From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 06:13:34 -0500
Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-23 January 2002
Radio Havana Cuba-23 January 2002
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 23 January 2002
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*SAHARAWI AND CUBAN PRESIDENTS PRESIDE OVER BILATERAL TALKS
*VIETNAMESE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS BOOK ON CUBAN PRESIDENT
*SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION TOURS HAVANA'S SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS
*MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX TO VISIT CUBA NEXT MONTH
*THE USA'S INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH PERU'S SPYMASTER VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS
*COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA CALLS FOR MORE U.S. AID
*DOZENS ARRESTED AT UN FOR DEMANDING CHANGE IN US FOREIGN POLICY
*AID BEGINS TO ARRIVE FOR CONGO VOLCANO VICTIMS, BUT NOT ENOUGH
*Viewpoint: WITHOUT FOOD, EMPTY POTS AND PANS MAKE A LOT OF NOISE
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*SAHARAWI AND CUBAN PRESIDENTS PRESIDE OVER BILATERAL TALKS
Havana, January 23 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro and his counterpart
from the Saharawi Democratic Arab Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, presided over
official, bilateral talks held Tuesday afternoon at Havana's Revolution
Palace.
The Saharawi president arrived in Havana Monday evening, invited by the
leader of the Cuban Revolution.
Both dignitaries reviewed the current state of bilateral cooperation and
discussed issues of common interest. In the area of health cooperation, it
was pointed out that since 1977, more than 450 Cuban health specialists have
offered their services in the Saharawi Democratic Arab Republic. As part of
the island's cooperation program with the African nation, more than 300
Saharawi doctors have been trained in Cuba and another 58 are currently
studying medicine on scholarships granted by Cuba.
On hand during Tuesday's bilateral talks were other members of the Saharawi
delegation -- among them, the country's Ministers of Foreign Relations,
Mohamed Salem Ould Salek; Education, Salek Babin; Culture and Sports, Mariam
Salek, and the African nation's ambassador to Havana, Naama Said Yumani.
Also on hand were Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and the island's
Ministers of Foreign Relations, Felipe Perez Roque; Culture, Abel Prieto;
Education, Luis Ignacio Gomez; Sports, Humberto Rodríguez; Health, Carlos
Dotres and the Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation,
Marta Lomas.
Tuesday afternoon, the president of the Saharawi Democratic Arab Republic
and his delegation visited the Latin American School of Medical Sciences,
where there are currently 4,800 students from 24 nations, including Latin
America, Africa and the United States.
Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres explained the island's integral health
program to the distinguished visitors. The Saharawi president showed
particular interest in the primary health care system, including the family
doctors program.
*VIETNAMESE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS BOOK ON CUBAN PRESIDENT
Hanoi, January 23 (RHC)--The book "Absolved by History" is highlighted in
the first edition this year of the Vietnamese magazine "Art and Literature."
The book, written by renowned Cuban journalist Luis Baez, contains the views
of different international figures on President Fidel Castro -- among them
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Harry S. Truman, Ho Chi Minh, John F. Kennedy, Jose
Saramago and Phan Van Dong.
A Vietnamese-language version of "Absolved by History" -- the latest book by
Luis Baez -- will be published in July.
*SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION TOURS HAVANA'S SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS
Havana, January 23 (RHC)--On Wednesday, a visiting delegation from South
Africa toured the Havana Digital Research Center and the Molecular
Immunology Institute.
The South African delegation, comprised of researchers and scientists, is
participating here in Havana in an international workshop to review the
possibilities for South African-Cuban cooperation in the area of
biotechnology and related sciences.
Dr. Joseph Matjilla, from the South African Ministry of Arts, Culture,
Science and Technology is heading the visiting delegation to the meeting.
During the meeting, which runs through Friday, the visitors will sign a
cooperation agreement with their Cuban counterparts aimed at strengthening
cooperation.
*MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX TO VISIT CUBA NEXT MONTH
Havana, January 23 (RHC)--According to Mexico's ambassador in Havana,
Ricardo Pascoe, Mexican President Vicente Fox's visit to Cuba next month
will open opportunities for both nations.
Pascoe announced in Havana that during Fox's visit to the island, he will
meet with his Cuban counterpart President Fidel Castro to review the state
of bilateral relations.
