that she will remain in her
post.
The case has been plagued with death threats and intimidation, forcing into
exile one judge, one district attorney and at least five witnesses. The
current district attorney and his aides were given special protection some
months ago. Three members of the Guatemalan military and a priest are
accused of the assassination, while Gerardi's housekeeper is accused of
aiding and abetting.
The Catholic Bishop was killed just two days after publicly presenting his
investigation into human rights abuses during Guatemala's 36-year civil war.
The report attributed the overwhelming majority of crimes against humanity
to the country's armed forces and security apparatus. During trial
proceedings, in the presence of international observers, a total of 114
witnesses and experts will take the stand.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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