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Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 23:37:19 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-02 Sept 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 03 September 2001
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*DURBAN: CUBA WARNS OF GLOBALIZATION OF APARTHEID; US DELEGATION WALKS OUT
*MORE THAN 800,000 PEOPLE VISIT CHE GUEVARA MONUMENT
*FLOODS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND MORE DEADLY
*CUBA AND VIETNAM STRENGTHEN BILATERAL TIES
*CUBAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS VISIT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
*IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL FOR MORE THAN 2 MILLION CUBAN CHILDREN
*ARAFAT WILLING TO MEET WITH PERES; CONFERENCE CONDEMNS ISRAELI APARTHEID
*NOBEL LAUREATE SAYS SPAIN LACKS POLITICAL WILL TO SOLVE BASQUE CONFLICT
*ANGOLA: UNITA FORCES CONTINUE KILLING SPREE
*QUITO, BOGOTÁ RESUME DEBATE ON "PLAN COLOMBIA"
*Viewpoint: GLOBALIZED SOLIDARITY CONFRONTS GLOBALIZATION OF APARTHEID
.
*DURBAN: CUBA WARNS OF GLOBALIZATION OF APARTHEID; US DELEGATION WALKS OUT
Durban, September 3 (RHC)--Leaders from most of the African and Caribbean
countries represented in the United Nations Conference Against Racism in
Durban, South Africa, have expressed their support for the sentiments of
Cuban president Fidel Castro during the gathering.
Juan Antonio Fernandez, who is director of Multilateral Affairs for the
Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented to the press that Fidel
Castro's speech on Saturday had a profound effect on many delegates who
punctuated his words with constant rounds of applause. The speech began with
the words: "Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are not naturally
instinctive reactions of human beings but rather a social, cultural and
political phenomenon born directly of wars, military conquests, slavery and
the individual or collective exploitation of the weakest by the most
powerful in the history of human societies."
The president touched on the majority of the objectives of the conference
agenda, from slavery compensation to the Israel/Palestine conflict, about
which the Cuban leader said that past and present UN resolutions would have
to be respected as well as the independence of the Palestine nation. He also
offered concrete solutions for these problems -- something that observers
said was unusual in international gatherings of this sort. The standing
ovation at the end of his speech lasted almost a minute.
Juan Antonio Fernandez said that the obstructionist actions of a group of
industrialized nations, most notably the US, were the biggest obstacle to
consensus in Durban. He added that by first refusing to send anyone and then
sending a low-level delegation which Monday walked out of the conference in
protest over discussion of Tel Aviv's treatment of Palestinians, the US was
attempting to diminish the importance of the conference in the eyes of the
world. "However," asked the Cuban diplomat, "if Cuba has managed to live
without bowing to Washington, why can't the rest of the planet?"
Fidel Castro also spoke at a special meeting in solidarity with Cuba
organized by the African National Congress, which Havana supported
throughout its struggle against apartheid. He said that there was no better
place in the world than South Africa to be the venue for the World
Conference Against Racism, because it was there that the epic battle against
apartheid took place.
In reference to the US effectively boycotting the conference, the Cuban
leader asked what kind of morality Washington has that it would attempt to
sabotage a world gathering on racism. He reminded those present of the US
support of apartheid, its attempt to destroy the independence of Angola and
support of South Africa's occupation of Namibia. He added that the looting
of Africa by the richest nations of the world continues, and that the
current situation could be likened to a globalization of apartheid.
The Cuban president pledged his country's continued support for the people
of South Africa and exhorted the African nation to maintain the unity of the
people that destroyed apartheid. Afterwards, he briefly met with a group of
Cuban medical students; some 440 medical personnel are providing health care
services in South Africa.
Prior to leaving the country, the Cuban president made a point of visiting
his old friend former South African president Nelson Mandela, who was unable
to attend the conference due to health reasons. In statements to the press
Mandela said that it was a great moment to be with Fidel because, he said,
what Fidel has done for us is difficult to describe in words. "During the
struggle against apartheid," Mandela added, "Fidel did not hesitate in
giving us help, and now that we are free, we have many Cuban medical doctors
working here, helping us in rural areas, where there are practically no
physicians."