During his stay in Cuba, the Mexican president will also tour Old Havana to
view the restoration works being carried out there. The Mexican ambassador
explained that President Fox is interested in implementing similar
restoration projects in some ancient Mexican cities, among them Guanajuato,
Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Morelia and the capital, Mexico City.
*THE USA'S INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH PERU'S SPYMASTER VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS
Lima, January 23 (RHC)--U.S. officials continued working closely with
Peruvian intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos, despite an army officer's
tip that he was involved with death squad killings. According to newly
declassified documents, the officer, a self-described member of a military
death squad, offered in 1993 to provide U.S. officials with information
linking Montesinos to the group.
The latest declassified reports provide the clearest indication yet that
U.S. officials were aware early on that Montesinos, a key U.S. ally in the
drug war, was involved with death squad activities. Montesinos was former
President Alberto Fujimori's right-hand man for a decade, until a corruption
scandal involving the spy chief ended Fujimori's 10 years in power in
November 2000. Montesinos is now in a navy prison awaiting trial on dozens
of charges involving corruption, arms smuggling, drug trafficking and
directing a death squad.
Political observers say that the release of the documents will draw heavy
criticism from political leaders, who have complained that Washington could
have done more to protect Peru from Montesinos. Many believe that the United
States at that time was worried about going against the Fujimori regime,
which was closely tied to Washington.
The 41 documents made available Tuesday were declassified in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests filed by the National Security Archive
in Washington. In early January, other declassified U.S. documents said
embassy officials had received a report from an unidentified former military
intelligence officer only days after Fujimori took office in 1990 that
Montesinos was organizing paramilitary death squads. Those documents,
declassified at the request of a Peruvian congressional committee
investigating Montesinos, also showed that U.S. officials considered
Montesinos a "close collaborator" in fighting drugs but were concerned that
he had what they called "a significant amount of negative baggage."
*COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA CALLS FOR MORE U.S. AID
Bogotá, January 23 (RHC)--Colombian President Andres Pastrana says he
wants U.S. soldiers to help protect the country's infrastructure from rebel
attacks, even as he pursues a cease-fire with guerrilla forces. According to
Associated Press, Pastrana said he is asking for U.S. army troops to train
Colombian soldiers to protect oil pipelines, bridges and other
infrastructure.
The Colombian president's comments come at a time when U.S. officials are
reportedly considering the expansion of its military assistance to the South
American country -- changing the focus and concentrating more aid on the
counterinsurgency war against rebel forces. Under current U.S. legislation,
most of Washington's multi-million dollar aid package -- known as Plan
Colombia -- must be used for anti-drug operations.
According to reports from Washington, proposals under high-level discussion
include increased intelligence sharing on guerrilla activities around the
country and training of an additional battalion of Colombian troops. The
U.S. military has trained three such battalions over the past two years, but
the troops have been supposedly restricted to counter narcotics activities.
U.S.-provided military equipment, including helicopters, is also limited by
law to anti-drug operations. While White House officials have been quick to
emphasize that there will be no U.S. combat involvement in Colombia,
observers say that expansion of assistance and training beyond the fight
against illegal drugs would represent a huge leap in a highly sensitive area
of U.S. policy.
Since massive amounts of U.S. military aid began flowing to Colombia less
than two years ago, anti-war activists have repeatedly warned against U.S.
involvement becoming a Vietnam-like counterinsurgency war -- first with
military aid, then advisors and, eventually, ground troops involved in
direct combat operations.
Both the Clinton administration's Plan Colombia -- a 1.3 billion dollar aid
package passed by Congress in 2000 -- and the Bush administration's 625
million dollar Andean Regional Initiative, approved in December, came with
congressional restrictions on how the aid could be used. U.S.-trained troops
and military equipment, and most intelligence information, are restricted to
the fight against narcotics trafficking in Colombia.
Under the proposals being discussed in Washington, intelligence cooperation
with Bogotá would be expanded to officially include information on rebel
activities outside the bounds of anti-drug operations. Many critics of U.S.
policies insist that such intelligence sharing is already taking place
secretly and that the new changes would simply make it above-board.
