From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 21:10:42 -0400 (EDT)
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Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-10 Sept 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 September 2001
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*CUBA REITERATES READINESS FOR EU TRADE ACCORD, WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
*CUBA INVITES USA, EUROPEAN GROUPS TO ANTI-DRUG CONFERENCE
*NAMIBIAN PRIME MINISTER CONCLUDES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
*CUBA WILL NEVER FISH IN MALVINAS UNDER SYSTEM OF "BRIBERY" - FIDEL
*CUBAN MUSICIANS WARMLY WELCOMED TO LOS ANGELES LATIN GRAMMYS
*HENRY KISSINGER ONCE UNDER FIRE FOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHILE
*STUDY SAYS CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IS USA'S "LEAST-KNOWN EPIDEMIC"
*JOINT COLOMBIA-US GROUP SAYS US WAR ON DRUGS IN IS KILLING COLOMBIA
Viewpoint:
*THIRD WORLD'S LESSON FROM DURBAN: BE WARY OF FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
.
*CUBA REITERATES READINESS FOR EU TRADE ACCORD, WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
Havana, September 10 (RHC)--Cuba has reiterated its willingness to
form part of a preferential trade accord with the European Union if
no conditions are attached. The statement came from Cuban Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque following press reports that the EU has
decided to accept Cuba's participation in the Cotonou Accord, which
allows 70 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations duty-free entry of
their products into European markets.
Following a gathering over the weekend of EU ministers, the
Commissioner of Development and Humanitarian Aid, Poul Nielson,
stated Monday that the European Commission has no intention of
defining any specific conditions for Cuba's participation, that the
Cotonou Accord is equal for all.
The Cuban Foreign Minister said that economic and trade
considerations are not the principal motives behind Cuba's
willingness to participate in the accord. Rather, he said, Cuba's
participation would constitute a refreshing and positive sign that
the European Union has an independent policy regarding Cuba.
Despite support of Cuba by leaders of the group of African, Caribbean
and Pacific nations participating in the Cotonou Accord, the island
withdrew its request to participate last year when some European
nations established political conditions that Cuba called selective
and discriminatory.
*CUBA INVITES USA, EUROPEAN GROUPS TO ANTI-DRUG CONFERENCE
Havana, September 10 (RHC)--The Cuban Justice Minister and
president of the National Commission Against Drugs, Roberto Diaz
Sotolongo, announced Monday that Cuba has invited government agencies
from the European Union and the United States to participate in a
Caribbean anti-drug conference, scheduled for November in Havana.
Diaz Sotolongo said that the main aim of the conference is to
strengthen cooperation in the fight against regional drug trafficking
in the Caribbean. Most of the Caribbean nations have confirmed their
participation in the meeting. The US Coast Guard, the DEA, the US
Customs Service, the Panamerican Health Organization, Interpol,
UNICEF, and the Caribbean Community or CARICOM have all been invited
to participate.
The Cuban Justice Minister referred to Cuba's clear and decisive
position against drugs, with legislation to prevent money laundering
and the strengthening of relations with other nations in the area.
Cuba confiscated 12 tons of illicit drugs last year and has already
collected four tons since the beginning of this year. The island
has narcotics interdiction agreements with 29 countries and seeks to
sign more. Diaz Sotolongo said that Cuba maintains good cooperation
with the United States as far as drug running is concerned, although
both governments work on a case by case basis. Cuba currently
incarcerates some 180 foreigners in its prisons for drug offenses,
more than 50% of whom are of Colombian nationality.
By its geographic position in relation to the huge United States
market, Cuba is in the center of the narcotics traffic route and
authorities are on a constant watch for incursions into Cuban
territory. Cuba has what the Justice Minister called an "incipient"
drug consumer population, which does not constitute a social problem,
and for which there have been a few dozen arrests, none of which have
alarmed the authorities, he added.
*NAMIBIAN PRIME MINISTER CONCLUDES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
Habana, September 10 (RHC)--The Prime Minister of Namibia, Hage G.
Geingob, concluded his official visit to Cuba Monday with comments to
the press describing the US blockade of the island as "a relic."
Geingob, who was received by President Fidel Castro at the Palace of
the Revolution in Havana, said that he valued relations between both
nations as very important. He and his delegation were treated to a
very warm welcome by Cuba, which figured in his nation's independence
with the forced withdrawal of South African troops following their
defeat in Angola in 1988 at Cuito Cuanavale. Both Cuban and Namibian
troops fought in that battle against South Africa.
Geingob was given the Cuban Medal of Friendship by Sergio Corrieri,
the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples,
who praised the Namibian prime minister for his role in the
independence of his country and his participation in the South West
African People's Organization or SWAPO. He was early expelled from
school for his resistance to segregation and first came to Havana as
part of a SWAPO delegation in 1978.