*MORE THAN 800,000 PEOPLE VISIT CHE GUEVARA MONUMENT
Villa Clara, September 3 (RHC)--More than 800,000 people have visited the
Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara. The mausoleum, which is presided over
by a seven-meter statue of the Argentine Cuban guerrilla commander, houses
his remains which were brought back from Bolivia in October 1997. Che
Guevara was assassinated by the Bolivian army in 1967 with the complicity of
the CIA.
Since then the remains of 29 of his fellow guerrilla fighters, who fought
with him in the Bolivian jungle, have been deposited in the niches of the
mausoleum.
According to an official source, more than 552,000 Cubans and about 257,000
foreign visitors have visited the monument, the majority of foreigners from
Germany, Argentina, Spain, France and Italy.
Among the personal effects on display that belonged to Che Guevara are the
plate he used in Bolivia and the jacket he was wearing when the late Cuban
photographer Alberto Korda took his world-renowned photo. The saddle and
some medical instruments used by Dr. Guevara are also on display.
According to the curator, Mercedes Pisen, the monument is visited by people
of different religions and political tendencies but no matter where they
come from or whatever ideologies they hold, the visitors say they feel
strong emotion when they are in front of the niche which holds the remains
of Commandante Che Guevara.
*FLOODS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND MORE DEADLY
Geneva, September 3 (RHC)--According to the United Nations Specialist
Agency, flooding is the second-most frequent natural disaster after
hurricanes. However, flooding affects more regions and more people than any
other phenomenon. Meanwhile, droughts are a major cause of death.
According to the latest statistics, the 1990 figure of the 66 biggest floods
was topped in 1999 with a figure of 110, the year in which the number of
fatal victims was more than double those recoded in any other year of the
decade, said Jamie Bartram from the Water, and Sanitary Standards of the
World Health Organization.
The floods are not confined to any one part of the world but are widespread,
demonstrated by the recent floods in Poland, Indonesia, the Mississippi
Valley in the US, Siberia, Angola, Brazil, Peru and the northeast of France.
On the flip side of these floods, according to WHO, are the droughts of
Afghanistan, Cuba, Florida, the horn of Africa, Central Asia and the
southwestern United States.
Bartram pointed out that the most vulnerable victims in both cases are the
poor and the marginalized who live in poorly constructed housing. People are
in danger of drinking contaminated water during a drought which can lead to
serious illness and death.
Cuba has public health warnings and educational programs about the danger of
drinking contaminated water. The public is constantly being informed about
any approaching hurricanes and drastic changes in weather conditions so that
the maximum safeguards can be taken to reduce damage to property and,
especially, injury and death among the population.
*CUBA AND VIETNAM STRENGTHEN BILATERAL TIES
Havana, September 3 (RHC)--The links between Vietnam and Cuba, established
since 1960, are exemplary and have been developed in all areas, according to
the Vietnamese ambassador to Cuba, Thai Van Lung.
In an interview published in the Cuban newspaper, Trabajadores, the diplomat
pointed out that during the last years and in spite of the political and
experimental changes on the planet, the bilateral relations of friendship,
solidarity and cooperation have always been strong and, in fact, are getting
stronger.
With respect to commercial links, he pointed out that in addition to rice,
Vietnam offers scientific and technical support and health materials. Cuba,
for its part, he said, gives advice in the sugar industry and is involved in
a joint construction enterprise to build a highway. He went on to say that
Cuba's struggles are also those of Vietnam, the land of Ho Chi Minh, always
receives something special from the country of Jose Marti: the sincere
embrace of a brother.
Hanoi has diplomatic relations with 175 countries and commercial links with
150. The diplomat said that the foreign policy of Vietnam is disposed
towards friendship and aspires to be a reliable contributor to the
international community in the areas of peace.
*CUBAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS VISIT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo, September 3 (RHC)--The Cuban ambassador to the Dominican
Republic, Miguel Perez Cruz, said today that the visit paid by agricultural
experts from Cuba to that country opens possibilities of joint projects.
The delegation, headed by Marco Inacio Nieto, director of the Commerce
Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, returned to Havana yesterday
after being officially received by the Dominican President, Hipolito Mejia.
The Cuban diplomat told Prensa Latina that the Cuban agricultural
specialists had formed a very favorable opinion of the Dominican
agricultural projects.
*IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL FOR MORE THAN 2 MILLION CUBAN CHILDREN
Havana, September 3 (RHC)--The school holidays are over for most children in
the world as they return to school today. And this morning here in Cuba,
the streets were full of children of all ages on their way to classes.