*DOZENS ARRESTED AT UN FOR DEMANDING CHANGE IN US FOREIGN POLICY
New York, January 23 (RHC)--More than 50 people were arrested Tuesday on
the steps of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City. They
were calling for a change in U.S. foreign policy that would continue the
legacy of peacemaking begun by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the spirit of King's anti-war stance, the men and women occupied the
steps of the mission, demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan and warning
of any expansion of the so-called "war on terrorism." Tuesday's nonviolent,
civil disobedience action was the culmination of a four-day series of
presentations and training sessions -- reflecting on the life of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Organizers of the protest said, "Dr. King's dream of a just society has yet
to be realized." One of the protesters told reporters just minutes before
she was arrested: "Our collective conscience calls us to confront not only
the violence committed on behalf of Americans, but also the institutions
committing those acts."
The protest was sponsored by U.S. anti-war organizations: the War Resisters
League and Voices in the Wilderness.
*AID BEGINS TO ARRIVE FOR CONGO VOLCANO VICTIMS, BUT NOT ENOUGH
Goma, January 23 (RHC)--Aid began to arrive in Goma on Tuesday in an
effort to help residents of the town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
affected by a massive volcanic eruption. Many of those who left after the
hot lava pushed into town have now returned to their homes.
But, as the first supplies were reaching Goma, observers were pointing out
that much more assistance is needed.
Food and water as well as blankets were being delivered by international aid
agencies to the African town. The UN World Food Program is reportedly
gearing up to deliver about 1000 tons of food to people sheltering at
various sites -- including 120,000 people in the city and 60,000 in a camp
20 kilometers west of Goma.
According to the United Nations agency, the food includes vegetable oil,
soya, maize, grain or flour, lentils, salt and sugar. The agency is also
planning to begin mobilizing 6000 tons of food stored in neighboring Rwanda.
South Africa has offered to contribute 100 tons of food, medicine and other
relief supplies to be delivered to Congo over the weekend.
Tens of thousands of residents have been returning to see how much of their
homes had survived the river of lava which covered about 40 percent of the
town, killing an estimated 47 people. Aid agencies, which had been expecting
the 400,000 affected people to flee to Rwanda, were concerned to find the
residents returning home before the all-clear had been given. They were
forced to switch their emphasis on refugee camps to moving aid to the
affected town.
One local student told reporters that after five days since the volcano
erupted, he still hasn't seen any aid. Ricky Salumu said that "the
international community has done nothing," adding that all they need is
water, electricity and shelter for those who lost their homes.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York is
urgently calling for 15 million dollars in immediate assistance to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*Viewpoint: WITHOUT FOOD, EMPTY POTS AND PANS MAKE A LOT OF NOISE
In Argentina, the pots and pans are on the go all the time but
unfortunately, not for the function for which they were designed: cooking
the family meal. Now they are a symbol of repeated protests by the people
against the robbery that they have suffered on the part of recent
governments.
The protests extend from Buenos Aires to La Rioja, Jujuy and La Plata. The
many changes of government have not had the hoped impact in alleviating the
crisis provoked by forty three months without economic growth, the burden of
foreign debt, and the lack of social policies to protect the weaker sections
of society.
Once the standard bearer of neo-liberalism in Latin America with an intimate
relationship with Washington and aspiration to the so-called First World, la
Casa Rosada, site of the Argentine government, is today a center of crisis
administration with the country on the point of explosion, while its old
alliances will probably turn against it, hoping not to suffer the effects of
the final disaster.
For example, the International Monetary Fund advanced the economic methods
of the governments of Carlos Menem and Fernando de la Rua with great
enthusiasm. It offered protection and support but now that the situation is
touching bottom they are distancing themselves declaring philosophically
that the Argentinean citizens must suffer their fate before they can resolve
their problems.
This morning, the main daily newspapers in Buenos Aires announced that the
financial aid is always one step away. The United States, like the European
Union, with the exception of Italy, the only country proposing to give
direct credit, recommends that all the financial assistance that it would
give to recently elected President Duhalde is on condition that he abandons
any policies that will favor the disadvantaged.
This would endanger the recently announced aid package of between 100 and
200 devalued Argentinean pesos for half a million unemployed, for those who
have large families and for the 30% of the economically active population
who need subsistence.
To ease the flow of the 15 thousand million dollars that the IMF has
pledged, the new authorities must forget the problems of the 11 million of
poor that live in the country. Hyperinflation also looms on the horizon.
Everything indicates that it will be a long time before the pots and pans
will be returned to their proper use in the kitchen and will continue to be
the instrument that will link the poor in the fight against those who have
reduced them and their country to this lamentable situation.
(c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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