Radio Havana Cuba-12 April 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 12 April 2000 -PLANS FOR ELIAN REUNION CANCELLED IN CONFUSING SCENARIO -SOUTH SUMMIT CUBAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR DISSOLVING IMF -CUBAN HEALTH MINISTRY RESPONDS TO NICARAGUA'S ACCUSATIONS -SOUTH AFRICA CALLS FOR COMMON THIRD WORLD POSITION -HOLY WEEK TO BE OBSERVED IN CUBA -CUBA AND VENEZUELA NEGOTIATE JOINT PROJECT IN THE OIL SECTOR -CHINA DONATES FUNDS TO CUBA'S HEALTH SECTOR. -Viewpoint: UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS FIND STRENGTH IN NUMBERS AT HISTORIC SOUTH SUMMIT PLANS FOR ELIAN REUNION CANCELLED IN CONFUSING SCENARIO Havana, April 12, RHC -- Announced plans to reunite Elian Gonzalez with his father in Washington D.C. were cancelled at the last minute amid another confusing scenario in the saga of the kidnapped Cuban child. Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez and the ultra-right wing Cuban-American National Foundation backed out of the proposed trip to the Cuban capital -- alleging that the child does not want to see his father. This position was immediately refuted by Doctor Jerry Weiner, one of the 3 psychiatrists named by the U.S. State Department to intervene in the matter, who said a 6 year old child is not competent to make such a decision. Instead, Elian was taken to the residence in Miami of Catholic nun Jeanne O'Lauhglin, in an apparent effort to force authorities to allow a meeting between the distant relatives and Elian's father Juan Miguel Gonzalez. But Juan Miguel has stated that he will not meet with Elian's kidnappers until his son is turned over to him. Earlier this year O'Lauhglin falsely declared herself to be neutral in order to offer her residence for a meeting between Elian and his maternal and paternal grandmothers that in many ways was sabotaged. Meanwhile, media outlets are asserting that Attorney General Janet Reno has completed a letter to be sent to Lazaro Gonzalez informing him that Elian will have to be taken to Miami's Opa Locka airport at 10 am Thursday morning. But this information has not been officially confirmed. And Juan Miguel Gonzalez today paid a visit to his lawyer Gregory Craig to ask his legal representative to insist that the U.S. Justice Department take action. The Miami police department has suspended vacations for 1,100 officers in the face of eventual protests organized by the city's ultra-right wing. SOUTH SUMMIT CUBAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR DISSOLVING IMF The Summit of Heads of State or Government of the Group of 77 got underway today in Havana. On hand are 42 heads of State or Government, 13 Vice Presidents and Deputy Prime Ministers and 63 Foreign Ministers from the Third World. The President of Nigeria and of the Group of 77, Chief Olosegun Obasanjo addressed participants of the South Summit in his opening speech in Havana's Convention Palace with a call to go beyond rhetoric in advancing cooperation among countries of the South. He said that the challenges that gave rise to the establishment of the Group of 77 40 years ago still remain in today's world, such as poverty, exclusion and poor coordination among nations. He said that globalization has further marginalized the underdeveloped world and benefited the industrialized nations, increasing the gap bewteen north and south. The Nigerian president called for the establishment of a new world order based on prosperity for all and marginalization for none and for a dialogue with the North on the basis of equity. He added that the large and unsustainable debts of the South are some of the main causes of poverty and social instability and prevent development in the Third World. He called on participants in industrialized nations to revise their commitments to channel substantial resources for development and redouble efforts to advance North-South cooperation. President Obasanjo finally called on better cooperation amoung the countries of the South who all share similar histories. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan then addressed the Summit calling on rich nations to permit greater access to their markets of Third World products, to eliminate the foreign debts of the poor and to be more generous in development assistance. Annan said that the most recent UN report on world development proposes specific initiatives to attain a more equitable global economy, including a program to place state-of-the-art computer information technology at the service of all the world's peoples. Following an address by South African President and Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Thabo Mbeki, Cuban President Fidel Castro closed the opening session of the South Summit by comparing the situation of today's world with a ship in which passengers travel in different cabins. He said that while there were some who travelled in cabins with sophisticated medical care, clean water, access to the internet and other amenities, the great majority travelled in conditions similar to the slave ships that sailed from Africa to the Americas hundreds of years ago. He called on the Third World to prevent the ship from striking an iceburg. The Cuban leader called for the demolition of the International