Back-to-school is a celebration for all those concerned here. There are
parties and celebrations in all of the island's educational facilities.
Primary education is obligatory for Cuban children beginning at the age of
five, and all education is free. In Cuba, there is no distinction among
students and they all have the same opportunity to be taught by excellent
teachers using the same standards. This is the mark of a just society which
has been constructed over the last 42 years of the Cuban revolution. It is
not easy for Cuba, because of the US blockade, to provide all the resources
necessary in the schools, but it has learned to prioritize and has managed
to fulfill most of its plans.
This year, there will be around 151,000 students in the universities, 25,000
of them starting new courses. This is up from the previous year's figure of
137,000. At the beginning of this academic year, 32,0000 students take
their seats today at the higher medical school.
*ARAFAT WILLING TO MEET WITH PERES; CONFERENCE CONDEMNS ISRAELI APARTHEID
Havana, September 3 (RHC)--Palestine National Authority leader Yasser Arafat
said Monday that he is willing to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres but, he added, he was uncertain what the results would be.
In Amman, Jordan to meet with King Abdullah, Arafat said that he did not
reject any initiative coming from Europe, the United States or Russia
because peace was his principal goal. The most important thing is that we
meet, he added.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said Monday that Peres and Arafat are likely to
meet this Friday in Italy, under the unofficial auspices of the European
Union. Their primary focus will be on negotiating a cease-fire.
In his meeting in Jordan, the Palestinian leader insisted that the current
Intifada would continue in the face of the selective assassinations of
Palestinian leaders by Israeli hit squads. Arafat, who is shuttling between
Arab nations in the region, visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday and received
promises of material and political support. He will continue to Cairo on
Tuesday to meet with President Hosni Mubarak.
Meanwhile, Israeli helicopters attacked and destroyed an office of the
Palestinian Intelligence and Security Service close to the West Bank city of
Hebron. It was not known how many people died in the attack.
And in Durban, where the low-level Israeli delegation to the World
Conference Against Racism has followed the US example and walked out of the
gathering, Tel Aviv has been condemned by the vast majority of nations
represented as a "racist state that practices apartheid" on the people of
Palestine.
*NOBEL LAUREATE SAYS SPAIN LACKS POLITICAL WILL TO SOLVE BASQUE CONFLICT
San Sebastian, September 3 (RHC)--Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Argentine
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, has accused the Spanish government of a lack of
political will in relation to the Basque conflict and called on Spanish
president José María Aznar to increase his administration's participatory
role in seeking a permanent peace.
Perez Esquivel, who mediated between the Basque group ETA and the former
government of President Felipe Gonzalez in 1995, pointed out during a press
conference on Monday in San Sebastian that the issue of the Basque country
is not simply a problem between the ETA and the Spanish government, but one
of the Basque people themselves.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate added that during the unilateral cease-fire
announced by the Basque separatist group between September 1998 and December
of 1999, a great opportunity was lost to solve the conflict in the northern
region in Spain.
According to Esquivel, the main problem is that the Spanish government sees
the issue as a security problem for the police to solve and ignores its
political content.
*ANGOLA: UNITA FORCES CONTINUE KILLING SPREE
Luanda, September 3 (RHC)--Angola's opposition group UNITA led by Jonas
Savimbi reportedly continues to terrorize the country with a recent attack
in the province of Cuanza Sur killing 29 civilians and wounding another 52.
This is the second such attack reported in the region in the last three
days, while in the province of Malanje, UNITA carried out a military
offensive killing some 50 people.
In October of last year, to international condemnation, UNITA soldiers
acting under Savimbi's orders attacked a passenger train in Cuanza Norte,
killing 252 civilians and wounded 162. Last month, UNITA forces repeated
this attack by killing another 250 refugees who were traveling by train and
a few days later killed another 50 people, among them many children, who
were crossing the country by bus.
Angolan military sources recently confirmed that UNITA forces attack
civilians on the road and loot small towns, inflicting maximum death in a
concerted effort to terrorize the population. International observers now
see UNITA, which was heavily supported by the United States, as little more
than a large group of "brigands" with no socio-political agenda.
The civil war in Angola, which dates back to 1975 after the nation gained
independence from Portugal, has inflicted 800,000 deaths, displaced more
than four million people and has maintained severe poverty in one of
Africa's richest countries, with large oil and diamond reserves.