Hage Geingob was accompanied by Namibia's Deputy Minister of Foreign
Relations, Gabriel Shihepo, and the Governor of the Namibian Central
Bank, Tom Alweendo.
*CUBA WILL NEVER FISH IN MALVINAS UNDER SYSTEM OF "BRIBERY" - FIDEL
Habana, September 10 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro said Monday
that Cuba would never fish in the waters of the Malvinas Islands off
the coast of Argentina under what he termed a system tantamount to
"bribery" by the British authorities in granting licenses.
Although not mentioning London by name, in comments made at the end
of the World Forum on Food Sovereignty here in Havana, the Cuban
leader said that granting permission to fishing fleets from around
the world was a way to legitimize the occupation of the Malvinas and
that this was another example of the morals and ethics that rule
today's world.
Cuba supported Buenos Aires in its 1982 conflict with England over
the islands, which the English refer to as the Falklands. Havana
recognizes Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas.
The words spoken by Fidel Castro related to the condemnation by the
delegates to the Forum of the use of food as an economic weapon in
national and international conflicts. The gathering also condemned
the free market globalization system that has increased poverty
around the globe by concentrating much of the planet's food
production and distribution in the hands of a few transnational
corporations operating solely for profit.
*CUBAN MUSICIANS WARMLY WELCOMED TO LOS ANGELES LATIN GRAMMYS
Havana, September 10 (RHC)--Cuban musicians nominated for the Latin
Grammys have been warmly received as they arrived in Los Angles where
the event will begin Tuesday.
Granma news in Havana praised the manner in which the Cuban artists
were greeted following the controversy of their participation in
Miami where rightwing anti-Cuba groups were so threatening that
organizers changed the locale to Los Angeles for fear of violence.
Flowers, applause and expressions of solidarity were received as a
real indication of the feelings of the US public in relation in Cuba,
according to Jon Hillson in Los Angeles. "Our welcome is a peaceful,
enthusiastic celebration of culture, a gesture of hospitality to the
Cuban performers, an affirmation of support for the right of freedom
of expression from southern Florida to southern California, and a
call for Washington to normalize relations with Havana and end its
cultural and economic Berlin Wall around Cuba," said Hillson.
Some 30 musicians are representing Cuba in this year's Grammys,
including famed jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, bolero singer Omara
Portuondo, country singer Celina Gonzalez, Afro-Cuban folklore singer
Lazaro Ross, classical pianist Andres Alen, salsa king Isaac Delgado
and the Afro Cuban All Stars group. They were seen off at Havana's
airport by Minister of Culture Abel Prieto, who said that given the
level of artistry at the Grammys, it was an honor for Cuban musicians
to be invited.
*HENRY KISSINGER ONCE UNDER FIRE FOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHILE
Washington, September 10 (RHC)--Former US Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger is about to be charged for the murder of a Chilean army
general who opposed plans to overthrow the constitutionally elected
Chilean President, Salvador Allende, according to the US's CBS
network.
Army commander Rene Schneider was assassinated in 1970, shortly after
Allende's election and three years before the bloody Pinochet coup.
On Sunday, CBS reported that Schneider's family is planning to sue
Kissinger in federal court in Washington this week, accusing him of
conspiracy in the murder plot.
Scheider's widow and 3 children told the CBS program "60 Minutes"
that the murder was organized and financed by the US Central
Intelligence Agency under instructions from Kissinger and
then-President Richard Nixon, just weeks after Allende's electoral
victory. Washington reportedly hoped to stem the rise to power of
leftist forces in Chile.
"60 Minutes" interviewed Peter Kornbluh, an analyst with the National
Security Archive, who said that recently declassified documents on
Washington's role in the Pinochet coup include notes taken during a
15-minute meeting in which Nixon ordered actions aimed at sabotaging
the Allende government.
Another declassified document revealed during the CBS program clearly
indicates that the White House wanted the Chilean military to take
power by force, while yet another is a cable from CIA headquarters
congratulating its agents in Chile following Schneider's
assassination.
Possible trial proceedings against Kissinger come amid
thus-far-unsuccessful efforts by judicial authorities in Chile,
Argentina and France to question the former National Security Advisor
and later Secretary of State concerning human rights violations in
Chile.
*STUDY SAYS CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IS USA'S "LEAST-KNOWN EPIDEMIC"
Washington, September 10 (RHC)--A university-sponsored study in
the United States has revealed that the sexual exploitation of
children is the country's most hidden form of abuse and the
least-known epidemic in the nation.