Monetary Fund saying that it's policies had destabilized the world. He said that it was vital for the Third World that the IMF and its philiosphies disappear once and for all as its policies favour the protection of First World banks rather than the development of poor countries. The IMF and World Bank are currently meeting in New York. President Castro also lashed out at the unsustainable comsumption models of the industrialized world, which diminish resources. He called on the South to revive the spirit of struggle and unity that in the past helped the Third World achieve its independence from the First World. The Cuban President said that the current economic world order should be placed on trial in an international legal process similar to the Nuremburg Trials pointing out that every 3 years the current model of globalization kills more people from hunger and curable diseases that the Second World War killed in 6 years. CUBAN HEALTH MINISTRY RESPONDS TO NICARAGUA'S ACCUSATIONS Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- Cuba's Health Ministry issued a public statement on Wednesday, reiterating that Cuba does not make any money and has no intention of profiting from its health cooperation program in Central America and Haiti. The statement, published in today's edition of the Cuban newspaper Grandma, is in response to an official statement from the Nicaraguan Health Ministry, reported by the Spanish news agency EFE on April 10th. According to the report, the Secretary of the Nicaraguan Health Ministry Miguel Lopez claimed that Cuba's health assistance to that Central American nation is not free-of-charge, but instead is being paid for by the Nicaraguan government. The Cuban Health Ministry states that such a comment is a gross distortion of the facts. The statement, published in this morning's Grandma newspaper, affirms that highly-skilled Cuban health professionals are currently offering their services in remote regions of Nicaragua, enduring difficult living and working conditions -- waging an altruistic labor of love against disease and death. Since the arrival of the first medical brigade in Nicaragua in 1998, Cuba assumed all expenses, including transportation of the Cuban health professionals. Over the first six months, the island's authorities also provided each Cuban collaborator with some pocket money, equivalent to 50 dollars a month, along with food and other needed supplies. However, as of May 1999, the Nicaraguan Health Ministry began to cover food expenses of the Cuban medical brigades, as well as giving each of them between 50 and 70 dollars a month, but this was done only at the request of the Nicaraguan people, who were directly benefiting from Cuban health assistance. The high quality of the work being done by the Cuban health experts has been recognized by the Nicaraguan people and by several organizations in the Central American nation. The Nicaraguan National Assembly sent an award to Cuba in October 1999, expressing their appreciation for the highly-professional, humanitarian work being done by Cuban medical brigades in Nicaragua. SOUTH AFRICA CALLS FOR COMMON THIRD WORLD POSITION Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- South African Foreign Minister Nkozasama Dlamini Zuma has called for a strong, common position of Third World nations, as well as reforms to the United Nations, in order to sweep away poverty from the face of the Earth. Zuma affirmed that only a strong position by the Group of 77 would allow that forum of 133 underdeveloped countries to confront First World nations and demand their cooperation to eliminate poverty. Speaking with Prensa Latina News Agency, the top South African diplomat recalled that many in the South lack education, clean drinking water, housing and jobs. She emphasized that in order to turn that situation around, Third World nations must use the only resources they have plenty of -- human resources. She stated that the Group of 77 is the right forum for Third World nations to discuss common problems for development and highlighted the importance of the group's first summit, currently underway here in the Cuban capital. Questioned about the meeting of the Group of 77 foreign ministers, held Tuesday to discuss the role of the United Nations in the new millenium, the South African foreign minister said that the UN has carried out important missions over the last several years, although some aspects of the organization should be reformed. She specifically pointed to the UN Security Council and the veto rights of its five permanent members. The South African foreign minister stated that the UN has taken care of peace and stability in many regions, but it is now time that the international organization plays a role in the search for viable ways to eradicate poverty which primarily affects countries in the South. HOLY WEEK TO BE OBSERVED IN CUBA Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- Festivities on the occasion of Holy Week will take place without any inconveniences anywhere in Cuba, where authorization has been requested for that purpose, according to the Secretary of the Conference of Cuban Bishops, Reverend Jose Felix. Reverend Felix also denied false speculation aimed at distorting the current