*QUITO, BOGOTÁ RESUME DEBATE ON "PLAN COLOMBIA"
Quito, September 3 (RHC)--Debates on the implications of the Colombia Plan
resumed on Monday between Ecuador and Colombia, whose borders are suffering
the consequences of the counterinsurgency and anti-drug plan sponsored by
the United States.
According to Ecuador's Foreign Ministry, government officials from both
countries will meet on Monday and Tuesday in the Colombian capital Bogotá to
discuss the controversial issue.
Although the Foreign Ministry pointed out that it will not work with a fixed
agenda, officials from Ecuador and Colombia have reportedly admitted that
the main theme of the talks will be the toxic fumigation aimed at destroying
coca plantations, which is underway in the border region.
Ecuador will organize a forum on the effects of the aerial spraying, where
experts from Colombia are expected to offer environmental information.
Ecuador's Environment Minister, Lourdes Luque, recently said that the date
and place of the seminar will be set next week. Among some of the experts
to be invited to the forum are the Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities, the NGO Ecology Action, and the Ministers of Health, Defense,
and Foreign Affairs.
The Colombia Plan's fight against drug trafficking began late last year with
a cost of $7.5 million, and an additionl $1.3 million provided by
Washington. The Plan has created insecurity on the Ecuador-Colombia border,
with the eruption of paramilitary groups, armed clashes and an exodus of
thousands of Colombians to Ecuador fleeing from the war areas.
Ecuadoran indigenous and ecology organizations have meanwhile reportedly
demanded compensation for the effects of toxic aerial spraying which has
damaged the health of many people, animals and plantations.
The regional Andino Parliament has joined in demands that Colombia and
Washington bring an end to the fumigation of the region.
*Viewpoint: GLOBALIZED SOLIDARITY CONFRONTS GLOBALIZATION OF APARTHEID
The fact that the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and
Xenophobia was held in South Africa prompted many international delegates
and observers to recall that not long ago, the appalling apartheid regime
existed in that African territory.
The Durban forum, organized by the United Nations, also served to confirm
that although in today's world the South African case no longer exists as
the worst and cruelest system on the planet, there are prevailing tendencies
towards what Fidel Castro calls a pernicious globalization of apartheid.
Now in the 21st century, the Zionist regime of Israel -- which counts on
Washington's unconditional support -- has created 64 militarized areas, or
Bantustans, which are home to over 1.2 million Palestinians living under
conditions worse than those existing in South Africa during the worst abuses
of the apartheid era.
Simple and straightforward genocide is what ultra-right Israeli
representatives seek against the Palestinian people, the worst being that
they and their compatriots were victims of long, historic persecution,
discrimination and injustice.
In Durban, Cuban president Fidel Castro raised his voice to condemn racism,
racial discrimination and xenophobia, which constitute a social, cultural
and political phenomenon which, he said, is not a natural instinct inherent
in human beings.
Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia stem from wars, military
conquests and individual or collective exploitation of the weak by the
strong over the course of history in human society. The victims of this
age-old savagery are the 4.5 billion people living in the Third World today.
We live in an infinitely richer world, and at the same time the poorest
world ever -- a world that sees 500 Mexicans die every year at the US border
-- a number that is far higher than those who died during the 29 years of
the existence of the Berlin Wall.
We live in an increasingly unequal and excluding world where commercial
advertising costs billions of dollars every year, while in Sub-Saharan
Africa, life expectancy reaches only 30 years and the infant mortality rate
has shot up to 200 for every 1000 live births.
Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, who joined in the struggle that wiped out
apartheid in South Africa and guaranteed independence for Angola and freedom
for Namibia, are again struggling together, this time against racism, racial
discrimination and xenophobia.
"It is a great moment for me," said Mandela, who was visited by the
Cuban president. "What the Cuban leader did for us is not easy to describe
in words. First in the struggle against apartheid, and now when we are free,
we have many Cuban doctors working here, in rural areas where there are
practically no doctors."
Those who for years criticized Cuba's presence in Africa, while they
operated as direct allies of the apartheid regime, are the same ones who
tried to boycott the Durban World Conference and who encourage and practice
the globalization of racism in today's world. However, they have to face and
will continue to be cofronted by those who practice and encourage the
globalization of solidarity.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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