A three-year study released Monday by the University of Pennsylvania
considered the most thorough ever, found that between 300,000 and
400,000 American children are victims of the sex trade -- leaving
researchers shocked over the dimension of this phenomenon.
Stating that the extension of this problem was heretofore unknown,
the authors of the 250-page study, "The Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children," interviewed hundreds of minors in 17 US cities, as well
as some 800 federal and local authorities.
Professor Richard Estes, author of the study, stated that the most
important group -- constituting some 122,000 children - are
minors abandoned by their parents who engage in what is called
"survival sex" in order to eat and have shelter.
He said another 73,000 children practice prostitution or engage in
pornography in order to buy drugs, expensive clothes and other luxury
items, even while living with their parents. In their conclusions,
researchers demanded the creation of a federal agency to protect
children from sexual exploitation, while calling on law enforcement
agencies to enforce laws against exploiting children in this manner.
"The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children" is the first study
revealing the number of minors who suffer this type of abuse in the
United States.
*JOINT COLOMBIA-US GROUP SAYS US WAR ON DRUGS IN IS KILLING COLOMBIA
Bogota, September 10 (RHC)--A joint Colombia-US peace
organization asserted Monday that the Washington-sponsored war on
drugs in Colombia is killing that Andean nation.
In an open letter, the Pax Colombia called on US Secretary of State
Colin Powell, who will begin an official visit to the South American
country on Tuesday, to reconsider Washington's participation in what
it called the destruction of Colombia.
Pax Colombia appealed to Powell's humanity and realism in the
re-examination of what it called Washington's failed policy in a lost
war. The group stated that the bombardment of illicit drug crops with
herbicides during the past 10 months has produced an environmental
massacre.
Pax Colombia reminded the Secretary of State that the use of Agent
Orange during the US aggression against Vietnam left 500,000
Vietnamese children with congenital deformations. Agent Orange was
produced by Monsanto, the same US firm that now produces the
herbicide used in Colombia.
The organization asked why Colombia is being sprayed and not the
so-called green triangle of drug production in the US state of
California. Pax Colombia asked how many more nations will be
destroyed as a result of Washington's sad addiction to pompous
bravado and lost war budgets.
Asking where are the funds for economic development and aid to the
victims of Colombia's civil war, the organization said that while
more than 2 million Colombians have become refugees in their country,
the US government only responds with more weapons and herbicides.
Viewpoint:
*THIRD WORLD'S LESSON FROM DURBAN: BE WARY OF FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
The UN Security Council has often been used by the United States to
impose Washington's will on the rest of the world and to sabotage
efforts by Third World nations to question the intentions and actions
of the planet's richest countries.
The recent Durban conference against racism brought up a number of
issues embarrassing to these rich former colonial nations, which
they would have preferred to leave under the carpet. So recalcitrant
Washington, along with the vocal assistance of Israel and less vocal
European Union. did its very best to scuttle the international
gathering in much the same way that it runs the Security Council -- by
non-participatory threats. Unfortunately for the US, it had no veto
power in Durban as it does in the Security Council, and the final
declaration of the conference condemned slavery as a crime against
humanity. This was wording that the US and European nations -- most of
which didn't bother to send high-level representatives to South
Africa -- had been trying to avoid because it opens them up to
possible litigation by the victim nations of their past slave trade,
which helped to make them the rich nations they are today.
So the Durban conference gave us all a good lesson. The rich northern
imperial powers stick together in times like these and supposedly
liberal or socialist European nations should not be confused with
undying friends of the southern poor nations just because they may
send a few guilty billion dollars their way from time to time. These
apparent contradictions within European nations' policies came to the
fore in Durban and clearly show that the poorer countries of the
world need to seek each other's company and strengths to ward off the
post-colonial globalization of their economies by the rich nations of
the north.
The foreign policy of the Bush administration in Washington has
managed to alienate most of the Third World. Its continued attempts
at blackmail, threats and non-participation -- from refusing to pay
its dues to the United Nations, to quietly bribing and inducing
nations with promises of large pay-offs and debt relief -- is
increasingly being seen for what it is. The European Union may let
out an occasional squeal when its foot gets stepped on by Washington,
but it has yet to really stand up to the class bully and help to
rally the Third World's economies into a healthy resistance against
US domination.
There is no clearer evidence of George W Bush's intentions today. His
rejection of environmental treaties, arms treaties, and anything that
limits the exploitation and power of the trans-national corporations
that paid for his presidency -- together with his support for
measures such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas -- give the
Third World a plain and unambiguous message: The rich intend to get
richer on the backs of today's slaves and Europe's rich will run
behind Washington's, all the way to the bank.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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