understanding between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government. The celebration of various religious festivities in Cuba was changed in the 1960s, after reactionary elements used the Church for activities aimed at destroying the newly-born Revolution. However, religious festivities acquired their full expression before, during and after Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in January of 1998. CUBA AND VENEZUELA NEGOTIATE JOINT PROJECT IN THE OIL SECTOR Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- Cuba and Venezuela are currently negotiating a strategic alliance in the oil sector which would increase the operational capacity of a refinery in Cuba, as well as produce crude oil derivatives. Speaking with journalists upon arriving in the Cuban capital, the President of the Venezuelan Oil Company Petroleos de Venezuela, Hector Ciavaldinni, stated that the plan is based on increased supplies of Venezuelan oil to Cuba to produce kerosene and aircraft fuel. Ciavaldinni is in Cuba as part of the delegation accompanying Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to the Group of 77 South Summit, currently underway here in Havana. The project consists of a joint venture between Petroleos de Venezuela and Cuba's Cupet and includes an equally divided investment of between 60 and 100 million dollars to boost the production capacity of the oil refinery in Cienfuegos, located in south-central Cuba. The president of Petroleos de Venezuela said that for his country, the business is to sell Venezuelan crude to Cuba as well as generate capital from the sale of refined products. The Cienfuegos refinery, with a capacity to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil daily, was built with the help of the former Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the former socialist power in 1990, the plant declined and has continued functioning, but with only 50 percent of its total capacity. The project also includes the sale of refined products in Cuba as well as other Caribbean markets. The president of Petroleos de Venezuela ruled out any attempt to buy the oil refinery, arguing that this is a joint project that could get started by early 2001 as part of a bilateral strategic association between Venezuela and Cuba. CHINA DONATES FUNDS TO CUBA'S HEALTH SECTOR. Havana, April 12 (RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and China's Prime Minister Li Langing presided over official bilateral talks between the two countries on Tuesday. The meeting's agenda included several issues of common interest. Local sources reported that at the closing of bilateral talks, an agreement was signed by which the Asian nation will donate 2,400,000 dollars to the Caribbean island. The money would be used to buy medicines for the Cuban people. Li Langing is in Cuba heading his country's delegation to the Group of 77 South Summit, which runs through Friday here in Havana. VIEWPOINT: UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS FIND STRENGTH IN NUMBERS AT HISTORIC SOUTH SUMMIT Havana - a city with a rich cosmopolitan tradition - has become a great mosiac of colors, cultures, creeds and opinions brought together by the hundreds of participants in the Group of 77 South Summit. This week the Cuban capital has received a veritable avalanche of personalities from different regions of the planet - all of them part of the exploited Third World, members of the Group of 77 which is made up of 133 nations and China. High-level representatives from more than a hundred countries are meeting in the South Summit to forge a common position that transcends diversity and charts a route to follow through the turbulent waters of globalization. Already foreign ministers have debated topics related to South-South cooperation, the role of the United Nations in the 21st Century and the strategy to deal with the Industrialized North taking into account the upcoming UN Summit of the Millenium in September in New York. In that context, Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque warned of the dangers of a unipolar force of a single superpower, which violates and refuses to recognize the principals of the UN Charter, and puts at risk the maintenance of world peace. Foreign minister Perez Roque mentioned attempts by some nations to promote a kind of "right of humanitarian intervention", a concept that must be rejected so that it won't become a sword of Damocles to be wielded over the poor. It is fitting that the Group of 77, which represents the world's majority, take on the role of international defender of the Third World. After the dramatic failure of the the World Trade Organization in Seattle last November and the insignificant results of the elitist Davos Forum, the South Summit is being carefully watched internationally. The truth is that the Summit is unique because it is the first time that all the Third World nations meet at the highest level to define a common front which will allow them to demand a more equitable and sustainable world economic order. The South also exists, despite the opulent North's attempts to negate even that very right. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba. 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